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REPORTS OR COMMITTEES 


OF THE 



XxxTTC 



FOR THE 


THIRD SESSION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 


1 8 7 8 -’ 7 9 . 


IN FOUK VOLUMES. 

Volume 1 contains Nos. 547 to 693, inclusive. 
Volume 2 contains Nos. 694 to 869, inclusive, 
exceiit Nos. 744 and 855. 

Volume 3 contains No. 744. 

Volume 4 contains No. 855. 





WASHIXGTO^: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 

1879 . ■ 
























INDEX 


TO THE 

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 

OF THE 

SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FOR THE 

THIRD SESSION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 


Yotume I. -NTOS. 547 TO 693. 

Volume II.-Kos. 694 to 869, except NTos. 744 
AM) 855. 


Volume III.. Xo. 744. 
Volume IV. .Xo. 855. 


Subject. 



Abbott, Samuel W. On tlie bill (H. R. 1761) for the relief of. 

Accounts with certain railway companies. On the bill (S. 457) for the 

Adams, Samuel V. On the bill (H, R. 3408) granting a pension to.! 

Adams, John, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of- j 

Alcoholic and fermented liquors. On the resolution calling on the Sec¬ 
retary of the Treasury for information in relation to.j 

Alcoholic and fermented liquors. On the resolution (Mis. Doc. No. 62) 

calling on the Secretary of State for information in relation to. 

Alexander, Thomas F. On the bill (II. R. 521) for the relief of. 

Allen, Mary A. On the bill (H. R. 550) granting a pension to.. 

American Grocer Association. On the bill (S. 683) for the relief of the . i 

Anawalt, J. S. On the petition of.| 

Anderson, Mrs. Eliza Bayard. On the bill (H. R. 3070) granting a pen- , 

sion to.. 

Andrews, George. On the bill (H. R. 2520) granting a pension to.' 

Angle, Amos. On the bill (S. 1214) granting a iiension to.^ 

Animals. On the bill (S. 84) to amend certain provisions of the Re¬ 
vised Statutes relating to the transportation of., 

Annis, Ann. On the bill (H. R. 1144) for the relief of. 

Arkansas. On the bill (S. 650) for the relief of certain postmasters in , 
Arkansas. On the resolution of the Senate to inquire into and rex)ort , 
tlie result of the late surv'ey of the western boundary of the State ot.. 

Armstrong, Henry. On the bill (S. 1210) granting a i>ension^ to. 

Army. To acconq>any bill (S. 1491) for the reorganization ot. (Parts 1 , 

and 2)...y y *y•’ i 

Army of the Potomac. On the resolutions of the Society of the, for 
continuing the history of the battle of Gettysburg by John B. Batch- j 
elder, and on the letter of the Secretary of War in connection there- i 

Avith. (To accompany bill S. 1744) .j 

Atkins, Jeariim. On the petition of.. 

B. 


No. 


Baldwin, W. H. IT. On the bill (H. R. 4190) for the relief of 
Barber, Merritt. On tlie bill (H. R. 2918) for the relief of.... 


792 

548 

691 

865 

827 

828 
574 
68t) 
677 
821 

600 

665 

595 

735 

647 

581 

714 

596 

555 


694 

765 


713 






























I 


II 


INDEX TO EEPOKTS. 


Subject. 


Vol. 


Barney, Ex-Lieut. Samuel Chase. On the resolution of the assembly of 
the State of Maryhiud for the passage of a law restoring, to the re¬ 
tired-list of the Navy .... 

Bassett, Mrs. Lucy. On the bill (S. 1400) granting a pension to.. 

Batehelder, John B. On the resolution of the Society of the Army of 
the Potomac in favor of completing the history of the battle of Get¬ 
tysburg by, and on the letter of tlie Secretary of War in connection 

therewith. (To accompany bill S. 1744). 

Bolding, Henry K. On the bill (H. R. 737) to reimburse. 

Bell, Elias B. On the bill (H. R. 2472) for tlie relief of. 

Benliam, Elizabeth McNeil. On the petition of. (To accompany bill 

S. 1741). . 

Biggs, Herman. On the bill (S. 1692) to authorize the appointment of, 

to a second lieutenancy in the Army. 

Blackiiitou, E. W. On the bill (S. 1736) for the relief of. 

'Blair, Lewis I. On the bill (S. 1182) for the relief of. 

Blair, Thomas P. On the petition of.. 

Blank, Dederick. On the lull (S. 1511) granting a pension to. 

Blind. On the bill (H. R. 4228) to ])romote the education of the. 

Blonton, N. C., and others. On the bill (S. 32) for the relief of. 

Bonds. (See Land-grant bonds).. .. 

Boyd, Commander Robert. On the bill (S. 1610) for the relief of. 

Braden, Si)ruille. On the bill (S. 1638) to appoint, an ensign in the 

United States Navy. 

Bradford, Fielding. On the bill (S. 1197) granting a pension to. 

Bradford, Sarah H. On the bill (H. R. 4983) granting a xiension to. 

Bridge. (See Missouri River). 

Brown, Henry. On the bill (H. R. 491) granting a pension to. 

Browne, William R. On the bill (H. R. 837) granting a ])ension to. 

Buchanan, James. On the bill (H. R. 4695) granting a pension to. 

Burke, .James, superintendent of the national cemetery at Salisbury, N. 
C. On the letter of the Secretary of War recommending his reimburse¬ 
ment for costs and attorney’s fees in the suit brought against him by 

W. H. Logan. (To accompany bill S. 1771). 

Burwell, A. On the petition of. 

Burwell, Armistead. On the petition of. 

Butler, M. C. On the credentials of, and David T. Corbin, each claim¬ 
ing to be Senator-elect from the State of South Carolina. 


2 

2 


2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 


2 

2 

2 

0 


No. 


757 

815 


694 

801 

607 

692 


777 

590 

558 

794 

622 

616 

744 

674 

746 

'663 

689 

787 

843 

597 

842 


i 724 
! 849 

858 

707 


C. 

California. On the bill (S. 838) for the relief of settlers on certain 

lands in the State of.. 

California, State University of. On the bill (S. 1714) for the relief of... 

Campbell, Laura E. On the petition of. 

Campbell County, Tennessee. On the claim of. 

Caiup Stewart, Oregon. On the bill (S. 581) for the improvement of the 

military wagon-road from Scottsburgh, Oreg., to. 

Cantwell, L. C. On the bill (S. 1827) for the relief of. 

Carey, Patrick, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of... 
Carl, Michael S. On the bill (H. R. 2927) to restore to the pension-roll 

the name of. 

Carleton, Moses F. On the bill (IT. R. 635) for the relief of. 

Carmen, William H. On the bill (H. R. 541) for the relief of. 

Carroll, Anna Ella. On the memorial of. 

Casey, D. C. On the bill (S. 1754) for the relief of. 

Cemetery lot in Montgomery, Ala. On the bill (H. R. 3434) releasing 

title to a. 

Chandler, Theophilus P. On the petition of, late assistant treasurer at 

Boston, Mass. (To accompany bill S. 1531). 

Chaplains in the United States Navy. On the bill (S. 1446) to promote 

the efficiency of the. 

Chew, Dr. Samuel H. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1644) 
Clncago Soldiers’ and Citizens’ Ccdoiiy. On the bill (S. 1778) in relation 
to the location of homesteads by . 


1 1 568 

2 i 725 

1 656 

1 i 620 

2 : 699 

2 I 785 

2 I 865 

1 i 658 

1 ‘ 610 

1 i 611 

2 I 775 

2 I 762 

2 j 703 

1 563 

1 626 

1 j 593 

2 i 750 
















































INDEX TO DEPORTS. 


iir 


\ 


Subject. 


Yol. i No. 


Chickasaw Nation. On tlie validity of tlie so-called x^^'i’uiit law enacted 

by tlie legislature of tlie. 

Cliickering', John \Y. On the bill (S. 1260) for the relief of.I 

Chief of Engineers of the Army. On the letter of the Secretary of War i 
recomniending the passage of a law providing for filling vacancy in 

the office of the.‘ 

Cholera. (See Epidemic diseases).. 

Civil form of government. Oli resolutions as to the organization ot) over 

the Indian Territory.i 

Clark, M. F. On the bill (H. R. 2848) for the relief of. j 

Clift,, James. On the bill (H. R. 409) for the relief of. 

Clift, William B., and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of J 

Cline, Charles. On the bill (H. R. 4326) granting a i)ension to.I 

Clippinger, Anna M. On the bill (H. R. 1304) granting a pension to_i 

Cobb, Joseph R. On the memorial of.j 

Cockade City, the barge. On the bill (H. R. 5633) authorizing the chang- j 

ing the name of, to Re^mblic. 

Collins, Joseph B. On the bill (H. R. 6270) for the relief of.I 

Columbia River. On the bill (S. 1570) to aid in opening the, to free navi- ! 

gat ion.! 

I Comfort, John C. On the bill (S. 548) for the relief of.| 

Commercial Bank of Knoxville, Tenn. On the bill (H. R. 3186) for the j 

rcJief,of ..i 

Committee to inquire into claims of citizens of the United States against | 

the Government of Nicaragua.| 

Constitution of the United States. On the resolution (S. R. 12) pro- ! 

posing an amendment to the views of the minority .. 

I Cook, Daniel M. On the bill (S. 1430) for the relief of.1 

Cook, Fredrick. On the bill (S. 550) to authorize the Commissioner of j 

Patents to hear and determine the application of, for extension of i 

patent . 

Cooper, Wicklitfe, deceased. On the joint resolution (S. Res. 65) cor- i 

; recting the military record of.| 

i| Corbin, David T. On the credentials of, and M. C. Butler, each claim- 

! ing to be Senator-elect from the State of South Carolina.i 

I Corlett, John S. On the bill (H. R. 711) granting a pension to.| 

i Craft, Burr S. On the bill (S. 1287) for the relief of.‘ 

I Cross, Thomas R. On the bill (H. R. 4689) granting a pension to.I 

j Crowley, James W. On the bill (H. R. 754) for the relief of.I 

Croxton, Mrs. Caroline. On the petition of...j 

Cumberland Valley Railroad Company. On the bill (S. 1263) to pro- ! 
I vide for the adjustment and settlement of certain internal-revenue | 

' taxes erroneously assessed and collected from the.j 

i Cunningham, John S. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1543).] 

I 

D. ! 

Daggett, James C. On*the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1705).. 

Darling, Mrs. Flora A. On the memorial of. 

Dart, Anson. On the petition of. 

' Davis, John B. On the bill (S. 1037) for the relief of. 

i Davis, W. H. On the bill (S. 1245) for the relief of.I 

Dav, Anstin G. On the bill (S. 1669) for the relief of. j 

Delegates of Indian tribes of the Indian Territory. On resolutions to 
inquire as to the expenditure of money for the support of, in Wash¬ 
ington . 

Denene, William. On the bill (H. R. 3583) granting a pension to. 

Dix, James. On the petition of.- -.- - 

Don Cameron, government steamer. On the letter of the Jsecretary ot 
War transmitting a petition of certain officers of the Fifth Infantry, U. 

S. A., praying to be reimbursed for losses by the sinking ol the. 

(To accompany bill S. 1769).-.. — --- 

Dorsey, John M., and William F. Shepard. On the bill (S. 1668) tor the 

relief of.-.. 

Doty, De Forest. On the bill (H. R. 2172) granting a pension to.. 

Dinibar, Robert AY. On the bill (S. 25) for the relief of.. 

Duiiseath, David, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief ot. 


2 

1 


2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

t 

I 

1 ! 

1 

1 I 

1 

1 

1 I 


I 

1 I 

2 

2 

2 

1 ! 

1 

1 


1 


1 

2 

2 

2 I 
2 ! 
2 i 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


698 

644 


710 

734 

744 

835 

549 

865 

861 

613> 

776 

727 

736 

782 

839 

577 


711 


523 

675 


554 

809 


707 

852 

565 

682 

631 

602 


624 

566 


627 

755 

754 

737 

834 

854 


744 

601 

826 


715 

853 

697 

702 

865 





















































IV 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 


Vol. 


No. 


E. 


Eads, James B. On the hill (S. 1422) in relation to the works at the 
South Pass of the Mississippi River in course of construction hy..... 
Elections. On the Senate resolution to inquire into alleged frauds and 

violence in the late. (Parts 1 and 2). 

Elections. On the Senate resolution to inquii’h into alleged frauds or 
other wrongs in connection with the, in the State of Louisiana in 1876. 

Elliott, Mrs. Julia. On the bill (H. R. 5800) for the relief of. 

El Paso, Tex. On the letter of the Secretary of War in relation to 
the establishment of a military post in the vicinity of. (To acconi- 

])any bill S. 1662). 

English, William. On the letter from the Secretary of War recommend¬ 
ing such legislation as will authorize the President to appoint, a sec¬ 
ond lieutenant in the Army. (To accompany bill S. 1611).. 

Epidemic diseases. On the i)est means of preventing the introduction 
and spread of, in the United States. (To accompany bill S. 1784)- 

F. 


2 

4 

2 

1 


781 

855 

867 

615 


1 


606 


1 576 

.2 734 


Faran and McLean. On the bill (S. 1616) for the relief of. 

Farrar, Abram F. On the bill (S. 1456) granting a pension to. 

Farrar, Nelson M. On the bill (H. R. 2623) granting a pension to. 

Female suffrage. On the resolution ( S. Res. 12) proposing an amendment 

to the Constitution of the United States in relation to. 

Views of the minority. (Part 2). 

Fermented and alcoholic liquors. On the resolution calling on the Sec¬ 
retary of the Treasury for infornnation in relation to. 

Fermented and alcoholic li(iuors. On the resolution (Mis. Doc. No. 62) 

calling on the Secretary of State for information in relation to. 

Ferrell, John N. On the bill (H. R. 2826) granting a pension to. 

Fitzgerald, Jenkins A. On the bill (S. 1271) for the relief of. 

Five per centum on military land-warrant locations in certain States. 

On the bill (S. 1035) in relation to. 

Fontaine, Prof. Edward. On the memorial of. (To accomimny joint 

resolution S. Res. 63). 

Ford, Thomas S. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1719). 

Fort Clark, Texas. On the bill (S. 1627) for the purchase of. 

Fort Hartsutf military reservation. On the bill (H. R. 3874) authorizing 

the Secretary of War to transfer portions of, to certain settlers. 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On the letter of the Secretary of War in re¬ 
lation to the military prison at. (To accompany bill S. 1831). 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On the bill (S. 620) in relation to the con¬ 
struction of a bridge across the Missouri River upon the military res¬ 
ervation at. 

Fort Smith, Arkansas. On the bill (S. 1557) for the reappraisemeut and 

sale of the military reservation at. 

Fort Snelling, Minnesota. On the letter of the Secretary of War in refer¬ 
ence to the construction of buildings for military headquarters at. (To 

accompany bill S. 1829). 

Fort Union military and timber reservations in New Mexico. On the bill 

(S. 10.54) to secure a title to. 

Fox, James C. On the bill (S. 960) for the relief of. 

Frailey, Eliza H. On the bill (H. R. 4975) granting an increase of pen¬ 
sion to, widow of James Madison Frailey. 

Francis, .John R., and William Johnson. On the bill (H. R. 5803) for the 

relief of. 

Fraser, J. On the bill (H. R. 2217) for the relief of. 

Frazee, Mary. On the bill (H. R. 4971) granting a pension to. 

Frost, Daniel M., and the heirs and executors of William M. McPherson. 

On the bill (H. R. 1704) for the rcdief of. 

Fuller, Henry T., and others. On the bill (H. R. 5822) for the relief of.. 

G. 


2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

2 


712 

721 

666 

523 

523 

827 

828 
667 
609 

638 

760 

634 

579 

709 

773 


2 787 
2 706 


1 621 

1 551 


1 


584 


2 

2 

1 


745 

751 

599 


2 786 
2 768 


Gallagher, Catherine H. On the bill (11. R. 2769) granting a pension to.. 
Garrett, William H. On the bill (H. R. 3196) granting a pension to_ 


2 846 

2 841 















































INDEX TO KEPOKTS 


V 


Subject. 


Gates, Mrs. H. Louise. On the bill.(H. R. 4986) granting an increase of 

pension to. 

Gault, John, jr. On the bill (H. R. 4287) for the relief of. 

Gemmill, Catherine, aud children. On the bill (H. R. 4702) granting a 

pension to.. 

Gettert, Peter. On the bill (S. 1512) granting a pension to. 

Gettysburg. On the resolutions of the Society of the Army of the Poto¬ 
mac for completing the history of, by John B. Batchelder, and on the 
letter of the Secretary of War in connection therewith. (To accompany 

bill S. 1744)...... 

Gibson, William. On the bill (H. R. 1443) granting a pension to. 

Gill, Ira. On the bill (S. 522) and the petition of. 

Glenn, James H. On the petition of. 

Gorman, James, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of .. 

Grace, W. P. On the bill (S. 1673) for the relief of. 

Grubbins, John. On the bill (H. R. 4494) for the relief of. 


Vol. 

No. 

1 

586 

2 

708 

2. 

795 

2 

798 

1 

694 

2 

720 

1 

569 

2 

820 

2 

865 

1 

618 

2 

802 


H. 


Hadlock, Lydia T. On the petition of. 

Hallam, Hannah. On the bill (H. R. 4691) granting a pension to. 

Haller, Maj. Granville O. On the joint resolution (H. Res. 63) requir¬ 
ing the assembly of a court of inquiry in the case of. 

Halstead, Calvin. On the bill (H. R. 4792) granting a pension to. 

Hansell, William S., and Sons. On the bill (H. R. 4290) for the relief of 

Harmon, M. G. On the bill (H. R. 2161) for the relief of. 

Harris, John. On the petition of. 

Harris, Mary G. On the bill (H. R. 3816) granting a pension to. 

Heater, Richard. On the bill (H. R. 2139) for payment to, executor of 

John Heater, deceased. 

Helm, Henry B. On the petition of. 

Higgins, Andrew F. On the bill (H. R. 309) for relief of. 

Hile, James A. On the bill (H. R. 556) for the relief of. 

Hiiichman, Dallon. On the bill (H. R. 3266) granting a j)ension to. 

Hines, Private William. On the bill (H. R. 4007) for the relief of. 

Hollingsworth, Benjamin. On the bill (H. R. 697) restoring the name of, 

to the pension-rolls.. 

Homestead settlers on the public lands. On the bill (S. 1441) for the re¬ 
lief of. 

Homesteads upon the public lands. On the bill (S. 1778) for the relief 

of certain persons locating. 

Hooe, Emilie R. On the bill (H. R. 4386) granting arrears of pensions 

to. 

Horsford, E. N. On the memorial of. (To accompany bill S. 371). 

Hopperton, Mary. On the petition of. 

Hot Springs of Arkansas. On the omission of a section in the sundry 

civil bill (H. R. 5130) relating to the. 

Houston, Trinity and Tyler Railroad Company, of Galveston, Tex. 

On the petition of.. 

Huestis, David. On the bill (S. 1233) for the relief of.. 

Hovis, W. F. On the petition of. 

Hull, Elizabeth R. On the bill (H. R. 1396) granting a pension to. 

Hunt, Thomas B. On the bill (S. 174) for the relief of. 


I. 

Idaho. On the bill (S. 1750) making appropriations for military roads 

in the Territory of.-. 

Idaho Territory, military post in Lemhi Valley. On the bill (S. 1751) 

providing for a.! 

Indian Bureau, On the expediency of transferring the, to the War De¬ 
partment . 

Indian hostilities in the State of Kansas. On the bill (S. 1650) for pay¬ 
ing the militia and volunteer forces for suppressing.[ 


822 

807 

860' 

670' 

704 
550 
774 
847 

561 

819 

589' 

571 

668 

705 

797 

556 

750- 

833 

763 

800' 

784 


2 

2 

1 

2 

1 


818 
869' 
605 • 
804 
608 


2 739 > 

I 

2 I 740' 

i 

1 1 693. 

I 

1 I 640' 


















































VI 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 


Vol. 


No. 


Iiulians of the Indian Territory. On resolutions to inquire into the is¬ 
sue of conditional railroad land-grant bonds on the lands of. On the 
expenditure of money by, w.th relation to legislation in Washington, 
and as to diversion of school funds of, and on the question of civil gov¬ 
ernment for, and division of the lands of, in severalty. 

Ingalls, Simeon. On the bill (S. 1514) granting a pension to. ..... ... - 
Internal-revenue taxes erroneously collected from the Cumberland Val¬ 
ley Railroad Company. On the bill (S 1203) to provide for the settle¬ 
ment of... 

Ivory, Andrew H. On the bill (H. R. 4407) for the relief of. 

. 1 . 


3 

1 


744 

685 


1 624 

1 612 


.Jackson, Jarvis. On the bill (H. R. 2961) for the relief of. 

.Taques, Alfred E. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. ^74)- 

.Jefferies, Sarah T. On the petition of, widow of Evan S. Jefferies, de¬ 
ceased . 

Johnson, James.- On the bill (H. R. 4978) granting a pension to.. 

Johnson, AVilliam, and John R. Francis. On the bill (H. R. 5803) for 

the relief of... 

Jones, Huff. On the bill (S. 716) for the relief of. 

Jones, John Winslow. On the petition of. 


817 

726 

560 

672 

745 

617 

756 


K. 


Kansas. On the bill (S. 645) for the relief of certain postmasters in. 

Kansas. On the bill (S. 1650) for the relief of. 

Kearney,Louisa. On the petition of widow of the late James Kearney. 
Kelsey, James E., and others. On the joint resolution (H. Res. 106) re¬ 
ferring to the Court of Claims the claim of. 

Jvillinger, William, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief 

of.. 

King, Henry S. On the petition of. 

Klamath Indian Reservation in the State of Oregon. On the bill (S. 1486) 
to adjust the claims of the owners of lands within the limits of the.... 

Klauser, Emanuel. On the bill (S. 1540) for the relief of. 

Knox, Lieut. Thomas T. On the bill (H. R. 3558) for the relief of. 

Kuoxville, Tenn. On the bill (H. R. 3186) for the relief of the Commer¬ 
cial Bank of..-. 

Kuhlman, Johanna. On the bill (H. R. 4368) granting a pension to_ 


1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 


L. 


581 

640 

559 

836 


865 

718 

731 

572 

645 


577 

832 


Lancaster, Leonard L. On the bill (H. R. 2394) for the relief of. 

Landreth, William M. On the bill (H. R. 3465) for the relief of the 

heirs of. 

Land-grant bonds, predicated upon conditional grants of the lands of 
the Indians of the Indian Territory. On resolutions to inquire with 

reference to issue of, by certain railroad companies. 

Lands. (See Public lands). 

Langston, Rooert. On the lull (S. 920) for the relief of. 

Lear, William King. On the petition of..... 

Leggett, Mary. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 460). 

Lemhi Valley, Idaho Territory. On the bill (S. 1751) providing for a 

military i)ost in.. 

Linderman, Charles, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief 

of. 

Lines, Henry F. On the petition and papers of. (To accompany bill 

S. 1674). 

Linnaus, James, and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of.. 
Logan, W. H. On the letter of the Secretary of War recommending an 
appropriation to reiml)urso James Burke, superintendent of the na¬ 
tional cemetery at Salisbury, N. C., for the amount of costs and attor¬ 
ney’s fees in the suit brought against him by. (To accompany bill S. 
1771) . 


1 

2 


2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 


1 


648 

772 


744 

638 

840 

764 

844 

740 

865 

619 

865 


724 















































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


VII 


Subject. 


Yol. 


No. 


Lord, Sauiuel, jr., receiver. Ou tlie bill (S. 1235) for the delivery to, of 

certain bonds now in the Treasury of the Unit(‘d Slates.. 

Louisiana. On the Senate resolution to inqnire into certain matters 

touching the late Presidential election in.. 

Louisiana and South Carolina in 1878. On the Senate resolution to 
iiKiuire into alleged frauds and violence in the recent elections. 

(Parts 1 and 2). 

Loy, Adaline P. Ou the bill (H. R. 4682) granting a pension to.. 

Luekett, Elisha M. Ou the petition of.. 


1 733 

2 867 


4 

1 

1 


855 

598 

633 


M. 

^rcBrayer, John H. On the bill (H. R. 4970) granting a pension to_ 

McClintock, John jVI. On the bill (S. 1581) for the relief of. 

McClung, D. W. On the bill (H. R. 1827) for the relief of. 

McCormick, Paul. On the petition for the relief of. (To accompanv 

bill H. R. 799) .L.;.. 

McCormick, Y. 11. On the bill (H. R. 3737) for the relief of. 

Macdonald, Belinda. On the bill (11. R. 5219) granting a pension to_ 

McGarrahan, William. On the memorial of. 

McLean, J. K. On the bill (S. 583) for the relief of, and on bills (S. 
645, S. 650, S. 653, S. 657, S. 666, S. 667, S. 668, S. 669, S. 673, S. 674, 
S. 676, S. 677, S. 678, S. 679, S. 841, and S. 865) for the relief of cer¬ 
tain postmasters and late postmasters in the States therein named.... 
McMahon, John, and others. Ou the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of.. 
McNamara, Francis B. On the bill (H. R. 848) granting a pension to.. 
McPherson, William M. On the bill (H. R. 1704) for the relief of Daniel 

INI. Frost and the heirs and executors of. 

Macklin, .James E. Ou the bill (S. 833) for the relief of. 

^Mailer, George W. On the bill (S. 795) for the relief of. 

INIahew, .James. On the bill (H. R. 4793) granting a pension to. 

Makin, Hugh B. On the bill (H. R. 3108) giving a pension to. 

]Mann, William A. Ou the l)ill (H. R. 3855) for the relief of. 

Manville, Helen Frances. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 

1629) . 

Views of the minority. (Part 2). 

Maryland. On the resolution of the State of, for the restoration of Ex- 

Lieut. Samuel Chase Barney to the retired list of the Navy. 

^lassie, William S. On the bill (H. R. 2294) for the relief of. 

INIaxwell, Mrs. INIaria L. On the bill (H. R. 2289) giving a pension to... 
Mead, Janies R., and Joab Spencer. On the bill (H. R. 819) for the 

relief of. 

IMeade, Henry M. On the bill (H. R. 138) for the relief of. 

Medicine and Surgery, Steam-Engineering, and Provisions and Clothing. 
Childs of Bureaus of, in the Navy Department to be madefrom officers 

ranking not below captain. On the resolution in relation to. 

Middougli, Daniel. On the bill (H. R. 529) granting a pension to. 

Miley, Aaron. On the bill (H. R. 4560) for the relief of. 

Military post in Lemhi Valley, Idaho Territory. On the bill (S. 1751) 

providing for a.. 

ISIilitary prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On the letter of the Sec¬ 
retary of War ill relation to. (To accompany bill S. 1831). 

Military roads in the Territory of Idaho. On the bill (S. 1750) making 

appropriations for.. 

IVIilitary scrip and land warrants located in certain States, and the pay¬ 
ment of 5 per centum oh same. On the bill (S. 1035) in relation to.. 
Militarj" wagon-road. On the bill (S. 581) for the improvement of the, 

from Scottsburgh, Oreg., to Camp Stewart, Oreg. 

Militia and volunteer forces of State of Kansas. On the bill (S. 1650) 

for paying the. 

Mills, IMargaret. On the bill (S. 1220) granting a pension to. 

Mills, Peter G. On the bill (H. R. 1167) for the relief of. 

ISIinnesota. On the bill (S. 865) for the relief of certain postmasters in.. 
IMissouri River. On the bill (S. 620) in relation to abridge across the, 

111)011 the milit.ary reservation at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 

l\Iontaua. On the" bill (H. R. 2443) for the relief of citizens of, who 
served in the war with the Nez Pereas... 


1 671 

2 759 

2 700 


2 

1 

1 

1 


716 

676 

588 

578 


581 

865 

863 

786 

547 

838 

629 

813 

567 

580 

580 

757 

639 

806 

749 

799 


1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 


625 

628 

814 

740 

773 

739 

638 

699 

640 

636 

790 

581 

787 

646 












































VIII 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 


Montgomery, Ala. On the bill (H. R. 3434) releasing title to a certain 

cemetery lot in the city of.... . - --■ 

Morgan, Charles H., assignee of Edward L. Wilson. On the bill (S. 

1607) to extend the patent issued to ... 

Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas Railroad, formerly the New Orleans, Ope¬ 
lousas and Great AVestern Railroad. On an amendment} to the bill 

(S. 721) to relieve the, from certain conditions imposed by law. 

Morris, Lydia A. On the bill (H. R. 4364) in relation to the pension 

claim of, widow of I. K. Morris.. 

Morrison, Andrew I. On the bill (H. R. 3572) granting a pension to- 

jNIorse, George AA’^. On the bill (S. 1434) tor the relief of... 

Muller, Alfred. On the bill (H. R. 1162) for the relief of. 

Murphy, Thomas. Ou the bill (H. R. 1956) for the relief of.. 

Myers, Moses. On the bill (S. 1126) for the relief of. 


A'ol. 

No. 

2 

703 

2 

752 

2 

732 

1 

583 

1 

582 

2 

866 

1 

651 

2 

808 

2 

845 


N. 


Navy Department, Chiefs of the Bureaus of Steam-Engineering, Pro¬ 
visions and Clothing, and Medicine and Siu’gery in, to be made from 
othcers ranking not below captain. On the resolution in relation to.. 
Navy. On the bill (S. 1446) to promote the efficiency of the corps of 

chaplains in. 

Navy. On the bill (S. 1603) regulating the rank and pay of fleet marine 

officers in the.:. 

Neale, John T. On the bill (H. R. 1286) for the relief of. 

Nebraska. On the l)ill (S. 841) for the relief of certain postmasters in.. 

Nelson, Emma G. On tlue claim of. (To accompany bill S. 1746). 

Newton, Annie E. On the bill (S. 6.53) for the relief of. 

New Orleans, Opelousas and Great AVestern Railroad. (See Morgan’s 

Louisiana and Texas Railroad). 

Nicaragua. Resolution for the appointment of a select committee to 
inquire into claims of citizens of the United States against the Gov¬ 
ernment of. 

Nix, John B. On the bill (H. R. 5136) for the relief of. 

O. 


1 


625 


1 


626 


2 

1 

1 

1 

1 


788 

641 

581 

695 

581 


2 


721 


2 711 
2 743 


O’Brien, Michael. On the bill (H. R. 4683) granting a pension to. 

Odell, Joseph. On the bill (H. R. 4681) granting a pension to. 

Oregon. On the bill (S. 589) to reimburse the State of, for moneys paid 

in suppression of Indian hostilities during the Modoc war. 

Oregon. On the bill (S. 1486) to adjust the claims of the owners of lands 
Avithin the limits of the Klamath Indian Reservation in the State of.. 
O’Reagan, Matthew. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1739) 
O’Sullivan, Eugene. On the petition of. (To accomx)any bill S. 1863) 


2 723 

1 669 

2 701 


2 

1 

2 


731 

683 

864 


P. 


Padgett, Mary J. On the xietition of, and husband. 

Page, Henry. On the jietition of, (To accomjjany bill S. 1801).. 

Peak, Davis C., and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of_ 

Peck, Lucia M. Ou the i)etition of... 

Permit law enacted by the legislature of the Chickasaw Nation. On the 

validity of the. 

Perrin, Mrs. F. A. On the bill (H. R. 3866) for the relief of. 

Phillips, George D. On the bill (H. R. 247) granting a X)ension to. 

Phillixis, Peter. On the bill (S. 1009) for the relief of.. 

Plunkett, George. Ou the bill (S. 982) for the relief of. 

Point San Jos6 military reservation. On the bill (S. 3) in reference to 

ascertaining the value of certain im}uovements ou. 

Poland, James H. On the bill (S. 1515) granting a iiemsion to. 

Postmasters in certain States. On the bills (S. 583, S. 645, S. 650, S. 653, 

S. 657, S. 666, S. 667, S. 668, S. 669, S. 673, S. 674, S. 676, S. 677, S. 678, 

S. 679, S. 841, and S. 865) for the relief of certain. 

Potter, Frances McNeil. On the jietition of. (To accoiujiany bill S. 1742 ) 
I’ratt, Calvin E. On the bill (H. R. 4967) granting a x>eusion to ....... 


1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 


1 

1 

2 


562 

741 

865 

655 

698 

679 

661 

557 

673 

761 

803 


581 

692 

859 



















































INDEX TO KEPORTS. 


IX 


Subject. 


Vol. 


No. 


Presidential election in Louisiana. On the Senate resolution to inquire 

into the. 

Pritchard, Mrs. C. M. On the memorial of.»... 

Provisions and Clothing, Steam-Engineering, and Medicine and Surgery, 
Chiefs of Burea us of, in the Navy Department to he made from officers 

ranking uot below captain. On the resolution in relation to. 

Public lands entered by military scrip and land warrants in certain 
States. On the bill (S. 1035) to ascertain the amount of, and pay live 
per centum on. 


2 

2 

1 

1 


867 

848 


621 


638 


Public lands—unorganized territory adjoining the State of Kansas. * On 
the bill (S. 1648) to provide for the survey and sale of.. 


758 


R. 

Railway companies. On the bill (S. 457) for the settlement of accounts 

with certain. 

Railroad companies. On resolutions to inquire with reference to issue 
of bonds by, predicated upon the conditional land-grants of the land 

of the Indians of the Indian Territory.!. 

Railroad companies, inter-State. On the resolution to inquire as to the 
construction and operation by, of telegraph lines for commercial pur¬ 
poses. (To accompany amendment to bill H. R. 6471). 

Read, H. W. On the petition of. 

Reed, Charles. On the bill (S. 1513) granting a pension to. 

Reed, John N. On the bill (H. R. 4558) for the relief of. 

Reed, Miles L. On the bill (H. R. 1789) granting a pension to. 

Reeves, James H. On the bill (S. 1756) granting an increase of pen¬ 
sion to. 

Revised Statutes of the United States. On the bill (H. R. 5897) to 

amend section 4400 of, concerning the regulation of steam-vessels_ 

Revision of the Statutes of the United States. On the expediency of 

publishing a. (To accompany joint resolution S. Res. 59) .. 

Reynolds, Charles C. On the bill (H. R. 3860) for the relief of. 

Reynolds, James L., and A. Wilhelm. On the bill (S. 1475) for the 

relief of.1. 

Reynolds, William. On the bill (H. R. 2975) granting a pension to_ 

Richmond, Nancy M. On the petition of. 

Riley, Janies. On the bill (H. R. 4694) granting a pension to. 

Robertson, Samuel B. On the bill (II. R. 1055) granting a pension to .. 

Robinson, Sarah R. On the petition of. 

Robinson, William S. On the bill (S. 1589) for the relief of the legal 

representatives of. 

Rockwell, A. F. On the bill (H. R. 2457) for the relief of. 

Ross, William W. On the bill (S. 1571) for the relief of. 

Ruby, James M. On the bill (H. R. 2852) for the relief of. 

Runkle, Benjamin P. On the Senate resolution to inquire as to action 

for the restoration of, to the Army of the United States. 

Views of the minority. {See Senate Mis. Doc. No. 21, 1st sess. 46th 
Cong.) 

S. 

Saint PeteFs and Saint Paul’s Catholic Church at Chattanooga. On the 

memorial in reference to. (To accompany bill S. 1811). 

Samuelson, Moritz. On the petition of. 

San Antonio Arsenal, Texas. On the letter of the Secretary of War 

concerning the purchase of land to enlarge and protect the. 

Sarven, James D. On the bill (S. 521) for the relief of. 

Sayers, J. C., sr. On the petition of... 

Scarborougli, Leonora. On the bill (S. 1553) in relation to'the claim of. 
Scliool funds of Indian tribes. {See Indians of the Indian Territory.).. 

Scott, J. F., and others. On the bill (H. R. 4143) for the relief of. 

Scottsburgh, Or<;gon, military wagon-road from, to Camp Stewart, 

Oregon. On the bill (S. 581) in relation to. 

Sconden, Peter. On the bill (H. R. 461) for the relief of. 

Seeley, Julia E. On the bill (S. 1737) for the relief of. 

Segar, Thomas W. On the bill (H. R. 4289) for the relief of. 

Senseny, T. G. On the petition of, for the relief of the estate of Jacob 
Senscny, deceased. 


1 543 

2 744 


2 

1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 


805 

604 

796 

829 

591 

862 

856 

730 

678 

642 

851 

719 

831 

659 

825 


837 

810 

594 

655 


868 


2 

I 


753 

603 


657 

570 

824 

696 

744 

865 


2 

2 

2 

1 


699 

771 

778 

652 


552 

















































X 


INDEX TO EEPORTS. 


Subject. 


Settlers on certain lands in tlie State of California. On the bill (S. 838) 

for tlie relief of.. 

Sliannoii, Joseph R. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1810).. 
Shepard, William F., and John M. Dorsey. On the bill (S. 1668) for 

the relief of. 

Shields, Edward, and others. On the bill (S. 1721) for the relief of- 

Shotwell, A. Q. On the bill (S. 656) for the relief of. 

Smith, Charles B. On the bill (H. R. 1163) for the relief of the heirs of.. 

Smith, .James. On the bill (H. R. 591) for the relief of. 

Smith, John. On the i)etition of. 

Snuth, N. G. On the bill (H. R. 3863) for the relief of. 

Smith, Nathaniel G. On the bill (H. R. 3863) for the relief of. 

Society of the Army of the Potomac. {See Army of the Potomac). 

South Carolina and Louisiana in 1878. On the Senate resolntion to 
impiire into alleged frauds and violence in the recent elections. 

(Parts 1 and 2.).. 

South Pass of the ]Missi8si])pi River. On the bill (S. 1422) in relation 

to the works in course of construction by James B. Eads at. 

Spanish-AmeiJcan Commercial Company. On the bill (S. 1700) to in¬ 
corporate the. 

Si)encer, Joab, and James R. Mead. On the bill (H. R. 819) for the re¬ 
lief of. 

Spradlin, Cynthia. On the bill (H. R. 4696) granting a pension to. 

Stanhope, Philip W. On the bill (H. R. 1901) for the relief of. 

Staplin, George W. On the bill (H. R. 4701) granting a pension to. 

Statutes of the United States. On the expediency of publishing a re¬ 
vision of the. (To acconii)auy joint resolution S. Res. 59). 

Stavey, Nicholas H. On the bill (S. 1738) to restore, to the active list of 

the Navy. . 

Steam-Engineering, Provisions and Clothing, and Medicine and Snrgery, 
Navy De])artmcnt. On the resolution to impiire into the expediency 
of enacting that the Chiefs of Bureaus of, be made from ofticers rank¬ 
ing not below eaptain... 

Steam-vessels. On the bill (IT. R. 5897) amendatory of the Revised 

Statutes concerning the regulation of. 

Ste]dienson, M illiani W. On the bill (H. R. 480) granting a pension to. 
Stevens, Joseidi I... On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 1837) ... 
Smith, Charles E. On the petition of. (To accom])any bill S. 1848).... 
Stevenson, Capt. Richard. On the bill (S. 1415) for the relief of the 

Imndsmen of the late. 

Strider, Thomas. On the bill (H. R. 3734) for the relief of. 

Suftrage. ^On the rescdution (S. R(‘s. 12) proposing an amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States xu’ohibiting discrimination in the 

right of, on account of sex. 

Views of the minority.. 

Snrv(\v and sale of certain public lands adjoining the State of Jvansas. 
On the bill (S. 1648) to provide for the. 

T. 

Teagarden, Elizabeth. On the bill (11. R. 830) granting a pension to .. 
Telegraph. On the resolution to impure as to the construction of, and 
operation of, for commercial purposes by ititer-State railroad compa¬ 
nies. (To accompany amendment to bill H. R. 6471). 

Tennessee. On the bill (S. 657) for the relief of certain postmasters in 
Thorn, Philip. On the bill (H. R. 4697) granting a pension to 
Titsworth, :M. D. On the bill (II. R. 3539) for the relief of 
Todd, Samuel P. Ou the bill (II. R. 2160) for the relief of the heirs' of 
Totten, Mrs. .lulia II. On the bill (H. R. 2519) for the relief of 
Transportation of animals. On the bill (S. 84) to amend certain provis¬ 
ions of the Revised Statutes relating to the.. 

rieadv(‘ll, James B. On the ))ill (II. R. 124) granting a pension to 
Trowbridge, Sabin. Ou t.ie bill (H. R. 4559) for the relief of 
Tweedy, John. On the bill (H. R. 3854) for the relief of.* 

U. 

Udell, Nathan. On the bill (IT. R. 698) granting a pension to_ 

Uebei, Ludwig, Ou the bill (II. R. 43/1) granting a pension to.... 


Vol. I No. 


1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 


2 

2 ' 
1 ' 
2 i 

2 ' 

2 


568 

748 

853 

738 

553 

654 

573 

660 

681 

729 

694 


855 

781 

728 

749 

816 

649 

850 

730 

717 

625 

856 
690 
789 
812 

742 

564' 


523 

523 

758 


632 


805 

581 

630 

769 

767 

687 

735 

585 

78.3 

680 


793 

811 
















































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XI 


I 




I 

V 

»1 

t 


I' 


i: 

i 


1 


1 


Subject. 


Vol. 


Y. 

Valier, Charles. On the hill (H. R. 1210) for the relief of 
Volliim, Edward P. On the bill (S. 791) for the relief of. 


1 

2 


AY. 

AYagner, liernard. On the petition of. 

AA^ar, Secretarv of. On the letter of, in connection withrevsolutions of the 
Society of the Army of the Potomac favoring a com|detion of the his¬ 
tory of the battle of Gettysburg by John B. Batchelder. (To accom¬ 
pany bill S. 1744)... 

AA^ar, Secretary of. On the bill (H. R. 3874) authorizing the, to transfer 

portions of Fort Hartsuff military reservation to certain settlers. 

AA^ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, recommending the passage of an 

act for tilling vacancy in the office of the Chief of Engineers. 

AA"ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, in relation to reimbursement of 
certain officers for losses by the sinking of the government steamer 

Don Cameron. (To accompany bill S. 1769). 

AA"ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, recommending an appropriation 
to reimburse James Burke, supeiintendeut of the national cemetery 
at Salisbury, N. C., for costs and attorneys’ fees in the suit brought 

against him by AY. H. Logan. (To accompany bill S. 1771). 

AA’'ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, in relation to the necessity for the 
construction of buildings for military headcpiarters at Fort Snelling, 

Aliunesota. (To accompany bill S. 1829)... 

AA^ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, in relation to the military i)rison 

at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. (To accompany bill S. 1831). 

AA"ar, Secretary of. On the letter of the, recommending legislation for 
the appointment of AA^illiam English a second lieutenant in the Army. 
AA^ar, Secretary of. On the letter of the, in relation to the establishment 
of a militarv post in the vicinity of El Paso, Tex. (To accompany 

bill S. 1662). 

AA"ar, Secretary of. On the letter of, concerning the x)urchase of land to 
enlarge and protect the San Antonio Arsenal, Tex. (To accompany 

bill S. 1720). 

AA'ar Department. On the exi)ediency of transferring the Indian Bureau 

to the . 

AA'ard, John. On the bill (H. R. 2296) granting a pension to. 

AA^'ard, Joseph. On the bill (H. R. 3150) granting a pension to. 

AA'amer, Robert. On the bill (H. R. 3857) for the relief of. 

AAbaterman, AYilliam H. On the bill (H. R. 5822) for the relief of Henry 

T. Fuller, and other sureties upon the official bond of. 

AA’'ebb, Sarah E., and minor children. On the bill (S. 1759) granting a 

pension to... 

AA'ebber, Alary C. On the bill (H. R. 2885) for the relief of.. 

AA'elles, Lieut. George AI. On the bill (H. R. 4565) for the relief of - 

AAJieeler, AATlliam F. On the bill (H. R. 3853) for the relief of..,. 

AAGiite, Dr. Charles A. On the bill (S. 1499) for the relief of. 

AATlhelm, A., and James L. Reynolds. On the bill (S. 1475) for the re¬ 
lief of. 

AAhlliams, Airs. Rebecca. On the petition of. (To accompany bill S. 

1740). 

AATllans, John. On the bill (S. 1509) granting a pension to. 

AATlkinsoii, Henry E. On the bill (H. R. 1301) for the relief of.. 

AA'innebago Indians of AATsconsin. On bills (S. 224, S. 1124, and S. Res. 

4) for the relief of.... 

AA'inship, Edward K. On the bill (S. 1326) for the relief of. 

AATnslow, Surgeon George F. On the petition of. 

AYoodard, James H. On the bill (S. 1414) granting a pension to. 

AVright, George AAk On the bill (H. R. 511) granting a pension to. 

Y. 


2 


2 


2 

2 


2 


2 


2 

2 

1 


1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 


A'arnell, Peter. On the bill (H. R. 4794) granting a pension to 
Yellow fever. (See Epidemic diseases). 


1 

2 


No. 


635 

780 


823 


694 

709 

710 


715 


724 


770 

773 

576 


606 


657 

693 

587 

662 

722 

768 

830 

857 

791 

614 

779 

642 

684 

688 

650 

747 

766 

623 

592 

664 


637 

734 















































T A.B LE 


OF THE 


REPORTS 


MADE BY THE COMMITTEES 


FOR THE 

THIRD SESSION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. 


Subject. 


Vol. No. 


COMMITTEES ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS. 


On the joint resolution (S. Res. 12) proposing an amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States (views of the minority). 

On the credentials of David T. Corbin and M. C. Butler, each claiming 
to be Senator-elect from the State of South Carolina. 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS. 

Resolution reported authorizing the appointment of a committee to 
inquire into all claims ot citizens of the United States against the 
Government of Nicaragua.. 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 

On bill (S. 1263) to provide for the adjustment and settlement of certain 
internal-revenue taxes erroneously assessed and collected from the 

Cumberland Valley Railroad Company. 

On the bill (S. 1616) for the relief of Faran and McLean. 

On bill (S. 1235) for the delivery to Samuel Lord, jr., receiver, of certain 

bonds now in the Treasury of the United States. 

On the petition of Henry Page. 

On tlie bill (S. 1581) for the relief of John M. McClintock. 

On the resolution of the Senate directing the Secretary of the Treasury 
to transmit to the Senate certain information relating to fermented 

and alcoholic liquors... 

On the resolution of the Senate directing the Secretary of State to trans¬ 
mit to the Senate certain information relating to fermented and 
alcoholic liquors. 


COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. 

On bill (H. R. 5633) authorizing the changing the name of the barge 

Cockade City of Washington, D. C., to Republic. 

On the bill (S. 84) to regulate the transportation of animals . 

On the bill (H. R. 5897) to amend the Revised Statutes of the United 
States concerning the regulations of steam-vessels. 

COMMITTEE ON MANUFACTURES. 

On the bill (S. 1700) to incorporate the Spanish-American Commercial 
Company. 

1 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. I 


1 523 

2 . 707 


2 


711 


1 

2 

2 

2 

2 


2 


624 

712 

733 

741 

759 


827 


828 


2 

2 


727 

735 


2 856 


2 


728- 


2 


On the petition of Jearum Atkins 


765 






























INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XIII 


Subject. 


Vol. 


COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS. 


On tlie bill (S. 833) for tlie relief of James E, Macklin. 

On tlie bill (S. 457) for tbe settlement of the accounts of certain railvray 

companies.,. 

Oil the bill (H. R. 409) for the relief of James Clift. 

On the bill (S. 1009) for the relief of Peter Phillips. 

On the bill (H. R. 556) for the relief of James A. Hile. 

On the bill (S. 1540) for the relief of Emaimel Klauser. 

On the bill (H. R. 591) for the relief of James Smith. 

On the bill (H. R. 521) for the relief of Thomas Alexander. 

On the bill (H. R. 4190) for the relief of W. H. Baldwin. 

On the letter of the Secretary of War recommending such legislation as 
will authorize the President to appoint William English a second 

lientenant in the Army (bill S. 1611). 

On the bill (S. 1627) making an appropriation for the purchase of Fort 

Clark, Tex. 

On the letter of the Secretary of War in relation to establishment of a 

military post at El Paso, Tex, (bill S. 1662). 

On the bill (H. R. 2472) for the relief of Elias B. Bell. 

On the bill (S. 174) for the relief of Thomas B. Hunt.. 

On the bill (S. 1271) for the relief of Jenkins A. Fitzgerald. 

On the bill (H. R. 635) for the relief of Moses F. Carleton. 

On the bill (H. R. 541) for the relief of William H. Carmen. 

On the bill (H. R. 4407) for the relief of Andrew H. Ivory. 

On the bill (S. 1054) to authorize the United States to secure a title to 

certain military and timber reservations. 

On the petition of Thomas S. Ford (bill S. 1719). 

On the bill (H. R. 1210) for the relief of Charles Valier. 

On the bill (H. R. 2294) for the relief of William S. Massie. 

On the bill (S. 1650) for the relief of the State of Kansas. 

On the bill (H. R. 1286) for the relief of John T. Neale. 

On the bill (S. 1475) for the relief of sureties, &c., of Samuel M. Reynolds 
On the bill (S. 1692) to authorize the President to nominate Herman 

Briggs to a second lieutenancy in the Army. 

On the bill (S. 1260) for the relief of John W. Chickering. 

On the bill (H. R. 3558) for the relief of Second Lient. Thomas T. Knox. 
On the bill (H. R. 2443) for the relief of citizens of Montana who served 

with the United States troops in the war Avith the Nez Pereas. 

On the bill (H. R. 1144) for the relief of Ann Annis. 

On the bill (H. R. 2394) for the relief of Leonard Lancaster. 

On the bill (H. R. 1901) for the relief of Philip W. Stanhope. 

On the bill (H. R. 1301) for the relief of Henry E. Wilkinson. 

On the bill (H. R. 1162) for the relief of Alfred Mnller. 

On the bill (H. R. 4289) for the relief of Thomas W. Segar. 

On the bill (H. R. 2852) for the relief of James M. Ruby. 

On the bill (H. R. 1163) for the relief of the heirs of Charles B. Smith .. 

On the petition of Lucia M. Peck. -.. 

On the letter of the Secretary of War in relation to the San Antonio 

Arsenal, Tex. (bill S. 1720). 

To accompany the bill (S. 1744) to provide for the compilation and pres¬ 
ervation of data shoAving the Ayarions positions and moA'ements of 
troops engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, and for a descriptive ac¬ 
count of the same with illuvstrations and diagrams. 

On the bill (S. 581) for the improvement of the military wagon-road from 

Scottsbnrg, Oreg., to Camp Stewart, Oreg. 

On the bill (H. R. 1827) for the relief of D. W. McClnng. 

On the bill (S. 589) to reimburse the State of Oregon for moneys paid by 
said State in the suppression of Indian hostilities during the Modoc 

Avar in 1872 and 1873 . 

On the bill (S. 25) for the relief of Robert W. Dunbar. 

On the bill (H. R. 3434) releasing title to cemetery lot in the city of 

Montgomery, Ala. 

On the bill (H. R. 4290) for the relief of William S. Hansell & Sons. 

On the bill (H. R. 4007) for the relief of William Hines. 

On the bill (H. R. 4287) for the relief of John Gault, jr. 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


2 

2 

2 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


No. 


547 

548 

549 
557 

571 

572 

573 

574 

575 


576 


579 


606 

607 

608 

609 

610 
611 
612 

621 

634 

635 

639 

640 

641 

642 

643 

644 

645 

646 

647 

648 

649 

650 

651 

652 

653 

654 

655 

657 


694 

699 

700 


701 

702 


704 

705 
708 























































XIV 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 


On tlie bill (H. R. 3874) autliorizing the Secretary of War to transfer to 
certain settlers whose lands were included within Fort Hartsnff 
military reservation such 2 )ortions as are not needed for military pur¬ 
poses .:. 

On the letter of the Secretary of War recommending the passage of a 
law providing for tilling A^acaucies in the office of the Chief of Engi¬ 
neers (bill S. 1761). 

On the bill (H. R. 2918) for the relief of Merritt Barber. 

On tlie letter of the Secretary of War transmitting a petition of certain 
officers of the Fifth Infantry, LTnited States Army, jiraying to be re¬ 
imbursed for losses sustained by sinking of government steamer Don 

Cameron (bill S. 1769). 

On the letter of the Secretary of War recommending an appropriation to 

reimburse James Burke, &c. 

On the bill (H. R. 6270) for the relief of Joseph B. Collins. 

On the bill (S. 1721) for the relief of Edward Shields and others. 

On the bill (S. 1750) making appropriations for military roads in the 

Territory of Idaho. 

On the bill (S. 1751) to provide for military posts in Lamhi Valley, 

Idaho Territory. 

On the letter of the Secretary of War, construction of buildings for 

military headquarters at Fort Snelling, Minn, (bill S. 1829). 

On tlie bill (H. R. 461) for tlie relief of Peter Sconden. 

On the l)ill (H. R. 3465) for the relief of the heirs of William M. Laii- 

dreth. 

On the bill (S. 1831) to amend an act in relation to the establishment of 

military prisons. 

On the petition of John Harris.. 

On tlie memorial of Anna Ella Carroll. 

On the memorial of Joseph R. Cobb. 

On the bill (S. 1499) for the relief of Dr. Charles A. White. 

On the bill (S. 791) for the relief of Edward P. Vollum. 

On the bill (H. R. 1704) for the relief of Daniel M. Frost and the heirs 
and executors of William M. McPherson. 


Vol. I No. 


2 


709 


2 710 
2 713 


2 


715 


2 

2 

2 


724 

736 

738 


2 


739 


2 


740 


2 

2 


770 

771 


2 


772 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


774 

774 

775 

776 

779 

780 


2 


786 


Outlie bill (S. 620) to amend an act authorizing construction of a bridge 
across the Missouri River, upon the military reservation at Fort 

Leavenworth, Kans., apxiroved July 20, 1868. 

Oil the bill (H. R. 1167) for the relief of Peter G. Mills. 

On the joint resolution (S. Res. 65) correcting the military record of 

Wicklilfe Cooper. ... 

On the bill (H. R. 2457) for the relief of A. F. Rockwell. 

On the joint resolution (H. Res. 63) requiring the assembly of a court 
of inquiry in the case of Maj. Granville O. Haller. 


2 787 
2 790 


2 809 

2 810 


2 


860 


COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS. 

On the petition of John S. Cunningham, pay-director in the Navy 

(bill S. 1543). . ... 

On the bill (H. R. 3855) for the relief of William S. Mann. 

On the xietition of Surgeon George F. Winslow. 

Relative to the selection of the Chiefs of the Bureaus of Steam Engineer¬ 
ing, Provisions and Clothing, and Medicine and Surgery from officers 

whose relative rank is not below that of captain. ’.. 

On the bill (S. 1446) to promote the efficiency of the corps of chaplains 

in the United States Navy. 

On the bill (S. 982) for the relief of the late George PlunkettI! 

On the bill (S. 1610) for the relief of Commander Robert Boyd. 

On the bill (S. 1738) to restore Assistant Paymaster Nicholas H. Stavey 

to the active from the retired list of the Navy. 

On the bill (S. 1638) to appoint Spruille Braden an ensign in the United* 

States Navy. 

On the resolution of the legislature of Maryland in favor of restoriim 

Ex-Lieut. Samuel Chase Barney to tlie retired list of the Navy.t. 

On the bill (S. 1326) to authorize the settlement of the accounts of Act¬ 
ing Assistant Paymaster Edward K. Winship, United States Navy_ 

On the bill (H. R. 2160) for the relief of the heirs of Samuel P. Todd_ 


1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


566 

567 
623 


625 

626 

673 

674 

717 

746 

757 

766 

767 
















































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XV 


Subject. 


Vol. 


Oil tlie bill (S. 160:i) regulating the rank and jiay of fleet marine officers 

in the United States Navy. 

On the bill (H. R. 45(15) for the relief of Lient. George M. Welles, of the 

Marine Corps.. 

On the bill (H. R. 138) for the relief of Henry Meade, late paymaster 
in the United States Navy.. 


2 


2 


2 


COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY. 


Upon the validity of the so-called ]iermit law which v as enacted by 

the legislature of the Chickasaw Nation, Octolier 17, 187(1. 

On the bill (S. 1415) for the relief of the bondsmen of the late Capt. 

Richard Stevenson. 

On the bill (H. R. 5822) for the relief of Henry T. Fuller and others_ 

On the resolution of the Senate to impiire in relation to the restoration 

of Benjamin P. Rnnkle to the Army of the United States. 

(Views of the minority. See Senate Mis. Doc. No. 21, first session. Forty- 
sixth Congress.) 

committee on post-offices and post-roads. 

On the bill (S. 583) for the relief of J. K. McLean ; S. (14.5, S. 650, S. 6.53, 
S. 657, S. 666, 667, S. 668, S. 669, S. 673, S. 674, S. 676, S. 677, S. 678, 
S. (179, S. 841, and S. 865 for the relief of certain postmasters and late 

postmasters in the States therein named. 

On the bill (S. (183) for the relief of the American Grocer Association... 

On the bill (H. R. 3860) for the relief of Charles C. Reynolds. 

(On the bill (H. R. 3866) for the relief of Mrs. F. A. Perrin. 

On the bill (H. R. 3854) for the relief of John Tweedy. 

On the bill (H. R. 3863) for the relief of N. G. Smith. 

On the petition of Alfred E. Jaqnes. 

On the bill (H. R. 3863) for the relief of Nathaniel G. Smith. 

On the bill (S. 1037) for the relief of John B. Davis.. 

On the bill (S. 1754) for the relief of D. C. Casey. 

On the bill (H. R. 3539) for the relief of M. 1). Titsworth. 

On the bill (S. 1736) for the relief of E. W. Blackinton. 

On the bill (S. 1737) for the relief of Julia E. Seeley. 

On the bill (H. R. 4559) for the relief of Sabin Trowbridge. 

On the bill (H. R. 1761) for the relief of Sainnel W. Abbott. 

On the bill (H. R. 737) to reimburse Henry K. Beldiug, of Minnesota, 

for carrying the mails. 

On the bill (H. R. 4560) for the relief of Aaron Miley. 

committee on public lands. 


2 

2 

2 

2 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


On the hill (S. 1441) for the relief of homestead settlers on the public 

lauds. 

On the memorial of William McGarrahaii.... 

On the bill (S. 1035) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to ascer¬ 
tain the amount of land located with military warrants in the States 

described therein, and for other purposes... 

On the hill (S. 1.557) for the appraisement and sale of the abandoned 

military reservation at Fort Smith, Ark. 

On the relsolntion of tlie Senate directing the committee to inquire into 

the late survey of the Avestern boundary of the State of Arkansas_ 

(Jn the bill (S. 1714) for the relief of the State University of California.. 
On the bill (S. 1486) to adjust the claims of the owners of lands within 

the limits of the Klamath Indian Keservatiou in Oregon. 

45n the bill (S. 721) to relieve Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas Railroad 

from certain conditions imposed by act of June 3, 18.56. 

On the bill (H. R. 5136) for the relief of John B. Nix... 

On the hill (S. 1778) for the relief of certain persons locating homesteads 

ui)on the juihlic lauds... 

On the bill (S. 1648) to provide for the survey and sale of certain public 
land>!...I 


1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


No. 


788 

791 

799 


698 


742 

768 

868 


581 

677 

678' 

679 

680 
681 
726 
729 
737 
762 
769 

777 

778 
783 
792 

801 

814. 


556 

,578 


638 

706 

714 

725 

731 

732 
743 

750 

758 










































XVI 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Siil)ject 


COMMITTEE ON PRIVATE LAND-CLAIMS. ! 

On the hill (S. 838) for the relief of settlers on certain lands in the State 

of California...! 

On the hill (S. 3) relating to the equitable and legal right of parties in ^ 
possession of certain lands and inii»rovenients thereon in California, : 

and to provide Jnrisdictiou to determine those rights. 

On the petition of William King Lear.' 


Yol. 


No. 


1 


568 


2 761 
2 764 


COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AEEAIRS. 


On the bill (S. 224, joint resolution No. 4, and bill S. 1124) for the relief 

of the Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin ... 

On the bill (H. R. 819) for the relief of Joab Spencer and James R. 

Meade. 

On the i)etition of Anson Dart. 


74: 


2 749 
2 754 


COMMITTEE ON PENSIONS. 


On the bill (II. R. 3.572) granting a pension to Andrew I. Morrison.. 

On the bill (H. R. 4364) granting a pension to Lydia A. Morris. 

On the bill (H. R. 4975) granting an increase of pension to Eliza H. 

Frailey. 

On the bill (H. R. 124) granting a pension to James B. Treadwell. 

On the bill (H. R. 4986) granting an increase of pension to Mrs. H. Lonise 

Gates.. 

On the bill (H. R. 2296) granting a pension to John Ward. 

On the bill (H. R. 5219) granting a pension to Melinda McDonald. 

On the bill (H. R. 309) for the relief of Andrew F. Higgins.. 

On the bill (S. 1182) for the relief of Lewis 1. Blair. 

On the bill (H. R. 1789) granting a pension to Miles L. Reed. 

On the bill (S. 1414) granting a pension to James H. Woodard. 

On the bill (S. 1214) granting a ])ension to Amos Angle. 

On the bill (S. 1210) granting a pension to Henry Armstrong. 

On the bill (H. R. 837) granting a pension to William R. Browne. 

Oil the bill (H. R. 4682) granting a pension to Adaline P. Loy.. 

On the bill (H. R. 4971) granting a pension to Mary Frazee. 

On the bill (H. R. 3070) granting a pension to Mrs. Eliza Bayard Anderson 

On the bill (H. R. 3583) granting a pension to AVilliam Denene. 

On the i»etition of Mrs. Candine Croxton... 

On the ]>etition of Moritz Samnelson. 

On the bill (H. R. 1304) granting a pension to Anna M. Clippinger...... 

On the petition of James C. Daggett (bill S. 1705). 

On the bill (H. R. 529) granting a pension to Daniel Middongh. 

On the bill (H. R. 4793) granting a pension to James Mahew. 

On the bill (H. R. 4697) granting a piaision to Philip Thome. 

On the bill (H. R. 754; granting a pension to James W. Crowley. 

On the bill (H. R. 830) granting a pension to Elizabeth Teagarden. 

On the petition of Elisha M. Luckett.. 

On the bill (S. 1220) granting a pension to Margaret Mills. 

On the bill (H. R. 4794) granting a pension to Peter Yarnell. 

On the petition of Laura E. Campbell. 

On the bill (H. R, 2927) restoring the name of Michael S. Carl. 

On the bill (H. R. 1055) granting a pension to 8amnel B. Robertson. 

On the jietition of John Smith. 

On the bill (H. R. 247) granting a pension to George D. Phmips 

On the bill (H. R. 31.50) granting a, pension to Joseph AVard. 

On the bill (S. 1197) granting a pension to Fielding Bradford. 

On the bill (H. R. 511) granting a pension to George AV. AAb’ight. 

On the bUl (H. R. 2.520) granting a pension to George Andrews. 

On the bill (H. R. 2623) granting a iieusion to Nelson M. Farrar. 

On the bill (H. R. 2826) granting a pension to John H. Ferrell. 

On the bill (H. R. 3266) granting a ]>ension to Dallou Hinchman. 

On the bill (H. R. 4681) granting a pension to Josejdi Odell. 

On the bill (H. R. 4792) granting a pension to Calvin Halstead. 

On the bill (H. R. 4970) granting a iiension to John H. McBrayer. 


1 

1 


582 

583 


1 584 

1 585 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 ) 
1 i 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 ’ 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 : 

1 

1 ! 

1 

1 : 

1 

1: 
1 i 

I i 

1 

II 
1 ! 
1 

1 ‘ 
1 
1 
1 


586 

587 

588 

589 

590 

591 

592 

595 

596 

597 

598 

599 

600 
601 
602 
603 
613 

627 

628 

629 

630 

631 

632 

633 

636 

637 
656 

658 

659 

660 
661 
662 

663 

664 

665 ’ 

666 

667 

668 

669 

670 

671 
































































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XVII 


Siil)ject. 


On tlie 1)111 (H. R. 4978) ^rautinjij a pension to Janies Johnson. 

On the hill (H. R. 4G89) granting; a pension to Thomas R. Cross. 

On the petition of Matthew O’Reagan (bill S. 1789). 

On the petition of Mrs. Rebecca Williams (bill S. 1740). 

On the l)ill (S. 1514) granting a pension to Simeon Ingalls. 

On the bill (H. R. 550) granting a pension to Mary A. Allen. 

On the bill (H. R. 8115) granting a pension to Elizabeth Totten. 

On the bill (S. 1509) granting a pension to John Williams. . 

On the bill (H. R. 4988) granting a pension to Sarah H. Bradford. 

On the bill (H. R. 480) granting a pension to William W. Stephenson .. 

On the bill (H. R. 8408) granting a pension to Samuel V. Adams. 

On the petition of Elizabeth McNeil Benham and Frances McNeil Potter 

(bills S. 1741 and S. 1842).. 

On the bill (S. 1558) granting a pension to Leonard Scarbrough.. 

On the bill (H. R. 2172) granting a pension to De Forest Doty. 

On the petition of Henry S. King. 

On the ])etition of Nancy M. Richmond... 

On the bill (H. R. 1448) granting a pension to William Gibson. 

On the bill (S. 1456) granting a iiension to Abram F. Fan-ar. 

On the bill (H. R. 4688) granting a ])ension to Michael O’Brien. 

On the bill (H. R. 698) granting a pension to Nathan Udell. 

On the bill (S. 1511) granting a pension to Dederick Blank. 

On the bill (H. R. 4702) granting a x>ension to Catharine Gemmill and 

children. 

On the bill (S. 1518) granting a pension to Charles Reed. 

On the bill (H. R. 697) restoring the name of Benjamin Hollingsworth 

to the xiension-rolls... 

On the bill (S. 1512) granting a pension to Peter Gettert. 

On the petition of Mary Hoiiperton.. 

On the bill (H. R. 4494) granting a pension to John Grnbbins. 

On the bill (S. 1515) granting a xtension to James H. Poland. 

On the bill (H. R. 1896) granting a i^ension to Elizabeth R. Hull. 

On the bill (H. R. 2289) granting a pension to Mrs. Maria L. Maxwell.. 

On the bill (H. R. 4691) granting a pension to Hannah Hallam. 

On the bill (H. R. 1956) for the relief of Thomas Murphy. 

On the bill (H. R. 4371) granting a iiension to Ludwig Ueber. 

On the x^etition of Charles E. Smith (bill S. 1848). 

On the bill (H. R. 8108) granting a pension to Hugh B. Makin. 

On the bill (S. 1400) granting a pension to Mrs. Lucy Bassett. 

On the bill (H. R. 4696) granting a pension to Cynthia Sxn-adlin. 

On the bill (H. R. 2961) tor the relief of Jarvis Jackson. 

On the bill (S.* 1759) granting a pension to Sarah E. Webb and minor 

children. 

On the bill (H. R. 4694) granting a pension to James Riley. 

On the bill (H. R. 4368) granting a pension to Johanna Knhlman. 

On the bill (H. R. 4886) granting arrears of pension to Emelia R. Hooe.. 

On the bill (H. R. 3196) granting a x>eusion to William H. Garrett. 

On the bill (H. R. 4695) granting a pension to James Buchanan. 

On the bill (H. R. 491) granting a pension to Henry Brown. 

On the x>etition of Mary Leggett. 

On the bill (H. R. 2769) granting a x>ension to Catharine H. Gallaher. .. 

On the bill (H. R. 8816) granting a x>ensiou to Mary G. Harris... 

On the bill (H. R. 4701) granting a pension to George W. Staidin. 

On the bill (H. R. 2975) granting a pension to William Reynolds. 

On the bill (H. R. 711) granting a x^ensiou to John S. Corlett. 

On the bill (H. R. 4967) granting a iiension to Calvin E. Ih-att. 

On the bill (H. R. 4826) granting a pension to Charles Kline. 

On the bill (S. 17.56) granting an increase of itension to Jalnes H. Reeves. 
On the bill (H. R. 848) granting a X'cnsion to Francis B. McNamara .. .. 
On the x*etition of Eugene O’Sullivan. 


Vol. 

No. 

1 

672 

1 

682 

1 

683 

1 

684 

1 

685 

1 1 

686 

1 I 

687 

1 

688 

1 

689 

1 

690 

1 

691 

1 

692 

2 

696 

2 

697 

2 

718 

2 

719 

2 

720 

2 

721 

2 

728 

2 

798 

2 

794 

2 

795 

2 

796 

2 

797 

2 

798 

2 

800 

2 

802 

2 

808 

2 

804 

2 

806 

2 

807 

2 

808 

2 

811 

2 

812 

2 

818 

2 

815 

2 

816 

2 

817 

2 

880 

2 

881 

2 

882 

2 

888 

2 

841 

2 

842 

2 

848 

2 

844 

2 

846 

2 

847 

2 

850 

2 

851 

2 

852 

2 

859 

2 

861 

2 

862 

2 

868 

2 

864 


CO.M.MITTt^K OX CLAIMS. 


On the bill (H. R. 2161) for the relief of M. G. Harmon 
On the bill (S. 960) for the relief of .James C. Fox. 


1 550 

1 551 




























































XVIII 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 


Ou the petition of T. G. Senseiiey. 

On the bill (S. 6.56) for the relief of A. L. Shotwell. 

On the petition of Thonuus P. Blair. 

On the petition of Louisa Kearney, widow of James Kearney..i 

On the petition of Sarah T. Jefferies, widow of Evan S. Jelleries.j 

On the bill (H. R. 2139) making- an appropriation for the payment to i 

Richard Heater, executor of John Heater, deceased.. 

On the petition of Mary J. Padgett and husband. 

On the petition of 'I'heophilus P. Chandler (bill S. 1.531). 

On the bill (H. R. 3734) for the relief of Thomas Strider. 

On the bill (S. 1287) for the relief of Burr S. Craft.i 

On the bill (H. R. 3186) for the relief of the Commercial Bank of Knox- ' 

ville, Tenn.j 

On the petition of Dr. Samuel H. Chew (bill S. 1644). 

On the bill (S. 1571) for the relief of William W. Ross. 

On the petition of H. W. Reed.i 

On the petition of W. F. Hovis.{ 

On the bill (H. R. 3853) for the relief of William F. Wheeler.i 

On the bill (H. R. 5800) for the relief of Mrs. Julia Elliott.j 

On the bill (S. 1672) for the relief of N. C. Blonton and others..' 

On the bill (S. 716) for the relief of Huff Jones. 

On the bill (S. 956) for the relief of W. P. Grace. 

On the petition of Henry F. Lines (bill S. 1674). 

On the claim of Campbell Countv, Tennessee. 

On the bill (H. R. 3137) for the relief of V. H. McCormick. 

On the petition of Emma G. Nelson (bill S. 1746). 

On the bill (H. R. 799) for the relief of Paul McCormick. 

On the bill (H. R. 3857) for the relief of Robert Warner. 

On the bill (H. R. 5803) for the relief of William Johnson and John R. 

Francis. 

On the petition of Joseph R. Shannon (bill S. 1810). 

On the bill (H. R. 2217) for the relief of J. Fraser. 

On the bill (S. 1811) in reference to the claim of Saint Peter’s and Saint 

Paul’s Catholic Church at Chattanooga... 

On the memorial of Mrs. Flora A. Darling. 

On the bill (S. 1827) for the relief of L. C. Cantwell. 

On the petition of Josejdi L. Stevens (bill S. 1837). 

On the petition of the Houston, Trinity and Tyler Railroad Company, of 

Galveston, Tex. 

On the petition of Henry B. Helm .^ 

On the j)etition of Janies H. Glenn.; 

On the petition of J. S. Anawalt.! 

On the petition of Lydia T. Hadlock.' 

On the petition of Bernard Wagner. 

On the petition of J. C. Sayers, sr.1. 

On the petition of Sarah R. Robinson.. 

On the petition of James Dix. 

On the l)ill (H. R. 4558) for the relief of John N. Reed.. 

On the bill (S. 1245) for the relief of W. H. Davis. i 

On the bill (H. R. 2848) for the relief of M. F. Clark. 

Ou the joint resolution (H. Res. —) referring to the Court of Claims the i 
claim of .James E. Kelsey and others against the United States for dam- , 

ages done to the schooner C. & C. Brooks.| 

On the lull (S. 1.589) for the relief of the legal representatives of William 

S. Robinson._... 

On the l)ill (S. 795) for the relief of George W. IMaher... 

On the bill (S. 548) for the relief of John C. Comfort... 

On the bill (S. 929) for the ludief of Robert Langston. 

On the bill (S. 1126) for the relief of Moses IVIyers.■ 

On the nuMtiorial of Mrs. C. M. Pritchard . 

On the petition of A. Burwcll ..; 

On the bill (S. 1668) for the relief of John M. Dorsey and William F. | 

She})ard...l. 

On the bill (H. R. 2885) for the relief of Mary C. Webber. 

On the jtetition of Armisted Burwell.: 



Vol. i No. 


1 i 552 

1 553 

1 ' 558 

1 I 559 

1 ! 560 

1 561 

1 ! 562 

1 i 563 

1 ' 564 

1 565 


2 I 

2'i 

2 


577 

593 

594 

604 

605 

614 

615 

616 

617 

618 

619 

620 
676 
695 
716 
722 


2 

2 

2 


745 

748 

751 


2 ! 753 

2 755 

2 785 

2 789 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


818 

819 

820 
821 
822 

823 

824 

825 

826 
829 

834 

835 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 


836 

837 

838 

839 

840 
845 

848 

849 


2 

2 

2 


853 

857 

858 













































































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XIX 


Sul)ject. 


Vol. 


On tlie I)ill (H. R. 1443) for the relief of John Adams, William B. Clift, 
David Dnnseath, William Killinger, J. F. Scott, administrator of the 
estate of Obadiah Scott, deceased, Davis C. Peak, Charles Linderman, 
James Linnane, Patrick Cavey, John McMahon, and James Gorman, 
administrator of the estate of Patrick Gorman, deceased. 


2 


COMMITTEE ON PATENTS. 


On the bill (S. 550) to authorize the Commissioner of Patents to hear 
and determine the application of Frederick Cook for extension of pat¬ 
ent . 

On bill S. 522 and the petition of Ira Gill.] 

On the bill (S. 521) for the relief of James D. Sarven.| 

On the petition of Helen Francis Manville (views of the miuoritj ). 

On the bill (S. 1430) for the relief of Daniel M. Cook. 

On the bill (S. 1607) to extend the patent issued to Charles H. Morgan, 

assignee of Edward L. Wilson..... 

On the petition of John Winslow Jones. 

On the memorial of E. N. Horsford (bill S. 371). 

On the bill (S. 1669) for the relief of Austin G. Day. 

On the bill (S. 1434) to compensate George W. Morse for his labor and 
expenses in adapting his system of breech-loading fire-arms and am¬ 
munition to the arms of the United States. 

On the bill (S. 1233) for the relief of David Hnestis. 


COMMITTEE ON TERPITORIES. 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 


2 

2 


On the bill (S. 1802) to establish a United States court in the Indian 
Territory. 


COMMIIMEE ON RAILROADS. 

On the bill (S. 1570) to aid in opening the Columbia River to free navi¬ 
gation . j 

To accompany amendment to H. R. 6471, sundry civil appropriation 
bill, in relation to the expediency of authorizing railroad companies j 
operating inter-State railroads to construct aud operate lines of tele¬ 
graph for commercial purposes, &c. 


COMMITTEE ON THE REVISION OF THE LAW'S. 


Ex])ediency of making provision for jmblishing a revision of the stat¬ 
utes of tiie United States (joint resolution S. Res. 59). 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR. 

On the bill (H. R. 4228) to promote the education of the blind. 

JOINT COMMITTEE ON THP] REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 


To accompany bill (S. 1491) to reduce and reorganize the Army of the 
United States, and to make rules for its government and regulation.. 


Joint committee to consider the expediency of transferring 
the Indian Bureau to the War Department. 

SELECT COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 'I'O THE SEABOARD. 

On the bill (S. 1422) to amend an act inaking api)ropriation8 for the 
re])air, ju’cservation, and completion of certain pulilic w'orks on rivers 
and harbors, approved March 3, 1875. 


No. 



I 

I 865 


I 554 
569 
! 570 

580 
675 

752 

756 

763 

854 


866 

869 


744 


782 


805 


730 


622 


I 555 

[ 

i 

j 

693 


781 







































XX 


INDEX TO REPORTS. 


Subject. 

Vol. 

No. 

! 

SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE BEST MEANS OF PREVENTING 
THE INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD OF EPIDEMIC DISEASES IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Oil the bill (S. 1784) to prevent the introduction of conta<?iou8 or infec¬ 
tious diseases into the United States, and to establish a bureau of 
public health_________ 

2 

i 

1 

' 

734 

SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE LEVEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

On the memorial of Prof. EdAvard Fontaine. 

2 

760 

Special committee to inw.stigate and report how or in what 
manner a section in the bill (H. R. 5130) knoAvn as the sundry civil 
bill, relating to the Hot Springs of Arkansas, jiassed at the last 
session of Congress, was omitted in the bill as enrolled, &c. 

2 

784 

Select committee to inquire into certain matters touching the 
late Presidential election in Louisiana.. 

2 

867 

select committee to inquire into alleged frauds and violence 

IN THE ELECTIONS OF 1878. 

Election in Louisiana in 1878 . 

4 

855 

Election in South Carolina andMississippi in 1878. 

4 

( 855, 

} pt. 2 


























I REPORTS OF COMMITTEES, BY WHOM MADE, AND FROM WHAT 

COMMITTEE. - • 


COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS. 


No 

By Mr. Wadleigli... 523 

By Mr. Cameron, of Wiscousin.. ' 707 


COMMITTEE ON EOREIGN RELATIONS. 


By Mr. MattlieAvs. 711 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 

! By Mr. Morrill. 712 

By Mr. Dawes. 624 

i By Mr. Jones, of NeA^ada. 827,828 

1 Bv Mr. Bayard. 741 

By Mr. Kernan. 733,750 


COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. 


By Mr. Patterson. 727 

By Mr. Si)encer. 735 

By Mr. Randolph. 856 


COMMITTEE ON MANUFACTURES. 


By Mr. McPherson. 728 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 

By Mr. Hoar.-.-. 765 


COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS. 


By Mr. Speneer .. 

By Mr. Burnside. 
By Mr. Wadleigh 
By Mr. Plumb ... 
By Mr. Cameron, 
By Mr. Cockrell . 
By Mr. Maxey ... 
By Mr. Butler.... 


.... 548,576, 607,608, 643,644,645,646,647,648,649,650,652, 699,700, 

701,702,703,704,705,739,740,770, 771, 860 

.549, 574,610, 611,612,653, 654, 713 

;.651, 655,694,790, 810 

.575,639, 640,657,772,773,787 

of Pennsylvania.641, 642,738 

.547, 5.57, 571,572, 573,774,775, 776,779, 780,786 

.579,606, 634,708,709,710, 715 

.609, 621, 635,724, 736, 809 


COMMITTEE ON NAA AL AFFAIRS. 


By Mr. Sargent. 

By Mr. Anthony. 

By Mr. Whyte. 

By Mr. McPherson. 

By Mr. Jones, of PJorida 


623, 625,673,674,717, 746,757 

...566, 567,788 

. 767,791 

. 626,799 

. 766 


COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY. 


By Mr. Edmunds. 

bV Mr. Davis, of Illinois.... 

By Mr. McDonald (views of the minority on Report 868). (See Senate Mis. 
Doc.', No. 21, Ist session. Forty-sixth Congress). 


868 
698,768 


742 


































XXII 


INDEX TO EEPORTS. 


COMMITTEE OX TOST-OFFICES AXD POST-EOADS. 


Bv Mr. Ferry...581, 678, 679, 783, 792, 814" 

By Mr. Hamliu...677,726,769 

By Mr. Burnside.680, 681,729, 777,778 \ 

By Mr. Bailey.737,762,801 | 

! 

I 


COMMITTEE OX PUBLIC LAXDS. 


By ]\Ir. Oglesby .. 

By Mr. Booth_ 

By Mr. Plumb ... 
By ]\Ir. McDonald 
By j\Ir. Grover ... 
By Mr. Garland .. 


732, 750 
556, 725 
638, 758 
578,743 
731 
706, 714 


COMMITTEE OX PEIVATE LAXD-CLAIMS. 


By Mr. Cliristaucy. 568 ; 

By Mr. Bayard. 761 | 

By Mr. Thurman.■. 764 


COMMITTEE OX INDIAX AFFAIRS. 


By Mr. Allison. 747 

By Mr. Oglesby. 749,754 


COMMITTEE OX PEXSIOXS. 


By Mr. Ingalls ... 

By ;Mr. Bruce_ 

By Mr. Kirkwood 
By Mr. Kellogg .. 
By Mr. Withers .. 

By Mr. Bailey_ 

By Mr. Voorhees . 


. 582,583 

.... 588,589, 601, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 697, 719, 850, 851, 863, 864 
.... 696, 721, 793, 794, 795, 796,797, 798, 800,806, 808, 831, 832, 846 

.584,585,586, 587, 613, 632, 687, 841, 842, 843, 844 

598, 599, 600, 602, 603, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 633,718, 802, 803, 804, 


807,833 

656, 658, 659, 660, 661,662, 663,664,665, 666, 667,668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 

682, 683,684,685, 686,720, 813, 815, 816 

-590,591, .592,595,596, 597,636, 637,723, 811, 812, 817, 830, 847, 852, 

859, 861, 862 


COMMITTEE OX CLAI:MS. 


By Mr. 
By Mr. 
By Mr. 
By Mr. 
By Mr. 

Bv Mr, 
By ^Ir. 
By Mr. 
By Mr. 


McMilian...564, 695, 857, 858 

Mitchell..560,561,676 

Cameron, of Wisconsin.553, 559, 563,722, 824, 825, 826, 865 

Teller..748:834,835 

Hoar.550,551, 552,558,751,7.55, 789, 818.819, 820, 821,822, 823, 836, 837, 838, 

839,840, b45, 848, 849, 853 

Cockrell.562, 593, .594, 604, 605, 616,785 

Hereford.565, .577, 617, 620, 745 

Harris.614, 615, 716, 753,829 

Morgan. 618,619 


COMMITTEE OX PATENTS. 

By Mr. Booth (views of the minority, 580). 

By Mr. Wadleigh. 

By ]\Ir. Hoar... 

By Mr. Eaton. 

By Mr. Morgan. 


675, 7.52,7.56 

8.54, 866,869 

763 

580 

5.54, .569, 570 


COMMITTEE OX TERRITORIES. 


By ]Mr. Patterson 


744 


COMMITTEE OX RAILROADS. 


By Mr. Mitchell 


782,805 












































INDEX TO REPORTS. 


XXIII 


COMMITTEE OX THE REVISION OF THE LA.WS. 


By Mr. Matthews. 730 

COMMITTEE OX EDUCATION AND LABOR. 

By Mr. Burnside. 022 


JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 

By Ml'. Burnside. .^>53 

JOINT COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THE EXPEDIENCY OF TRANSFERRING THE INDIAN 

BUREAU TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 

By Mr. Sauiuhu’s. 003 

SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE AND REI’ORT THE BEST MEANS OF PREVENTING 
THI-: INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD OF EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 

liy Mr. Harris. 734 


SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE LEVEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, 

liy Mr. liruce. 


700 


SPH.ECT COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION ROUTES TO THE SEABOARD. 

]iy Mr. Cameron, of Wisconsin. 781 

SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTKJATE AND REPORT HOM' OR IN WHAT MANNER A 
SECTION IN THE BILL (ll. R. 5130; KNOWN AS THE SUNDRY CIVIL BILL, RELATING 
TO THE HOT SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS, PASSED AT THE LAST SESSION OF CONGRESS, 
WAS OMITTED IN THE BILL AS ENROLLED, ETC. 

J>y Mr. Cameron, of Wisconsin . 784 

SELECT CO.MMITTEE TO INIiUIRE INTO ALLEGED FRAUDS AND VIOLPINCE IN THE ELEC¬ 
TIONS OF 1878. 

By Mr. Teller (in 2 parts). 855 

(Part 1, Louisiana.) 

(Part 2, South Carolina and Mississippi.) 

SELECT COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE INTO CERTAIN MATTERS TOUCHING THE LATE PRESI¬ 
DENTIAL ELECTION IN LOUISIANA. 


By Mr. Allison 

3 


867 












/ 


I; '.A 








45th Congress, ^ SENATE. ( Keport 

Session. i (No. 855. 


LOXJISIA.^^A. Iisr 1878. 


REPORT 

OF THE 


UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE 


ALLEGED FRAUDS AND VIOLENCE 


IN THE 

ELECTIONS OF 1878, 

WITH THE 

TESTIMONY AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


VOLUME I. 
LOUISIANA. 


■VASHIlSrGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1879 










THE LOUISIANA COMMITTEE, 


Senator H. M. TELLER, Chairman 
Senator ANGUS CAMERON 
Senator S. J. KIRKWOOD 
Senator A. H. GARLAND - 
Senator J. E. BAILEY 


Colorado. 

Wisconsin. 

Iowa. 

Arkansas. 

Tennessee. 


JAMES REDPATH - - - Clerh. 

W. E. CREARY , - - Sergeant-at-Arms. 

J. COVER } 

JAS. L. McCREERY I ' ~ ‘ Stenographers. 








CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 


I’age. 

Title. I 

Members of Louisiana committee. 11 

Keport of the committee. V 

Caddo Parish. 3 

Caddo Parish, supplementary. 589 

* Natchitoches Parish. 115 

Natchitoches Parish, supplementary. 484 

Tensas Parish. 169 

Tensas Parish, supihementary. 453 

Concordia Parish. 355 

Saint Mary’s Parish. 381 

Pointe Couple Parish. 411 

New Orleans Parish. 434 

t Louisiana State statistics. 564 

Documentary evidence. 597 

Index of testimony. 611 

Index of names. f29 


*See Vol. II, p. 763, for the testimony of ALfied Fairfax, of Tensajs Parish. It was taken in 'Wash¬ 
ington after this volume was in type. 

1 See testimony of Mr. Brown, Vol. II, p. 118. His evidence should have preceded these tables. 























--5Tn CoNCxTiEss, \ SEXATE. 

3d Se^'ision, i 

^-———-:rL_k-^v. jjd II 


( Eeport 
\ Xo. 855. 


IX THE SEXATE OF THE UXITEH STATES. 


FEJiKTARY *27, 1879.—Ordered to l>e }>riiited. 


IVIr. Teij.ek. froiii the Select Committee to im|uire into alle^»'e(l frauds 
ill tlie late elections, sulmiitted the following 


R E P 0 E T : 


LOriSIAXA AXD SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 

EEPORT OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE. 

On the 17th of December, 1878, the Senate passed the following reso¬ 
lutions : 

liesolved, That a select committee, to consist of i#ne Senators, he appointed hy the 
Cliair to imjnire and report to the Senate whether at the recent elections the consti- 
tntit)nal rights of American citizens were violated in any of the States of the Union; 
whether the right of suffrage of citizens of the United States, or of any class of such 
citizens, was denied or abridged by the action of the election officers of any State or 
of the United States, in refusing to receive their votes, in failing to count them, or in 
receiving and counting fraudulent ballots in pursuance of a conspiracy to make the law¬ 
ful votes of such citizens of none effect; and whether such citizens were prevented 
from exercising the elective franchise, or forced to use it against their wishes, by vio¬ 
lence or threats, or hostile dernonstratious of armed men or other organizations, or by 
any other unlawful means or ])ractices. The committee shall also inquire whether any 
citizen of any State has been dismissed or threatened with dismissal from employment 
or de])rivation of any right or privilege by reason of his vide or intention to vote at 
the recent elections, or has been otherwise interfered with. 

And to inquire Avhether. in the year 1878, money was raised, by assessment or other¬ 
wise, upon Federal office-holders or employes for election puriioses, and under what 
circumstances and by what means; and, if so, what amount was so raised and how 
the same was expended; and, further, whether such assessments were or not in vio¬ 
lation of la w. 

And shall inquire into the action and conduct of Ihiited States supervisors of elec¬ 
tions in the several States; and as to the number of marshals, deputy marshals, au<l 
others employed to take ])art in the conduct (d the said elections; in what State or 
city appointed ; the amount of money ])aid or promised to be paid to them, and how 
or by whom, and under what law authorized. 

Resolved, That the committee be further instructed to inqiiire and report whether 
it is within the coni})etency of Congress to proviile by ad<litional legislation for the 
more perfect security of the right of suffrage to citizens of the United States in all the 
States of the Union. 

Resolved, That in prosecuting these inquiries the committee shall have the right, 
by itself or by any subcommittee, to send for ]>ersons ami }>ai)ers, to take testimony, to 
ailrainister oaths, and to visit any i)ortion of the country when such visit may in their 
judgment facilitate the object of the inquiry. 

On the lOtli of December tlie Yice-President ai)poiiited Mv. Teller, 
Mr. Cameron of Wisconsin, 31r. Kirkwood, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Plumb, Mr. 
Eayard, Mr. Wallace, ]\Ir. Bailey, and Mr. Garland members of the se¬ 
lect committee authorized by the above resolutions. Mr. ]\Iitchell and 
Mr. Idumb, on their o\m motions respectively, Avere excused from serv¬ 
ice on the committee, and Mr. Hoar and .Mr. Me^Millan were apj)ointed 
to fill the vacancies oct'asioned thereby. 








VI 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


On the 3d of January, 1879, a subcommittee, consisting of the follow¬ 
ing members of the committee, to wit. Senators Teller, Cameron, Kirk¬ 
wood, Bailey, and Garland, left Washington, and, arriving in Kew Or¬ 
leans on the 6th of January, i^roceeded on the 7th to take testimony, 
which will be found in ‘‘ Senate Mis. Doc. Ko. , Forty-fifth Congress, 
third session.” 

On account of the limited time at the disposal of the committee the 
examination was not as full, nor is this report as complete, as would 
otherwise have been the case. The committee can but briefiy review the 
testimony taken, and refer to the principal conclusions wliich tliey con¬ 
sider may he fairly and legitimately drawn therefrom. 

LOUISIANA IN 1878. 

CADDO PARISH. 

In Caddo Parish, where the colored voters were largely in the major¬ 
ity, the registered vote being, in 1878, colored, 3,732, white, 1,496, 
there does not appear to have been any disposition on the part of the 
colored people to desert the Republican party; on the contrary, the evi¬ 
dence is quite conclusive that they were more than usually interested in 
the success of the ticket. The candidates on the Republican ticket were 
nearly aU young Avhite men, natives of the State, if not of the parish, 
against whom no comxfiaint was made, except that they were on the 
Republican ticket. There was some trouble during the camx>aign, grow¬ 
ing out of criticisms made on the language of the Republican speakers, 
who were charged with exciting the negroes by incendiary speeches. 
This was especially charged against A. H. Leonard, Dnited States attor¬ 
ney, who was canvassing that x>arish. The witnesses introduced by the 
minority do not materially difter from those introduced by the majority 
as to the language used by Mr. Leonard and other Republican speakers. 
Mr. Leonard testified as to his language as follow s: 

I stated to the peojile, white and hlack, my reasons for preferring the candidates 
placed in the field by the Republican party rather than by the Democratic party ; they 
were that the Republican candidates were yonng men ; or, to state it more intelligibly, 
those placed in the field by the Democratic party were men whose ideas had been fixed 
indelibly in their minds before the war came; men whose general modes of thouglit 
were identical with slavery itself; men who conld not rid themselves of the ideas and 
prejudices and feelings wliich they had before the war. On the contrary, the candi¬ 
dates of the Republican party were young men who had grown np sinee the war; who 
had become imbued with new ideas, and would accept the changed condition of affairs. 

Some allusion w as also made to the credit system, by w hich, the speaker 
claimed, the colored i)eople paid more for their supplies than they should. 

Mr. Moncure, the si)eaker of the house of representatives of the State 
of Louisiana, introduced by the minority, testified as follows: 

I heard, time and again, of Mr. Leonard’s speeches having given great offense to our 
people, for the n^ason that the peo])hi regarded these speeches as very incendiary, and 
calculated to bring very serious hazard upon their families, their'wives, aiuf their 
children. "J'lie negroes outnumbered us three to one, and in some parts of the parish 
five to one oi six to one; and our people are extremely sensitive when anything in¬ 
cendiary is sai<l to these m*groes, and they may have given expression to their very great 
objection to such speeches being indulged in. 

When asked to give the committee a sxtecimen of an incendiary si>eech, 
Mr. Moncure said : 

I understood that Mr. Lt*onard said great prejudice exist<Ml between the Democratic 
party and th(‘ Repnldican party; between the white people and the black people. 

Now,” he Mai<l, “ tln*se prejudi<-es ought to be got rid of. Some of the white Demo¬ 
crats, wlio liave been slave-holders in years gone by, have brought down to this pree- 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1S78, 


VII 


eiit day the prejudices of that time loii^ ago when they were slave-holders. And some 
of you colored people have your prejudices, too. You remeinher the time when you 
were hunted down by the slave-holder with dogs; you remeinher the time when your 
hacks were lashed hy the hull-whip ; and it is difficult for you to get rid of the preju¬ 
dices driven into you under such circumstances. But,” said he, “you must get rid of 
such prejudices.” He said the planters would huy provisions, such as hacon, for in¬ 
stance, at eight or ten cents jier pound, and sell it to the colored people for twenty or 
twenty-five cents per pound. They rent lands for $3 an acre, when they would sell 
them outright for less than that sum. 

And this the speaker of the house of representatives of the State of 
Louisiana said he considered an incendiary speech, and that it would be 
so considered by anybody. He further declared that it was considered 
incendiary to refer to those worst features of ante-bellum times. 

With restrictions of this character attempted to be put upon political 
discussion it is not strange that there should be more or less disturbance 
at nearly all the Republican meetings, as the Democrats almose invari¬ 
ably appeared and demanded to take part in the discussions. At some 
of these meetings the Republican speakers were compelled to desist from 
speaking on account of the interference of their opponents. 

The Democrats declared, through the press and othervdse, their de¬ 
termination to carry the election. They organized a rifle company and 
cavalry companies, claiming that such organizations were necessary for 
the protection of the white i^eople. In ward one, with its southern 
boundary within five miles of Shreveport, and its northern boundary 
on the Arkansas line, the voting-place was located at the extreme 
northern part of the ward, about thirty-five miles from its southern 
boundary. The registered vote in this ward was, colored 325, white 
15. Kineteen-twentieths of the voters were comi^elled to travel at 
least twenty miles, making a total trip of forty miles, tlirough swamps 
and across bayous, to deposit their ballots. In the ordinary stage of 
water it would have been impossible for the voters to have reached the 
poll except by a water-route of sixty miles. It is claimed by the Demo¬ 
crats that the Republicans, when in control of afiairs, had located the 
polling-place at the lower end of the ward, and thus discommoded the 
voters of the north end. The Rei)ublicans, on the contrary, insisted 
that there was at that time one voting-place in the northern part, and 
one in the southern. However this may be, the majority of the voters 
resided in the southern part of the ward. Notwithstanding the distance 
and the character of the country to be traversed, about three hundred 
voters made this tri}^, starting on Sunday night and reaching the polling- 
place early on the morning of election. Two hundred and seventy de¬ 
posited their votes for the Republican candidates. Rut after the most 
of the voters had left for home a band of armed white men took posses¬ 
sion of the ballot-box, and broke it up and destroyed the ballots, so no 
return was ever made from that voting-place. 

By the laws of the State of Louisiana, the names of all persons to be 
voted for are to be placed upon one ballot, and must be deposited in one 
box, if voted at the same poll. Claiming that the statutes required that 
the ward and parish officers should be voted for on a separate ticket, the 
authorities provided three boxes at all the voting-places except at WillisVs 
school-house. AVhen voters came to deposit their ballots they were told 
that they must separate their tickets into three parts; this, in most cases, 
the ignorant colored men were unable to do, and thus many of them 
were confused and discouraged, and lost their votes. 

The use of three boxes was a clear violation of the laws of Louisiana, 
and cannot be excused by the authvwities on the ground of ignorance of 


yiii 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


tlie law. Three boxes had never been used before, and doubtless will 
not be again. 

At Shreveport, on the day of election, the Eepublican leaders became 
alarmed, and fearing an outbreak, advised the colored people to go home 
and not attempt to vote; and they did so. The Democrats, however, 
deny th,at there was any danger of a collision between the wliites and 
the blacks at the poll. 

THE TROUBLE AT CALEDONIA. 

On the day of election there seems to liave been no outbreak at any 
of the polls except at Caledonia. The colored men testify to various in¬ 
terferences at this poll, but to no overt act until late in the afternoon. 
There is a conflict of testimony between the white and the black wit¬ 
nesses as to what did occur, and who are responsible for the trouble. It 
is alleged by the colored peoi)le that, without provocation, a white man 
shot a colored man, and that then the firing commenced that resulted 
in the killing of the negroes. On the other hand, the whites allege that 
the negroes had stored arms in the house of one Madison Eeams, near 
the voting-place, and that, fearing danger therefrom, the officers at¬ 
tempted to take the arms from the house, and were fired on by the col¬ 
ored people in the house, and that the whites returned the fire. 

Eeams’s house, in which it was said the arms were stored, was a small, 
one-story house, about sixteen or eighteen feet wide, and from ten to 
fifteen feet deep. Its occuiiants, Madison Eeams and his brother, were 
well-to-do farmers, having considerable personal property and some real 
estate in the parish. [Madison Eeams was a distributor of tickets at the 
poll, and candidate on the Eepublican ticket for justice of the peace; 
and was, as is shown by the testimony of both whites and blacks, ab¬ 
sent from the house when the trouble began. It appears from the testi¬ 
mony of the whites tliat Eeams was asked during the day if he had arms 
in his house. He replied that he had ; that some parties (colored) had 
threatened to burn his cotton-gin, and that he had got the arms to pro¬ 
tect his property. It appears that, in a store near the voting-place, the 
Avhites had a number of arms; but when they were placed there or by 
whom, does not ax)pear. 

The deputy sherifi', McXeal, who testified, alleged that he was ordered, 
about three o’clock in the afternoon, to go to the house of Eeams, across 
the street, and from sixty to seventy-five yards distant, and take pos¬ 
session of the arms ; that he was accompanied by three others, all un¬ 
armed ; that, while thus apxu’oaching the house, he Avas fired upon, and 
that then the firing commenced by the Avhites. It is, to say the least of 
it, very strange that the sherifi*, fearing to leuA^e the guns longer in the 
possession of the colored people lest they might use them against the 
Avhites, should attempt to disarm such dangerous characters by a small 
force of unarmed men. He says, as an excuse for not being armed, “I 
did not anticipate trouble; did not think of it.” He adds that he re¬ 
turned to the polls and ordered them closed for the time; that then 

there was promiscuous shooting”; that the negroes made an advance, 
and came Avithin two hundred yards of the polls. Xo other witness tes¬ 
tifies to this advance, nor to any attemiit on the X)art of the colored 
people to defend themselA es after the firing commenced. The deputy 
sheriff was slightly wounded, as was one AoiAvood, who, according^ 
to the testimony of some of the witnesses, was active in bringing on 
the trouble, if he did not* fire the first shot—although this he stoutly 
denies. Two colored men were killed at the voting-place, and a hunt 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


IX 


for Tiogroes tlien appears to liave coiunienced; and if the deputy sherift 
is to be believed, twenty were killeil that night and the next day. They 
were left, as shown by the testimony of wliite men, along the road wher(b 
they were shot, unbnried. 

Almost immediately after the affray at Caledonia, as shoA\ n by the 
testimony of white participants in the affair, twelve or lifteeiir armed 
men came from Atkins’s Landing, across the river. After dark a squad 
of tifteen to twenty arrived from lliverdale; and about one o’clock that 
night quite a large squad from Ked River Parish, another from Bossier, 
and a smaller body, twelve or fifteen men, from IJe Soto Parish, and as 
these armed men were assembled in a sparsely-settled country there ap¬ 
pears to be great reason to suppose that some preparations had been, 
made with reference to the outbreak at Caledonia before it occurred. 
Just how long the hunt for negroes was keiff up it is imi)ossible to say. 
The testimony of the deputy sheriff’ justifies the conclusion that it con¬ 
tinued all the next day, if not longer. The colored people offered no 
resistance, and api)ear to have fled from their cabins to the swamps and 
other hiding-places for safety, where they remained for several days j 
indeed, many have never returned. The dead were buried by the 
women; and it is a noticeable fact that of i^risoners and wounded there 
were none. It is stoutly contended by the white witnesses who were 
participants in the affray, that the colored people commenced the shoot¬ 
ing • this, however, is as stoutly denied by the colored j^eople. A careful 
examination of the e vidence of both white and colored cannot fail to con¬ 
vince any fair-minded person, we think, that the colored i)eople were 
not the aggressors. The arms, it is said, were in Reams’s house; 
but Reams was at the poll, as was also his brother. It is plain that 
there was no organized movement on the part of the colored peo- 
l)le. The house was unfit for defense, and the deputy sheriff* swears 
that the front and back doors were both open, and that he could see 
through the house. Reams’s wife and children are shown by the testi¬ 
mony of the whites to have been in the house at the time of the alleged 
firing by the colored people. Reams and his brother, who occupied the 
house, were property owners, and had every inducement to keep the 
peace, and none to bring on a collision with the better armed and cour¬ 
ageous whites. The fact that Reams’s wife and children were in the 
house and the doors were open, in front and back, plainly indicated that 
the occupants did not anticipate trouble. Xo whites were killed, and 
only two wounded; and it is the theory of the colored people that they 
were injured by theii* own friends. 

Notwithstanding the fact that two colored men were killed and two 
whites wounded before the polls closed, yet the deputy sheriff* says it 
was the most peaceful election he ever saw. 

The result of the election in Caddo was declared by the Democratic 
officials to be as follows: Democratic candidate for Congress, 1,815; Re¬ 
publican candidate, 270; Democratic majority, 1,536. 

MAKING WAY WITH UNITED STATES WITNESSES. 

In December, subpoenas were issued by the United States court at 
New Orleans for Lot Clark and William A\"hite (colored), who were at 
Caledonia on the day of election. These witnesses had resided at Shreve¬ 
port smce the election until the 21st day of December, when, in obedi¬ 
ence to the subpoenas, they took the steamer Danube for NeAV Orleans. 
The next morning, when some distance below Caledonia, the boat was 
run into the shore at an unusual landing-place, and a gang of armed 


X ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

men came on tlie boat and, under cover of a warrant in the bands of a 
negro constable named Jeff. Cole, took the witnesses White and Clark 
from the boat. The warrant has date IS^ovember 12, and was issued by 
a justice of the peace at Shreveport. The two witnesses were taken off 
of the boat in the manner before stated; and the sequel can be better 
told in the language of the constable, who made an affida^dt before the 
United States commissioner. He says, after detailing the arrest (page 
005): ^‘At a point near Tone’s Bayou, in the woods, he was met by a 
party of armed men, masked and without coats or shoes, all of whom 
were unknown to him, who told him to leave the road, which he did. 
He left the prisoners with them, and does not know what became ot 
them afterward.” Nothing has been heard of these men since that time. 

It does not appear that these men had been guilty of any crime, nor 
that they were active participants in the Caledonia affair; but they were 
eye-witnesses of that tragedy, and they were doubtless killed by their 
<?aptors to prevent their evidence being given before the United States 
vourts. As these men might at any time after the occurrence at Cale¬ 
donia have been arrested at Shreveport, the inference is very strong 
that they would not have been molested if they had not been summoned 
as witnesses as to that affray. 

NATCHITOCHES PAEISH. 

The population of this parish, as shown by the census of 1870, was as fol 
lows: Whites, 7,312; colored, 10,929. As shown by the census of 1875, 
taken by State authorities, whites, 5,907, colored, 15,404. The vote cast 
at the last election for member of Congress was, for the Hemocratic can¬ 
didate, 2,819, for the Eepublican candidate, none. For State represent¬ 
atives, Democratic candidates, 2,811, Eepublican candidates, none. 

On the 21st of September last the Eepublicans held a ward meeting 
in a building formerly occupied as a store for the purpose of electing 
officers of the ward club. At this meeting from 100 to 150 persons were 
present, among whom were Dr. Breda, a regular practicing physician, 
his brother, a lawyer (both ex-Confederate soldiers), Mr. Barron, Mr. 
Boullt, and several other white men, all natives of the State or of other 
Southern States, and all identified with its material interest. There was 
also present the Eev. A. E. Blount, a Baptist minister, who owned con¬ 
siderable property, including a dwelling-house in the town of Natchi¬ 
toches. There is no controversy as to what was done at this ward meet¬ 
ing. Several short speeches were made, officers of the club were elected, 
and the meeting adjourned. 

On the same day the Democratic party held a nominating convention 
at the court-house, about three-fourths of a mile from the place where the 
Eepublican ward meeting was held. About the time the Eepublican 
meeting adjourned the Democratic convention took a recess, as Mr. J. 
Cunningham, a Democratic member of the legislature, swore, “because 
the Democratic convention was excited over the rumors of difficulty with 
the colored i)eople. After the recess was taken some one moved that 
we should go down to their meeting, instead of waiting for them to 
come up, and disperse the mob. After this I was elected cai)tain of the 
crowd.” The Eepublicans allege that a resolution was passed in the 
convention to adjourn until evening, and to go and break up the Eepub¬ 
lican meeting. This appears by Cunningham’s testimony to be substan¬ 
tially what was done. When it was determined to go and disperse the 
Eepublican meeting, Cunningham says he requested everybody to go 
home and get tlieir arms; that when they arrived at tlie place where the 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XI 


Republican ineetinc,' was held the meeting had dispersed, but that the 
colored peo])le were gathered in knots, and that they manifested a defi¬ 
ant spirit, &c. 

i The Rei)ublican witnesses assert that the whites from the Democratic 
j convention met a large number of the colored peopje going home from 
I the meeting; that the whites were about twenty in number, and armed 
i with pistols, shot-guns, and rities, and that they stationed themselves in 
I the street in such a way as to bar the progress of the men returning 
i home from the Republican meetiug; that they commanded the colored 
ji people to halt, and the order was given to dro]) any man in his tracks 
j who attempted to pass ; that at this time a large number of armed men 
were seen coming from the vicinity of the Democratic meeting; whereupon 
} the colored men and white men who had been at the Republican meeting 
I were compelled to go back and reach their homes by another way. 
j Blount, who was x)astor of a colored Baptist church of over five hun¬ 
dred members, and the president or moderator of an association of aBOiit 
! fifty Baptist chuixdies, went to his home by such a route that he did not 
I meet the crowd going down to the Republican meeting. Soon after en- 
i tering his house he was notified by his friends that the white peojile 
1 were after him. An armed body of men, under the leadership of Mr. J. 

! Cunningham, came and demanded that he should surrender; this he 
! refused to do for some time, when Cunningham ordered the house 
broken open, and it was done. Blount’s wife and daughter were taken 
! to the jail. (Cunningham says they were taken to the jail for j^rotection.) 

; Blount, on the promise of protection, surrendered and was taken to jail, 
i where he remained until late at night, and was then sent out of the 
parish after having promised never to return. He affirms that it was a 
l>art of the plan to murder him as he was leaving the parish, and that 
he escaped by traveling through the woods and not on the highway. 
The Democratic convention reassembled in the evening, and Mr. J. 
Cunningham was nominated for the house of representatives of the 
State of Louisiana, and elected without opposition. 

The next day the mayor of the city called on the two Bredas, and noti¬ 
fied them, on behalf of the committee, that they must leave the town at 
once, otherwise their families and property would not be safe. The Bre¬ 
das left and went to Shreveport, where they remained until summoned be¬ 
fore the United States court at New Orleans, in December. Y. A. Barron 
(who was also in the Confederate army, a native of Mississippi, but re¬ 
siding in Louisiana from the time he was eleven years old), hearing of 
the difficulty Blount was in, left town and went into the country, where 
he remained concealed for nine or ten days. When he returned, he was 
notified by Cunningham that he also had been ordered to leave; but 
Cunningham agreed to submit the question to tlie Democratic committee, 
to see if he could not be allowed to remain. He was subsequently noti¬ 
fied by Cunningham that the committee would not make any distinction, 
and he must go also. Cunningham, however, notified Jiim that he might 
go to his brother’s, about 30 miles distant, and when the election was 
over he would advise him whether it was sate for him to return or not. 
The president of the Rex)ublican club, one Roby, was also ordered to 
leave, and did leave the parish. 

About the time the crowd was hunting for Blount, some parties went 
to the house of John G. Lewis, the secretary of the Republican club, 
evidently to seize him, but he escaped into the weeds, and kei)t con¬ 
cealed until late in the day, when he was notified that he must go to the 
court-house and stand his chance with Blount. He thought best to 
leave, and did so that night. 



XII 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


J. K. Hornsby, a Confederate soldier, and a native of Louisiana, who 
had been a justice of the peace since 1 S(j8, v as reappointed by (tovernor 
]Nicholls after he came into power. Hornsby had t)een a lleiJublican 
since 1807. He was called upon by a subconiniittee api)ointed by the 
Democratic ])arish central committee, and a member ol the committee 
read to him an a^neement which they requested him to sign. The agree¬ 
ment was substantially as Ibllows: ‘‘That he should not speak to any 
nigger in regard to politics; that he should not interfere in regard to 
])olitics in any manner, shai)e, or form during the cam]>aign ; and that 
he should not v rite any speeches nor aspire to otlice.” Jle asked the 
consequence if he did not sign. They replied, “ You know what became 
of Blount and others; if you do not sign the articles you must leave the 
parish.’’ He declined to sign, and Avas compelled to leave the i)arish, 
although he presented the ai)pearance, Avhen before the committee, of 
being in the last stages of consumption. He Avent to Ycav Orleans, and 
filed an attidaAut with Governor ]Nicholls detailing the tacts in his case. 
About one month after That he Avas aiiested, charged Avith an assaidt 
with intent to murder, and Avas, at the time he testified, confined in the ! 
jail at NeAv Orleans. He denied that he had been guilty of an assault 
as charged. i 

The leaders of the Eepublican party having been all driven from the 
parish, no llepublican ticket was j)ut in the field, and the Democratic 
candidates were credited Avith all the Amtes cast. 

The conduct of Cunningham and his associates is attem])ted to be 
justified by Cunningham, by saying that no political advantage was i 
sought; that it was only an eifort to protect the toAvu against the colored ^ 
people, headed by the Bredas, Barron, Blount, and otliers. He SAvears 
that they had heard, before the recess was taken by the (?on\^ention, 
that Blount had said he would bulldoze the Democratic coiiA^ention, and j; 
if any trouble followed he would burn the toAvn, X:c.; that after Blount 
was taken to jail he (Cunningham) ordered a guard to be stationed at 
what was called Dirt Bridge ; that this guard was attacked by 150 to i 
200 colored men; that the guard fired fourteen shots, and the colored 
people sixteen; and that three or four colored peoi)le Avere Avounded, ’ 
but no whites were hurt. As no Avitness testifies to the attacik except 
Cunningham, it may AAdl be doubted, as unsupported by evidence, and 
contrary to the well-knoAvn character of the colored people of Louisiana, 
as given by all the witnesses avIio testified on that subject. 

Tliere is no reason to suppose that any of the parties driA en from the 
town by Cunningham and his party did not feel as much interest in the 
safety of the toA\ n as he, and that if it had been burned and sactked they 
would not have lost quite as much as he. Xor is there anything in the 
testimony offered before the committee that aa ould justify the (*ouclusion 
that these men would be guilty of the crime of burning the toAvu. J. E. 
Breda had a family living in the toA\ n, and he testifies that at the time it 
is said he was plotting to burn it, he had his office in the most exi)osed 
part of the place, and had in it eAudence of indebtedness, belonging to j 
himself and family, of not less than ten thousand dollars. His father^ | 
aged 71 years, lived in the town; his mother and minor brother, as well \ 
as the doctor, lived Avith his father, wliile his two married sisters lived i 
near by. Blount oaa ned a liouse valued at four thousand dollars, and had i 
personal property besides; he Avas the pastor of a church, and against his ^ 
character nothing can be said. William M. Lca y, avIio rei)resented that * 
district in Congress, a Democrat, testified that Blount had iieAW been ( 
charged Avith crime, or any offense of a criminal character. He also tes- \ 
ified that no accusation ol crime was made against any of the men driA^'en i 









LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


XIII 


away, otlier than the offeii.^ive position assiiine<l by the crowd on that 
occasion. 

No evidence was produced before the coinniittee of any improper con¬ 
duct by any person connected with the Kepublican meeting. Even 
Ounningham pretended to know of nothing, only wliat had occurred 
before the meeting convened. Cunningham’s testimony should be taken 
with great allowance. He was the principal actor in one of the most 
disgraceful occurrences ever iiermitted in a civilized land, and his anxiety 
to shield himself and to tind excuse for his outrageous ])roceedings can 
be seen in all his testimony. He attempted to defame Blount’s charac¬ 
ter by swearing that he understood Blount was not married to the woman 
he claimed as his wife; but when confronted with the marriage certifi¬ 
cate, he was compelled to admit that he was misinformed on that point. 

After the election the two Bredas were informed that they might re¬ 
turn to Natchitoches, ])rovided they Avouhl sign an article admitting that 
^Hhey had been guilty of massing a negro mob on the 21st of September, 
under their leadershii), with others, with the avowed purpose of break¬ 
ing up a peaceable meeting of Democratic citizens, then being held at 
the court-house in the city of Natchitoches, and, failing therein, to burn 
and destroy the said city, and murder and outrage its inhabitants.” They 
were also to admit that they had been charitably exiled, and that their 
]>unishment Avas just.' This the Bredas refused to do, and are still in 
exile. Should they return to their homes, the treatment they are likely 
to receiA e from Cunningham and his associates can be readily seen by 
reading the testimony of Cunningham on page 526 of the evidence taken 
in this inA estigation." That these men were driA^en from their homes for 
the purpose of i)reventing the Bepublicans from putting a ticket in the 
field no man familiar aa ith the facts can deny. No excuse can be made 
that these leaders Avere either car])et-baggers or ignorant colored men, 
for the white men so drHen aA\ay were natives of either Louisiana or 
Mississippi, and the colored men are equ d in intelligmice to any of the 
witnesses produced before the committee by the defenders of this out¬ 
rageous proceeding. Tlie exiling of these men was not only a crime 
against the State of Louisiana, but a crime against the Government of 
the United States. The State of Louisiana, up to this time, has made 
no effort to punish the offenders, or to protect her citizens, should they 
return to their homes, against further outrages of the same character. 

TENSAS PATHSH 

By the census of 1870 the population of this parish was, AAdiites, 1,400; 
colored, 11,018. By the State census of 1875 the population Avas, whites, 
1,417; colored, 17,100. GoA^ernor Nicholls says, in his last message, that 
the proportion of the (‘olored to the white population is ten to one. It 
is a planting region, Avithout any toAA ns of any considerable size. A large 
number of aa itnesses were examined who testified to disturbances in 
this parish. Among these were a number of ex-confederate soldiers 
and planters, men of i^roperty and character. 

As to Avhat did occur tliere is but little controversy among the wit¬ 
nesses, although they do not agree as to the cause of the disturbances. 
About the first of October the colored Bepublicans began to prepare for 
a political campaign. A convention was called to meet on the 5th. At 
this convention it Avas found that Avhite men wdio had, before that, acted 
with the party had determined not to accept nominations at the hands 
of the Bepubiicans; and it Avas reported to the convention that leading 
Democrats had nuule threats against the colored people if they attempted 


XIV 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS 


to run a Kepublican ticket. For these reasons it was detei niined by 
the coiiA^ention not to nominate a ticket, but to apjtoint a eomniittee to 
confer with the Deniocratic convention to be held on the 7th of October 
to see if a compromise ticket could not be formed and put in the neld. 
After the appointment of the committee the convention adjourned until 
the following- Monday. The (*ommittee so appointed was composed of 
colored men, and at the head of it was Alfred Fairfax, who was a Bap¬ 
tist preacher, a man of great influence among the colored people, and a 
candidate foi- the unexpired term of tlie Forty-fifth Congress. 

Fairfax and his committee attended the Deniocratic convention on the 
7th and presented their proposition. The convention, after considering 
the matter, determined not to confer with the Kepublican committee, 
and so notified Fairfax. The Democratic convention then iiominated 
0. 0. Cordill for the legislature and John llegister for sheriff. Cordill 
was at that time the parish judge and Kegister the sheriff, both having 
been elected by the Kepubli(*ans. Tlie result of their nominations was 
an independent movement by some Democrats, at the head of which 
was one Bland, who was a candidate for sheriff. With him was asso¬ 
ciated one Douglass, and the ticket is referred to liy the witnesses as the 
Bland and Douglass ticket. 

This ticket was composed of whites, Avith one exception, and that was 
for a minor office. The whites on the ticket had all been soldiers in the 
Confederacy. All Avere men of luoperty and (*hara(*ter, and all were 
niemocrats; but they Avere not in sympathy Avitli the Demo(*ratic execu¬ 
tive committee, whiidi supported the ticket on which Cordill and Reg¬ 
ister were placed. It appears at first to have been the intention of the 
Bland and Douglass party to support Alfred Fairfax for the short teriii 
in Congress. The colored people had iiCA^er been in the habit of nomi¬ 
nating a ticket composed Avholly of colored people, and were soiucaa hat 
demoralized at the treachery (as they regarded it) of Cordill and Reg¬ 
ister; and on Saturday, the Kith of October, quite a large number of 
colored people met to confer as to the course to be pursued and the 
candidates to be nominated on the 14th. At that conference there Avere 
a number of white Democrats who were opposed to the regular Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. It was determined that the Bland and Douglass ticket 
should be adopted as the ticket of the coua ention to be held on the lltli 
of October. 

Fairfax lived near Waterproof, in the lower part of the parish. On 
Saturday niglit, about 8 or 9 o’clock, a band of armed men, vaiiously 
estimated at from twenty-fiA^e to thirty, went to the house of Fairfax 
They were under the command of one J. S. Peck, Avho lived in the Con¬ 
gressional district, but not in the parish. A portion of the force re¬ 
mained in the road, and Peck and a few others invaded the house of 
Fairfax, who, on their entrance, fled out of the back door, followed by 
bullets from Peck’s pistol. A young colored man by the name of Sin¬ 
gleton, who Avas in the house, was shot by Peck; and as he lay on the 
floor several others shot him also. He subsequently died. A man by 
the name of Branch crawled under the bed, but was pulled out and shot 
through the arm and in the back. He was before the committee, and 
A\ ill be a cripple for life. One Kennedy, Avho ran to the Avindow, was 
shot frsm the outside by buckshot, and dangerously Avounded. Several 
Avomen in the house made their escape. It appears that Avhen the firing 
began in the house the men outside fired into the house through the 
wiudoAvs. Peck, during the excitement that folic wed, Avent out of the 
house, and was killed, as near as can be ascertained, on the gallery. 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. XV 

He was niidoubtedly killed Uy his own men while they were firing into 
the house. 

Fairfax was at once charged with the killing of Peck, and although 
Peck had come a distance of twenty-three to twenty-five miles from his 
residence, and assembled a body of armed men from Catahoula and 
Tensas, and made the attilck on Fairfax in the most wanton and unpro¬ 
voked manner, he was the object of sympathy, and Fairfax was com¬ 
pelled to leave the neighborhood, and if taken would doubtless have 
been killed by the whites. Cordill, the ])arish judge, peace officer, and 
Hemocratic candidate for the legislature, the next morning telegrai)hed 
to Governor ^Nichols as follows: 

October 13, 1878. 

J. S. Peck was iiinrdered by Fairfax, <*olor<‘d candidate for Congress. He (Fairfax)' 
is trying to excite the negroes to violence. The sheritt* has a warrant and is search¬ 
ing for him. 

No evidence was offered to prove that Fairfax had attempted to ex¬ 
cite the negroes to violence, and his character was not assailed before 
the committee by either whites or blacks. All the evidence shows that 
up to the night of the 12th of October the community was quiet and 
orderly, and only disturbed by the threats of a few men, made against 
the colored people in case a Pepublican ticket should be nominated. 
The report was first circulated that Fairfax had been killed j and on 
Monday, the day the Pepublican convention was to assemble, the colored 
people in large numbers, as is the custom, started for the convention. 
Owing to the rigid quarantine regulations, they were not permitted to 
go to Saint Joseph, the county town, and were compelled to hold their 
convention in another place. At their convention they indorsed the 
Bland and Douglass ticket. Many of the colored people who started for 
the convention did not find the place ot holding it, and were more or less 
disturbed by this fact, and because it appeared to them to indicate a 
determination of the leaders of the regular Democratic party to prevent 
them from holding a convention. 

It is claimed hy two witnesses that on Monday, the 14th, a number of 
negroes appeared in Waterproof and made threats against the people 
and the town; but the evidence is not of such a character as to estab¬ 
lish the charge, and it is denied by the colored people. On Sunday, it 
is said, a number of colored people assembled near Waterproof, at a 
place called Basses Lane. CordiU says, in his report to the governor, 
that there were about 400 of these men, and that he, with three others, 
rode through the crowd without any interference whatever. The sheriff 
(the candidate for re-election) went to Waterproof on Sunday with a 
small body of men, 8 or 10, and does not appear to have met with any 
obstruction. He returned the same night to Saint Joseph, which is 
about 14 miles distant. 

On Monday, Cordill, accompanied by a citizen, went to Waterproof 
and returned to Saint Joseph unharmed. On Tuesday, the sheriff and 
Cordill, at the head of about fifty armed men, left Saint Joseph for 
Waterproof, and when near there, at a place called Bass’s Lane, the 
sheriff’s posse fired into the colored quarters, and, Cordill says, killed 
eight and wounded others. It is asserted by Cordill and his friends 
that the colored people fired first. Only one witness swore to that, and 
his story is quite improbable, at least; while another witness, whose 
ox)portunity to know what did take place was excellent, and who was 
a member of the sheriff’s posse, swears that he heard no shots from the 
colored people at all, and that the first shot fired was from the posse, 
and at command of its officer. He also swears that no colored people 


XVI ALLEGED FRAUDS IK THE LATE ELECTIONS 

€Ould be seen until after the firing*, and that they dispersed and ran 
down the lane, and that he only saw a dozen or so. This witness also 
says that none were killed, and but three or four wounded. There is 
no evidence to justify the belief that any were killed at that time. ]>o 
white men were hurt. 

From this time until election, bodies of armed white men appeared 
from the neighboring parishes, riding through the county, committing 
outrages on the colored people. Some were whipiied, some were shot, 
and some were hung. Many were killed without any provocation on 
their part. ' Some of these raiding forces were under the deputy sheriff, 
and some were under the command of J. Floyd King, the Democratic can¬ 
didate for Congress. With Cordill, the committing magistrate, and the 
sheriff in command of these bodies of nnanthorized troops, there was 
but little show for the colored men or for the Bland and Douglass ticket. 
Colored men were threatened with death if they supported that ticket. 
Many of the leading colored men left the parish during the excitement; 
among the rest the postmaster at Waterproof, who still remains away. 
It was in evidence before the committee that not less than 500 armed 
white men came into Tensas Parish from Franklin, Catahoula, Concordia, 
and other parishes between the 12th of October and election-day. In 
addition to these, a company came from Mississii^pi, bringing with them 
a cannon; but that company appears not to have been guilty of any 
outrages. 

While these armed bodies were raiding the parish the colored people 
were greatly excited, and very many fled to the woods. One witness 
swore that four men from his plantation died from exposure in the 
swamps', and that all the colored labor was for a time almost useless to 
the planters. It is impossible to say how many colored people lost their 
lives through this campaign. One witness gave the names of fifteen 
killed and two wounded; and this list did not include those who died 
from exposure; nor does it include the killed in the adjoining parish of 
Concordia, which Governor Nicholls says was eight. One witness swears 
that he thinks 70 to 80 were killed. 

The white men who were supporting the Bland and Douglass ticket 
were the objects of the ill-will of the raiders and regular Democrats, 
quite as much as the colored people. One Elijah Warfield, an ex-Con- 
federate colonel, appears to have taken command of the military part of 
the Bland and Douglass organization. He testified that on two ocea- 
sions the supporters of the Bland and Douglass tickets fortified with cot¬ 
ton bales, preparing for an attack from the raiders; that threats had 
been made against them, and that they thought the attack was to be 
made, because these men were in the neighborhood, under the command 
of a deputy sheriff. When asked if his party would have fought, he re¬ 
plied assuredly; had they come, not one would have got away; 

we were better armed than they, and were the better men.” He also 
testified, as did others, that one of the raiding parties, under command 
of a deputy sheriff, came into his neighborhood with a warrant for the 
arrest of three of the leading colored men. Speaking of the deputy 
sheriff in command, he says: 

He gave us the names of the men he had come to arrest. I asked him what they 
had done; and he said he did not know ; that he had simply been ordered to arrest 
them; and to take them to Saint Joseph. I believed this was done for political pur- 
poses. I did not believe then, and I don’t believe now that it was done for anything 
else. We read a protest, and told him we would not submit to anythiuo- of the sort • 
that this was pushing the thing a little too far. I am satisfied the men hSd committed 
no crime except that they supported our ticket. I thought our party ought to have 




LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XVII 


manhood enough to protect the men who had served us, and we intended to do it. 
This protest was signed by twelve white Democrats, who would have kept their word 
if the arrest had been attempted. 

The excitement ran so high that no political meetings api)ear to have 
been held, as the armed troops, in nimd^er from twenty-live to seventy- 
five, would appear in the neighborhood and frighten the people so they 
would not attend a x)olitical meeting. Warfield, Bland, McGill, and 
others, all white men, and supporters of the Bland and Douglass ticket, 
swore that threats were made against them because they would not sup¬ 
port the regular Democratic ticket. All these men appear to be men of 
character and worthy of belief. 

The election resulted in the triumph of the regular Democratic ticket, 
although the Bland and Douglass men believed that they were cheated 
out of their ballots by the regular party, as it had all the machinery of the 
election. Although they supposed they had cast nearly five hundred 
ballots more than the regular Democratic party, as they kept a tally, they 
found on the canvass tliat they were beaten by fifteen or twenty. At 
one ward where the Independents voted about three hundred and fifty, 
they were credited with only fifteen. Says one witness, They told us 
if they could not win by voting they would by counting.” (Page 171.) 

It cannot be doubted that the attack on Fairfax, on the 12th of Octo¬ 
ber, by Peck and his men, was for the purpose of preventing the colored 
people on the Monday following from indorsing the Bland and Douglass 
ticket. The Democratic convention on the 7th had refused to confer 
with the colored people as to a comi)romise ticket; the colored men in 
their convention on the 5th had declared by resolution that it was not 
prudent to nominate a colored ticket; and no white Kepublican would 
accept a nomination. It was therefore i>retty certain that the Bland 
and Douglass ticket would be indorsed. Besides, Fairfax was the Ee- 
publicaii candidate for the short term to the Forty-fifth Congress; and 
his death would not only dispose of him as a candidate, but would doubt¬ 
less have prevented the nieeting of the convention on the 14th. 

The Democratic leaders of Tensas Parish deny that Peck went to the 
house of Fairfax with any illegal intent. The chairman of the Demo¬ 
cratic executive committee of that parish declared before the committee 
that he thought Peck’s mission was in the interest of peace. (Page 288.) 
He says, In short, I consider it to have been a mission of peace on the 
part of those who came.” How unreliable the testimony of such men 
must be can be readily understood by an examination of the facts on 
which the chairman of the Democratic executive committee, a lawyer 
of mature age, bases his opinion. All the witnesses agree that the first 
thing that Peck said was, “ Where is Fairfax"?” and then replied, Yon¬ 
der goes the s-,” and immediately fired. A moment after¬ 

wards he was firing his revolver in the body of young Singleton, who 
was unarmed. Branch and Kennedy next receive the shots of this mur¬ 
derous crew. And yet it is the theory of the Democratic chairman that 
theirs was a peaceful mission, and these men were high-minded gentle¬ 
men. 

A warrant was at once issued for Fairfax, who appears to have been 
guilty of nothing, unless it was a crime to refuse to be shot by these 
ministers of peace under the leadership of Peck. Goa ernor Nicholls, in 
his message to the legislature of Louisiana, on the Oth of January last, 
says (page G02): ^‘The visit of these men to Fairfax was utterly wrong, 
in" my opinion, Avithout justification; and, while attempted to be jus¬ 
tified on the ground that they went in the interest of peace to expostu¬ 
late against a proposed rumored attempt of the colored people to force 

S. Eep. 855-ii 




XVIII 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


the quarantine lines at the town of Saint Joseph, I am satisfied that such 
was not tlie purpose, but that it had a political object. 1 do not believe 
the purpose was to kill Fairfax, but I do believe it was to influence his 
course in the political cain])aign in the parish.” What follows the gov¬ 
ernor attenii)ts to justify or excuse by the statement that large bodies of 
armed colored men paraded through the parish, while the whites were 
unprepared for a conflict that they feared. The testimony taken by. the 
committee does not justify the governor in this statement. It is not 
proved by any reliable witness that bodies of colored i^eople were found 
anywhere, either armed or unarmed, after Monday, the 14th of October; 
and there is no pretense on the part of any one that there were any after 
the 15th; and the greater i)art of the whipping, killing, and intimida¬ 
tion x^racticed was long after that. 

No ettbrt has been made by the State authorities to imnish the offend¬ 
ers, whether they are white or black. If Fairfax and his associates are 
guilty of what is charged they should be brought to punishment. If, on 
the other hand, they were the unoffending parties, those whites who thus 
murdered and plundered should be brought to a speedy trial, and should 
receive the punishment they so richly deserve. A tragedy that results 
in the death of fifteen men in one county, and eight in another, ought 
certainly to call for an investigation in a civilized country. But no in¬ 
vestigation has been made by either local or State authorities to de¬ 
termine where the blame rightfully belongs. 

CONCOEDIA PAEISH. 

This i^arish, which adjoins Tensas, had, by the census of 1870, a popula¬ 
tion of whites, 720; colored, 9,257. By the State census of 1875, it had a 
population of whites, 073; colored, 10,794. 

This parish appears to have been seriously aflected by the condition 
of affairs in Tensas; and raiding parties overrun the parish, as they did 
Tensas. The coroner testified that he had held inquests on six men that 
had been hung. At least one other was hung, and others were killed, over 
whom no inquest was held. One of the armed bodies of men, in i)ass- 
ing through the parish, took six horses belonging to the colored people, 
and never returned them. 

The people were greatly excited over the incursion of these armed 
bodies of men, and went into the towns for protection, or fled to the 
swamps. The general condition of affairs was not unlike that of Tensas. 
On the day of election it is comx>lained that the voters were prevented 
from voting on the pretense that their names Avere not on the register. 

At Frogmore some armed men took possession of the ballot-boxes, 
broke them up, and destroyed the ballots. 

David Young, an intelligent colored man, said (page 371): have 

lost all confidence in the ability of the administration to protect the lives 
of my people doAAui here, and I have made np my mind to leaA^e the place, 
or to leave out politics, or join the Avorst bulldozers there are. We have 
• men like Mr. Walton” (a member of the legislature from that county, 
who Avas present) ‘‘there, that disapprove of anv such thing as bull¬ 
dozers, of course. Truthfully speaking, we have not more than five 
Democrats in our parish, and have not had since the Avar. None of 
them aj^proA^ed of killing at all. Still, Mr. AYalton and such don’t have 
nerA^e enougli to come out and protest against it. I do not know but 
they are afraid of being bulldozed themseh'es. I know some are. I 
think the best course for me })olitically is noAv to make friends Avith'the 
Avorst bulldozers, and lay such men as Walton and others like him aside 





LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 . 


XIX 


because they can't protect us.” If an iutelligent property owner like 
David Young, weary of the perpetual strife lie encounters as he attempts 
to exercise a right especially prized by men of his race, comes to the 
conclusion that he must either refrain from attempting to exercise so 
valuable a xirivilege, or, in order to secure a right which he says the 
administration has not the power to protect him in, must join the very 
worst elements of society—and seriously contemxdates the latter—what 
must be expected of his less intelligent felloAvs ? It will be a sad day 
for the people of l^ouisiana when the most ignorant colored people shail 
join their xiolitical fortune with the worst element of the whites. 

It can hardly be exx^ected that a fair vote could be taken under such 
circumstances; and it is not surxirising that, notwithstanding that was 
a Tvexmblican x^arish, and there is no evidence of any disposition on the 
part of the colored x>eo])le to change their x)olitical affiliations, the returns 
show the election of all the Democratic candidates excexit one. 

POINTE COUPEE PAPISII. 

The Democrats began early in Pointe Coux^ee to concoct means to carry 
the x)arish. It had always been a Pepublican stronghold. There aie 
nearly three colored to every white inhabitant of the parish. Xo ordi¬ 
nary method of electioneering could convert (or pervert) this parish to 
Democracy; and no attemx^t apxiears to have been made to convince the 
minds of the Pex^ublican voters that their interest could be advanced by 
a voluntary political alliance with the Democratic party. As early as 
Ax^ril or May the leaders of the colored voters were told that they would 
be ^‘strung ux>” if they attemxded to reorganize the Pepublican x^arty; 
others were informed that there is no more Kex^ublicanism here”; ^‘no 
Pexmblican ticket shall be voted at this poll”; ‘^we have been ruled 
long enough by you scalawags, and we are going to rule this country now 
ourselves”; and it was threatened further that the blacks should refrain 
from voting for the Rexuiblican ticket not only, but that no negro should 
be allowed to stay in the neighborhood unless he voted the Democratic 
ticket. The old slave system of requiring all blacks out of doors after 
ten o’clock to have passes ax^pears to have been revived in Pointe 
Ooux)ee. 

Early in June the son of the Democratic candidate for the legislature 
reported that he had been fired on by colored men, who, it was also re¬ 
ported, were attending Pex>ublican clubs. There was no evidence of the 
truth of these reports, either as to tlie firing or the meetings. But five 
black men were seized, tried by lynch law, and although such juries never 
give the prisoner the benefit of a doubt, as they are organized to con¬ 
vict, there were several of them who refused to concur in the sentence 
of death ; nevertheless the five unfortunates were hanged. The next 
morning,” says Pandall McGowan, Mr. Lewis said there Avere five men 
hung. I asked him what for ? and he said Thomas Williams, a leader 
in the fourth ward, was about to organize his club ; tliat it was about 
time for us to go into the camxiaign ; and those boys axix^eared that night 
* * * They said they did these things to scare negroes, so that they 

might carry the election. These five men were given up for execution 
by one man, Legender, and they were all the hands, save one, on his 
place.” 

There is no ]woof that these five men, or any of them, shot at the 
Democratic candidate’s son. 

‘^The men hung tliere,” says Claiborne Cammon, ^Gill the next day 
at eight o’clo(‘k. 'Mr. Lejune (Legendre), with the fathers of tAVO of 


XX 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


those boys^ and these three other men and myself went over there and 
took them down. We wanted to have them buried in the church-yard j 
blit Mr. Legendre said^ ^ No, sir j we will bury them right here now 5 
there is excitement enough now j if you take them away there will be a 
heap more excitement.’ We dug a hole large enough for them and put 
them in. * * * We never heard a word said about it. The next 

day it was like as if it had never been done. The colored people dare 
not speak of it. * * * We were afraid they would do the same 

thing for us.” 

No notice of the killing of these men has ever been taken by the 
courts. 

In August and September the regulators, who undertook the task of 
preventing or suppressing the vote of the parish began systematically 
to create a reign of terror. Each of the Eepubhcan leaders in the northern 
part of the parish was visited at midnight by armed comiianies of white 
men and shot at or whiiijied or driven away. The condition of affairs 
cannot be better stated than it was by Eandall McGowan, who was a fugi¬ 
tive from that county. He says that on the 14th of August a body of 
armed m en came to his house at night time and accused him of assisting to 
organize Eepublican clubs. He protested that he had not been guilty of 
that offense. They took him about four miles, where he expected to find 
some colored people, but on arriving they had disbanded. They went 
to the house of one Murdock, a leading Eepublican; not finding him, they 
tied his wife up by her thumbs to compel her to reveal the hiding place 
of ]ier husband. Failing to find Murdock, they went to the house of one 
Wells, whom they accused of having sought information as to how to 
organize a Eepublican club. After whipping him, they called at the 
places of two other colored Eepublicans, but did not find them at home. 
At this time they met the colored minister and his congregation return¬ 
ing from church. The people saw the crowd of armed men and fled. 
The minister was shot three times and left for dead (although he recov¬ 
ered ). They committed outrages of a dastardly character on an old colored 
man, afterwards giving him two hundred lashes. They told McGowan 
that he should brmg all the colored people on the following Saturday, 
and have them enrolled as Democrats 5 and on promising to do so, he 
was allowed to go. He says, I got home about 4 o’clock (a. m.), and 
found my wife and children all crazy, as they believed I was dead.” The 
witness then gave an account of his efforts to have the raiders punished, 
in which efforts he failed. The witness said, can tell you now that 
in our parish the people they got so skeered that the colored men are 
afraid to set down in the court-roomj and the reason of it is this: that 
if I was to-day to be tried for a crime, and my crime was so great that I 
was to be placed in jail, and I was put in jail, I might as well be placed 
in hell; and my reason for so saying is this: I have seen men taken out- 
well, I saw a young man taken out of jail and shot and cut to pieces 
down there, two weeks before I left. You could not hawllv Uiiri n 



people left, he said, a great many. I thought all would leave.” 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXI 


On election-day, in many instances, tlie negroes were forced to vote 
for the Democratic candidates. One man, Rnfns Miles, who refused to 
vote, and said he “ would xrather die than throw a Democratic ballot,’^ 
was visited some days after the election and slain. Terrorism spread 
all over the parish. This member of the legislature also testified that 
the leaving was principally about election time, just before and just after. 

Randall McOowan further testified; They whipped a woman there 
one night at Sam Macaulay’s plantation. Five or six men went there 
and whipped her pretty near to death, because she said something about 
their doings. She said if they were whipped they would not stand sucli 
a thing if they were men.” 

SAINT MARY’S PARISH. 

It is a significant fact that the illegal, brutal methods of electioneer¬ 
ing that are now known as bidl-dozing have been confined for the most 
part since 1808 to the cotton-growing regions of the South. Partly by 
reason of the larger proportion of French descendants, with whom dif¬ 
ference of color and race has never been reckoned a disqualification for 
the equal enjoyment of human rights and political prerogatives, but 
chiefly by the exigencies of the cane crop, there have been no serious or 
systematic attempts made in the sugar-growing parishes to control by 
violence the negro vote. Such a demoralization of agricultural labor as 
followed the attack on Fairfax, the hangings in Point Coupee, and the 
massacre of Bass’ Lane and Caledonia, occurring at the time of the 
year when elections are held in Louisiana, would bring ruin to hundreds 
of wealthy planters in the sugar-growing region; hence bull-dozing is 
not encouraged either by the concurrence or indiflerence of the wealthy 
classes of those sections. The only violence done in the sugar-growing 
region of Louisiana in 1878 that came before the committee occurred in 
the parish of Saint Mary’s. 

This parish is largely Republican. It is in the third Congressional 
district. There were three candidates for Congress in the field—Acklen 
(Democrat), Hebert (Republican), and ^Merchant (National). The col¬ 
ored vote was divided between the opposition to Acklen. 

Before the election,” says Mr. Newman, ‘Hhe parish was quarantined, 
so that all the peoi)le could not register, and those who registered could 
not all of them vote. I know of a considerable number of people living 
up at Mrish Bend’ who could not come to town and vote on account of 
the quarantine. They belong to the Franklin poll^ but tliey could not 
get at their poll. The quarantine teas raisecl the next day after the electionP 
Thus the same calamity which opened the heart of the Northern people 
until they brought forth uncounted treasures, was used in Tensas and 
feaint Mary’s as an instrumentality to deprive of their, political rights 
the voters in Louisiana who sympathized in their political creed Avith the 
controlling intelligence of the North. 

A kindred perversity of heart had caused the Louisiana legislature in 
the same month that recorded its pledges of co-operation with President 
Hayes, to enact a laAv that at one stroke depriA^ed the majority of the 
A^oters in eA^ery Republican parish of their rightful representation in the 
gwernment of the parish. GoA^ernor Nicholls, by the authority giAXui 
in the hiAV referred to, appointed five additional jurors in Saint Mary’s 
Ikarish, all of them Democrats, and thus SAvept from the majority of the 
citizens ewery A^estige of self-gOA^ernment. 

But, despite this bad fiiith and the di Added opposition to the Democracy, 
the large Reppblicaii majority AAais not overcome. For the purpose of 


XXII 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

counting in one of the Democratic candidates on the ticket, the Demo¬ 
cratic managers attempted to make false returns. Tlie slierin, a liopuh- 
lican, while, with his assistants, completing the making out ol the returns, 
discovered the attempt and frustrated it. Finding' a ditference of three 
or four hundred before the returns as made out and tlie tally-sJieet, ne 
stopped work for the day, leaving the papers at the court-house. Ine 
clerk of the parish, Air. Newman, hearing rumors of a raid upon Jiis 
office, got lip and took the returns and papers in his charge troni his 
own office and deposited them in tlie safe in the recorder’s ollice, except 
the poll-books, whicli were too bulky to carry. That night the clerlxs 
office was liroken into and the poll-books destroyed. The recorder s s^ale 
also was broken open, and the ballot-boxes, tickets, returns, and tally- 

sheets destroyed. . ^ i i. 

The clerk, however, having been warned of this attempt to d(‘Stroy 
everv evidence of fraud, had removed from his office the duplicate re¬ 
turns and tally-sheets which the law requires the managers of election 
to deposit with him. The absence of these duplicates was (bscovered. 
This raid on his office was made on the night of the 8th of November. 
Next evening, about eleven o’clock, the district attorney i)ro ap¬ 
pointed by Governor Nicholls, called at Air. Newman’s house, and pre¬ 
tending that he had received a telegraidiic dispatch from the attorney- 
general and the governor demanding that the duplicates sliould be 
delivered up to him. Air. Newman offered copies, but refused to give 
111 ) the originals, or to reveal where they were deposited. The district 
attorney left, with the threat that Air. NeAvman would see cause to 
regret his refusal.” AVarned to lie on his guard. Air. Newman did not 
sleep in his own house again until the 17th of November. On the night 
of the 19th his house was entered by four or ffve masked men, who 
roused him from his sleep by tiring into his bed. A riffe-shot was fired 
into the bed “ directly where Newman might naturally be siipiiosed to 
be,” but missed him. “ The shot was fired from the foot of the bed. New¬ 
man’s wife was with him in the bed. The shot was on the left side, the 
side where Newman was lying. The ball passed between the head of 
Newman and that of his wife, going through the headboard of the bed and 
on into the wall of the house. The shot was fired through the mosquito 
bar, and so close to it that it set fire to it. The fire gave sufficient light 
so that Newman could see to some extent what was going on.” New¬ 
man hastily crept under the bed, and seized his shot-gun, wliich Avas 
loaded. The ruffians dragged his wife out of lied. Two of them Avere 
struggling with her, when Newman fired, and Avounded one of them. 
In escaping he wounded or fired on another of these invaders of his 
home. One of them Avas mortally wounded, and died on the next day. 
The fatal wound, it was found, had been giA^en by one of the invading 
party, for a riffe-ball had gone through him, whereas NeAvman fired bird 
and duck shot only. The man Avho died from his Avounds Avas the brother 
of GoA^ernor Nicholls’s district attorney. It Avas rejanted at the time, 
as the reason AAffiy the district attorney himself could not be seen by a 
journalist from NeAv Orleans, that he Avas the man Avho Avas Avounded at 
the time NeAvman fired at the two ruffians Avho dragged his Avife from 
her bed. 

As an illustration of the good faith of GoA^ernor Nicholls and the Dem¬ 
ocratic administration of Louisiana, this evidence of District Attorney 
Alerchant is noteAvorthy : ‘‘ I Avent to leading parties in the toAvn there 
with reference to holding an inquest on the body of young AA^ilson. I 
made a proposition to exhume the body and luiA^e an inquest, and the 
family objected to it j so the party told me. The mayor of the town said 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXIII 


lie wanted to have an inquest, hut there were serious objections raised 
to it. I am satisfied, through the evidence I took and the ex-officio in¬ 
vestigation, that young ToiiTAVilson, who was killed, was one of the at¬ 
tacking parties at Xewinaids house; and I think there will be sufficient 
circunistantial evidence to sliow very conclusively that his brother, the 
district attorney p>’o was also one of the parties. I spoke to par¬ 
ties intimately connected with the Wilson family Avith reference to an 
investigation of the cause and manner of the deatli of Tom Wilson. I 
told them lAvould investigate the matter if they Avould give me any data 
to go on, and asked them if they wanted an investigation ,* and they said 
they did not want any; that it was a very sad affair, and they did not 
care to have it im^estigated.” 

Ko severer comment could be made on the character of Governor 
Mcholls and home rule in Louisiana than these facts—that a faithful 
officer was murderously assaulted in his own bed and does not dare to 
return to his home; that one of the burglars is to-day an appointed officer 
of the hiAv under Governor Mcholls, Avhile no legal investigation into the 
death of another burglar, his brother, was made, out of deference to the 
feelings of his family. 

NEAV ORLEANS. 

The evidence as to the election in ^N’cav Orleans related to the contest 
over the city government. The Kepublican party had no ticket in the 
field. A large and respectable association of citizens, chiefly merchants, 
officered by gentlemen Avho had ahvays taken an active part in both 
a political and military sense in behalf of the Democracy, ‘‘endeav ored 
to overthrow the controlling Democratic faction,’^ which they regarded 
as “a ring of men who were not honest in their ])olitical opinions and 
actions.’^ These Democrats, organized as the “ Citizens’Conservative 
Association,” issued an independent ticket. The same policy, as far as 
the ‘‘Eegidar” managers dared to expose it, was adopted toward these 
influential and moneyed men that was elsewhere in the imrishes adopted 
towards the friendless and penniless negro. There were no midnight 
raids, no whippings, no murders, and no “charitable exiling,” because 
the “Citizens’ Conservative Association ” could control as many rifles as 
the “Eegidars”; but there was the same conspicuous absence of honest 
and manly dealings, the same unscrupulous adoption of fraudulent 
methods of evading the laws and c()rrui)ting the ballot-box. 

The Citizens’ Conservative Association were denied adequate represen¬ 
tation in the appointment of commissioners, although the law requires 
that the opposition shall be represented by a commissioner at every poll. 
Mr. Landry, the registrar, defended his action, and illustrated what is 
known as home rule in Louisiana by replying to the protest of the citizens 
that “he did not recognize any party except his own, the Democratic 
party; and though he might make selections to give representation at the 
polls to the opposition to the Democracy, yet at the same time he would 
not accept the list of nominations by us.” “ Such representations as were 
made,” says Mr. Walker, “ was merely a pretense of representation to 
affect to comply with the law”j appointments in which the opposition 
“ had no voice in the selection.” “ They were unfamiliar with the duties, 
and were chosen from that class of men who, on account of their peculiar 
devotion to one calling in life that made them unffimiliar with the way 
of conducting an election, and on account of their being in an advanced 
stage of life, and having physical jveculiarities, were prevented from doing 
justice to the duties they assumed.” 

The Citizens’s Conservative Association charge, further, that wrongs 


XXIV ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

were committed by franduleut registration; by tbe issuing of fraudulent 
certificates to fictitious persons; by repeating on tbe day of election, 
and by striking from the lists the names of a ‘‘large number of colored 
and whites’^ who were rightful voters. “There were more votes cast 
than people registered.'^ “At more than one polling-place the ballots 
that were cast were changed, and others substituted for them.” To 
screen frauds on election day “ the polling-places were almost entirely 
selected in rooms or booths that were very small, that did not permit 
of any large number of persons witnessing the count at the close of the 
polls—the law providing that the count shall be made in presence of 
citizens. The commissioners at most of the polls closed the doors and 
refused admittance. The count at the i)olls was in most places made 
up in secret, and by a few men, who Avere determined to elect the Dem¬ 
ocratic conservative ticket at all hazards.” 

As there was no contest at this election for EepresentatiA^es to Congress 
or other national offices, the committee did not deem it necessary to in¬ 
quire more fully into the conduct of the elections at ]New Orleans. The 
Citizens’Association seems to be learning the lesson that “they Avho 
SOAV the wind shall reap the Avhiiiwind”; that the general acquiescence 
of the moneyed and mercantile classes in the Adolent and reA olntionary 
methods of the bulldozers in the parishes haA^e necessarily created a 
spirit of contempt for the laws of the State and of fair dealing at elec¬ 
tions; and this must result in placing the AA’orst classes in political 
power for many years to come. Yet the resistance of the citizens^ 
associations to the AAU‘ong-doing of their oaaui ijarty is one of the most 
hopeful signs of the times in Louisiana. 


SU3niAEY OF WUEDEES AND VIOLENCE. 

The examination of the committee, it aa ill be seen, aaus confined to but 
seven of the fifty-two parishes of Louisiana. In these seven parishes 
the evidence shoAA\s there were murdered “for i)olitical purposes,” during 
the campaign of 1878, John Williams (pagelo); Eobert VvJlliams (IL 
57, 186, 191>, 236, 347, 476); Luke Wiggins"(44, 48); Lot Clarke (46, 58, 
62); Billy White (46, 48, 62); .Creene Abrams (46); Josiah Thomas (58); 
Charles Bethel (162. 2:16,337, 347,561); AVilliam Singleton (178,191, 
348); Monday Hill (186,162. 23(5, 347, 46i)); Louis EosthelAAuite (186, 347); 
Eichard Miller (162, 2.36, ;U7); James Starver (162,347,473); Commo¬ 
dore SmallAvood (2:36, :348, 355); Charlie Carroll (2.36,355); John Ilig- 
g;ins (2<8, 348); -Doc.” Smith (:347, 35.3, 3.56); William Hunter (348); 
H.Axams A lison (:348, 355); Wash Ellis (348); Asbiiry Epps (244. 348); 
John Eobinson (355); Eutus Mills (416). Besides these there AA^ere fully 
as many others murdered, Avhose names the committee AA'ere unable to 
ascertain, Avhose corpses AA'ere seen, by Avitnesses aaJio testified before the 
committee, hanging on trees, or lying dead in the streets or fields. 
Dozens more Avere Avounded, from shots fired at them with murderous 
intent, some ot whom Avere present as witnesses before the committee 
exhibiting their scars; others Avere Avhipped, or beaten, and mntilated; 
wwes were tied up by the thumbs and AA'hipped for refusing to tellAAdiere 
their husbands Avere secreted; scores of leaders in politics among the 
colored men Avere driA-en from their homes, leaving their crops iii the 
field and their tamilies unprovided for. In brief, a literal “reign of ter- 
101 existed, and iii tact, still exists, over a considerable portion of Lou¬ 
isiana^ as the resiih ot the ])olicy adopted by the Democracv for ner- 
petuating its rule in that State. loi pei 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXV 


PLEDGES OF THE GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE. 

When Governor Nicholls came into power, it was with a distinct and 
emphatic promise that the rights of all citizens, without distinction of 
color or political opinion, should he protected. The legislature of the 
State (recognizing Nicholls as governor), in the month of Aiiril, passed a, 
series of joint resolutions as follows: 

To accept in good faith the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the 
Constitution of the United States in letter and spirit; the enforcement of the laws, 
rigidly and impartially, to the end that violence and crime shall he suppressed and 
promptly punished, and that peace and order prevail, and that the humblest laborer 
upon the soil of Louisiana, throughout every parish in the State, of either color, shall 
receive full and ecpial lu’otectiou of the laws in jierson, jiroperty, political rights and 
pnvileges; the promotion of the kindly relations between the white and colored citi¬ 
zens of the State, upon the basis of justice and mutual confidence. 

In transmitting these resolutions to Hon. Cliarles B. Latyrence and 
other gentlemen, who may he said to have represented the adminis¬ 
tration, Governor Xicholls Said: 

I feel that I do but speak the sentiments of the people, when I declare that their 
government will secure— 

1. A vigorous and efficient enforcement of the laws, so that all persons and proiierty 
will be fully and equally protected, and should occasion require it, I will proceed in 
liersou where any disorders may menace the xiublic peace, or the x>olitical rights of 
any citizen. 

These pledges were i>nl)liely made, ami at tlie time when the atten¬ 
tion of the whole country was attracted to the condition of affairs in 
Louisiana. 

There were not wanting men who professed to donht the ability of 
Governor Nicholls and the willingness of the legislature to make good 
the pledges thus made; yet very many, and doubtless a majority, of the 
people accepted the pledges as a sure guarantee that in the future all 
classes of citizens in Louisiana Avould be placed on an equality before 
the law. The citizens who thus came into control of the government of 
the State had repeatedly declared that the disturbed condition of affairs 
was solely due to the presence of United States troops and the exclusion 
of the best portion of the people of the State from ])articipation in the 
administration of its affairs. These declarations had been repeated by 
Their friends outside of the State until the statement thus made and re¬ 
peated had gained credence among the people everywhere. 

The State government having ffassed into the hands of the Democratic 
party of Louisiana, the authority of the State officers was complete; but 
in many of the parishes the Beiuddican majority was so large that there 
was no probability of its l)eing overcome in a fair election, and this 
would insure to the Eepublicans in these parishes the local officers. The 
local affairs of the parishes are largely committed to a body of men 
called police jurors, consisting of live persons, selected by the voters at 
the general elections. In the Bepublican parishes it appears, by the tes¬ 
timony of witnesses before the committee, to have been almost, if not 
(liiite, the universal rule to give the Democratic minority a representa¬ 
tion in this body; as this body selected the places of holding elections, 
appointed the managers of elections, and had general charge of the 
finances of the parish, the course pursued by the Eepublicans was a 
wise one. In April, 1877, the legislature of Louisiana enacted a law 
on the subject of police jurors in which it was provided that “the gov¬ 
ernor of the State is hereby authorized to appoint, by and with the ad¬ 
vice of the senate, in such countnjlyariHlies as he may see fit, additional 
police jurors, not exceeding five, who, with those police jurors elected at 


XXVI ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

tlie last general election, sliall constitute tlie i)o]ice jury of the paiish 
until the next general election.” It was also provided in anotlier sec¬ 
tion that it should he the duty of these new police jurors to redistrict 
the parishes into police-inry wards, election wards, and justice oi t e 
peace wards, and that tliese wards when established shall not be ehangea 
without the concurrence of two-thirds ot such police jiu'ors, recoided b} 

yeas and nays. ^ 

It cannot be doubted that this law was enacted to enable a minority 
of the people of the Ilepubliean parishes to control the majority. In the 
Itepubliean parishes, where there Avere live ]>olice jurors, four ot Achoni 
were Eepublicans, or, as Avas more frequently the ease, three ot Avhoin 
were Eepublicans and tAAm Democrats, the appointment of Ha'c mlditional 
liolice jurors by the governor Avonld give the control of the ])arish to the 
Demom’ats. It aa as by this method that Caddo Parish, with its large 
Eepublican majority, was controlled by Democratic police jurors, who 
proceeded to establish a voting-Avard thirty-liA C miles long, and to locate 
tlie polling-place twenty miles from the great mass of colored voters, 
compelling them at the last election to make a lull trip ot from thirty , to 
forty miles to cast their A’otes. 

This legislation is not consistent with the pledges made by the gov¬ 
ernor and legislature, and shoAvs a disposition on the part ot the legis¬ 
lature, and not antagonized by the gOA^ernor, to secure the control of the 
Eepublican parishes, not with the consent of the people, but Avithout 
their consent, and then to perpetuate the control so obtained. As the 
election machinery is under the control of the iiolice jurors, and as the 
gOA^ernor did see fit, in parishes where there aavus no conqilaint of miscon¬ 
duct of elected members of the body, to increase the number of ]>olice 
jurors by the appointment of Democrats, it may be safely assumed that 
the laAv Avas enacted aa ith direct reference to securing the means of carry¬ 
ing the election, and thus enabling an active minority to control a ma¬ 
jority. That this has been one of the means used in obtaining the con¬ 
trol of all or nearly all the parishes cannot be doubted. Yet it is, per¬ 
haps, of all the methods used, the least objectionable; for it has at least 
the form of law. The statutes of the State ])roAide that each polling- 
place shall be presided OA^er by three commissioners, assisted by a clerk, 
who shall be appointed by the police jurors, and selected from the op¬ 
posing political parties. A fair construction of this statute would seem 
to require that one commissioner and the clerk should be taken from one 
party, and the other commissioners from the other party. This would 
insure a fair count of the ballots, and would doubtless render it nearly 
if not quite impossible to defeat the Avill of the people as expressed at 
the polls. 

This provision of the statutes appears to have been practically ig¬ 
nored at the last election, as at most of the polling places the commis¬ 
sioners and clerk were all Democrats; and in the few instances Avhere 
this Avas not the case, there is great reason to supjAOse that the Eepub- 
licans Avere not selected either for qualifications and fitness for the x>osi- 
tion, or on account of their attachment to the party, but in mere i)retense 
of compliance with the law. The failure to obey the statute and give 
representation to the Eepublicans and independent Demoerats rendered 
it easy to perx>etrate the frauds complained of. 

INTERFERENCE WITH UNITED STATES SUPERVISORS. 

The statutes of the Dnited States proA’iding for the ax)i)ointment of a 
supervisor of election appear to have been very objectionable to the 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 XXYII 

Democratic leaders and Democratic commissioners of election. At most 
of the ])olls the supervisors were hindered and obstructed in the dis¬ 
charge of their duties, and in many instances were driven from the polls. 

Xo testimony Avas produced before the committee for the purpose of 
showing that the supervisors attemi)ted in any manner to interfere with 
the voters in the lawful exercise of their rights at the polls; and there¬ 
fore it must be concluded that the objection to tlie supervision exercised 
by the supeiwisors does not arise from the abuse of poAver, or from the 
misconduct of such officers, but from a hostility to the Iuav. 

It is difficult to see Avhat objection there can be to the hiAV ; for if there 
is an intention to conduct the elections Ihirly, there can be no objection 
to a supervision that at most only detects and reports frauds practiced, 
or attempted to be practiced, on the Amters. It is impossible that the 
supei'A isor should, in the <lischarge of his duties, interfere with the rights 
or ])re\Tmt the full and free exi)ression of the AAill of any A'oter. On the 
other hand, should fraud be attempted, and should the superA isor detect 
and preA'ent it, he enables the Amter to record his AA'ill and make it eftec- 
tiA"e in the direction desired. Should he be unable to prcA^entthe fraud, 
he may become instrumental in punishing the offenders, and in some 
cases in securing evidence that Avill render it possible for the will of 
the Amter to be obtained and carried into effect. 

FEALTY OF THE COLORED PEOPLE TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

Xo Ivepublicaii State ticket aatis nominated in Louisiana at the last 
election. This Avas undoubtedly OAving to several causes. There was 
no effectiA’e State Ilepulilican organization; the effort made to organ¬ 
ize was not successful, because of tlie prcATilence of yelloAv fcA^er in the 
State at the time the coiiA^ntion Avas to haA^e lieen held. Other causes 
that need not be mentioned doubtless contributed to the failure. In 
seA^eral of the Congressional districts the Kei)ublicans put in the field 
candidates for the Forty-sixth Congress; and in A ery many of the par¬ 
ishes local tickets were nominated. Tlie testimony justifies the belief 
that the colored people, AAuth feAA" excejitions, aa ere as much attached to 
the Kepublican organization as they had e\"er been. It was only in 
those parishes AAdiere there Avas an a(*Ivno\Adedged Democratic white ma¬ 
jority, or those in which the conduct of the Democratic leaders was such 
that the colored people dare not put a candidate in the field, that the 
Kepublleans failed to nominate. 

It has been claimed that a large number of the colored people have, 
since the gOA ernment of the State passed into the hands of the Democ¬ 
racy, become converted to that party, and Amluntarily a ote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. We cannot ansAAW this better than to quote the language 
of Mr. ^IcGill, a planter and leading Democrat familiar aa ith the colored 
people, who said, ShoAV me a colored man AAdio claims to be a Democrat, 
and I Avill shoAV you a knaA'e or a fool.” If the colored people of Louisi¬ 
ana can liaA^e a fair oiiportunity to vote they Avill Amte the Kepublican 
ticket with greater unanimity than the aa hite people there Avill \mte the 
Democratic ticket. That there will be occasionally a colored Amter who 
will vote the Democratic is not denied ; luit that tliere is any consider¬ 
able number cannot be truthfully claimed. There would be no intimida¬ 
tion and murder if the colored Amters could be induced readily by other 
means to vote the Democratic ticket; but it is the knoAA ledge, on the 
part of the Democratic leaders, that tliey will not voluntarily A'ote that 
ticket that causes bulldozing, intimidation, and murder to be resorted to 
by the more reckless whites. Threats and a show of force Avill intimi- 




XXVIII 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


(late the majority of tlie colored people, but occasionally one braver tlian 
the rest must be killed. It is in testimony that Judge Cordill, a candi¬ 
date for the legislature in Tensas, said: “ With the ordinary negroes, all 
you have to do is to put a shot-gun over your shoulder and scare them ^ 
but Avhen you come to a negro like Stewart, who has got some bravery, 
you have got to kill him.” It would api)ear that there were a good many 
negroes who had some bravery.” 

The right to vote is a privilege more highly prized by the colored 
voter than by voters of any other class ; and he will make sacrifices to 
exercise this privilege that few white men will. It is by the exercise of 
the right of suffrage that he assures himself that he is a free man, and 
not a slave. It gives him an increased idea of his imi^ortance in social ' 
and political affairs. It gratifies his pride; and he is not insensible to 
the fact that it is his great shield and protection against the attempts of 
bad men to prevent him from making himself, not only equal ])efore the 
law, but equal in knowledge, equal in virtue, erpial in the estimation of 
his fellow-men, with his more favored white neighbors. It is the unre¬ 
strained exercise of this right that guarantees to him the future of his 
race, and a hope for his children, and their children. He looks forward 
to the time when, resulting from the exercise of this right, the color of 
a man’s skin shall not determine either his social or political condition. 

To vote is a duty he owes to himself and his race } and a failure to vote i 
is therefore regarded by these people as a crime. Notwithstanding the | 

obstacles thrown in their way, and the outrages i)racticed upon them, | 

they adhere religiously to their political faith; and tlie change of voting- i 
places, the long distances they are compelled to travel to reach tlie 
polls, dismissal from their lands, violence, whipiiings, and even threats 
of death, Avill not in most cases deter them from voting. It is only after 
such scenes as were enacted in Tensas and other parishes during the 
last canq)aign that they can be forced to remain away from the polls. 


SOUTH CAKOUINA IN 1878. 


The same subcommittee that visited Louisiana also visited South 
Carolina; except that Senators Bailey and Garland were replaced by 
Senators Landoljdi and ^IcDonald. Leaving New Orleans flanuary 18, 
the ccimmittee arrived at Cliarleston on the 20 th, and entered upon the 
examination of witnesses on the 21st. A consiclerable number of wit- i 
nesses were examiijed, the iiiajor part at the request of the minority. I 
Complaints of fraud were made in other counties than those concerning 
which examination was made, but as the time of the committee was lim¬ 
ited it was thought best to confine the investigation to the ('ounties most 
easy of access. A syiio]isis of the testimony, ami the conclusions of tlie 
comunttee thereon, are herewith submitted. 


CHAIILE8TOX COUNTY. 

Charleston County had a iioinilation, by the State census of 1875, of 
colored 80,883; white 33,006. ’ 

This county has been a Keimblican county from the organization of 
the I^epubhcau party in South Carolina until Hampton became the 
acknowledged governor of the State. The llepublican majority in 1870 

wimtr 'V' seventeen Kepublicans in the 

legislatnie, however, were all ejected by the legislature that recognized 
llampton, on the ground that the election had not been fair, and that 
the colored majority had intimidated the white minority. After the ex- 







LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXIX 


pulsion of tlie members of the legislature a special election was called 
to elect members to take the place of those who had been thus exi)elled. 
The chairman of the Republican committee of Charleston proposed to 
the Democratic committee that no party nominations should be made, 
and submitted fifty names of prominent Democrats for whom he declared 
the Republicans Avere willing to vote. lie was careful to say that he 
did not limit the candidates to that list, but that he submitted those 
names to illustrate Avhat class of men the Republicans would su])port. 
The Democracy did not accept the proposition; and the Republicans, 
disheartened by the loss of their State government, determined not to 
enter the canvass, and refrained from A^oting. This was the first tri¬ 
umph of the Democracy of Charleston—a triumi)h without an opponent. 

The legislature that contained these new members began preparation 
for the next election by changing and abolishing the polling-places in 
Charleston and other counties. The counties most atfected by this act 
were those of Charleston, Colleton, Beaufort, and Orangeburgh—all 
Republican counties. Some of the i)olling-places abolished by this law 
had existed before the war, and the change of the polling-places made 
it necessary for the A^oters to traA^el, in going to and from the ])olls, a 
distance of from twenty to forty miles. The polling-places in Charleston 
County w^ere reduced from fifty-fiA^e to thirty-tAvo. 

• The Democrats say that this change of voting-places Avas made to pre- 
A'ent the colored people from repeating; but as, before the change, the 
voter must have traA^eled to and from the polls a distance of from ten to 
sixteen miles, there appears but little reason to suppose that this was 
the object. 

When the bill to change and abolish tlie polling-places came into the 
senate, Hon. James B. Camx)bell, a Democratic senator, denounced it, 
and the x)olling-places AA^ere all restored; but the house struck them 
out. Mr. Campbell says, “then it appeared that it AA^as a part of the 
machinery.” General Gary, representing the Democratic committee at 
Charleston, appeared before the senate, and announced that he desired 
to haA^e the bill pass; Avliereupon it did x)ass. The chairman of the 
Democratic committee of Charleston Avas a member of the house of 
representatives; and he said if they would pass the bill, and Hampton 
would appoint as commissioners men whom he would name, that he 
Avould carry the county of Charleston. The bill passed; and it cannot 
be doubted, in the light of subsequent eA^ents, that Hampton did ajApoint 
the men he named. 

In the early i)art of the year 1878, it Avas an open question among the 
Republicans whether it was best to put a State ticket into the field 
or not. It was the general opinion among the Republicans that they 
could not have a fair election, and that it was not best to nominate a 
ticket. So much was said about the probability that the Democrats 
Avould count in their candidates, as they had the machinery of election, 
such as commissioners of election, sheriff, and other officers, that on the 
5th of July, 1878, Governor Hampton, in a public speech at Blackville, 
said, “If it is thought that we can be successful in this election by 
fraud—and I have heard some rumors floating through the State occasion¬ 
ally^ intimating that we have the machinery oj election in our hands, and 
that we could count in anybody we please'^'^ * * This GoA^ernor Hamp¬ 

ton denounced as unworthy of the State and her people. This speech, 
says Mr. Mackey, “attracted the attention of the Republicans through¬ 
out the State, and we took it as an assurance that there would be a fair 
election, and we determined to hold a convention.” The convention 
Avas called. Twenty-eight of the thirty-tAvo counties Avere represented 


XXX ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

in the convention. A paper was ])resented from Edgefield Comity, 
stating why delegates did not attend from that county. The reasons 
given Avere that the Kepnhiicans dare not organize j that the Edgefield 
AdA^ertiser, a Democratic i)aper, liad adAdsed the hanging of the men 
Avho should attemiit to organize the Kepnblican party in that county. 
The couA ention met and went into secret session to determine whether 
a State ticket should or should not he nominated. It was thonght, as 
Governor Hampton had the iippointment of the commissioners, Avho in a 
measure could control the elections (as they appointed the maiiagers), 
that if a State ticket was nominated there AAmnld be a strong induce¬ 
ment to use the machinery of election for dishonest pnriAoses; but if none 
was nominated, that the motAes for thus using it would be greatly re¬ 
moved. Therefore it aa us determined not to put a State ticket in nomi¬ 
nation. 

Dissatisfaction was expressed by the coua ention with Hampton’s ad¬ 
ministration. Yarious delegates called on the governor, and requested 
that in the appointment of commissioners of election the Kepublicans 
might haA^e one out of the three. To this, they allege, the governor 
agreed. It is now claimed by the Kepublii^aus that the governor ap¬ 
pointed in almost all the counties three Democratic commissioners, and 
that in those counties where he did not, he appointed either a A^ery 
ignorant Kepnblican or some man Avhom the Kepublicans did not recog¬ 
nize as a Kepnblican. 

Mr. Mackey says: “ I suppose there were only fiA e or six men ap¬ 
pointed who could be called Kepublicans; and the inost of them re¬ 
signed before election, because the Democratic commissioners refused 
to allow the Kepublicans to have a manager of election.” This action 
on the part of GoA^ernor Hamilton Avas not only in Adolation of his 
alleged promise, but iiiAiolation of law; for the statutes of the State, 
passed after Hampton became goA ernor, required that commissioners of 
election should be selected from the opposing political parties; also 
that the managers of election should be appointed by the commission¬ 
ers, and selected from the oi)posing political parties. 

It is offered as excuse aa hy the governor did not so appoint commis¬ 
sioners from the opx)osing political parties that the Kepublicans, when 
in i)ower, had not done so. AYhen the Kepublicans AA^ere in power no 
statutes of that character existed; and yet it is in eAidence that in 
most cases there was one Democratic commissioner appointed, and also 
one Democratic manager. 

The apiAointment of the commissioners of election appears to haA^e been 
left Avith the chairman of the Democratic State committee. General 
Kennedy. Mr. West, the secretary of the Republican State committee, 
testifies that when he called on the goA^ernor’s secretary (the gOAxrnor 
being absent at the time) with a list of names from which he desired the 
Kei>ublican commissioners to be selected, the secretary referred him to 
General Kennedy; and AAdien asked if the Iuav did not require the gov- 
enior to appoint, the secretary said, Those ai)X)ointments are discre¬ 
tionary AAuth General Kennedy.’’ All of the (jommissioners appear to 
have been appointed on the recommendation of the Democratic State 
committee. General Kennedy attended the sessions of the committee 
in Charleston, but did not offer to testify before the committee. 

The course pursued by the commissioners of election in Charleston 
County Avas doubtless pursued in other counties. Mr. T. C. White, one 
of the commissioners, testified as follows i If I remember right there 
was a motion made that there should he no ^epuhllcan nianaqers. and it 
uas eayriedy W hen he Avas asked Avho ajipointed the managers of elec- 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878 


XXXI 


tion, lie replied, ^^Tliose names were furnislied ns by the executive com¬ 
mittee of the county.” He said he meant the Democratic committee. 
Thus it apiiears that the Democratic State committee controlled the ap- 
X>ointment of the commissioners of election, and the Democratic execu¬ 
tive committee of the comity controlled the apxioijitment of the manaj^ers. 
The managers and clerks were all Democrats. ]Mr. ^lackey, Ivexmblican 
candidate for Congress, says: 

I couyersed witL Democrats, and it "vvas an every-day occnrreiice for them to tell me 
it was toolisli tor me to run for Congress, saying that there was no chance of my win- 
ning, Ac. ; that they had the control of the election machinery, and we would he 
connted ont anyway ; and wlien I protested, they would say, ‘’ You taught it to us”; 

\ou Republicans taught us these things”; “You used to.do it when you were in 
power.” 

There was no difficulty in this county during the camiiaign. Tlie 
Eepublicans organized without hinderance. On the day of election there 
was considerable trouble among the voters because they were not al¬ 
lowed to vote. The change in the voting-places made it necessary that 
niany of the colored people residing out of the city should vote at the 
city polls. By law the voters were entitled to vote at any x)olling-place 
in the county. This the managers admitted to be the law, but would 
refuse their votes, saying, “They are repeaters. If they are entitled to 
vote, they must vote at their own precinct. They are evidently country¬ 
men, and should vote at their own precinct.” By excuses of this kind 
many voters were refused the privilege of voting. One witness says 
they went from poll to poll, all over the city, begging to vote, but were 
refused the privilege. Finally, the majority of those who came in from 
Saint Andrew’s Parish and from between Charleston and the Twenty- 
two mile House, and the men who had been trying at the diflerent pre¬ 
cincts to vote assembled at the court-house, on the piazza, and in tlie 
yard, and crowded the jilace to overflowing. He estimated the number 
at five hundred. These men, when their votes were refused, were told 
to go to some justice of the peace and swear that they were voters. It 
was the duty of the managers to swear the voters. Tlie United States 
marshal says: 

1 made inquiries, and I found that all of the justices’ offices were closed in the city 
of Charleston. Men were arrested and sent from the polls if they insisted on the 
right to vote, and because they called on their friends to vouch for them as voters. 

Says ]VIr. Wallace, the United States marshal: 

I went to the commissioners of election, and apjdied to them to correct the misap¬ 
prehension which the managers seemed tohav'e that they had a right to decide whether 
a man had a right to vote. The commissioners referred me to the Democratic execu¬ 
tive committee. The commissioners thought it wrong that the votes should be re¬ 
fused. They thought a man ought to be allowed to vote in any precinct on swearing 
that they had not voted at any other precinct that day, but they had not received in¬ 
structions from the Democratic executive committee. The Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee, and not the officers appointed by law, were really conducting the election. 

Tbe United States marsbal appointed forty-six deputy marslials to 
attend tbe polls. Eighteen of the forty-six were Democrats, and were 
suggested to the marshal by the Democratic candidate for Congress. 
The deputy marshals were refused the privilege of being near enough 
to the polls to inspect the manner of voting. The Eepublican supervis¬ 
ors had been dii-ected by the chief supervisor to have a clerk and keep 
a poll-list. In every case the clerk was refused admission to the polling- 
l)laces. The managers also endeavored to prevent the supervisors from 
keeping a x>oll ]ist. 


XXXII ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

CHARLESTON CITY. 

Washington Engine-IIouse Precinct. 

At Washington engine-house precinct in ward 6, Charleston City, the 
voting xiroceeded quietly all day. Walter Elfe was the Republican su¬ 
pervisor, and E. M. Wilson, the Democratic. At this polling-place 
there is every reason to believe that there was a large Republican ma¬ 
jority. The count was commenced, there being in the room three Re¬ 
publicans and from thirty to forty Democrats. After a short time the 
gas went out. Candles were obtained and the count continued a short 
time longer, when the candles were put out. In the darkness that fol¬ 
lowed the ballot-box was broken up, and the ballots destroyed. The 
number of votes cast was 865. ISTo return was made ever from this box. 

Palmetto Engine-IIouse Precinct. 

At the Palmetto engine-house precinct, in ward 3, voting proceeded 
quietly until about half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, when 
the supervisors called on the deputy marshal to arrest a man who had 
attempted to vote the second time. At this an attack was made 
on the supervisor, and his poll-list destroyed. Up to that time his 
poll-list showed that there had been 915 votes cast; and his poll-list 
tallied with the poll-list of the managers. From that time until six 
o’clock the supervisor did not keep any iioll-list. When the vote was 
canvassed at that poll, it was claimed that there had been 3,569 votes 
cast. If this number was cast, there must have been cast, in two and a 
half hours 2,654 votes, or at the rate of seventeen votes a minute. When 
the box was opened all agree that there were a great number of tissue 
tickets in it. These tickets were of very thin paper—so thin that print 
can be read through the paper; and only 3-i\ inches in length and IJ 
inches wide, while an ordinary ticket is from 7 J inches to 84 inches in 
length and from 2 to 2J inches wide. Just how many tissue tickets were 
in the box cannot now be exactly determined; because when the com¬ 
mittee examined the boxes there were no tickets in this box, although 
tickets were found in the boxes used at all the other polling places ex¬ 
cept one. The supervisor swears that just before the poll closed the 
president of the Democratic ward club came to the polls; and the wit¬ 
ness says that he distinctly saw him put tissue tickets into the box 
in packages. The witness protested against this, but the managers 
said, if there are too many in the box we will not count them. When 
the box was opened, the witness says that he saw half a dozen paekages 
of those tissue tickets that had never been folded, and they were all 
counted. The returns gave the Democratic candidate for Congress 
3,143 votes, and the Republican candidate 416. 

There was one other polling-place in this ward—the IMarket Hall—at 
which the Republicans are reported as having 121, and the Democrats 
1 ,866; making the total vote of the ward 5,556. The highest vote ever 
cast in this ward was in 1876, when it cast 1,886. 

That it is physically impossible in 2^ hours to cast over 2,690 votes 
all must admit; and it becomes the more apparent when it is understood 
that, by the laws of South Carolina, every voter must be sworn to the 
effect that he is a voter, that he has not voted elsewhere at that elec¬ 
tion, &c. The evidence shows that during the day the voters at that 
poll were sworn, one bj’ one, as they voted; and if, from six o’clock in 
the forenoon to half-past three in the afternoon, only 915 persons voted. 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXXIII 


the increase from that time to six o’clock in the evening is more than 
remarkable. 

A witness who examined the original poll-list on file with the Secre¬ 
tary of State testified that the poll-list was on eighty and one-half sheets 
of paper, that there were twenty difterent handwritings, and that the 
names must have been written by at least twelve different persons. At 
least a half dozen sheets were in the handwriting of a woman. 

Ilarlxet Hall Frecinet. 

The vote at Market Hall precinct was in 1875, 473; in 187G, 585. The 
increase from that number to nearly two thousand (1,987), can be ac¬ 
counted for only upon the supposition that the poll-list does not report 
the true number of votes cast, but that fictitious names were added. 
The list shows 1,977 names, while the return made was 1,987. The poll- 
list appears to be in the handAvriting of seven different persons. No 
box was found for this precinct, and the number of tissue tickets cast 
cannot be well ascertained. 

Marion Engine-House precinct. 

At this precinct the sui)ervisor Avas not allowed to haAX a clerk, and 
he did not keep a poll-list. After the polls closed it Avas found that on 
the poll-lists as kept by the managers there were 1,128 names, and 
eleven more ballots than names on the list. There Avere in the box 354 
Democratic tissue tickets. The poll-list appears to be in the handAvrit- 
ing of several different persons, and the names on the list indicate 
that they were fictitious, as the names are found on the list as follows 
(pages 169, 170): John Bull, Jacob Bull, Tom Bull, Isardis Bull, Peter 
Bullwinkle, William Smith, Jacob Smith, Israel Smith, Jacob Duck- 
Avorthy, Peter DuckAVorth, Joseph Duckworth, Jacob Adams, Peter 
Adams. Then there are four of the same family name on the poll-list 
together. 

Hope Engine-House. 

The United States super\dsor testified that he did not reach the poll¬ 
ing place, until the polls had been open twenty minutes; the managers 
called it thirty, but Avitness said it was only tAventy minutes. The super¬ 
visor kept a poll list after he arrived. When the count Avas made it aa^s 
found that there were 1,286 names on the manager’s list, and but 1,238 
votes in the box. The superAusor had on his list (which contained the 
names of all who Amted after half past six o’clock a. m.) 838 names. The 
poll-lists of the Kepublican and the Democratic supervisors agreed. 
When the count Avas made at the close of voting, there Avere found in 
the box 323 tissue Democratic tickets; and this number were found re¬ 
maining in the box Avlien examined by the committee. Tlie tissue tickets 
Avmre all counted as if honestly cast, and the return AAms, Democratic 
tickets 716, Kepublican 522. It is quite apparent that the difference 
between the supervisor’s lists and the managers’, arose trom additions 
being made to the latter to coA’^er the number of tissue tickets fraudu¬ 
lently placed in the box. 


Eagle Engine House. 

At this precinct, the total poll-list, as kept by managers and super¬ 
visors, was 1,226, and the number of ballots lound in the box Avas l,3o4, 

S. Kep. 855-iii 


XXXIV 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


or an excess of 158. This excess was drawn out, and a witness says 
that allj or nearly all, tlie tickets drawn out were Republican tickets. 
There were 192 Democratic tissue tickets found in the box. The result 
was declared to be: Democratic, 732j Republican, 494. 

Chrisfs Church Parish 2 )recinct [Mount Pleasant). 

The supervisor at this precinct swears that he arrived at the poll be¬ 
fore six o’clock, but the managers declared that it was after sixj and on 
his demand to see the inside of the box, they refused, saying it was too 
late. The poll-list of the managers and supervisors agreed, the total 
number being G20. When the ballots were taken out, it was found that 
there were 1,163, or an excess of 543. A large number Avere tissue tick¬ 
ets. At this, as in all other precincts, the regular Democratic tickets 
and the Republican tickets were so different in their texture that they 
could be easily distinguished by the touch. The 543 tickets in excess 
were drawn out and destroyed, and of this number 372 Avere ReiAublican 
and 171 Democratic. The box from that precinct, when examined by 
the committee, contained 464 Democratic tissue tickets. Thus at this 
precinct the excess of tickets fraudulently put in the box was the means 
of drawing from the box 372 Republican tickets; and the true returns 
would haA^e beeii: Democratic, 101; Republican, 419—a Republican ma¬ 
jority of 318, instead of a Democratic majority of 366—or a clear loss to 
the Republicans, in this precinct, of six hundred and eighty-four votes. 

This may be taken as a fair sample of other A^oting-places. 

Thirty-tic 0 Mile House xirecinct. 

At this precinct the poll-list kept by the supeiwisor and managers 
differed only in one name. The managers had 550 names, and the 
supervisors 549. But when the box Avas opened it was found to con¬ 
tain 890 ballots—an excess of 341 oA^er the superAusor’s poll-list. And 
this was the number of Democratic tissue tiehets found in the box. The 
excess was draAAm out and destroyed. Of the tickets destroyed, 336 
Avere Republican, and 5 Democratic. The Republicans were gK^en 164 
votes, and the Democrats 435—a Democratic majority of 261; when in 
fact there was a Republican majority of 451, or a clear loss to the Re¬ 
publicans of seven hundred and twelve votes. 


At Edisto precinct. 

The Democratic managers neglected to open the polls, and about one 
thousand colored people aa ere deprived of an opportunity to vote. 

The foregoing a\411 give a pretty good idea of the manner of conduct¬ 
ing the elections in Charleston County. 


TISSUE TICKETS. 

The committee examined the ballot-boxes deposited in the registers 
office, and found in them 3,893 Democratic tissue tickets. This does 
mIw in the box at Palinetto Engine House and 

Maiket Hall piecincts, Mr. Jones, one of the Democratic commission¬ 
ers, testified that he thought there were in the various ballot-boxes at 
least fl\-e thousand Democratic tissue tickets. There was undoubtedly 
a much larger number than that, because that leaves only about eleven 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXXV 


liundrexl for the number found in the boxes at Market Hall and Palmetto 
Engine House. 

The evidence is quite conclusive that the tissue tickets were not voted 
in the regular waj^ A few, it was proved, were voted; but not to exceed 
twenty or thirty in all. Others might have been voted; but it is quite 
evident that the tickets w ere not put in the ballot-boxes in a lawful 
manner, but as a means of displacing in the boxes an equal number of 
liepublican tickets, as appears to have been the case at most of the pre¬ 
cincts. In other precincts, as at the Palmetto Engine House, they were 
counted by the introduction of fictitious names on tlie poll-list. 

It has been charged that the Eepublicans also used tissue tickets at 
the late election. Mr. Mackey, the Eepublican candidate for Congress 
from the Charleston district, testified that he was informed, on the Sun¬ 
day before the election, of the intention of the Democrats to use tissue 
tickets, and that he consulted with leading Eepublicans upon the sub¬ 
ject 5 that it was believed to be the plan to stuff the boxes with the tissue 
ballots, and then to draw out the excess that might be found from the 
Eepublican ballots in the box j that it was thought it might, in part at 
least, prevent this fraud to have the Eepublican tickets of the same tex¬ 
ture as the Democratic tissue tickets, so that the two could not be distin¬ 
guished from each other by the touch when drawing them from the box. 
But this attempt to thwart the tissue-ballot fraud was made too late, 
and Avas partially abandoned. On examination only 158 Eepublican 
tissue tickets were found in the boxes. Of those, 155 Avere 6^ inches long 
and inches wide, and three aa ere 3J inches by 25 inches, printed with 
same-size type that the ticket on the heavier paper was. It Avill be seen 
that they Avere all very much larger than tlie Democratic tissue tickets 
Avere, and therefore Avould not serve, like them, for purposes of fraud. 

The Democratic tissue tickets Avere not distributed as the regular 
tickets were j although some of the witnesses SAvear to having seen them 
at the polls, yet both Democrats and Eepublicans agree that no consid¬ 
erable number Avere to be seen, and at most of the polls none at all until 
after the Acting ceased. One witness, a member of the Democratic 
executive committee of Charleston, testified that he did not knoAV where 
the tissue tickets were printed, nor who ordered them; and that he sup¬ 
posed the object in using them was to enable the colored people to Amte 
the Democratic ticket Avithout being detected, so that they might not 
be ostracized by their colored neighbors. A witness from another 
county, where tissue tickets were used, testified that he thought they 
were used so the colored people could not cheat the aa hites by pretend¬ 
ing to vote the Democratic ticket Avhen they were not. It appears that 
the Democratic ticket mostly in use at the polls at CliaiiestouAvas a red 
cliecked-back ticket, printed in red ink; and there Avere 3,300 of these 
tickets found in the boxes when examined by the committee. The tes¬ 
timony shoAVS that this Avas the kind of ticket the colored people voted 
Avhen they voted the Democratic ticket; and Avitnesses testified that 
these tickets were used to prevent the colored people from pretending 
to vote the Democratic ticket, when they were really voting the 
Eepublican ticket. There was a large increase of voters returned in 
1878 over any other year, notwithstanding the testimony sIioavs that 
hundreds of colored people were not permitted to Amte. This in¬ 
crease can only be accounted for by the use of the tissue tickets 
and other tickets fraudulently put into the boxes. In one box, when 
examined by the committee, Avere found twenty-three Democratic tickets 
on ordinary paper that evidently had never been folded. Some mem¬ 
bers of the committee thought there were more than that number, but 


XXXVI 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


all tlie coiimiittee present agreed tliat that number had been put in 
the box without folding. They could not have been voted. The returns 
as made by the Democratic officers sliow a large Democratic majority, 
but it is evident that tlie returns do not indicate the actual vote of the 
county, and it cannot be doubted tliat an honest count would not only 
have given the Ke})ublicans a majority in the city and county, but would 
have insured the election of a Eepublican Congressman from that dis¬ 
trict. 

In order to ascertain wliether there had been an increase of voters in 
the city of Cliarleston, as the increased vote of 1878 over that of 1876 
would indicate, a witness was called who had taken a census of the city 
in the latter part of December lastj but he said he had made returns 
to the mayor and had forgotten the number of voters. The committee 
thereuiion summoned the mayor of the city, a Democrat, for the purpose of 
questioning him as to the number of inhabitants 5 but the mayor refused 
to respond to the subpoena, saying the committee had no jurisdiction 
over him. The committee could but conclude that no increase of voters 
was shown by the recent census; for if such had been the case the Dem¬ 
ocratic officials of the city would hardly have declined to make it known. 

SUMTEK COUNTY. 


In Sumter County tissue tickets were also used; but it appears either 
that the leaders did not determine to use the tickets in the commence¬ 
ment of the compaign, or that they did not have confidence in their 
ability to carry the election by their use alone; for the most strenuous 
efforts were made to frighten the Eepublican leaders from their attempted 
organization of the Eepublican party. Eepublican speakers were threat¬ 
ened and maltreated, and Eepublican meetings disturbed and broken up. 
Whenever and wherever the Eepiiblicans attempted to hold meetings, 
the Democracy attended in numbers, armed, and insisted on participat¬ 
ing in the meeting, and, if refused, were threatening in their manner. 

On the 12 th of October the Eepiiblicans attemj)ted to hold a meeting 
at Sumter, the county seat. The Democrats also called a meeting at the 
same time and place. The call for the Democratic meeting was not 
issued until after that of the Eepublican meeting. On the day of the 
meeting the Democrats appeared in great numbers on horseback and 
on foot, armed and accompanied by an artillery company with two field- 
pieces. The Democrats presented a programme to the Eepiiblicans for 
division of time, but the Eepulilicans declined, and held their meetim>- 
some distance from where the Democratic meeting was held. The E^- 
publican meeting was not well attended, as many had feared to attend 
on account of the presence of the mounted and armed Democrats. 

Mr. Moise, a Democratic witness, introduced by the minoritv of the 
committee, testified that the number at the Eepublican meetiim-was 
about five hundred; that there were present in the town about two 
thousand white Democrats, and among them between five and eiaht 
hundred armed cavalrymen. He said as the Eepiiblicans were return¬ 
ing to the town after the meeting adjourned, with a band of music, and 
the national flag flying as they passed, about sixty of the red shirt De¬ 
mocracy 111 attendance became excited, and, leaving the Democratic 
meeting went after the Eepublican procession. At once the crv was 

Uemocrats loaded the cannon 
vith nails, and lan it out lor action. It does not appear that the colored 
Eepubhcans had 111 any manner interfered with the Democrats. IMr. 
Moise sajs that the young men in the Democratic party were excited 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XXXVII 


at the sight of the American hag, which, he declared, was an nnpopidar 
emblem in tliat part of tlie country. He said the Kepnblicans carried 
tlie American tlag at their meetings, and the Democrats did not. Speak¬ 
ing of the national tlag, he said, When they see it at a Kepnblican meet¬ 
ing, where it is an emblem of oppression, it excites them. I hope it will be 
otherwise some time.” He also testified that the colored iieople became 
very mucli excited j they Avere nnarmed and did not appear to knoAV 
what to do. The American flag was pulled down, bnt it is not clear 
whether it was taken down by the whites or the colored people. 

It was nnder difli(ailties of this character that tlie Kepnblicans carried 
on the campaign. One Avitness says that eA^ery man wlio took a promi¬ 
nent part AA'as menaced. 

Tissue tickets apjiear to liaA^e been used in imicli tlie same way they 
were in Charleston Comity. 

It is not strange that, with intimidation and threats, and the nse of 
tissue tickets, the Democrats were able to secure the returns in their 
favor, although the colored iieojile are more than tAvice as nnmerons in 
Sumter County as the AAhites. 

WILLIAMSBUKG COUXTY. 

The conduct of the campaign in this comity did not difter materially 
from that in Sumter. The same comxilaint is made of obstructions being 
thrown! in the way of the colored Amters. In this comity they seem to 
liaA^e adopted a someAvhat diflerent method at the polls, requiring the 
colored A'oters to prove that tliey had paid their tax. If they had no 
tax, or had failed to pay a tax, they aa ere refused the priAilege of Acting. 
There AAms no law that justified this ; and, in fact, the managers do not 
appear to have iiretended that there wnis any such law, although they 
made that the test of a oting. This question wms never asked of the 
AA hite Alters. 

The superAusors Avere not alloAA ed to go inside of the room Avhere the 
ballot-boxes AA^ere kept, and AA^ere obstructed and hindered in their efforts 
to watch the Amting. Mr. Saa ails., a prominent colored Kepnblican leader, 
was seized by a law less band of Democrats and taken to the court-house, 
Avhence he succeeded in making his escape from them. One colored man, 
Avho assisted SAAmils to escaiie, AA^as shot by the Democrats. Swails 
was charged Avitli having made inflammatory speeches. A witness aaKo 
testified that Swails made speeches of that character, said: 

l have lieard him talk to the negroes, and tell them of the wrongs they had suffered 
from the white iieojile in days gone hy; tell them to remember these things, and never 
trust the white people, and to hold themselves together, and to go together, and vote 
together, and not to work for white j^eople. 

When asked if he objected to a speaker going back to ante helium 
times, he said, I think that it aa as A^ery impolitic, imprudent, and 
inflammatory.” SAAmils had resided in the county since 18G5; aaus a 
property OAAuier, having tAAm dAyelling-houses and other property in the 
toAvn. The house in Avhich he resided, the Avitness said, originally cost 
SAA'ails $900, and he had iniproA^ed it at a cost of $3,000 more, and had 
it AA^ell furnished. Y^et he AAms charged aa ith having threatened to burn 
the toAAm; and nnder the pretense that he aa as guilty of making such 
threats, and might incite the colored people to burn his oaaui and his 
neighbors’ property, the Democratic executiA^e committee notified him 
that he must leave the toAvn at once, and he did so. The charges 
against SAA^ails were beyond all question false, and it is difficult to 


XXXVIII ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


believe that the Democratic executive committee believed there was 
danger—except in a political sense—from his ])resence in tlie county. 
All the managers of election were Democrats; and it is needless to add 
that the Democratic officials declared there was a Democratic majority 
of about eight hundred, Avlien in 1870 there had been a liepublican 
majority of nearly as many. 

GEOEGETOWN^ COUNTY. 

In Georgetown County tlie Democrats appear to Lave inaugurated a 
new method of nullifying the ballot. They allowed the voter to cast 
his ballot and then threw out the poll; in tliis way they were enabled, 
with little labor and no murder or intimidation, to secure the control ot 
a county with a large Eepul)lican majority. All the managers \yere 
Democrats; and at tlie polls that were certain to give large Eepublican 
majorities one or all of the managers failed to (pialify as the law di¬ 
rected, and then the commissioners threw out the lioxes because of the 
failure of the managers to qualify. In this way the returns from five 
precincts were lost to tlie Eepublicans. The Eepublicans voted suppos¬ 
ing that the managers had been qualified, as they so declared. The re¬ 
sult was a Democratic majority, although it is a Eepublican county. 

OEANGEEUEG COUNTY. 

In Orangeburg County the same hostility Avas exhibited towards the 
Eepublican supervisor and deputy marshal tliat was shown in other por¬ 
tions of the State. As in Sumter, the Democratic committee Avas not 
Avilling to rely on tissue tickets alone. Threats were made against 
leading Eepublicans. Mr. AYebster, a white man, deputy x>ostmaster 
at Orangeburg, AA^as arrested just before election, charged with bribery, 
in that he had, in 1876, agreed with one Duncan that the latter should 
use his infiuence Avith Chamberlain to liaA^e him (AYebster) appointed 
county treasurer. Duncan, who Avas the chairman of the Eepublican 
county committee, called a meeting of the committee, and on the day 
this meeting was to lie held he also Avas arrested on a charge of bribery 
in the same matter. Both AAYbster and Duncan Avere put in jail. AYeb¬ 
ster obtained his release the same day; Duncan remained in jail tAA^o 
days. Both gaA^e bail, and in both cases the grand jury ignored the 
bill, and no further notice Avas taken of the matter. The charge Avas 
made to lAreA ent Duncan and AA'ebster from organizing the Eepublican 
party. 

On the 28th of September the Democratic paper i)ublished at Orange¬ 
burg contained the following: Our young men, keep an eye on Eadical 
meetings of any kind, and AA^atch them day and night.” 

Satisfied from the threatening aspect of the Democracy that they could 
not carry on an active cainpaign, the Eepublicans attempted to organize 
in a quiet way. The testimony sIioaa's that they Avere united and deter¬ 
mined in su])x)ort of their ticket. On the day of election the sui)ervisors 
and marshals Avere practically excluded from the polls, and two of them 
were arrested and put in jail because they insisted on seeing the number 
of Amtes that had been cast. 

AYIien the ballots were counted at the close of the polls, it Avas found 
in sixteen precincts out of the nineteen in the county there was an ex¬ 
cess of ballots OA^er the names on the poll-list, as kept by the Democratic 
managers. The total excess Avas 2,278. A great number of tissue tick¬ 
ets were found in the boxes—just how many it is impossible to say. 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. XXXIX 
\ 

Tlie excess drawn from the boxes were almost entirely Eepiiblican tick- 
etSj which had been honestly voted, but which were thus displaced by 
Democratic tickets with which the ballot-boxes had been fraudulently 
filled. As the deputy marshals and supervisors were not permitted to 
watch the voting except at a distance, it is impossible to say what num¬ 
ber of fictitious names were added to the list. At the election in this 
county in 1874 all the managers were Democrats j and yet Chamber¬ 
lain had a majority of 1,765. In 1876 there was one Democratic com¬ 
missioner and one Democratic manager at each of the polls, and Cham¬ 
berlain’s majority was 1,599. In 1878 (when, as one witness says, the 
Eepnblicans were never more determined to vote their ticket), with 
Democratic commissioners and Democratic managers, the Democratic 
majority was declared to be 1,500. There were but three polls in the 
eonnty where there was not an excess of tickets over the names on the 
poll-lists: At Brown’s poll, which had always been Democratic until 
1878, when it gave a Eepiiblican majority of eleven; at Cleaton, always 
Democratic, where the Democratic majority was reduced more than one- 
half from that of 1876. 

After the election eighteen x^jersons were arrested, charged with viola¬ 
tion of United States election laws, and brought before the United States 
commissioners. A few days afterward Mr. Webster, deputy xiostmaster. 
Miller, one of the dexmty marshals, and Livingston, the Eepublican sher¬ 
iff, were all arrested, charged with a consiiiracy to obstruct the counting 
of the votes. The foundation for these charges axipears to have been that 
Webster requested x^ermission for Livingston and himself to go inside 
and witness the count. This was refused., and they went away. Web¬ 
ster, Kitt, and Livingston have all been indicted for a consxiiracy to ob¬ 
struct the counting of votes; and the Eev. Mr. Arthur, a Eepublican, 
has been indicted for intimidation of voters and for resisting an officer. 
The witness Webster says all of the charges were groundless, and adds: 

Something has been said about comxiromising ever since the true bill 
was found.” 

EICHLAKD COUNTY. 

Eichland County contains the capital of the State, Columbia. The 
character of the campaign in this county, containing the capital, ax>' 
pears not to be different from that of other counties, excex:>t that there 
was a marked absence of threats and intimidation, such as were used in 
Sumter and some other counties; but there was the same hostility ex¬ 
pressed toward the Eepublican super\isors and deputy marshals, the 
same obstruction of voters at the polls, the same use of tissue tickets 
(called in this county “Little Hamptons”), and the usual evidence of 
systematic fraud at the ballot-boxes on the day of election, the same ex¬ 
cess of ballots in the boxes over the names on the x^oll-lists kept by the 
Democratic managers, and the same drowning out and displacing of 
Eepublican tickets to make way for the “ Little Hampton ” tickets. The 
usual result followed—a Democratic majority, notwithstanding it is a 
Eex^iiblican county. How this was done may be understood by reference 
to the testimony of I. H. Simms, who says: “ By the amount of tissue 
tickets, Gadsden precinct, that would have given a Eepublican majority 
of not less than three hundred and fifty, gave a Democratic majority of 
194, and that was more than the whole number of Democratic votes 
cast.” That such frauds should be perpetrated in the capital of the State 
it would be impossible to believe if there was any lack of proof, but the 
testimony axn^ears to be conclusive; and although the managers were 
then charged with fraud, not one appeared before the committee to tes¬ 
tify to the fairness of the election. 


XL ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

KERSHAW COUNTY. 

Kershaw County appears to have been, on election clay, under the 
charge of the chairman of the Democratic State committee, who seems 
to have succeeded in preventing the supervisors of election from keep¬ 
ing a poll-list; and yet the managers were not able to make the ballots 
in the boxes tally with the poll-lists. Tissue tickets, as in other coun¬ 
ties, were found in the boxes at the count, although not seen during the 
day in tlie hands of voters. Tliis is a Republican county, but returned 
a Democratic majority. 


BARNWELL COUNTY. 

In Barnwell County the Democrats appear to have determined not tO' 
allow the Republicans to organize, and in this they were partly success¬ 
ful. Republican meetings were disturbed, the president of one club 
was severely whipped the night before election, and threats were made 
against the colored Republicans. The voters were prevented from 
voting on election day, and, at one poll, the distributer of Republican 
tickets was compelled to tear them uj) to escai)e the violence of the 
armed Democrats. One colored man was shot at the x)olls on election- 
day. A Democratic Avitness, Avho attended the Republican convention, 
speaking of it, said, ^^They seemed to fear, or have an idea, that if they 
did not vote the Democratic ticket, or unite themselves wiBi the Demo¬ 
cratic party, as many others had done, ])erhai)s they might be deprived 
of employment for the coming year.” This is a Republican county, but 
the Democratic returns gave a Democratic majority of thirty-two hun¬ 
dred. 

HAMPTON COUNTY. 

Hampton County was formerly a part of Beaufort County, and wa» 
set off from Beaufort County by the last legislature. Tliat part now 
called ‘‘Hamxffon” had been Republican by from fiA^e hundred to eight 
hundred majority. The ])olling-places Avere changed by the legislature 
so as to compel the people to travel long distances to vote. During the 
campaign the Republicans Avere disturbed at their meetings by armed 
men, and in other ways. If the Republicans called a meeting, they 
Avere compelled to divide time with the Democrats. The character of 
the meetings can be understood by reference to the testimony of a wit¬ 
ness, who said; 

While I Avas speaking I could he heard part of the time, and part not; when they 
thought I spoke long enough, they said, “Pull him down!” From that time ont 
everything was boisterous, and there was no time in the meeting that a man could 
look in any direction without seeing from a dozen to twenty revolvers on exhibition. 

He also said, Without a joint discussion there was no possibility of 
a man speaking, black or white, during the campaign.” The Democratic 
managers returned the Democratic majority at about two thousand. 

COLLETON COUNTY. 

In Colleton County the Democrats appear to have resorted to all the 
methods of carrying on an election knoA\ n in that section of the coun¬ 
try except violence. There aa as tlie legislative consolidation of polls, 
and the usual objections to the supervisors and marshals. At one poll- 
mg place the Democratic managers refused to get the regular box, and 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XLI 


took a biscuit or cracker box, without lock; and at night, when the ballots 
were counted, the managers, finding that notwithstanding their tissue 
tickets the Republicans had a large majority, sent a iirotest with the 
box, saying that the box had not been opened in time, and was not a 
legal one, and the box w^as rejected by tlie Democratic commissioners. 

At Green Pond, where there was a large Republican majority, and 
three polls had been consolidated, the poll was not opened at all. A 
large number of colored people assembled at the poll, some having 
traveled fifteen miles. Tlie nearest poll that was open was ten miles dis¬ 
tant, which Avonld make the round trip fifty miles if they went there to 
vote; so they did not vote. 

By an error in the enrolling of the bill consolidating the polling places 
in the county, the name of Snider’s Cross-Roads had been changed so as 
to read Linder’s Cross-Roads. There was no such place in the county j 
yet returns came in from that pretended precinct—Democrats 400, Re¬ 
publicans 7—and were duly counted, although no election had been held 
at Snider’s Cross-Roads, nor at any place answering to Linder’s Cross- 
Roads.” 

Tissue tickets appear to have been used at all the polls. At one poll 
the excess of ballots over the names on the managers’ poll-list Avas 288. 
That number of ballots Avas drawn out and destroyed; of Avhich 284 were 
Republican tickets, and 4 Avere Democratic. It is needless to say that, 
notwithstanding this had been a Republican County, the returns made 
by the Democratic officials gaA^e a Democratic majority of about two 
thousand. 

The committee found it impossible to examine all counties Avliere 
frauds were complained of, as the time allowed was not sufficient for 
this purpose. Some effort was made by the peoide of South Carolina 
to make it api^ear that the result of the election as declared Avas an 
honest one, and seAwal Avitnesses Avere introduced to proA^e that colored 
men Amted the Democratic ticket, and that some of the acts of a iolence 
complained of did not grow out of lAolitical affairs. This was notably 
the case as to the violence in the case of Riley, the lAresident of a club, 
who was whipped the night before election. It was claimed by a wit¬ 
ness that he was aa hipped because he had been an OA^erseer before the 
war, and had outraged and mistreated some orphan children left in his 
care. But as the children had not been with him for over three years, 
and no prosecution had been liad against him, that does not ai)pear to 
have been the cause of the whipping. 

It is a significant fact that no manager of election charged with fraud 
appeared before the committee to disi)iwe the charge. This Avas espe¬ 
cially noticeable in the city of Charleston, AAdiere the managers could, 
Avithout incouA enieuce, haA"e appeared before the committee. 

FIDELITY OF THE COLORED PEOPLE TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

There is great unanimity among the Republicans, both white and 
black, as to the fidelity of the colored people to the Republican party j 
and there is no testimony before the committee that will justify the 
conclusion that the Republican votes of the State have dwindled to the 
number allowed by the Democrats, or that the Democratic vote can have 
increased to the proportions claimed for it, and that must exist if the 
returns made of the late election are honest. 


XLII ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 

GENEEAL COKOLUSIONS. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH RESTRICTED. 

It was not possible, within the time allowed for the work, to investi¬ 
gate the elections held in all the Congressional districts in Louisiana and 
South Carolina. In the former State, ninety-one witnesses were exam¬ 
ined ; in the latter, one hundred and seven. The evidence shows that in 
both States there is a widespread determination to restrict freedom of 
speech on i)olitical questions, claiming that the discussion of the rela¬ 
tions of labor to capital, employers to employes, and kindred subjects, 
is calculated to array the colored people against the whites, and thus 
endanger the safety of the latter. This determination is not evinced by 
State enactments; but the Democrats, when attending political meet¬ 
ings, not only of their own party but also of the opposition, are in the 
habit of refusing to allow the speakers to discuss these questions in their 
various forms. Any reference to the condition of the colored people be¬ 
fore the war, or to the causes that led to the war, are condemned as be¬ 
ing of an incendiary and inflammatory character. 

It will be readily seen that if it is allowed to the attendants at a pub¬ 
lic meeting to determine what is and what is not incendiary or inflam¬ 
matory matter, and therefore objectionable and not to be permitted, 
there will be an end of all public discussion, unless the speakers shall 
consent to discuss the question in accordance with the views of the 
majority of those that may be in attendance. Great liberty must be 
allowed in the discussion of all political questions , and it vdll never do 
to let a crowd of heated partisans at a public meeting determine what 
is and what is not an incendiary speech”—what is not proper to be 
said on such occasions. 


PRETENDED FEARS OF NEGRO INSURRECTION. 

It is claimed by the defenders of these attempts to prevent free speech 
that there is danger in allovdng the attention of the colored people to 
be directed to these subjects, on account of their being liable to be 
excited thereby, and to commit outrages on their white neiglibors. All 
the murders, and all the attacks that have been made on the colored 
people have been justified or excused on the ground that the colored 
people had made threats against the whites. However false and desti¬ 
tute of foundation these reports might be, nevertheless they were made 
the excuse of the most unheard-of atrocities against these people. But 
there is nothing in the character or tlie history of the colored people 
to justify any such fears, and no reason to suppose that sueh fears do 
exist in the minds of intelligent thinking men living among them 
Democratic witnesses, when interrogated on that point, all agreed that 
the negro was peaceful and unrevengeful; and that, with all the reports 
of uprisings of this class of people to murder and outrage the whites 
there was no instance in American history within their knowledge when 
this had been done. All admitted that it would require great provoca- 
Lon to induce the colored people to resort to violence against the whites. 
Eespect for authority, obedience to law, and attachments to persons and 
things, are notable and leading characteristics of the colored race. 

FRAUD, VIOLENCE, AND MURDER. 

While the investigation, as regards both Louisiana and South Caro¬ 
lina, was necessarily but iiartial and incomplete, as a vast array of evi- 


LOmSIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XLIII 


deuce bearing* upon tlie subjects wliicli the committee was appointed to 
investigate was ottered which lack of time prevented taking, the testi¬ 
mony that was taken was amply sufficient to show conclusively that in 
several districts in each State not only the elections for Congressmen, 
but for State and county officers as well, were neither fair nor free; that 
by violence and fraud the honest expression of the will of those entitled 
to vote was prevented, and thousands of the citizens of those States 
deprived of the elective franchise. In Louisiana, both violence and 
fraud was extensively used; in South Carolina, while violence was not 
rare, fraud was more largely relied upon. 

• 

NOT ONLY CRUELTY AND INJUSTICE, BUT INGRATITUDE. 

There is another view of the relationship existing between the races to 
which attention should be drawn. During the war, almost all the able- 
bodied white men in the States that were in rebellion were in the Con¬ 
federate armies. The colored people —the slaves —were left on the plan¬ 
tations, engaged in caring for their masters’ families, and in raising the 
food that supported the armies in the held. IVIost tenderly and faith¬ 
fully did they discharge their delicate and important trusts. Especially 
did they show the affectionate kindness of their nature by their devotion 
to and kindness for the defenseless ones left almost wholly at their mercy. 
It is difficult to understand how men of any race, particularly of a race 
proudly claiming for itself superiority to all others, can treat with cruelty 
and injustice even inferiors to whom they owe so large a debt of gratitude. 

NO OBJECTION TO NEGROES VOTING, IF- 

It would appear that the objection on the part of the whites is not so 
much to the colored people voting as it is to the way they vote. If the 
white Democrats can control the colored vote for the regular Democratic 
candidate no objection is made; but the instant the colored people cast 
their votes for a Kejmblican or an Independent Democratic candidate, 
they become the object of the hatred and vengeance of the whites. 

NOT A QUESTION OF ^^HOME RULE” AND ^^CARPET-BAGGERS.” 

In short, in both the States in which the committee pursued its investi¬ 
gations, the Democratic party manifested a determination not to tolerate 
opposition under any form; for the Democrat who bolted the ^‘regular 
nomination,” no matter of what color, or how long a resident of the State, 
at once became an object of the wrath of the regular party. Fraud and 
violence, to whatever extent was found necessary to accomplish the de¬ 
sired end were used, not only against the candidates of the Eepublican 
party, but against Independent Democratic candidates, and candidates by 
whatever name known, who were in opposition to the regular Democratic 
candidates; thus showing clearly that the result sought for and accom¬ 
plished was not the prevention of so-called ‘^carpet-bag rule” and the 
establishment of so-called “ home rule,” but the success of the Demo¬ 
cratic party in those States, and so far as their action could accomplish 
that end, in the nation, by whatever means, and at whatever cost. 

It is shown by the evidence that in one of the country parishes of Lou¬ 
isiana (Tensas), the Eepublican leaders, desiring to avoid all cause for 
^dolence, and all pretext for the assertion that they had drawn what is 
called the “ color-line,” sent a committee to the Democratic convention 
with a proposition to form a fusion ticket for county officers composed 





XLIV 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


of good men of both parties. Tliis proposition the Democrats contemi)- 
tuously rejected. Afterwards a number of tlie most prominent planters 
of tlie imrisli^ white men of property^ intelligence, and character, all ot 
them Democrats, and many of them men who Inul served in the Con¬ 
federate arnij", formed an Indei)endent Democratic ticket com])osed ex- 
clnsivelj^ of white Democrats of good standing for honesty and intelli¬ 
gence. The liepublicans generally concluded to support the Independ¬ 
ent ticket. Threats of violence Avere as freely and frequently uttered 
against the ])lanters Avho had originated the Indei>endent moA*ement as 
liad before that time been made against Kepublicans. A similar or 
worse condition of atfairs obtained in many otlter parishes in the State 5 
and it seems perfectly clear that where violence was not sufficient to 
prevent a fair Amte, fraud AA-as used to preA ent a fair count. 

In the city of ^Ncav Orleans, a A^ery large nund)er of most rei)utable 
citizens—mechanics, merchants, manufacturers, l)ankers, professional 
men, and others—organized under the name of ‘^The Citizens’ Associa¬ 
tion,” and formed a ticket for county officers, placing on their ticket the 
names of the Democratic candidates tor Congress and State officers. 
The gentlemen composing this association were AA hite men, most of them 
natiA^es of the State. They had been and still claimed to be Democrats, 
but Avere nearly or quite as much dissatished Avith the home rule” es¬ 
tablished by the Democratic i)arty as they had been AAuth the former 

carpet-bag rule.” The candidates chosen by them Avere gentlemen of 
good character and high standing 5 but neither the association nor its 
candidates receiAed higher consideration or better treatment at the 
hands of the regular lleniocracy than did the lie])ublican party and 
the Eepublican candidates. A^iolence ay as not resorted to, as that, against 
such persons, would haA^e iuAmlved danger to the parties otfering it j and 
bulldozers prefer to direct their Auolence against the Aveak and timid 
colored man, Avliere it can be used Avithout risk to themselves. But 
‘‘The Citizens’ Association” and their candidates found that fraudulent 
A^oting and fraudulent counting were as effectual against them as vio¬ 
lence and intimidation against the colored A^oters. 

A similar or a Avorse condition of affairs obtained in other i)arishes of 
Louisiana than those here mentioned, but the jAarish of Tensas and the 
city of New Orleans are specially referred to for the purpose of shoAviug 
that the dexfforable condition of affairs existing in Louisiana does not 
arise from a supposed necessity of preventing “ carpet-bag ” or negro 
rule, but from a fixed determination on the part of the Democrats by any 
means and at any hazard to the public peace to establish and perpetuate 
Democratic rule. 

An examination of the evidence taken in South Carolina Avill show the 
existence of the same intolerant si)irit and determination in that State. 

PROSPERITY lAIPOSSIBLE AA^HILE VIOLENCE AND FRAUD ARE PER- 

AIITTED. 


The leaders of the Democratic party in these two unfortunate States 
seein to be insensible to the danger to our government involved in these 
actions, and unable to comprehend or utterly regardless of the fact, which 
must be clearly ap^iarent to eA^ery thinking man, that the course Avhich* 
they are pursuing renders the return of material prosperity to their own 
people absolutely impossible. Prosperity conies Avith—and will not 
come AYithoiit—peace, good order, the observance and enforcement of 
the law, and the equal protection of the liA es and property of all citi¬ 
zens j and these things cannot exist in the South AAhile anv consider¬ 
able number of the Avhite people deny to the colored people "the rights 


LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


XLV 


conferred ui)on them by law. To insure a lasting peace to the people, 
white and black, the fullest and freest exercise of all political rights 
must be conceded to all. The people and the courts of the State must 
be as ready to punish a violation of the rights of the humblest la¬ 
borer in the State of Ijouisiana as that of its most intluential citizen. 
Kindly relations will follow when justice shall l)e done to all the peo¬ 
ple without regard to color, with impartial hand. But when its hum¬ 
blest citizens are slaughtered in cold blood to prevent them from 
exercising the rights of citizenship, while the authorities of the State 
remain idle spectators, and public officials satisfy the i)ublic conscience 
by a weak and mild condemnation through the medium of a guberiia- 
torial message, kindly relations between the races cannot be hoped for, 
and cannot be desired. The honor and prosperity of Louisiana demand 
that these outrages against the rights of citizens, these violations of 
State and national law, shall be punished. That this duty devolves upon 
the State all admit, and whatever may be said of the power of the gen¬ 
eral government to redress the wrongs of its (utizens under such circum¬ 
stances, no one Avill excuse the State authorities for the failure to punish 
these offenders. 

FAILURE OF THE STATES TO PUNISH THESE OUTRAGES. 

Ko prosecutions have been instituted by the States of Louisiana or 
South Carolina against the violators of their laws, and no efforts made 
to punish the men who have thus wantonly murdered or outraged their 
citizens; and when the United States courts have been resorted to for 
the purpose of punishing these outrages on tiie ballot, the complainant has 
been in nearly every instance arrested, clearly in violation of law, by the 
State authorities, on charges of perjury, libel, disturbing the peace, 
or some similar charge, and committed to jail, unless he gave bail. 
Citizens are threatened that if they attem]ff to punish the offenders in 
the United States courts the witnesses will be punished in the State 
courts; and thus the State not only declines to punish these criminals, 
but refuses to allow it to be done in the United States courts. Does any 
one believe that if the colored men of the State should commit such crimes 
against the whites of the State they would go unpunished ? The State 
government is a white government; no colored men are represented in 
it, and so far no man connected with it has had the honesty, courage, 
or humanity to attempt to redress the wrongs of these unfortunate men 
of color. 

All will admit that it is the duty of the State to extend to all its citi¬ 
zens the equal protection of its laws. Is this done when it enacts laws 
that in terms apply to all the people, and yet the executive, legislative, 
and judicial departments of the State refuse to apply these laws to a 
class of citizens more in number than one-half of the white population 
of the state ? It would seem the State ought not only to enact laws for 
the equal protection of her citizens in all their rights, but to enforce them. 
The laws of South Carolina and Louisiana are undoubtedly sufficient for 
the protection of all their citizens, if only enforced. That there has been 
a lamentable failure to enforce the laws the testimony taken by tlie 
committee fully proves. The course pursued in those States must in the 
end be the destruction of the government of these States; and while our 
humanity may be less shocked at frauds perpetrated at the polls than at 
murderous raids headed by political candidates who make war on all who 
do not support them and their party, yet the same end will be reached 
by the one method of thwarting the will of the people as by the other; 
that is, the end of free government. That thousands of people in the 


XLVI 


ALLEGED FRAUDS IN THE LATE ELECTIONS. 


States controlled by the political party profiting by these outrages con¬ 
demn them, there can be no donbt; but they lack the independence and 
courage to make themselves heard in opposition to them. 

DUTY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 


If’ as the committee firmly believe, the foregoing conclusions are 
fairly drawn from the evidence, it remains to inquire whether anything, 
and, if anything, what, can be legitimately and fairly done by the 
national government, and what is its duty in this matter. The evils 
existing may be classed under two heads: 

1 st. Citizens duly qualified to vote are iirevented from voting or their 
votes, if cast, are not honestly counted. 

2 d. Violence and intimidation affecting life and property are used to 
prevent citizens from voting. 

Not considering at all the question whether the national government 
can to any extent interfere to protect its citizens in the enjoyment of 
the electiv^e franchise in elections for State officers, it seems clear that it 
may and should interfere to protect them in the election of members of 
the House of Eepresentatives. 

Article I of the Constitution of the United States provides as fol¬ 
lows: 


The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, 
shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; bnt the Congress may at 
any time by law make or alter such regulations, excex)t as to the places of choosing 
Senators. 


This ])rovision of the Constitution does not at all touch the question 
who shall vote for members of Congress, but it clearly gives to tlie Con¬ 
gress full and comiffete power to determine when, where, and in what 
manner those having the right to vote shall exercise that right. The 
Congress may not see fit to exercise this power. In that event the 
whole matter is left witli the States respectively j but if the Congress 
shall see fit to exercise its power, then it may do so as fully and com¬ 
pletely as the States had formerly done or might lawfully do. 

The framers of the Constitution appear to have considered it safe to 
leave this matter, in the first place, under the control of the States. 
But it is very evident they foresaw that conditions might exist in the 
futiue under which the safety of the iiational government and the rights 
of citizens might require that the ‘Himes, places, and manner’^ of hold- 
iug these elections should be under its own control, and not under that 
of the States. In the deliberate judgment of your committee those con¬ 
ditions now exist, and the time has come when the Congress should ex¬ 
ercise the power it clearly possesses of i^roviding by law for fair and 
free elections of members of Congress. It ought to be sufficient to say, 
in regard to the policy of this legislation, that the prompt and cheerful 
acceptance of and obedience to the laws passed by Congress, which is 
both desirable and necessary, cannot be reasonably expected Avhen a 
portion of our people iiave good cause to believe that those laws are 
enacted by persons claiming to represent constituencies bv whom thev 
were not chosen. 

The power to pass laws prescribing the “times, places, and manner 
of holding elections for members of Congress necessarily implies the 
power to provide lor the punishment of violations of such laws. It will 
scarcely be contended—certainly it cannot be fairly claimed—that the 
national government is compelled to rely for the punishment of offenses 
against its own la\vs upon the laws of the several States. The statement 
of such claim is sufficient to show its absurdity. 


CADDO PARISH. 


FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION- OF 1878. 









CADDO rAKISII STATISTICS. 


POPULATION. 

Colored (l»y United States census of 1870). 15,799 

White (by United States census of 1870)... 5, 913 

Colored’majority in 1870 . 9, 886 

Colored*(by State census of 1875). 17,094 

White (by State census of 1875). 6, 302 

Colored majority ill 1875.. 10,792 

PEGISTPATION. 

Colored (by registration of 1874). 2,950 

White (by registration of 1874). 1,724 

Colored registered majority in 1874 . 1,226 

Colored (registration of 1878). 3,732 

White (registration of 1878)... 1, 496 

Colored registered majority in 1878. 2,236 

PKOMULGATED VOTE IN 1878. 

For treasurer, Democratic candidate. 1, 862 

For treasurer, Opposition candidate. None. 

For Congress, Democratic candidate. 1,815 

For Congress, Republican candidate.. *279 

For State Representative, Democratic candidate. 869 and 812 

For State Representative, Opposition candidate. 348 and 301 































CADDO PARISH. 


ALBERT 11. LEONARD. 

Kew Orleans, Januanj 10,1879. 

Albert H. Leonard sworn and examined. 

By Senator Teller, chairman: 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Shreveport j tliat is to 
say, that is my domicile. 

Q. How long have you lived in this State ?—A. Since 1819. 

Q. What State are you a nati\^ of?—A. Georgia. 

Q. What position do you now hold ?—A. I am United States district 
attorney for this district. 

Q. How long have you held that position ?—Since some time in 
June—the last of June, 1878. 

Q. Were you engaged in the late war?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On which side \ —A. The Confederate side. 

Q. Where were you during the last campaign—that of 1878 ?—xl. I 
was in Shreveport, in Caddo Parish. 

Q. Did you take part in that campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you since the election made any examination, in your official 
capacity, as to the character of the campaign with reference to intimida¬ 
tion, &c., in the State generally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You may give your personal knowledge as to how the campaign was 
conducted in Caddo Parish, and state what you have officially learned 
since.—A. I returned to Shreveport from New Orleans, arriving there 
probably about the 25th of July, or possibly not later than the 20th. 
Very shortly after our arrival in Shreveport a very strict quarantine was 
established, which lasted until I left there in November, or shortly before 
that. By this we were cut off from all communication, or almost all com¬ 
munication, with other portions of the State; consequently my knowl¬ 
edge of the campaign until after the election was confined principally 
to Caddo Parish. With regard to that parish the campaign was not 
fairly opened until after the nomination made by the Democratic and 
the Eepublican parties. The Democratic party made then*.nominations 
some time about the last of September; the Republican party some time 
about the first of October. Prior to that time, however, I had numer¬ 
ous conversations with various parties on the Democratic side, with re¬ 
gard to the probable result of the election, and was generally told by 
the leading Democrats, and by men who proposed to take, and did take, 
a prominent part in the election, that the Democrats were going to carry 
the election. I asked them how that was possible. The negroes were largely 
in the majority. They all knew as well as I did that on a fair election the 
Republicans were bound to caiTy the parish by 1,500 or 2,000 majority, 
provided that the negroes voted and were registered, and the indications 
were that they had registered and that they would vote; and it was not 
possible for the Democrats to carry the election. Such statements I 
have never known any one to refute or to attempt to refute, except by 
saying, Well, they are going to vote the Democratic ticket this time.” 



4 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Caddo« 


I asked why they Avere going to A"ote it •, and the only answer aa ould be^ 
Wellj they are going to A ote it.” Such statements I considered ab¬ 
surd, and for a long AAiiile paid them no attention. Time passed on. 
Such conversations were repeated from time to time and a certain tone 
of intimidation, or rather, to speak, perhaps, more correctly, of fixed de¬ 
termination, was manifest, which became intensified into intimidation. 
The Democratic party made their nominations, I think, about the last of 
September, and a Eepublican convention was called and assembled. It 
was composed, I believe, of sixty delegates; and oidy one Avhite man 
was in that coiwention as a member. That convention nominated a 
ticket for the legislature and for sheriff, for i)olice jurors, and coroner, 
I think, and then adjourned. The men Avho were nominated, except the 
nominee for coroner, were all white men. They were men who had lived 
in Caddo Parish for nearly or quite their entire lives. They belonged 
to a class of people which is generally considered as among the better 
class of our community. The ShrcA^eport pai^ers, both of them Demo¬ 
cratic papers, the Times and the Standard, in an editorial commenting 
upon the ticket which Avas placed in the field by the Eepublican conA^en- 
tion, stated that personally there was and could be no objection to the 
parties nominated by the Eepublican coiiA^ention for office. There was 
no attempt made to defame them or to blacken their characters, and it 
was said, on the contrary, that they AA^ere responsible, reputable men; 
but it Avas intimated that the objection to them was that if elected they 
would be elected by the negroes, and that that was sufficient in and of 
itself to induce all Achite men to Amte against them. Shortly after this 
ticket had been placed in the field by the Eepublican party, it was de¬ 
termined by the Eepublican committee that a campaign should be made. 
The negroes had been registered to a considerable extent before that— 
before the cauAmss, or speaking, commenced 5 but still there was a large 
number of the people unregistered, and it Avas determined that the candi¬ 
dates of the Eepublican x)arty should make a canAmss of the i)arish with 
the object of gaining supjAort and of haA iug the Eepublican A oters regis¬ 
tered. The first appointment made was at Greenwood. It aa as deter¬ 
mined that the speakers should be Mr. Elstner, who Avas candidate for 
representatiA^e, and Mr. Harper, AAdio was State senator, and whose tes¬ 
timony you haA^e just heard. In company AAuth them Avent J\Ir. Allston, 
candidate for sheriff on the Eepublican ticket. The first meeting was at 
GreeuAAmod. I went with them to GreenAvood, although it was not my 
intention to take any active part in the campaign. I did not hear the 
speeches made at Greenwood. Then I went to Spring Eidge. It was 
feared that there might be trouble there. I sui)posed, however, that my 
knowledge of the people would be sufficient to enable me to prevent 
anything like Adolence, if it were attempted. At that time I did not 
suppose that anything of the sort would be attempted. 

Wlien we arrived at Spring Eidge there was not much of a crowd 
there. Mr. Haiqier and Mr. Elstner spoke. While ]\Ir. Harper was speak- 
mg he AA’as interrupted; in fact, his speech was scarcely anything more 
than a series of running answers to questions Avhicli Avere presented as 
rapidly as they could be presented and ansAA ered. While this was very 
annoying still he managed to hold his own. We said nothing, but let 
+1 f from there to Boggy Bayou Bridge, and from 

there to Caledonia, and on to fill other appointments. On the afternoon 
ot that day, or evening rather, I Avas very much surprised to find that 

\ (lid you not go- 

on. They said they had returned, and proposed to set out from Sliiwe- 
port the next morning. They had come in to consult Avith regard to- 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


5 


wliat had happened at Boggy Bayou Bridge. I asked ^vhat had hap¬ 
pened. They said while speaking a imniher of persons from Shreveport, 
two or three of whom belonged to the executive committee, had appeared 
on the scene, riding up at a gallop rapidly, armed with weapons, and 
had attempted to bulldoze the party. Well, I examined into the matter, 
found out that the men had actually been there; that there had been some 
interruption, &c., and I concluded I would go with the party. I did not 
think there was any particular danger provided our side would keep 
cool; but these gentlemen, Elstner and Allston, were young and had 
not had experience in this sort of affairs, and I said I would go with 
them. Next day I went to a place called Hog Thief Point, where there 
was a small number of negroes assembled. These were all the places 
at which we Kepublicans were to speak by appointment. There a num¬ 
ber of gentlemen from Shreveport, prominent in the Democratic party, 
appeared on the scene. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Elstner; it 
was getting late and we concluded to push on down to Caledonia, so 
nobody spoke there but Elstner. Nothing in particular happened. At 
Caledonia, where we went next day, I spoke first. I suppose there were 
a hundred or a hundred and fifty negroes there, and ten or twelve whites. 
Caledonia is on the Bed Biver. Very few Avhite people live there, but 
a large number of negroes. From there we returned to Shreveport, and 
went on to the northwest part of the parish to a place known as the Be- 
publican Church. Elstner was taken sick, and there were none but my¬ 
self and Senator Harper to appear for the Bepublicans. At the request of 
the committee, or of some of the leaders rather, I determined to take their 
place as speaker; consequently I went with them to the Bepublican Church. 
There was about the same number of negroes there, say 125 or 150, and 
only three or four white men belonging in the neighborhood. From 
there we returned to Shreveport. By the time I returned to Shreveport 
I found that there was considerable excitement being raised, which ex¬ 
citement was, properly or improperly, attributed to the fact that I was 
taking part in the campaign. That may or may not have been the true 
reason. I was met on my return with a statement of what I had said at 
Caledonia and at the Bepublican Church. The excitement, as I stated 
before, had at this period become greatly intensified, and threats became 
more frequent, and with a deeper meaning infused into them, apparently. 
The next appointment was at a place above Shreveport on the Bed Biver, 
at Captain Thompsoifs, known as the Green place, or Kelly plantation. 
A large number of negroes were there assembled, perhaps three or four 
hundred. I made a speech there. A number of white men were present, 
and a number of persons from Shreveport, besides white men. Democrats, 
from other i)arts of the parish. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How far was this from Shreveport ?—A. About eighteen or twenty 
miles. I made a speech there, as I have said, and returned that evening. 
On the next day I found that the excitement was still more intense, and 
a great many persons who were my friends said, “ Here; you are reported 
to liave said” so and so. “It is reported that you have been exciting 
the negroes ; that you are referring to ante-bellum times, to the period 
when they Avere slaves.” I explained to my friends Avhat I actually did 
say, which was simply this. These tAvo points are the points upon Avhich 
the Democratic party of Caddo Barish base the action Avhich they subse¬ 
quently took. With reference to the times of slavery I said substantially 
this: I stated to the people, Avliite and black, my reasons for preferring 
the candidates placed in the field by the Bvepublican party, rather than 


6 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


tlie candidates of tlie Democratic party^ were that the candidates 
of the Repuhlicaii party were young men; or, to state it more mtelligi- 
hly, those placed in the field by the Democratic party were men 
whose ideas had been fixed in their minds indelibly before the war 
came 5 men whose general mode of thought was identified with 
slavery itself 5 men who could not divest themselves of the ideas and 
prejudices and feelings which they had before the war. On the con¬ 
trary, the candidates of the Kepublican party were young men who 
had grown up since the war, and who had been imbued with new 
ideas, who could accept the present changed condition of affairs with¬ 
out the same regrets and reluctance as the candidates of the Democ¬ 
racy. As an instance of how much the parties were affected by j^reju- 
dices, and necessarily so, I said the candidates of the Democratic party 
were imbued with these prejudices, and were unconscious that they were 
prejudices even. I added that the negroes were the same way, and I 
pointed at some of the older men who were there, and said, ^‘It is im¬ 
possible for you to act justly with regard to slavery. You have felt the 
evils of it. You are aware that you were very badly treated, and it is 
impossible for you to have the same feelings as one of these younger 
men, even, who knows nothing about slavery except what he has heard 
from you.” I said I was satisfied that when the old people in their cab¬ 
ins would talk to the young peoide about how their overseers used to 
manage them, how dogs were sent for them, &c., the young people would 
commence yawning and say, Let’s go off to bed.” I did not intend to 
excite the negroes. On the contrary, I intended and expected my re¬ 
marks to have a beneficial effect. The next point I made was this: I 
stated, as a fact, because it was stated to me by some of the largest 
planters in Caddo Parish, that the supplies which were furnished to the 
negroes must necessarily be obtained by the jdanters on credit, for our 
planters have to carry on their plantations without getting advances 
from year to year. They have to buy on credit everything they get; 
consequently they have to pay excessive prices for them. When a 
planter goes to Shreveport to buy his bacon, it costs him from eight cents 
to thirteen cents. When the planter sells to the negroes he must sell it 
for more. When it is consumed by the consumer it costs him prices 
ranging anywhere from the thirteen cents which it costs the planter to 
twenty cents or even twenty-five cents a pound. It is unquestionably 
the fact that such is the present condition of affairs. I made that point 
to illustrate or to attempt to show that we should accei)t new ideas in¬ 
stead of old ideas; that by persisting in the attempt to carry out those 
ideas the country would become impoverished more and more, as it is 
becoming every day, particularly in the hills. That allusion w’^as said 
to have been construed as an attempt on my part to disorganize labor. 
I have no idea that any intelligent man ever believed that I for one mo¬ 
ment endeavored to arouse animosities or to teach anything like com¬ 
munism. But it was asserted that the stating of this proposition was 
sufficient to cause them to act as they subsequently did. 

Our next meeting made by appointment was at Spring Eidge. It was 
not at first intended that the Eepublicans should canvass the whole 
parish. Spring Eidge was included in the first list. I do not exactly 
remember the date. Spring Eidge is about twenty miles from Shreve¬ 
port. Our party left in the morning with the expectation of getting 
there about eleven o’clock, as we did. The party consisted of Mr. Aus¬ 
tin, Mr. Elstner, Mr. Moss, Mr. Augustine, Senator Harper, and the 
colored man who drove him. When we got our buggies at the stable, 
the livery keeper took me aside and Scdd, Bowie was here last night 


Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


7 


and a man with him whom I do not know.’’ Bowie was a lieutenant in 
the military comj)any organized a short time previously at Shreveport. 

They were here last night,” said the hvery-stable keeper, between 
one and two o’clock, and were very anxious to go to Spring Eidge. I 
Avould not let them have any horses. They then went to Caldwell’s sta¬ 
bles and got horses, and left about two o’clock.” I said, “All right.” 
We then went out of town, I bringing up the rear. All my party had 
passed up, and I came to where two negroes sat beside the road. One 
of them I knew. He lived in town. The other I didn’t know. The one 
that I knew stopped me and said, “ Mr. Leonard, there is something I 
think you ought to know.” I inquired, “What is it?” He said, “ My 
son overheard some parties speaking, some white men, and they said 
you all would be attacked at Spring Eidge to-day. They are going to 
have a number of men there, a large crowd, and when Hari)er gets up 
to speak they are going to knock liim down and drive him away from 
there, and if anybody says or does a thing they propose to kill the whole 
party.” “ Well,” I said, “ all right, but I don’t reckon they will”j and 
I went on. The balance of my party didn’t know anything about my hav¬ 
ing this conversation. On i^roceeding ten or twelve miles from Shreve¬ 
port, we began to overtake men going out toward Spring Eidge. At last 
the number we overtook became somewhat surprising. They were riding 
slowly along. We passed twenty-five or thirty, I judge. A number of 
these men did not belong to that ward at all. Just before getting to Spring 
Eidge, I stopped my party and said, “ There may be some trouble here to¬ 
day. It looks to me a little like it. If there should be any attempt to make 
trouble, do you all keep i^erfectly quiet and not say or do anything rash. 
I am rather older than you boys are, and have had more experience 
about such things. If there comes a fuss we are greatly outnumbered, 
and may all be killed.” On arriving at Sx)ring Eidge, we found there 
probably 125 or 130 negroes, and just about as many whites. A short 
time afterwards more negroes arrived, enough, perhaps, to bring the 
whole number up to 200, and whites enough to make their number 150 
or 160. In the Spring Eidge ward there were registered 101 white men. 
There were present white men enough to nearly equal the entire white 
population of the ward, and a number of men registered in the ward 
were not there. The white portion of the crowd was largely composed 
of men who came there from adjoining parishes, some from He Soto 
Parish, a number whom I knew, besides a number whom I did not know 
at all, and I knew almost every one in the parish of Caddo, and nearly 
every one in the adjoining parishes. A large number of persons were 
there whom I had never seen before. I knew that they must be there 
for some special purpose j it was a very unusual thing. I have been 
in every campaign in Shreveport since 1870, but I never saw at' Spring 
Eidge an audience exceeding at the outside limits 100 persons. There 
was a very large meeting of negroes and an excessively large meeting 
of whites. When twelve o’clock came I went over to where Mr. Har- 
jier was, and asked him when he was going to start the meeting. 
“Well,” he said, “lam ready to commence. I have sent over to see 
whether the Democrats want to speak, and they say they have no 
speakers here yet.” About that time a buggy drove up, and in it were 
Wise and Crane, who had been speaking for the Democrats. They 
drove up to the store, and I said, “ I will go and see what they propose 
to do.” I said to Wise, “ Billy, do you want to speak over at our meet¬ 
ing to-day?” He said, “I don’t care about speaking much.” I said, 
“ If you want to speak, we will make arrangements so you can have 
half the time.” He said, “ The Democrats claim this for their meeting.” 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


8 


Said I, “ Billy, that’s too thin. We called thi.s meeting two weeks ago; 
hut all right, if you have your meeting here, we will go and have ours 
some where else. You haA'^e got the longest pole and can knock doA^i 
the persimmons.’^ Crane said, ^^Let us have a joint discussion. baid 
I, don’t know; you have got too many men that don’t belong here. 
Said he, You know these men j they are all good men. There will be 
no trouble.” Said I, don’t know; there may be; there are some 
things about this matter that I don’t understand.” Said he, These 
men have been sent for to come here because this is a Democratic meet¬ 
ing. It has been understood for some time that there was to be a Dem¬ 
ocratic meeting here.” The result of our talk was that it was finally 
agreed to haA^e a joint discussion. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Had the Democrats, to your knowledge, givxn any notice of a meet¬ 
ing there that day ?—A. No," sir; not to my knowledge. 

(^. Had you preAuously agreed upon a joint discussion ?—A. No, sir. 
Their terms Avere someAvhat singular, but they Avere terms. Each speaker 
was tobealloAved an hour and a half; three on the Republican and three 
on the Democratic side. I Avas to have the opening and Wise was to 
close. There were six speakers. So the discussion aa ould occupy nine 
hours. I said, ^‘All right, if you a\ ill give me the opening,” AvEich they 
agreed to. I told them, ^^Let us liaA e no A iolence. If we agree on a 
joint discussion, I take it that you as gentlemen will be bound to con¬ 
duct that joint discussion as a discussion should be conducted, and I 
will not go into a discussion Avithout that distinct understanding.” “ Of 
course,” they all said. Then the Democrats said, “We can lia\^e the 
use of this church ; if you haA^e no objection we Avill go into that.” I 
said, “All right, I had rather speak myself in a church than in the 
open air.” I went and told Harper and he objected to both proposals, 
and A^ery i)roperly as it turned out afterwards. He said he neA^er would 
liaA'e had a joint discussion, and he neA^er would haA^e gone into the 
house out of the open air; said he, “ They Avill have us caged up in 
there.” I said, “I don’t believe there Avill be any trouble; in fact, it is 
too late to back out; they liaA^e got us anyway, and we may as well go 
there.” We Avent oa er to the church and I commenced my speech. I 
had spoken for some little time, I don’t knoAv hoAv long, when I observed 
Jephtha Sloan rise from his seat, and saw that he was saying some¬ 
thing, which, howcAW, I did not hear. I was uttering some sentence 
not yet finished, and Avhen I saAV him rise, my mind was occupied in 
the finishing of the sentence. He spoke, I couid see, in a very excited 
manner. Immediately eight or ten others rose and said, “ You are a 
damned liar,” and so on. Three or four of them then started towards 
me. I was standing just below the pulpit of the church and in the rear 
of a table. I simply rested my hand on the table and waited. Two or 
three persons attempted to quell the disturbance, wliich I expected 
Avould soon be done; that was the reason why I stood there Avaiting. 
In three or four minutes order was restored and I finished my speech 
I Avas followed by a man by the name of Hall, a school-teaclier; he spoke 
perhaps ten minutes. It A^as a A^ery short speech, at all CA^ents. Then 
Mr. Elstner spoke on the side of the Republicans. He Avas interrupted 
frequently during his speech by insulting remarks. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Remarks of what kind?—A. Sucli as crying out, “ You are radical 
scoundrels; you are a damned set of thehes,” &c.; but none of them 
rose from their seats, and, all things considered, he got through tolera- 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


9 


bly well. lie spoke out liis hour and a half, I think. Then Crane rose 
to speak in behalf of the Democrats. When I retired from the stand I 
took my seat at the side of the church on the left-hand side near a win¬ 
dow. There was a little aisle or passage-way; the balance of the space 
about there was taken up with seats. The seats were all filled, for the 
house was crowded. I was there by the window, and a number of per¬ 
sons were seated in front of me. My back was to the window. Crane 
had spoken for some time, probably for an hour, when I observed Mr. 
Bowie galloping by the window towards Shreveport. 1 thought, Wliere 
is that fellow going so rapidly ? ” I concluded that probably he had 
started for town, and dismissed the subject from my mind without fur¬ 
ther thoughts. Ill about fifteen minutes, perhaps not more than ten, he 
came galloping back; I thought that a little strange. In about seven 
or eight minutes more, maybe not more than five, after his return ten or 
twelve white men entered the house, none of whom did I know. The 
fact that there should be ten or twelve white men about Spring Kidge 
whom I did not know was a little surprising in itself, and I was sure 
they had never been there before. They took their seats along the 
front benches. Elstner, coming and taking his seat by me, s^id, Har¬ 
per better not speak here to-day. Things are getting pretty hot.” 

I said nothing to Elstner in reply. He went and took his seat back 
where he was before. I thought to myself if they are going for 
us, going to fight us, we might as well go through with what we 
at first intended. Mr. Wise was seated near me. I asked some 
one who was seated near him to call Wise’s attention to me. He 
came over to where I was. I said, “ Billy, there is going to be trouble 
here to-day.” He said, Ho, I don’t think there will.” I said, “ I think there 
will. I think it will commence when Harper gets up to speak.” ^‘O,” 
he says, you are mistaken. These people are all right. They misunder¬ 
stood you; they thought you were, making a personal charge against 
them and they became excdted; but that is all quelled now. There will 
be no more trouble.” Said I, It don’t look that way to me. It looks 
like a deliberate purpose to make trouble here to-day; and, you know, 
we agreed to go into this discussion with the understanding that there 
should be no trouble.” Said he, “I have not entered into any combina¬ 
tion to make any trouble here,” and I do not believe he did. After this 
conversation with Wise he went back, but in a few momeiits he left the 
house, and the fact that he did go out made me still more feartul. I do 
not know what he did while he was out, but I am satisfied that he saw 
two or three gentlemen there, and prevented our party from all being killed 
that day. Well, Crane ceased speaking, and Harper, as Crane sat down, 
sort of looked at me, and I nodded to him to rise. He had hardly taken 
his place on the stand before tumult began. Still he went on; the tu¬ 
mult grew really riotous. I suppose he may have spoken three minutes, 
maybe not more than two, when the whole house was in an uproar; 
scores of voices exclaiming, Kill the God damned radical“ Shoot 
the damned son of a bitch,” &c. I really thought they were going to 
kill Harper right there, and then get away with the balance of us. Har¬ 
per stood perfectly still and said nothing. I sat back by the window. 
For some reason the crowd seemed to be all surging toward me; as I 
told you, there was only a little passage-way, about two feet wide—a 
sort of a narrow aisle—coming up there where I was seated. Persons 
were seated on the seats to my right, and it was difficult to get where I 
was. Fourteen or fifteen men advanced towards me. In the front of 
them all was Jasper McCullogh. I do not know how he came to be in 
front, whether accidentally, by the movement of the crowd, or by 


10 


LOUISIAN4 IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


designed pur^iose. He got to me first. I was so situated that the space 
did not allow more than one man to be immediately in front of me. He 
was surrounded by other parties. W. Cl. Boney was seated at my side. 
As they came up Boney attempted to keep them back, and suc¬ 
ceeded to some extent, but they crowded by him. Before McCul- 
logh got to me he commenced cursing me and abusing me, and soon 
got up immediately before me. I sat still and said nothing. He said 
I was a God damned liar, a damned scoundrel, a radical thief, &c.; that 
I was a coward and dared not fight. I do not know how long that 
lasted, probably about ten minutes; it seemed to me, at any rate, a good 
long while ; I may have exaggerated the time. I believed it was their 
deliberate purpose to kill us all. I believed they expected me to reply 
back to these insults, or perhaps to resent them by force, or even if I 
only entered into conversation with them it would be taken up by some 
parties, and we would all be killed and nobody know who did it. It 
could not be proven upon any one person. I made up my inind if they 
did kill us somebody would be hurt. I knew if I said nothing, and did 
nothing, and none of my party did, they would have to commence the 
fight, and I^hey would have to shoot us right down unprovoked. I re¬ 
mained quiet for two reasons possibly, although at the time I was con¬ 
scious of but one. It may have been the best way to protect ourselves. 
I think now it was. A man whom I didn’t know advanced to McCul- 
logh and said, McCullogh, go away; get out of here ”; and then he 
jerked McCullogh to the floor and dragged him out. That oi)ened a 
sort of passage-way which I took advantage of and stepped out to the 
floor where Harper was, and Augustine Nelson. The tumult still con¬ 
tinued. There was cursing and cries of “kill him!” going on all over 
the house. Mr. McCullogh was dragged by this gentleman, Mr. Page 
Poster (I afterwards learned was his name). As soon as the doorway was 
opened I said, “Let us get out of here.” We stepped towards the door 
and I got out safely. I looked around quickly. They were gathered 
into little knots, cursing and gesticulating violently. After we got out¬ 
side I said to our party, “ Let us go to our buggies.” We went. They 
were at some distance, perhaps 300 yards from the church. We got to 
our buggies. It took us some little time to arrange them. We got in 
and left. 

That evening our party went to Shreveport with the exception of 
myself. I went to Greenwood. That was on Saturday night. On 
Sunday evening I returned from Greenwood to Shreveport. When I 
arrived at the livery-stable where the buggy belonged I found the 
livery keeper quite excited, and two or three other parties told me that 
there was intense excitement in town. Everybody thought I had been 
killed, since the balance of the party had got back and I had not come. 
I was told, “ They are going to kill you to-morrow at Morgansport.” I 
replied, “ They might as well have killed us on Saturday as to have 
scared us to death.” “ Well,” he said, “ this is serious.” I went on; I 
met Elstner, Allston, and others at a cigar store. They were evidently 
excited. They said, “It is generally said here in town that you are not 
to be allowed to speak. If you go to Morgansport they will kill you.” 
I went home; my brother and myself were living together. I went into 
my room. I heard my brother come in. He asked me about the 
Spring Eidge affair. He told me the state of feeling in Shreveport. He 
said, “Are you going to Morgansport! ” I said, “ Yes.” Said he, “ You 
must not go.” I said, “Why not?” He said, “You will be killed.” I 
said, “ What makes you think so ?” lie said, “It is openly said all over 
Shreveport.” Said I, “Who says it?” Said he, “Everybody says itj 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


11 


I do not want to give you names.” I found out subsequently why he 
did not give me one particular name. ‘‘Well,” he said, “you can have 
the whole town for names 5 all of them. Everybody is certain you will 
be killed if you go up to Morgansport to-morrow.” Said I, “Do you 
authorize me to telegraph that to Governor Mcholls ?” My brother, by 
the way, is a strong Democrat. He is assessor of the parish, appointed 
by Governor Nicholls. Said I, “Do you authorize me to telegraph that 
to Governor Nicholls“?” And he, after some little delay, finally said, 
“Yes, I do.” “Well,” said I, “that is all right. lam going to Mor¬ 
gansport.” I went to town, hunted up our ])arty, and told them I was 
going to Morgansport in the morning. They said—at least Allston 
said—“All right.” Elstner rather objected. He said, “Don’t you think 
you and Harper had better stay away and let Allston and myself go? 
Perhaps they will not attack us as quickly as they would you and Har¬ 
per.” “No,” said I, “we will all go together.” Next morning at day¬ 
light we met at the livery-stable, and Harper made some little objection 
to going. Said he, “ I am a negro, and they will attack a negro sooner 
than they will a white man. While I am willing to go I do not wish to 
add to your danger.” Said I, “That is all right; you come along and 
go.” It rained nearly all day and was extremely disagreeable. The 
distance was about twenty miles, the way we had to go. We arrived 
at Morgansport about noon. We stopped for a few moments about a 
half a mile this side of Morgansport, where there is a little village, a col¬ 
lection of eight or ten houses. We found there eight or ten negroes, 
and from seven to ten whites. It was raining very hard and was very 
disagreeable, and I went into a vacant house which we found there. We 
had intended to speak in that house. Some parties came in and said 
we couldn’t speak there. So we went out and made our speech in the 
rain. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What objection was made to your speaking in the house?—A.. 
They didn’t want any Eepublican speaking in the house. 

Q. Was it a vacant house ?—A. Yes, sir; it looked to me like a school- 
house. 

Q. Was there any disturbance raised at Morgansport ?—A. No, sir; 
but while the speaking was going on—this I don’t know myself, but I 
am sure it was so—while Mr. Harper was speaking one of the white men 
said to another, “ I believe I will plug that fellow now.” 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How did you find that out ?—A. From the statement of the party 
who heard it, Mr. Elkins. Another said, “ Don’t; just wait; do you see 
that float out yonder?” Morgansport is situated on the bank of a lake 
some three miles wide, probably wider than that in some places. The 
man looking out upon the lake said, “ Do you see that float out there? 
Just wait until that comes in, and there will be enough to fix him.” I 
had noticed the float before. We got through speaking and started 
home. We got home without any trouble. I subsequently learned from 
information that I considered reliable, and of which I have no sort of 
doubt in my own mind, that there were a number of men on that float 
who were sent for for the purpose of breaking up that meeting at Mor¬ 
gansport. The float was caught on one of the stumps in the lake and 
remained there all night with the men on it who had been sent for to 
come and break up the meeting. I am sure this is a fact, and can be 
proved; and I have every reason to believe, and do believe, that if that 
float had got to Morgansport we would have been killed. The next day 


12 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


Caddo 


I read au article in a paper which not only approved what had been 
done at Spring Eidge, but said the people ought to have gone tnrtlier. 
The editor of that paper had been my most intimate friend, and says 
now that he was then; but I cannot understand it. Of course I tv as a 
good deal affected by his course; consequently I was in no very good 
humor from that time on. That was Tuesday. On Tuesday a numbei ot 
persons came into Shreveport from various parts of the country, particu¬ 
larly from near Spring Eidge and that neighborhood, and Morgansxiort, 
and I believe I am correct in stating that the general feeling in ShreT^e- 
port that day, and probably next day, was that there certainly would 
be a conflict. There was none, however, and affairs progressed. Dur¬ 
ing the campaign the Democratic speakers openly announced that they 
intended to carry the election, and would carry it at all hazards. It was 
stated that the district attorney had been specially sent there by the 
Federal Government to carry tliat election, and they said the district 
attorney with his supervisor of election, and the Federal Governinent 
itself, would amount to nothing ; they were going to have that election. 
That numbers amounted to nothing, no matter how large the majority; 
that their heroism and gallantry would carry the election. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I would like to inquire whether heroes cast more votes tlian one in 
Caddo Parish ?—A. It seems from the results that their votes count for 
more. 

Under the election laTv of Louisiana the police jury establish voting 
places; and they had established the precinct for that parish in one par¬ 
ticular case—in two particular cases they established those precincts 
so as to render it extremely inconvenient for voters to reach tliem. In 
both instances that inconvenience fell almost entirely on the Eepubli- 
cans. This was the case particularly in w^ard Ko. 1. There were two 
polling iflaces. One, for the convenience of the wFites, is located in the 
middle of the toTVTishqi, in the center of the neighborhood Tvhich is in¬ 
habited exclusively by whites; the other is, I suppose, intended to 
1)6 for the benefit of voters living on the river. Caddo is a very long- 
parish, extending from Shreveport northward 45 or 50 miles along this 
river. There are large plantations on which there are very few white 
people and a great many negroes. There are 325 voters registered, of 
which only 12 or 14, or possibly 15, are wUites. This ballot-box was 
placed by the police jury in the extreme northern part of the parish and 
west of the Eed Eiver and its swamps and lakes. It is impossible to get 
to that precinct except by going on the river to Shreveport, from there 
to Morgansport, a distance of 28 miles, and from there up to this polling 
l)lace, a distance of 15 or 18 miles more, a journey of about 60 miles in 
all. Fortunately for them the river was down, and they got there by a 
shorter route by wading through sw^amps, bayous, and sloughs. In all 
ordinary seasons the location of this ballot-box is a very great hinderance 
to the colored people voting. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. In that connection, state how long before this election this was es¬ 
tablished?—A. It was established sometime in 1877, immediately be¬ 
fore the called election for a representative. 

Q. Some eight or nine months before this election ?—A. It wms estab¬ 
lished immediately before the called election in Caddo Parish in 1877, 
and remained unchanged. 


Parish. 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


33 


By ]Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Lc^t me ask you right lie e, was a majority of the police jury by 
Tvhich it was established Kepublican or Democratic?—A. The police jury 
of Caddo Parish at that time was made so by si)ecial act of the legisla¬ 
ture. The people elected five police jurors. By act of legislature the 
governor was authorized to appoint police jurors. 

Q. How did they get rid of those the people elected?—A. They ap¬ 
pointed five more. I will say that the election law of Louisiana enables 
police jurors, if they want to, to control the election; the power is very 
great, if they want to use it. The police jurors through the State were 
generally in the hands of the party, and Avhen the Nicholls government 
came in an act was passed enabling the governor to appoint police ju¬ 
rors through the parishes. It had the effect to throw it in the hands of 
Democratic power. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I was informed that until the legislature last assembled voters 
could vote anywhere; but in the last session the voters were required 
to vote in their own ward?—A. Under the law of 1877 they could vote 
only in their own ward. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Before this law of 1877, did I understand you they could vote for 
county officers in any ward ?—A. Yes, sir. # 

Q. But they could not vote for ward officers in any ward ?—A. Ko, 
sir. 

Q. What was tlie date of that law?—A. Act Ko. 58, session of 1877. 

Q. When Avas that approved?—A. April 11, 1877. 

Q. Kow under that act the legislature appointed commissioners of 
election ?—^A. I mil read it: 

Sec. 13. Be if further enacted, ^c., That the election at each polling place shall he 
presided over by three commissioners of election, to be assisted by a clerk of elections 
residents and qualified voters for twelve months next preceding their election of the 
Xirecinct in which they are to act; the commissioners and clerk for each precinct shall 
be appointed by the police juries of the several parishes, excex)t the parish of Orleans, 
and shall be selected from ojiposing political parties, j)rovided there be a sufficient 
number of each political party resident in the several precincts comi)eteut to fill said 
offices; the said commissioners and clerk shall be apx)ointed at least fifteen days i^rior 
to an election, and the said ap^iointments shall be ^mblished at once in the proceedings 
of the police jury. The commissioners and clerk shall, before entering upon the dis¬ 
charge of their duties, take the oath jirescribed by article one hundred of the constitu¬ 
tion, the oath to be administered by the sherift’ or his dejjuty, or by any other officer 
qualified by law to administer oaths, and if no such officer be j)resent the commissioners 
shall administer the oath to each other. 

That law was violated. I was satisfied that the police jurors could 
not agree as to their duties under that law, and I addressed a communi¬ 
cation, which was signed by the chairman of the Kepublican committee, 
calluig the attention of the police jury to this law, and said to them that 
there were Republicans in every precinct of the parish, and we desired 
that they should give the Republicans representation at the polls. 

By Mr. Caimeron : 

Q. On the board of commissioners ?—A. Yes, sir; as the laAvs of the 
State say they shall do. At the same time their attention was called to 
the laws of the United States, chapter 7, on crimes. Ko attention was 
paid to these things, and the police jury, which was Democratic, made 
their selection of commissioners and clerks, and gaA^e the Republicans 
no representation. During this time military companies Avere formed 


14 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


(Caddo 


tliroiigli the parish; one or two was formed in Shreveport—possibly two, 
certainly one—and they were formed in other parts of the i)arish. 

Q. Explain right there whether they were formed under the statutes, 
or voluntarily 'I —A. The best ansAver to that is giA'en by one of the 
papers. 

Q. What do you read from ?—A. From the Shreveport Evening Stand¬ 
ard. 

Q. What date!—A. I^'oA^ember 2, 1878. It is as folloAA^s : 

Some of the Radicals profess to see in the organization of the rifle company a deter¬ 
mination to carry the election at all hazards. Not only has this comx)any been organ¬ 
ized, but cavalry comjianies also in all X)art8 of the parish. AVhen the Radicals started 
out early in the camj)aign with the intention of inflaming the i^assions of the ignorant 
horde which follows the Radical banner so as to provoke a difficulty, the Democrats and 
white people naturally took every i)recaution for self-preservation which prudence dic¬ 
tated. The election will, therefore, find them ju’ejiared in every resi^ect to protect 
themselves. Of course the Democrats intend to carry the election. They have not ex- 
X)ended so much energy on this camx^aign for it all to be lost. They never showed so 
much determination in their lives, and the results of it will be seen in a com 2 )lete vic¬ 
tory on Tuesday next. 


That is tlie way they were organized. A number of United States 
superAusors were appointed under the law of the United States by Judge 
Woods of this circuit, and they Avere commissioned to proceed and Avere 
duly qualified, and on election day numbers of them proceeded to their 
places. I am informed by their rei)ort that in no instance were they per¬ 
mitted to discharge their duties. They were not even iiermitted to re¬ 
main Avhere they oould witness the election at all—those superAusors. 
The Itemocratic party affected to believe that those eommissions were 
issued in ShreA^eport. I don’t belieA’e it, but still they said so. 

Q. Were their commissions regularly issued by authorities author¬ 
ized to do so !—A. Yes, sir; every one of them—all issued by Justice Wood, 
and came from the clerk of the court to me. Yoav, none of these super- 
A'isors were permitted to discharge their duties. On the day of the elec¬ 
tion I was at ShreA^eport. I got up A^ery early in the morning, as the 
election was to commence at seA^en o’clock. I got uja A^ery early, before 
day, and A^ery shortly I noticed the remarkable fact that there was 
scarcely any aa^ hite people on the streets. Perhaps these facts would not 
ha Am been noticed by any one not like myself aware of AAUat was going 
on. I noticed that there Avere very feAv aaJ lite people on the street. I went 
up to the market house and there vtis very few AAdiite people there, and 
I came back to the polls and I noticed a large number of negroes, x>rob- 
ably one hundred or so, gathered before the polls opened, and not more 
than 7 or 8 Avhite people about anywhere. I waited until the commission¬ 
ers came and qualified, and I saw they had three boxes. I AAfillnow eall 
your attention to this laAv, section 23, and also section 18, general-elec¬ 
tion laAv of Louisiana, IS'o. 58, statutes of 1877: 


Sec. 23. Be it further enacted, ^-c.. That all the names of x>ersons voted for shall be 
or printed on one ticket, on wliicli the names of the persons voted for and the 
office foi which they are voted shall be accurately specified, and the tickets shall have 
punted or written on their backs the ward for which they are used, and should two or 
more tickets be folded together, the tickets so folded shall all berejected. The commis¬ 
sioners of election shall require every person offering to vote to Exhibit his certificate 
of registration, if such certificate be necessary under the laws in force governing- reo-is- 
tration, and when the vote of such person is received the commissioners of election 
S’lch certificate the word “voted” and the date of the ^mte 
which shall be signed by one ot the commissioners, and any person who shall erase or 

fhtm commissioners of election, or anv one of 

them, shafi, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a felonv, and be fined not 

more“^^^^^^ labor not«htflwo urn- 

8ec. 18. Be it further enacted, ^-c.. That it shall be the duty of the sheriff or proper 


Pai'ish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


15 


returning officer of encli parish to provide a suitable ballot-box at the expense of the 
parish for each polling place in said parish; such boxes shall be bound with iron bands 
so that the same cannot be opened except by the lock, and such boxes shall be fur¬ 
nished with a good look and key, the cost thereof to be paid by the city or parish, as 
the case may be, upon presentation of sworn and specific account therefor. It shall 
be the duty of the sheriff or retiirniug officer to cause to be delivered to the commis¬ 
sioners of election at each polling-place in his parish or city by seven o’clock in the 
forenoon on the day the election is to be held the ballot-boxes as aforesaid, and also 
the list of registered voters as provided for in this act, along with the blanks for tally- 
sheets and compiled statements, and in default of which delivery of ballot-box, lists, 
and blanks the commissioners shall be authorized to provide a ballot-box and proceed 
to hold the election, conforming as near as possible to the provisions of this act; any 
sheriff' or returning officer whose duty it is to deliver the ballot-box and list of regis¬ 
tered voters, as well as blanks, to the commissioners of election at each polling-place 
who shall neglect, fail, or refuse to deliver the ballot-box, list of registered voters, or 
blanks, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than one thousand dollars and 
imprisoned not less than six months^ at the discretion of the court. 

Then again this law makes it the dnty of the sheriff in the parishes 
to act as attorney also, and at the same time the duty of the sheriff to 
furnish the commissioners of election with boxes, which he did. At the 
polls to which I first went (there are two there) the sheriff furnished the 
commissioners with one box. I saw the commissioners had two other- 
boxes. I did not know what that meant until they set them out and 
opened the election, and one commissioner said to the voters there who 
had come up to vote, ^‘^^ow you put your ward ticket in this box, and 
your parish ticket and the vote for Congressman in this other box.” 
The voters did not understand, and I was there and said to the party, 
^AYhat do you mean by this?” and he said, ^^That is the way to hohl 
election.” i said, ^‘That is not the way to hold election, and you know 
it.” He said, ^‘That is the way we are going to hold it.” I said, ‘‘Do 
you say so, and you?” asking them all. One of the commissioners was 
Fleming. I said to him, “ You tell the Eepublicans to put their tickets— 
then- whole tickets—in this box that the sheriff sent you”; and I spoke 
to the men and told them the same thing. Then I went down to another 
precinct and found the same condition of affairs, and I went through the 
same statement Avith the same result. The commissioners insisted that 
was the way they were going to carry the election. I told them that 
was not the law, and they said they had men who knew the laAV. 1 saw 
as soon as the boxes were put out that they were going to carry the 
election in that way, and there Avas no use talking about it. I Ayas gone 
about half an hour or so off the street, and I came back and walked 
from Acting place to Acting place for some time, and I noticed there was 
a large crowd of negroes all trying to vote, and numbers of them came 
to me and said, “The commissioner said he could not find our names,” 
and that the registrar would say their names Avere not there, and the 
commissioners said they were not there and that they could not A ote. 
Nlnmbers of them told me this who personally I do knoAA^ to haA^e regis¬ 
tered, and I do knoAV their statements were correct. They a\ ere still 
there in A^ery large numbers, and the whites had not made their appear¬ 
ance yet. It Avas remarkable that they should not be. About halt past 
nine o’clock Mr. Wilcox, who is United States superAusor, and some of 
those men arriA'^ed in toAAui. He came to where I Avms and said the com¬ 
missioners of election had refused to recognize him and peremptoiily 
elected him from the polls, and he had left. I asked him if they had 
three boxes there, and he said, “Yes.” I made up my mind then what 
I would do. I went up to the court-house or engine-house, and first told 
the negroes, who were doing their part electioneering, to stop, and then 
I got the negroes off the street, and I told them to quit ; that there was 


16 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


no use talking, Imt to go home and go to work, and g;^et ofl the streets 
anv way. Some of them said, “ Why I ” and I said I did not have time to 
tell them, but to go. I said, “ You get off the streets. I went from one 
to the other of the precincts and I would gradually get mem away. 
Some came to me and said, “The negroes refuse to p”-, so I had to go 
back and tell them the same thing. As the result, in fact, in three- 
quarters of an hour the negroes were all off the streets. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. State why you sent them off.—A. Because I was satisfied that to 
remain there iumhers of them would be killed. I have no evidence 
that is convincing to any one but myself, but I am satisfied that it they 
had remained there, there would have been a row occasioned m some 
way, and large numbers of them would have been killed. I knew the 
white people were organized and armed, and I knew this company had 
its arms in readiness, and on the least outbreak they would have been 
out. The negroes, on the contrary, were not armed, and never had been. 
There was no disturbance made by the negroes in that campaign. I knew 
beyond all question there was no chance for them in an outbreak, and 
I was afraid for them to be on the streets. I knew that the negroes 
would risk being killed if the negroes had an opportunity of carrying 
the election, and I knew they had no chance. 


By Mr. Caaieron : 

Q. By whom were those extra boxes furnished ?—A. I do not know of 
my own knowledge, but I know it. 

Q. You may state.—A. They were directed to be made by the Demo¬ 
cratic executive committee of the parish; I know that from the state¬ 
ments of the Democratic commissioners. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. This sheriff furnished one, and tlie Democratic executive commit¬ 
tee furnished two more after ?—A. I do not know that they actually fur¬ 
nished the boxes; but they were furnished by their directions. 

Q. Did this take place at all the ])olling places ?—A. Yes, sir 5 I think, 
except at the Willis school-house—that is, precinct Xo. 1. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Are there two school-houses up there !—A. Ko, sir; there is only 
one that I knoAvof. I am sure the Kepiiblicans marched to the number 
of 280 tlirough the swamps and camped out, and took their piwisions at 
this school-house 5 and if the election had not been held at Willis’s school- 
house, of course there would not have been any election at all, and of 
course there would not have been any necessity for taking up these boxes. 
I am sure they got the right place, and if they had not held it there, there 
would not have been any election at all, and therefore, when these par¬ 
ties broke it up and broke iqi the ballot-boxes Av here there was 2 d 0 Be- 
publican majority, it Avas convincing. I knoAv the papers at ShreA'eport 
will convince any one that the intention of the Democratic party Av^as to 
carry the election at all hazards. The colored majority in that parish 
on registration AA^as 2,0(18; the white vote AA’^as 2G3, all told. It was ad¬ 
mitted by numbers of the Democrats themselA^es that large numbers of 
the Avhite people were going to vote for the Bepiiblican ticket, particu¬ 
larly for Eisner. I have no doubt another candidate would luwe re¬ 
ceived half of the white Amte there in Shreveport. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. Speaking of the remarks that were in the Shiweport papers, were 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


17 


they about tliat meeting at Spring Kidge?—A. Yes, sir; and I liave 
that paper with me j it was from tlie Shreveport Daily Times of Yoveni- 
her 1: 

The immortal Sliakcspearo, in delineating the character of the heroic warrior, 
Ihmry the Fifth, make>s him use the memoraiale expression “the fewer men the greater 
lionor ” when he was told that he was outnumbered two to one by the French, before the 
battle ot Aginconrt. Actuated by the same unconquerable spirit and unshaken nerve, 
h‘t the Democracy of Caddo enter tin* contest fully resolved to gain the victory, and 
]»rove by gallant deeds that we are worthy to inscribe upon our banners after the elee- 
Tion “the fewer men the greater honor.” 

The fewer the voters, tlie greater the votes. 

Here is a report of December 1, 1878 : 

SriREYEPORT, Decemher 1st, 1878. 

Dear Alrert: I give my report ns follows, in relation to the discharge of my duties- 
as F. 8. supervisor of elections at precinct No. —, ward 1, Caddo Parish, Louisiana: 

Candidates for Congressmen, J. B. Elam and J. Madison Wells. State and parish otli- 
(‘<‘rs were also elected. The ]>olling ])lace is located in ward 1, at the extreme northtn'ii 
corner of said ward, or the ward is about thirty-tive miles long and runs north and 
south along the west bank of Red River. Nineteen-twentieths of the votes in said 
ward live at least twenty miles from tlui voting place, and the route to the place i.s 
through swamps and over a nunilx'r of l)ayous and lakes. The southern limit of the 
Avjird reaches within five miles of Shreveport, and the nortlnu'ii limit is on the Texas- 
and Arkansas line. The ferry-boats over the route were taken away in order to keej) 
the voters from crossing the streams, and the place was only accessible by going a long„ 
<listance through the swamps and over lake marshes. 

On the morning of the election there were no commissioners at tlui school-house 
known as Willis’s school-house, and designated liy police jury as the place to hold the 
idectiou. And after waiting for them until 8 o’clock, the voters x>i’esent selected three 
commissioners and a clerk, as follows; Ponqiy Banks, E. Martin, Charles Ratler.. 
These commissioners held the election according to law, and the de]mty sheritf turned 
over to them all of the xiajiers necessary, and the ballot-box, for holding the election.. 
More th.an 250 voters, whose names were found on the list of registi'red voters furnished 
hy the registrar, dexiosited their ballots according to law. About 5 o’clock in the 
evening a squad of armed men, mounted on horseback, came to the iJolling jilace and 
by force took away the ballot-box and all of the xiajicrs. In this squad there were 27 
or more men, and, with arms ready to use, they demanded the ballot-box, and took 
the same from the commissioners. I do not know the names of any of the squad, hut 
helieve they live in the northern part of the parish. 

The election, so far as it was carried on, was jieaceahle and quiet, and I, as super¬ 
visor, saw nothing unlawful until the said squad began their violence and carried off 
the ballot-box and all the xiapers. 

Your friend, 

J. B. PICKETT. 

By IVIr. Garland : 

(y Who was that signed by ?—A. J. B. Pickett. 
i}. A sipiervisor?—A. J. B. Pickett, supervisor. 

(). To whom is it addressed ?—A. To me—“Dear Albert.” 

By IMr. Bailey^ : 

(,). You speak of it as a report.—A. Well, he said, “I give my report 
as follows.” He made it to me. 

Here is a report of a United States supervisor of election: 

Shreveport, La., November 13, 1878. 

Sir : In relation to the discharge of my dntii'S as supervisor of elections at Mooriugs- 
port poll, pri'cinct 1, ward 3, Caddo Parish, State of Louisiana, I have the honor to 
riqiort as follows; The Congressional candidates were J. B. Elam and J. Ma.disou 
Wells; State and ])arish officers wore also elected. The commissioners were J. S.Noel, 
.1. S. Jolly, and Dick Thomson. The deputy sheritf, under the State laws, gave the. 
commissioners the ballot-box and necessary iiapers for the election. In addition to 
this box, the commissioners had two other boxivs, one for Congressional tickets, one for 
State and x>iirish tickets, and one for ward tickets. I protested against the use of the 
three boxes, but they said the election would be held with these boxes. I showed 

I? T 


18 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


them my commission, and they would not recognize it; they would not allow me, f<» 
go to the hox, or close enough to see how the election was conducted. I will here state 
that the boxes were so ])hiced that no one in tront of the boxes could se(' them, and no 
one voting could place his ticket iiithe hox. I protested ag.ainstall of th(*se, and tliey 
(the commissioners) said the (dection would he held in this manner. 

Having performed my duty as faithfully as 1 possibly could, I remain, yoiir most 
■obedient servant, 

- MARTIN I’ALLY, 

United States Siqieirisor, Mooringsjjort, Urednet 1, Hard 3. 

To F. A. WOOLFLEY, 

Chief Su2)ervisor of Elections, New Orleans, La. 


By the Chairman: 


Q. That is in Caddo Parish!—A. Yes, sir. Another letter, dated Yo- 
A^ember 11, 1878: 


SiiiJEVKPORT, La., Nor. l\th, 1878. 

Dear Sir; I have the honor to make my report as to the manner in which the elec¬ 
tion was conducted on Nov. 5th, 1878, at precinct Spring Ridge, ward No. six, parish 
•of Caddo, State of Louisiana. 

The x>olls were opened at seA-en o’clock. Commissioners present, A. P. Gibbs, R. C. 
Jloney, and William Harrison. Deputy sheriff furnished said commissioners Avith box 
:and all necessary books and x>a.pers. They were })rovided with tAvo other boxes, mak¬ 
ing three in number, for the folloAving purxmses; One for Congressional tickets, one, 
for State and parish tickets, the other for aa ard tickets. I asked the, commissionei-s 
separately if they would allow me, under the laAV, to discharge my duty as 8Ui)erAisor 
of the election. All Avas left to Mr. A. P. Gibbs, who Avould not recognize my authority. 
I objected to the use of the three boxes. They stated that they Avere the commission¬ 
ers. I then left the polls. After some Amtes Avere placed in the different boxes, I Avas 
told by the deputy sheriff' that the commissioners wumted to see me. I then showed 
my commission. Mr. Gibbs said he did not object to my standing outside and looking 
OA^er matters. I told him under the law I had the right to take any x)osition I wished, 
either before or behind the boxes, and to x>ersonally scrutinize and count each ballot; 
whereux)on all objected sav’e R. C. Boney. I could not get inside the room, as it Avas 
closed. The ballot-boxes were so jilaced that none save the party A'oting could se(5 
them. Seeing I could not perform my duty Avithout raising a disturbance, I left tlie 
polls at ten o’clock. I state that I am a citizen of ShreA^exmrt, and ha\"e been since 
the 25th day of May, 1865. 

I am, very resii’t’y, your ob’t serv’t. 


F. 


LEMUEL GUSTINE, 
United States Siqjervisor, Foil No. G. 

A. WooLELEY, Esq., 

Chief Stqjeruisor of Election, New Orleans, Im. 


The stateineiit of the other cominissioiiers is to the same effect. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. How many others !—A. Five only. In relation to Willis’s school- 
Iionse, I know nothing about that of my own knowledge, except that a, 
good many intended to vote. In reference to Caledonia, I have the 
{Shreveport paper of the 8th of November, 1878, which states that “it is 
not detinitely known how many negroes were killed.” Then follows a, 
list of the company. There were three or four companies; one from 
Caledonia, one Ifom Shreveport, and one from Spring Bidge. “ It is not 
definitely known how many negroes were killed; reports varying from 
8 to 12.” That is the statement of the ShreA^eport Times of November 
8. Mr. A. H. Battle is the editor. This purports to be an account of an 
exjiedition to Caledonia. 

Q. Is that all of it!—A. Yo, sir. 

il. Just read it all. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. AVheu (lid the riot occur A. It is stated on Tuesday eveninff 

Q. Tlu^y left there after the riot«—A. Yes, sir: they left after one 
not and began another. 







Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


19 


Tlie witness read the article, as follows : 


Expkditiox TO Ca LKDONiA.— The following is a list of the Caddo Rifles, who 
left here Tuesday night on the stea-nier Vicksburg, in response to a call for assistance 
at C atedonia, and who returned Ironi the late scene of action yesterday: 


R. T. Vinson, lieut., commanding. 

C. E. Booher, orderly sergeant. 

R. H. Lindsay, commissienary and Q. M. S. 
Sam Enders. 

Harry Elstner. 

Levi Head. 

Wm. Weaver. 

Frank ,J. N<dan. 

T. P. Irvine. 

R. P. Elstner. 

»L. P. Grim. 

E. T. Burkhart. 
l*eter Provensal. 

Jasper White. 

N. M. Smith. 

C. C. Renfroe. 

C. H. Wilson. 

Chas. Scott. 

J. P. Echols. 

W. E. Stephens. 


J. B. Irvin. 
Newton Barnes. 
H. A. Moriarty. 
Chas. Schaetfer. 
E. J. Bryant. 

D. A. McCants. 

E. J. Nolan. 

R. A. Gruhbs. 

S. P. Watts. 

Jas. V. Nolan. 
W. S. Munn. 
Joe R. Brown. 
W. W. Battle. 

L. E. Walker. 

T. F. Stephens. 
E. G. Howard. 

M. Willis. 

J. D. Cawthorn, 


jr- 


A. Howard. 

Ca pt. Metzler, of the steamer Vicksburg. 

Chas. A. Dewing, of the steamer Vicksburg. 

One and all speak in the highest of praise of Capt. Metzler, his officers and crew, 
for their urbanity and uniform kindness during the round trip. 

It was not definitely known how many negroes were killed—reports varying from 
eight to twelv’^e. It is a well established fact, however, that none were molested who 
were not positively known to have been engaged in the murderous assault, and who 
<lid not have arms in their hands when they were killed. The two principal leaders, 
Madison Reims and his brother, in whose house the guns were stacked and ready for 
use, succeeded in making their escape. 

In a communication written on board the steamer Vicksburg on her way up, and 
which appeared in the ^Standard last evening, the correspondent, who signs himself 
‘‘Old Soger,” says: 

Lieut. Vinson’s report to Sheriff Heffner shows that the negroes fired on the of¬ 
ficials, seriously wounding Mr. Calhoun. It is thought fataliy in Norwood’s case, 
and slightly in McNeal’s case. The Imdies of three dead negroes were found, aTz, 
Green Abrams, Ricks Wiggins, and Thos. McDuffee. At Caledonia the roll was in¬ 
creased by the addition of the names of Ca[)t. Metzler, and our ever faithful and un¬ 
tiring friend, Chas. A. Dewing, of the Vicksburg. Phil. Dugan, being considered a, 
host in himself, was left in charge of the steamer. 

The details furnished by those who returned on the Vicksburg are in substance about 
the same as those furnished by Mr. McNeal, Avhich appeared in The Times yesterday 
morning, except that there were largely more negroes engaged than at first supposed. 

Everything had quieted d()wn, and the boat did not remain at Caledonia more than 
one hour and a half, she started back yesterday morning about 5 o’clock, and arrived 
about midday. 

The boys speak in high terms of Lieut. Vinson and Col. Lindsay, both of whom 
are “old sojers.” 


Bv Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You may state any knowledge or official information yon have in 
reference to disturbances in other parts of the State during the cam¬ 
paign immediately preceding the day of election, or on the day of elec¬ 
tion.—A. I know'officially that in the parish of Bapides there was a gen¬ 
eral intimidation of voters, and that armed bodies of men appeared at 
the polls in at least two different places. In the parish of Yatchitoches 
a number of prominent Eepnblicans were arrested by violence l)y armed 
men, and driven from the parish. In Tensas Parish a number of negroes 
Avere killed, and numbers of others were assaulted. The parish was in¬ 
vaded by armed bodies of men from different parishes of the State and 
from Mississippi, and a general reign of terror established in the parish, 


20 


LOUISIANA IN 187S. 


[Caddo 


and large numbers of persons intimidated directly, tliat is, immediately, 
and all of them intimidated l> 3 " speei'lies and threats—all of the Kei)ul)- 
licans. I have some reports from other parishes, which are reports made 
to the marshal. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did they come into your hands in your official capacity ?—A. Yes, 
sir. Here is a number of reports of supervisors of election. There is 
one thing I desire to state in regard to that election law. The members 
of the Democratic executive committee claimed that they had a right to 
have two boxes. There is no one, I believe, that claimed they had a 
right to have three. They base their right for two boxes on the law of 
1877, which is as follows: . 

Section 3. Be it further enacted, f'C., Tliat the election for police jurors, justices of 
the peace, and constables shall be liekl in each ward at the same time as the general 
election, and that police jurors shall be elected by the ([ualified electors of the police- 
jury ward, and that justices of the peace and constables shall be elected by the qualified 
electors of the justice of the peace or election ward; and, in order that none but qualified 
electors of the ward shall vote for ward officers, the officers now charged hy existing 
laws or by any amendment thereto are hereby instructed to provide, at each election- 
])oll, a separate box, in which the ballots for ward officers shall be de))osited, and the 
returns of said election shall be made separate from the returns of votes cast for other 
officers, ill the mauiier reipiired by law. 

Under this act it is claimed they have a right to have two boxes. 
Where they get the right to have a third l)ox, they do not say. This 
act, Yo. 57, was approved on the lOth day of April, 1877. Subsequently, 
act Yo. 58 was passed, which was apiproved Aiiril 11, 1877, repealing 
the former act, and the repealing clause of this last act is as follows: 

Section 46. Be it further enacted, ifc., That all laws or parts of laws in conflict or 
inconsistent with this act, and all laws on the subject of elections, excepting those 
relating to the contesting of elections, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Ill what way did you get official information from the parish of 
Bapides of the intimidations you speak of there ?—A. I got it in talking 
with the witnesses avIio had been summoned down here. 

Q. You did not get it from official communication from the reports ?— 
A. Yo, sir; but I got it from statements made in the parish, and from 
strong Democrats. 

Q. How about the parish of l^’atchitoches; how did you get informa¬ 
tion from that ?—A. From sworn statements. 

Q. Ux parte statements ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. And the fiarties were present ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you come to the parish of Caddo to live ?—A. In 1849. 

Q. Has that been your home ever since ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What party did you co-operate with after the war?—A. In 1807 
and 1808—the first was in 1807—we scarcely had any party then. I do 
not believe we had any party then ; tlie voters simply acted together. 

Q. Did you vote with the Bepublicans then ?—A. No, sir • there were 
no Kepublicans there then—that is, there was no organization. In 1808 
there were reconstruction times. 

Q. Did you favor reconstruction ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you ojfpose it ?—A. I did not approve of it. 

Q. When were you editor of the Shreveport Times ?—A. I never was. 

Q. Were you connected with it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When was it ?—A. From the time it was established, in 1871, I 
think, up to 1870. ’ ’ 

Q. What were its politics about that time?—A. It was changeable, 



Parish.] TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 21 

like I call tlie politics of Louisiana. It was Democrat at one time, and 
Liberal Eepnblican at another, and White Man’s Party at another. 

Q. What party did yon affiliate with I—A. In 1872, Liberal Eepnb¬ 
lican. 

Q. What in 1874?—A. White Man’s Party. 

Q. Did it have any other name?—A. That is the only name we 
called it. 

Q. Did you make any si)eeches during the canvass of 1874up there?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon advise in any of those speeches violence to the negroes ?— 
A. I think I did. 

Q. What side were yon on in 187G?—A. Well, the politics of Louisi¬ 
ana in 1876 had another change. We were divided then into compro¬ 
mise and anti-compromise—that is, the white x)eople. I was on the com¬ 
promise side. 

Q. AYere there a good many Democrats with you in that ?—A. There 
Avas a majority of the Democratic members of the legislature. 

Q. Dehne, in short, what was meant by the comx)romise party.—A. 
AAYll, the party in 1876 was divided—the i)arty that was sometimes Lib¬ 
eral Oonservative, and sometimes Democratic Conservative, and some¬ 
times White Man’s Party-—that x)arty as represented by persons elected 
by it to the legislature, was divided thus: in fa^mr and against the 
AVheeler compromise. I favored the Wheeler coinj^romise. 

Q. Then in 1868 you were Straight-out Eepnblican?—A. I7o, sir; just 
about what I had always been. 

Q. AYere you of the same politics then as you Avere when you first 
took the Times ?—A. Yo, sir; what I meant to say Avas that there had 
iieA^er been any fixed politics in Louisiana. I haA"e never been a Demo¬ 
crat. 

Q. Y^ou were not a Democrat then when youAvere first connected with 
The Times ?—A. No, sir; I never have been connected with it as a Demo¬ 
crat. 

Q. It seems the Times noAv is an extreme i^aper ?—A. Yes, sir; it has 
always been. 

Q. AYas it Avlieii you Avere there ?—A. Yes, sir; more so than now. 

Q. In 1878 you Avere sui)porting the county ticket made up mostly of 
Democrats?—A. No, sir; 1 was supporting the Eepnblican ticket at the 
last election. 

Q. Were there not a good many Democrats on it?—A. I think some 
of them were, or liad been preAuously—all of them except Mr. Eisner, 
perhaps. He, hoAvever, had never been a Eepnblican until a year or 
so before. 

Q. Did you support Tilden or Hayes in 1876?—A. I fiivored Air. Hayes; 
that is, I did not take any part that year, as I was running as an inde¬ 
pendent candidate for the legislature. 

Q. AAYre you elected?—A. Yes, sir; by a large majority. 

Q. Then you were ai^pointed district attorney?—A. YYs, sir; the 15th 
of June. 

Q. Air. Booher, you say, came to you in the town of Shreveport, and 
you did not know about it?—A. I did not see him in Shreveport. 

Q. AYell, some place; was he not the man?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was he not the one that spoke about the danger that was taking- 
place ? I understood you that some man you did not knoAV came to you 
and said there would be trouble ahead?—A. No, sir; I said a liA^ery- 
stable keeper had said that that Booher had come there to get a horse 
to go to Spring Eidge; and I said I had met two negroes on the road 


22 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Avlio said that there was going to he trouble ahead j and I found Mr. 
llooher at Spring Kidge. 

Q. The inl'orniation, then, came from the negroes?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q There was nobody killed at Spring Eidge?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Nobody wounded?—A. No, sir. 

(>). Nobody shot at?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you at either of the Willis school-houses?—A. I will say 
there was nobody at those places when I was there. 

Q. You gave word out to your friends that they must not go in until 
you came out?—A. No, sirj I did not state that; I told them that 1 
thought there would be trouble there that day, and if anytliing did oc¬ 
cur I wanted them to remain quiet and not to make any movement until 
I did. I said, If it has to come, you wait for me.” 

Q. Were you armed at Spring Eidge?—A. Yes, sir. 

(J. And at Mooringsport?—A. Yes, sir; I was armed well at Moor- 
ingsi)ort. 

(^. The idea I got in reference to the point in your speech was that 
tliese colored peojde, or persons you wanted to influence, should not vote 
for the men on tliis ticket because they liad been slaveholders.—A. No, 
sir; the distinction was that the candidates who were nominated by the 
Democratic party were men whose ideas were fixed—who had arrived a t 
manhood before the war, and whose ideas were fixed by the condition of 
attairs then existing, and that the men liad arrived at mature manhood 
and were influenced by ideas before tlie war; but the candidates on the 
Eepublican ticket were young men whose education had been re(;eived 
since the war, and that they could better adaiit themselves and were 
better adapted to the now existing (condition of aflairs than they could 
])ossibly be if their ideas were fixed by the condition of things before 
the war. 

Q. What had you reference to in speaking of these things before the 
war ?—A. It seems to me perfectly clear tliat if society is conducted 
here or elsewliere in the manner it was conducted in 1860 that there 
Avould necessarily be a failure somewhere. As a matter of course, slavery 
existed in 18 () 0 , and the slaveholders possessed large plantations, and 
the civilization then was different to that which exists now and will 
hereafter. 

Q. Now, the point in the statement that was made up there in refer¬ 
ence to getting supplies was for the planters to come down to New 
Orleans ?—A. Or ShreA^eport. 

Q. To get their supplies, and on credit, and therefore pay more for it; 
that is not unnatural, is it ?—A. No, sir; that is not unnatural; but the 
])oint Avas, we ought to be changed in some manner. I think it is an 
abnormal condition of affairs. 

Q. Is it not so that if you get goods on credit you must pay more than 
it you i^ay cash ?—A. I insist that this condition of affairs is not normal. 
The Democratic ])arty insist that it is normal. 

Q. Don’t Eepublican planters do the same thing ?—A. They all have 
to do it. 

Q. Is it not a fact that nearly eA^ery planter has no money except at a 
])eriod of time when his cro]) comes in ?—A. That is so. 

Q. Noav, that is the system of planting all through this country ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I think it is. 

Q. But you AA^ere inveighing against that system in your speeches?_ 

A. Not iiiA^eighing; I AV'^as stating that that was the condition of aff'airs, 
and giving a remedy. 

Q. What lemedy did you suggest?—A. Of course I am not a prac- 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALBERT H. LEONARD. 


23 


tical former, but I told them it was mere folly to increase tlieir debts 
every year, and getting tliirteen cents credit for things that could be 
got for seven cents cash, and that they had better quit that sj’^stem. 

Q. And that you regarded as being a legitimate political issue ?— 
A. 1 thought so. I think it was right to suggest to them what would 
advance their material interests, and what would advance them in other 
respects. 

Q. The interru]dion of Harper-at the Spring Eidge speaking, as you 
stated, was mainly by a series of questions ?—A. That was at the first 
Spring Eidge meeting. 

Q. He got through and made a good speech at last?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When Harper got up a second time, there had been four hours and 
forty minutes o(icupied ?—A. About four hours. 1 do not think Green 
spoke an hour and a half. 

Q. About nine hours altogether that day?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Hoav long did Wise speak ?—A. He did not speak at all; the meet¬ 
ing ^vas broken up. 

Q. Mr. Harper got in his time pretty well?—A. Eo, sir; he got it in 
very badly. 

Q. Did he answer questions pretty promptly?—A. You are referring 
to another meeting. 

Q. I am speaking of the one where he was interrupted by a series of 
(juestions.—A. That was the first Eepublican meeting; the riot occurred 
at the second meeting. 

Q. You read from a pai)er called the Standard ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What sort of paper is that ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. How long has it been in existence?—A. I do not remember exactly. 
1 suppose five or six months. 

Q. How many papers are there at ShreYei)ort ?—A. Two. 

Q. Both Democratic?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. AVho were the commissioners that told you about these ballot-boxes 
being furnished under order of the executive committee ? If you can, call 
their names.—A. 1 would prefer not to tell that. 

Q. I think it is necessary to state it.—A. It was one of the commis¬ 
sioners, Mr. William Bozeman. 

Q. He resides at Shreveport ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear the testimony of Mr. Thorp ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. He said in his testimony that there was voting going on within a 
short distance?—A. Within sight of them—another election; and he 
and his friends were at one school-house, and the rest were at another. 

Q. Were there two school-houses ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. How was that—where was this other election?—A. This other 
election I know nothing about. 

Q. The impression I got was that there was new Willis and old Willis 
school-house.—A. I think that is a mistake. 

(^,. You had been up to the new AYillis school-house then, had you?— 
A. I had been up a number of times. 

Q. Were you there last year?—A. Yo, sir. 

(^. You are now district attorney of the United States conducting the 
ju-osecution of these persons for the transactions that this committee is 
investigating here now?—A. Yes, sir; I am now engaged in investigating 
alleged crimes against the laws of the United States. 

Q. About these matters of which you are testifying?—A. Yes, sir; all 
of them, in fact. 

Q. Do you call your home in Shreveport or Yew Orleans?—A. My 
legal doinicile is in Shreveport. 


24 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


WILLIAM HAEPEE. 


New Orleats^s, January 10^ 1879. 
William Harper (colored) sworn and examined. 


By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. Shreveport. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. Thirty years. 

Q. With which political party do you affiliate since the colored jieople 
have been allowed to vote?—A. Always with the Eepublican party. 

Q. Go on and state your connection Avith the political campaign in 
your parish during the last summer and fall.—A. Well, we i)ut up a 
ticket, both parties in our parish; one was called the Eepublican and the 
other Democratic. I do not think there Av^as a great deal of difference 
in the tickets so far as Eepublicanism is concerned. One Avas what 
might be called a mild Democratic ticket, the other Avas a rank Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. My people did not knoAV the gentlemen on the ticket as 
being mucli Eepublicans, but of course their leaders talked Avitli them 
and told them to stand by the ticket. We Avent to every point in the 
parish to make speeches as usual, and to Avork as faithfully for the ticket 
as if it Avere a straight Eepublican ticket. A¥e met Avith a great deal of 
trouble at different points. The most trouble Ave had was at Spring 
Eidge. They said the ticket should not be elected. 

Q. Who said that ?—A. Well, a good inanj^ gentlemen at Spring Eidge 
said so. 

Q. GiA^e the names of those whom you remember.—A. I will call 
Simpson, McMillan, and scA^eral other gentlemen. 

Q. Who is Simpson ?—A. He is a farmer in the- 

Q. What are his ijolitics and color ?—A. He is a white man and a 
Democrat. 


Q. Who is McMillan?—A. He is a white man and a Democrat, too. 
Q. For Avhat purpose did you go to Spring Eidge?—A. Went there to 
speak to the peoi)le. 

Q. The Eepublican people ?—A. Yes, sir; a Eepublican meeting had 
been called there. 


Q. Well, Avhat occurred then ?—A. The speakers on the Democratic 
side met us there after they all got together; we had a large meeting 
on our side and there were about a hundred Avhite men on "the Demo¬ 
cratic side. We concluded to speak jointlv. Leonard and Simpson 
made the agreement. I Avas not in tavor of speaking jointly, because it 
generally brings on trouble. We agreed to liaA^e the meeting in the 
Avhite church. Mr. Leonard opened the meeting, speaking at some 
length. When about half-way Avhere he had intended to go, a Avhite gen¬ 
tleman in the house interrupted him and said that wliat Leonard Avas 
saying Avas lies, and damned lies, and that they Avere not going to stand 
an^^ more. Then a man on the Democratic side spoke in favor of letting 
Leonard g;o om He went on for a little Avhile, but it was not long before 
he stopped.. Then a Democrat spoke, and I was to follow him, and an¬ 
other Democrat Avas to close; that Avas the order of the meeting. It was 
not customary to let Democrats close Ee])ublican meetings, but as Ave had 
got into It we thought that Avas the easiest way we could get out of it 
^lif sppke before me. I thought I Avas competent to 

talk down Avhat he had said, and I commeniied, but I hadn’t got far be¬ 
fore the Democrats cried out, “We can’t stand any more of von; you 

that faiHier.” I said, “If you cannot klml 

that, I Aull try and give you something you can stand.” “No, by God, 



I’arish.] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM HARPER. 25 

AA’e can’t stand anytliing,” and I felt as tliougli I was going to be killed 
right off. 

Q. What kind of a speech were you making ?—A. Well, I thought it 
was a pretty fair speech for a Kepublican. I was speaking about the 
candidates on the Democratic ticket. In speaking of one of the candi¬ 
dates, r said that I knew him to be a gentleman, a very line gentleman, 
but he was an old-time Democrat and he couldn’t forget his old tricks; 
and 1 thought that the difference between the Democratic ticket and my 
ticket was, the men on my ticket were men of young ideas, and Ma,jor 
Moncure had old ideas wliicli he had gained twenty-live or thirty years 
ago; that he believed that negroes should go where God intended they 
should be from the foundation of the Avorld, and I appealed to my people 
to say where God had intended they sliould be from the foundation of 
the world, and the Democrats then raised up and cried, ‘‘Hallelujali, 
w e can’t stand any more of you. You’ve got to stop.” In the row that 
follow ed, pistols and things w ere draw n, but nobody presented any to 
me. One of my friends said to me, if he w as in my ])lace he would be 
getting out of that. I said, “Where shall I go?” I wms afraid to go 
out or I would be shot in the back; but by and by I got out and w^ent 
home. 

What success did you have in canvassing the parish after that? 
Did you have another meeting?—A. I went to one at Morgansport. 

Q. AYas there any violence offered to you or to the llepublicans at 
]Vrorgans])ort ?—A. I wais told before I left home, after coming from 
Spring Kidge, that if I wxnt to Morgansport I must take 500 lashes or die. 
Of course, I felt pretty bad. Before I left Shreveport I went to consult 
Leonard and Elstner. I told them what I had heard, and they said they 
had heard the same thing, but they didn’t believe in it. I told them 
from wiiom I got it, and wdio had told mo the same thing, and begged 
and insisted that 1 shoidd not go ; he didn’t wmnt to see me killed. I 
didn’t wmnt everybody to think I was the biggest coward in the world. 

Q. And what occurred?—A. Nothing. After leaving there I m^v n 
boat coming across the bayou to the side where we were, and I after¬ 
wards heard tliat the reason I didn’t get 500 lashes, or get killed, was 
that the boat got stuck on a stump. I didn’t go out any more. I bad 
engagements to speak at Hog Thief Point, but got smne one else to go. 
Our speakers had but little more iuterference during the campaign. 
Some of the gentlemen wdio spoke w^ere told they Avere damned liars, 
or pistols Avere draAvn, and things of that sort Avere done, but Ave didn’t 
mind that. 

l^y Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. That is a part of the regular exercises, is it ?—A. Yes, sir. We do 
not mind one or tA\ o i)istols, only so they ain’t pointed directly at us. 
]ty Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Is it quite a usual thing to see pistols drawn at political meetings 
in your i)arish?—A. O, yes, sir; you Avill sometimes see them as thick 

as birds in the air. ^ . o,, 

Q. Where AA-ere you on the day of the election ?—-A. At Shreveport. 

Q. What occurred then ?—A. On the day of the election I didn’t go 

out at all. . ^ ^ X 1 

Q. Why ? A. I was advised by friends that it Avas not safe. I kept 

out of view. Leonard said that as disturbance Avas threatened, he 
thought ifc might be beff to stop the men from voting, and I told him if 
he thought it best, to pull them off. , ^ ^ . 

Q. Wliat is tlie proportion between the Avhite and colored vote m 
Caddo Parish?—A. The Kepiiblicans are largely in the majority. 


26 


LOUISIANA IN IST-*. 


[Caddo 


Q. IIow largely in tlie majority “?—^A. I tliink they have something 
over 2j000 majority. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How much did they beat you ?—A. O, sir^ they had it all. 

By Mr. Oaivieron : 

Q. Is the Kepnblican i)arty composed mosth" of colored men ^ —A. 
Yes, sir; I believe there are nbout 4,900 or 5,000 voters in all, and 1,400 
or 1,500 of them are white. 

Q. And the balance colored ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(J. Are yon pretty well acquainted with the colored voters of the par¬ 
ish “?—A. Yes, sir; there are mighty few of them that I do not know. 

Q. If the colored peoi)le voted as they desired, which way would they 
vote ?—A. They would very nigh vote tlie Ilepnblican ticket to a man. 

Q. How many Democratic colored men do you know in the parish ?— 
A. I know as mnch as two that have always stood as Democrats. They 
are classed opeidy as Democrats. 

Q. Were you acquainted with those two men Avho were taken off the 
steamer Danube, at Caledonia f—A. I was acquainted with one of them 
very well. 

Q. Where was he from the time of the election until he started for 
Yew Orleans ?—A. I left them on the river. I don’t knoAV exactly what 
place. He once lived in town, when I was a small boy or young man. 
After the Caledonia fight, he went oft to town. I saw him several times 
in town. 

Q. What office, if any, do yon hold now ?—A. I am State senator. 

Q. One of the hold-over senators ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Are yon a witness down here before the United States court ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I have been examined. 

Q. In reference to these transactions in Caddo Parish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At the speaking that you alluded to when yon said a number of 
them raised up aud interrupted yon—could you give the names of any 
of them ?—A. I could give the names of Simpson and McMillan, and a 
great many others whose faces I knew when I saw them and they knew 
me well! 

Q. Tlie matter that they objected to in your speech was that you said 
Major Moncure was not progressive enough for you f—A. Yes, sir; they 
said that I had by that arrayed the negroes against the whites, and they 
were not going to stand any more of that. 

Q. Did you have a pistol with you that day ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Did Leonard ?—A. I believe he did. 

Q. Was it upon Mr. Leonard’s advice that you staid home from the 
polls A. No, sir; I had other white men’s advice ; some of them Dem¬ 
ocrats. I have some very good friends among the Democratic party. 

Q. Major Moncure and you are good friends, are you not A. He is 
a good friend in every way except politically. I do not suppose he would 
stand and see me killed, but there are some men there who would suck 
your blood or anybody else’s. 

Q. Did Mr. Leonard advise you to stay home from the pollsA I 
saw some other friends from the Democratic side who advised me to 
and even after election they told me not to put my head out of the house; 
but I do not xiropose to call their names now, because thev were a;ood 
men. ^ 

Q. The ticket you were favoring was made up of Democrats !—A. Of 
men who had been acting with the Democratic party. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM HARPER. 


27 


Q. What is your business at home, outside of being senator—A. A 
little of everything. I have done some farming and kept a grocery- 
store, and about everything a man ever did to try to make a living. 

Q. Were you raised in Caddo % —A. I have been there for thirty years. 

Q. Didn’t you and your friends who spoke in that canvass generally 
carry pistols with you!—A. Yes, sir; I carried mine sometimes, and 
sometimes I didn’t; but pistols were of no account at all at such a time. 
You might as well have a stick. I didn’t care to do anything to any¬ 
body. 

Q. Who were the speakers there at Spring Eidge?—^A. Leonard, 
Crane, Elstner, Hayes, and myself. 

Q. AVho were the Eepublican speakers!—A. Leonard and Elstner 
and I. 

Q. Who were the Democratic speakers !—A. Crane and Hayes and 
another gentleman, whom I claimed to be a.carpet-bagger, on the other 
side. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Do you mean to say that the Democratic party have carpet-bag¬ 
gers !—A. They are not carpet-baggers when they are on the Democratic 
side, but they are carpet-baggers when they are on the Eepublican side. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is the name of the gentleman who is a carpet-bagger !—A. 
I do not know his name. I said I was astonished to see Democrats 
voting for a carpet-bagger. They said he had been in the State over 
two years, and was not a carpet-bagger. I said that our candidate had 
been in the State ten years and he was still a carpet-bagger, and I didn’t 
understand that. 

Q. So it seems that colored Eepublicans vote for white men and white 
men vote for carpet-baggers !—A. As a general thing when we put up a 
ticket our people follow the ticket; that is, if the leaders are upon their 
feet and act right, the others follow them. 

Q. I do not understand yet why a simon-pure Democratic.ticket was 
not nominated in your parish last fall!—A. In that parish we have had 
before Colonel Cotton and that class of men and run them. The yellow 
fever had brought Colonel Cotton down there, and I had got tired of 
having so much campaign lighting. The white Democrats said’ ‘•‘■ If you 
Eepublicans will put up men who were brought up here among us, there 
will be no trouble.” So I tried to keep colored men oft from the ticket, 
so they could not say it was a black ticket, nor a carpet-bagger^ ticket. 
That is the reason we put on no Eepublicans. 

Q. You said the white Democrats told you if you would nominate men 
who were Southern men, there would be no trouble!—A. Yes, sir; the 
objection was to our nominating Korthern men. That was what they 
toid me; but on trying it we find they didn’t mean it. 

Q. You don’t think they were sincere!—A. O, no, sir. This ticket 
was made up of young men who had grown up right there in town, and 
I never saw such bitter opposition in my life. 

Q. Who was this Democratic carpet-bagger! 

[The witness could not tell, but a bystander said his name was Hull.] 

The Witness. He had been there only two years, and voted the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket, and so he was not a carpet-bagger. 

By Mr. Bailey: 

Q. Was he a candidate!—A. Ko, sir; I think he was not a candidate; 
he was a schoolmaster. He sprang up there like a bunch of grass to me. 


28 


LOUISIANA IN ]678. 


[Caddo 


William Hauler recalled. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. You knew Madison Beams —Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. There were two of them living together !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the other’s name'?—A. Isaac. 

Q. Did they live in the same house?—A. Yo, sir j but they lived on 
the same place. 

Q. What has become of Madison Beams ?—A. They were both run off 
some time ago. 

Q. State what yon know about their going off.—A. After the affair 
at Caledonia, tlie two Beams were reported as having been in the light, 
and Isaac Beams run two iiickets and got to town on Friday or Thursday. 
I saw him in town, and had heard that his brother was killed at Cale¬ 
donia. He wanted to go away, but he was to see Mr. Flushan, a mer¬ 
chant there, to give him some money, and while he was there (he staid 
over until Sunday) Mr. Flushan wanted him to wait. He said if he 
would wait he would go down and get his name oft‘ the dead-list. 

Q. What was the dead-list !—A. It is a list of those who had to die. 

Q. Are you speaking about Isaac now!—A. Yes, sir; he stayed over 
until Flushan Avent down and came back. I had tried to get him to go 
away. Mr. Flushan got back. On Sunday night went down to see Mr. 
Flushan at his store, and Flushan advised him to come down the next 
morning and see if he could get him clear and off* the dead-list, and so 
when Isaac Avent doAvn the next morning they arrested him and i)ut him 
in the lockup. 

Q. Who arrested him !—A. One of the officials. Monday night the 
mayor of the city sent for me to come to his house, and he told me he 
wanted me to go uj) and turn Beams out. I told him I Avould not do it. 
I refused, and he said he would turn him out if I Avould adAuse him to 
leave toAAUi, and I said I Avould do so, and they turned him out of the 
jail, and I advised him to leave. During that time Flushan AAms AAmit- 
ing for him and said he owed him (Flushan) some $700. Beams said he 
had to leave his proxierty, and Flushan said the country could not afford 
to drive such men as the Beamses out as they had OA’^er $5,000 or $0,000 
and were the owners of land. 

Q. He owned land, did he !—A. Yes, sir ; he had bought some land 
and was going to move off on the White place this way. 

Q. What became of the other Beams !—A. He had heard of the ar¬ 
rest of his brother Sunday night, and as soon as one AA^ent doAAui and got 
in jail, the other shoved off*, and so I never heard aa here his brother Mad¬ 
ison was and I have iieAmr heard of him since. 

Q. Did they leave their families there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you leaAm your crops, &c.!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What proxierty do you know the Beamses had!—A. I know they 
had plenty of stock and everything AA^ell to-do. 

Q. What did you mean!—A. Horses, cows, mules, and they rented 
loO acres and made maybe more on Bed Biver of Mr. White. Air. White 
begged hard to have them stay, and the mayor himself said he didn’t 
want to see them killed, and begged me to get them out. 

Q. Is the mayor a white man!—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A Democrat!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

* property do you tMnk the Eeams had!—A. $5,000 or 

$(),()0() worth. ’ 

Q. In what did it consist!—A. In land and stock. 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THORP. 29 

Q. How much laud did tliey ownf—A. I do not kuow only what he 
told me aud what the merchants told me. 

Q. Ho yon know what he g’ave for the land?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Ho you know whether it was paid for ?—A. He said it was paid 
for. 

Q. Have you heard from either of them since ?—A. I have heard from 
one of them. 

Q. Where?—A. He is on the Mississippi Eiver somewhere. 

Q. You do not know anything of Isaac ?—A. No, sir. 

Q* What do you mean by shoving out?—A. I wanted them to get out 
Saturday night, and they didn’t go out until afterward, and Madison 
Hearns shoved out, for fear they would find and keep him too, after they 
got his brother. 

Q. Ho you know what he did then, whether he went away or not?— 
A. I think he left. 

Q. You do not know he left?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That night?—A. Tliat day. 

Q. How far is it Irom Shreveport over to the Texas line?—A. The 
nearest point is twenty-three or twenty-four miles. 

Q. Ho you know what direction he took?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hid he tell you which direction he went?—A. No, sir. 

(^. You have never heard from him since?—A. No, vsir. 


LAFAYETTE THOBP. 

New Orleans, La., Jmmary 9, 1879. 

Lafayette Thorp (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

(Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Caddo Parish, ward 1. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. Eight years. 

Q. In what business are you engaged ?—A. Farming, sir. 

Q. Hid you take any part in the late election ux) there and the cam- 
I)aign that preceded it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What i)art did you take ?—A. I was on the side of what was called 
the Eadicals, sir. 

Q. You voted the Eeiuiblican ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; right straight out. 

Q. Was there any trouble during the camxiaign in the place where 
you lived?—A. Yes, sir ; we had some trouble. 

Q. What was the character of the trouble you had uxi there; go right 
through from beginning to end ?—A. Well, sir, about a week before 
election I went all through there; I was candidate for iiolice juror in 
that ward: they had carried the ballot-box forty-five miles off—away ux) at 
a point called the Old Black Bayou; they did not know, anybody, where 
it was; I being a candidate for xiolice juror in that ward, they told me 
that I would be the best one to go over there and see if I could find out 
wliere was the voting xilace; it was an out of the way xilace, and a mighty 
scary time; everybody was afraid to go over there. 

Q. Why?—A. Because there was so many niggers being killed up 
there, that was one reason ; but I ventured to go. I x^nt off this hat, 
and xMit on an old gray hat, with the rim all ragged, and holes all tbrougli 
the rest of it; I took off' my pants and put on an old pair with the knees 
out; I took some old greasy cotton sacks and x)iit around me; then I 



30 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Kstiirted oft* np the country. I made pretend whenever I met anybody 
that I was hunting for my brother, that had got lost; I did not know 
Avhere he had gone to; I said that my brother’s name was William 
Anderson. I went over in there and crossed at Irving’s Bluff; 
there was a gentleman there keeping the ferry; I said, “Mister, 
I understand they kill niggers over here.” “ O, no,” said he 
“ They don’t.” I said, “ I am hunting for my brother. His name 
is William Anderson. I nnderstood he was over here. He is iniss- 
ing, and I don’t know but what they have killed him. The last he was 
heard from was somewhere about Hillis’s or Billis’s School-houvse.” It 
was Willis’s School-house, but I was making believe that I did not know 
anything about the place. He said, “ They aint killing niggers over 
here. We have done some mighty mean things, but that was four or five 
years ago. But that drove the niggers out of our county, and caused 
our land to lie idle for a long time, and now they tell everybody that 
death and hell are over here, to keep them away.” Then 1 thought, 
“ This aint so bad a place as I was told for. I can pass through.” I 
went and staid at Mr. Bryant’s that night. Over there lived eJack Brow¬ 
der, an old preacher. I got talking with him about my brother. He 
being a preacher, and I being a preacher, we sort of locked hands to¬ 
gether. We prayed together, and the next day I went with him to the 
church house. We preached and prayed there that day. I had to come 
and cross the Black Bayou again to get to where the voting place was. 
I told him that my brother, the last heard of him was at Willis’s School- 
house. I made as if I thought that Willis’s School-house was a sort of 
town, and I asked him whereabouts it was. He said, “ I will take you 
right there.” He did take me there. When we came to the ba> ou I pulled 
oft* my shoes, rolled up my breeches legs and waded through. Before 
we got to the school-house, I stopped at Washington Hale’s. Hale 
asked me, “ Where are you going ?” I said, “ I have lost my brother; 
his name is William Anderson. He went to Little Bock, and from 
there he started for home, I heard; I am hunting for him; the last I 
heard of him he was somewhere about Hillis’s or Billis’s or Willis’s 
School-house.” He said there Avas no Hillis’s School-house thereabouts, 
but a ways oft* there there Avas Willis’s School-house. Said I, “ That 
is Avhere I goes; that is the place I am after.” Said he, “ You can go 
there, but you Avill not findjnur brother there, nor anything else but an 
empty house.” Bext morning Jack Browder and I Wmt over there to 
the school-house. I took a look at it, and made my plans how 1 could 
get there again. Nobody knowed yet what my business was, and I 
didn’t want that they should. I aa ent back out of there a Av^ays. I had 
to play some further game, to get an ax with Avhich to blaze the trees, 
so that I could get there again on election time. There Avas Avoods and. 
swamps, and bayons, so that nothing could get there but a duck or a 
bird. I stopped at a place where there was a young girl—a good-lookino* 
yellow girl. I goes to the girl and tells her,’ “Oh, honey, how I loves 
you ’ and all that sort of thing, you know. I talked that way so much 
that by and by I had her sort of stuck on me. I went to her old mistress 

[ li ¬ 
me 
do 



here affam and see tins young lady.” Said I, “ I have taken a notion to 
lier; if I keep on liking her as well as I do now, I shall marry her, and 
shall come back here to live.” I wanted to get an ax to blaze my way 
through the woods, so that I might get back on election day She 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THORP. 


31 


seeinocl to feel miolity good over it, and slie says: “ Y'on can have an ax; 
Jack Browder can go witli yon, and come and fetch the ax hack when 
yon are through with it”; and lie did. 

Finally I got bac.k home. Then I knowed this was all right; I was 
going to carry this thing out. I said to the boys, There is no danger; 
this story of their killing niggers nj) there is all stnlf and folderol.” 
Before that they were all very disconraged, because the ballot-box had 
been moved away from there so far, through woods and thickets 
and swamps, over nine bayous, and everybody livened np then, and said 
they would go. On the Saturday following Flannigan came down to 
Jim Marks’s plantation. He said, “Why didn’t yon let me know when 
yon went to spy out that Black Bayon conntry ? ” I said, “ I didn’t want 
to tell everybody all my business.” He said, “ I (diarge yon particularly, 
if yon lead these men there, every one of yon will get yonr heads shot 
off. Now, yon listen.” I said, “We are going there as innocent as 
lambs. We have the right to do so of the United States. If the United 
States shoots off onr heads for exercising onr political and personal rights 
that the United States gives ns, then kill ns and done with it.” He 
went away. Then Mr. Bomby (witness explained that he meant M. M. 
Eomby, the man he lived with) came and said, “ If I were yon, I wouldn’t 
go there.” Said he, “ Yon will get killed, I am afraid.” Said 1, “ Mr. llom- 
by, we are going there like innocent lambs. If they won’t allow ns to 
vote, we will jnst walk off, and won’t try to vote at all. But Ave will go 
there, and try what will come of it, anyhow.” On Sunday evening Ave 
all met together. The ward was a long one, a great long aa aid, like a 
fence-rail. 

Q. Hoav long is it?—A. God knows hoAV long; 35 miles long, I should 
think. I told them all to meet at BriarAille on Monday morning at 7 o’clock. 
One hundred and forty of them met me there. Sunday night they struck 
camj) there. There is a church OA^er there. I goes OA cr there; being a 
member of the Baptist Church myself, and having helped to buy the 
land, and build the church on it, I goes over there and asks leave to let 
these men slee]) in the church that night, until Monday morning. They 
had to start the day before election in order to reach the place. They 
agreed to let the men sleep in the church. The men went and settled 
around the churiJi there, and I Avent back home, about three miles down 
the riA^er. I went to Jim Marks’s plantation. He A\^as candidate for 
police juror. Says I, “I am going to fetch a big Bepublican majority 
out of this ward.” I listened over the river, and there came a whole 
army going across in the direction of BriarAulle. An old gentleman lives 
on tiie other sideT of the river by the name of Littleton. He is a colored 
man and a Bepublican. He came and said to me, “You go and tell your 
men that if they don’t move from AAdiere they are every one of them Avill 
be killed.” Says I, “Why?” Said he, “Forty-ffve men are going OA^er 
there to Ebenezer Church.” “Is that so?” said I. “Yes,” said he. 
Thinks I, “ Those boys aint got a weapon lior nothing.” My object Avas 
to go there and get thet^fe men and keep them scattered, and hide them 
so that I could get them together Monday. Those 49 men A\^ent to 
Briarville to cross the river right at Jim Marks’s landing at the ferry. 
They turned up the river bank, in place of keeping the straight road. 
They folloAA ed the Haw, which carried them a roundabout way. While 
they was going that round I kept straight ahead, and got to Ebenezer 
Church before them. Says I, “Boys, get up and get your horses and 
mules and get aAvay from here.” Says they, “What is the matter?” 
Said I, “A crowd of men are coming up here Avith their Aveapons.” They 
got up, and I stood them back in the woods about half a mile. Says I, 


32 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


stand liere, and liold yonr horses 5 hold your mules particularly, 
or they will get to braying, and that will let them know where you are. 
So they did k I told them. Then I said to K. P. Pickett and Bill Smith, 
“Now, you come back with me, and we will slip back within one hundred 
yards of the church and see if anybody comes there.’^ They agreed. I 
located them, like picket-guards, about fifty yards apart. By ami l)y here 
comes, right in front of us, this company of men. 1 heard the leader say 
to them, “ Close up.^’ They all closed up. Then they dismounted. Then 
they all got down and hitched their horses. The moon was shining. 
I \^ns lying close to a big log there; was there, looking at them. I 
counted them as they Aveiit by. There was 49 of them. They went up 
to the chur(;h. They stood and peeked, and peeked, and peeked, but 
could see nobody. By and by a little fellow says, “We canT stay here 
all night. The moon is most down.” They went np to the church, but 
did not go in. One young man said, “We are going home.” One said, 
“Lead on.” The leader says, “Form aline.” He says, “Now march 
across the woods and come right around back to the church again. “ He 
showed them where to go, and the way he pointed his hand was right at 
me. Says I to myself, “ (rood (xod! That is rough.” Then I thought, 
“Now, if I break and run, certaiidy they will shoot me all to pieces. 
The best idea is to lie still.” So I lay still, stretched out close to 
the log, and on they came. One of them step])ed over the log and 
over my head and another of them over my feet and they passed on. 
Then I said, “Jce-.sm*.'” Then I heard the leader say—I was about 
8 steps away—“Boys, there is only two of these fellows that I would do 
any dirt to. One is Thorpe and the other is Pickett. If you can stoj) 
them two niggers, it will stop all the rest from going.” Then I said, 
“ Good God, this is rougher yet.” They looked about but could not see 
anybody. They hallooed and hooted like owls, but could hear nothing. 
Then they got on to their horses and galloped off. I laid still till I could 
hear them crossing the bridge—pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat pit-a-pat—a mile 
and a half away. Then I called our fellows together, and we had a 
talk. Said I, “They have not got us yet; and now the thing to do 
is not to give up.” I herded them together till Monday morning. 
On Monday morning Jim Pickett, and Coles from Shreveport, and 
another gentleman—white gentlemen—came along. I told them our 
troubles on Sunday night. They said, “That was to keep you 
from gathering this morning.” I said, “Look here, while these fellows 
are going on with weapons we better take weapons too with us.” They 
said, “No.” The object of the colored people was to elect a police jury 
all over the parish for 1880. We marched on, then; about 10 niiles. 
When we got to Irving’s Bluft we found the ferry-boat gone, and I asked 
where the ferry-boat was? They said it had been moved. I asked 
Avhere to ? They said, “Up to Mooringsport.” Just then a man on the 
other side blowed a horn. I tell you I have seen a flock of blackbirds 
coming to feed in a field of corn, but then I saw white men flocking there 
thicker and taster than a flock of birds ever come. When I went in there 
the week before I had crossed at Irving’s Bluff*. When we got there 
now somebody had removed the ferry. Nobody knew how to get to 
Willis’s school-house excepting me and 11. P. Ihckett; and I said to 
Biem boys, “btick to me, and I will carry you over yet against night.” 
Five men that were with me got skert right there, and would not go any 
lurther. They went back, and when they got home thev skert our wives 
almost to deatli. We went on up on the same side of the river about 10 
miles, through woods and bayous, till we nearly tore off* our ohl breeches 
Irom us. But nobody said a word. That night we stopped at Jack 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THORP. 


33 


Browder’s. That was about half a mile from Willis’s school-house. No¬ 
body bothered us that night. On Tuesday morning at 4 o’clock we got 
up and 1 issued all the tickets; a ticket to every man. I said, “Now, 
boys, take tliese tickets in your hands, and when you get to the house, 
if anybody comes up and pretends to be drunk don’t let them get hold 
of your tickets. Let nobody see your tickets. Let every fellow hav(‘ 
his own ticket, and put that ticket in the ballot-box.” Then we started 
on, and against daylight we were at Willis’s school-house. We sat 
down there and made uj) a lire. Then we took breakfast. We sat 
down till the sun Avas about three-cpiarters of an hour high. In about 
ail hour up steps an old gentleman named BroAvn. Said he, “ Good 
morning, boys; I haAc not seen so many niggers together before siiici' 
the reconstruction.” We shook hands. We sliOAved him our papers and 
books. He took them in his hands and looked at them and said they 
Avere all right. Pickett asked him, “ Is this the right house, sir—Wil¬ 
lis’s school-house'?” He said, “Yes, it is.” 1 asked him Avhether there 
AA^as any other Willis’s school-house anyAvhere around that place except 
this. He said “ No.” Then I kneAV that all was all right. IVIr. BroAvn 
said, “ Boys, I cannot serA^e as commissioner; I liaA^e had the neuralgia 
all night; but I Avill get you a man AAdio Avill seiwe in my place.” So ho 
got on his horse and AA-ent aAvay after another commissioner. I have 
not sot eyes on him from that day to this. We sat there till the sun 
Avas about an hour high. Tlien Jim Pickett read the law, and said, 
“ Boys, the Uiav says if the commissioners are not here in an hour after 
the congregation meets, the congregation Avill elect ncAv commissioners.” 
We jiroceeded to the election, and elected Pompey Banks, and Charles 
Kattler, and Eli Martin commissioners. When these av ere elected, about 
this time along came a couple of toAAm people, Mr. IIollingSAAnuth and 
jMr. Mnrt\ 

Q. Where did they live!—A. In Shrevei)ort. They said, “Well, boys, 
are you here!” I said, “ Yes.” Then Hoilingsworth said, “Gentlemen, 
you are at the AA^rong house.” That staggered everybody. Jim Pickett 
said that Mr. Brown had been here and he said there Avas no other 
Willis’s school-house anyAvhere around the place. Then they asked me, 
“Is this the right house!” and I said, “Yes; Jack BroAvderbrought me 
here.” “ Well,” says Jim Pickett—Pickett is a United States marshal— 
“ We will hold the election here anyhoAV, and if anything is Avrong, 
Avhen Ave get back to Shre\mport avo Avill test it.” So aa e opened the 
poll and Avent right ahead voting. The Avay we throAved our Badical 
tickets Avas ambitious. We had been told that every nigger aa ho i)ut in 
a Badical ticket would be killed, and Avlien Ave found that AA^e Avere all 
alive and never troubled, Ave Avas rejoiced. We said, “• We aaoII go home 
and Avill give Black Bayou all praise.” Every noAV and then, Avhile 
AA'e AA’^ere A'oting, there AAmuld come along a strange maii, and look all 
around, and Avalk among us, and some of them Avould talk to us, but 
none of them voted, nor told us AAdiat they Avere there for. We thought 
it is likely they Avere some fellows Avho did not live there, and 
Avho AA^ere too young to vote. I asked one man hoAv many liAcd 
there. He said there Avere IG men registered there. I asked him 
where they aa' ere registered. He said on Wash. Hale’s gallery. I asked 
hoAV many of them Avere Bcpublicaus and hoAV many Democrats. He 
said there AA-ere only tAvo Democrats there. Then avc all kncAv it 
there AA^ere only 10 men there, and tAv^o of them AA'cre Democrats, 
we Avould certainly carry the ward. We got through voting about 1 
o’clock. Then the boys got out of anything to eat, and they Avanted 
to go home and see their families. Jim Pickett said to me, *^ No- 

3 T 


34 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


body knows the way here except you and Ti. P. Pickett, and as they are 
sort of hot over your coming and si>ying out this country, anyhow you 
had better go home, and let It. P. Pickett stay here till the vote is 
('minted.” I was glad of this arrangement, for they had threatened to 
kill me. They were mad at me for only one thing; that I was a leader 
in the ward, and had gone over in there and spied out their country—-a 
thing that no nigger had ever done before. The niggers were all afraid 
to go there; most of the white folks were. They could not get a man 
to go over there to make an arrest. Flanigan was the bitterest of any 
of them against me on account of wliat I had done. I said to him, 
Flanigan, it is all politics; I was playing my piece and you were play¬ 
ing yours.” Well,” he says, I will pay you for that, God damn you; 
I will pay you for that.” I said, I have got a record, and nothing has 
ever been brought out against me in my life, Just because I give my 
people a chance to vote the same as you do, you ought not to want to 
hurt me for it.” I went to Mr. Romby. Mr. Eomby is a Democrat, but 
he is an honest man, a man vrho has some feeling for a nigger. I goes 
to him and tells him that Flanigan says he is going to have revenge on 
me because I went over and found where the voting place was. He 
says, Here is what is the matter; if you had not gone over there with 
your iiig-headedness, in 1880 there would not a single nigger have known 
enough to go there. But now there are four or five hundred niggers 
know the way over there.” He said, ‘‘ I was over to Flanigan’s on Thurs¬ 
day bear-hunting, and Flanigan told me he Avas going to kill you. I 
told him you were a good fellow, honest, hard-working and gentlemanly. 
Flanigan said he didn’t care how honest or how gentlemanly you were, 
you had got to be killed. If you will take my advice you will get out 
of this as quick as you can.” That sort of excited me. I jsked him 
where I could go. ‘‘ If I go to Shreveport, I Avill be no better off there 
than I am here.” ^‘Well,” he says, ‘‘Go clean back to Arkansas.” 
“Well,” I says, “e\wybodj knows me all along the road. I shall get 
killed all the same.” “ Well,” he said, “ jmu Imve got to run some risk 
anyhoAV. Flanigan SAvears he will kill you.” I thought “ Eomby talks 
that way because I rented this place for 5 years, and he Avants to get me 
oft* from it, because he has rented it to me very cheap. He is only 
bluffing me.” So I Avent home and laid all that night in a cotton-house 
about 300 yards from my dwelling-house. The next night after the elec¬ 
tion, sure enough there came ux> a crowd of men. 

Q. Of Avhite men ?—A. Yes, sir; Avhite men. 

Q. Who Avere they?—A. Nobody kncAv Avho they Avere. They came 
through the yard and opened the gate and beat at the door with their 
. guns. I says to myself, “Yes; you are mightily mistaken; I ain’t there.” 

Q. How many of them Avere there ?—A. I don’t knoAv. Mr. Eomby 
says he don’t knoAv hoAv many. They didn’t get me, and after awhile 
they Avent aAvay. My Avife moved to Mr. Eomby’s house. Then I put out 
and went to Shreveport. I staid there about 5 days. I had a good 
friend in Shreveport by the name of Jim Marks. I said to him, “ They 
want to kill me.” He said, “Who AAnnt to kill you?” I said “I went 
home, and a man, I don’t know his initials, but his name is Hollings¬ 
worth—he lives on tlie Woods place in Caddo Parish above IrAving’s 
Bluffs he says to me, ‘You ain’t dead yet?’” I answered, “O no, sir; 
It takes aMeal to kill me.” “Why” says he, “Flanigan has been shot.” 
Says I, How did that happen ?” Says he, “ You need not pretend not to 
knoAV, tor you do know. You led your niggers OA^er yonder and showed 
them how to go there and how to vote. You Avent to Shreveport and 
told Jim Austin that Flanigan was one of the party of Avhite people that 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THOKP. 


3 ') 


took tlie ballot-box away, and yon are the cause of Flanigan’s being 
shot.” I said, When the shooting took i)la(?e I was not at home.” He 
added, We have bound ourselves together in the K. 0. party” (I spelled 
that Kii Klux) 5 and Mr. Flanigan was the Democratic leader in ward 1. 

Your blood shall atone for his,” said he. “ My blood atone for his,” said 
1. “ Y'es; your blood shall atone for his. \WMlare him to die.” Tie 

was not dead yet, but he was lying in Shreveport Avounded. Then 
another man said, I know Fred.”—that is Av^hat they called ine, though 
my name Avas Lafayette—“ I know Fred, was at home Avhen Flanigan 
was shot. If he is to die because of h^lanigan your blood shall atone for 
his.” That sort of squelched him doAvn. Well,” he said, You are the 
nigger that done it.” 1 said, “ You can’t proA e it. I can i)rove by Avhite 
and colored men that I did not do it.” He said, ‘‘You can’t tell me a 
damned Avord. I liaA e got the best Avhite men in the parish ami Avard 
who told me of it. Your blood shall atone for it.” Then I AA^ent to 
ShreA^eport, and said to Jim Marks, “ HollingSAvorth has got me eharged 
Avith Flanigan’s being shot, and threatens to kill me for it. He says my 
blood shall atone for it. There is no hiding-place for me in Caddo Parisli 
or in the State of Louisiana.” He said, “Come AAith me, and I Avill take 
you, and Ave aauII go to the court-house and haA^e lIollingsAvorth arrested 
and imt under a thousaml-dollar bonds.” He told Judge Looney that I 
had had my life threatened, and \Ans innocent of the charge of shooting 
Flanigan. Looney told me to go to Mr. L. E. Carter to have an affi¬ 
davit got out against Hollingsworth. I thought the matter over, and 
1 said, “Koav, you are going to make an affidaAdt against a man because 
he threatens my life. You knoAv that these Avhite fellows are organ¬ 
ized into a K. C. Club, and as sure as anyone of them is arrested they 
that are not arrested A\ill seek reAenge on me.” He said to me, “You 
are right,” and he put his hand in his i)Ocket and gaAX me $5. He 
said, “I Avill Aviite up there and see if I can settle the matter myself.” 
He AATote up to his uejdieAv, Jim Marks. His nephcAv Avrote back that 
he had nothing against me himself, but that the Avhite people had, on 
account of the ballot-box business, and my leading the niggers up to 
Willis’s school-house; and he advised me to go off o\'er to Liberia at 
once. I was satisfied they Avere going to kill me, when he got that 
letter and read it to me. That time Avhen Ave Avere on our Avay to Willis’s 
school house—that was on IVIonday evening—Avhen Ave reached Black 
Ba^'ou, there Avas a friend of mine named Jerry Mitchell. I says to him, 
“ There is none ot us got nothing but just our hands and our fingers. 
From Avhat the Avhite people have told me, they are very angry because 
1 have A’^entured to come in here. If any armed men should ride up 
on us, like they did Sunday night, and seem to A\nnt me out of this 
croAAM, don’t try to resist them. I am satisfied I am going to be killed. 
Here is a $10* bill.” I had a $10 bill then in my jmcket. I said, 
“ Take this, and give it to my wife.” He said, “ If you are killed, I Avill 
be killed too.” “No,” I said, “avc haA^e nothing to protect ourselves 
Avith; there is no use talking that Avay.” But as God Avmuld luwe it, 
nothing happened to us. That day, at Willis’s school-house, after Ave 
got through voting, aa^c kncAV that ewery man running on the Republican 
ticket Avas elected; Ave had 270 votes in the box, and the thing Avas cer¬ 
tain for our side. I Avas elected; there is no use talking about that. 
Some men of the company went clear home that night to Caddo Prairie, 
but I staid there at Caddo Prairie that night till about 4 o’clock next 
morning. Just about three hours before da.>^ ahmg came the commis¬ 
sioners, Avith the deqmty marshal, jMr. Austin, and otlnns, running. 
They ran up to the house—I Avas in Bob Marks’s hous(‘ and asked it I 


36 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Cadflo 


was there. Marks said, ^^Yes.” Well,” they said, ‘‘tell Fred to get 
up and come out of there.” 1 got up and came out. He said, “ They 
have taken the box away from us, and they didn’t ask for anybody but 
you. They said, ‘ Wliere is that long-legged, low-lived, lying son of a 
bitcli that spied out the country, and led the radical niggers over here 
in order to vote the radical ticket—a thing never done before since re¬ 
construction.’ ” On that I got iu)on one of their horses and got away. 
I went to town. When 1 got there, I found matters worse than anywhere 
else. Everybody was excited. Some of the people of the first ward ran 
off and staid in the woods two weeks, and liked to have starved* to death. 

Q. Where did they go ?—A. They went back into the wild woods among 
the bayous; not only men, but women and children, too. They left the 
plantations to take care of themselves, and the agents of the i)lanta- 
tions just had to ride around there through the woods and talk to them, 
telling them that nobody would shoot them. 

Q. What had frightened these people ?—A. They were friglitened on 
account of the men coming on Sunday night to the cliurch-liouse on us, 
and then taking the ballot-box away from us Tuesday night. 

Q. You had left the voting ])lace before tlie ballot-box was taken ?— 
A. Yes, sir. I left there at one o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday. 

Q. How far did you have to go to get from where you reside to the 
place of voting—Willis’s school-house % —A. Well, the way we went, right 
from my house, it was 35 long miles. Besides that, we had to cross nine 
bayous right through the woods, too. 

Q. In which end of the ward did the majority of the voters live !— 
A. Mostly in the south part of the ward, sir. 

Q. Where had they put the ballot box ?—A. Away up in the north 
part of the ward. 

Q. Did they declare you elected or the other man !—A. Tlie other 
man had 10 votes, and the man who threatened to kill me voted for me 
Iiimself. That was just for fun. He told me tlie other man had 14 votes, 
and I had one. 

Q. How many did you have!—A. 1 had 270. The whole crowd that 
wei)t over to Willis’s school-house was 300 when ayc started from home. 
There were 460 colored men in the ward, and 300 of them went with me. 
When we got to Irving’s Bluff five of them got skert and went back. 
That left 395. When we got to Willis’s school-house the register-book 
shoAved but 270 names, and those who were not on the register could not 
vote. 


Q. You say the colored people Avere anxious to secure the police jury. 
Tell us why.—A. Here was the AA^ay of that: by the registration of 
the parishes the wards that made Avard 1 used to be Avards 1 and 2. 
formerly the ballot-box was at Dr. Wortliy’s place, about the center of 
the ward. Noav they have moved that ballot-box and put it aAvay up 
among the bulldozers, where the niggers are afraid to come: Avhere 
even AA'^hite people are afraid to goj and our idee AA^as that we wanted 
to elect a good, honest police jury against 1880, so that when the Presi¬ 
dential election comes on Ave can have the ballot-box AA^here we can get to 
it and jiut tickets into it. This is just Avhat Ave Avere after. 

Q. Are you still living up there!—A. Yes, sir; but I have not been 
there for pretty near 10 weeks. 

Q. What did you leave for !—A. P>ecause of the white men, Mr. 
Komby and others, advised me to leave. 

people dodging around. AYhat did you mean by 
that .—A. Well, sir, we were so badly frightened when Ave came back 
home from voting at Black Bayou, and when we learned of the big muss 




PariHli.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THORP. 


37 


that had been kicked u]) at Bossier Parish, at Benton—that was oidy 
10 miles from ns, and nothing divided ns but the river—that we were 
skert to death 5 and when the commissioners (;ame back from Black 
Bayou and did not brinj»- the ballot-box, all these things tore ns all to 
I)ieces. Tliey told us that they Avere hunting for the leading niggers, 
and that skert us mighty bad, you knoAv. They told us that the men 
who took the ballot-box said they Avaiited to get their hands on the lead¬ 
ing niggers. That Avorried us so that they have not got straight yet. 

By Senator C aaieron : 

Q. What Avas the state of the Avaterin the bayous that you crossed f— 
A. (fod had blessed us with a dry summer, and the Avabn* was very Ioav. 

(}. If the water had been high, how could you have got to the school 
house ?—A. Well, sir; Ave could not hawe got there unless Ave had had 
the Marie Louise to carry us there. 

Q. What is the Marie Louise ?—A. That is a steand:)oat, sir. 

Q. If you had had the steamboat, what route Avould you Iuia c had to 
folloAV?—A. We Avould luwe had to go to ShreA"e]Aort, and get on to the 
shore and come u]) by Irving’s Bluff, and from there to the Bla(!k Bayou. 

Q. What would l)e the distance ?—A. I anj not able to (‘stimate ; over 
100 miles I should guess, at least. 

Q. How much Avould it cost?—A. Tlui steamboat won’t not haA’e car¬ 
ried us for less than ten dollars or so apiece. 

Q. Do steamboats run up there ?—A. Yes, sir, Avhen the water is 
high; but the Avater Avas so Ioavuoav that when I Avas Avalking along there, 
the high-water mark Avas as high u]) as the ceiling of this room. 

By Senator Kirkavooj): 

Q. When you were going over to vote, did you go the same Avay as 
you came back the first time you AV(mt, when you blazed the road ?—A. 
We Avent the same way till Ave got to Irving’s Bluff'; tlum they had moved 
the ferry-boat. 

(}. There Avas a ferry-boat there the first time you went.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But Avhen you tried to go tluu'e again, on ^Monday, no ferry-boat 
was there ?—A. No, sir. 

By Senator CtARLvVND : 

Q. Did you leaAU‘. immediately Avhen Mr. Koml)y advised you to leave ? 
—A. Not that very eA^ening, but the next day. 

(i. AVheii did yon comeback from ShreA"ei)ort to your oaaui home ?—A. 
I have ueA^er been back since then at all. 

(^. These, Mr. Marks, at ShreA^eport, I'eter and Jim, what kind of men 
are they ?—^A. Peter is a colored man; the other is a white man ; he 
has got 4 or 0 plantations, lie has sold a heap of laml to us colored 
people, and taken a big interest in us. 

(^. Do you knoAV^ Avho shot Flanigan ?—A. »Jim Austin did. 

(^. What Avas Austin?—A. He Avas the candidate for sheriff'. 

Q. On what ticiket?—A. On the Eepubli(*an ticket. 

Q. When you went to the Black Bayou ])re(*hict to vote, and voted, 
did the A\diite men come there with arms?—A. O, no, sir; not a single 
arm Avas seen there. 

Q. Did they threaten you that day?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any killing or disturbance of any kind until after the 
elexition?—A. The time they came on us on Sunday night o\^er there in 
Bossier, that Avas before the election, sir; the election Avas Tuesday. 


38 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


(Caddo 


By tlie Chairman : 

Q. You stated that they came down on the commissioners and took 
away the hallot-box ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that taken on the same day as the election i —A. Yes, sir. 

By yenator Garland : 

Q. From whom did you learn this ^—A. From It. P. Pick-ett and (jales 
lie was deputy sheritt^—Austin, and eight or nine more. Fveryl)od> that 
staid there after 1 left, Avlien they came back told us. They said that 
a c.omjiany of armed men came upon them and took away the box. 

Q. What was the name of thebox in whicli the votes were de])osited ?— 
A. We had but one box. 

i}, Bid you call it the Black Bayou box I— A. It was the Willis’s 
house box. 

Q. Was not an election held within a short distance from where you 
held an election by the regular commissioners'?—A. I was afterward 
told that there was. When they moved the ferry at Irving’s Bluff they 
thought they had so worked it that we could not vote. When they 
came to find out on Alonday night that we had got ac.ross they tried to 
get to this Willis’s s(*bool-house before we did, but we beat them at that. 

Q. How were you c.ertain that this was Willis’s school-house'?—A. 
This man Brown, who lives over there, told us. He has a ])lantation 
and a wife and children there and he ought to know ; he lives only three- 
quarters of a mile away. 

il. How far from the place where you voted was it to the place where 
the election was held by the two commissioners ?—A. About one hun¬ 
dred and titty yards, right iij) on the hill. 

Q. But di(i not two gentlemen stoj) and tell you that the place where 
you were was the wrong iilace ?—A. Here is the reason we did not leave: 
The regular commissioner that lived there, that has got a plantation 
there, and who lived not more than three-quarters of a mile away, he 
told us that we were right. He said he would act as commissioner there 
that day, only he had had the neuralgia so bad the night before that he 
was not able. Then Jack Browder brought me to this school-house and 
showed it to im*. He was well ac((uainted all through that neighbor¬ 
hood and had lived nine years within two miles of the school-house. I, 
myself, thouglit that these two men who told us that this was the wrong 
})lace were playing a jiiece of politics on us. Pickett said, “ Well, we 
will hold the election here, and if anything is wrong when we get to 
Shreveport we will test it.” Pickett is United States marshal. 

By Senator Kirkwood: 

Q. Did the others hold their election at a school-house?—A. Yes, sir; 
at an old box-house on the hill. 

By Senator G art.and : 

Q. What did they call the place on the hill ?—A. Well, they called that 
Willis’s school-house, sir. They said we held the election in the old 
Willis’s school-house and they in the new one. AVe told them that they 
ought to have published it in the paper if there was any new scliool- 
liouse. 

(^. AN ho was the man said that they must do dirt to yourself and 
Pickett ?—A. That was a pretty dark night; it was not so very dark, 
but the moon Avas low. I tell you one thing, gentlemen, it is not such a 
good tiling for a man to make enemies of men that have got the advan¬ 
tage of them all around. I know the man that stepped over my head 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYETTE THORP. 


39 


with a sixteen-shooter; but I have a wife and child iix> on the Eed 
Eiver, and if I tell his name, when I go up there I will be killed, I know. 

Q. What was the name of the man who said they wanted to do dirt 
to you and Pickett f—A. That is the same man I am talking about now, 
sir. 


P>y the Chairman : 

Q. Don’t you want to tell their names ?—A. I feel sort of delicate about 
it, under the circumstances. 

The Chairman. I don’t think we need make the witness tell these 
names. 

Senator Garland. The only way we can get at the truth of these 
things is to know the names of the i)arties concerned. 

The Chairman. If you can disprove the fact that such an assemblage 
took x)lace, you can do it very easily without getting the particular men 
that made these x^articular threats. The special point in this witness is 
not to prove threats against him, x>ersonally; but, first, to x>i'ove that 
there was a consx>iracy to locate the ballot-box in the northern x)art of 
the district, where it was inaccessible; and, secondly, to break ux> the 
ballot-box and destroy the ballots. 

Mr. Garland. But he states that there was an intention to do dirt 
to himself and Pickett. 

The Witness. W"hen I said dirt, that was my short way of sx)eaking 
it. I can’t tell exactly the words that the man said. 

Mr. Kirkwood. Did you say you believed that if yon gave the names 
of these men you would be killed ?—A. Certainly, sir; I believe that, as 
honestly as that I am looking at you now. 

Mr. Bailey. The witness has sxioken with a great deal of freedom, 
and has used the names of a great many men, telling of their misdeeds 
without reserve. I don’t think that his axit^rehension can be real, in view 
of the freedom with which he has sx)oken upon other x>oints. 

Mr. Kirkwood. But now he is asked to give the names of those who 
have committed unlawful acts. 

Mr. Bailey. But now he withholds them. We insist that he shall 
give them. 

The Chairman. A man may be sure that one man will not kill him, 
and might therefore speak freely of him; and he may be sure that an¬ 
other man may kill him, and therefore may well hesitate to speak so 
freely in regard to him. I don’t think the witness ought to be compelled 
to give the names. 

Mr. Bailey insisted, and demanded that a vote be taken upon the 
question. The vote was taken. Messrs. Bailey, Garland, and Cameron 
voted “yea”—Mr. Cameron saying, “The witness has told so much, he 
may as well go on.” The chairman and Mr. Kirkwood voted nay. 

The Chairman. Give their names.— A. Well, sir; the main man— 
the man that said “kill Fred, and Pickett”—that was what 1 meant 
when I said that he was talking about “doing dirt”—he said if we came 
up they would be certain to kill Fred, and Pickett—“ kill them two nig¬ 
gers, and that will certainly stop the pest of them from going there.” 
That man’s name was Calvauce. He was from Bossier Parish. 

Mr. Garland. Wiio were the gentlemen with Mr. Gales and Mr. 
Pickett, left behind at the election?—A. There was E. P. Pickett, and 
Johnny Pickett, and Jim Pickett, and Mr. Austin, and another gentle¬ 
man, a white man, I can’t remember his name. 

Q. Austin is the same man who was candidate for sheriff?—A. Yes, 


40 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


(Caddo 


sir. Tiierc were two or three more white men and four or five coloied 

You spoke of the steamboat up there. Is there a boat that runs 

those waters? n + i +. 

(Witness hesitated for a moment, as though unable to recollect what 

point was referred to.) . ^ ^ i i 

The Chairman. You spoke of the Marie Louise?— A. Oh, what 1 
meant by that was if it had not bean a very dry season iiotliing could 
have got in there except a steamboat. i i 

Q. Did you have her chartered to go up there?—A. No, sir. vV e had 
nothing chartered. I had been over there and saw that the watei was 

Mr. Cameron. Which iiarty at Willis school-house had the legal bal¬ 
lot-box?—A. We had but one ballot-box, and that was sent by Gales, 
the deputy sheriff, from Shreveport. 

Q. There was only one legal ballot-box, and that you had?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Did you liave a registry book of the voters?—A. \es, sir. 

Q. Was’there more than one such book?—xl. Yes, sir. They had an¬ 
other book up there on the hill. 

Q. How did you come to New Orleans?—xV. It is mighty critical to 
t ell you how 1 did get here. First I went to Shreveport, then I went up 
to the market. I was standing there on Sunday morning, and as I stood 
there on Sunday morning a man came uj) to me by the name of Epli. 
Rayne. He wanted me to treat. I said, I have got no money; I am 
broke.” Tliere was another gentleman with me- 

The Chairman. We doiiT want you to go all through that. Did you 
come on a steamer called the Danube ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Cameron. Were you present when those men were taken olf the 
boat. 

Mr. Bailey to Mr. Cameron. To what two men do you refer? 

Mr. Cameron. Clarke and White. 

Witness. I was on the boat. The boat was just drifting along down. 
I am obliged to say, gentlemen, on my oath, I believe it was a plot made 
up beforehand. The boat was drifting along, and we got to some land¬ 
ing, and when the boat landed, I never noticed nothing at all until I looked 
out on the bank, and there I saw a great crowd, a row of men with shot¬ 
guns and sixteen-shooters,and at the end of the stage-planks stood three or 
four men with sixteen-shooters in their hands. I said to some boys, “ This 
looks somewhat sort of serious.” I had felt sort of serious all along th e road. 
When the rest were gambling 1 had said, ‘H think you had better be pray¬ 
ing.” I said to one of the men on the boat, ‘‘ Have we passed the bulldo¬ 
zers ?” Wlien we came in sight of these men, 1 said, ‘‘ There are some bull¬ 
dozers now.” There stood the men all along the bank on the hill, with 
their i)istols in their hands. I said to myself, I will go on up towards Mr. 
Shepherd. There are some men standing yonder; if they take after me, 
Mr. Shepherd is a sort of friend of mine.”" Pretty soon a man (*ame up 
and said, “Where are you going, you God damned son of a bitch?” I 
said, “ I am going to New Orleans. Leonard has subpoenaed me down 
there, sir ; but T am all right.” Shepherd came up and said, “ He is all 
right.” 1 went and looked doAvn through the cabin ; I thought the bull 
dozers would not go into the cabin, but they did—two of them did; there 
were ladies there, but the ladies were not alarmed a bit. They just 
stepped back, and things went on just as quiet as you ever saw in your 
life. But the niggers hallooed, and yelled, and all that sort of thing. 

The Chairman. The white people were not frightened?—A. No, sir. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LAFAYEITE 1HORP. 


41 


The head clerk said to the chief man—I think liis name was Jeff Cook 
—“ Are you an officer, sir He answered, “ Yes, sir.” Said the clerk, 
“ Ha-ve you got a warrant for the arrest of these men f ’ He said, “ Yes.” 
Said the clerk, “ Let me see it.” He ran his hand into his pocket and 
pulled out three. The clerk never read them. He Just looked at them. 

Q. Were you acquainted with those men beffne tliat ?—A. No, sir; 
never before, until they got on the boat. 

Q. How many armed men came on tlie boat?—A. I didn’t count 
them. 

Q. As uearly as you can estimate, how many ?—A. As near as I can 
estimate there were about 14. 

Q. Did you know any of these men ?—A. No, sir; I had never seen 
them before. 

Q. How long did the boat remain at the landing ?—A. No longer than 
to get these men off* and to clear off the stage-plank. Whilst the men 
were'getting off*, some of the deck-liands jiut old pi])es off. This was all 
they put off*. 

Q. Did you observe where these men were taken when they were put 
off-—in what direction ?—A. First, they took them to a white man with 
a red beard, who examined them and searched them. Then they marched 
them up on top of a hill and carried them down the river about 25 or 30 
yards, and there took them into what looked like a grog-shop or grocery. 

Q. Did anybody take hold of them?—A. Y^es, sir; a white man went 
right up to them and clamped them so (witness showed the manner of 
“ clamping”), and said, Now I have got you, you God damned sons of 
a bitch.” He had a pistol in his right hand. 

Q. The deputy sheriff* did not arrest them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. So the man who pretended to be he was not the man who made 
the arrest?—A. No, sir; he only said, “There’s one.” 

Mr. Kirkwood. Are you black people so dangerous, that in order to 
make an arrest of one of you it is necessary to have a posse of armed 
men ?—xA. No, sir; we aint dangerous a step. They don’t go into the 
business of killing us until election time. We are hunting, fishing, work¬ 
ing, «&ic., whites and blacks together, and it is all right; but when the 
time of election comes, and we put a regular Radical vote into the ballot- 
box, we are spotted. 

Q. If an officer were desirous of making an arrest in good faith, would 
he have need of a squad of armed men to go with him?—A. No, sir. 

Mr. Bailey. Let us go back to the election. Were you at the old 
school house?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were not some of your i>eople armed there that day ?—A. No, sir; 
only the deputy sheriff* had a little pistol. 

Q. What was his name ?—A. Gales. 

Q. Did you or Pickett have a shot-gun ?—A. 1 never saw a shot-gun; 
but I heard a sliot-gun was found near the place where the box was 
taken. 

Q. Were not, indeed, the most of you armed?—A. No, sir; we were 
not armed. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Have you ever seen that yellow girl since ?—A. ’Fore God, massa, 
i nebber sot eyes on her from that day to this. 


42 


LOUISIANA IN 187:5. 


(Caddo 


New Okleans, January 16, 1879. 

Lafayette Thorp recalled. 


By Mr. Garland :' 

Question. I wisli you would look at that letter, and after you have 
looked at it answer whether you wrote it, and under what circumstances 
it was written. 

[The witness read the letter to himself, and then exi)lained:] 

Tlie Witness. Yes, sir; I can answer why that was written. I wrote 
that to Jim Marks. The reason I wrote it was this: they had got a bad 
rumor out after the election—aftei* that Sunday night when that crowd 
of armed men came bulldozing around the church-house. A colored 
fellow, named Mitchell, on Monday made the remark to me that he 
knew every man that had crossed the ferry. I said I knew some of the 
men, and that I knew the two men that stei)ped over me while I was 
lying doAvn by the side of that log. I told him the name of one of them; 
the name of the other I would not tell. Mitchell was one of them; 
that when he came to Irving Bluff and found the ferry-boat gone, got 
scared and went back. On his way home, on his reaching Jim Marks^ 
house, Marks said, “Why did you come back"?” The other said, “I 
Avent to Irving Bluff to ’suade as many to go back as I could.” Marks 
said, “You came back because you got scart.” After that it was the 
public talk that Marks Avas coming down to my house to see me about 
my saying that I had these men’s names in my pocket ; for Mitchell had 
told Marks all I said, and more, too. I Avas then in Shreveport. I 
went to Marks’, Jim Marks’ uncle, and I said to him, “They have got a 
bad thing on me.” He said, “What is it?” I said, “Mitciiell has told 
Massa Jim and them that I haA^e got their names in my pocket. I have 
written Massa Jim a letter about it.” He says, “What did you AAuite?” 
Says I, “I AAuote a letter to him as a compromise, because it is so hot 
there.” These big, heaA^y, rich men—when a poor nigger like me talks 
about having their luimes in his pocket on election day, that Avas 
croAvding things too fast, and I had to done dance to the music and fix 
up a compromise. 

Q. So that letter AAms a compromise?—A. Yes, sir; it Avas fixed up 
all right, and I was mighty glad. 

[The witness was requested to read his letter aloud, which he did, as 
follows: ’ 


“ Shreveport, La., November 10. 

“Mr. Jim: 

“ Sir : I set doAvn to let you knoAv that what you heard that I said about 
who the men Avere that came hunting us that night Avas all foolishness, 
and I never said these things in my life. I Avas there, of course, Avhen 
the men came, but to tell Avho they were in the night I couldn’t; but I 
was so badly scared that if it had been day I do not knoAv whether I 
could ha\"e told Avho they Avere; but it is all over noAv, and you must not 
be mad at me, nor think that so far as I am concerned 1 am trying to 
harm or work altogether against the Avhite people. Old Massa Jim un¬ 
derstood me, for I told him if I Avas elected I Avouldn’t work against a ou, 
and everything you Avauted me to do, all you had to do Avas to tell me 
and 1 would do it. 

(Signed) “LAFAYETTE THORPE.” 

That is why I Avrote that letter. Anybody Avould have done it. You 
® yourself—there is no use of talking, gentlemen. 

Y 1 ^ made a mistake in reading the first pa 

ot that letter. You read “ Mister”; isn’t it “ Master ”? 


part 



PHi-ish.] 


TESTIMONY OF VERNON MOORE. 


43 


The Witness. Yes, sir; that is ^yllat I meant. 

Q. Y"on referred to Old Massa Jiiri” ; is he the fatlier of the other ?_ 

A. N^o, sir; lie is the imcle. 

Q. This has reference to the night when, as you stated here the other 

day, two men stepped over you when you weiv. lying down?_A. Yes 

sir; that is so. * ’ ’ 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. You did know those fellows, did you?—A. YcvS, sir; I knew them. 
The moon was shining bright, though it was getting low down; but be¬ 
ing up tliere, thirty-live miles away from town, and such a rumor getting 
afloat, I had to do soniething to straighten up the thing; I tell you. 
Everything was all to pieces with me; any man would hav^e done it; you 
would haAU^. done it yourself; if you do live in Wasliington you would 
have done it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Your object was to smooth things oven ?—A. Yes, sir; and it did 
smooth things over all right. 


VERNON MOORE. 

New Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

Vernon Moore sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. WJhere do you reside ?—A. Caddo Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. About live years. 

Q. What business have you been following ?—A. Cropping and farm- 
ing. 

Q. Were you in Caddo Parish during the last election?—A. Yes, sir; 
I was. 

Q. Where did you live in the iiarish ?—A. I lived in the eighth ward. 

Q. What is the name of the place; is there any town there?—A. No, 
sir; no town at all. 

il. How far are you from Caledonia?—A. I don’t know exactly. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last election?—A. No, sir; no more 
than voting the ticket I thought was right. 

(^. How many tickets did you have in the held uj) there ?—A. A Re¬ 
publican and Dernoc,ratio. 

Q. What ticket did you vote?—A. I didn’t vote any, but it was my 
intention to vote the Reiuiblican ticket. 

Q. Y^ou may tell us about the election.—A. 1 was there about seven 
o’clock in the morning on the day of the election. 

Q. In Caledonia, you mean ?—A. Yes, sir. The colored peo])le were 
scattered and a certain man came out and told them to come back and 
vote. 

Q. What scattered the colored peojile ?—A. A man went up to vote and 
he asked if his name was on the register, and the man told him no. He 
said his name was put on the book, and the. man said, You are a liar”; 
and the man drew his pistol on the colored man, and he said, ^Hjook 
out, boys ; ” and they all scattered, to a man. His name was Cash. He 
was a white man. "He said, “ Never mind, boys, come on back; there 
will not be anything done.” I came back again. Finally they com¬ 
menced to stop them from voting entirely. When a colored man would 



44 


I.OUISIANA m F878 


[Ciwlclo 


np and ask it* Ids name was on the book they would say no, or some¬ 
thing of tliatkind, or You shan’t vote anything.” I asked them if iny 
name was on. They said no, and tlien [went away, but T thought about 
it, and I knew it was on, because I put it on the last Saturday, and so 1 
went back, and tlien said I would vote the Democratic ticket, and they 
said then my name was on. I said, “ Well, you told me a while ago my 
name was not on the book.” Mr. Hutchins said then, “ Youi name is on 
the book, and it don’t make any ditference anyhow if you want to vote 
our ticket.” That was the way the voting went on. It Avas quiet until 
about two or three o’clock, and there came about eightt^en or nineteen 
men from a bayou who came charging Avith i)istols in on<‘- hand and shot¬ 
guns in the other. They hitched their horses and they commenced pull¬ 
ing out bottles of Avhisky and treating their Avhite frimids around there. 
Finally, a man came doAAn and says, “I am going to Avhipyou”; and 
the other said, ^‘The man ncAer Avas born to Avhi]) me” ; and they com¬ 
menced scuffling. I thought they Avere fooling. Ibi threw this man and 
struck him against a (*olored man named Bob Williams. He said, What 
did you hit me for ?” The ('olored man said he AA^asn’t hitting him, and 
a man by the name of Billy Jacobs pulled out his five-shooter and AAxnt 
to shooting at him 5 and then these men grabb(Hl up their sixteen-shooters 
and ('ommen(*ed shooting. Finally, they said to the sheriff*, who Avas 
there, Let us go to Madison Keam’s house, and take their guns and 
stack them in the road”; and one man said, “No; he has no more than 
five guns, and 1 gaAm them to him to protect the corn.” They let him 
oft* from that. Another man said, “ By Hod, 1 am going there anyhow 
and bring him out.” Finally they Avimt on there, and what few men 
there Avas in the house ran out. As soon as the colored people run out 
of the house the Avhite people AAamt to shooting at them. I dodged 
around there until about elcA^en o’clo<h that night, and I saw a man 
going to a man’s crib to sleep there, ami just as he reached to haul him¬ 
self in they shot him. 1 saAv another one shot and another AAmunded. 
Of coupe a good many of the negroes got away. That night there Avas 
about forty Avhite men called at Mrs. Hates’s, and asked her if her hus¬ 
band Avas honu*. They said no. The next (lay there was from fifty to 
sixty in a droA^e, riding around the fields, and all through, and a colored 
j)erson could not ])ass without a tic'het. 1 staid there for two Aveeks 
after the (‘lection, and I went to ShrcA eport. 

Q. \Vas this man hit that Jacobs shot at ?—A. He was killed. 

Q. W hat Avas his name ?—A. Bol) Williams. 

Q. Did yon see him kilffd ?—A. Yes, sir; I saAV him afbw he Avas 
buried. He AAns not much buried, Imcausethe hogs and dogs S(iratched 
the dirt off his body and gnaAved at him and eat him. 

(h Was he buri(Hl in a buryiug-groiind ?—A. Xo; it a\ as in a corn¬ 
field. 

Q. Hoav old a man Avas he ?—A. He claimed to be going on tAventv- 
tAvo years of age. 

Q. Hadhebenn in any trouble there?—A. Not at all. He had not 
, Imen there more than six months; he had not been in any trouble tluAre 
Avith anybody during the day. 

Q. You said you saAv a man going into the cHb ?—A. That Avas Kick 
VV iggins. 

Q. A (olored man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they kill him then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see him before he was killed ?—A. Yes, sir 

Q. Did you see them kill him?—A. Yes, sff. 

Q. WluTe were you ?—A. I was about fifty steps off, iu a fence corner. 


TESTIMONY OF VERNON MOORE. 45 

Q. How jMany shots (lid they fire at him ?—A. 1 don’t know; there 
were about eighteen men in tlie crowd. 

Q. Who buried him?—A. I do not know. There was no one did the 
burying there. Andrew Benson got wounded tluu'c. 

Q. Was he sliot?—A. He run across the cotton iiatch, running away, 
when he was shot. 

Q. Were any of these men armed when they were sliot ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any colored men around the polls armed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Any other man hurt there at that time ?—A. A man by the name 
of John Williams got killed on Tuesday. 

Q. Hid you know of his being killed?—A. I saw him after he was 
killed. He was shot and cut to pieces. 

Q. How was he cut ?—A. He was cut in the body. 

Q. Where ?—A. All over, in every direction. 

Q. What kind of a man was he ?—A. He was a colored man. 

Q. What was he doing ?—A. He lived on a place. 

Q. Where was this man going in the crib?—A. He was just going in 
the crib. 

Q. Is he a man of family ?—A. I believe so. He was killed right bacdc 
of his house. 

Q. Hid these other men have families I—A. Yes, sir; every one of 
them had families. 

Q. Hid you see any other acts of violence during the campaign ?—A. 
No more than these threats that were made. 

Q. What threats had you heard before the riot came ?—A. Huring 
the day I heard that they would be satisfied if they could kill six or 
seven men, and that they were going to carry the election anyhow, and 
that they came preparexl to do it. 

Q. Who said that?—A. A man by the name of Henry Foy. 

Q. A white man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AHemocrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who else ?—A. Hr. Bob Moss. 

Q. Who else ?—A. I never heard any other white man say it. 

Q. Who was speaking the day before the election ?—A. We never 
had any speaking the day before the election. We liad some speaking- 
two weeks before. 

Q. Was there any disturbance then ?—A. John Jones, a white man, 
said if they would just give him the wink to go in there and take Bill 
Harper off the stand*, he would cut his throat from ear to ear. 

Q. Who was Bill Harper ?—A. He is the senator from our parish. 

Q. They didn’t give him the wink ?—A- I suppose not; he didn’t doit. 
In Harx)er’s speech he said there were 3,300 colored x)eoi)le, and it was 
impossible for 300 Democrats to outvote that number, and this other 
man said he didn’t care a damn what Harper said ; that on election-day 
they would show them that 300 would outvote 3,300. 

Q. How was it?—A. I would say the Eepublicans carried the election 
if they counted right. 

Q. Who claims to have carried it?—A. The Hemocrats claiin to have 
carried it. The Republicans didn’t have a chance to see if it wa^i 
counted right. 

Q. How long did you stay there after the election ?—A. I staid two 
weeks, lacking two (lays, on the river. 

Q. When did you come down here?—A. 1 got down here on Christ¬ 
mas day. 

Q. What boat did you come down on?—A. On the Danube. 


4G 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Cartdo 


Q. Were you ])i*eserit wIh'-ij a couple of men were taken oft tlie ])oat?— 
A. 1 was, sir. 

Q. State about it.—A. Wlum tlie boat lande.d she had twenty-five 
])i])es for th(‘ Whitehall ]»lace, and she came about three miles below the 
Whitehall landii),i>: instead of stopping there; and 1 says to one of the 
men avIio was standing on the guards with me, his arm across my shoul¬ 
der and min(‘across his shouldt^r, ‘‘Lot, what is thatf” an'd he looked, 
aud said they Avere after us. J saw some men on the bank, and 1 saAv 
a small boy loading a gun, and I said, “ I believe they are.” By that 
time the boat got to the land and some men run on the boat. We run 
to the cabin, and they got so fast after me that I run over the Avhole 
boat. Finally (leorge Jones outrun me, and I fell, and by the time 1 
was down he Avas on to]) of me and hit me, and he said, “Ood damn 
your heart!” 1 said, “(), don’t kill me”; and he said, “Damn yon, I 
liaA^e got you.” He said, “ Is you Lot Clark 1 said, “iS’o.” l^at. 
Cash then came u]> and said, “That is not Lot Clark”; and then he told 
me to tell him Avhere they AAere, and 1 commeiH'cd hunting for him 
through the cabins. I said, “Lot, come out here.” Finally they got 
Lot and came out. And Billy White they got. They found out where 
he Avas. They said, “(!ome out, (Juptain Bill; Ave have sworn to get 
you, and, Avhen Ave have got through Avith you, the United States Avill 
not have any use for and they took* him off. 

Q. AVho were the men that came on the boat after you?—A. Pat. 
Cash, Bob Moss, Charley fJoues, Jefi‘. Cole, the constable. 

Q. You kneAA" all these men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you knoAv the tAvo men they took off the boat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there armed men on the banks besides these?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many?—A. I do not know, because I didn’t get any chance 
to look outside to see. 

Q. Why?—A. I was running and’dodging so. 

Q. Was there any excitement on the boat among the colored people?— 
A. There was ; there Avas not AAith the whites, they didn’t appear to be 
any Avays uneasy at all. The men came running through the hall, Avhere 
the ladies Avere, Avith their pistols and rifles cocked', and they didn’t 
ai)pear to dodge a bit; it didn’t disturb the Avliite folks. 

Q. Do you know AAdiere these men AAamt to ? —A. IS'o, sir. 

Q. Do yon knoAv Avhat became of the men ? —A. ISTo, sir. 

Q* Wliere did they liA^e ?—A. One Ih^ed about a mile from AAdiere they 
took him off. 

Q. Where did they get on the boat?—A. At ShrcAmport. 

Q. How far had they gone AAdien they took them for ?—A. T do not 
knoAA\ 

Q. In AA hat parish did these men Haua ?—A. In Caddo. 

Q. Did you knoAA" AAdiat these tAAm men AAcre coming doAAUi here for?_ 

A. No, sir; 1 just kncAv they Avere subpoenaed by'the United States 
marshal. 


Q. Where did you first learn of that ?—A. In Shreveport 
(i. Before you left ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Djd these men have families ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(i. Whore did their tainilies reside!—A. They rmi off from their faini- 
lies; they hadn’t seen them in six Aveeks. 

Q, W hat for ?—A. On account of the riot; and thev neAmr AA^ent home 


Q. \\ here AAnre their families left AAdien they AA^ent off ?- 
Avas left at Tom Fiver’s and the other at Hutchins’s. 

Q. Have you been up there since?—A. No, sir. 


-A. One family 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES BLACKMAN. 47 

Q. Where was Mr. Clark on election day ?—A. I didn’t see him j I 
believe he was at the polls while the election was going on. 

Q. What place ?—A. At Caledonia. 

Q. Was he there when this difficulty took i)lace !—A. No, sir; he was 
not there. 

Q. Where did he go after the election ?—A. He went to Shreveport 
Tuesday night. 

Q. How long after the election was it when they were taken off the 
boat?—A. As near as I could come at it, it was a little over six weeks. 

Q. How far above Caledonia is the Whitehall place?—A. It is not 
above Caledonia; Caledonia is above that. It is not more than five 
miles by land; I do not know how far it is by water. 

Q. Where were these pipes you spoke of consigned to ?—A. To the 
Whitehall place. The man that they were shii)ped to owned the White¬ 
hall [)lace. 

Q. Did they stop at the Whitehall place ?—A. No, sir; never stopped 
at all. 

Q. How far above?—A. At the Cross Keys place. 

Q. How far is that above Whitehall ?—A. I do not know how far; by 
water it is not more thaji a mile and a half. 

Q. And the pipes were not consigned to the place where they were 
put off ?—A. Not at all. 

Q. What business did the boat appear to have at the place where they 
jmt off*?—A. Nothing at all; just for a blind, I suppose. 

Q. Were these men intelligent that were taken ?—A. One could read 
and write and the other could not. 

Q. Was one a preacher?—A. No,sir; they were sinner men. 

Q. You have stated now all the acts of violence you saw ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 


CHARLES BLACKMAN. 

Neav Orleans, La., January 9, 1879. 
Charles Blackman (colored) SMT)rn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Caledonia. 

Q. What parish is that?—A. Caddo. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Ever since the surrender. 
Q. What have you been doing there ?—A. Farming. 

Q. Were you there on election-day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav long a time did you stay there ?—A. I staid there until just 
before dusk. 

Q. Were you there when tlie shooting occurred?—A. Yes, sir; I was. 
Q. Now you may state what you saw there.—A. I staid until it com¬ 
menced, and after it commenced I went off to my house. 

Q. Do you live there ?—A. Near there; yes, sir. 

Q. What did you see of the shooting ?—A. I saw the gentlemen com¬ 
mence shooting—the white men—Mr. Norwood and Mr. Jacobs. 

Q. AVIiom did they shoot at ?—A. The colored people, Avho ran off* down 
in the cotton patch. 

Q. Did they hit any of them ?—A. Not that I know of. 

Q. Did you see anybody afterwards that was hit?—A. After night I 



48 


LOUISIANA IN 187-^. 


[Caddo 


went around to Sardine WhiteAs bouse, and T saw Lucas Wiggins, who 
said he was shot. 

Q. AVhere was lie sliot A. They shot two balls through the breast, 

Q. Is he living*?—A. JS'o, sir; he is dead. 

How long did he live ?—A. He died at once. 

Q. Hid you see any other man after he was shot ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. That is the oidy one you saw ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who fired the first shot ?—A. Mr. Billy elacobs. 

Q. Hid the colored people shoot any that you know of?—A. Not to my 
knowing. 

Q. Hid they have any guns ?—A. There were some guns. There were 
some at Madison Reams’s house. 

Q. Were there any around the polls?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Ho you know how many there were ?—A. About 50 were there 
armed—ail white men. About dusk they commenced shooting. 

Q. What excuse did they make for shooting ?—A. They accused Mad¬ 
ison Reams of having guns in his house to resist the white peoiile. Mad¬ 
ison Reams says, (lentlemen, you are mistaken ; let me tell you what 
it is for.” Said he, Sam Smith has burned up my brother’s cotton and 
threatens to burn mine.” He said, ‘^That is what I got the guns for.” 
I went to Mr. Beard to get a request to catch Sam to prevent him doing 
this damage of burning. Then the other gentleman, Mr. AYalter Crow¬ 
der, said, You lie; that is not so.” Madison Reams told him it was, 
and he said, Let me call Mr. Blackman to tell the truth, for he is a min¬ 
ister of the gospel,” and they called me. I said, “ Yes, that is Avliat it is 
for,” for that is what they told me it was for. He said, ^AYell, we will 
ask the sheriff to take the guns out,’^ and the sheriff* got them and took 
them out. When they went to take them out, Mr. J acobs Avent up in 
the front, and the boys before them, and then the Avhite men all com¬ 
menced shooting, and the boys got all the guns thej' could and run away. 

Q. The colored people did not fire?—A. No, sir. 

Q. W^as there any one killed this day?—A. Not that I knoiv of. They 
said that Norwood got shot, but I didn’t see it. I talked with Mr. Cask 
and Mr. Crowder before this, and asked them if there would be any dis¬ 
turbance, and Cash said, ‘AYell, Charlie, I don’t know; but if there is 
any, there won’t be any to hurt you.” And I said: ^‘Gentlemen,! don’t 
Avish to have any disturbance, as I am always peaceable.” I said I would 
rather be aAvay if there was going to be any disturbance. He said, ^Hf 
there is any disturbance to hurt you, Charlie, 1 will pay for the damage.” 
That eA^ening, just about dusk, Mr. Jacobs and three otlier gentlemen 
said, ‘^Billy, they have gained a victory at Hog Thief Boint)’ One of 
the white men said, ‘HIell! don’t tell me that; give me my pistol and 
let me go and shoot him.” Mr. Beard said, ^‘No; don’t do that; AA^eare 
not ready to do that.” That day T went to Cash, as I had heard this, and 
I said, “I thought you told me there Avould be no difficulty”; and said 
1, ‘‘ This man seems to talk as tliough there Avas going to be a difficulty.” 
He said he Avasn’t ready yet. 1 said, understand Avhat Mr. Bea*rd 
said, and it there is going to be a fuss, I am going away, for it seems 
there is going to be a diliiculty after all, and if there is going to be a 
disturbance, I Avant to get out.” Mr. Cash said, ‘AYell, you be right 
easy, and see Avhat is going to be done.” And sure enough, I Avent 
among the boys and said, ‘‘The gentlemen say, ‘ Be easy, and see what 
is going to be done.’” At last Norwood run in the street and says, 
“ Give me another drink! ” and he got another driidv; and finally he came 
out again, rearing and charging, and I said, “My sakes! it looks as 
though there was going to be a disturbance here.” I felt mighty uneasy. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES BLACKMAN. 


49 


I met the f»’eiitleineii, Mr. Cash, j\Ir. Walter Crowder, and Ben. Crowder. 

I said, ‘‘Is there j’oing to be a distnrbance heref” and one of them said, 
“I don’t know what the hell is going to be done.” I said, “Xow yon 
tell me, please, because Ave Avere raised np together.” 

Q. Who AAas talking AAith yon?—A. Walter Crowder. I said, “I 
don’t AAant yon to go back on me, and keep me here and kill me”; and I 
said, “Walter, tell me what is going to be done.” lie said, “No; I 
can’t do that.” 1 said, “Then it is a secret, is it?” I said, “I don’t 
like that; for yon have often i)romised me, Avdien AA^e used to play together, 
to stand up by me ahvays, like I would by yon.” lie turned on me and 
said, “By God, all promises shan’t be pie-crust.” I said, “That can’t 
be for you to go back on yonr Avord.” In about an hour I said, “ Why 
do they say for ns not to go aAA^ay far?” He said, “They vaTII not count 
any AX)tes for yon.” After a aa idle Jacobs and NorAA ood aa ent in the room 
to get another diiuk. He says, “ We liaA e guns enough to carry this 
election, and 1 be God damned if Ave don’t carry it!” 1 stood there. 1 
got frightened Avusser still. 

Q. What time in the eA^ening Avas that?—A. It was about sundown. 

I said, “ Well, I will aa ait and see what is going to be done.” I waited 
on a little AAidle furtlier, and tins Mr. NorAA^ood got another drink and 
got to fooling AAith Beard, and lie said, “Beard, I am going to Avhij) 
you;” and Beard said the man Av^as not made to Avhip him. Norwood 
caught liim and throwed him around against a colored man by the name 
of Bob AVilliams. He is a supide fellow and he thrcAV him oft* and said, 
“ Don’t hurt my game leg.” Bi^ard said, “ God damn it, did yon hit me ? ” 
Williams said, “No.” Then BeiWd said, “Gh eme my reA-ohw quick. 
Who hit me ?” Bob run off. Billy Jacobs said, “Never mind, I Avill 
ffx him;” and he commenced shooting, and I suppose he shot him. If 
they did, they didn’t kill him until he got to the cotton patch. 

Q. Did they kill him at last ?—A. Yes, sir; they told me they killed 
him, but I did not see him. I broke off* and Avent in the cotton patch. 
[ staid around and laid doAvn in the cotton field until about dark, and 
I said, “Well, if this is going on, I think I Avill get out of the way.” 

Q. Where did you go ?—A. I staid around ; then it Avas about dark. 
I came here and stopped at Sardine’s. He said, “Did you see the 
trouble?” And he said, “They Avill kill you; you had better get out of 
the Avay.” I said, “I think I Avill get out of the Avay;” and I dodgeil 
out of the cotton patch through the cotton and came around to my Avife’s 
house, and got my coat and put it on, and I made out and across the 
field. My Avife said, “ Get aAvay as soon as you can, if you (*an get aAvay, 
for thev done been all through my house searching for you.” I said, “ My 
God ! i haven’t done anything to none of them, and I don’t like to leave 
my home and von;” and she says, “You go aAvay,” she says, “you and 
Sardine, and Madison Beams, and Ike Beams, and Guy Beams; they 
are going to kill you anyhoAv.” 1 said, “I am not a politician, and 1 
haven’t done anytliing but to instruct the iieople to live peaceably and 
harmonious.” I met Mr. Cash in my route—ha, ha, I thought 1 Avas 
cleared of all of them. He says, “By God, and I says, 

“Cash, it has been iudgment eA^ery day, and if it is judgment Avith me 
I Avill try and get out of the Avay;” and he says, “ It is Judgment.” I 
says, “God is for it, and I am going to get back.” 1 got back, and her(‘ 
come about scA^enty-five or eighty men in one gang; but 1 Avas brought 
to stand anything for fear they would kill me. 1 staid under the bridge^ 
until they all run OA'er the bridge, and I got into th(‘ field again. 

Q. Were thev Avhite men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q Armed?—A. Yes, sir; they wer4‘ all armed; I would not haA'e 
4 T 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


tCaddo 


50 ...- 

been frigliteneil if they hadn’t been all armed, and I lii.l myself under 
the bridge, and then they passed on and never seed me, none but Mr. 
Cash, but I judge he didn’t tell them as he was a friend ot niine; any¬ 
how they passed on and never minded me. I went back atternards to 
get some more clotlies, and I got a jiair of pants—tliese pants I have 

on—and 1 asked for my brother-in law. .. ^ „ . , ,, „ 

O. WJio is lie f—A. Green Abram. My wife told me, “ He is dead, 
and I asked her where they killed him, and she says, “ They killed him 
at the church,” and she saw it herself. Canada said, ‘Hie is a •i'ood old 
son of a bitch and he fought until the last,” and they put him away 

AVhere did yon go ?—A. I Avent up to Captain Eobson’s, and then 
to Shreveport. I got through the cotton held and went across to Cap¬ 
tain Eobson’s. ^ , 

Q. How long did you stay at Shreveport f—A. Until 1 was snbpcenaed 
here. Of course 1 Avas afraid to go back 5 I Avas afraid they might kill 


mow about the killing?—A. Yes, sir: 


me. 

Q. Xow, you have stated all you 
jiretty nearly all I knoAv about it. 

Q. What else do you know that you haA^e not stated ?—A. Mr. Cash 
sent Mr. Canada np, and he shot him down. I Avas told to come back, 
but I said how could he expect for a man to come back who Avonld be 
hunted all through toAvn 5 how could he exjiect us to come back to such 
a place; did he expect it AA^as a jdace for colored people or gentlemen to 
live at. He says, “Why, of course, you can come back and live.” I 
says, “ No, sir, I can’t 5 I can’t and liye in any such condition of things.’^ 
1 says, “I don’t think you think anything of me to send me aAvay.” I 
left him right there. 

Q. Where is your family f—A. They are right in Caledonia, right 

nOAA\ 

Q. Were you on the boat when this happened f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You may state, then, about the taking oft of these three men.—A. 
Well, they came aboard of the boat; the boat was drifting along A ery 

One colored man says, “ We land 
I says, “What gentleman?” He 


slowl}^ I says, “ What landing f ” 
here to take that gentleman on.” 


says, “ Well, some gentlemen are coming al)oard the boat.” I looked 
out, and in hwit all the boys looked out, and I says, “ Sure enough, tliere 
is a man I know yonder now.” He says, “ Who is he?” and I says, “ It 
is Doc. Moss; ” and I said “ Lord a mercy^ there is Eat Cash, too.” And 
1 said, “ Boys, there is something they are going to do to us.” I Avent 
back into the room, and all three of us staid on board, and 1 says, 
“ Noav, let us get into the room and lock np.” I Avent into a room and I 
was skeered to death ])retty nearly, and 1 went in there and shut up. A 
man came to the door and said, “ Open the door.” One said, “ Bear 
against the doorbut I told him, “ No, let them do it if they Avant to,” 
and Bill says, “ They are going to kill me.” Well, they opened the door 
and came in. One says, “ Here is old black Charlie ” ; and one saj^s, 
“ Damn you, you can’t tell one Avord from another to saA e yonr life.” I 
said, “Thank you, gentlemen.” One says, “ Take all tliese damned sons 
ot bitches out here.” 1 says, “ 1 haA^en’t done anything, gentlemen.” 
Cash says, “Well, let him alone, he don’t know anything, he is an old 
fool, and he ain’t got good sense anyhow.” I thanked him again. Bill 
White came around and says, “Here is one of the fellows : I Avant him, 
God damn him; ” and says, “ Take him out of the wav.” He says, 
•‘Amt there one under the bed?” They told me to look about, and I 
looked under the bed, but I could not see anvthing but a blanket. He 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OP CHARLES BLACKMAN. 


r>i 


says, “ Well, cut around in that other room and see if there is not some 
more fellows there.” I went around there, and Mr. Williams was there, 
and I did md want him ; and he says, “ Where is that other fellow 
I says, I don’t know where he is.” Mr. Moore says, will show you 
Avhere Lott Clarke; ” and they went around to a room and found him, 
and shut him up until they went away. 

Q. You did not see any more of him ?—A. Xo, sir. 

By Air. Bailey : 

Afadison Beams had guns in his house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. How many guns did he liave !—A. I don’t know exactly ; I could 
not tell you how many he had there. 

Q. He had gathered them therefor the puri)ose of defending his place 
against the threatened burning by Sam. Smith ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Y^ou did not go into the room, and did not know how many guns 
were there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did one of them speak of getting the guns '? YMu stated some of 
the boys^ said they would get their guns.—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. How many went to get their guns ?—A. There were three or four 
went by me. 

Q. Did they get them ?—A. Y^es, sir; I guess they did. 

Q. AVhat did they do !—A. They broke (lown in the cotton field. 

Q. Did the firing commence then I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They did not commence it until the evening time ?—A. No, sir. 
Jacobs had commenced before that. 

Q. Before this time he had taken the guns from the house !—A. No, 
sir. AVhen Jacobs went in and got his drink, he says, Air. Crowder 
and others said ‘ Aladison Beams has some guns in his house, and is 
going to raise a riot here among the white people.’ ” 

Q. Just then you saw the firing again?—A. Yes, sir. Air. Norwood 
had thrown this young man Beard against Bob. Dickson, and Norwood 
thought that Bob Dickson had hit him ; but he told him he did not hit 
him, but simply aimed to push him off his game leg. 

Q. Did they converse about the guns before or after the firing ?—A. 
It took place just at the time they made a choice to go in. 

Q. In where '?—A. In Aladison Beams’s house. 

Q. Did any one else fire ?—A. I don’t know that the black ones fired 
at all. 

Q. Do you not know that several white men were shot ?—A. I under¬ 
stood that they were shot; but no one in particular. 

Q. Do you not know that those black people began the firing and 
shot two or three white men ? Do you not know the fact ?—A. I don’t 
Ivnow that the colored men shot one white man to my knoAving. 

Q. Do you not know that two or three white men were shot right in 
the beginning of that difficulty f—A. I can’t say so, as I didn’t see it. 

Q. Did you not hear it at that time !—A. After I got to Shreveport. 

(^. Did you hear it on the spotA. No, sir; I Avas getting aAvay. 

Q. Hoaa" far was Aladison Beam’s house from the polls '?—A. It aa us 
not more than one hundred yards. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The guns were in Aladison Beams’s house all the time, AA^ere they 
not ?—A. No, sir. 

By Air. Cameron: 

Q. Jacobs commenced firing before the guns Avere taken out of the 
iKJUse ?—A. YYs, sir. 




52 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[CtuUlo 


J>y Mr. I>A1LEV: 

What time in the evening’ was it ?—A. It was about dusk. 

Q. After the voting ?—A. Yes^ sirj and tliey were waiting for the 
count of the tickets. 

Q. AVhat did they fight about then ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Was the firing begun by Jacobs, or otlier i>ersons, to prevent yon 
black i>eople from voting ?—A. 1 don’t know whether the offense was in 
voting or not. 

Q. The voting was over ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Were any black people drinking.that day ?—A. Yo, sir; there was 
no drinking there that day; nothing to drink. 

Q. AMii did not know what the fight was about, then ?—A. ^N^o, sir. 1 
supposed they were going to carry the election. 

Q. The election was over ?—A. Yes, sir; and I could not see the sense 
in the firing. 


HfiXEY WILLIAMS. 

New Orleans, Januaru 9, 1879. 
Henry Williams (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : ^ 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Caddo rarish. 
i}. How long have 3 'ou resided there ?—A. Since, 1869. 

Q. AVhat business are you engaged in ?—A. Laborer, 
ly Were you present at the election at Caledonia this last fall ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I was there. I Mms authorized by Judge Beaumont and Col¬ 
onel Leonard to go down and issue tickets on their name. I went down . 
on the 4th, on Monday. ^ 

Q. What political party were you going to distribute tickets for ?—A. ; 
The Eepublicau party. I went down, and when I got there it was be- ! 
tween sunset and dark. I changed horses there, and met Madison Beams, i 
and went down to Mr. Beard’s, 9 miles below. I staid until nine o’clock > 
that night, and came on back. i 

(^). What occurred at the polls on election day ?—A. I issued tickets ! 
up to between 10 and 11 o’clock. A nice-looking gentleman there (*aine I 
to me and asked my name. 1 says, “ Henry Williams.” He said, “ Who ; 
are you issuing tickets for ?” I showed him one of them, and he said, i 
(live me three or four of those tickets; I got some men I want to vote 
this ticket”; and 1 gave him four. 

Q. AVho was he?—A. He was a white man from Campo Bello place. : 
He went off* and was gone 30 minutes, and Beard came to me and said. 
Old man, whom are you issuing tickets for ?” I said, “ Well, 1 am try- I 
ing to get my men in.” 

Q. Who was this ?—A. It was Judge Beard. He said, ‘Olod damn : 
you, yon are going against me ; you had better sto]) issuing tickets.” I 
had gone down tliere with Mr. Eisner, and I asked him what he thought 
would be the (‘onsequence if I went on issuing my tickets. Some col- ! 
ored men had warned me also. Mr. Eisner said, Well, issue the tick- | 
ets, and don’t say anything about anybody’s name, or mine.” If I could ^ 
get IMr. Eisner in I didn’t care so much about the rest, though, of course, 

I M as issuing full tickets for the parish. This nice gentleman came back ! 
again and said, “ Henry, I want to talk with yon. Come off* here a ways.’’ 

I told him 1 didn’t care to go off* and talk with him, but that I w(!uld 



rar’isb.] 


TESTIMONY OF HENRY WILLIAMS. 


53 


talk with him light there. He went off and said, “ God damn yon, tliat 
is all right.” But he came back again with a bottle of whisky, and he 
said, ^‘Let us talk ; walk down the road and have a drink.” I said, 
don’t indulge any.” And he said, “ The hell you don’t!” I told him it 
Avas not my habit. He said, ^‘Let us drink, anyhow.” We went around 
a lumber pile, and he says, Now, by God, if you can scratch off* that 
Congressinan to-day you can issue tickets”; and he said, '‘By God, 
we are going to liaA^e Elam in to-day.” I said, “ Well, I am not issuing 
any more tickets to-day”; because I had heard of threats. He said, 
“ Give me the tickets, and I will scratch that man off* and put mine on.” 
1 said, “ Noj if you want anymore go to Eisner, he has plenty of them.” 
He said, ‘‘ No; 1 want those you have got.” I said I would not give 
them to him. He stepped back from me three paces, and 1 says, “ What 
are you going to do ? ” He put his hand in his breast pocket, and I said 
again, “ What are you going to do ?” I could see that he Avas going to 
do something that Avas not just right. But he said, “ O, nothing, old 
man. By God, I liaA^e got a bottle of Avhisky, let us take a drink.” I 
took the AA hisky and put it to my mouth, but did not take any. He 
walked up and said, “Old man, you must drink again.” I took the 
Avhisky and turned it up again, but did not drink. Finally he said, 
“ Well, are you going to giA^e me the tickets I said, “ No, sir.” Then 
he said, “You scratch off*that Congressman,but let mine go on.” And 
1 said, “No; 1 am not going to issue any more”—because I thought it 
AA'as dangerous; “I heard you talking of AAhat you are going to do.” 
By this time aa e got to the church, and Captain Farr came along. I Avent 
around in front of the church and sat doAA n, and he said, " I have a 
notion to kill every God damned son of a bitcli that don’t vote for me.” 

Q. What AAms he ?— A. I suppose he was on the Democratic ticket. I 
don’t knoAV. There was about 20 colored men sitting out there on the 
])ile, and I went out there; Veil, he rared and ran around out there, and 
lie pretended to want to light Judge Beard, and 1 knew I had nothing 
to keep anybody off* from me. I went to Eisner and said, “ We had better 
go UAvay from here, for Ave are likely to get hurt.” Said I, “ You may not get 
hurt, but I am satisfied 1 aa ill be l>y the time the sun goes doAvn.” Well, 
he hired a colored man and hitched up his buggy, and then I hitched up 
mine, and AA'hen I got down there I droA^e around waiting for Eisner. Then 
Mr. Farr came and grabbed his lines and said, “God damn you, you can’t 
go aAvay from here.” I expected to see some shooting done, and said to 
my partner, Peter Smith, that we must look out for ourselves, for Av ehad 
nothing to defend ourseHes with. So by that time Walter CroAA'der, AA'ho 
Avas at the ballot-box, came running and got hold of Farr, and he and 
some other men pulled him loose from the buggy, and then Walter 
CroAA der said he Avas going to driA^e Eisner off* a piece and then bring 
him back. So that is the Avay Ave came to get away. We heard the fir¬ 
ing, but Ave got about a mile aAvay. 

Q. Where Avere you going ?—A. We were then making our Avay to 
Shreveport. 

Why didn’t you go back Avhen you heard the firing?—A. Because 
1 Avas empty-handed. 

Q. You had no arms ?—A. No, sir; I had nothing but my pocket- 
knife in my pocket. 

(^. Who Avas AAuth you!—A. Eisner and Peter Smith. Eisner is a 
Avhite man and Smith is colored. 

Q. What Avas Eisner running for ?—A. He Avas running for representa¬ 
tive. 

(J. Did you see auj^ of these men killed ?—A. No, sir. 



M 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddft 


Q. Did you see them after they were killed ?—A. sir 5 we went u|) 
"to the Bayou, and just tlieii Mi*. Ootherii’s son Frank saw us, and we 
waited until he crossed over, and we didn’t know hoAv it was, but when 
we got to Cothern’s there was about 50 men running into tlie road, who 
said, Halt! halt! God damn you, halt! ” Peter was riding with us, and 
Eisner stopped; and they said, ‘‘IS^oav, God damn you, you have played 
hell; God damn your souls.” Eisner says, have not done anything; 
I am on the l\epubli(*an ticket. I have made a fair and square tight.” 
And Jones says, you have played hell, God damn you; don’t you 
say nothing.” 

"Q. He Avas talking to Eisner then?—A. Axs, sir. They did not say 
anything to me. I saw they Avere getting pretty hot for Eisner, and 
I Avas looking for them to lire every minute. I dreAv up on the right- 
hand side of him, betAA een him and the rAer, and then Jones came arouud 
and looked up in my face and says, ^AVho is you?” I did not say any¬ 
thing, for I had Avorkedmany a long day for him, cut wood for him, &c.; 
and he says, O, you God damned son of a bitch, I have been wanting 
you for some time.” And he went right up to the buggy and looked up 
at me, and says, God damn you, I will kill you anyhoAA^” And he 
cocked his gun, and threw it up to his shoulder. And Jim Gilmont had 
a shot-gun there. Burns then came running up, just as he aa us tiring, 
and said, Held! liold! You can’t kill anybody here.” 

Q. Who Avas Gilmont? — A. He was a farmer there. And I said, 

Jones, I didn’t have anything to do with the riot. It aint AAmrth while 
to kill me. I didn’t do anything more than go doAA n and issue tickets.” 
^Ve staid there and coiisulted there for ten minutes, he standing there with 
his gun in his hand that way [witness shoAA^edthe attitude of Jones], and 
he said, “ God damn you, I believe I will kill you any AAmy.” But he 
says, “ Well, by God, I have got to be there at that riot, and you can go. 
But I will get you yet.” So he just happened to let me oif, by Avhat 
Burns had said, and by my oaaui good talk. 

Q. What is Burns there?—A. He aa as running for representatAe on 
the Kepublican ticket. 

Q. Do you know where he is living ? —A. Yo, sir. He AAms liAung there 
when I went there. He Avas about half groAvn Avhen I first kneAv him. 

Q. How far Avas this from the voting place? — A. I could not tell you 
the exact distance. 

Q. Hoav many of those men were there ?—A. I could not say Iioaa" 
many; but there Avas 40 or 50 of them. 

Q. Armed?—A. Yes, sir. WAll armed. Some had sixteen-shooters, 
and some double-barreled shot-guns. 

Q. Did you haA^e any disturbance ill the parish up to that time?—A. 
There was a little doAvu at Spring Eidge. I was there all through the 
campaign. There aa^s a disturbance at Spring Eidge. Mr. Leonard 
made his speech there; and a Northern man made a speech for the Dem¬ 
ocrats. Mr. Eisner made a speech there. They had inade an agree¬ 
ment that day, when they met, to have a joint discussion . So the speeches 
all Avent along a ery Avell; and I belieA-e Harper aa as the last man to make 
a speech; and I believe when he got about half-way througli his argu¬ 
ment, Mr. Simpson got up and told him he could not present any such 
point as that, for he aa ould not stand it. 

Q. Who is Simpson?—A. He is a white man. 

Q. And a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir; and a hot one, too. So AAdien Simp¬ 
son said that to him he was about 25 feet off. I AA^as sitting at Harper’s 
feet, and Avhen Simpson rose there Avas a dozen men raised at the same 
tune. Mr. McMillan rose up, threw his hand to his behind pants pocket; 


Parish.] 


TESTiMONY OF HENRY WILLIAMS. 


55 


and Mr. Eisner was standing between Mr. Harper. He ran up to ^Mr. 
Leonard with his five-shooter in his hand and grabbed Mr. Leonard by 
the collar. He told him, ^^You God damned son of a bitch, you have 
caused these damned niggers to run over us, and we won’t stand it.” 
If it had not been for another man, I think they would have killed him. 

Q. What else was done ?—A. So they went on to work, and they had 
a right smart row there. They told Harper if he opened his mouth he 
should not close it again. It was generally bull-dozed all through the 
parish, and that was the first little fracas they had. I could not explain 
everything, for there was so much done during the eampaign that I could 
not remember it. 

Q. AVere you i)resent at any other disturbance yourself ?—A. Yo, sir; 
that was the only two I Avas present at. 

Q. AVere you on the Danube A\Iien it came doAvn '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you knoAv the man Lot Clark'?— A. I kncAV Lot Clark ; I ncA'cr 
kncAv the others, but I got acquainted Avith one by being president of 
the club in the campaign. 

Q. IIoAv many men came doAvn on that boat ? —A. I coidd not tell you 
how many. AA'hen they came on the boat I aa as standing in the cabin. 
I was standing at the outside door. I happened to look up about the 
center of the boat and saw a man loading one of tliese sixteen-shooters, 
and there Avas a colored man standing by him. I spoke about it and 
somebody said, “ AVhy, they are all on the boat.” That draAA^ed my 
j attention to them. That gentleman there (Avitness pointed to a spectator) 

! and scA^eral others aa ere on the boat, and several ladies. I didn’t see any 
I prostration among them. 

Q. The colored peojde Avere frightened, AA^ere they f—A. Yes, sir. I 
think I knew most of them that came on board the boat. I had worked 
I a great deal for most of them. 

I (^. You don’t know what became of tliem ?—A. Yo, sir; I don’t. 

I Q. HaA^e you been back since'?—A. ]No, sir. 

I By Air. Cameron; 

! Q. GiA'C the names of those armed men Avho came on board the 
Danube. — A. I kncAV Pat Cash, Air. Jones, and Jim Barnes. 

Q. Where did you go after the day of the election f—A. I staid in 
Shreveport AA^ediiesday and Tliursday Avith a young Avhite friend of mine 
there. It Avas a great friendship to me; my Avife is AAmrking for Ids 
mother, and he told her to tell me that I had better leave; that if I did 
not leaA'e Shreveport I would certainly be killed. I sent AAmrd back by 
my Avife that I did not intend and aa as not going anywhere. So, Thurs- 
j day night, which is generally church-night among,the people there, I 
started to go for the church, and I got confused in mind, and concluded 
I would not go. I Avas afraid I might get caught going back. But my 
AA ife and mother Avent. Of course, I Avould not lie doAA n and go to sleej) 
Avitli such a burden on my mind. I had tAA o mighty good double-barreled 
shot-guns in the house, and I loaded them up,' and 1 thought if they did 
come I AAmuld stop somelAodj'. About 11 o’clock in the night, AA^hile I was 
sitting in my house and looking out from my AAundoAAq I saw apj)roach- 
ing, and counted, 17 Avhite men, all armed. I could hear them talk, but, 
of course, through the glass, I could not hear what they Avere saying. 
That was on Thursday night after the election. They AAnlked up around 
the fence and Avalked up in front; and then I had taken the back door 
on them. They got in front of my house, and I took the back, and made 
for the railroad, and got doAAUi in the railroad; so they did not get me. 

Q. Did they go into the house ?—A. Xo, sir. They had a friend there 





56 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


who asked if I was at lioine. My wife said, no, I was not at home; and 
so they did not go in. Friday morning I met tliis young wliite man; he 
says to me jnst as he passed me on the street, I look yon mighty well, 
old fellow, but yon had better ho}^ out.” I would not until I kneAv why. 
I went down to my wliite friend’s house, doAvn town, and said I tlionght 
I would leave Caddo Parish. He said, That is rigPt, my boy.” I left 
my wife and children and property. I hated to do, it for I loved them ; 
and what i)ropeidy I liad, I had worked hard for, and jiaid for it. He 
helped me oft and I left. I got a letter, and so 1 came here. I came 
here for Dallas, Texas. 

Q. You went to Texas ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you own any real estate in that parish f—A. Yes, sir; 1 owned 
two lots, 40 feet front, 120 feet long. 

Q. Have you erected any buildings ?—A. Yes, sir; a small building*. 

Q. A house?—A. Yes, sir; it cost me about $100. 

By Mr. Oakland : 

Q. How far is it from Shreveport to Texas ?—A. Twenty-one miles 
across the Texas line, sir. 

Q. Who was that man tliat got you away from there?—A. He was a 
friend of mine who made my wife tell me not to pledge his name, and I 
don’t think it would be right to pledge his name*. 

Q. Who Avas that man who wanted you to drink Avith him that day?— 
A. He was a red headed Irishman that Ua ed doAvn on the river. 

Q. What did Harper say that made Simpson mad?—A. I think I can¬ 
not gWe the exact AAords. The remarks he made Avere like this: ^‘My 
colored friends, I liaA e not come here to make a speech to the white 
gentlemen, 1 have come here to talk Avith my people. The Congressman 
Avho is here has made a grand mistake, he has misconstrued things. Mr. 
Moncure is a gentleman, and Ave knoAv him to be a gentleman ; but he 
has been on one old horse, and never got off of it, and we want to select 
a man to-day to help this country.” And then-' 

Q. And then Simpson got uia?—A. Yes, sir; he said Mr. Moncure 
AA’as a gentleman and he could not talk that Avay. 

Q. Is he the present si)eaker of the house of rex)resentatiA^es ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I understand so. 

Q. What sort of a speech did Colonel Leonard make?—A. Well, sir, 
he was so far beyond me that I cannot get down to his (;alainity at all. 

Q. Just state it in your oAvn Avay.—A. I don’t think I could giA^e his 
argument and I don’t desire to state anything more than I understand. 

Q. Do you recollect anything that Eisner, tlie ('andidate for rex^resent- 
ative, said ?—A. I cojdd not say I do. 

Q. Had you any property in Caledonia ?—A. Yo, sir ; in Shreveport. 

Q. That is your home yet?—A. I don’t knoAv Avdiere my home is. 

Q. You can go back to it?—A. Yo, sir; I don’t feel safe, for reasons I 
have for saying so. 

Q. Do you hear from your family regularly ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav are they getting along ?—A. Badly; they are suffering. My 
health is not good; I liave been suffering Avith x)neumonia for tliree Aveeks. 
I sent a little money until I was sick. 

Q. Did you come doA\m as a witness on the Danube?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In the United States court?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Caaiekon : 

Q. Are you not x>retty well acquainted Avith the colored people there? 
—A. Yes, sir; I knoAv x)retty nigh every bush in it. 

Q. And men?—A. Yes, sir; and AAoinen, too. 



Parish. 1 


TESTIMONY OF MONROE BROWN. 


57 


Q. Now, Henry, let me ask you, if the colored voters were allowed to 
vote exactly as they desired, what ticket Avonld they vote ?—A. AVell, sir, I 
must tell you the exact fact. In the last campaigu I canvassed the Avhole 
parish about the 14th of 0(*tober, and I worked up to the day of election, 
and the colored people generally over the parish—of course*! admit that 
there was some scalawags that you could give a dollar to and they 
wouldvoteany ticket for that money—but take the general class of people 
there and they would vote the square Eepid)lican ticket. I think Caddo 
Parish this time would have been more llei)ublican than ever before. The 
colored people were more united. They told us if we were to go to work 
and lay doAvn these carpet-baggers and take uj) your young men who 
were raised and bred and borntliere, why, then, you are done squabbling. 
AYe did so, and we had a wusser squabble than e’s er before. I know 
everybody there, and hole and corner, and I tried to hold a little meeting 
in every little (*orner Avliere aa ^ could get 50 or 100 together, and I iieA^er 
seen i)eoi)le more anxious to A ote the regular Itepublican ticket than 
they Avere. 

Q. Hoav many Alters are there in the parish—colored ?—A. I do not 
know the record, but I think the majority aa as 1,800 and something. 

Q. On the register ?—A. Y"es, sir j ahead of the Democrats. 

Q. AA^ell, according to the report made, hoAV did the election come 
out? AVhat majority did the Democrats have?—A. I don’t knoAv, sir. 
I neA'er had a chance to get at them to talk about it. 


aioniiop: bkown. 

Neay Orleans, Januanj 0, 1870. 

AIonroe Broavn (colored). 

By the Chairman : 

(Question. AA'here- do you reside ?—AnsAver. Caddo Parish. 

Q. Were you at Caledonia on election-day ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Noav, you may state Avhat occurred there on election-day.—A. I 
Avas there at 7 o’clock in the morning. I went ui> to the polls; I and 
Lot Clark went up together. I Avent up to the polls and asked him if 
my name was there. They said no it Avas not there. Lot Clark asked 
them if his name Avas there, and they said no it Avas not, and they didn’t 
intend to find his name now. 1 Avent back about 7 o’clock, and Air. 
AYilliam Hutchins said he had found his name. Bob AIoss told me that 
he AA^as gone and Avas not there. One of them said, ^‘Lot, I knoAV the 
name of Lot is not here, and I don’t intend to find it.” And Lot turned 
around to go back, and one of them said he Avould like to see him after 
awhile. About half an hour after sun I said, ^^Lot, let us go home.” 
I said, They are getting up a fuss”; and AA^e started back, and they 
commenced shooting. I Avent into the corner of the fence, and they 
shot Bob William right down by the side of me. Then me and Lot got 
OA^er in the cotton-patch and went doAvn that night to Campa Bella, and 
at Campa Bella they called another man by the name of Ben Horton, 
and then I A\ent down to Tom Elder’s, and he told me to get in the 
house and stay there until morning, and I said, “No ; 1 liaA^e heard they 
Avere coming here also.” 

Q. AYho told you that?—A. AYalter Crowder; and so I said I Ava8 
going to Shreveport, and I Avent out that night and went to Shreveport. 

Q. How many men did you see killed ?—A. I saAv two. 

Q.. Did you see them after they were killed ?—A. Yes, sir; one of 
them Avas shot right down by me. 



58 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Q. Wliat was lie doing wlieii lie was shot ?—A. He was miming. 

Q. Where was he running ?—A. He was running from the polls. 

Q. A¥as he killed at once ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(}. AVhere did you see this other man killed ?—A. He was killed right 
at the store. 

Q. Did you knoAv him ?—A. Y"es, sir 5 I worked with him. 

Q. Both of these were colored men ?—A. Y^es, sir. , 

Q. Were they Eepuhlicans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know of any other men being killed there?—A. I know 
of one being killed for the same offense at Canijia Bella place. 

Q. Who Avms that ?—A. Si Thomas. 

Q. AVho killed him ?—A. I do not know; but it was one of this crowd. 

Q. Did you see him ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did you knoAv him?—A. Y^es, sir; I have worked with him. 

Q. How far was he from the polls when he was killed ?—A. About six 
miles. He was on the Oainiia Bella place. 

Q. Did you hear of any other man being killed that night ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you remain there?—A. Ko, sir; I Aveiit to Shreveport. 

Q. From there you came here ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

(^. AAlieii did you come here ?—A. I came down on the Danube. 

C^. Y"ou were there when these men were taken off*?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Xow state about that.—A. I told you I was so scared I diduT see, 
for I locked myself iij) in a room, and they came and burst the door ox)en 
and George Jones came and cocked a pistol on me and asked me to stop. 
I told him I would if I had done anything; and I walked up to him and 
he asked Jeff Cole if I was the one. He said, ^‘Yes”; and then Cash 
came and said no, I was not the one. He said Lot Clark, Jesse Williams, 
and another man were the ones he wanted. 

Q. Who IS Jesse Williams?—A. He was in Shreveport; I do not know 
where he is now. 

Q. Did you see the men when they took them off*?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. How was it the day before eiection; pretty quiet ?—A. Y^es, sir. 
I generally lived on Canq^a Bella. 

Q. Why did they take these three men?—A. I do not know. They 
didn’t give any reason. 

Q. Were you subpoenaed to come down liere ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Did you know any of those men on the boat ?—A. Y"es, sir; I kneAv 
Bob YIoss and Cash. 

Q. These were white men ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. What time of day was this when this occurred on the boat ?—A. I 
could not tell. 

Q. What time did you leave Shreveport?—A. I left on Wednesday 
evening, and that was Tliursday morning. 

Q. What time Thursday evening did the boat leave ?—A. I do not 


know. 


By Mr. Garland ; 

Q. Wbat made you ask Bob Moss if your iiaiue was on tlie list ?—A. 
He was keeping door. 

Q. Did be have anything to do with tbe election ?—A. He said be 
had; he was doorkeeper. 

Q. He was not register or commissioner ?—A. Ko, sir. 

By the Chairman : 


thv, lllXJlLLll illljliuvv. 



Parisb.] 


TESTIMONY OF BEN. WILLIAMS. 


59 


be:n^. williams. 

Xew Orleans, La., January 10, 1870. 

Ben. M ILLIAMS (colored) sworn and examined. 
l>.v the Chairman: 

Question. M here do you reside ?—Answer. In Shreveport. 

Q. How long have yon resided there ?—A. I have been there ever 
since ISOd. 

Q. AA hat business have you been engaged in?—A. I labor first at one 
thing and then at another. 

Q. Did you take any part in tlie last political campaign in that par¬ 
ish ?—A. I did not take any extraordinary part in it. I was a member 
of the parish executive committee, and instructed the voters to register. 
I distributed tickets at Cawthorn’s poll on the day of the ‘election. I 
want to say to you, gentlemen, that it is not an easy thing to get up here 
and tell the truth about what occurred, because one comes into danger. 
I want some protection, and I don’t propose to make war against white 
gentlemen, because I have to live among them. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. Do the white people of your region think it an act of hostility to 
have the truth told about what is done ?—A. I don’t really think they 
like to have a man tell the truth in regard to affairs like tins; because 
this is a matter between white and black. If it was in a little parish court 
or something of that kind, it would be a very different thing. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. I think you need not be afraid to tell what you know.—A. But, 
gentlemen, all I have got is in Shreveport, and if I should say what 
would come in conflict Avith their opinions they might have me taken 
down there to the river, or there is no knoAving what might become of 
me. Gentlemen, you don’t knoAv these people like those Avho liaA^e been 
raised here Avith them. We know the feeling here better than you gen¬ 
tlemen Avdio liA e Korth. I haA^e no objection to telling what I knoAv 
M'heii I am satisfied that I will be protected after it. 

The Chairman. Of course the committee cannot promise you any 
special jirotection. You aauII haA e to rely on the good sense and char¬ 
acter of tlie people. I think you aaTU not find yourself in any danger. 

The Witness. I think I am in danger, and I think I know more about 
it than these gentlemen Avho IniA e never been in my i)osition. There 
is Major Moncure; I should like to haA^e him tell Avhether he thinks there 
AA'ould be any danger in my telling the truth aliout these matters. 

Q. This Major Moncure is a member of the legislature—speaker of 
the house of representatives. 

Major Moncure. He knows there is no danger, sir, as aa ell as I do. 

The AVitness. I did not take any extraordinary part in this cam¬ 
paign. IIj) to the time of the AVheeler compromise, AA^e had been di¬ 
vided on strict iiarty divisions. After that Ave adojited another policy. 
The AA^hite people said they intended to get rid of carpet-baggers; and 
they urged upon us to put on the tickets Southern born and raised men. 
Then Ave jiut on the ticket such men as Judge BoAvman, Mr. Leonard, 
&c. There were only tAA^o carjiet-baggers on our ticket—CaAvthorn and 
Sloper. We had such success in that election by having on our tickets 
Southern-born men that Ave thonght AA^e Avoiild try the policy over again. 
So this last campaign—that of 1878—Ave again placed upon our ticket 


60 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Cad.lo 


men wlio liad been born and raised in tlie south-—the most ot them 
y(mn«’ men. A\ e had no trouble in onr convention, 'i here 
trouble nj) to the time at Spring’Kid^e. There was some dissatistacdion 
there 5 1 don’t know what the cause of that was. e didn’t pay any 
attention to that. I heard white gentlemen say it was a good ti(‘ket. 
That encouraged us more still. Tlie election approa(‘hed, Jmd avc aj)- 
prehended no trouble until the Monday just before election. W e could 
see men riding out l)y Mr. Colwell’s Avith gnus. M e (*ould not under¬ 
stand it. 1 asked one of the committee about it. He said lie under¬ 
stood there had l)een a riot at Greeinvood, and thisAvas the State militia 
coming to sto]) it. iNIr. Leonard, about four o’clock, sent me doAvn to 
('aAvtliorn’s ])oll to issue tickets to the Aa)ters. I started doAvup and 
Avhen 1 got (Ioaa u to Mliite’s Landing AA^e heard that thcAoters AA*ere call¬ 
ing a meeting that night to get in readiness to go to the ])olls next 
morning. They had a lai’ge meeting. Griffiths and I advised them to 
go to the polls,'to be quiet, to use no bad language, and es])ecially not 
to take a dro]) of AAdiisky. 1 had heard that a box of guns had gone 
doAvn that Avay, and other boxes. Then I saAv some guns taken doAvn 
there mys(‘lf. AVheii I saAV these guns I thought something might 
o(.‘cur. 

Q. lIoAv many guns did you see go doAvn f —A. About tifteen guns. 

Q. AVhohaTl themf —A. 1 don’t knoAv the names of the men Avho had 
them. 

Q. AVere they Avhite men?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. AVell, go on.—A. AVell, 1 AAent to bed. I got u]) next morning 
about three o’(dock and went to the polls. Griffiths and I Avere at CaAV- 
thorn’s ])oll about a quarter of an hour before anybody saAv that Ave 
Avere there. Then Mr. CaAvThorn looked and saAV that Ave Avere there, 
and came and found that Griffiths Avas a supeiwisor and had the original 
books that the sheriff* had giAmi us. Shortly afterAvards, Jones, CaAV- 
thorn’s son-in-hiAv, came up AAuth tAA^o other books, and said, AVe Ikiaua 
got books her(^. tooj did you kuoAv anything of them ?” I said, ‘-‘No,” 
and he left. I AAumt to the front. Mr. Jones and the commissioner Avent 
on to the polls, to get ready to call the election. I met Air. Boynton, 
and he said, ‘Mien, you may as Avell tliroAv them tickets aAA’ay.” I said, 
“AVhy so. Air. Boynton?” He said, “By God, there slian’t be one of 
them Aujted here to-day.” I paid no attention to that, but laughed the 
matter off\ 1 thought then lie Avas only in fun. The voters began to 
come there, and I began to distribute tickets. As 1 began, a young fel- 
loAV by the name of dim Oalhoun took hold of me and said, “ By God, 
you go Avith me”; and he started Avith me toAvard the v\vev. AAY (*ame 
to a crowd, AA’here there Avas a lire, and lie x)ulle(l me right through the 
lire. I saw, standing near by. Air. Oawthorn, Avho had the re])utation of 
being a ge^itleman, and avIio aa^s more or less a leader of these ])eo])le 
there. It struck me that 1 liad better call him; and 1 called him. At 
this Jim Calhoun turned me loose. 1 told Air. CaAvthoru I had heard 
rumors of his being a gentleman; that I Avas doAvn here just as he Avas, 
and his men; and 1 Avas representing the Beimblican ticket, the same 
as he Avas representing his ticket. The ticket Avhich 1 re])resented 1 
didn’t consider to be llepublican, after all, for the candidates Avere all 
Southern born, and all Democrats; and I ap])ealed to him for ])rotection. 
He said, “Go on, and behaA^e yourseHes.” I said, “Air. CaAvthorn, Ave 
are behaving ourselves; Ave are all quiet here uoav. There is no ne(‘es- 
sity for a roAv; if you Avill guarantee that Ave shan’t be hurt, I Avill guar¬ 
antee to hold the negroes doAA n.” Air. CaAA thorn says, “ If there is to be 
a riot, let it be anyAvhere but here, for my family is right here.” I said, 


I’aiish.] 


TESTIMONY OF BEN. WILLIAMS. 


61 


‘^That is just why I ap])oal to you; heiiig- a geiitleiuaii, you cau control 
tliis class of ])eople.” About this time the negroes began to go to the 
l)olls to vote; but they were told, ‘‘You can’t vote that ticket here.” 
“^Vell,” said I, “if you are not allowed to vote, don’t force yourselves 
to ^'ote; have no trouble, but go back home.” There was one thing that 
caused vsome misuuderstaudiiig. 1 was distributing seventli ward tick¬ 
ets, and this was the eighth ward poll. When 1 found that out, I said to 
]\lr. Cawthorii, “ AVe are not interested in the ward officers, justice of 
the peace, police jurors, 'Ac.; we merely want to vote the parish and 
Congressional ticket; and if you will agree, Ave Avill tear off the ward 
part of the tickets and vote the balance.” “Well,” he said, “I am a 
candidate, and I think 1 had better not give yon any advice.” I ])artly 
agreed Avith him in that. Then I said to these other gentlemen—I pro¬ 
posed to tear the ward part of the ticket off, and let the A lters vote 
the balance of the ticket. James Oalhonn and (hiwthorii’s son said, “ By 
God, they don’t Amte anything.” 

Q. These aa ere both Avhite men ?—A. Yes, sir. I say.^ to the Amters, 
“Yon might as Avell go home if yon can’t vote”; so they all got on their 
horses and left. IMr. lN)nder and others avIio Avere there wanted to know 
Avhat AA'as the matter. I said, “Yon say that they can’t vote, and they 
haA'e gone home so as not to be disturbed.” They said to me, “Nobody 
has objected to theiv Acting.” I thought it best not to dispute them; 1 
thought my life Avas Avorth more to me than anybody else. The boys 
ad\dsed me to go back and see CaAvthorn. It Avas of no use; 1 could get 
no deffnite answer out of them. 1 didn’t knoAv AAhat to do. 

1 tind 1 have got ahead of my story a little. Some time before this 
Mr. Boynton had treated me to a drink of Avhisky—me and Sam Boss. 
As Ave Avent into the grocery, the first thing I laid my eyes on Avas a row 
of guns. I could not mistrust Avhat all those guns Avere put there for. 
1 Avas afeared not to drink, for Boynton Avas acting as if he Avas driiidv, 
and he Avas supposed to be a bad man when drunk. 1 held the Avhisky 
in my month a while, and Avhen he Avas not looking at me 1 spit it out— 
still looking at the guns. I mistrusted that Boynton had treated me 
only to bring me in AAdiere 1 aa onld be sure to see the guns, and that would 
make me afeanMl. I Avent on and said to the boys not to have anything 
to say, because it Avonld take but a little to lead to bloodshed. 1 didn’t 
Avant to see any blood shed at the ])olls. 

Q. Well, Avhat Avas the result—did you go away ?—A. 1 staid there 
until about three o’clock in the afternoon. The men all came back and 
said to me that Leonard had sent word down there that it Avas of no 
use voting, because they had taken control of the election, and it was 
not Avorth while to trouble ourselves to vote. It Avould only i)ut us into 
trouble; they had better go home quietly and go to their Avork ; so I Avent 
aAvay. Bovnton and others said 1 Avas a coaa ard. I said, 1 tliink 1 am 
almost as brave as anybody when it is one man against one man, but 
Avhen it is tAvelve men against one man I have sense enough to kiioAv 

that the odds are against me. * t ^ i 

Q. lloAV many guns did you see in the grocery ?—A. I think there 
must have been fifteen, more or less. 

Q. Were those guns ke])t there for sale ?—A. 1 could not tell. 

Q, Did they look as if they had been used ?—A. I didn’t take much 

of a look at them. . 

Q. ItoAV were they placed ?—A. All along right up there against the 
bench, or something that they Avere lying against. 

Q. You didn’t examine them ?—A. No, sir; I did not examine them. 
I felt ])retty AAmrm just then. I mistrusted that the more polite I was 
the better it would' be for me. 


62 


LOUISIANA IN ]878. 


[Caddo 


Q. Were you on the Danube when a couple of men were taken oft 
heref—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know those two men who were taken off!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see the warrant upon which these men were taken !—A. 
No, sir; I think nobody did unless it was the clerk. I donff know in 
fact that he did. 

Q. How long' had you known these two men !—A. Lot I had known 
ever since he was in Shreveport. 

Q. Hoav long had you known William AYhite !—A. I got acquainted 
with him in boyhood. 

Q. By “ Lot” you mean Lot Clark, do you !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where liad Clark been living!—A. Somewhere in Caledonia at that 
time. 

Q. How long had he been living there!—A. I don’t think over three 
or four years. 

Q. Do yoq know that he was there up to election time ?—A. I 
didn’t see him; I don’t know where he was; I saw him shortly after 
election. 

Q. Where was he then !—A. In Shreveport. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did he remain in Shreveport from the time he went there after the 
election until he started down on the boat!— A. Yes, sir; he was in 
Shreveport every day until he was subpcenaed to come here. 

Q. When did he start for New Orleans !—A. On Wednesday even- 
ing. 

Q. Can you tell the day of the month !—A. I think it was the 18th of 
December. We started on Wednesday, and got here on the 25th, and 
we were eight days on the river. You can refer back and you will get 
the day of the month. 

Q. Were these men taken in charge by the constable, or by some other 
person !—A. 1 never saw the constable; if he was there "l didn’t see 
him. They say there was a constable there. The man I saw 1 know 
was not Jeff Cole, for I know Jeff' Cole well. 

Q. Did you see any ])erson take hold of these men!—A. Bennett took 
Jjot off'; Mr. Jones, Mr. Cash, Mr. Foye, and Dr. Moss took this man 
Bill White off'. 

Q. How many armed white men came to the boat!—A. I think there 
must have been fifteen. 

Q. How many of them came on the boat!—A. All except two or three 
who stood on the stage-plank to guard that he did not run off'. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You say you kneAv one of these men well!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you leave Shreveport to come here !—A. On the 18th, I 
think. ’ 

Q. Have you been back there since !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether those men have returned to Shreveport or 
hot!—A. From all I can learn they have not; I have seen men from 
there recently, who said they have not returned. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You say Jeff Cole was not in the crowd !—A. If he was 1 didn’t 
see him. 

Q. You saw all that were there, didn’t you!—A. I saw all that Avere 
there after they got the men, but there were plenty there a\ horn 1 didn’t 
know. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF BfeN. WILLIAMS 


G3 


Q. You knew Jeff Cole, didn’t yon ?—A. Yes, sir; if I had seen him 
in the crowd I would have known him. Maybe the reason I didn’t was 
I mistrusted they would take me as well as these men, so I went into a 
back room when I saw them come on board. 

Q. Yon came down here as a witness before the United States court, 
did yon not f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How old a man is Jim Calhoun f—A. I mistrust about twenty or 
twenty-one. 

Q. Did he have anything to do as an officer of election that day ?—A. 
Yot that I know of, sir. 

Q. What is your age ?—A. Twehty-six years. 

Q. What else did yon see in Cawthorn’s grocery except guns ?—A. I 
saw there were groceries there, of course. 

Q. Did yon see anything else there except groceries and guns !—A. I 
don’t know whether there was or not; I didn’t take time to examine 
particularly. I saw things just as yon would to walk into a place and 
(?ast your eyes around and go out again. I saw the guns because they 
were right there at the door and I could not help seeing them; I had to 
walk over them to get to the bar where Boynton treated me. 

Q. How many rooms were there in the house f—A. I don’t know; the 
polls were in the back part of the grocery. 

Q. The room where you saw the guns was the front part !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How many guns did you see !—A. I think fifteen, more or less. 

Q. You did not count them !—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What is the number of colored people in the ward where you were 
voting!—A. I don’t know, sir; I know that there are a great many 
allowed to vote there, because it seemed as if the Avhole of Hogthief 
Point voted there. 

Q. How many colored voters are there in proportion to the white 
voters!—A. I could not tell exactly. 

Q. You can state whether there is as many, or twice, three times, or 
four times as many, can you not!—A. I think there are certainly twice 
as many. 

Q. Are there not more than that!—A. I will not say there are more 
than that. I will say that there must have been three times more came 
there to vote, but that may be because the white people don’t turn out. 

Q. Do you remember how many voters went off when you sent them 
word that it was of no use to vote'!—A. I don’t. I know I told the boys 
if they could not vote to go home and not make any trouble, not to 
force themselves to vote; and nearly all of them went home. 

Q. Did you not say that some of them came back afterward !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. I think about 30, more or less, came back. 

Q. You said there were a good many Democrats on the ticket you 
favored.—A. They were all Democrats, I think; I didn’t represent them 
as Eepublicans. They were Southern born and raised men who had 
always lived in this country. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I understood you to say that you had, by inistake, taken tickets to 
that ward having on them the names of candidates lor ward officers of 

another ward!—A. Yes, sir. . . . ^ ^ i» 

Q. When your friends offered these tickets first they were refused!— 

es sir. 

^ Q You tiien proposed to tear off the ward officers, and vote only tlie 
parish and Congressional ticket, and that was declined ?—A. Yes, sir. 


64 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Caddo 


By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Did you offer to vote yourself A. When the otlier negroes were 
refused to be allowed to vote I didn’t iiro])Ose to vote. 

Q. Did you not know that you had not a right to vote anywhere ex¬ 
cept in your own ward ?—-A. I^o, sir j because we had before that time 
voted at any polls we wanted to exce])t for ward officers. They said it 
had been changed that day; but I didn’t know anything about that. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you see any xierson voting there who did not reside in that 
ward f—A. I could not say. 

Q. Who were the commissioners that held the polls ?—A. Jones was 
one ; I don’t know the names of the others. 

Q. Were they all white men ?—A. They were. 

Q. Did they all vote with the Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; they all voted 
with the Democrats. 


LPIBOY TEAIPLExMAY. 

Yew Orleans, La., Januari/ 10, 1870. 

Leroy Te 3IPLEMAN (white) sworn and examined. 

By ]\lr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you live '?—Answer. In the parish of Caddo, in 
this State. 

Q. How long have you lived there?—A. I have been living in that 
liarish since 1851. I have li^'ed in the State since 1838. 

Q. What part of the parish do you live in ?—A. In the lower part of 
the iiarish. 

Q. Something has been said about a riot that occurred at Caledonia 
during the recent canq)aign. In order to make the matter short and 
concise, please state if you were present and what occurred.—A. I was 
Iiresent from about 12 or 1 till about twilight that day—the day of 
the election. About the middle of the afternoon there axix)eared to be 
some uneasiness or disturbance among the colored people standing on a 
pile of lumber in front of Madison Deems’ house. On two or three occa¬ 
sions these colored people would rush into Aladison Eeeins’ house, and 
perhaps around the house. This was done two, or three, or four times 
during the afternoon. I was sitting outside with ^Ir. Ilutchinsou on 
the river bank, and 1 remarked, ^‘This is getting unpleasant; there must 
be arms in that house.” At last I told Mr. Hutchinson that we had bet¬ 
ter see about the matter before night came on. He said, “Yes, it looks 
a little uniffeasant and suspicious.” We walked to where this man 
Deems’ house stood, and where we could see the polling [dace also. 
We spoke of the matter to two or three others who were up there with 
us. Mr. Crowder spoke and said to the deputy sheriff, IMdSTeill, “Mac., 
there must be arms in that house.” McNeill spoke to Deems about the 
matter, saving, “ Deems, there must be arms in your house.” Deems 
shrugged his shoulders. The remark was made again, and then he said 
he had. Crowder asked how many. He said, “A good many.” He 
said that he had arms uj) there for the ])rotecUon of his cotton. A 
gin-house or two had been burned a few evenings before, and he got in 
these arms and took them u^) there for the protection of his cotton. 
Hutchinson called to the younger Air. Crowder and said, “ Yon are one 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF TEMPLEMAN. 


65 


of the commissioners of election. You call to McYeill and tell him he 
had better get those arms and bring them out and stack them. He 
started into the yard and two or three followed him; whether he sum¬ 
moned them to go with him or not I don’t know. Directly after he 
entered the yard I heard a noise of guns or pistols,! could not tell which. 
Immediately the deputy sheriff came out and said, I am wounded.’^ 
He was bleeding from a wound on the side of his face. He was also 
wounded in the shoulder. 1 did not examine to see Avhether badly or 
not. Mr. Norwood, who had gone to bring the guns away, was also 
shot about the same time, and appeared to be very l>adly wounded. 
They laid him on the gallery. I left to report to the ladies below, to 
keep them from being alarmed. So far as I know, the conflict was en¬ 
tirely brought on by the colored ])eople. It was entirely unprovoked. 

Q. State how you come to that conclusion.—A. From the very fact 
that whenever they were about the polls there was a rush from this pile 
of lumber to Reems’ house, and we thought that suspicious. I will state 
further* that on the Sunday evening previous to the election, when on 
my way from Shreveport home, near a church not far from Hutchinson’s 
plantation, I saw a band of men, 10 or 15, all of whom, apparently, had 
guns. I did not speak to them. They were perhaps 200 yards to my 
left. I will state further, that on the same day I saw another squad of 
8 or 10, all of whom had guns, except one, who had two. I said, Boys, 
what does this mean f ’ They told me they had had a cotton house or two 
burned, and that one Jim Smith had shot at a negro man, and they 
were going to get together guns to protect their cotton. 

Q. You say these were all colored persons ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far was Madison Reems’ house from this board pile?—A. No 
further much than across this room. 

Q. How far was his house from the place of voting ?—A. There was 
a church about 20 yards from the voting place and between his house and 
the voting place. 

Q. And the church kept you from seeing when the firing commenced"?— 
A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. At what time did the firing commence'?—A. A little before sun¬ 
down. 

Q. Was there any demonstration before that'?—A. Nothing but what 
I have stated; going up and going into that house. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you see any arms that day at or near the polls in the posses¬ 
sion of the whites'?—A. I did, after the firing commenced; not before, 
that I recollect. 

Q. How many did you see afcer the firing commenced ?—A. Maybe 
three, mavbe four guns. I could not say exactly. 

Q. Who had these'?—A. Mr. Adnell, Pendleton, Downs, and Mr. 
Morino; that is all I recollect positively seeing. 

Q. Were thev shot-guns or rifles?—A. I do not know. Then I saw 
some side-arms^ perhaps two or three pistols. There was some firing 
then. After the firing had gone on for a few minutes the negroes dis- 

^ State whether there were any arms in the groceiy store kept by a 
white man ?—A. If there was, J am not aware ot the tact. 

Q. Have you ever heard that there were ?—A. Yes, sir; I have heard. 
I heard one"^gentleman say he had 550 Winchester rifles. 

Q. Who was that gentleman?—A. His name was J. H. Beard; he 
was drunk. 


66 


LOUISIAN4. IN ie73> 


[Caddo 


Q. How far was his house from tlie polls'?—A. He had no house, and 
he had no guns there. He had nothing. I asked for a gun to protect 
myself with, and he said he had hut one; and Adnell had tlmt. 

Q. But you said he stated he had 550 before ?—A. Yes, sir j but no¬ 
body believed it. 

Q" Did you hear of any other arms being there in possession of the 
white men on that day !—A. I don’t believe that I did j but there may 
have been. 

Q. Don’t you recollect Avhether you did or notf—A. Yo, sirj I don’t 
recollect that I did. 

Q. How many negroes were killed or wounded there that day ?—A. 
To my knowledge, 1 don’t think there were any killed. 

Q. Give us your best impression !—A. I heard there were, perhaps, 
from 8 to 10 negroes killed throughout tlie neighborhood; not right 
there on the ground, but during the night. The fight was kept up, per¬ 
haps, till next morning some time; I did not stay on the ground; I went 
home. 

Q. Did you say that the negroes kept up the fight until the next 
morning?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. You heard that the white men hunted them and shot them down? 
—A. I do not think I heard that. 

Q. What do you mean by saying that so many negroes w ere killed 
during the fight that w^as kept up till the next morning ?—A. Because 
the next morning I saw some men riding along down through the country. 
I left that same evening; I went home, sir. 

Q. Did you understand that the men you saw riding next morning 
were the men that killed the negroes ?—A. Yo, sir; I don’t recollect 
that I did. 

Mr. Bailey. Do you mean that there were 8 negroes killed, or killed 
and wounded !—A. From 8 to 10 were killed, 1 was told. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many white men were killed ?—A. I did not hear of any 
white men being killed. 

Q. Why did you think there were arms in Reems’ house! Simply 
because the negroes got up and occasionally went into the house ?—A. 
I put that together Avith the fact that I saw arms going up in that direc¬ 
tion on Sunday CA ening. 

Q. Were you not told that those Avere to be used to protect the cotton? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who ordered the men to go in and seize those arms I—A. Hutch¬ 
inson said to OroAvder, “You are one of the commissioners; tell McYeill 
he had better go in and get those guns and stack them.” 

Q. Who started to get the arms ?—A. McYeill, the deputy sheriff. 
Hunt, and Mr. Yorwood. 

Q. HoAvmany went Avith the deputy sheriff*?—A. FourorfiA^e; maybe 
not OA^er three. 

Q. Then the commissioners directed the deputy sheriff* to go in, if I 
understand it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the deputy sheriflf call for assistance ?—A. Yot that I know of. 

Q. Did the men volunteer ?—A. They may have, for aught I know. 

Q. Can you state who fired the first shot ?—A. I cannot. 

Q. How many shots Avere fired in immediate succession ?—A. I cannot 
state. 

Q. Cannot you give the committee anv idea?—A. When the firin«- 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LEROY TEMPLEMAN. 


67 


seemed to emanate from Mr. Eeams’s house, maybe there was live or six 
shots. After that, there may have been five or six or a dozen more. 

Q. The negroes scattered and tied !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon see any of the white men pursuing them ?—A. I did not 
sir; I did not wait. ’ 

Q. Then, as 1 understand it, tlie white men organized during the 
night ?—A. I suppose so—for self-protection. 

Q. But you say the negroes had run away; have vou ever heard of 
their return ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you ever heard that the wliites pursued them during the 
night t —^V. Not immediately. I understood they were pursued—whether 
that night or the next morning I cannot say; there were very few white 
men there when I left; they may have gathered there afterwards. I live 
below there hve or six miles. I left a few minutes after the difficulty. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in planting in that parish ?—A. 
Since 1841. 

Q. How many negroes do you ordinarily employ in your business your¬ 
self ?—A. I reckon, on my lower plantation, (JU or 70 that go to the field; 
on my u})per plantation about 50. 

Q. How far do you live from Caledonia ?—A. Five or six miles from 
there. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted, so far as a gentleman can be ac¬ 
quainted, with the negroes in your vicinity ?—A. Yes, sir; I am tolerably 
well acquainted, but I am a bad hand to remember names. 

Q. When did you see the first band of armed negroes'?—A. On the 
Sunday evening before election, between sundown and twilight. 

Q. Did you talk with them"?—A. I talked Avith the last gang. 

Q. Did you know any of the first gang ?—A. lieally, I ought to know 
them all, but I don’t know the name of one. 

Q. Do you know to Avhom they belonged ?—A. They belonged on 
White’s place. 

Q. How far is White’s place from yours ?—A. Five or six miles. 

Q. Did you know the negroes of the second gang ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You are not able to gi\^e the names of any of them ?—A. No, si]'. 

Q. Where were these eight or ten colored men killed—that you under¬ 
stood Avere killed—that night or the next morning "?—A. I understood that 
two or three of them were killed in that vicinity. I saAV one dead negro 
in tlie church. 1 don’t know Iioav he came to his death. I saw another 
down below the Gilman place, below the A^oting i>lace, lying by the side 
of the road. Still farther doAvn, a little beloAV the church, on Hutchin¬ 
son’s plantation, I saAV another lying; he was, ai)parently, dead. That 
is all 1 myself saAv, sir. 

Q. You saw one in the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he killed in the church?—A. No, sir; he Avas put in there 
after he was killed. 

Q. When had these three probably been killed ?—A. I could not say. 

Q. Was there any killing after daylight ?—A. Not to my knowledge. 

Q. Then you think they were killed during the night ?—A. I suiix^ose 
so. 

Q. How many did you hear were wounded ?—A. I do not knoAV that 
I ever heard hoAV many Avere wounded. 

Q. Did you not hear that anybody was wounded ?—A. I don’t believe 
that I did; I did not hear of anybody being aa ounded that was not 
killed. 

Q. They made clean work of it, then. How long did they remain 
there ?—A. I don’t know. 


68 


LOUISIANA IN J878 


[Caddo 


Q. Did you see them again after thatl—A. I don’t tliinkldid; I 
vStarted back the nex| morning to bury one of tliem. One of them ^yas 
from my plantation^ I suppose } I know tliat one of my negroes was miss¬ 
ing from my place. Before I got there some of the hands of Hutchin¬ 
son’s place told me he was already buried. 

Q. How many, of your own knowledge, were missing from the neigh¬ 
borhood that you have reason to suppose were kiUed —A. I don’t know, 
of my own knowledge, of more than 5 or G. 

Q. Did you talk to these armed men that you saw the next morning?-^ 
A. I think I did. 

Q. Did they tell you they had been out hunting the negroes?—A. I do 
not know that they told me directly. I inferred that from their appear¬ 
ance. 

Q. Did they tell you how many they had killed ?—A. They did not. 

Q. You cannot now think of more than 5 or G that you know to have 
been killed ?—A. About 5 or G, sir, that I have reason to ])elieve were 
killed. 

Q. How many negroes were there on the lumber-pile that would dodge 
into the house so mysteriously?—A. I suppose there were 50 or00 sit- 
tiiig there. I did not pay mucli attention. 

Q. AVould they all rush into the house at once?—A. No, sir; but a 
good many would. 

Q. How big a house was it ?—A. It was a small negro cabin. I believe 
it had two rooms; it was a small box-house, a common negro cabin. 

Q. About how many white men were there at the polls that day on 
an average ?—A. I would simply have to guess at them. 

Q. Well, how many do you guess ?—A. I reckon there was, while I 
was tliere, as high as ten or fifteen, on an average. Some came in across 
the river when they heard the firing. 

Q. Where did they come from?—A. From the parish of Bossier. 

Q. What is the distance?—A. Well, I don’t know really where they 
started from, sir. 

Q. How soon after the firing did they get there ?—A. The firing took 
idace about sundown. They came about twilight. I went awayjust as 
they came. 

Q. How many were there that came?—A. Five or six. 

Q. AVere they armed?—A. I don’t recollect seeing an arm on them, 
though they might have been armed. 

Q. How did they come across?—A. In a skiff or ^^pedro,” a small light 
boat. 

Q. AYere there any prosecutions of those negroes for trying to kill 
those white men up there?—A. AA^ell, I believe there was an indictment 
and a warrant taken out for two or three of them. 

Q. Have they been caught?—A. Not that I know of. I hear that two 
of them have been caught. 

Q. Have they been tried?—A. I think not. 

Q. AVliat has been done with them?—A. That I could not say. I can 
only give you what the constable’s statement was in regard'to them. 
He stated lie took them from the steamer Danube. He started witli 
them for Shrevei)ort, and on the way- 

Q. AVe don’t care about that; I only wish to identify the men. Those 
are the two men that you refer to?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has any other indictment been found against any of those negroes ?— 
A. I think an indictment was found against one employed on my place, 





Parish.] TESTIMONY OF LEROY TEMPLEMAN. 69 

Q. What ivS lie charged with—murder?—A. I did not read the indict¬ 
ment^ sir, but I understand it was for being concerned in this affair. 

Q. Have any white men been indicted ?—A. Not that I know' of. 

Q. Don’t you know there has not beenf—A. No, sir; for I have been 
awmy ten or twelve days. 

Q. Do you not know that there had not been jirevious to the time of 
your departure?—x\. Previous to the time of my leaving I did not liear 
of anybody. 

Q. Give the names of any of the wdiite men who went hunting tlie 
negroes that night.—A. I was not present there that night. 

Q. Well, you say you saw them next morning'?—A. I saw'one or tw o; 
maybe three—Mr. Crow'der and the tw o Mr. Hutchinsons. I did see 
Mr. Adnell and a young man named Baxter, who lives with him. I saw 
him that night. They came down after I did. The next day, I think, 
I saw' Mr. Adnell, Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. Crowder, and Dr. Morse, and 
Mr. Hutchinson, and, perhaps, one or two more. These were out on the 
alert. 

Q. Hunting the negroes, I presume—you understood so?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYere any negroes taken x)risoners, except those who w'cre taken 
from the steamboat?—A. Not at that time. 

Q. They did not take any prisoners that you heard of ?—xV. No, sir. 

Q. Did this company whom you saw have any prisoners in their cus¬ 
tody?—A. No, sir; but since you have called my attention to it, I re¬ 
marked two prisoners on the next day ui> at that place—an old man 
named Jo Parker, and another negro they called Shocko—I don’t know 
his other name. 

Q. What did they do with these negroes?—A. They turned Shocko 
loose, and put Jo Parker in my possession to guard him home. I started 
home w'ith him, and he requested me to take him to Mr. Beard, for 
wTiom he w orks, and I w^ent with him to Beard’s. He w'as soon released. 
He was afraid to go alone, and I went w ith him and left him w ith Air. 
Beard. 


By Mr. Kirkw'OOD : 

Q. Was this house of Keems a dw'elling house or a place of business ?— 
A. It W'as a dwelling house, a small house. 

Q. He had some cotton, had he not ?—A. So he said, and I suppose he 
had. 

Q. You spoke of some cotton houses having been burned u^) there, or 
that you had heard something of that kind?—A. I heard of some houses 
being burned. I first heard that they w'ere cotton houses, afterw'ards I 
heard that they were not. 

Q. Were they houses that colored people used or whites?—A. They 
w^ere owmed by white men, but black people occupied them. 

Q. And these colored men, you sajq said that they were armed because 
these houses had been burned ?—A. Yes, sir; they said they w ere look¬ 
ing up Smith. They said Smith had shot a man on the place, and per¬ 
haps had w'ounded him slightly. This is what they told me that even- 
ing. 

Q. The first firing took jdace at Eeems’s inside of the house, you say ?— • 
A. I could not say exactly, because the church cut off* my view'; but 
from the sound I suppose it emanated from the windows and door. 

Q. Could you hear the firing outside'?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Was the firing by whites or blacks ?—A. By both, I understood. 

Q. I mean the firing you say was outside of the house; was that by 
w hites ?—A. Yes, sir. 


70 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


F€ad(lo 


Q. While the blacks were ruDiiing ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The firing that you saw was by white people at the black people run¬ 
ning away ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, from the indications there, because you suspected that there 
were arms in Eeems’s house, you deemed it your duty to call the atten¬ 
tion of the officers to the matter. I would like to ask you, suppose you 
had seen arms belonging to white men in a store there, would you have 
felt it your duty to call the attention of the officials to that, and have 
them seized ?—A. I don’t know whether I would or would not. I did 
not see any arms that I remember of before the firing commenced. 

Q. You had no means, except by outside rumor, of learning how many 
arms there were in Reems’s house ?—A. He said he had a good many 
himself, to persons who questioned him. I did not question him. 

Q. Maybe this was like that 550 Winchester rifle story?—A. Perhaps 
so. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How main' stand of arms did they find when they took possession 
of Reems’s house, after the negroes ran away ?—A. I do not know that I 
ever heard. 

Q. Did the negroes carry their arms with them ?—A. That was after I 
left. I do not know. 

Q. Wliere is Reems now?—A. T don’t know. 

Q. Did you see a single black iierson fire a gun or a pistol at any time 
that day ?—A. I did not, because the church cut ofi* my view. I think 
I saw one or two guns firing. It was all done at once. I saw one man 
run out with his gun, holding it just this way (illustrating). 

By Mr. CAMERON: 

Q. Did you see a single black man have a gun in his possession that 
day ?—A. As I said, the church cut oft’ my view, so that- 

Q. That is not the question. I asked you whether you saw a single 
black man having a gun in his possession that day.—A. I did not. 
(Pause.) Excuse me. After I left and went down the river, on my 
way—the colored peojfle had fled along down the fence, along the bank 
of the river—I got on my horse to go home, when I saw some negroes in 
the edge of the cotton as I rode along; and a tall man stood looking 
over the fence with his gun by his side in a corner of the fence near the 
road. I said, Boys, be quiet, be quiet; this will all blow over.” This 
tall man said, Colonel, we don’t want any more fuss.” 

Q. Politically, you are a Democrat?-A. Since the death of the old 
line Whig party, I am. 


J. H. SHEPHERD. 

New Orleans, La., January 10, 1879. 


J. H. Shepherd sworn and examined. 

By'^Ir. Garland: 

Question. Where do you live ?_Answer. In Shreveport. 

Q. How old are you?—A. Twenty-six years old. 

Q. How long have you lived there !—A. I have lived there five years. 
Q. W here did you move from ?—A. From New York. Well, I came 
directly from \ icksbiirg. I graduated at Columbia College in ikd, and 
then came right there. ? 






Parish.] TESTIMONY OF J. H. SHEPHERD. 71 

Q. Did you take any part in the late political campaign!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. In Shreveport. 

(^. On the day of the election were you there ?—A. No, sir; I was not. 
I took part in the campaign, canvassing the parish in different wards. 
I spoke in the meetings with some of the Hepublican speakers—some¬ 
times alone. We had meetings for about four weeks prior to that elec¬ 
tion in different parts of the parish. We had a joint discussion between 
Mr. Leonard and myself, and Mr. Elstner and myself were always 
friendly. I was present at no disturbance. I heard of this Spring Ridge 
affair a day or two after it occurred. I spoke at another point in the 
parish on the same day, 17 miles from there. I spoke at Spring Ridge 
once at the Democratic club, and there were some colored people pres¬ 
ent. There was about one-third more colored people present the day I 
spoke there than Avhites at the Democratic meeting. 

Q. What were your terms with Harper !—A. I was always friendly. 
I do not think I ever had a quarrel with him, or with any of them. 

Q. Were these meetings peaceable or otherwise?—A. They were 
peaceable. Of course there are men of both parties during a political 
campaign who make a good many peculiar speeches—say a good many 
things that mean nothing, as they do in the North, or anywliere. I do 
not recollect a single meeting at which any one was injured, or at which 
there was any excitement or disturbance. If there were indecorous 
speeches of that kind, I think Harper made one. Bob Dyer, I recollect, 
asked if there were any Democrats present, ami some one pointed out 
one, and he then said that a colored Democrat could not be trusted by 
either Avhite or black ; that he was false to his country, false to his race, 
false to his children, and ffilse to God. He appealed to the women to 
urge their husbands to stand by their tickets. After he got through 
his speech he made them get down on their knees, and he then said, 
‘^Novv, all you who are going to stand l)y the ticket get up.’’ I heard 
he did that at various places. They had a great many colored i^eople at 
some places, especially at Greenwood, where he said they were bringing 
a pressure to bear upon him, and that he would not dare to openly work 
for the ticket. • 

Q. Do you know any colored men who voted the Democratic ticket ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I know four who vrere delegates at the Democratic conven¬ 
tion. Two came from ward 0 and two from ward 8—Gilbeit Myers, 
and I don’t recollect the other; and then Bryant George, from ward 
No. 8 . Myers was a man who was raised in the parish, and owns his 
own property and does well. George is also prosperous—owns some 
stock. These men were elected delegates to go into the convention and 
help nominate the ticket and work for the success of the party. The 
arguments used to these colored men were these: that under the Demo¬ 
cratic administration in the })ast two years we had i)rovided them for 
the first time since reconstruction with nine months’ continuous schools; 
that they never had that before; that the school moneys heretofore had 
been appropriated for political i)uri>oses; that teachers had been ap¬ 
pointed a month or so before election and then let go immediatsly after; 
that they were better protected under the law; that if there was a crime 
committed, that those men were either put in jail or were refugees from 
justice: that we thought under two years’ economical administration, in 
giving them 18 months’ school in the parish to 13 months, in which we 
paid their teachers $40 per month, that we were entitled, by that means, 
to their approbation. There are two colored members on the school board. 
I heard drunken men say that they were going to carry the eleidion any- 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


72 


how, hut they did not represent us. Our intention was to carry the 
election, aiurto carry it as fairly as possible. When I 
Parish 1 be^nin to teach school in the country, and I recollect in 18 < 1 there 
were very few of the colored people tliat kept hogs or owned anj/ stock. 
I know that was quite common. In the past two or three years the 
farmers down there liave not been able to raise their meat, lor it was 
stolen, and the colored people have been improving. Some of them have 
been buying lands, and those who are willing to work have alvajs been 
protected. 'In my practice at the bar I have seen time and again the 
planter coming forward and going on the bond of the laborer who was 
accused of a crime. I have been paid my fee for defending colored men 
by their employers, and I have often remarked that the pay was surer 
in getting the em])loyer to come and pay the fee than to depend upon 
the colored men themselves. 

Q. Was the cropuxi there this summer an average crop or not?—A, 
No, sir ; it has not been an average crop; it has been a bad crop on the 
river. Corn has been good on the hills, but cotton poor. 

Q. Has that resulted from the disorganized condition of the laborers "? 
—A. No, sir; the spring was very wet and drowned out the young 
crop on the river, and the worms destroyed some more. 

Q. Do you know anything of your Democratic clubs ordering ballot- 
boxes to be made up there ?—A. No, sir; nothing of the kind. I think 
that was a suggestion under the law, that the law specified that we were 
entitled to not less than two. Heretofore the Dinted States sutler visors 
had been at difierent boxes. They had been sent out from Shreveport, 
and one person manipulated the State returns or parish returns. It 
was determined to have the election set>arate and not mixed up with the 
State and Congressional elections, and then allow United States super¬ 
visors to be present at the count of that vote, and not interfere with the 
State and tiarish and ward tickets. 1 think the idea is not a new one 
at all, if I recollect right; under the laws of NeAV York it is done en¬ 
tirely in that way. I think that State i)rovides not less than two. 

The Chairwan. It says there shall be so many boxes, and names the 
boxes. 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Do you know the distribution of the commissioners of the parish 
in that election ?—A. I could not say of my own personal knowledge. 

Q. You do not know who the commissioners were from Shreveport?— 
A. No, sir; only from hearsay. I know there was one Bepublican ; he 
was commissioner with me in January. That was a special election. I 
know this same man acted as commissioner this time; I think the police 
jury had a colored man to every box. That is oidy my opinion; I am 
not certain of that. 

Q. After Mr. Leonard made his speech did any colored people quit 
their employment ?—A. Not that I know of; because I live in town. 

Q. How far is that from there ?—A. About 20 miles. 

Q. When did you come back after you went away before the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I think 8 or 10 days; the election was on the 5th ; I got back 
on the 1st. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What city are you a native of?—A. I am a native of Georgia, but 
I was bred in New York City particularly. 

Q. When did you leave New York ?—A. I left New York in the 
spring of 1871. 


ParisL. [ 


TESTIMONY OF J. H. SHEPHERD. 




Q. Wliat was your age at tliat time?—I was 24 years old. 

Q. I suppose you liad taken no part whatever in politics before that 
time?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You never had voted?—A. Yes, sir; I think I liad voted. I was 
at Hamilton College in 1872, my domicile being in New York. 1 was at 
home, but I recollect I voted in 1873. 

Q. You voted the Hemocratic ticket, I suppose?—A. YYs, sir; with 
tew exceptions. 1 did not choose to su])port one or two. The coroner 
was one 1 did not support, I believe. I exercise my right in that respect 
always. 

Q. When did you arrive at Shreveport?—A. I first took up residence 
in the parish in the fall of 1874—some time in October or November. 

Q. What occupation did you engage in ?—A. Teaching. 

Q. How long did you continue that business ?—A. Two or three years. 

Q. AVhere did you teach during that time ?—A. About four miles from. 
Spring Kidge, Bethany, near Shreveport. 

Q. When did you become a resident of Shreveport ?—A. In Augusts 
1877. ^ 

Q. What have you been engaged in since ?—A. Practicing law. 

Q. Where did you study law ?—A. In New York. 

Q. You were admitted there, I suppose ?—A. Yes, sir; in New York. 

Q. What olfice, if any, did you hold in the school board ?—A. In¬ 
spector of schools. 

Q. How long have you held that office?—A. I think I was elected 
inspector in September last. 

Q. How are you elected or appointed ?—A. By a meeting of the board, 
by a majority of the directors, at the suggestion of the board of educa¬ 
tion. It is a parish appointment, although it includes the schools in the 
city and i)arish both. 

Q. To which party did the board by which you were appointed be¬ 
long ?—A. The majorit}^ belonged to the Democratic party. 

Q. Of how many members does the board consist ?—A. I could not 
give you precisely the number; I think there are 9. 

Q. How many of these are Democrats?—A. If I understand them, 
there are seven or eight. They were all apx^ointed by Governor Nicholls 
under act of the legislature. 

Q. Probably one colored man on the board is a Eei)ublican ?—A. I 
could not say about him; I am not positive about that. In fact, I never 
asked him what he called himself. The board determines the amount 
of school taxes that shall be levied upon a parish. We levy no school 
tax uj)on a x^arish. The school fund comes out of a general fund 
assessed by a State tax-collector, and apx^ortioned by the State sui)erin- 
tendent to the different x:>arishes. 

Q. Do yoii know on what basis that is levied ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On what basis is it ax)X)ortioned to the parish ?—A. On the num¬ 
ber of children between the ages of six and twenty-one. I think at 
present it is one dollar to every child; I am very x^ositi^ e I am correct 
about that. 

Q. You are a lawyer, and for that reason I ask you is there not a stat¬ 
ute in New York State which jmovides that the x^olice jury of the x>ai‘ish 
shall assess a school-tax?—A. No, sir; it says that the police jury may — 
making it discretionary. We make it discretionary with the police jury 
for the }n*esent year in extending our school board. This time the x)ar- 
ish was so badly in debt that the State statute limited the police jury to 
a certain number of mills on the dollar. They said that in order to ])ay 
off the interest on the l)onded debt and build a new jail, and in order to 


74 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


ICaddo 


carry through parish expenses, they would not be able to levy the taxes 
that year. The police jury in the parish of Caddo of last year declined 
to levy a school tax. This year we did not really need it. 

Q. 1 did not inquire that." In former years did the police jury in that 
parish levy a school tax !—A. Not to my knowledge. 

Q. Do you know !—A. I do not know. 

Q. You state that there were four colored members of the Democratic 
convention; do you know when those men were converted?—A. No, 
sir; I have never been in any experience meetings to find out. 

Q. Do you not know the fact that those men have belonged to the 
Democratic party for years past?—A. No, sir; I know Gilbert Myers 
has been a Democrat for two years at least, and I suppose the others 
have been, else they would not have been chosen to the convention. 

Q. Then the Democracy of that jiarish requires a colored man who 
has been converted to Democracy to stay on i)robation for some little 
time ?—A. Just the same as they do white Eepublicans; I don’t think 
they would make any distinction on that i)latform. 

Q. Wliat is the length of time they are required to remain on i)roba- 
tion ?—A. There is no statute about that. 

Q. You do not know but that was fixed by the Democratic parish com¬ 
mittee?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you known man named Henry Williams, colored ?—A. I know 
several Williamses, but I could not say I know liim. 

Q. Did you see him during the last political campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you see him ?—A. I saw him in company with Hari>er, 
driving around. 

Q. Is he regarded as a leading colored man ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q- Were you on the Danube when those nien were taken ofi*?—A. 
Yes, sir; I was there when they were taken oif. I can give you as much 
as I saAV of it. AVhen the Danube landed, I think it was after break¬ 
fast. It was at the Campo Bella ])lantatioii. After I stepped out from 
the state-room I saw Jeff Cole, a colored constal)le from that ward, and 
Mr. Jones and Dick jMoss, and they passed around by the rear of the 
cabin and came back with Clark and White. 

Q. Were those white men armed?—A. Yes, sir; Jones was armed; I 
could not say about the remainder, and then I saw five or six on the 
bank who were armed. I think three came on board with the constable. 
Cash, Jones, and Dick Moss. 

Q. Where did those men reside ?—A. Near Caledonia. One of the 
witnesses here stated that no one saw their warrants. I wrote those 
warrants myself. The clerk stopped the officer before I got off the boat 
and asked him what authority he had to make the arrest, and he ])ulled 
out those warrants and handed them to the clerk, and the clerk remi 
them. I looked them over and saw they were warrants irom the justice 
of the peace at Shreveport. 

Q. What justice?—A. Lewis E. Carter. 

Q. Please look at that paper [handing pa[)er to witness] and see if that 
tell^^^looking at paper.] I did not examine close enough to 

Q. You say you read it ?—A. Yes, sir; but I do not know. 

Q. Then it is a defect in your memory?—A. The clerk stood beside 
me, and I took the paper and read it ov^er his shoulder. I judge this is 
the paper. ‘ ^ 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The dates, &c., appear to be the same ?—A. I think so. 

G. ihat IS the justice’s handwriting ?—A. Yes, sir. 


ParLsh.] 


TESTIMONY OP J. H. SHEPHERD. 


75 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is the date of that?—A. Twelfth of November. 

Q. Ou what day was the arrest made ?—A. It was made on the 19th 
of December. 

Q. More than a month after the date of that ?—A. Yes, sir; I had un¬ 
derstood before that these men could not be found j that they were look¬ 
ing for them in Shreveport. 

Q. Was the arrest made very quietly, or otherwise?—A. T think that 
Mr. Jones, or some of them, found three men, and Cole walked up to 
them and told them, You are my i^risoners.” 

Q-. Did you know either of those men before that time—Clark and 
White ?—A. No, sir; I never saw them before. I did not know they 
were on the boat. I could not have gone there and picked them out. 

Q. Did you get on the boat at Shreveport?—A. Yes, sir; and came 
all the way down. 

Q. How far below Shreveport was the arrest made ?—A. About 80 
miles by water, and 25 by land. 

Q. How long had the boat been coming?—A. All night; the river be¬ 
ing very low, and the boat stopped to take on cotton. We were eight 
days coming from Shreveport, 000 miles, and the first three days we did 
not make 150 miles after we left to come below. I think we left there 
at seven o’clock, and I don’t think we made more than 25 miles that day. 

Q. Where does this constable, Jeff Cole, reside ?—A. He is constable 
of the eighth ward, where this arrest was made. 

Q. How far from Shreveport does he reside ?—A. Twenty-five miles by 
land and a1)Out eiglity by water. 

Q. Where does this Justice Cathren resale?—A. In Shreveport. 

Q. Do you know who brought the warrant from Shreveport to that 
point ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you information on that point?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any men in that crowd armed—armed white men resi¬ 
dents of Shreveport ?—A. No, sir. If there had been any men there from 
Shreveport I would have known them; I know every white man at Shreve¬ 
port. 

Q. You cannot explain, then, how the arrest happened to l)e made at 
that time and iff ace. The warrant Avas issued at ShreAuq)ort, and Boolier 
left the daj^ before and there was no i>erson from Shreveport present 
when the arrest was mad(‘ ?—A. It might have been that some one came 
aboard and took a list of the ])assengers, and in that way it might lead to 
the discoverv of the passengers. 

Q. Who (•ame aboard and took the list ?—A. The reporter at Shreve¬ 
port ; they always had, and I supimse more particularly at that time, 
because they kneAV a number of witnesses were coming here l>efore the 
grand jury, and in that Avay the information may have been yarried below. 
^Ir. Cass told me that they had been looking for Clark and White, as 
thev were leaders of the riot. 

Q. What time on the 18th did Booher leave Shreveport ?—A. At eigl t 
o’clock. 

Q. When Avas this arrest made?—A. At seven the next inornreg. I 
would not be precise about that. 

Q. You AA^ere in telegraphic communication between ShrcA^eport and 
the place where the arrest was made?—A. I think not. 

Q. Did any boats pass you during the night from ShreA-eport doAva? 
—A. I could not say about that; I was asleep. 

Q. Did you hear of any ?—A. No, sir; I heard of one going up. 

Q. But none coming doAvn ?—A. No, sir. 


76 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


fCa«lil{> 


By tlie Chairman : 

Q. These three men you knew, wliere did they reside?—A. Cash re¬ 
sided in Caledonia, Moss resided about a mile beyond there, and Jones 
resides at the same place that Moss does. c i 

Q. What is the direction of Caledonia from Shreveport ?—A. South. 

Q. On the river ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Below ?—A. Y"es, sir. There is a direct route from Shreveport to 
Caledonia, a cut-off that makes it between 22 and 25 miles. 

Q. Were you expecting these men ?—A. ]No, sir. 

Q. Bid you talk with them any ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whom did you talk with?—A. I asked Cash what he meant, lie 
said they had a warrant for the arrest of these men. 

Q. Were they all armed?—A. Yes, sir ; well, I could not say. Jones 
had a pistol 5 I did not see anything on Cash. 

Q. How were these men armed on shore ?—A. I sa'w three with guns. 

Q. How far were you from Shreveport ?—A. About 80 miles. There 
is a difference between Caledonia and Canipa Bella ol about two miles. 

Q. You gave one of them a bottle of whisky f—A. Yes, sir. One ot 
the gentlemen on the shore said he was very cold and to send him some 
Avhisky. 

Q. I thought you did not know them; Avhom did you know?—A. 
Jones. 

Q. Whom did you give the whisky to?—A. To Jones, and Cash car¬ 
ried it out. 

Q. Who else did you know on shore ?—A. I knew Cash, Mr. Jones, 
and Hutchinson, and a young man there. 

Q. Where does he live?—A. He lives a mile or two below Cam})a 
Bella, with an uncle. I probably knew all the men on the shore, if 1 had 
taken the pains to go out there and to have looked about, l^erhaps 1 
knew them when 1 saw them, but I have forgotten. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Hid the boats run regularly on the river—do they have stated 
hours to reach certain points ?—A. In high water, or sometimes at low 
water, planters generally expect boats at certain hours; sometimes, 
though, there is a great difference. In high water the Danube wouhl 
have been away beyond Campa Bella before morning. The water being 
very low the boats blow for them to announce their coming. 

Q. But the water at that time made their coming uncertain ?—A. Yes, 
sir, somewhat; but they generally ascertain about what time they will 
arrive. 

Q. It is not more regular than on the Mississippi or Ohio Kiver?—A. 
No, sir; perhaps not so regular. 

Q. Was it known in Shreveport that these two men had been sub¬ 
poenaed to attend United States court here ?—A. It may and it may not 
have been known. 

Q. Did you know of it ?—A. No, sir. After the boat left I saw the 
iiames on the register, but 1 could not recognize the men because I had 
never seen but one before. 

Q. Did they know tliere that they were subpoenaed ?—A. I do not 
know. I had my subpoena three or four days before I left, and thei e 
was a number of others that had them before the boat left. 

Q. Hoav long had you been looking for the boat before it came ?—A. 
We had not been looking for it for a long time. I know tlie boat run 
regularly; there is a regular line of seventeen steainers. It is the ter- 


Tarish.] 


TESTIMONY OF D. A. SIMPSON. 


77 


jriinus, aiul the regular days for sailing were Saturdays, Wednesdays, 
and IMondays. • " ^ 

Q. This posse was evidently watching for the coining of the l)oatf— 
A. I do not know; I did not know anything about their coming iintyl I 
saw them come aboard. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. ho served these siibptenas to them ?—A. Deputy United States 
marshal. 

Q. It was generally known in town that a great many witnesses had 
l>een subpcenaed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Are you called a cariiet-bagger there ?—A. I suppose I am. I think 
Harper and some others call me a Democrat carpet-iiagger. 

Q. Are you denominated a carpet-bagger by the Democrats gener¬ 
ally ?—xV. I could not say; I believe one of the Democrats did call me 
that. 

Q. I did not know but the fact that you were born in Georgia and 
voted the Democratic ticket would save you?—A. ]No, sir; I don’t think 
that would make any difference. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you know anything of the location of the voting place at Wil¬ 
lis’s school-house ?—A. I know where the Willis school-house is upon 
the map; I was not there. 

Q. How far from Shreveport is it?—A. Thirty-five miles. 

Q. Do you know where the large majority of the people of that place 
reside, in reference to the polling place?—A. I do not; but 1 think they 
would reside between ffve and ten miles above Shreveport. 

Q. How far would that be from the polling place ?—A. Fifteen or 
twenty miles, I judge. 

Q. Have you ever been to Willis’s school-house ?—A. I never have. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Tell us where the polling place had been in that precinct before it 
was changed?—A. I don’t think I could, because that is in the upper end 
of the parish, and I have always lived in the center of the iiarish. 

Q. Do you know where that place had been before it was changed?— 
A. Ko, sir; because I lived away from it, and not having any connection 
with it I could not tell. 

Q. Do you know whether any change had been made there?—A.. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. YMu do not know from what point to what point ?—iY. Ko, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. They changed the boundaries of the whole ward?—A. Yes, sir; 
over the whole i)arish in 1877. 


I). x\. SIMPSOK. 

New Orleans, La., January 10, 1870. 
D. A. Simpson sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. Near Shreveport—about 
twelve miles from there—Caddo Parish. 



78 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Q. What is your business when you are at lioine ?—A. Farming’. 

Q. In the testimony to-day there lias been a good deal said about 
public speaking and a disturbance at Sining Kidge in your jiarish, and 
it has been mentioned that you were there. Aow state in your own 
way what occurred there; you were at both these meetings ?—A. Acs, 
sir ; I was at all of them. 

Q. Now commence with the first one and give a statement in your own 
way of what occurred there.—A. 1 will have to go back to the time when 
Leonard and I made the nominations on the ticket. Before the liepub- 
lican convention, Albert Leonard met me one day and said he had certain 
young men picked out to run on the Bepublican ticket, and asked me to 
support them. I told him I could not do so. Jle knew 1 Avas a member 
of the parish executive committee, and had been a friend of his, and 
sought my influence, if possible, and asked me Avhat I thought ot the 
ticket that he put in the held. I told him I was satisfied that we could 
beat it easily. 1 shoAved by the colored boys that Leonard did not Avait 
for the coiiA'cntion to nominate, but selected the men and said they had to 
be nominated, and Ave got up a good oi>positiou to him, and the first effort 
out there was a failure. A small crowd Avas there—a A^ery fcAv colored meii. 
At his second efiort I heard Leonard say, ‘‘Well, 1 had heard again 
and again that he Avould be killed,*’ and being chairman of the execu¬ 
tive committee, I was anxious to And out Avhere the threat originated, 
and I found out that it originated in the Bepublican party. On the 
morning there is alleged to have been a riot, there was no riot until he 
came out there, about 8 o’clock in the morning, to make a speech. I 
found out that it was the Democrats’ day. Our club Avas to meet that 
day. The majority oi)posed Leonard’s speaking, and, after talking Avith 
the club, I got them to consent that he could speak, and he agreed that 
he should not go into personalities; that is confine himself to political 
topics, and say nothing personal. IMr. Leonard, in his si>eech, as AA’ell 
as I remember, commenced by saying, “You farmers here are charging 
these freedmen with $3 to $4 per acre for corn that I can buy for that. 
You are charging them from 10 cents to 15 cents and 25 cents to 20 cents 
a pound for bacon,” and he said, “You are killing the goose that laid 
the golden egg.” And then I said, “ If you pay me $5 dollars an acre for 
ground for all the ground I rent, I Avill be satisfied,” and others made 
that same remark to Mr. Leonard. After that he commen(*ed again in 
his speech and aa^ouikI up; but he Avas interfered with just in that way, 
because 1 did not Avant a man to make my laborers belieA^e that I was 
SAvindling them, and I interfered Avith hiin in that way—if he called 
that a riot. After Leonard spoke one or two others came in, and JMr. 
Harper commenced by alluding to vMajor Moncure being an old line 
Democrat, and that he Avould not do, and from the tone of his speech 
we saw that he was driving into the peoi)le’s heads that if he was elected 
that the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments Avould not be respected 
at all. About that time several parties remarked that Harper’s speech 
Avas ungentlemauly; that he had broken the rules; that he had agreed to 
make a political speech, and he was making personal remarks against 
Major Moncure. About that time Air. AIcMillan noticed it, and from 
Avhat I could see lie was making some remark to Air. Leonard that I 
could not hear, as I Avas 8 or 10 feet from him, and there was more 
than one talking, and I could not distinguish what one man said from 
another. The first I heard was that some one rushed up and took the 
rest away from Air. Leonard, and Air. Leonard walked right out of the 
house and Avent away, and no Democrat followed him out of the house 
or made an ungentlemanly remark to him. 


TESTIMONY OF D. A. SIMPSON. 79 

Q. What time did the meeting close up ?—A. It was late iji the eveu- 
ing ; Mr. Leonard took an hour and a half. 

Q. Did yon make any attack on Leonard ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Did yon make any on Harper 't —A. N^o, sir. 

Q. IIow many people were in the meeting, do yon suppose ?—A. AVell, 
sir, we had a good large meeting. I snpx)ose—it was an ordinary coun¬ 
try church ; 1 could not say positively how many it would seat, hut it 
was full. I think we had about 125 white men and a good strong col¬ 
ored DeiiKXTatic crowd there also. 

i}. What day of the week was that A. That was on Saturday, I 
think. • ’ 

Q. \\ ere you in the habit of holding meetings there on Saturday f— 
Yes, sir; every Saturday at that place. 

Q. Did you vote there at that election ?—A. I did. 

Q. Y ere you there pretty much all day the day of the election ?—A. 
I reached there at the break of day on the morning of the election j 
I was one of the first men on the ground. 

Q. Did the election pass off very peaceably ?—A. As quiet as 1 ever 
saw. 

Q. Did you see anybody that day prevented from voting ?—A. No, 
sir ; I did not. 

Q. You spoke just now of having got a large colored element arrayed 
against Elstner f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many in that ward did you have?—A. We counted on 150 
negroes to vote the Democratic ticket, and 1 think we voted 125 or more 
that day. 

Q. Can you remember any of the names ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you give us some of them ?—A. I think 1 can, but to give the 
names of 100 negroes would be a difficult thing. I can give you the 
leading names there as follows: Thomas Johnson, (lilbert Miles, Abe 
Ferns, Curry Hamilton, Gould Foster—those are the only leading ones 
I think of. 

Q. Did these you mention and others meet in the club with you ?—A. 
We had two freedmen in our convention—two delegates—1 have forgot¬ 
ten their names. Saturday after this so-called riot 1 gave a large bar¬ 
becue, and we then had 175 freedmen there. 

Q. Did any of your associates there use any threats or compulsion on 
the colored people to get them to vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. No, 
sir ; we used our influence. 

Q. Did you use violence or threats ?—A. No, sir; I saw no threats of 
any kind used against anybod;\\ 

Q. Did you threaten to break their contracts, or anything of that 
kind?—A. No, sir; nothing of that kind. 1 mind here that Mr. Elstner^ 
alluded to some strange faces being present that day. There were a 
couple of young men from Teche came up with the deputy sheriff* that 
day who were there to arrest fugitive thieves. Those were the strange 
faces alluded to. 

Q. How far is that from Spring Kidge, Teche?—A. I don’t know; it 
is only about two miles over the Caddo line—probably seven or eight 
miles away. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

(^. Mr. Elstner lives at Shreveport ?—A. Yes, sir; he is collector ot 
the port. 

Q. And Mr. Smithly, I believe?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And George Willis also ?—A. Yes, sir. 


80 


LOUISIANA IN 187 


[Caddo 


Q. Aliy other officials here that live at Shreveport ?—A. Yes, sir j 
Arthur Ilodj^e; he has some position in the custom lioiise. 

Q. Does Mr. Hodge live there ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By j\Ir. Cameron : 

Q. About how many wliite men residing in Shreveport are Itepubli- 
< 3 ans ?—A. I think there is a very few. 

Q. About how many ?—A. I cannot give you any idea. 

Q. AVhat was the incendiary speech that Mr. Harper made at that 
meeting?—A. I did not know that he made an incendiary speech; he 
made a personal attack on Moiicure. 

Q. You consider he made such a speech that lie would not allow him 
to proceed?—A. Y"ou do not understand me ; it was a Democratic meet¬ 
ing, and before this joint discussion was consented to, each party 
agreed not to use such language as would hurt the feelings of the other 
party. The Democrats did not mention Mr. Moncure’s name, or Mr. 
Elstiier’s, and Mr. Elstner went so far as to take a pledge that he would 
not say a word against the others, and I advised our speakers just to 
stand by the agreement, which they did. 

Q. Where was the Democratic meeting appointed to be held ?—A. At 
that time and jdace. We always met when the major came in. 

Q. Y^ou did not understand me. When was the time for the meeting 
fixed on that day ?—A. O, that was a standing meeting; we met there 
every Saturday after the campaign ojiened. We went to work to beat 
them, and whenever a man failed to come I went to his house and talked 
with him and reasoned with him. One man on the ticket got sick and 
while he was sick I turned his friends all over. 

Q. You were at the first Eepublican meeting there?—A. No, sir; T 
was at the first Democratic meeting. 

Q. I understood you to state, in reply to Senator Garland’s question, 
that you were at all the Eepublican meetings there ; is that so ?—A. I 
was at every Democratic meeting. 

Q. I am not inquiring about this now. There were two Eepublican 
meetings; were you at the first?—A. No, sir; because that was not 
called of any imiiortance before the committee. Nothing transpited 
there then, so I did not attend. 

Q. Do you know when the Eepublicans agreed that they would hold a 
meeting on that Saturday ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know that they never did agree to hold a meeting on that 
Saturday ?—A. I don’t think that this meeting had been published or 
anything known about it at all; they went without any notification. 

Q. It has been stated here by one witness that they held a meeting 
on one Saturday, and it was stated then they gave notice that on the 
next Saturday they would hold another.—A. It may have been so. 

Q. The Eepublicans claim that at least one week prior to that time 
they had given public notice that they would hold a meeting on that 
Saturday.—A. I know nothing about it. 

Q. Were you one of the leading Democrats who met with Leonard and 
agreed to hold a joint discussion ?—A. I never met with Mr. Leonard. I 
went to the club and advised them. This agreement was gone into by 
the leaders ot both parties, and I advised them to stick to their agree¬ 
ment. 

Q. Was there not room enough there for both parties to hold their 
meeting. A. Yes, sir; plenty, if one of them had gone into the open 
air. It seems that the Democrats wanted to hear the others speak. 


TESTIMONY OP D. A. SIMPSON, 81 

Q. Then the Republicans had just as nmch rigiit in that church at 
that time as any one!—A. They had, by the agreement. 

Q. And also to be judges, whether they abided by their agreement! 
—A. I suppose we had as much right to judge as they did. 

Q. Now, the otfense against HaiT)er was that he referred to Moncure 
as an old man!—A. He referred to him as an old war Democrat. 

Q. Is that a crime in that country !—A. And that he had old, fixed 
ideas; and he went on to say if a man had gone on until he had become 
old that he could not change; that the ideas of slavery were driven, 
down into him until he could not get them out with a sledge-hammer. 

Q. You did not allow him to say that ?—A. Because he had broken 
his agreement. 

Q. He did not think he had broken it, but you did !—A. We thought 
so. 

Q. You said in your direct examination that he was driving into the 
heads of the negroes that the amendments would not be respected, and 
you did not permit him to say that ?—A. Well, he did state it. 

Q. And thereupon you sto])ped him. Is that a fact!—A. Well, I 
doiTt know whether we—well, he took the hint and quit. 

Q. What was the hint!—A. As 1 stated, myself and others rose up 
and told him that he hadn’t abided by the agreement, and that w e did 
not want to see the negroes or white people excited against each other 
at all. We were wmrking w itli those people, and we wanted to live 
peaceably and friendly with them; and our idea w as that w^e w anted to 
proceed friendly witli them. There is a way of making a public speech 
without going back into slavery. There is no use of making it a fire¬ 
brand. 

Q. Then the substance of it is that you claimed the privilege of dic¬ 
tating to Harper the substance of the speech he should make !—A. No, 
sir; that he should keep his agreement. 

Q. That he should not go into personalities ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The personality w^as Hari)er said he was an old man!—A. And 
that their rights would not be respected if he was elected. 

Q. He said then, did he, that if he w as elected their rights.w ould not 
be respected !—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Now this is a little different from the first rendition of the speech. 
Will you not give us that speech again ?—A. Well, a man may say one 
thing one time and another thing another time, and yet mean the same. 
The idea I Avant to impress upon you is this: that the Democratic and 
Republican party agreed that they would not go into personalities. We 
had heard rumors of armed iiegroes in this Caledonia affair; we had 
heard of Albert Leonard being threatened with killing, and we wanted 
a peaceable and quiet campaign. Our object w as not to intimidate him, 
but if we had a joint discussion not for either party to say anything 
about a candidate that w^ndd be likely to hurt his feelings. 

Q. Now^, vou thought that it w ould hurt his feelings to say that he 
was a war Democrat, and that he had fixed feelings and could not change 
them !—A, I did not think he wmuld go against the fifteenth amendment, 
and I did not think he wmuld make anybody slaves. 

Q. What idea have you for those leading colored men voting the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket!—A. Early in the morning wdien the crowd came, every 
Democrat w as on the ground to w ork, and he would take one man off 
and reason with him, and then take another off and reason with him, and 
make converts of them, and directly another crowd wmuld do the same 
thing, and we had seventy-five or one hundred men at work there, and 
they had boys that they were paying wages and dealing gentlemanly and 

6 T 


82 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[(!a(3do 


squarely, and when a man does that he can always vote two or threej 
at least I ean. 

Q. And you would take one of these negroes oft' some distance and 
reason with him I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then a number of tliem would take him oft“ and vote him ?— 
A. If you were interested in a eampaigu, and you could convince a man 
that you had the best men, I think you would do the same. We had a 
straight-out Democratic ticket, and we had good reason to show them 
that we had the best ticket in the held. They would believe it and 
then would vote it. 

Q. You stilted that (hirry Hamilton voted the D.nnocratic ticket; 
what reason have you to think that was so?—A. Well, they came over 
to me. They were Demociiits, and I giive them some tickets. 

Q. N^ow in regard to thirry Hiimilton. What reason have you to think 
he voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. Deciiuse I took him off and sat 
down alioiit sunrise in the morning, iind it was not long before I had him 
a very good Democriit—converted him. 

Q. That was almost as sudden as the converting of the apostle I'aul ?— 
A. Yes, sir, he changed; I voted him; I walked ui> with him to the 
polls and he voted. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How do you know the ticket he ])ut in was a Democratic ticket?— 
A. I siij^pose you (*ould very eiisily tell if you hiid lieeii there. Ours 
Wiis one color and theirs was another. Curry Hamilton was called one 
of the strongest negroes in the Kepuldican party, and every man was 
working to convert him. 

Q. He was a stubborn negro?—A. Yes, sir. They saw him weeks 
before the election, and Mr. Anderson told me he h^id converted him one 
or two weeks before. 

Q. How many of the distinguished Democrats of that ward tried their 
hand at converting Curry ?—A. I think C'aptain Foster talked with 
him ; I don’t know of any one else. 

Q. You said you commenced talking with him two Aveeks before the 
election ?—A. I said our i>arty commenced going to see this man. 

Q. Y"ou understand he was converted on the day of the election ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And that the person who converted him Avalked with him up to the 
polls and a oted him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the Avay the conversions were made ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Well, lU’ior to last fall were not many of the colored people of that 
ward Democrats, or nearly all that were Democrats became so this last 
campaign ?—A. Spring liidge was Democratic. It is one of the strong¬ 
est Democratic places in the parish. 

Q. How many people did you work upon in that way last fall; of 
course no evangelist can tell just how much good he does, but then how 
many?—A. Well, u]) to ten o’clock I had voted'- 

Q. I am talking about the converting now.—A. If somebody would 
tell you to A ote the Democratic ticket, you would not do it. 

Q. I think so.—A. Well, each man would try to see how many Azotes 
he could get; to see if our box could be filled. 

Q. W ell, it has always been a strong Democratic box; what reason 
had you to think it would not be filled ?—A. Well, because it had been 
I do not think is an assurance that it Avould still lie. 

By Mr. Garland : 

commissioners were at the election that day at Siiring 
Kidge?—A. Three. i ^ 



TESTIMONY OF G. W. NORWOOD. 83 

Q. TTliat party did they belong to ?—A. Two Democratic and one 
Kepublican. 

Q. W ho was the Repnblican ?—A. I have forgotten his name. 

Q. Who were the two Democrats ?—A. (libbs and Bailey. 

Q* Was the Republican a black man f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know his name at the time ?—A. I do not think I did. 

Q. Did you learn his name that day ?—A. 1 don’t rememl>er. 

Q. Did he reside in that Avardf—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what distance from where you lived I —A. Well, in the western 
portion of the Avard; it is six miles from Spring Ridge. 


(;. W. NORWOOD. 

New Orleans, La., January 11, 1879. 

O. W. Noravood sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland: 

Question. Where do you live?—Answer. In (’addo Parish, Louisiana. 

Q. Hoav long have you liA^ed there ?—A. About two years. 

Q. Where did you go from to that parish?—A. I am a native of 
Louisiana. I moved to Texas and remained one year, and then came 
back to Louisiana. 1 was raised in PennsylA ania, and then came to 
this parish. 

Q. You seem to be suffering with your face. What is the matter with 
it?—A. I am Av^ouuded, sir. 

Q. Tell the committee Avhen you were Avounded; how, where, and all 
the circumstances connected with it.—A. 1 received my wounds the 5th 
day of NoA^ember, at the general election, in Caledonia, this State, be¬ 
tween 4 and 5 o’clock in the eA^ening, at the hands of a mol) composed 
of the oppressed people in Louisiana—the negroes. The first man who 
delivered a shot^—the first gun that was fired that day was tired at me. 
I will state, in connection Avitli this, that there is an erroneous impres¬ 
sion given in the testimony of some Avitnesses, that tlie colored people 
received the first shot instead of giAung it. SeA^eral men IniA^e sworn, if 
it is reported correctly, that the Avhite people of Caledonia precinct 
fired the first shot. And I see also that George W. NorAvood is accused 
here by a celebrated colored man of firing the shot on that day. He is 
not an honest man,Avhether he be black or wliite. I did not fire a shot 
on that day, being the first man shot. A more peaceable election I 
never saAv. I was there about an hour and a half before the polls 
opened and for three or four hours afterward. I staid there; 1 could 
not get away. During tlie day ev^eiything passed off peaceably, and I 
(I supi)ose they Avill giA^e me credit for it) worked zealously. I am inde¬ 
pendent now in politics, because my choice cannot be got in Louisiana. 
[ am a Republican at heart. So far as the cardinal principles of repub¬ 
licanism is concerned I am a Republican; but we haA^e no Repul)lican 
party in Louisiana with Avhich to affiliate, and for that reason I have to 
rely upon the only one u]>on which there can be any reliance placed for 
the general good of the country and the general advancement of the 
])eople. As to the conduct of the i)eople in Caledonia, both white and 
colored, during the day, I can say that eA^erything was peaceable and 
quiet up to about 2 o’clock. Between 2 and 3 there seemed to be some 
difference of oi)inion between the colored men and Dr. Moss, one of 
the commissioners. A celebrated witness, Mr. BroAvn, has sworn he was 



84 


LOUISIANA IN lri78. 


[Caddo 


not a commissioner; still Ids commission was not contradicted, gentle¬ 
men. Dr. Moss told this man he could not vote because his name was 
not uj)on the ijoll-list. This colored man seeemed i>eculiarly irritated^ 
and, eventually, Mr. Madison Eeams, or Mad. Kearns, a big-footed col¬ 
ored man who was running for justice of the peace, came up as the 
mouth-piece of the Kepublican party, and he had a man by the name of 
Williams working for him. Madison Reams and this man were lead¬ 
ers of the Kepublican i)arty that day. Mr. Madison Reams came up to 
Mr. Moss, showed him the law upon this subject, that if he made an affi¬ 
davit before an authorized officer that he had registered he could vote, 
and contradicted Mr. Moss once, twice, or three times, until Mr. Moss 
give him the God damned lie; but it soon quieted down. Meantime,^it 
was noticed by the people, the Democrats (I was not a Democrat; I am 
for(‘.ed to affiliate with that party because I have nothing else to affiliate 
with that is res])ectable)—1 will say, also, that these men run toward 
Madison Kearns’ house, which created the imi)ression in the minds of all 
men who had any intelligence in their skulls, that there was something ou 
foot. At length Mr. Hutchinson and another man—two white men—one 
of them (I have forgotten whicli one) noticed a colored man making some 
motion. ]Now, I heard this—I didn’t see it—I heard that this gentleman 
saw a motion on the part of this man, and said they could see some ne¬ 
groes coming out of Madison Keains’ house with guns. I know this to 
be a fact, for 1 was sitting on a little porch in front of a store where the 
election was being held alongside of one or two other gentlemen; and 
all at once I heard quite a commotion among the commissioners, and I 
heard some one say “ guns” and See about those guns and have them 
stacked.” Who said it I don’t know. I turned around, because I was 
somewhat scared of them myself (1 am getting used to them now, how¬ 
ever)—I turned round, and just about that time Mr. McNeal and two or 
three other men- 

Q. Who is McNeal f—A. He was recognized on the day of the election 
as the deputy sheriff by me and the commissioners. I didn’t see his 
authority; I understood him to be such, though. He called upon me 
and these men to see what was going on. I had been talking to the 
colored men all day. I thought I could influence them. These other 
men went along at the same time, and the sheriff' was on my left side, 
and these other men were right ahead, and when I got within 8 or 10 
feet of the front ot the house where they were—there was a door in the 
center and a door behind—and in that distance, 8 or 10 feet in front, I 
saw a negro woman and a boy handing out guns behind. My curiosity, 
when I saw the guns, led me to look under the house, and I stooped 
down to see who was on the other side. I could not see when 1 was 
standing up, being pretty close to the house. When I looked under, I 
saw the lower part ot the legs ot what I took to be about seventy-tive 
men. As 1 looked down and started to raise up to see what the sheriff 
was going to do, as he was the mouth piece, just then a colored man, 
black as the ace ot spades, came around the corner, and I was stooping 
when I noticed him, and before I could raise up he saw me, and then lie 
hred. 1 remarked, “Don’t shoot,” just as he tired. He shot me in the 
shoulder and tace and hand—two holes in the shoulder and two holes 
where they came out. The gentlemen can see them if they wish to. 
1 here was ten holes on the left side of my face where the bullets came 
out. 1 have since had some cut out of my left shoulder. I don’t know 
how many bullets were tired into me, because they were mixed shot— 
bucksliot and small shot. I liave got out tifty-nine pieces of bone; the 
last piece came out last night. ^ 



Parish.] TESTIMONY OF G. W. NORWOOD. 85 

(The witness liere displayed a number of pieces of bone and shot that 
had been taken out of his lace.) 

It hurt me considerably, when I had devoted myself for the last five 
years in assisting meil, and had toiled as I had, to have them shoot me 
the first one. I am a Bepublican in part, because there is no difference 
between the Kepnblican princii)les in this country and the Jeffersonian 
principles, that I can detect, of one hundred years ago. I will say, the 
•only reason why I am not a Republican to-day is that we have no Repub¬ 
lican party in Louisiana. We have a Negro party, a Thief party. We 
have a set of men who use the Republican party in name, and use those 
men (pointing to a black man) to “rake the nuts out of the fire.” To- 
elay I am more in favor of negro suffrage than any man who sits in the 
United States Senate. 1 will take my gun in favor of negro suffrage 
quicker than any of them, because I belicA'e it is right, and, next, be¬ 
cause I believe it helps us down South. 

Q. How many guns did you count there ?—xV. I didn’t have time to 
count them. 

Q. Did you have time to form even an idea as to the number ?—A. 
N^o, sir. 

Q. Do you know the name of the man who shot you ?—A. No, sirj I 
don’t know him. 

Q. The first shot that was fired w as the shot that hit you ?—A. Yes, 
sir. There was a witness accused me of a crime here that I want to con¬ 
tradict. Mr. Rlackman says, “I saw Norwood shoot at a fellow under 
the table.” I Avill state that I w^as not armed on the day of the election. 
If there was any guns I didn’t see them any farther than that house. I 
didn’t know the colored men had any guns. Well, I will say that I 
did see one gun belonging to James Pendleton. He stood against a tree 
and remained there until I was shot. I was working against Madison 
Wells that day more than for any one else, and I told the colored people 
for “God Almighty’s sake” if they were going to vote, vote for somebody 
that at least was supposed to be honest, and not for one that was known 
to be a villain. 

Q. You took no interest beyond the Congressional election !—A. Yes, 
sir; I did, as far as the ward was concerned. I didn’t care much about 
the paro(*hial ti(*Let. I got men to listen, to the extent of 50 or 00, and 
I will state that Elstner, the Republican candidate, and so did Madison 
Reams, render me considerable assistance in this respect. Colored peo¬ 
ple would not listen to me because my precinct happened to be white. 
I told them that Reams was a scoundrel, and had been so characterized 
by one of the brightest lights of the Republican party, namely, Phil 
Sheridan. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Where did you stay that night ?—A. xVfter I became sensible I 
staid at Caledonia, first one place and then another, lying on the ground 
in front of a store. 

Q. Were you able to walk after you received that shot ?—A. I recol¬ 
lect staggering along toward the polls. I don't think 1 could walk after 
I got shot, to amount to anything, without assistance. I don’t recollect 
anything at all. It was nearly dark. 

Q. Were you about in the parish during the canvass out through the 
jirecinct!—A. No, sir ; I was not. 

Q. If I understood you correctly Mr. Elstner and Reams furnished 
you assistance in the Congressional matter alone ?— A. Yes, sir; not 
-only in that, but did by omission, if not by commission, render me con- 


86 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


siderable assistance on the ward ticket. I wish to contradict Henry 
Williams, who was the mouthpiece of Elstner that day. He asked me 
what ticket I was issuing. Second, I will state that Jim Beard was not 
at the ballot-box on that day; I can testify to that. 

Q. Was there any other person shot besides you?—A. I could not 
tell j 1 Wiis the first man shot. I know from hearsay. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. What is your business ?—A. I am a farmer. 

Q. Where did you farm ?— A. In Campo Bella. 

Q. How long have you farmed there?—A. During this last year; in 
1878. 

Q. Where did you farm before that ?—A. At Crees Point, about 12 
or 14 miles above that. 

Q. What time of day was it when you went to this house?—A. It 
was between four and five o’clock, I presume. It was getting late. 

Q. How many men went with you ?—A. Four or five. There was 
McGill, Crowder, Calhoun, and myself. They were the men that started 
with me. 

Q. You say that none of these men were armed ?—A. Well, not to 
my knowledge ; if they were, I don’t know it. 

Q. What was the object for which you were going to that house?— 
A. To cause the colored men to stack their arms outside in complianco 
with the law. 


Q. When you went up there how many men did you find?—A. I 
won’t say how many men; I just judged hj looking under the house at 
the legs. 

Q. Did the house have any floor in it ?—A. Y>s, sir; I think it did^ 
because I could see under it. 

Q. Were they standing on the floor?—A. Xo, sir; standing out 
behind the house; tliere was a woman and boy in the house; at leasts 
they were there when the first shot was fired. 

Q. Who were they handing the guns to ?—A. I could not say; I could 
see them handing out the guns. 

Q. Whose house was it ?—A. I don't know. 

Q. Who lived in it ?—A. I could not say. 

Q. Did Madison Beams ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q,. Where was Beams at this time ?—A. I don’t know; I saw him 
about four minutes before that. 

Q. Where was he then ?—A. Standing right in front of the box at the 
polling i)lace. 

Q. About how fiir was it from the polling place up to this house ?_ 

A. About 75 or 100 yards. 

Q. Do you know that any colored men left to go to the house when 
you started ?—A. I didn’t notice any. 

Q. How did you know there was Vny arms in the house at all ?_A.. 

I didn’t know it until I saw it with my"own eyes. 

Q. How many did you see ?—A. I saw a colored woman with two and 
a boy with two, and I saw the one that popped me. 

Q. This gun was loaded with buck-shot and duck-shot ?—A. I sup¬ 
pose from those that came out of me they were. 

know anything that occurred after you were shot?_ 

A. Xo, sir; I only got up the day before Christmas, and I am hardly 
able to be up now. 

By Mr. Cameron : 


Q. ^ fiat was the length of that house, as near as you can iudge?- 
A. I take it 8 or 10 feet, and 16 or 18 feet broad. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF EMANUEL AUGUSTIN. 


87 


Q. \ on looked under the house, and you think you saw the lejj^s of 75 
men staudiuf>‘ behind tlie house'?—A. Yes, sir; what I took to be that 
number. 

Q. How far were those men from the house?—A. Various distances; 
from 1? to 14 feet, as near as I can judj>e. 

Q. How many (*olored men were about the polls at that time ?—A. 
Ki^ht at the polls ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. AVell, iii a einaiit ri^ht around there in front, I don’t 
know; three or four ; maybe live or six ; uo imue than that. 

Q. How many colored men were iii that vicinity within an hour or so? 
—A. That is hard to answer. I don't re('ollect; i)ut I don’t think there 
was a great many at the box for an hour and a half before this occurred. 

Were you ac([uainted with Madison Keams before this time ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. You stated in your direct examinatit)n that he assisted you in your 
canvass against Madi.soii Wells—you don’t know him, however, you say? 
—A. When I got there I went into the house where the box was, and I 
told him, ‘‘(rentlemeii, now, I pro])ose to beat Madison Wells to-day,” 
for instance, and I got a ticket, a Republican ticket and a Democratic 
ticket, and got one of Elstiier’s tickets. I didn’t know the man, but he 
was pointed out to me, and so was Mr. Madison Reams. I recollect 
going u]) and speaking to Reams dire<tly; he was standing by me. I 
asked for the man, and some colored man near me told me, Here is 
Madison Reams.” I told ^ladison Reams what I wanted; he pointed 
him out to me. Now,” says I, ‘‘ I want to know if you know who this 
man is, J. Madison AVells ?” ‘‘No, sir,” he said, ‘‘I don’t know”; and 

not knowing who he was for, I then talked to him and to Elstiier. I 
went to Elstner myself. He is an honest man, I think, to tell the truth, 
and he said he would state this much, that he didn’t intend to vote for 
Mr. Wells, nor he wouldn’t advise any of my friends to do so. Well, 
that for a political speaker is considerable assistance for the other side. 
After that 1 saw Reams with his own hands scratch olf Wells’s name. 
Now, you can call that assistance or not, as you please. 

Do you know whether any of the commissioners of election or the 
deputy sherilf recpiested Reams to surrender those arms before you and 
the other four or five men made a rush for the house ?—A. No, sir; I 
don’t. 

Q. Did you hear any such requests made by him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know a man in tliat neighborhood named Jerry or Jere¬ 
miah Beard ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Well, Williams, whom you contradict, stated that lie was the man 
with whom he talked.—A. Tliat maybe satisfactory; nevertheless they 
say tliat some other was the man that did the shooting. I see Black¬ 
man has stated what was not true under oath. 


EMANUEL AUdUSTlN. 

New Orleans, La., January 11, 1870. 
Emanuel Augustin (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Shreveport.^ 

Q. How long have you lived there?—A. Since May, 18(>5. 

Q. Where were you born ?—A. In Madison Parish, Louisiana. 

Q. Did you take any part in the election up there last fall ?—A. A 


88 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Caddo 


little; not niuchy sir. I was one of the United States supervisors of 

election. . 

Q. Whpre was yonr station ?—A. Spring Kidge. 

Q. Did von attend there as supervisor on election day?—A. 1 did. 

Q. State what was done on election day with reference to that ?—A. I 
just went to the polls about six o’clock in the morning and stood there 
until the polls were opened. After tliey were opened I asked the com¬ 
missioners to recognize me there as United States siipervisoi. They 
said my papers were spurious; that they were got u]) in Shreveport; 
that no circuit judge had ever seen them. They got hold of me together 
and would not allow me to serve. I was talking over the matter with 
a gentleman there when the commissioners sent for me again. One of 
the commissioners stated that my papers were ad right. Tlie other said 
they had no use for me, but they had no objection to iny standing out¬ 
side and look at the thing. 1 told them if I was United States super¬ 
visor I had a right to take any position I chose, and that I intended to 
count the votes. They said I did not reside in that precinct. 

Q. Where did you reside ?—A. In Shreveport. 

Q. Were you regularly aiipoiuted ?—A. Yes, sir. Mr. Leonard has 
my commission now. 

Q. Where did you want to go ?—A, Inside of the room. 1 could not 
see the ballot-boxes from the outside. 

Q. How many ballot-boxes had they ?—A. Three. 

Q. Did you ever see three at any other election ?—xV. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in the canvass that fall ?—A. On tlie 2r>th 
October I Vent out with the gentlemen to Spring Kidge. 

Q. Did you make a speech ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Who called the meeting ?—A. It was called by the Itepublican 
part3\ 

Q. Was it advertised in any newspaper?—A. No, sir; I think not. 

Q. Was that the time when Mr. Leonard was there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. State what occurred there.—A. This meeting was called hy Mr. 
Leonard, Mr. Harper, and others, and was held on the 2()th October. I 
got there and found persons present from every section of the countiy. 
Some from Clreenwood, and Summer Grove, and Shreveport, and Cale¬ 
donia, and several from Keachi. 

Q. Wliere is Keachi ?—A. It is in De Soto Parish. I suppose there 
were about 150 white men there and 150 colored men. Well, I nev^er 
saw so man^’ white people at Spring Eidge in all my life before. I used 
to live there for a short time. It was tinall^' agreed between some of 
the leading members both of the Democratic and Kepublican ])arties to 
have a joint discussion. 1 don’t know the time they fixed on for each 
speaker to occupy. At any rate Mr. Leonard addressed the meeting 
first. He spoke at some length about various and sundry matters, about 
the Eepublican party and the Democratic i)arty, and so on. He was dis¬ 
turbed when he got to the point of saying that land could be bought for 
three or four dollars an acre, while niggers were charged three or four 
dollars an acre rent for it. Furthermore, he sai<l that bacon that cost 
from 5 to 0 cents a i)ound was sold to negroes for from 15 to 25 cents a 
pound. At this about half a dozen gentlemen jumj)ed u]) and hallooed, 
‘‘ That is a God damned lie.” Leonard looked a little sort of intimi¬ 
dated like, and a few minutes afterward closed his speech. He was fol¬ 
lowed bv a gentleman from New York, I believe, ly the name of Hall, 
a friend of Mr. Shepherd. He made a lightning speech- 

Mr. Kirkwood. What is a lightning speech ?—A. I mean he talked 
so rapidly. He didn’t say any thing against the Democratic party. He 
arraigned the Republic^an party for all the corruption- 




Pariah] 


TESTIMONY OF EMA.NUEL AUGUSTIN. 


89 


The Chairman. Our Deuiocratie witnesses complain that Mr. Leonard 
and the Repuhlicans made si)eeches that were incendiary ?—A. I do not 
know the meaning’ of the word incendiary. 

Q. How did the Ilemocratic speakers talk aUoiit the Republicans ? Did 
they speak hard ot them, or were they mild-mannered and j^entlemanly ?— 
A. From a Democratic standpoint, I suppose it was mild, but I could not 
think so. First, they called Leonard a scalawag'. He is a native of 
Caddo Parish, if I mistake not. 1 am termed a scalawag myself, although 
I am no politician. 

Q. They used that, I understand, as a term of rei)roach ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. They mean that a man is anything but a gentleman ? 

Mr. Kirkwood. Did they use these terms in their s])eeches—carpet- 
baggers and scalawags, and other pet names ?—A. Yes, sirj such like 
pet names. 

The Chairman. You were detailing what this gentleman from Kew 
York said ?—A. He arraigned the Republican party for all the misery 
and corruption in all the world since the origin of imlitics. He said 
they were the cause of it all. He was not disturbed at all, sir, except 
by cheers from the Democratic party. 

Mr. Kirkwood. Did he call thein knaves, thieves, scoundrels?—A. I 
do not remember whether he did, but I inferred from what he said that 
they were. I don’t remember his speech very well, though the fact is I 
didn’t really think it was worth remembering. After lie got through 
Mr. Elstner addressed the meeting. He was interrupted several times 
by very insulting remarks. 

Mr. Kirkwood. As what?— A. Well, such as “•You wouhl make a 
better rondeau roller than a s])eaker.” 

Q. What under the sun is a rondeau-roller ?—A. That is a gambling 
game we have down here. Eight balls are put on the billiard table and 
somebody tries to knock them down. 

The Chairman. Well, what more occurred ?—A. Mr. Elstner was a 
little intimidated, and after that I thought he made a pretty good Demo¬ 
cratic speech. 

Q. He got round on that side, did he ?—A. Yes, sir; that is, he made 
a very conservative speech—sort of about internal improvements, and 
so on. 

Q. What followed ?—A. After that a man by the name of Chane and 
a young man made speeches on the Democratic side. 

Q. Who followed ?—A. Harper. When Harper got u)) he looked kind 
of scared. He told them that he thought likely he might say something 
that they would not like, and he was not far wrong, neither. But they 
said, ‘‘Go ahead,” and he went ahead. He was talking about Mr. Hall, 
from New York. He said if he were to come and join the Republican 
party he would be called a carpet-bagger, but seeing as how he was a 
Democrat, he was not. He then went on to speak of Major Moncure, 
whom he said was an old-time Democrat. He said he was an old fossil, 
and had ideas that might do before the war, but that could not be 
changed. He said that Moncure wanted to put the negroes back where 
they were fifteen oi- twenty years ago. Then Mr. Simpson and half a 
dozen more jumped up and told him that would do; they were tired of 
such stufl'; they didn’t want any such speaking as that. Harper wanted 
to go on, but they said, “Get down ; we won’t stand any more.” I told 
Harper he had better get down ; that what they said was about as good 
a Republican speech as he could make—dri\ing him from the stand. 
Then others rushed to the stand and said, “Rip his belly open, God 
damn him.” Another gentleman said, “Get a leader.” It was a man 
from Keachi that said this. 


90 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Q. Do yon know his name 1—A. I helieve liis name was Howell Lee. 

Q. To whom did he refer ?—A. I suppose that he referred to Leonard 
and Harper. 

Q. In other words, one of your speakers ?—A. That is what I inferred. 
While this was going on, Mr. McMillan rushed up to Mr. Leonard and 
cursed him, and called him a liar and everything he could think of,* two 
or three friends of McMillan made some very mild efforts to get him away, 
hut he, being a rather vicious kind of man, didn’t go. Finally some¬ 
body from the DeSoto country came in, and with that the confusion grew 
worse and worse. How Leonard and Harper and tlie rest of us got out 
of that house I hardly knew. 

Q. That closed the meeting?—A. Yes, sir; that closed the meeting. 
I don’t know" whether they determined beforehand to break it up or not, 
but they did break it u]) most effectually. 

Q. Do you know of another case of violence ?—A. Yo, sir; after that 
we got into our buggies and went home. We left al^oiit four and got 
back that night. But w e did not go back the same w ay w e came. 

Q. Why ?—A. Well, we thought w e w"ould prefer some other route. 
I went along with Mr. Leonard. It was pretty hot around that se(.*tion of 
country then; whether they w^ere making a grand bluff, or really meant 
to hurt somebody, I am sure I don’t know. 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Are you a witness in the United States ('ourt in referemje to this 
matter?—A. I have been before the grandj’ury. 

Q. What is your occupation now" ?—A. I am ins])ector in the custom¬ 
house. 


Mr. Kirkwood. It has been represented to us that the gathering of 
the Democrats there was a gathering of the Democratic club in that neigh¬ 
borhood. If I understand you, there w as a large number of w hite men 
from outside ?—A. There were men from Gieenwood, Shreveport, Cale¬ 
donia, and Keachi. 

Q. Well, all ot them did not belong to the Sj)ring Ridge Club ?—A. 
Ko, sir. 


Mr. Garland. Mr. Harper said in his S]ieech that Mr. MoncurewAinted 
the negroes back to where they were twenty years ago.—A. ^Ys, sir; lo 
or 20. I think he had a right to say anytliing he pleased; and the 
gentleman wUo followed him could say wiiat he pleased. 

Q. Was that calculated to excite the colored men ?—A. This gentle¬ 
man spoke aiul said no power on earth could put them back in slavery, 
and Green said so, and so did Har[)er. Kow, w hether the negroes w"ould 
lollow Harper in jneference to the other men, I don’t know-. 

Q. The colored people preferred Leonard and Elstner and other men 
to their ow"n men ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. What is your idea?—A. It is simply this: thdt they would not 
believe Harper in preference to any one else. 

Q. You had been electing Harper to the senate and the positions he 
held «—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had Elstner been a rondeau roller ?—A. Yes, sir • some 

rnlW f ^^tter rondeau 

roller^an a legislator ?—A. No, sir; than a speaker. 

^ ^ politics ?—A. I have not any. 

AtSpriug Ridg^ «l>l>ointed sui)ervisor ?—A. 

rec^omia«r”Lr“ appointed ?_A. Upon the 


Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN D MONCURE. 


91 


JOHX I). MONCURE. 

New Orleans, January 11, 1879. 

John I). Moncure sworn and examined. 

By ]\Ir. Garland : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Shreveport. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. Since the winter of 1800 and 
1801. 

Q. What is your occupation '?—A. Attorney-at-law. 

Q. You are a member of the present legislature, I believe ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. You are speaker of the house of representatives ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Were you actively engaged in the last i>olitical cami)aigu in your 
parish '?—A. Caddo—yes, sir. 

Q. State the character of the campaign there, as to its manner of 
being conducted, and whether it was a peaceful cami)aign or otherwise. 
—A. Well, sir; the campaign was a very short one and a very active, 
a very earnest and zealous one on the part of both parties; but from 
its beginning to its ending not one single disturbance of any character 
whatever came to my observation. 

(^. Were you at various public meetings ?—A. At a number of them. 
I canvassed almost the entire parish myself. 1 did not have an oppor¬ 
tunity of visiting the lower portion of the parish, but I did visit all the 
upper portion. The meetings I attended were attended by both white 
people and negroes, in fully equal proportion. The rei)resentatives of 
both parties were allowed full liberty of speech so far as I know. None 
of them were out on the campaign with me. 

Q. Where w^ere you on the day of election ? —A. T was in Shreve[)ort. 

Q. Was it a quiet election there ?—A. As absolutely quiet an election 
as I ever attended. 1 have no doubt as quiet as any held in the United 
States. 

Q. Were any i>ersons that you knew of or heard of prevented from 
voting ?—A. Not a human being. At the time I was at the polling 
place Mr. Leonard gave directions that the negroes should sto}) their 
voting. At the moment large numbers of negroes were standing with 
tickets in their hands awaiting their turns. 

At what time of day was that ?—A. About eleven o’clock in the 
day. There was nothing on earth approaching a disturbance. I saw 
the most active efforts on the part of the white gentlemen in Shreve¬ 
port, making personal applications and personal api)eals to the negroes 
to vote with them. I have reason to know^ that their efforts were to a 
large extent successful. 

Q. You have reason to believe that you recieived colored votes!— 
A. I know that I received colored votes in large numbers, unless they 
tell me falsehoods. I have no right to look at the poll-lists, but the 
colored people have told me so. 

Q. Were any means of intimidation used, or any threats or violence^ 
to get them to vote for you !—A. Not to my knowledge, sir, from the 
beginning of the campaign to the day of election. 

Q. Do you know of any Democratic clubs ordering ballot-boxes made 
and sent up to different precincts ?—A. I never knew of anything of 
the sort. 

Q. Did you know of any being made by the order of the Democratic 


^2 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


I Caddo 


‘Executive committee*?—A. I do not. I am not a member of that com- 
anittee. The ballot-boxes were made and sent out by the police-jury. 

Q. You are pretty generally acquainted with the colored people in 
your i)arish ?—A. Yes, sir; very generally j as my friend Hari)er said 
yesterday, I believe I have the respect and confidence of all. 

Q. What was the state of feeling between the white and colored 
people in your parish —A. When no election is going on it is as abso¬ 
lutely agreeable and peaceful and satisfactory as it possibly could be. 
You could not find any people occupying the position of the white and 
black people, of a laboring and employing class, where the relations 
between them were as pleasant and confidential and j)eaceable. 

Q. At this recent election did the disturbances that occurred have 
the effect of disorganizing the labor of the parish ?—A. I do not know 
■of any disorganizing except in the localities where the disturbance oc¬ 
curred on the evening of the election. I refer more particularly to the 
Caledonia affair. That seriously disorganized labor, infinitely more to 
the loss of the planters than of the negroes, except those negroes who 
happened to be killed. 

Q. Did you know any of the commissioners of election at these 
different precincts ?—A. Ihave no doubt I knew them all, if their names 
were called. I don’t remember who the commissioners were even at the 
box where I voted myself. I think I do know one of the commissioners, 
but it was a matter that made no impression on my mind at all. 

Q. Was there any reason given by Mr. Leonard for waving those 
colored men away from the polls ?—A. I heard no reason given. Mr. 
Leonard came up to the polls. I was standing on the inside of the polls, 
within the inclosure appropriated to the sheriff's. The United States 
supervisor was standing there also. Mr. Warnock stepped up to where 
he was, and I heard him say, “ You can go away whenever you think 
proper.” I did not understand that at first, but in a few minutes I un¬ 
derstood it—that he had issued an order that the negroes should leave, 
and they were most obedient, almost to a man, and left. 

Q. Ben Williams the other day, on the stand, expressed some fear of 
disclosing certain names lest it might interfere with his personal safety; 
what is your opinion of his safety in case of his mentioning the names of 
the persons concerning whom inquiries were made ?—A. His safety is 
not in the slightest degree threatened, and I am equally as well assured 
that he knows that fact as well as I do. He knows that when he is 
called before a commission or a court to testify nobody will disturb him 
if he testifies truly. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say so far as came under your personal observations there 
.was no disturbance!—A. None at all. 

Q. Did you hear of any disturbance!—A. I heard of none except the 
Caledonia affair. 

Q. Did you hear of any disturbance where Mr. Leonard was !—A. 
.Nothing more than I have already described. 

Q. Did you hear of any other disturbance during the canvass !—A. 
I do not think I recollect any disturbance except the one at Spring 
Bidge. I heard time and again of Mr. Leonard’s speeches having given 
very great offense to our people, for the reason that the people regarded 
those speeches as very incendiary and calculated to bring very serious 
hazard upon their families, their wives, and their children. The negroes 
outnumber us as three to one ; in some parts of the parish five to one or 
^ix to one ; and our people are extremely sensitive when anything incen- 


I*ari8h.] TESTIMO^Y OF JOHN D. MON CURE. 95 

diary is said to those negroes, and they may have given expression to 
their very great objection to snch speeches being indulged in. 

Q. Now, will you state what yon call an incendiary speech ?—A. 1 did 
not hear Mr. Leonard’s speech, and, of course, I cannot repeat. 

Q. I do not desire you to repeat what he said, but to state what yon 
consider an incendiary speech.—A. Any speech that has a tendency to 
arouse an ignorant set of people like the negroes, and to encourage 
black people to rise against the whites; such siieeches as you, in your 
section, would regard of an innocent character 1 consider injurious and 
incendiary. 

Q. I cannot yet form a definite opinion as to what you mean; we do 
not use the term in our northern and western country very much; I 
never have heard a man in the North charged with making an incendiary 
speech. I have frequently seen the word in the papers.—A. I will give 
you what I heard was the speech made by Mr. Leonard at Spring Ridge, 
and will say that I consider that to have been an incendiary speech. 1 was 
told that Mr. Leonard said that a great jirejudice exists between the Dem¬ 
ocratic party and the Republican party, between white iieople and black 
people. Now,” he said, “ this prejudice ought to be got rid of. Some of 
these white Democrats who have been slaveholders in years gone by have 
brought down to this present day the prejudices of that time long ago 
when they were slaveholders 5 and some of you colored peojile have 
your iirejudices too. You remember the time when you were hunted 
down by the slaveholders with dogs; you remember tlie time when your 
backs were lashed by the bull-whip, and it is difficult for you to get rid 
of the prejudices driven into you under such circumstances. But,” said 
he, you must get rid of such prejudices.” ^ He spoke of the condition 
of affairs in the country, and said he knew of no remedy. He went on 
to say that these planters buy their provisions, such as bacon, for in¬ 
stance, at eight or ten cents a pound, and sell it to the colored peox)le at 
fifteen or twenty or twenty-five cents a pound. They rent their lands 
for $3 an acre when they would sell them outright for less than that. 
Now, gentlemen, you have no such condition of things in the North; 
you have no such \)eople to dwell with in the North; and knowing the 
negro as we do, we consider that kind of talk exceedingly dangerous. 

Q. That is what you mean Avhen you speak of incendiary talk"?—A. 
Yes, sir; and such a sj^eech as that would be considered an incendiary 
si)eech by anybody. 

Q. Is it considered incendiary down here to refer to the ante-bellum 
times ?—A. It is considered incendiary to refer to those worst features 
of ante-bellum times. It is better to refer to the more pleasant features 
of those times. 

Q. Allow me the suggestion, colonel; is it not very possible that in 
reference to those pleasant features, you have the advantage of the 
negro ?—A. Yes, sir; I think I have in every respect. 

Q. I mean, may not you who were masters in those by-gone days 
liave more pleasant things to look back upon than they have ? A. O, 
Senator, that is rather an unkind question to ask me under all the cir¬ 
cumstances. 

Q. I don’t know that it is. Now you don’t mean that a man who 
makes a political speech in this country shall not refer to a condition of 
things which is unxileasant, and which ought to be remedied, and to 
endeavor to find a remedy for it ?—A. O, no; I do not say that, sir. I 
only say we do not like to have people speak in such a way as to rouse 
the passions of this class by referring to the days when some of them 
had the misfortune to have bad masters, referring only to the worst 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[('addo 


<^4 


features of those times when slavery existed. I saj" it only because it 
arouses jiassions which ou«ht not to be aroused. 

Q. You say, knowing the negroes as you do, you believe that to be 
dangerous?—A. Yes, vsir. 

Q. How long have you been acquainted with the negro?—A. Hver 
since my childhood, my infancy, I might better say. I sup]>ose the first 
human being I ever looked at, even before I saw the face ot my mother, 
was an old negress nurse. I have always been acquainted with them. 
Y^es, sir; and I did not know the dilference between that nurse and my 
mother for vears. 

Q. Did you live here during the war ?—A. I was in the army during 
the war. 

Q. Have you ever known of any insurrections against the whites?— 
A. I think there was an insurrection, what 1 would call a very serious 
one, in Caledonia—a most serious one. 

Q. That is the only one you ever heard of?—A. That is all I think of 
now, 

Q. Have you ever known of the negroes assembling together and 
making attacks on towns, &c.?—A. The negroes are perfectly peaceful 
exceid when these elections are going on. 

Q. Why are they not peaceful at election time ?—A. Because they are 
aroused. 

Q. How are they aroused ?—A. They are aroused by these political 
discussions. 

Q. Then in order to have peace in the community where there is the 
negro element you cannot have political discussions?—A. No, sir; be¬ 
cause political discussions may be conducted so as not unnecessarily to 
arouse the negroes’ passions. 

Q. Who is to be the judge of that ?—A. I think the people who are 
in danger are about the best people to judge of that. 

Q. Did you think Mr. Leonard’s speech, which you have just detailed, 
put the white people in danger ?—A. I thought that speech very well 
calculated to arouse the negroes so that anything that might have oc¬ 
curred would have created a collision. Any difiiculty between any two 
persons might have been productive of a collision that would have had 
very serious results. 

Q. Have the negroes, so far as your ac(piaintance shows, a vindictive 
and revengeful disposition ?—A. They are the least vindictive and re¬ 
vengeful people on the face of the earth. 

Q. How did they conduct themselves in the absence of their masters 
during the war ?—A. In a most exemplarj’ manner. 

Q. How many white men were left at home?—A. Very few. 

Q. What proportion of able-bodied white men were left in your sec¬ 
tion of the country ?—A. Very few; I cannot tell you the proportion. 

Q. A very small percentage ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the women and children w^ere completely at the mercy of the 
negroes ?—A. There is not a doubt about that. 

Q. Was there ever any instance of a violation of the confidence placed 
in them ? Have you ever heard of any such case in any section of the 
country during the war ?—A. No, sir; I never did. 

Q. Do you recollect the message of Governor Vance, of North Caro¬ 
lina, two years ago, on this subject, in which he stated that there was no 
instance of that kind in all the States of the South during the entire 
war ?—A. I do not know that I recollect reading it, but I presume his 
statement is perfectly correct; in fact, 1 have no doubt of it whatever. 

Q. You have never heard of any such instance ?—A. No, sir. 


Parish. 1 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN D. MONCURE. 


95 


Q. btill you think that, after so many years have passed, it is danger¬ 
ous to recur to the hardships of slave life before the war ?—A. I think 
it is; very dangerous. 

Q. You think it unfair to allude to their former condition in order to 
illustrate how greatly they have been benefited ?—A. I do not think 
those are living questions to be discussed now. 

Q. Ion would have them discuss the currency question and the tariff, 
I suppose ?—A. No, sir; I don’t think our legislators know much about 
that. 

Q. W e won’t differ, I think, on that proposition. You say the elec¬ 
tion was everywhere conducted fairly and peacefully ?—A. Wherever it 
came under my observation. 

Q. You say you were at Shreveport on the day of election?—A. I was. 

Q. How many voting places are there at Shreveport?—A. 1 think 
only two for the i)arish and State. 

Q. How many boxes did you have?—A. Three, sir; one for the Oon- 
^ressmaii, one for State and parish officers, and one for ward officers. The 
law requires a separate box for ward officers. 

Q. Have you a copy of that law ?—A. 1 have not a copy of the statute 
with me. 

Q. Do you remember the provisions of the act 57 of the State laws of 
1877?—A. Ido not know that I remember the exact provisions of the 
law. I know very well it was interpreted as I have stated it by those 
who managed the matter. Some of the lawyers of Shreveport told me 
they had examined into the question. 

Q. Did you ever have three boxes there before ?—A. I do not think 
Ave ever did. * 

Q. W^ill you please look at section 3d of that act. Under that sec¬ 
tion do you think that three-ballot boxes were re(|uired ?—A. [After 
reading the section.] Under that section I do not. 

Q. That is the act now in force, is it not ?—A. 1 do not know, sir; I 
have not examined that matter at all. I am not pre])ared to answer. 

Q. Suppose you look and see.—A. 1 am sorry to make the confession, 
but 1 see I have been mistaken, at least it seems that way; there may 
possibly be some other act of the same session having a bearing upon 
this subject; I do not know. I simply say the lawyers in Shreveport 
who had examined the question said that tliere was no doubt al)out the 
necessity of three boxes. I have exi)ressed no opinion, for I do not ex¬ 
press an opinion of an act Avithout examining. 

Q. When Av^as that api)roA ed?—A. April 11, 1877. 

Q. Y"ou do not kiiOAv of any act of later date annulling the [)rovisions 
of this act ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. YVas that matter discussed by the executive committee of your 
l)arty ?—A. I do not knoAV, sir; I am not a member of the executhe com¬ 
mittee. 

Q. Were you not consulted in regard to the matter?—A. Not at all. 
We ha\'e an executiA e committee that manages all matters of party in¬ 
terest, and I was never asked by anybo<ly in regard to that law. 

Q. Whose duty is it to furnish these boxes ?—A. I cannot tell you 
that. 

Q. I call your attention to section 18 of this statute. You say you 
understand the police jury furnished the boxes ?—A. As 1 understood 
it; yes, sir. 

Q. Well, that seems to require the sheriff’ or returning officer to furnish 
them; is there any statute that you knoAV of that authorizes the police 
jury to furnish them ?—A. I do not know, sir. 


96 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Q. I will also call your attention to section 18. and ask you whether this 
refers to one box or two or three. You will read there, One box to be 
furnished by the sheriff or returning officer.” Will you please also read 
a few lines of section 18 ? 

The Witness read the section as follows: ^Ot shall be the duty of the 
sheriff* or principal returning officer of each parish to provide a ballot- 
box at the expense of the parish for each polling place in the parish.” 

The Chairman. Please read also the first few lines of section 23 of an 
act 58 of the statutes of 1877. 

The Witness (reading). All the names of persons voted for shall 
be written or printed on one ticket, on which the names of the persons 
voted for and the office for which they are voted shall be accurately speci¬ 
fied ; and the tickets shall have printed or written upon their backs the 
ward for which they are used ; and should two or more tickets be folded 
together, the tickets so folded shall be rejected.” 

Q. How many wards are there in ^Natchitoches ? —A. Eight, I tliink, 
sir. 

Q. How many voting places are there in each ward ?—A. Generally 
one; I think in some wards two. The law, I believe, requires only one ; 
but probably I had better not say anything more about the law, as I am 
liable to be caught up. 

Q. Do you know a place in that county called Willis’s school-house?— 
A. I do. 

Q. In what ward is that?—A. In the first ward. 

Q. How many voting places are there in that ward ?—A. There are 
two, 1 think. 

Q. Where are they^—A. One is the place called Wise’s store; the 
other, Willis’s school-house. 

Q. How far apart are they ?—A. Probably about ten miles apart; that 
is a long ward, extending from Texas, aloiig the Arkansas line, pretty 
nearly over to the Bed Biver, I believe, if not quite. 

Q. How many wards can you have in a parish?—A. As many as the 
police jury think proper to designate or lay off. 

Q. Then in some parishes there are more and in some less ?—A. Yes,, 
sir ; there may be. 

Q. How many are there in Caddo Parish?—A. There are 8, I believe. 

Q. There is no law providing that there shall be less than 8 ?—A. I 
think the police jury has full authority; it is my recollection that the 
police jury has authority to divide the parish into as many wards as they 
think proi)er. I don't answer with much assurance on the subject, for I 
don’t want to exi)ose my ignorance again—and I a legislator, too. 

Q. Where is the lower or southern voting place in ward 1 ?—A. I 
think it is at Black Bayou. 

Q. The sonthern, I said.—A. I understand the boundaries of the par¬ 
ish to be-the western line is Texas, the northern line Arkansas; Black 
Bayou is on the south, and eastward it extends to the Bed Biver. 

Q. How near does the parish come to your ])lace ?—A. Very near, sir- 
within four, or five, or six miles, probably; I don’t know exactly ; I was 
never there in my life. 

Q. How far is Willis’s school-house from the south line ?—A. Some ten 
or twelve miles, I think. 

Q. Not more than that ?—A. I don’t think it is, from what I can learn. 
I don’t know. 


Q. Where is that other voting place that you say is in the same ward ?— 

probably, west of Willis’s school-house. 
West A. I suppose It is west; it may be north. I have very 
little idea of those localities. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN D. MONCURE. 


97 


Q. Tlie people living in tlie south part of ward 1 will be compelled to 
go to Willis’s school-honse in order to vote ?—A. Yes, sir. I know that 
in the old time they did not have any voting place at all. Under the 
Eadical regime in onr parish they had to go 50 miles to vote. 

Q. What is the popnlation np there —A. There are probal)ly two or 
three hundred voters there. 

Q. Of what kind— a\ hat politics '?—A. They are nearly all Democrats. 

Q. How is it doAvn to the lower end ?—A. There are two or three hnn- 
dred A’^oters there. 

Q. At AA hat election did they not haA^e an opjmrtnnity to a ote !—A. 
I don’t recollect the election. Mr. Leonard nndonbtedly remend)ers it 
very aa ell. 

Mr. Leonard (aaIio aa^s sitting by during the examination). They al¬ 
ways had a a oting place np there. 

The Witness. I am perfectly well satistied they did not. 

Q. Do yon knoAV anything about the creation of this Avaid ?—A. I 
know nothing in the AA'orld about it, sir. 

Q. Are yon familiar with the method of selecting the police jury in 
this State ?—A. They are elected by the people according to the laA\^, 1 
belicA^e. 

(^. Is that alAvays the case?—A. It always has been so since 1 Iriat^ 
been in the State. There haA^e been additional ])olice jurors appointed 
by the goA^ernor since the last election. 

Q. How many police jnrors aa ere there in yonr parish under Avhat you 
call lladical rule ?— A. 1 think five. 

Q. Hoav Axere they elected ?—A. By the whole county, I thiidv—one 
ticket for the A\diole parish. 

Q. What Avas the duty of these imlice jurors ? —xV. They had general 
su])erAision of the affairs of the parish ; they managed its financial 
affairs, attended to roads and bridges, levied taxes, and taxes are col¬ 
lected and i)aid OA'er to them. 

Q. They fix the A^oting places ?—A. Yes, sir. In old times that used 
to be fixed by the registrar appointed by the governor. 

Q. Yon have alluded to the ffict that the goA^ernor Avas authorize<l to 
appoint certain police jurors. Has your attention eA cr been called to 
actXo. 57 of the acts of 1<S77 ?—A. No, sir; I don’t knoAA' that my atten¬ 
tion has been called ])articnlarly to that act. 

Q. Will you please read the first section of that act ? 

The AVitness read as follows: 

The governor of this State is lierehA^ authorized to ai»i)oiiit, l),v and with the advice 
of th(‘ senate, in sneh eonntry parishes as he may see tit, additional police jnrors not 
exceeding tiA’^e, who, with those police jnrors elected at the last general election, shall 
constitute the ])olice jnry of the parish until the next general election. 

Q. Do you knoAV Avhen that act Avas passed ?—xA. It is stated to have 
been appro aumI April 10, 1877. 

Q. Was tliat the day the legislature adjourned ?—A. I do not know, 
sir. 

(}. Noaa' pleas(‘ read section Iaa'o. 

Tlie AVitness read as folloAA s: 

The police jnrors of each parish shall, on the first Momlay of July, 1877, meet at the 
conrt-honse of their respective ])arishes, and shall redistrict their ]iarishes into not less 
than five nor more than ten police-jnry waids, as the convenience of the people may 
require, and shall, at the same time, di.strict these police-jnry wards into one or more 
instice of the peace and election wards, as they may think proper, and shall designate 
said wards nnmericallv and in comseentivc' order. When the wards have been thus 
established they shall'iiot be changed without a two-third vote of the police jury re¬ 
corded by yeiu-; and nays. 


98 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Under this act were any members of the police jury appointed by 
Governor Nicholls in your i)arisli f—A. There were. 

Q. How many ?—A. I think five. 

Q. Can you name tlie persons thus appointed?—A. Mr. Cawthornwas 
one; the present sheriff of the ward, ^Ir. Hall, was another—De Witt, I 
think, is his first name; Mr. Hollingsworth was another; Mr. Joseph B, 
Smith Avas anotlier, and Mr. 0. J. Foster was the fifth. 

Q. What were the politics of these men ?—A. They were all Hemo- 
(U-ats. 

Q. What were the politi(*.s of the police jury before that ?—A. Prob¬ 
ably four out of the five—no, three out of the five—were Republicans; I 
don’t think Mr. Head Avould consent to call himself a Republican, and I 
am sure Mr. S])earman Avould not. There AA^ere but three out of the five 
that could be called pronounced Reiniblicans; in fact, I doubt whether 
more than tAvo out of the five could be called i)ronounced Republicans. 

Q. They all had been elected on the Republican ticket, had they 
not ?—A. I don’t think that Mr. Head calls himself a Rei)ublican; in 
fact, I am A^ery sure he is not a Republican. 

Q. But AA ere they not all elected on the Republican ticket ?—A. Yes,, 
sir. 

Q. They could hardly be considered radical Democrats ?—A. I think 
that Mr. Spearman Avas about as radical and decided a Democrat as I 
am, and almost as old a one, too. 

Q. Yoav, I want to ask you a rather leading question: do you not 
knoAv as a matter of fact that the Republicans had always conceded to 
the Democrats a representation on the police jury?—A. Yo, sir,* I don’t 
know it; indeed I don’t; the Republicans in the parish never made any 
(Concessions to the Democrats in the least. 

Did they not alAA ays haA^e a Democrat on their ticket for a mem¬ 
ber of the police jury ?—A. I cannot recollect the different police juries 
of the parish; l)ut 1 don’t think so. I don’t think they eA^er made any 
concessions of that sort; I am certain they neA^er made the concession 
that the Democrats might designate a Democrat to be put on the x^olice 
jury. 

Q. I do not kiioAA" as 1 blame them for that.—A. Yo, sir; but we are 
getting into a condition there now Avhere AA^e need not ask faAmrs of 
them. 

Q. Do you know Avliether that is the system of i)olice jurors that Avas 
(carried out under this act in other parishes besides yours ?—A. I do not 
knoAv. Those are niatters in Avhicli I am not in the slightest degree in¬ 
terested, and I really don’t knoAv at all. 

Q* hat AAais the result ol this last election up there ? H(Aw many 
votes Avere polled?—A. Some 2,000 or 2,500 Amtes were polled in the 
parish, I think ; I don’t knoAA" precisely. 

Q. Can you not remember nearer than that ?—A. No, sir; I cannot. 

(I What has been the usual vote ?—A. That ]mrish lias usually polled 
over 3,500 to 4,000,‘ possibly as high as 4,500 at some elections. 

Q. Hav'C you any knowledge of the number of registered A'oters there 
at this last election? —A. I don’t know certainly; I think the registered 
voters numbered between 4,500 and 5,000. Mr. Harper stated that yes¬ 
terday, and I am disposed to belieA^e his information correct. 

Q. Hoav many of them AA ere Avhite people?—A. I think 1,000 or 1,700, 
maybe rising of 1,700; 1 am not sure. 

Q. You ran on the straight Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q,. You are regarded as a straight Democrat?—A. Yes, sir; I am re¬ 
turned as a straight Democrat. 


J‘ari8li.l 


TESTDIONY OF JOHN D. MONCURE. 


99 


Q. What is rlit" majority of your ticket?—A. After the field was 
abandoned it was about l^oOO. I tried iny very best to liiake it a good 
deal larger. 1 wanted a large re])resentation in onr political eonveii- 
tion, which is a niatt(‘rof some consecinence to ns down here. As soon 
as the negroes were told to go home onr own ])eople stoi>]>ed voting too. 

(>>. Von have been an activ(i ])olitician, have* yon not ?—A. (^fiiite 
so, sii*. 

(>>. Were yon ever a candidate for office up tliere before ?—A. Yes, sir; 
several times. I represented the ])arish in the legislature in 1871 and 
1871?, and my best and most cordial sn])])orter was my old friend, Mr. 
Leonard, on your right. We were both elected in 1871?. 

Q. On what ticket were you elected ?—A. The Democratic, was it not ? 
What did they call it ? O, no; it was what was called the Fusion ticket. 
I was elected again in 1874. 

Q. On what ticket were yon then elected ?—A. On the Peo])le's ticket; 
Mr. Leonard worked up that party himself. 

Q. This is the first time yon were ever elected on a straight Democratic 
ticket?—A. Possibly, on a straight-out Democratic ticket; but 1 siij)- 
l)ose, whether I was elected on a Fusion ticket or on a Peoi)le’s ticket, 
it was well understood that I was always a Denuxa’afic re])resentative. 

Q. Your Democracy was not doubted, yon tlnnk, notwithstanding?— 
A. I think not, sir, any more than your Republicanism. 

Q. 1 am not finding any fault about that.—A. I know that, sir; 1 
know that yon like straight men. 

Q. In referring to those distnrbamxss, yon say the [)lanters snffeied 
the greatest damage ? 

The Witness. Ymn mean the (laledonia disturbances ? 

The ( biAiRMAN. Disturbances of that character. 

The WTtness. I said the ])lanters sustained the greatest loss, except, 
of course, the victims of the disturbance—the negroes wlio were killed. 

Q. How did the i)lanters sustain loss?—A. On the i)lantations where 
tliat thing occairred the laborers ])rinci])ally left it—left the cotton in 
the held, and no more work was done for weeks. Labor was disorgan¬ 
ized. 

Q. Why should they leave there more than in any other neighbor- 
liood?—A. Because the ])ersons who were the i)rinci])al sni>porters in 
that assault belonged, to a large extent, on that plantation. 

Q. And they left it ?—A. Yes, sir; largely. 

Q. How many colored peojdeleft that plantation ?—A. I don’t know; 
1 know that some did ; ])robably !?5 or 30 men. 

Q. How ]nany men were there working on that ])lantation ?—A. I* 
have merely read about these things; 1 very rarely am out of the eMy. 
The ])lanter was a large ])lanter, and 1 in'csnine he had at Icmst 25 or 30 
on his idantation. 

Q. Whose jdantation was that ?—xV. Reuben White's. 

Q. AVhat was the result of that Caledonia affair with reference to the 
labor in that vicinity !—A. L think it had the effect to disorganize labor 
verv much. 

For how long a time ?—A. 1 don’t know whetlier tlie labor has got 
thoronghlv and •entirely to work yet. 

Q. Did it extend all around in that neighborhood ?—A. 1 ])resnme it 
did ; 1 have no ]>ersonal knowledge about the matter. 

Q. Yon have knowledge by general repute t—A. Xot even that, ex¬ 
cept to a limited extent. 1 heard Mr. W hite—I don’t know of any other 
person_com])lain of the condition of his (*rop ; he said that the effect 


100 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


])roiUic(Ml on liis plantatiou was tliat liis cro])s were left in tln^ field un¬ 
fathered, and lie liad fieat trouble in getting- them gathered. 

(^. What liad liec'o'iiK! of those colored iieoiile; where had they gone? 
—A. 1 don’t know. 

(^. Had they taken to tlie swain])s ?—A. 1 don’t know. 

Q. And Avlien they ri^tnrned yon don’t know?—A. I don’t know 
wlietlier they returned at all or not. 

Q. Do yon know from general reputation how many men were killed 
in tiiat affair at Caledonia ?—A. The largest number 1 have heard of as 
being killed was probably twelve. 

Q. Yon have heard of twelve ])ersons being killed?—A. Yes, sir; I 
have heard it so said. 1 think I heard that; but from nobody that knew 
probably any more about it than I did. 

(^. A Vere they twelve colored men?—A. Yes, sir; twelve colored men. 

(A Were no white ])eo]>le killed ?—A. Two or three were j^hot 1 heard ; 
blit 1 think none of them died. 

Q. Do yon know how many iiarish votes were returned for Taylor, the 
jiarish Judge ?—A. 1 don’t remember. 

(y He was on lioth tickets, Avas he not?—A. Yes, sir; but my recol¬ 
lection is that he did not get so large a gross vote as I did. 

Q. Was there any candidate against him?—A. N^o, sir; none. 

(y How do yon account for his liaving as many votes as yon did when 
there was no candidate against him ?—A. I do not account for that at 
all; I have nothing to do with acconiiting for it. 

ty Do yon know ?—A. 1 don’t know anything in the world about it. 

(y AVhat are his politics ?—A. lie is a Democrat. I siijipose the re¬ 
turns are here in tlie secrcdary’s office, and they can very easily be ex¬ 
amined. 

ty You say he did not have as many Amtes as yon did?—A. J don’t 
think he did. I am not certain about that even". I neA'er took the 
trouble to examine; 1 didn’t care about it. 

l>y lAIr. Carl AND: 

ty How many parishes are there in this State?—A. Some of or 52, 1 
think. ’ 

Air. Dailey. There are ds. 

The A\ ITNESS. Probably so, sir. At one time they AA ere manufactur¬ 
ing iiarishes very i-apidly. If there are oS, of course there is a more 
diiect AAuiy of iiroAung it than by me. 

(y This matter that yon speak of in reference to the poll-boxes_you 

s?i_A that it AA'as caiiAuissed by the good hiAA^yers of the liar at ShrcAmjiort 
and they gave it as their ojiinion that tAvo poll-boxes Avere required?— 
A. When the question Avas mooted Avhether or not the hiAv required that 
there should lie a separate poll-box for the Avard-otlicers, I askial the 
(piestion of some laAvyer there (I think of Air. Dailey, Avho is an ex¬ 
cellent hiAvyer), Avhether he had examined into the matter, and ]i(‘, said 
he had, and was satistied that from a iiroper construction of iirobably 
ditferent acts, 1 don’t knoAV, he Avas satisfied, and gav e it as his opinioii 
that theie AAas no doubt ot the tact that tAAui ballot-boxes A\-ei“e requirial. 
The chairman of the executive committee. Air. Dlanchard, Avas a lawyer 
also, and the question Avas no doubt referred to him. 

Dy the (Ti airman: 

Q. Do ;\ou knoAv Avhat statute they bas(*d their o])inion upon ?—A In¬ 
deed 1 do not. I have never examined the statute at all, for the simple 
mattei- ^ ^ i^iotive to examine it. 1 had no interest in the 


Parish. J 


TESTIMONY OF D. B. M'NEAL. 


101 


Q. Let me ask you a liypotlietical question: Siij^iose tliat they based 

their 0 ])iuiou on act No. 57- A. ( ), Senator, I don’t propose to answer 

any questions as a lawyer. I will not answer questions of this kind 
unless 1 have time to examine and make u]) my mind. 

Q. 1 think when I finish the (piestion you will not object. If the act 
they based their oiunion ui)on was passed and approved on the Ihth of 
A])ril, 1877, and if a subsecpient act declar(*d that the tickets sliould be 
all on one ballot; and if this subsequent act further declared that all 
laws ou this subject that were inconsistent with the act on which this 
opinion is based shall be rei)ealed, tluai would the o])iniou they have 
l^iven be a corr(‘ct one?—A. As a matter of fact a (lecision based on 

the- No, Mr. Senator, 1 don’t intend t() .aive any o] anion. 1 must beg, 

with all resi)ect to the committee, unless 1 have time to examine, to be 
excused; but I will say that the last act, of course, always takes pre¬ 
cedence, and is valid, when it really does eome in contlict with a prior 
act expressly repealed by the later act. 


By ^Ir. Bailey : 

i). Did this law take eit'ect from the time of its passage, or the time 
of its ai)proval f—A. From the time of its ai)])rova1. 

The Chairman. The language is, it re])eals all. It says, laws or 
parts of laws in contlict herewitli be and the same are hereby re])ealed.” 

The Witness. Those o])inions were given to me so contidently that I 
do not wish hastily to controvert them. I have no objection to saying 
that one ballot-box, and no more, for that matter, may have lieen abso¬ 
lutely demanded by the law. 

The Chairman. Please r(*ad section 4(1 of act No. 58, ai)proved April 


11, 1877. 

The Witness. [Reading.] “All laws or parts of laws in contlict or in¬ 
consistent with this a('t, and all laws on the subject of elections, except¬ 
ing those relating to the (‘ontesting of elections, be, and the same are 
hereby, repealed.” 


By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Mr. Moncure, is th(‘re not some way in which we cau get the exact 
vote for the ])arish, and also the registration at that election ?—A. It is 
in the office of the s(M-retary of state. 


1). B. McNFAL. 

New Ouleans, La., Janaary 15, 1879. 

]). B. McNeal (white) sworn and examined. 

By iMr. Carland : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Shreveport. 

Q. IlowMong have you lived there ?—A. Since 1873. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. ^Merchant. 

(J. Where were you on the day of the last eh‘ction ?—A. In that par- 
ish of Caddo. 1 was at Caledonia, about “0 miles below Shreveport, 
about hO miles by river. 

Q. What was the object of your behig there that day ?—A. 1 was dep¬ 
uty sheriff; deputized by the sheritl of (hiddo Parish to go there that 
day and take the box and some papers. 

Q. State in your own way what you did there in your capacity ot dep- 





102 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[Caddo 


iity slieritit, anil tlie (*liaracter of tlie election you Jield, and what oc- 
eiirred.—A. I \vent down on the evening*" of tlie 4th from Shreveport. I 
went below ( 'aledonia that ni<>ht, and staid all night at Charley Beard’s, 
at Cross-Keys. 1 was at Caledonia by daylight on tin* morning of the 
5th. J delivered the box that I had in my possession to the commis¬ 
sioners of election after seeing them sworn in. After that time I was 
about the ])olls, in the house and out of the house. There was a pmd 
of the time I sat in my buggy in front of the store where the election 
was being held. Tin* store Avas kejit by Mr. Kenm*dy, and^ as far as 
I could see, everything Avent on Axry (piietly. There seemed to be 
no trouble till, as near as 1 can come at it (1 had no timepiece), about 
half past 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Avhile I AA^as sitting in my buggy, and 
I heard some iierson say, Where is our sheriff?” I immediately jumped 
out of the Iniggy, as 1 recognized the Aoice as that of Mr. Morse, one of 
our commissioners. I Avent to him and said, ‘‘ Here I am; AAdiat is Avanted ? ” 
They told me that just on the other side of the street in a negro cabin 
thereAAercinegroesAvith arms; and they told me to see about it, AA'hich 
1 knew it Avas my dut.A' to do, as tlie hiAv says tin* deputy shall obey the 
commissioners. Tluw ri'ipiested me to see about it, as there AA^as an un- 
laAvful assemblage near the ])olls; and I obey(‘d. I, AA'ithout seeing any¬ 
body, AAcnt to this negro cabin entirely unarmed. 1 did not ewen have 
a pocket-pistol. I thought I could talk to them and stop them. There 
were two or three folloAA ed me, one by the name of KorvAOod, also Mr. 
Calhoun, ^Valter t'roAvder, and l>en (hoAvder. I didn’t anticipate any 
trouble; didn’t think of it. I started and Avent right to this cabin, AA'hich 
Avas only (50 or 75 yards diagonally across tin* strcnd. There is a ])icket 
fence in front of the house, aa itli a gate. 1 oiiened the gate and Avent in, 
and paid no atti'iition at all as to aaIio aa^is folloAviug me. I merely in¬ 
tended to go there and talk Avith those/men. As 1 came up in front to 
the door of the negro cabin, I could see the men in the rear of this cabin. 
They Avere ariiuMl, aud they Avere manipulating tluur arms some way. I 
didn’t see Avhether it Avas the manual or not. When I stepped up 1 
could see their guns conn* doAvu. 1 AA'ent uji close enough then to hear the 
click of the locks. As the gnus came doAvn I ste])p(‘d to the right so as to 
throAv me aAvay from the door, and as I did so, there Avas a bullet tired. 
This man Korwood Avas right behind me, aud h(‘ got the shot. As I 
stepped out of the AA'ay, my stepiiiiig to the right gaA'e the load to 
him. ]Vry next thought aa us to step around to the side of the cabin 
and to get in the rear, and close the door, and sto[) it if I could. As 
1 got about half-Avay behind the cabin—there Avas a cotton-tield in 
the rear of it—there Avas a iiromiscuous tiring all around. The tirst 
shot I heard in my rear. 1 immediately turned round to ascertain 
Avhat the tiring meant. Tluue AAere colored men all around, and 
I didn’t knoAv but that 1 might be surrounded, so I turned to see about 
it. The negroes had got out by this time. Just as I turned around I 
Avas struck by six shots—tAvo hit mein the right side of the head, one in 
the left, and three in this right arm. 1 saAv there Avas no shoAV for me, 
and I thought I Avould go back to the iiolls as quickly as 1 could. When 
this tirst A olley struck me 1 threw myself tiat on the ground; as I did 
so, another A olley Avent over me. They AAere undoubtedly buckshot, 
because I kneAV by the song. T have heard them before. As soon as I 
could get oft* the ground 1 ran from there back to the polls. As I Avas 
passing out of that yard of Beems’s, there Avas an old cliurch in trout of 
the house, and I had to ])ass along the*side of this church to get back, 
and right by the side of this church 1 suav one nigger shot. That is the 
only one I did see shot. I thought from his ])osition that lie aauis shot 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF D. B. M^NEAL. 


103 


by his own party. I got back to the store while the voting was going 
on, and ordered the polls closed for the time being. That is about all 
there was of it. From then on, there Avas promiscuous shooting. The 
negroes made another adA^ance after Ave had got back to the store. AVe 
got into a position to defend ourselves, and they came within 200 yards 
of ns and fired another Amlley. I staid there all that night, and we 
receiA^ed re-enforcements. We guarded the box that night, and the next 
day I went to ShreA^eport with the commissioners. 

Q. The election was quiet f—A. Yes, sir; I iieAW saAV anymore quiet 
and peaceable election in my life. 

Q. Yobody interfered AAuth the negroes A^oting ?—A. Yo, sir ; if there 
was any interference I did not see it, and I was right there all the time. 

Q. Did you see NorAvood shot ?—A. Yes, sir; he aa as the first one 
shot. 

Q. Did you see the one that fired ?—A. There were seA^eral firing. I 
do not think there were OA-er 12 or 15 in the cabin. There were proba¬ 
bly 50 or 70 in the neighborhood, but they were sitting around on the 
fences. After this trouble was oaw we went into Eeems’s house and 
searched the rooms, and we found several shot-guns and United States 
muskets and old rifles. The whole amounted to about a dozen. Oft* 
around where these niggers had been sitting on the board-piles and 
corn-cribs, Ave found two or three guns there. 

Q. Hoav far Avas it from the A^oting place to where these guns Avere 
found !—A. From 60 to 75 yards. 

Q. Where did you come from to that parish !—A. From Saint Joseph. 
I was born in Ohio. 

Q. AVhere were you during the late war !—A. I was first lieutenant 
of the Thirty-third Ohio Kegiment of the Federal Army. 

Q. Have you been an active politician in that parish !—A. No, sir. 
I haA^e been in mercantile business since 1 came there, but IniA^e a oted 
uninterruptedly at all elections. 

Q. At what time did you get to ShreA^eport the next day !—A. I think 
it was tAco or three o’clock in the afterDoon. I think it was about 10 
o’clock when Ave left Caledonia, and Ave stopped a few minutes on the 
way. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What time of the day did you say it was ?—A. It Avas about half 
past three in the afternoon. 

Q. Who called your attention to the trouble!—A. Dr. Morse, one of 
the commissioners of election. 

Q. Where AA^as Dr. Morse !—A. He Avas standing in front of the store 
and a little to the right, facing the river. 

Q. At the time, he was not in Avhere the boxes Av^ere !—A. No, sir. 

Q. What Avas the demonstration that he spoke of!—A. He saw peo¬ 
ple go in and out of the house. 

Q. What did he say !—A. He did not say anything. He said there 
Avas a demonstration—that there Avere men in there Avitli arms making 
demonstrations; and he called on me to suppress them. 

Q. So you started alone and unarmed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And did not invite anybody to accompany you!—A. No, sir; I 
suppose those who followed me followed from friendship. 

Q. Yon SaAV nothing at the time you started !—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many volunteered to follow you !—A. I don’t knoA\'. I did 
not see any until after I got in !he yard. There were Norwood and the 
two Crowders and another. 


104 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Q. All unarmed ?—A. Yes, sir; as far as I know or could see. If they 
had anything it Avas not in sight. 

Q. You knew the negroes Avere armed A. Yes, sir; because I AA^as 
told. 

Q. You thought there AA'as some danger in alloAving them to remain 
thei‘e AA’ith their arms'?—A. I thought it Aras an unhiAAdul assemblage. 

( 4 ^. It Avas a private house I —A. I sui)pose so. 

Hoay many negroes Avere in the house ?—A. TAA^elve or fifteen. 

(^. Yoav, AAliat Avere they doing Avlien you looked in '?—A. They AA^ere 
maneuA ering their arms. 

(»). Hoav (lid you look through the door—AA^asthe door open ?—A. A"es, 
sir. 

Q . Was there a Avindovv in front that you aa ent by ?— A. I don’t re¬ 
member. I belieA'e there Avas. These negro cabins have generally just 
a door in front. 

(}. Hoav big is that (‘ubin ?—A. It is a small cabin. 

(^. AVell, hoAv big ? small” is A ery indefinite.—A. About 15 or 10 by 
20 to 25. 

Q. Hoaa' Avas it Avhere you approached itf—A. There Avas nothing 
Avhere you ai)proached it. This AAmuld be the side of it (AAdtness indi¬ 
cated the positions Avith his linger); the front AAvmld be the narroAV iiart. 
It AAas about 15 feet in front. 

(}. Was there a back door ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^). Botli doors AA'ere open ?—A. Well, this one aa as—the front one—and 
the back door Avas pretty nearly open. 

These lifteen men Avere all armed '?—A. Yes, sir; as far as I could 

tell. 

i). AVho liA-ed in that house ?—A. I only knoAA" from hearsay. 

i}. What AA as that f—A. They said it AA as Aladison Eeems’s house. 

(*>. AVhere aa as Madison ?—A. I did not see him at the time. 

AVas he around ?—A. He had been there. 

(}. Had he been there all day ?—A. He had been around the polls fre- 
(juently. I don’t knoAA’' aa hetlier he aa as there all the time or not. 

(^. Hoav many AA^ere inside—Avomen, children, and all!—A. I don’t 
knoAv; it Avas all done so quickly. I think I saAV one Avoinan—it Avas all 
done in a second. 

Q . AVas she under arms, too ?— A. I don’t tliiidi she aa as. 

Q. Did you see a boy there 8 or 10 years old ?—A. I think not. I did 
not notic(‘ any boy at all, I think. 

Had you noticed a boy around the door !—A. Yo, sir. 

(,>. AVhat AA as Airs. Eeems doing ! You say the first thing that oc¬ 
curred AA as the coming of the shot through the door.—A. The first thing I 
saAv Avas the manipulation of the guns. I conld see them come doAvn to 
position, and 1 Avas close enough to hear the clmk of the locks. 

(}. Did the shot come out of the door!—A. Yes, sir; right through 
the house. 

Q. And hit Noiaa ood !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat AA as his distance from you !—A. He aa as a Icaa feet behind 
m(‘. 

Q. Eoav, then, Avhere did you say the next shot came from !— A. The 
one that hit me! AVell, I Avent around folloAA ing them. 

(^. After the shot!—A. Yes, sir. 

Ah)u say XoiAvood Avas then shot!—A. Yes, sir.- 

Q. You AA-ent around to shut the bac^k door !—A. Yes, sir; that Avas 
my intention—to close that up if I could get to it. I AA^anted to talk to 
them. 1 had no disposition to hurt them, and Avould not if I could. 


Parish.] TEST-IMONY OF D. m’nEAL. 105 

Q. Were you satistied tliey were to make an attack upon tlie 

wliites f—A. It looked to me as tliougli tliat was tlie intention. 

Q. You had nothing to base tlie opinion on t —A. Yothing, except 
what I have related. 

Q. You then proceeded around the house to these armed men. After 
you got to the door, what occurred '! —A. 1 never got to the rear of the 
house. 

Q. Where did the shot come from that hit you ?—A. As I said before, 
when 1 got half way around the firing commenced in my rear, and I turned 
round to see what that was. The negroes had Just got out of the cabin j 
and it was rigid at tlie rear of the cabin, and on the edge of the cotton- 
field, that I got my shot. 

Q. From wliom'?—A. Well, they were all out of the house by that 
time. 

Q. Before you could get to the door to shut it and keeii them in they 
were all out ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AVhat firing did you see in your rear ?—A. 1 don’t know. 1 heard 
it, and before I could turn round to see where it came from, I Avas shot 
through myself, and fell on the ground expecting another. As I fell, 
another volley went over me. 

Q. AVhen you turned around, did you see any negroes in your rear '?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. What became, of those negroes on the board-tiile?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Did you see them run ?—A. I saw some; 1 was running myself. 

Q. Which way did you run'?—A. J ran toward the polls. 

Q. As you ran, you saw a killed negro ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was his name?—A. I don’t know. From Avhere he fell, as 
near as I can make nj) my mind—this cabin being here, and the church 
being diagonally betAveen the cabin and the jiolls—I think the shot came 
from the cotton-fields. I think he was killed by his oavii men. 

Q. Did you see a sen file there?—A. Yes, sir; I heard of it. 

Q. What AA'as it about'?—A. I don’t know anything about it, only that 
I heard there Avas a scuffle. 1 was sitting in my buggy, and I heard it 
going on behind. 

Q. Did you say one negro cursed another, or struck him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was"this about the time of the shooting ?—A. it Avas along there 
some time. 

Q. Was it not right at the time'?—A. J Just merely heard it mentioned 
that tliere had been a scuffle there. 

Q. Before or after'?—A. Before, or about the time, 1 think. No, I will 
correct that. 1 never heard of it till afterward. 

Q. Then you returned to the lulling place. What did you do next ?— 
A. 1 got back to the store, Avounded and bleeding. 

Q. What did you find the (iondition of things at the polls ?—A. I found 
ev'erything in confusion. 

Q. Any white men there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many'?—A. Thirty or forty. 

Q. Armed'?—1 saw none there until 1 got back, and then 1 saAV tAVO 
or three guns. 

Q. Did you see any pistols'?—A. No, sir; I did not see any at that 
time. 

Q. What Avas said by the crowd then—anything about anybody being 
killed?—A. N(f, sir; nothing was said about any niggers being killed. 

Q. Did you know any negro with a game leg around there ?—A. I did 
not knoAV of any. 


106 


LOUISIANA IN 1378. 


[Caddo 


Q. Did you hear of any other negro being slain except this one you 
saw 'I —A. 1 heard of one after I got back to Shrevejiort. 

Q. How many did you then hear were assaulted and killed?—A. 
Well, various numbers. 

Did you make a report ?—A. To the sherifit'? 

Q. To anybody.—A. No, sir. 

(,). Did you publish any statement that was in the papers ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How many did you say in that were killed—negroes ?—A. Well, I 
said 1 thought about 1?0. 

Q. You tliought that was the projier number at the time ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You think so yet ?—A. Yes, sii-. But you will keep in mind that 
that was a day or two after the election. 

Q. I understand that. Now, when you got back to the polls the firing 
had ceased ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were these 75 negroes you saw aiound theie ?—A. They 
were gone to some place, I don’t know where. 

Q. The Avhite men were in possession of the field ?—A. Yes, sir. They 
didn’t move from there; I advised them not to. 

Q. And they went over and got the arms ?—A. Yes, sir; in tlie even- 
ing. 

Q. Now tell us what they found in the house.—A. There were a few 
shot-guns. 

Q. Tell us how many.—A. Three or four; somewhere along there. 

How many ?—A. I could not state exactly. 

(,). How many rifles?—A. Well, old sciuirrel-rifles—three or four of 
them; about half a dozen United States muskets, as near as I cau re¬ 
member. 

Q. Pistols?—A. None. 

Q. Do you include the guns you found down at the wood-pile in this 
estimate ?—A. Yes, sir; CA erything. 

Q. How many guns were found at the wood-pile ?—A. Two or three. 

Q. You say about a dozen altogether ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the (‘haracter of the guns found at the wood-pile ?—A. 
Old-fashioned rifles. 

Q. Were they loaded ?—A. 1 did not examine them. 

Q. What became of these guns ?—A. 1 don’t know. 

Q. AAho took charge of them ?—A. I didn’t. I don’t know who took 
charge of them. 

Q. You took them away to the store ?—A. No, sir; I said 1 went with 
the crowd to find out what was there. 

Q. Well, they were taken way ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, what was the character of those guns ?—A. I have described 
them as nearly as 1 could. 

Were they good, first-class weapons?—A, No, sir; I would con¬ 
sider them hard pieces. They looked like as if they were unfit for much 
use. 

(). They would go off ?—A. Yes, sir; because they did. 

Q. You think you found about a dozen guns, all told ?—A. That is as 
near as 1 could get at it. 

Q. Who has got them now ?—A. 1 don’t know. As I told you, I left 
the next morning after the election, and have not been there since. I was 
only in Shreveport a short time after the election, and then came down 
here. 

Q. Now, we will go back to the polling-place. How many guns had 


^aiish.l TESTIMONY OF D. B. m’nEAL. 107 

you seen around there dnring the time, if any! Had you seen any in 
the store there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. No pistols ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see any armed men come during the day I —A. No, sir. 

Q. None at all?—A. No, sir; till after the melee. 

Q. Who were they after that ?—A. Well, a squad came from the neigh¬ 
boring parish of Bossier. 

Q. How did they come there—armed and on horseback ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there many ?—A. Twelve or fifteen. 

Did they have to come by water there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did they come ?—A. Across the ferry. 

Q. At what time did they arrive ?—A. Some time before sundown. 

Q. What distance did they come ?—A. I don’t know the distance. 

Q. Well, you are familiar with the country ?—A. Well, the K(‘d River 
is a very crooked river, and I could not say. 

(^. Have you been over where these men came from ?—A. I have been 
there by river. 

Q. Is^ there any town there ?—A. There is Atkins Landing. I think 
it is nearly a mile across to that town from Caledonia; perhaps consid¬ 
erably further than that bj' river. 

Q. How far is Caledonia from the river ?—A. It is right on the river. 

Q. Now, how far do you think Atkins Landing is distant from Cale¬ 
donia, by land ?—A. Not more than two miles by land. 

Q. They came across by boat'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is there any town at Atkins Landing ?—A. No, sir, there is a store 
only. 

Q. Is it ‘^settled” there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it a farming country?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time did these men get over ?—A. A little before sun¬ 
down. 

Q. What time of day was that ?—A. The disturbance was about half 
past three in the afternoon, and from that to sundown; it would l)e about 
half i)ast five o’clock. 

Q. Who sent for these men ?—A. I didn’t. 

Q. Do you know whether anybody sent for them ?—A. I didn’t. 

Q. Was there a telegrai)h line across there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How often does this ferry-boat run ?—A. 1 could not tell you. Any 
time anybody wants it. 

Q. How is it propelled?—A. By hand; the river was then very low; 
it had been forded at a great many i)laces. 

Q. Did you know any of these men ?—A. I knew one, J. D. Atkins. 

Q. Did you know any of the rest ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Where does Atkins reside ?—A. He resides at Atkins Landing, 
and keeps the store there. 

Q. What was done when they came ?—A. They just stood there. 

Q. What became of these men ?—xY. They just stood there all night 
at the polls; as far as I know, up to that time there had been only one 
man killed. 

Q. The negroqs had fled ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Did you see any negroes going home ?—A. I staid there all night, 
and didn’t go home, and didn’t see any. 

Q. Where did you stay ?—A. I staid right there at the store. 

Q. These men remained all night ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Y^ou say there were twenty men killed. Now, when were they 
killed ?—A. I don’t know, only by hearsay. 


108 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Cadda 


Q. That will do for us, as you made a report on it.—A. I heard thm 
after 1 got back to Shreveport. 

Q. Wliere ?—A. Up and down the river. 

Q. When f—A. At Shreveport. 

Q. When did you hear tliey were killed—that night or the next inorn- 
iiigf—A. There was not a word said about it then. 

Q. You made your report—an official rei)ort, toof—A. Yes, sir; offi¬ 
cially, two days after. 

Q. To whom did you make it f —A. I did not make it to anybody. 

Q. Well, you say you made a statement ?—A. Yes, sir; I gave them 
the storv as best I could. 

Q. What paper was it published in ?—A. In the Shreveport Times 
and the Yew Orleans Democrat. 

(^. You cannot say where these men Avere killed ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you see any other armed men besides these!—A. Yes, sir; I 
saAv a squad Avhich was said to be from liiverdale, about two miles aboA^e 
Caledonia. 

Q. When did they come in!—A. After dark. 

Q. How many in that squad!—A. Fifteen or twenty. 

Q. Mounted!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they come on a hunt for negroes !—A. They were there all 
night, as far as I saAv. 

Q. Did you knoAv of their going out through the country looking for 
negroes!—A. I did not, sir. 

Q. What other squads did you see!—A. There Avas another squad came 
from Ited liiA er Parish. 

Q. At AA’hat time did they arrive!—A. 1 judged that to be aliout 1 or 
2 o’clock in the morning. 

Q. Where is PedPiA^er Parish!—A. It is below Caledonia. 

Q. How far beloAv (kdedonia ?—A. I don’t know exactly. I don’t knoAV 
where the boundary-line of Caddo is. 

(^). Did they come from the parish seat !—A. I don’t knoAA"; they said 
they Avere from Ped PiA er Parish. 

Q. It is on theopi)osite side of the riA er!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About how far do you say it is to the landing; liaA’e you any idea !— 
A. I liaA^e no idea, sir; I knoAV hoAv far it is called from the river; from 
Caledonia to Cousliatta, 80 miles by rixer. 

Q. You don’t knoAV hoAV far it is by land!—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. These got here about 1 o’clock!—A. Yes, sir; about 1 or 2 o’clock. 

Q. Armed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Mounted !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many did you see!—A. I don’t knoAA' Iioav many there was in 
that squad. There Avas a considerable number of them. 

Q. Did they report anybody killed !—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What other armed bodies did you see !—A. I didn’t see any, except 
a fcAV men that they said came in from De Soto. 

Q. About how many !—A. That aa as a small squad. I don’t knoAv; I 
did not see them Avhen they came in. 

Q. How many did you understand came in!—rA. Say 10. 

Q. What others did you understand came in !—A. I don’t remember 
any but a s(piad from Bossier, from Ped PiA er, PiA^erdale, and De Soto. 
The next day, going up, I met a squad coming doAAUi from Piverdale. 

Q. Yext morning were they there!—A. Yo, sir; some Avere and some 
were not. 

Q. How many troops did you find at Caledonia in the morning when 
you got up!—A. I coidd not tell you. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF D B. M^NEAL. 


109 


Q. Did you see any negroes ?—A. Y6s, sir. 

Q. Did you see any body of negroes going up ?—A. No, sir; I saw 
one; that is all. 

Q. You say alter you returned to the polls, and after this man was seen 
dead before the church, the negroes made an advance on you ?—A. That 
was something like towards evening, Thev did not come within more 
than 300 or 400 yards. 

Q. hat was the (diaracter of this advance ?—A. They came from 
this cotton held and hred a volley and went l>ack. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How far were they away ?—A. 300 or 400 yards. 

Q. Did they hit anybody?—A. No, sir; they could not hit anybody 
at that distance. 

Q. What did you do ?—A. I remained right there. 

Q. Why did you not pursue them ?—A. That is more than I can tell 
you. 

Q. At ho had command of these white forces—they were commanded? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AAMs there any captain?—A. Yes, sir; some of them were called 

captains”—Captain l*hillii)s and Captain Thomas. 

Q. Are these military companies ?—A. 1 have never understood them 
Ao be, and I don’t know them to be. 

Q. You did not understand they were State militia ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. You understood that they were simply volunteers who had offered 
to put down these insurgent negroes?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Did you understand that ?—A. I understood they had come down 
to our assistance. I had already sent a courier to Slireveport, asking 
for assistance for the militia, saying that we were outnumbered and 
besieged. 

Q'. Were you besieged? Is that strictly correct?—A. I thought we 
were. 1 don’t su^ipose we were exactly that. As I wrote, I did not see 
any Avhite people out armed. 

Q. Well, if there were 15 armed negroes there, most of them must 
have left their arms?—A. My experience is, that a negro will shoot, 
throw .down his arms, and run away. 

Q. AV^ell, you thought it necessary to have these Avhite men there to 
help you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As you have made a statement that went around the country, that 
there were 20 men killed, 1 Avould like to know liow you got that infor¬ 
mation ?—A. I could not tell; it was i)romiscuous talk. 

Q. From men who had been out in those parties ?—A. I could not 
tell you. 

Q. Do you know that these armed bodies of men killed the negroes? 
—A. Nobody knows. 

Q. If you said there were 20 men killed, it must have taken place at 
some point. AVhere did you hear they Avere killed ?—A. I heard of it 
after 1 got to Shreveport. 

Q. Did you belieA^e it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had reason to believe it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(}. Believe it still ?—A. I don’t knoAV Avhether I do or not. I liaxe 
heard A^ery little since then. 

Q. Would you be as apt to believe it now as then ?—A. I could not 
tell you. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. From whom did you receive the ballot-boxes that you carried to 
Caledonia ?—A. From the sheriff*. 


no 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[Caddo 


Q. How many did yon receive from him ?—A. One. 

Q. How many boxes were used at the election on that day?—A. 
Three. 

Q. Whence.did the other two boxes come?—A. I donT know. 

Q. When and wliere did you first see the other two ?—A. ell, shortly 

after the polls were oi)ened. 

Q. Who brought tliem there ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. In whose possession did you first see them?—A. In the possession 
of the commissioners. 

Q. Who were the commissions?—A. Dr. Morse, and a young man by 
the name of Igo, and Mr. Hutchinson, I believe. 

Q. Did you, as a civil officer, protest against the use of three boxes? 
—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you say anything against it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did they say anything to you about the use of three boxes ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Had you prior to that time seen three boxes used at any election ? 
—A. No, sir; 1 don’t think I ever did. 

Q. How many boxes had been used at elections prior to that time?— 
A. I had been used to voting in one. 

Q. How many had been used at previous elections ?—A. I don’t know 
of but one. 

Q. Mr. Norwood testified before the committee a day or two ago that 
you summoned a posse to accompany you to Kearns’s house. Is that true, 
or is it not true ?—A. I summoned nobody. As I said before, I did not 
deem it necessary. 

Q. When did you return to Shreveport from Caledonia ?—A. Next 
day, which would be the 6tln 

Q. How long did you remain at Shreveport ?—A. I don’t remember— 
about a week. 

Q. Where did you go then ?—A. To Coushatta. 

Q. Did you not go then to Caledonia ?—A. I was not in the neighbor¬ 
hood after that. I was requested by Mr. Frosham to go down to some 
of those islands for cotton, and I told him I had had enough of that 
country. 

Q. From what place did you come to New Orleans?—A. I came-from 
Shreveport to Consliatta, and from there here. 

Q. Did you see an armed body of white men come to Caledonia before 
this killing took placje that day ?—A. No, sir; I saw no demonstration on 
the part of anybody. If they came, I didn’t see them. Everything had 
been as (piiet as could be uj) to that time. 

Q. You staid at the house of J. Beard ?—A. Yes, sir; on the night 
of the 4th. ’ 

Q. Did this Beard infoiin you tliat Keaiii.s liad those guns in lii.s liouse 
to protect his cotton ?—A. He never told me so. 

Q. Did you hear him say so ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear it said there?—A. No, sir; I never heard a thing 
about the pins till this fracas commenced. 

Q. I believe you have stated that the negroes scattered when the fir¬ 
ing commenced ?—A. They preserved their organization pretty well, 
but they retreated, of course. 

Q. Well, it don’t follow that they ‘‘retreated, of course.” What was 
the fact ?—A. They did retreat. I can’t tell how many shots w ere fired. 
I suppose they emptied their guns, and then retreated. 

Q. Did they retreat before anv shots were fired at them ?—A. Yes. 
sir. ' ^ 


Pariah.] 


TESTIMONY OF D. B. m’nEAL 


111 


Q. Were any shots fired at them at all ?—A. I saw none. 

Q. Were any fired ?—A. At the time they were going I 

>"es, sir ; or before.—A. All I can say is, that to the best of my 
knowledge and belief, I saw none. I believe there were non. 

Q. Were you in Kennedy’s store at Caledonia on the day of elec¬ 
tion'?—A. Yes, sir; a good many times. 

Q. Did you see any guns in that store '?—A. 1 did not. 

Q. How many white men were present at the time this killing com¬ 
menced '?—A. About 12 or 15. 

Q. Would you swear that you did not see any of these white men 
drawing an arm, or having any arms in their possession, until after the 
negToes retreatedf—A. That is what 1 said. I saw no arms; if they 
had, I didn’t see them. 

Q. Well, you were in a position where you could have seen them ?— 
A. I saw none at all until after I came ba(;k; not even a pistol. 

Q. How many did you see after you came back '?—xV. 1 could not tell; 
only a few. 

Q. And, as far as you know, they were not used at all?—A. Ko, sir; 
so far as 1 know. 

Q. Have you not been in that country long enough to know that white 
men have very little fear of negroes ?—A. That is something that I 
never gave a second thought to. 1 didn’t suppose that anybody was 
afraid of anybody. I did not think that the negroes were afraid of the 
whites, nor the whites afraid of the negroes. 

Q. With which political party did you affiliate before you left 
Ohio?—A. I generally voted the Democratic ticket on national issues. 
On local issues I voted for the men that 1 thought proper regardless 
of politics. 

(^. Was not a gun placed in your hand, or did not you take one after 
you returned to the polling plac'c ?—A. There was no gun offered me at 
all. The only time I had a gun in my hand was about 10 o’clock at 
night, when there was some hooting and howling round there, and I 
picked up an old carbine lying on the counter, but 1 did not use it 
though. 

By Mr. Oakland : 

Q. Is the river as wide at Caledonia as at any other point ?—A. Yo, 
sir; it is narrow; that is in Avhat is called the narrow river” there. 

Q. Did the planters live along close to the river on tlieir places ?—A. 
Yes, sir ; as I said, I never was througli there before that time, or since. 

Q. The colored people mostly live ba(‘k ?—A. Yes; they mostly live 
back, and the whites in front. 

Q. About how long after the first firing was it before any armed men 
came from the river, or from anyAvhere else, to the scene ?—A. Well, 
as 1 have said before, about two hours, as near as I can remember. I 
guess at it. I didn’t time anything, or know that anybody was coming. 
I had sent my order for militia. 

Q. The planters live pretty thickly up and down the river ?—A. Yes, 
sir ; as far as I know, they do ; up and down the banks of the river. 

Q. The news of a matter of tliat kind would necessarily go swiftly 
through the country ?—A. Yes, sir; necessarily. There Avas a good deal 
of excitement; I was excited myselt OA^er the thing, not anticipating it. 

Q. How far did you say it AA^as from Caledonia to Biverdale?—A. I 
think they call it 10 miles by land. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. As 1 understood from you, you knew but one black man being 
killed?—A. That is all. 


112 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo Parisli.] 


Q. Till tlio tijiio you left the next day ?—A. Ves, sir; 1 left about 10 
o’clock next (lay. 

Q. The next evening- you reached 8hreve]»ort ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And there you learned that about twenty had l)een killed ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

(}. 8o that if that inforination were (,*orrect, ninete(*n had been killed 
■elsewhere than at (hdedonia, during’ the ni<*lit (jr the following- day?— 
Yes, sir; there must have l)een. ' 

Q. Did you learn that they were killed l>y any le^al process ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. That there had been warrants of arrest out, and that they had re¬ 
sisted the ofrtcei-s, and had been shot down for that resistance ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Just killed on .i^eneral ])rinciph‘s ?—A. I suppose so; I have no 
means of kiiowin^i'. 

Q. Is it a i)art of the unwritten law there, that Avhen a white man is 
killed in an affray Avith a Idack man, twenty bhmk men are to be killed 
to make the thinj»- scpiare ?—A. I have heard nothing’ of the kind. 1 
■don’t belong’ to politics; I don’t belong to any company, and 1 hav'e no 
means of finding out. 

Q. Do you knoAv Avhether any arrests Avere made or attempted to be 
made for the affray at Caledonia ?—A. 1 heard of no attempts at arrest; 
no attem])ts being made to arrest anybody, Avhite or black. 

Q. Were any attemi)ts at arrest made u])on black men for this attack 
upon you ?—A. I don’t knoAV of any. 

I>y the Chairman : 

(^). What IxHiame of Madison lleams ?—A. I don’t knoAv. 

(>). Was he arrested?—A. 1 imwer heard of his being arrested, nor do 
I knoAv of his being arrested. 

Q . AYas there any Avarrant out for him ? — A. I don't knoAV. 

Q. Are you still acting as deputy sheriff?—A. No, sir; only at that 
time AA^as I unfortunately one of them. 


NATCHITOCHES PARISH. 


FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 








f 


NATCHITOCHES PARISH STATISTICS. 


POPULATION. 


Colored (by Tlnited census of 1870). 10,029 

White (by United States census of 1870). 7, 312 

Colored majority in 1870.. 3,617 

(b>lored (by State census of 1875). 15, 404 

White (by State census of 1875) . 5,007 

Colored majority in 1875. 9,497 


RFAilSTRATlON. 


(Colored (by registration of 1874). 2,383 

White (by registration of 1874). 1,283 

Colored registered majority in 1874 . 1,100 


Entitled to vote by State census of 1875 ; 

Colored (see Tables I and II) . 3,062 

White (see Tables I and 11. 1,285 


CVdored majority .. 1,777 


Colored (by registration of 1878). 1,963 

White (by registration of 1878). 1,830 


Colored registered majority in 1878 . 133 


l‘ROMULGATED V«3TE IN 1878. 

Eor treasurer, Democratic candidate. 2 816 

Eor treasurer, Opposition candidate. None. 

Eor Congress, Democratic candidate. 2 819 

Eor Congress, Ke})nblican candidate. None. 

Eor State senator. Democratic candidate. 2 817 

Eor State senator. RepnUlican candidate. Noikl 

Eor State Representatives, Democratic candidates. ^ 2,811 

. . \ 2,808 

1’(M‘ State Representatives, Re]>ublican candidates. None. 









































NATCIIITOCIIES PARISH. 


J. E. BKEDxV. 


Orleans, Jamiary 7, 1879. 

J. Ernest Breda (white) san^oiti and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—AnsAA^er. In tlie i)aris]i of Natchito¬ 
ches, about three-fourths of a mile from the county seat. 

Where is the parish of Natchitoches situated f—A. Northwest from 
here, sir. 

Q. About how far?—A. It is counted, by the riA^er, 480 miles from the 
city of New Orleans. 

Q. Hoaa" long have yon resided in that parish ?—A. I was born there 
and it is my home. I am now about 37 years of age. 

Q. What is your business ?—A. Attorney at hiAv. 

Q. Wliat is the population of that parish ? —A. By the late census the 
poj)ulation Avas tAA^enty-one thousand and some hundred. 

Q. You mean the census of 1875 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat i)roportion of this population is Avhite and what black ?—A. 
I could not really give you a correct estimate, but in my neighborhood 
tliere are about three colored men to tAA o Avdiite men; and I suppose 
that must be about the aA^erage. 

Q. AYere you engaged in the late war ?—A. Yes, sir; I was in tlie 
Second Louisiana Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Vincent, of this city, 
a Confederate. 

Q. How long were you in the serAUce ?—A. Erom the 22d of August, 
1802, to the close of tiie Avar. 

Q. Have you alAA^ays resided in that parish ?—A. AhAmys; my great 
grandmother Avas born there. 

Q. You have ahvays been a resident of the parish?—A. Yes, sir; my 
father married there in 1837, and has always resided there since. He is 
a ])hysician by profession. 

Q. Have you had any connection with the late political campaign?— 
A. Yes, sir; I haA^e been one of the Kepublican speakers since 1872. 
My first connection AA'itli the Bepublican iiarty was in 1871; since then 
I have always been in eA^ery campaign as one of the speakers. 

Q. Did you take part in the last campaign, of 1878?—A. No, sir; 1 
Avas driven aAvay from home on tlie 22d of September last, by an armed 
mob. 

The Chairman. Now you may state the circumstances connected with 
that. 

The AVYtness. It is usual among Eepublicans in our parish to hold 
an annual meeting; and AAdien Ave could not hav^e an annual meeting we 
had one every second year. AVe had an organization that we called a 
Avard club. Eacli Avaril had a ])resident, vice-president, secretary, and 
other officers. AVe had no organization of the club in 1878. The cam- 
liaign was approaching, and there were no candidates in the field, and 



116 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[Natchitoches 


we issued orders from the central executive committee of the Ilepuhlicau 
party to the clubs—ours being considered the x)rincipal club of the par¬ 
ish—to organize, and send us a list of the officers elected. We had to have 
a meeting of that kind also to elect our officers. The 21st of September, 
at ten o’clock in the morning, we aj)pointed as the day to hold tliat meet¬ 
ing. On that day there was to be a convention of the democratic i)arty of 
the parish of Natchitoches, and it was so published in the official pai)er of 
the Democratic x)arty. The Democratic convention was to be held between 
three-fourths of a mile and a mile from the place where our ward meet¬ 
ing was to be. 

Q. Was it a mass-meeting, or a ward-meeting I—A. It was to be a 
ward-meeting we were to have—not a mass-meeting, as they represented 
on the other side. At this meeting there were between 100 and 150 
X)ersons present—at the Eexniblican meeting, I mean. I addressed the 
meeting as the first speaker on that day. Other speakers followed, and 
after the sx)eaking was over, we x)roceeded to the election of officers of the 
club. 

Mr. Barron presided. When we got through Ave adjourned the meet¬ 
ing and started home. I was on my horse, with my brother. Dr. Breda, 
m 5 comx)anying me, and a younger brother of mine, and a brother-in-law— 
all on horseback. We started ip) town in the direction of our home. We 
live in the north end of the city, and the meeting was on the south side. 

We had proceeded about 75 or 100 yards, Avhen, at the corner of Oy- 
I)ress street, a body of armed cavalrymen threw themselves across the 
street and ordered us to halt. I asked them AAffiat it meant. They said, 
‘‘NeAxr mind; you stop.” Then fiA^e or six of the crowd drcAV their re- 
Amh^ers and held them i)ointed at us, and told us—Mr. Breazeale, for¬ 
merly a colonel of the Confederate army, and' also Samuel M. Hyams, 
said, about in the same breath—Droj) every son of a bitch in his tracks 
Avho attemx)ts to x)ass.” My brother said, What do you mean by thus 
stoi)X)ing uj) the highway V’ He said, You will find out before you get 
through.” I then said in French, ‘‘If Ave cannot go ahead, we can go 
back the way we came.” What made me say this Avas that I saAv an 
armed mob of 100 men coming doAvn the street to join these tAventy who 
had stox)i)ed. We turned back, and Captain Braziall attemx)ted to head 
me off. I took my boot out of the stirruxA and made a kick to hit him, 
but missed him, and struck his horse on the nose, and I got j^ast. We 
rode doAvn the river, and made our escai)e by Judge Simmons’s house 
and the coiiA^ent, and got home; and there Ave remained that night. I 
heard A’^ery Avild rumors .of all kinds as to Avliat was going on, from peo- 
l)le passing by. 1 heard that Mr. Blount had been captured that even- 
ing. 

Q. Who is Blount ?—A. Mr. Blount is senator from our district to 
the State legislature—A. E. Blount. 

Q. What is he politically ?—A. He Avas formerly senator from onr 
district. 

Q. Wliat are his politics^—A. Eepublican; there AAms no one disturbed 
there except Eepublicans. 

On Sunday morning, the 22d of September, tlie day after this meet¬ 
ing, at about eight o’clock in the morning, my mother’s brother, mv 
uncle, rode up. ' 

Q. What was his name?—A. C. F. Drauguet. He AN'as the mayor of 
tlie city ot Natchitoches at that time. He had not si)oken to me since 
1874,011 account of my politics. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir; and a Avhite man, of course, as 
he is my relative. Dr. Breda, myself, my Avife, and my father, were 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. E. BREDA. 


117 


standin^i:^ there, and Mr. Drangnet asked me and my brother to surren¬ 
der. lie said there was an armed mob in the city oi* Natchitocdies, and 
want yon to snrrender.’^ I said, You can take me dead, but I will 
not surrender.” lie said, You can do this and you will not be taken. 
We want you to be sent away. We don’t want you here any longer.” 
My brother said, ‘‘ Who will sup])ort our families during the time we are 
gone away from our parish f ” He said that was neither here nor there, 
for might was right; and he said if we left the parish our house would 
not be disturbed. I said, ‘‘ If you will give us a guarantee to -that 
ettect, so that we are satisfied that we will not be disturbed if avo leave, 
1 will see about it.” He said Ave had to be away in two hours, and 
added, if we AA^ere not away in that time there Avas no security for 
us, our wiA^es, our father, or anybody 5 that there Avere 500 men there 
Avho would destroy everything. We Avent about 100 yards away, to my 
father’s house, and got our Winchester rifies and started oft*. 

Q. Who di(l that f—A. Dr. Breda and I. 

Q. Hoav old is your father?—A. He is 71 years old last April. It 
was about half an hour after this Dranguet had left that Ave went. 

I could see him distinctly. He came back, riding in the middle, Avith 
Mr. Ponder, a Democrat, and Mr. W. W^. Breazeale, another Democrat. 
They came -there and entered into conAwsation with my father. 1 could 
notliear them from AAdiere 1 Avas. Breazeale and Ponder left; Dranguet 
remained at the house and conversed aAvhile with them, about half an 
hour, and took his departure. We remained in the Avoods all the time,, 
though Ave sometimes communicated Avith the house. 

We remained in the ])arish of Natchitoches, though we had some as¬ 
sistance from i)arties outside—Kei)ublicans—and about the 25th of Oc¬ 
tober we saAv Drauguet again call one of my sisters to (he fence and 
hold a coiiA^ersation AAith her, Avhich she said afterAA^ards Avas that they 
would take the bloodhounds and search the Avoods and house to kuoAv 
whether Ave Avere there or not. 

I got our younger brother to get our horses, and Ave left Natchitoches 
fiA^e minutes after midnight the 31st of October, and reached Shreve¬ 
port at one o’clock Friday evening, a distance of 100 miles, and we re¬ 
mained there until Ave Avere summoned here before the grand jury. 

I have some extracts here from a paper from Avhich you can see the 
spirit of the times there. 

Q. Things published up there?—A. Yes, sir. One of them AA^as a 
warning. 

Q. What you call a parish is what Ave call a county?—A. Yes, sir; a 
ward is a subdivision of a parish, each of Avhich elects a magistrate and 
constable. 

Q. Is this paper supported by these men, such as you had trouble 
with?—A. Yes, sir; it is supported by them, and is styled the Demo¬ 
cratic organ. 

Q. You may read from this paper if you desire. 

[The witness read as folloAvs: ] 

BLOUNT IN NEW ORLEANS. 

This incendiary has told, as we expected, a story which for profound and solid lying 
we comnieinl. Life is too short to refute the slanders of every Radical scoundrel who 
has first robbed this parish and, when caught in the act, been ordered off; nor liave 
our people a single apology to mahe for our conduct on September 21st, except, per¬ 
haps that we should have hung the Avliole crew—which, had we followed the dictates 
of stern iustice, would lia-A^e been right. IMercy is a quality that no Radical incendi¬ 
ary has ever understood, and in future, with us, it will never be “strained’' upon the 

II nappreciati ve see ” ndrels. 


118 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Had you any x^ersonal knowledge tkat Bloniitliad been arrested ?— 
A. I didn’t see it. 

Here is another coininunicatidn I would like to read to yon: 


A WARNING. 

The Bredas are in Shreveport, so we learn, pre]>aring to return. We warn these 
men to keep away. Our ])romi8e8 to them have been kept. We were to spare their 
lives, which they had forfeited hy all law, human and divine, if they went away and 
never returned. 

They must not return. If they do they will he dealt with, as certain as the snn rises 
and sets. 

[The witness then offered to read a document.] 

Q. What is that document ?—A. It is a document drawn up by one oi 
the parties of this affair to sign, so that I could return home. 

Q. Who drew it u]) ?—A. Hr. J. H. Cunningham drew it up, and asked 
us to sign that, and if we did he would let us return. This is a copy of it. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. AVhere is the original ?—A. It is in my father’s possession, in the 
town of Xatchitoches, at home, about three-fourths of a mile from town. 

Mr. Bailey. I suggest that we Ayithhold the reading of that until the 
original can be produced. 

Q. Did you read the original yourself ?—A. IS'o, sir j this one was sent 
to me by my father as an exact copy. 

Objected to by Mr. Bailey, on the ground that it is not the original 
and that the witness never saw the original. 

Mr. Cameron. It appears from the testimony of this witness that this 
man made his father an agent to communicate to him, and his father 
assures us that he has communicated with him from time to time, and 
he communicates to him now, and says these men, by whom he was 
driven from the parish, consented that the witness could return if he will 
sign the paper. They made Dr. Breda their agent, and communicated 
Avith these exiles. 

Mr. Garland. The question is the proving, b 3 ' a Avitness, the authen¬ 
ticity of a document, the original of Avhich he had neA'er seen. 

The Chairman. Does not that, in this kind of a case, simply go to its 
legal Aveight? —A. I think the general rule, to take eAwything that 
bears upon the question, may be applied in this case. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. In Avhat Avay did you receiA^e this ?—A. By mail iu Shreveport. 

Do you know Aviiere it aams mailed ?—A. In the city of Natchitoches. 

Q. You knoAv it to be your father’s handwriting ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Natchitoches, Xovemher 26, 1878. 

M e, A. P. Breda and J. E. Breda, and the nndersigned citizens as sureties and g uar¬ 
antors, most iT'speetfully represent to the j^ood and orderly citizens of the parish of 
Natchitoches that on the 21st day of Septemiier, 1878, and for several years previous, 
A. 1\ Breda and ,T. E. Breda did, hy words, acts, and deeds, end(*avor to, and did 
annoy the lonorant and most vicious element of society against the material interest 
and to the detriment of the general prosperity of this parish ; that tliis effort con- 
senes ol years, was accomplished on the said 21st of Seiitemher, 
]fe78, in open acts of attempted violence and incendiarisms, towit, the massimv of a 
neirro mol) under the tiiteliicrii nnfi ipo/mvoU;,. _ _i xi_ -R 


cipals, A. 1 Breda and ,T. E. Breda, were iu commou with other incendiarv am 
dag^erous^ characters chantald^ Py the loyal and good citizens of the parisl 

of Natehitoclies, the justice of which punishment thev acknowledge. Thev now asl 
remission ot that just sentence, and pray that they may he allowed to return, proiuis 


Parish.] 


testimony of J. E. BREDA. 


119 


in<r most faithfully to abstain in future from all efforts or acts of incendiarism, and 
to conduct themselves at all times and in such manner as to secure the approba¬ 
tion of the good citizens of Natchitoches; and we, the undersigned petitioners, do 
hereby pledge ourselves for the said A. P. Breda and J. E. Breda that they Avill abide 
by and keep faithfully this pledge ; and further, that we, as sureties and guarantors, 
pledge ourselves most faithfully to compel an observance of all the pledges herein 
contained, by the said A. P. Breda and J. E. Breda. In testimony whereof we, A. P. 
Breda and J. E. Breda, have hereunto signed our names, with the petitioners as 
sureties and guarantors. 

The Witness. The ahot e docuiiieut myself and my brother refused 
to sign. 

By Mr. Garland : i 

Q. It appears to be signed by two of the Bredas?—A. Ko, sir; it is 
not signed at all. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Yon say yon refused to sign that ?—A. Yes, sir, indeed. 

(^. Why did yon refuse ?—A. It was false in every particnlar. 

Q. Were yon ever gnilty of any of those things '?—A. Yo, sir. What 
was called incendiarism and acts of violence is this: That we, the 
Bepnblican leaders, are the acknowledged guardians of the colored 
people, and all law-abiding men white or black, and these men cannot 
control them politically and we can, and any speeches that we make to 
the Eepnblicans in meetings, whereby we get them to cnt loose from 
the Democratic p^rty, is called an incendiary speech. I have never 
heard an expression of lawlessness since I have been a member of that 
party. 

Q. Is there any lawlessness in that district on the part of the negroes"? 
—A. Yo, sir; there never has been. The miserable creatures hardly 
even strike back in self-defense. 

Q. Are there any other white Eepnblicans up there besides your 
family ?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. Barron, who is a member of the late legisla¬ 
ture here. There is another who joined us on the day that this meeting was 
called; I do not care to name him now. We have never had any trouble. 
We had about 300 men to co-operate with us in the campaign of 1878, 
and the committee called on me and asked me to assist them in secur¬ 
ing the nomination of men in the country in 1878 on their ticket. This 
took place in the town of Yatchitoches, at my office, which was eaves¬ 
dropped by low characters employed for that purpose, and they hear<l 
of this combination and struck for us the first meeting Ave had in the 
parish. One of the eaves-droppers (it cannot hurt him) was Mr. Oharl(\s 
Miller. 

Q. He was one of the parties AAffio reported A. Yes, sir; he was 
one of the eaves-droppers; I do not know Avhether he reported it or not, 
but he was seen by us hanging round there. It Avas not an incendiary 
speech. 

Q. What was the character of the speeches you made !—A. They 
AA^ere speeches any one would make at a political meeting, and in which 
we called upon the Eepnblicans to stand firm by the Eepublican leaders 
and the Eepublican party; that they need not expect reform from th(‘. 
Democrats ; that their pledges of reform under the Nichols government 
Avere falsified; that instead of finding friends among them they Avould 
find enemies. That their crops were robbed every year. And it is a 
history knoAvn to every one there that the colored men cannot mak(^ a 
crop, but he has all manner of trouble so that they can capture it from 
him. He cannot get it into tlie market under his OAvn name. 

Q. How long has this state of affairs continued !—A. In our parish 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


120 


since 1872 to iny knoAvledge, and before, in 1868, under tlie Knights of 
tlie White Camelia, into whicli I initiated every Avhite man in that i)arisli. 

Q. It has been growing Avorse since that time?—A. Yes, sir; and 
Avhen I saAA^ the object of it I quit it. 

Q. Have you any otlier facts that you desire to mention in connection 
Avith this campaign'?—A. Kothing especially that I know of. 1 liaAC 
giA^en you the sum and substance of the most that liappened. 

Q. You refer to AAdiat election now ?—A. The Congressional election 
on the 5th of November, 1878. 

Q. What liad been the political com])lexion of that county?—A. It 
has alAvays been Eepublican. The Kepublicans have a large registered 

majority. i 

Q. Hoav Avas it this last election? — A. I could not tell; I was United 
States supervisor of registration, but aa'us not allowed to remain there 
and see it out. They did just as they iileased aa hen there Avas no one 
tliere to watcli them. Tliere are more white men aaIio Amte the Repub¬ 
lican ticket than there are colored men who Yote the Democratic ticket. 

By the Oiiaikman : 

Q. Heretofore have the parish officers been Democratic or Republi¬ 
can—sheriff, &c. ?—A. Republican. 

Q. Hoav long liaA^e they been Republican ?—A. Since the reconstruc¬ 
tion of the State. 

Q. You say you do not know what they are since the last election ?— 
^V. I haA^e senn one of the officers down here. They returned a Demo- 
ci-atic majority by their official paper of 2,900, and a feAA^ over. 


CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. When Avere you judge of the parish ?—A. In 1875 and 1876. AYe 
hold elections eveiy tAvo years for parish judges. 

Q. AYere you elected by Republican Amtes ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. By what majority?—A. I got a majority of 300. 

Q. Hoav long did you hold your office?—A. Tavo years as parish 
judge. I was district attorney from 1873 to the election of 1874. I Avas 
apiiointed on account of the death of the former incumbent. 

Q. You were not elected to till that place?—A. Ko, sir; I was ap- 
j)ointed after he died, by GoA^ernor Kellogg. He had serA^ed out a term 
of four years, and had just been elected to a second term when he died. 

Q. AA"ho are the parish offi(‘ers now—of Avhat party?—A. By the offi¬ 
cial ])aper they are Democrats from top to bottom. 

Q. AYliat were the politics of these officials at the time of the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Democrats. 

Q. How long haA^e they been in office ?—A. The Democrats are noAV 
in office; previous to that A\e had Republicans. 

Q. Y^ou had Republicans in office just Avhen these difficulties occurred ? 
—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Except your county judge and district attorney ?—A. Ko, sir; the 
<*,ounty judge in our parish aa as elected by a Republican majority. The 
judicial district has a Democratic district judge and Democratic district 
attorney. They AA^ere elected in 1876. They took possession of the 
office Avhen Kicholls did, whether they were elected or not. 

Then, as I understand it, the district attorney of that parish, at 
the time of these difficulties, was Republican ?—A. He was a Democrat— 
AY. P. Hall; he is a resident of Mansfield, De Soto. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. E. BREDA. 


121 


Q. When you were a resident there were the Republicans in majority? 
—A. Yes, sir; then they could vote, now they dare not. 

Q. Was there not an oath in that society that bound each of its mem¬ 
bers against voting for a colored man?—A. There was not an oath pre¬ 
venting them from it ; there was an oath binding them not to vote for 
one who had African blood or mixed blood. 

(^. You took that oath?—A. I did, sir. That was in accordance with 
the sentiment of the people then. 

Q. You si)oke in reference to the three hundred conservative persons 
attempting to do something in reference to the politics of their parish ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were those three hundred persons wliite ?—A. Yes, sir; and not a 
single one of them was seen in arms on tlie 21st of September. 

Q. Were they Democrats then ?—A. They have been considered as 
conservative men, not as staunch Democrats. Before the war they used 
to be Whigs, and after the war they were Union men, and many had to 
hunt the woods to keep from going into the seiwice. They voted with 
us sometimes, and sometimes did not. This time they organized to make 
a Avorkingmen’s party in conjunction with the Republicans. 

Q. I understand you to say that your combination was tlnvarted by 
the interference of the ultra Democrats?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not a fact that 300 white people of your parish can prevent 
any bull dozing, as they call it, by the balance ?—A. I can illustrate that. 
The Avorkingmen, such as the white men who Avish to combine with the 
Republicans, and colored men of Yatchitoches and the surrounding ])ar- 
ishes, are men who liaAX just enough means to meet their exi)enses, and 
Avdio do not invest in shot-guns to hunt doAAui every inan AAdio is oi)posed to 
them. These other people, who are ^foiits,’^ and Avmnt to get positions, 
organize themselves; and everybody knoAA^s that 50 organized men can 
beat a hundred men aaIio are not organized, in the held. And that is 
the Avay they worked it on us. They came on us A\ithout Avarning. 

Q. Did I understand you to say that none of these 300 men had shot¬ 
guns; that they were not armed?—A. They may haA^e had shot-guns, 
here and there, but not for this purpose. 

Q. Is it usual for as many as three hundred men to be run upon and 
stampeded ?—A. Yes, sir. We had about 150 men and aa omen and chil¬ 
dren, and some colored y)eople Avho hung around the last meeting. That 
Avas about the number that was there. 

Q. Had you or your family any difficulty, at any time, with Mr. Hy- 
ains?—A. The only thing I could say is that he is a violent Democrat, 
and I am not. Last May or June he met me on the road, and without 
a AA ord of ])rovocation he commenced abusing me; and I rei)lied. lie 
said, “ Get doAvn, and I Avill shoot Avith you at ten steps.” And I said I 
Avould shoot him at one step. If Ave were going to shoot, I Avanted to 
shoot so that I Av^ould kill him and be done Avith it. 

Q. Did von have any difficulty Avith Colonel Rreazeale ?—A. Yo, sir. 
He had been on such good terms with me that in fact I let him get in 
my debt, and it has never been paid u]). 

*Q. Had you been about the Democratic meeting that assembled on the 
same day that your meeting did?—A. Yo, sir; 1 never A\xnt about the 
meeting because they used such vituperative language; sol kept aAvay. 

Q. Had any of these caA^alrymen that you suaa’^ been over at your 
meeting Avdiere a on had been speaking on that day ?—A. No, sir; not 
one of them. They left the court-house, Avhere they Avere assembled, and 
from that direction they came on us. 


122 


LOUISIANA IN 1878, 


[ISTatcLitoches 


Q. Have yon since 1808 given any support to colored people for of¬ 
fice f—A. I said since 1871. 1 became an active worker in 1872. 

Q. And worked for both A. Yes, sir ,* whoever were the nominees 
of the Kepnblican party, I advocated their canse, and wmrked for them. 

Q. How long was that letter that yonr father sent to yon on the way? 
Do yon recollect the date Avhen it was pnt in the mail?—A. I have it 
in my room. 

Q. How long was it coming to yon?—A. The date will show ; we gen¬ 
erally got onr letters in three or four days from the parish oi IS^atchi- 
toches. 

Q. Hoav long was it coming?—A. It was not over fonr days. 

Q. Yon have not seen yonr father since ?—A. Yo, sir; not since the 
22d Sei)tember last j nor has my brother who has been with me, and 
driven away. 

Q. Tell ns who Gnnningham is?—A. He is the father of M. J. Cnn- 
ningham, who is in the legislature now. He is now practicing law j he 
formerly ])racticed medicine, and then i)reached. 

Q. He lives in Yatchitoches yet ?—A. AYs, sir. 

Q. Did he live about the conrt-honse or town ?—A. He lives in the 
northern end of the town. 

Q- How long has he been living there ?—A. He came there shortly 
after the war, or during my absence in the army. He made two or 
three absences. He sometimes goes to Texas, or some place else, and 
sx)reads his business, and then comes back. 

Q. Has he been a good citizen there, or otherwise ?—A. I Avonld not 
like to say. 

Q. You can state whether he is law-abiding or not.—A. I do not think 
he is. 

Q. Are jmu not pretty well acqiiaijited with him ?—A. I know him 
very well. 

Q. He is the gentleman that yon heard of from yonr father, and that 
carried this paper to him ?—A. Yes, sir 5 he carried it to the office of the 
mayor for him and there father got it. 

Q. Hoav many did yon say yon supposed were in that caA^alry com¬ 
pany?—A. There were about twenty at least who first drew^ a line across 
the street to prevent ns from passing; and then about one hundred 
paces above that the street was literally lined with them, coming down 
the sidewalk. I was not afraid of those first twenty, because 1 thought 
they were cowards at heart. 

(^. Yon were not afraid of them?—A. I was not, of course. I knew 
they wamld only shoot a man in the back. They could have cai)tured 
us while there had they had the pluck to do it. But they waited for the 
others to (mine nj). 

Q. Did they pursue you ?—A. They Avent for us, and then tried to 
head me off, but could not. 

Q. Did they catch Blount ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At that time?—A. Yo, sir; that evening. He Avill tell you 
about it. 

Q. How many do you sujipose AAmre there in all ?—A. I saAv no less 
than 150 armed men. 

Q. Yow, you have identified two or three. Do you know^ the balance 
of those twenty iiersonally ?—A. Yo, sir; I do not, all. 

Hoav many do you know ?—A. Several of them. I went to school 
and played marbles with most of them, and know them well. 

Q. Could you gHe the names of the balance? Could y(m name two 
or three?—A. Well, first, Capt. W. O. Brazil, Col. W. W] Brazil, R.W. 


TESTIMONY OF J. E. BREDA. 123 

Fleming, J. E. Alessie, Mr. Prudliomme, and Air. Butler. Air. Hyamsis 
a nephew of a former lieutenant-governor. 

Q. Now, were all these gentlemen that you identified residents of that 
parish of Natchitoches !—A. Every one of them. 

Q. AYere they old citizens of that parish, or were some of them new 
ones —A. ATes, sir 5 I have named natives of the parish of Natchitodies. 

Q. You have been to school and have been on good social terms with 
these x>ersons you have named—A. Yes, sir; except Fleming, and I 
ha ve known him from boyhood. 

By Air. Kirkwood : 

Q. I understand you to have a parish judge ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. His jurisdiction extends within your county"?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have a district judge?—A. Yes, sir; whose jurisdiction ex¬ 
tends in several parishes. 

Q. And you have a district attorney ?—A. ATes, sir; whose duty it is 
to follow around and attend the district court. 

Q. To which of these courts, the court of the district judge or the court 
of the parish judge, does criminal jurisdiction attach?—A. To both, sir; 
for instance, the parish judge takes affidavits and summons, or has the 
preliminary examinations of all criminal cases that may be reported to 
him within the limits of the parish, to ascertain whether the xiarties are 
charged with a crime that is bailable or not bailable. If there seems to 
be no reason for detaining the party, he is acquitted on the preliminary 
examination. If he is thought to have committed the crime, he is bound 
to appear before the district court for trial. There the papers on behalf 
of the State are sent before the grand jury, and they indict or not; and 
then the proceedings are regular. 

Q. Before the last election the i^arish judge has been a Eexuiblican ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The district judge was what?—A. Since 187G he was a Democrat, 
and so was the district attorney. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. Have you any information as to whether any iirosecution has been 
commenced in any of your State courts against any other persons who 
committed this assault uiion you ?—A. No, sir. If it could be done, the 
judiciary themselves would be examined. 

Q. By whom would they be examined ?—A. By nobody. 

Q. Were you examineil in anjdhing i)rior to that expulsion from the 
parish?—A. Yes, sir. I have been working with father in the vineyard, 
which, by-the-by, has all been destroyed, since I have been away. AYe 
worked on it five years, and it is now all gone away, because we have 
not been able to work and keep it u]), and the stock have got in, and 
the fences are broken down. 

By Air. Garland : 

Q. Did I understand you to say to Air. Cameron that the judiciary 
afterwards were participants up there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You state that as a fact?—A. I state that from statements made to 
me; by hearsay, not of my own personal knowledge. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. How far were these violent proceedings countenaiiced by the so- 
called residents and men of the parish ?—A. I have not known a mem¬ 
ber countenance it among them, but I am satisfied from what transpired 
since that they would like this stojiped. But they dare not go against 


124 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatcliitoches 


jmblic opinion, or wliat is called ^^the controlling public opinion 5 ” 
Avliich is now Winchester rifles and double-barreled shot-guns; or, as 
the gentleman who told ns to leave said, might is right” j it was use¬ 
less to discuss or reason, as we had to submit to force. 

Q. For what reason did you understand that you had to leave the 
l)arish!—A. We were given two hours to leave. 

Q. Did they charge you with any crimeA. ^^'ot a word, sir; sim¬ 
ply that we were llepublican leaders; at least that 1 was; my brother 
never made a political speech. 

Q. But he was your brother A. Yes, sir. He Avould stand by me, 
so that they would have two to flght instead of one. 


Witness recalled, January 17, and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Are you a iiroperty-owner in F'atchitoches ?—A. I am. 

(i. What is the character of your property?—A. I own 378 acres on 
Cane Fiver, twenty-four miles below the town of Natchitoches. 

Q. Is your father a man of property?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wiiat is the character of his prox)erty ?—A. All in land, except 
his dwelling. 

Q. How much does he own ?—A. He owns about 1,400 acres of land 
in the parish of Natchitoches, and has owned it for the last twenty or 
twenty-five years. 

Q. I thiidv you said your father was a physician ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he a practicing physician ?—A. Yes, sir; until his age for¬ 
bade him to practice any more. He has been i)racticing ever since 
1835 until about 1874 or 1875, when he had to quit. He lost the use of 
one arm by a fall from his horse. 


I 


A. P. BREDA. 

A. 

New Orleans, January 7, 1879. 

A. P. Breda (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. What is your business ?—Answer. I am a physician by pro¬ 
fession. 

Q. Where do you reside ?—A. At my father’s residence, in the parish 
of Natchitoches, about three-quarters of a mile north of the city of Natchi¬ 
toches. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. Always, except during 
the war. 

Q. Where were you during the war ?—A. In the Second Louisiana 
(Confederate) Cavalry. 

Q. How long were you in the war?—A. From December, 18C2, until 
the close of the war. 

Q. Have you been engaged in the practice of your profession there?— 
A. Yes, sir; since 1859. I graduated in this city, in the medical depart¬ 
ment of the University of Louisiana. 




Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. P. BREDA, 


125 


Q. In wliat capacity were yon engaged in the Confederate army ?—A. 
As assistant surgeon. The most of the time I was on detached service ; 
the regiment was generally scattered over a considerable scope of country, 
and hardly ever were got together except in battle; there was one en¬ 
gagement, that at Franklin, when all tlie conix)anies were together. 
Otherwise I was on detached service, attending to the sick. 

Q. Did you take any part in this last political cami)aign—that of 
1878 ?—A. Only that of spectator and voter. 

Q. State what part you took and Avhat your observations were.—A. 
On the 21st of September my brother Ernest, a younger brother Emile, 
my brother-in-law, and myself left home about 9 a. m. to attend a Itepub- 
lican meeting in the city of Natchitoches. At the time we left we 
hardly knew where the meeting Avas to take place. There had been 
some misunderstanding as to whether we AA^ere to have the meeting in 
the open air or in a house. As Ave ])assed the court-house, the then in¬ 
cumbent of the sheriff’s office (Mr. 1). H. Boullt) told us that it was not 
thought prudent to meet in the open air, and that arrangements had 
been made to go to John G. LeAvis’s store, near the southern limits of 
the city of Natchitoches. That store Avas in a manner A^acant, Avith the 
exception of the quarantine station being there at the time. The quar¬ 
antine officer, or guard there, Avas V. A. Barron, formerly sheriff' of the 
parish; he AAms first Auce-president of Natchitoclies Ward No. 1 Club— 
the mother club of the parish. He called the meeting to order at about 
11 o’clock—an hour later than Avas anticipated, on account of the presi¬ 
dent being absent; the president AA^as Henry Baby. 

The speaking began. My brother, aa ho has just testified, made the 
opening speech. Four or five others followed. The speeches AA’^ere short 
and to the point, the substance of them generally being that the registra¬ 
tion AA^as open and free to ewery one; that all Bepublicans must come for¬ 
ward and be sure to register for their proper Avard—a change having 
lately occurred in the limits of the Avards. Formerly there Avas no Avard 
No. i, the Avards being numbered from 2 up to 13. By the new arrange¬ 
ment ward 13 aa us entirely abolished and AAmrd 12 became No. 1; AA ards 
9 and 10 Avere consolidated into No. 9, and Avard 11 was called AA ard 10. 
The speaking Avas mostly for the purpose of instructing Bepublican voters 
(those who A\^ere not aAvare of the change) to register according to the 
numbers and limits of their wards; to make no mistake; and to urge 
them to vote the Bepublican ticket, of course, as soon as Ave should have 
nominated candidates—for candidates had not yet been nominated.- 

After this meeting had adjourned, AA^e got on our horses to go home. But 
before adjournment, a meeting was called for that evening at four o’clock, 
Avhen the officers and members of the central committee were to meet to 
correspond Avith those of the neighboring wards in the parish, to have a 
political understanding as to how and aaJio should be put into the field 
as candidates for the A^arious officers to be elected at the then coming 
election. 

We had proceeded scarcely more than a hundred yards when a body 
of men, armed, some Avith shot-guns and pistols, and others Avitli rifies 
and pistols, as the case might be, barred the highway or public street 
of Natchitoches. We rode up until our horses nearly touched the 
knees of the men, AAffien they told us to halt. My brother and I stopped 
and Avanted to know Avhy Ave should halt; by Avdiat authority did they 
obstruct the ])ublic streets of the city ? The ansAver was, ^G)amn you, 
you’ll find out before you are through.” Some one, I don’t knoAV Avho, 
remarked, Seize the bridlevS and stop them ; let no one, white or black. 


126 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


pass.” Then anotlier voice said, ‘^If another one attempts to pass, drop 
him in Ids tracks.” 

My brother then remarked, we can’t go forward, we can certainly 
go back the way we came,” and he wheeled his horse; I also did the 
same simultaneously, and Avemade our way through the lower portion of 
the town betAveen Judge Simmons’s and the (catholic convent. When 
Ave came to the intersection of the road going past the conA^ent, Ave took 
a eoAA^-trail through the woods and Avent home. 

Q. What became of the r(*mainder of the people who attended the 
meeting ?—A. They were all on foot except a feAv; maybe fiA^e or six of 
them, possibly as many as ten, had horses. I do not knoAv Avhat became 
of them. They AA^ere not alloAA ed to pass in the direction we AA^ent. 

Q. Tliey did not make any light'?—A. O, noj nobody Avas prepared 
for a light; nobody thought of such a thing. 

Q. Were your friends armed or unarmed?—A. They Avere unarmed. 
1 did not see a single arm of any kind. 

Q. Were you armed?—A. I always carry a pistol in the country. In 
practicing I have to go through the Avoods alone a great deal, so I al- 
Avays take a pistol in case of necessity. As a matter of self-defense I 
had a justol on that day. 

Q. Was your brother armed?—A. I believe he AAms, sir. 

Q. That is all you knoAV of being armed?—A. ATes, sir. 

The Chairman. Well, go on. 

The AVitnEvSS. Well, Ave made onr way home. We were not molested 
any more until the next day, Sunday, September 22, 1878, Avhen my 
uncle came and said he Avished to speak to us. He said he came to give 
us the ultimatum of Avhat he called the committee. lie told us that we 
must leave the parish in two hours. 

By Mr. Ca^vieron : 

Q. What reason did he assign for that ?—A. He did not giA^e any j^ar- 
ticular reason. He told us we must leaAT; it Avas the decision of the 
committee. He said they would liaA^e been there after ns, but he inter¬ 
ceded nearly the Avhole night to prcATiit them from coming and threat¬ 
ening his sister (AAdio is my mother) and the children in the house, and 
disturbing the famity. He said they had agreed upon sending him to 
ask us to leaA e, and if aa e resisted they Avoiild come in force—in large 
force; the toAA n Avas full. 

He said there Avere 250 or 300 men armed to the teeth, infuriated, and 
many of them inebriated. 

They had been drinking a great deal of Avhisky, and thev had sent him 
to tell us that they wanted us to leave the parish; that "if we did not 
they Avould destroy us; tliat if Ave resisted them they Avould destroy the 
])lace. I said, This leaving on short notice is a little hard. Who is 
going to provide for the family A\diile Ave are gone ? And hoAv long must 
AA e be gone ?” He said, There is no time iioav to discuss these matters; 
you may have to be gone for a month or two months; Avhen this excite- 
inent is over, then it is possible you may return.” He said, and my 
brother also told me, ‘H)o not stop to discuss matters; the question is 
can Ave hav^e a guarantee that the family Avill not be molested during our 
absence ? If aa e can have that we aa ill leave.” We agreed to leav^e in 
case he Avould bring back a notice to our father promising that the tVimily 
would not be molested after Ave left on the plea or pretense that Ave Avere 
believed to be there. My brother’s family liv^ed in the same inclosnre 
as my father. 

Q. Have you a family yourself?—A. ISTo, sir; 1 am not married. 


Parish.] 


testimony of a. P. BREDA. 


127 


Q. Who constituted the family with which you lived ?—A. My father, 
mother, a younger brother, two sisters, and two brothers-in-law Avere at 
the house. My brother’s wife and child Avere in another house a little 
AA^ay, maybe a hundred yards, from the main building; I think it was 
not quite a hundred yards, but it Avas in the same inclosure. 

Q. AVell, AAdiat next occurred?—A. AVe took our reAmlvers and rifles 
(Ave had a rifle apiece), and started from home. Before AA^e left, Mr. Drau- 
guet returned Avith W. AA"'. Breazeale and W. A. Ponder, all from the 
l)arish of N^atchitoches, to give an answer in regard to the guarantee 
that no one Avould wantonly enter the prejiiises and carry out any dis¬ 
turbance on the place. Ponder and Breazeale shortly afterwards left; 
my father and Drauguet, our uncle, entered the house and remained 
there half an hour, maybe a little more, and then Ave left! 

Q. AA'here did you go ?—A. AYe remained in the woods, communicat¬ 
ing at times with the family. During this AAdiole time, from the 22d of 
September until now, we liaAm not been seen in the parish of Natchito¬ 
ches by any of those AAdiom we considered our enemies. The current re¬ 
port that AA"e could hear expressed by friends who Ausited tiie family was, 
that if AAm shoAved our faces AAuthin the limits of the parish Ave Avere cer¬ 
tain to be shot doA\m. 

On the 2Gth or 27th of October we learned that between that day and 
the 5th of NoAmmber, in all probability, the ‘‘people of the hills,” so 
called—^Natchitoches is surrounded Avith hills—would come to toAvn. 
There were rumors afloat that if Ave had not left the parish they AAmuld 
in all probability search the house for us; if they found us there we 
Avould be destroyed; also our father, in consequence of his maintaining 
that Ave had departed out of the parish at the time specified; that if we 
were not found about the premises they would procure bloodhounds 
from the railroad Avorkers twelve or fifteen miles oft* from there and 
scour the woods to find us. Their reason for supposing that Ave had not 
left the parish Avas because we had not been seen by any one to go out 
of it. The crossings and ferries had been guarded on all sides to pre- 
A^ent the ingress or egress of any of us, and the presumption Avas that 
we had not left. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. All this about the people coming from the hills, and bloodhounds, 
and railroad men, came by rumor?—A. It came from the family—^from 
my uncle. Air. C. F. Drauguet. He spoke to my sister on the subject, 
even crying while talking about it, telling her, “For God’s sake, if the 
boys are here, tell them not to remain.” 

Q. That came from your uncle ?—A. ATes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Go on AAith your account of what occurred.—A. On the 31st October 
we left for ShreA^eport, 35 minutes before midnight. AVe reached it 10 
minutes after 1 o’clock on the afternoon of the 1st of NoA^ember. A\^e 
remained till we received a summons from the grand jury of the United 
States circuit court to appear here as Avitnesses. 

Q. Had you taken any special interest in politics prior to your being- 
ordered to leave the place ?—A. No more than when I was questioned, 
I said tliat I Avas a Republican. 

Q. Did you ever make any political speeches ?—A. NeA^er but once. 
That was hi 1874 or 1876, I am not certain which. The occasion of my 
making that speech was that a day or tAvo before the speaking occurred, 
on the 2Gth of October, 1876, I think, there Avas an individual, a colored 
man, who had been charged Avith larceny, Avho was in jail. 


128 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


One niglit some masked men went into tlie jail, deinanded the keys 
from the sheriff, or rather from the wife of the sheriff, he being then 
absent in the country. The keys Avere taken from his wife, or demanded 
from lier, so that she gave them up, not knowing what was to be done 
to this man. Anderson Douglas was his name. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Hoav do you know all this that you are telling ?—A. I Avas in the 
toAvn. 

Q. Did you see him ?—A. I held an inquest on the dead body of the 
negro. I aa as coroner at the time. 

Chairman. Go on.—A. Well, that AA^as the only speech that I made. 

Mr. Kirkaaood. What did they do with the negro ?—A. He Avas shot 
in his cell. 

Chairman. Go on with your statement as tohoAA^you came to make a 
speech.—A. Well, a day or tA\'o after that, this iiolitical meeting took 
X)lace. Then I made the only political speech I haA^e CA^er made. I said 
that the country A\^as in a very bad condition; that the jiarties Avho had 
committed this outrage within the jail on the prisoner could be no less 
than bloodtliirsty hounds; that justice should have been alloAved to take 
its course, and that such acts could not be attributable to any but the 
enemies of the Bepublicans in our jiarish. 

Q. That is the only time you made a political speech ?—A. That is the 
only time I made a ])olitical speech. 

Q. At the time you Avere in the aa oods did you knoAV of any other jiar- 
ties being there ?—A. Only by hearsay. - 

Q. You did not see them ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. I AAull ask you this one question: What did you then understand to 
be the reason that you AAwe driven from the parish, and aa hat reason can 
you noAr giA^e for being exi)elled ? Was it x)ersonal, against you as indi- 
A idiials, or was it political ? — A. It Avas for x)olitical reasons. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. At the time you say you were driven from the parish, was that 
alleged as the reason?—A. Yes, sir; that Avas the main reason. 

Q. But Avas it ffiven as the reason?—A. That aa jis Avhat I understood 
from Mr. Drauguet. There were none but Bepublicans driA^en from the 
X)arish at that time, consequently Ave looked uiion it as merely a political 
move, to keep away all oxiiiosed to the Democratic xiortion of the com¬ 
munity. 

Q. You have heard this jAaper which your brother read ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you understand that x>ax>er to contain the real reason Avhy you 
were driven from the xiarish ?—A. That i>ax)er sets forth certain reasons, 
such as incendiarism, &c. All are utterly false. Those Avere not really 
the reasons ; they Avere assumxAtions. 

Q. Were you coroner at the same time that your brother was county 
judge ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(,^. Hoaa' long did you hold tliat office?—A. I held it for two terms ; 
in 1874, and again in 1870. My term was not exx^ired Avhen this thing 
occurred. 

Q. Was your uncle of AAdiom you sxieak as taking messages to your 
family, on friendly terms AAith you and your brother, and your ffimily ? 

A. He Avas not on A^ery friendly terms AA'ith my brother. He AAmuld 
hardly sxieak to me except on business, and seldom, if eA^er, \ isited the 
family since Ave dex)arted from Democratic politics. 


Pat'ish.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. P. BREDA. 


-- 129 

Q. He was tlie brother of your mother, I uuderstaud.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he seem to have the interest of your family at heart, actiug’ in 
the caimcity stat(‘d A. He said lie had. 

Q. \V hat was it he cried about, at the time you said lie cried when 
S]leaking with your sister?—A. I think there was a little hypocrisy 
about that; it was merely to draw dut from my sister whether we had 
really left or not. 


(). You think, then, if 1 understand you correctly, that your uncle 
A\*as playing th(‘, jiart of a hypocrite ?—A. Y es, sir. He seemed more 
active than any one else I heard of, in trying to tind wlnu-eabouts we 


were. 


Q. He preferred, then, you really thiidv, to see you punisluMl ?—A. He 
seemed bent on seeing ns driven out of the jiarisii, at any rate. 

Q. And (in seeing his nieces and their father without jirotection ?—A. 
I don’t think that he considered that. 

Q. You had no misunderstanding with your uncle, except a political 
misunderstanding?—A. Yo, never. 

Q. These three hundred people that your brother spoke of—you heard 
his testimony—did not they live up on the hills, and did you not under¬ 
stand that they Avere coming dowui to hunt for yon ?—A. That is Avhat 
Ylr. Drauguet said—that people from the hills Avere coining. 

C^. Did they live on the hills ?—xV. Some of them. 

(^. Hoav many of them AA'ere there?—A. 1 cannot say. I am not 
AA'ell acquainted in that section of the country. 

Q. 1 thought you said there Avere dOO of them coming out to meet 
you. —A. I understood there Avere that many. There A\ere not 300 of 
them seen at any one time together. 

Q. YYhy should these persons assail you or interfere Avith you in this 
Avay ?—A. On account of the political moA^e Ave were making, I under¬ 
stood. YVe Avere told by one individual that his A\diole neighborhood, 
mnbracing the ward he lived in, and the neighboring Avards, Av^ere tireil 
of Democratic rule; that they saAv no benetit from the Democratic ad¬ 
ministration, and thought it Avould be possible to organize a Avorking- 
man’s party; and that they Avould pledge themsehes to support such a 
ticket, Avitli the understanding that the majority of the candidates AA^ere. 
to be Avhite men; they Avould pledge their su])port if the Republicans 
Avould give them the colored support; then they Avould give their in- 
huence toAvard the candidates that might be selected. 

Q. How many of these people that met you after quitting the meet¬ 
ing did you identity ?—^A. I recognized S. Y. Hyams, W. YV. Breazeale, 
YV. O. Breazeale, Dick Fleming (he has another initial but he goes by 
that name commonly), Jules E. Messi, Emmanuel Frudhomme, YVood- 
son Butler, and there Avere others. 

Q. These aaIioiii you have mentioned you recognized iilainly?—A. 
Yfes, sir; 1 recognized them plainly. 

Q. There A\ms no shooting done at that time ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Yot a shot Avas tired?—xV. Yo, sir. 

Q. There was no tight of any sort?—A. Yo, sir; pistols were draAvn; 
they presented their right side to us; seweral of them had their pistols 
drawn, besides rifles or shot-guns across their saddles. 

Q. You say you had no personal difficulty or misunderstanding witli 
these men?—A. Yo, sir; none except from a political stand-otf. 

Q. YVere you at any time a member of the order of the Knights of 
the YYhite Camelia?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You took the same oath that other members of the order did?—xV, 
Yes, sir. 


130 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natclritoches 


Q. But yon liave voted and given support, since tlien, to the colored 
l)eoi)le from time to time?—A. I have supported and voted for the can¬ 
didates of the Bepnhlican party. 

Q. When were yon snhixenaed to come down to testify before tlie 
grand jury of tlie Uiiited States court?—A. The document is dated 
Srovember 2 htli, I thiidv, from New Orleans. 

Q. You are here as a witness now before that tribunal in reference to 
these matters?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you been here as a witness?—A. Since the 21st of 
Hecember. I arrived here at 7.30 p. m. on the 21st of December. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Senator Garland has asked you in reference to your connection 
with the Knights of the AATiite Camelia; Avhat proportion of the white 
men of your i)arish belonged to that organization?—A. Very nearly all 
that I am acquainted with, and a great many more; I do not know 
everybody in the parish, but I am very sure that many of those whom 
I do not know belonged to the Knights of the White Camelia. 

Q. How long was the organization kept up?—A. It was kept up until 
it changed its name and became the White League; but I had no con¬ 
nection with it then. 

Q. You didn’t go into the White League then?—A. No, sir; another 
organization under the style of “The 298” is the standard organization in 
our parish now. 

Q. What is this organization, “The 298”?—A. I do not know, only it 
is a secret organization having politics as its nltimate object. 

Q. Y"ou are not as well posted on that as you were on the Knights of 
the White Camelia?—A. No, sir; I know notliiiig of its interior work. 

Q. This oath, I sup])ose, was such an oath as is usually taken by those 
who enter such organizations ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was the person who administered it authorized by any statute to 
administer them to you ?—A. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Then it was not an oath at all, or one that, I should 
say, would be better broken than kept, a great deal. 

By Senator Bailey : 

Q. This organization, “ The 298,” you say, is a secret iiolitical organi-, 
zation ?—A. I think so from what I have seen of it. 

Q. What have 3 ou seen of it ?—A. I have seen its members as they 
assembled at the place of meeting; I have seen who the^^ were, and have 
heard them drill. 

Q. Where were jow ?—A. On the outside of the building in MLich 
they held their meetings. 

Q. Is it not a mere burlesque, like the order of the Knights of Malta, 
or something of that kind?—A. I do not think so; that is a little far¬ 
fetched. I am not acquainted with the Knights of Malta, and do not 
know Avhat it is, but I do not ihiiik this is anything of that kind. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. State Avh^' 3 on think it is a political organization?—A. Because 
there are none but Democrats connected Avith the organization. Besides, 
I heard one indiAudual say that he would not join it because it Avas of a 
l>olitical nature ; that none but Avhite men AA^ere admitted, and no white 
men but Democrats. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. How did he know the secrets of the order so as to be able to say 


Paris]!.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


131 


that these things were so ?—^A. The memhers were generally known hy 
the badge they wore, and we never saAv any but white men and Demo- 
(*rats wearing the badge. Thebadge was a crescent with 298^^ engraved 
on it. 

Q. If it were simply a social orgaiiization, then would not the negroes 
be excluded in the same way?—A. Perhaxisj but I never saw anyone 
but Democrats wear the badge. 

The Chairman. The general understanding is that it is a political 
organization ? 

The Witness. \ es, sir; that is the general impression in the parish. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The general understanding is that it is the lineal successor of the 
former secret political orders ?—A. I do not know that it is a successor, 
but the others appear to have no claim to existence now: this seems to 
be a substitute. 


A. E. BLOUNT. 

New Orleans, January 7, 1879:. 

A. E. Blount (colored) was sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. I have been living im 
Natchitoches since 1853 up to 1878, but have been a fugitive from home 
for some time. 

Q. How old are you ?—A. I am 42 years old next month. 

Q. Have you ever held any political office in this State ?—A. Yes^ sir 
I was a member of the State legislature in 1872, and was senator trom 
the 22d district. 

Q. Are you now a senator ?—A. No, sir. When they sold out this^ 
State and gave it away, they gave me away too. 

Q. Tliey do not recognize you as State senator now ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you cease to be recognized as a member of the State^ 
legislature ?—A. When Mr. Packard went down. 

Q. You were a member of what they called the Packard legislature ?— 
A. Yes, sir; and elected the second time. 

Q. You say you have been a fugitive from home; just state-the cir¬ 
cumstances under which you left home, and the circumstances of the 
political campaign of 1878. 

A. The 21st of September was about the time that the trouble became 
serious with me. Preparations were being made, however, and 1 was 
UAvare of it before it developed itself fully, but I could not believe that 
it would take place till it did. On the 21st of September, 1878, the 
Eepublicans of the old 12th ward (now the 1st ward) held a meeting for 
the purx)ose of reorganizing; in fact, I am president of the parish com¬ 
mittee. The officers of the then Eepublican club had expired by limita¬ 
tion, and I called attention to it, and they all voted to reorganize the 
(dubs and give the people an opportunity of selecting such officers as 
they wanted, because some had proved unfaithful; at the same time I 
thought I would get out of my position as chairman of the iiarish cen¬ 
tral committee, because I had become dissatisfied Avith the doings of 
some of them Avho had sold us out. But I didn’t mean to be a candidate 
at all. The committee ordered that the parish clubs elect ncAV officers; 
and on this day (the 21st of September, the time that I left the toAAm of 




132 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


fNatchitochof! 


Natchitoclies) there was a meeting to reorganize. I suppose it was 
about half a mile from the court-house—ijust about that far by measnre- 
meiit. While we were there we waited for Mr. Eaby. He had lield the 
balance of a bond and settled on that day, and he said the reason lie 
wasn’t there Avas that he was Avith Mr. (junningham and could not get 
aAvay from him. At any rate Mr. Barron aaus Auce-president of the club, 
and I insisted that he call the meeting to order, and that the meeting should 
proceed Avith its duties, aaIucIi request was compli(‘d Avith. SeA^eral 
parties AA^ere called upon to speak and did speak ; some of them had 
])repared tliemselves to speak. Mr. Bnula spoke, Mr. Briggs spoke,and 
Mr. LevAis, and a colored man from the 4th ward also spoke, and myself. 
Mr. Itaby, 1 belicA^e, made the closing remarks. Tlie club was reorgan¬ 
ized by the re-election of Mr. Kaby as ])resident. 

About the time tlie meeting closed, Mr. Bobert Holmes came to me, 
adAUsing me to leaAr^ at once and go home. He said, ^‘Tlie AAdiite men 
uj) toAvn are arming tlunnsehes to break ui) this meeting and kill you, 
and diWe you off.” I said, ‘‘O, pshaw! go away.” I couldn’t belicA^e 
sucli a thing, notAvithstanding 1 kncAV that they had been acting very 
badly before that; but I couldn’t belieA^e that they would do that in 
daylight. He folloAA'ed me througli the croAA d telling me that, but I said, 
‘MiO UAvay from me and tell somebody else; 1 don’t AArint to hear it.” 
Hut 1 could see by the tone of his Aa)i(*.e that he Avas really uneasy, and 
1 started for my horse. 

Just before I got. to him I looked up the street and suay tliree men 
coming doAvn the street as fast as they (u)uld, and 1 said, ‘AVhat’s the 
matterf’ and they said, “The Democrats have their guns and are com¬ 
ing doAAui to kill off’ the leaders, and you nnist get out of toAvn.” I 
mounted my horse and rode right back up toAvn the A\"ay Ave came and 
Avent up First street to EeAY Second street, on Avhich I liA^ed; and in go¬ 
ing there I saAV the colored AAmmen Avringing their hands and beckoning 
me for God’s sake to get home. That ex(*ited me. They said, “They 
-are going to kill you; they are going to kill you.” I then rode on to my 
house. Some men folloAved me. I rode uja to the gate, jumped doAvn 
and went inside and chained up my gate, and AATiit out and chained my 
middle gate in front of my house. Mr. Flolmes folloAA^ed me home and 
came in and said, “Those men are going to kill you.” 1 said, “Noay 
just go aAvay”; but he kept saying, “Tliey are going to kill you.” 1 got 
the folks in the house quieted doAYii, and told them Avhat to do and hoAv to 
<do it. There AAms three double-barrelled shot-guns in my house; one I 
paid $18 for in the shop in front of this building in 1874. I bought it and 
Avent on board the boat Avitlithe determination that if any man put violent 
hands on me I Avould shoot him. I had another doubie-barrelled shot¬ 
gun, that I paid $22 for; another that I borroAved from Victor Sompay- 
rac. The night before I had loaded my gun, aaIucIi I will tell you aboiit 
after awhile. I had a Winchester riffe of my own, and a couple of 
pistols, and I Avas pretty Avell armed. These nien, my friends, picked 
up these guns and stood in my room. 

Q. By “these men,” you mean the colored men?—A. Yes, sir; they 
])ickedupthe guns and stood in the loAver story; it Avas a two-story 
frame house. 1 went up stairs and said to my Avife, “Yow, you stay 
down stairs and don’t let any one come in; don’t open the door to any 
one; if they come in, let them break in”; and she kept my orders. I 
went up stairs; I took my Winchester rifle, and took my Smith & Wesson 
pistols that I had; and I had a box of cartridges for the Winchester 
rifle and a box for the small pistol, and three rounds for the small pistol. 
1 hen I went up to the garret. Between the floor and the ceiling there 


Tarisb.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


133 


is about tell feet. I went in and let the trap door down, and the bed¬ 
stead was pushed back so that yon couldn’t see the trai)-door in the 
corner, bnt 1 could see outside and could see through a false windo^y 
the maneuvers of whoever would come in the road. 

Directly, they marched ui); there was a squad of men under arms 
came to the northeast end of my house and formed a line across the 
street. They didn’t say a word; never opened their mouths. Directly, 
another party came up and stood in front of the house under arms; and a 
tliird came and formed across the southwest end of the house and the 
street. 

Mr. Cunningham commanded the whole thing, and he gave orders for 
me to surrender; to come down and give myself up, but 1 wouldn’t do 
it, of course. I wouldn’t surrender to any such mob, coming as they did. 
They insisted on my surrendering. I had done nothing, and I knew that 
to surrender to such a mob, who were whooping and holloing, would 
be death. They said, themselves, that they had nothing against me 
except my political inliiience. Several men in the crowd liolloed to iiu' 
to surrender, but I Avouldn’t do it. So they Avere ordered to‘‘go in.’’ 
They formed round the hous(‘, but of course they couldn’t get in the 
liouse without breaking in. They Avent into the kit(.*hen and ate the 
dinner from the stove; broke in tiie stoA^e and looked in the cistern for 
me. Of course, those of my men avIio could get out of the house Avould 
slip out Avhen they got an o])])()rtunity, but my Avife Avouldn’t alloAv the 
house to be opened to them. Cunningham ordered one of his right-hand 
men (I don’t care to call his name for personal reasons), but any Avay, 
he said, “I know that such a man Avill go or do as much as any 
damned man in this croAAM”; using his Avords as he spoke them; “and 
noAV,” says he, “I AAmnt orders obeVed; 1 Avant this house guarded, and 
I don’t Avant any of you to go aAvay from here.” He then AA^ent off in 
the direction of the court-house. 1 couldn’t see the court-house door, 
Avhether he entered it or not, but he Avent in the direction of the court¬ 
house. I could just see the top of the court-house, but not the door. In 
about half an hour he came back AAuth some men marching in line of 
battle. Then a part of them stopped again betAA^een Kachal and McDon¬ 
alds, and they ordered me again to come doAA n and surrender. 

By ]\Ir. ( ’AMERON : 

Q. Did Cunningham return Avith them!—A. Yes, sir; he came back. 
When they gave the order several times to surrender, 1 Avouldii’t do it. 
I didn’t think 1 Avould be safe to surrender to such a mob. Then he 
ordered them to break in. 

Q. Who, Cunningham !—A. He ordered them to “go in,” and they 
laised a yell, and in they came and screamed and hallooed. Colonel 
LcAy Avas on the right-hand side of my house. He said, “ Yes, Cod damn 
them, go in ; 1 carry the responsibility ui)on my shoulders.” Of course, 

(hinningham AA^as ahead. There Avasn’t a man there that aa'US his superior 
as far as lead Avas concerned. They broke into the house. 

By Mr. Kirkayood : 

Q. SeAwal Avitnesses liaA^e spoken of the gallery; Avhat is that! —A. 
A ])orch fiA^e or six feet Avide. 

They jammed the doors open and came in, running through the house 
and uj) stairs and around in the room AAdiere I Avas; they took the keys 
from my Avdfe’s pocket and got in with them AAdiere they could, and AAdiere 
they could not they broke in Avith an axe. They hunted for me all 
around, but I Avas in the ceiling above. They failed to get me, and Aveiit 
out AAuthout me. I don’t knoAA" hoAA"^ it AAms, but 1 haA^e since heard that 


134 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


fNatchitoches 


they found T)y some one outside that I was in the house, and I have 
heard that Cunningham asked how I could get up in that ceiling. Some¬ 
body told them, and he ordered them to go back aTul hunt, and they 
came back and came right in the house and pushed the bed away, and, 
of course, found where I was and ordered me to surrender, but I wouldn’t 
do it. 1 knew from what they had said in the papers just before that 
my fate would be ten feet of hemp under a limb, as the paper said, and, 
of coui'se, that reflects the spirit of the place there. 

Ther(‘. was a gentleman in the crowd then said to me, in low tones: 
‘‘Blount, surrender; give yourself up; we won’t hurt you.” Of course, 
after making known avIio I Avas, I found there was some in that crowd 
who understood me and knew Avhat I Avas. Some one said to the party, 
“ Won’t you and every one of you say that you Avill not hurt Blount if he 
Avill comply AAith our request?” “ Yes,” they all said. Then he said, 
further, “Won’t you A’olunteer to protect him against any mob Auolence 
that will be ottered him if he will surrender and com]fly Avith our re- 
(jiiest ?” and every one said “ Y"es.” Of course 1 AAms friglitened, but not 
so badly that I didn’t knoAA' Avho Avas speaking. Then I surrendered, 
and laid down my gun, and I came down stairs. I Avent and SAAUing my¬ 
self doAAUi. Those men got hold of me by each arm — I had laid (Ioaaui 
]ny arms — and brought me doAAUi stairs aa hooping, screaming, and yelling. 

Cunningham had told them to take my family off to jail, out of my 
OAvn house that I had bought and i)aid for, eAxry dollar of it; and they 
did so. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. By Cunningham’s directions ?—A. Yes, sir; they ordered my AAufe, 
actually forced her out of the house, and said that she had no business 
there. 

He held a pistol to her head, and she said, “Shoot, if you AA^ant to;” 
but he didn’t do it. Then they brought me out on the street from my 
house AA here I IHed, and held me by the arms. 

The question was put to me by his officer: “ Blount, Av^e AAmnt to make 
this reciuest of you: We Avant you to agree, right here, to leuA^e this par¬ 
ish, State, and the United States, and as you go, say to the niggers to 
desist from politics at once.” “ lYs,” I said, “ I’ll do it, but I beg for tAvo 
or three days here, for I have a heap of property here, books and busi¬ 
ness belonging to other corporations and parties as Avell as myself, and 
I Avant to settle up my business.” CTinningham step])ed up to my right 
arm and said: “By God, Blount, A\e aiiit going to let you dictate iioaa^; 
Ave are going to dictate, and you must complv, and the question is, ‘Will 
you do it?’” “Yes,” I said, “I Avill.” Ami if 1 hadn’t said so, I hon¬ 
estly beheA^e I Avould have been murdered right there, before my God, 
because the manner in Avhi(fli they A^oted to abstain from hurting me— 
l)rovided I a\ ould comply Avith their request—gave me to understand 
that they Avould luwe murdered me right there and then if I hadn’t done 
so. Tliey Avere yelling and SAvinging their guns over their heads as if I 
had committed some crime, when I had committed none, as God knoAvs, 
any inore than yourselt. 1 Avas marched out about twenty-five or thirty 
teet from my gate, and there they stopped me again and turned my face 
to the house. 

He then ordered them to go and bring my wife and child back, and I 
lookcMl and saw my sister and other friends crying. They then marched 
me off to jail, and one said to me as I was going that if I had anything 
J AMshed to give my AAute 1 could do it. As 1 Avas going I met my wife, 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


135 


and took off iny watcli and a pocket book with 819.2-j in it, and a gold 
])encil, and banded tliein to lier. Tliey held iny arm, and let me bug 
and kiss my wife and bid ber good-bye^ 

Tliey tben took me to tbc (miirt-liouse and to tbe sberiff*’s office, and 
men were detailed to guard me with double-barreled sbor-guns and re- 
})eating rifles. They put four men to eacbdoor, and tbe balance outside 
were like madmen. 

A iiart of tbem tben went on and attended to tbeir convention upstairs, 
and adjourned to meet at a late bour at nigbt, and a part of tbem Avent 
away. 

Cunningbam came to me and told me tbat tbe negroes Avere marcbing 
on tbe town Avitb arms, and asked me if I couldn’t send some one out to 
get tbe negroes, to go away. 1 said 1 bad no control of tbe negroes and 
knew notbing of tbeir coming. He said 1 bad better send some one to 
get tbem aAvay. I called Isaac vVnderson, and be Avent out and spoke to 
tbem and told tbem tbat they must go aAvay. Later in tbe evening tliey 
came again and asked me to send again. 

Mr. Cunningbam said tbe negroes bad not gone yet and AA'ere tbreat- 
ening Avbat tliey were going to do. 1 tben called in one Curtis Josejib; be 
Avas on borseback, and I asked bim to go to tbe other end of town Avbere 
tbe colored men Avere Av bo bad collected for tbe jmrpose of rescuing me, 
and to tell tbem to go borne and leave it Avitb God. He Avent down and 
told tbem tbat, and be said afterAvards in tbe slierilf’s office tbat be saAV 
no men tbere. 

He said some one met bim witb a gun and struck bim betAA een tbe 
eyes, and knocked bim senseless, in a manner. He aa^s brought in tb(‘ 
sberiff‘’s office in great pain. He lay a while, and tben began to roll and 
tumble and make a noise, being A ery restless. Hr. Uowcbl Avent in and 
saw bim and gaA'e bim some medicine to (piiet bim. He Acas AA'orrying 
still AAdien Dr. Gallein came in and took ('barge of the guard tbat first 
bad me in ('barge. Dr. Gallein said, Tbat nigger has got to be made 
to bush, as be lias been giA^en sinne medicine to qui(ff bim.” Well, be 
did get (piiet finally, and asked Charles LeA’y if be didn’t knoAv bim to 
be a (piit, good boy. J^eA y said, “ Yes, Curtis, 1 knoAV y(m to be a gmxl, 
([uicff boy.” 

About ten o’clo(ik my Avife came to tbe court-house; she bad been tbere 
before, but Colonel Eussell AAmuldn’t let her in; this time some one per¬ 
mitted her to come to the door to see me. One of tbe gentlemen inside 
AAUis a Awy good gentleman to me; be said be bad notbing on earth 
against me, Inittbat be Avas aiApointed to take charge of me, and of course 
be AAUis going to do it; but tbat be wouldn’t burt me for anything. He- 
said that my Avife AA'as there; and be admitted ber. They banded me 
sometbing to eat and coffee; but I said I couldn’t eat it, because T ex- 
l)e(ff.(Ml to be murdered, and 1 felt restless. lIoAveA^er, I did drink some 
coffee. 

Before my Avife AA'ent aAAmy Cunningbam came to me, and said, 
^Hflount, by (tod, tbe niggers are marcbing on this tOAAUi again; but be¬ 
fore tb(\v rcASCue vou a'ou shall be killed right here.” I turned to bim, 
right at tbe door, and I said, ‘^Tbis is not acx'ording to tbe manner I 
surrendered to vou, aa bi(ib aaois that if I surrendered and complied aa itb 
your request I aauts to be safe, and you knoAV it.” Tbe six men in tbe 
office dropped tbeir beads, and be himself AA alked off. To (luiet me and 
prevent me from lieiiig restless,- they said, A e AA'ill die tor you, and 
Avon’t let any one hurt you.” Mr. Cunningbam is tbe man Avbo said I 
Avould be killed on accoiint of a body of negroes tbat I bad no control 


136 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. . 


[Xatchitochos 


of and knew none of tlieni; I was to be murdered for and he was the 
man f])ointin|[>] tliat j>ave the ordei’. ^ 

JMy wife went out^ and Mrs. Parisli, avIio is in the city liere, accom¬ 
panied lier. Slie went out and s])oke to the men, and begged them for 
(bxPs sake to go away. She said to them, ‘Mf you go to town and 
attempt to rescue him, lie will be murdered.” Tlic}' saw tlie danger 1 

was in and agreed to go away, and did go. 

After they got througli making their nominations at night IMr. Cun- 
ningliam came around again and walked around and wliis])ered a little. 
1 began to get restless, fiecause I knew that, in that section of the (mun- 
try, when they get hold of a llepublican to secure their election, it is 
about his last. Numa Tauzin (?ame in the oftice and said, Blount, I 
never s])oke to you in my life, but there is a boy that belongs to your 
cJuirch; his name is Lyon. Xow,” says he, ‘‘1 have nothing against 
von, but, by God, I want you to comply with my request; will you do 
it?” ‘‘Yes,” Isahl. He said, “AVe are going to let you go;” andplacing 
his hand on my right shoulder, he said, “If Ernest (my cousin) was 
here, by God, we wouldn’t show him any (piarter, because he used to 
be one of us, and now he lias left us and gone with the Kadicals, and, 
by God, we would sliow him no <iuarter.” Several came and said, “We 
are going to let you go, Imt you must, by God, do what we tell you to 
do.” Of course, '! agreed. I liad to agree to do anything they Avanted 
me to do, for I didn’t think I Avould be allowed to live anyway. 

There are scA^eral things Inqijieiied there that I do not Avish to say 
anything about, for I have reasons for it; but 1 believe that AAais the 
reason I Avas not exemited tluai. 

But, later, there was a party came to me and asked me to select a 
committee to go aAvay Avith me. I said no; I did not have any selec¬ 
tion to make. I thought I Avouhl be murdered anvAvay, as I kneAA" others 
had been, and I said no, I had no (choice. I AA*as asked to select a road. 
I said, “If you have any road you Avant me to go on I Avill try, with 
God’s help, to get out on tliat road.” The committee, Avith tAVo others 
that joined them, took me away that night. The road was preiiaredfor 
me, and Avas Avell j)re])ared, too, as I afterAvard Uairmal. As the clock 
sti’uck tweh’e, I must say that I looked for a body of disguised men to 
come in and take me out and murder me ; a\ hen that clock struck tA\mlA'e 
I looked to s(Hi the leader of disguised men come in and take me out 
and execute me; but th(‘y did not come in. 

The ])arties took me to my house and Avent in with me. Aly horse Avas 
saddled by my brother-in-hiAV, Avhile my Avife ])ut some draAvers and 
socks and handkerchiefs for me in my saddle-bags. 

I did not knoAA^ at the time that there Avas a band lying in AAmit for nu‘. 
on the road, but I did the next day. I asked iiermission at the house to 
take my Baptist hymn-book and a Testament lying on my table. 1 
luiA'e them Avith me iioaa'. 1 took them and xmt them in my saddle¬ 
bags. 

By that time my brother-in-hiAV had saddhMl my horse, and they took 
nie doAA ii stairs and marched through the house as if they had been 
friends of tlie family, my AA ifeand daughter both crying amrscreaming, 
and they mandied me out and put me on my horse, and these six men 
took me aAAmy. As aa c passed out aaxa (‘ame to three ditferent squads of 
men aaTio Avere standing guard. After the necessary explanation be- 
tAAUien them, they iiermitted us to])ass. I aa us carried out about a mile 
to the tirst lane belOAA^ the court-house. BetAveen the ])lantations up there, 
there is generally a lane ba(*k to the AA'oods, and they turned me loose at 
the head of the tirst lane, Charlie LeA*y’s lane, and one man says, “Boys, 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


137 


liere is sometliiiig to drink ; let us toiicli it liglit, and leave a good horn 
for Blunt.” I said, ‘‘Thank yon; I am not in the hahit of drinking li¬ 
quors.” He said, “ Well, take some; it may be the last time we see 
each other.” They all drank, and handed it to me. I took the bottle 
and turned it up to my mouth. 

They then left me and told me to ride on. I rode on about half way in 
front of the next plantation, and it appeared to me I heard horses^ feet 
behind me, and 1 si)urred my horse up and rode on right pert, and in 
about one hundred yards I sto])ped to listen again. Before 1 got to the 
next lane I had a strong presentiment come over me as if some one was 
telling me to “leave the road, leave the road.” At the second lane I 
left the road and went in the woods, and I ke])t it until I got to the 
24-mile ferry. I stopped in the parish of Natchitoches. I would not 
travel in the day-light. 

I saw parties who informed me that Allen T. Wheeler and Samuel 
Hynes were lying in wait for me with 25 men to assassinate me, and I 
felt satisfied after that they would ])ursueme; and the next nigiit at nine 
o’clock John G. Lewis came to me and I made my way through with him. 
1 wrote a letter back to my Avife, saying that I Avas safe, and that I Av as 
not murdered, and that 1 Avould endeavor to get to New Orleans. It Avas 
some satisfaction to her, because she Avas in a delicate condition at the 
time, and I kneAV a\ hat she had to suffer. 

J rode in the road to the ferry and crossed the river, and instead of 
going seA^en miles around, I Avent through the aa oods. I knew the coun¬ 
try thoroughly, and traveled in the night until I got out of the parish, 
and came to Bapides Parish, and then doAVii the river to NeAV Orleans. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You have not been back there since?—A. No, sir; I Avas told 
positiA^ely if I returned I aa ould be dealt’ aa ith by the right boAA er of Mr. 
Cunningham. I Avould not like to tell his name. 

Q. AVhat is your business ?—A. I am a minister of the gospel. 

Q. What church ?—A. Baptist church. 

Q. Hoav long have you been engaged in the ministry?—A. For a 
nuniber of years. I think siiuje the lOtli of January, 1860. 

Q. Are you in regular standing AAdth the chur(*h?—A. I suppose so. 
I liaA^e not heard any charges against me—in fact, I am looked up to 
there, I think, as the leader of the Bai)tist church, as 1 am the president 
of the association. There are about fifty chiu*ches belonging to the 
Uvssociation of Avhich 1 am modei ator. 

Q. Hoav long had you been living in that place ?—xY. I had been Ka'- 
ing in tlie ]>arish of Natchitoches since March, 1853. 

Q. At this time did they bring any (complaints against you, except 
that you were a Bepublican t —xY. No complaint at all has CAcr been 
made. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham and his troop, did tliey charge you with having 
(committed any crime ?—xY. No, sir; they tohl me positiA^ely that they 
had nothing against me but my political influence. They told me 
further that my record Avas knoAvn, and I Aditure to say that to-(lay 
there is no man in Nat(chito(*lies, or anyAAiiere, that can find anything 
against my character as a man, and no man can say that I Iuia e com¬ 
mitted a crime in my life that is Avorthy of notice. 

Q. Had you been someAvhat active as a Bepublican ?—A. Yes, sir; 
tlie Bepubiican party nominated me over my protest for the legislature 
of 1871-’72, and I was nominated again for the senatorship in the 
tAA enty-second senatorial district in the latter part of 1872, and elected, 


138 


LOUISIANA IN 18/8. 


[Xatchitoclies 


and held that position four years. When I was elected I was sick, and 
the physician said if tliere was not a change in a few lioiirs I woiihl die. 
I was elected at that time and went out with the Pachard legislature. 

Q. You have a pretty thorough knowledge of the negroes in that 
vicinity ?—A. Yes, sir; I am jiretty well acquainted witli them. 

Q. In that parish and others ?—A. Yes, sir; I am i^retty well known 
through the country. 

Q. What do you say in regard to the inclination of the colored people, 
as far as you know, to going in and electing the Democratic ticket ?—A. 
If there Avas any disposition on their part to elect it I did not see it. 
There are two or three in my parish Avho claim to he Democrats, and 
they have voted that way. From the speech of the masses I think I 
have never seen any disiiosition at all to lielp the Democrats. 

Q. Have you ever seen any such disposition ?—A Yever in my life— 
to speak of them as a party to go up and a ote the Democratic ticket. On 
the contrary, why, AA^ehaA^e heen charged by our jiolitical enemies that 
the negroes had no more sense than to A'ote for the Kadical ticket. They 
liaA^e said noAV that they are not going to ask them to help them any more, 
hut they are going to make them Amte. One Sandiford held a seat in 
the Yicholls legislature, and I was returned Avith Mr. Packard, and I 
had in that district 1,007 majority in the last registration of 1870. 

Q. Did any wliite men Amte for you ?—A. Yes, sir; there are AAdiite 
men that voted the Democratic ticket in my parish that scratched the 
ticket and put me on. I sui)i)ose that could be shoAvn if the tickets could 
be got hold of. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. GiA^e the number, as near as you (;an, that came Avith Cunningham 
to the house.—A. There Avas no less than 250. 

Q. Generally armed?— A. They AA^ere armed; I do not suppose they 
would (*/Ome there Avitliout being armed. 

Q. What are the names of the organization ? 

A. They Avere for a Avhilethe White Camelia,’’ then ^‘Ku-Klux,” noAv 
“208.” 

Q. You speak of their being disguised; do these gentlemen aa ho be¬ 
long to the first families eAw go disguised to do anything?—A. They 
came disguised up to my house about eleven o’clock. 

Q. Then you do understand that this organization called “298” goes 
disguised?—A. Yes, sir; I do. 

Q. Hoav do they disguise?—A. These I suav had on black gowns; but 
you could not tell aa ho they Avere. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Were their faces coA-ered?—A. Yes, sir; eA^erything. Before this 
took place, some years ago, there AAvas a man called Douglas, Avho AA^as 
killed ill jail by disguised men; and they said, AA^e are going to liaA^e 
another chivaree, and go doAvn and take the yellow bull dog out, mean- 
lug me; they were out chiAmreeing that night, and passing inv house in 
disguise. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. When was that ?—A. In 187G. The night before I was away from 
home; they came disguised, and aa hooped and hollered, and said “God 
damn you, sleep close, or aa^c will get you”; but tliey thought someliody 
would get hurt if they took me out that night, and so they Avaited until 
the next day. I AA^ant to say I Avas told that should I stox) anywhere in 
this iiarish. State, or United States, and take iiart in xiolitics—they said 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R; BLOUNT. 


139 


^^Mr. Blount, we are going to visit you”; and I came here, and I must 
say that I did tell the colored people all along not to take any part in 
politics. 

Q. Why did you do so 1 —A. Because in riding that 200 miles through 
the country, I did not know everybody, of course, but I said, or rather I 
was ordered to tell these people not to take any ])art in politics, and I 
did it for my own safety. I went here before tlie State central com¬ 
mittee, and I said I do not belong any more to the State central com¬ 
mittee, and told them 1 was disfranchised from home; and I said I 
was further ordered to tell you to desist at once from politics. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who told you to do it ?—A. Mr. Cunningham said I was not to 
dictate. Just here I will say that ]VIr. C. F. Dranguet, when I was or¬ 
dered away, came to me and stepped up and said, “ I, as officer and as 
mayor of this city, approve of everything you have said and done”; 
and Cunningham said, ‘‘By God, that will do, let that alone”; and 
marshaled me right off. 

> Q. Mr. Cunningham did not want to be interfered with ?—A. I do not 
know what the ol)ject of it was, and then Mr. Breazeale Avalked up to 
me and said, “Blount, what are you doing with all those arms in your 
houseand I turned to tell him, and Cunningham said, “Well, that 
will do; we have not time to discuss arms.” 

But they stole all my arms and every i)iece of ammunition. 

Q. Have they ever returned them ?—A. No, sir ; not to this day. I 
told my wife recently to get them, and she went three times to the office 
of Cunningham, and Mr. Holmes, the tax-collector, informed her that 
he was in bed very sick, and she-did not see him. They had my Win¬ 
chester rifle, two justols, and three shot-guns, and another long rifle that 
they took out of my house. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You may tell more about owning property in the town where you 
live—what was it worth ?—A. I have always held it at 84,000. I do not 
know what it is worth now, as property has depreciated, and I know I 
could not get it, but I a\ ould like to sell it at less. 

Q. Hid you own any other property in that place ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
own another house and lot on another street, and I own a couple of lots 
on the south side of a church that I*am pastor of there; and I own 120 
acres of land on Black Lake that I bought at tax sale, and it is so re¬ 
corded. 

Q. Take it altogether, how much is it Avorth?—A. YYell, sir, taking 
my property and moA^ables, it is Avorth 87,380. 

Q. You AA ere compelled to leaA^e it f—iV. Yes, sir; and glad to get 
away. 

Q. This man made no charges against you that you had committed 
any crime ?—A. No, sir. I Avas not charged at all Avith any crime. I 
have lived there since I was 10 years old, and I Iuia ft neA^er had a charge 
against me, and have neA^er been before a court in my life.. 

Q. You were liAung peaceably and quietly, a property-holder and tax¬ 
payer?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Noav, if that had occurred in my State, Avith the same six or seAxn 
men Avith me, somebody AAOuld liaA^e been killed. I Avant to understand 
wdiy you did not get killed Avhen they came to you, or kill them ?—A. 
Mj^ wife and daughter w^as aaIUi me, and other ladies. If I had fired a 
shot every one in that house Avould have been murdered. I Avill say if 
I had been alone I could ncA^er have been taken alive, and I want to !;ay 


140 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natcliitoche* 


further that no two or three, or fifty, can contend with an organization 
in North Louisiana who are in opposition to the Eepublican party. J 
tell you it will re(iuire the United States Army, or an army similar. All 
of tiieir movements are military, and I do not suppose they will deny it. 

Q. You have had communication with your neighborhood since you 
left!—A. Very little. There was a quarantine for two purposes, one to 
keep oft* Eei)ublicans and one to keep oft* fever. 1 have had letters re 
turned to me—one sent to me from the president of the State central 
committee, and other letters. 

Q. You of course cannot tell Avhether any efforts have been made to 
punish the men who diwe you away !—A. I cannot think they would 
do it when the Avhole court and the bar Avere imi)licated in it and took 
part. We had 1,170 registered colored majority in 1870, and Avhen we 
left home Ave had registered three colored men to one AAhite. I do not 
Avant you to understand that the A\ hole ])arty is made up of colored men. 
If Ave had a fair election aa e could have been from 1,500 to 2,000 ma¬ 
jority. I knoAv because 1 aaus in a position to knoAv it, as i)resident of 
the central committee; and I kept an eye to these things because I 
desired the Eepublican party to succeed, Avhether I run for anything or 
not. I did not care to run for anything, because men after they AA^ere 
elected AA^ould go back on the party. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. When were you in Natchitoches Parish last ?—A. I left the night 
of the 21st of September, 1878. 

Q. IToii haA^e not been back since ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You came as directly as you could to Ncav Orleans, when you left 
there ?—A. I did. 

Q. Have you been subpcenaed before the grand jury of the United 
States court on these matters you have been relating to-day !—A. Yes, 
sir ; I luiA^e been subpcenaed before the United States court. 

A. IlaA'c you testified as yet!—A. Yes, sir; I have testified. 

Q. You AAwe subpcenaed before the jury ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Eegularly subpoenaed A. Yes, sir; I do not Avish to testify any 
place, not even liere; but of course being subpoenaed I have to come. 

Q. What time on Saturday eAAuiing, the 21st of September, AAere you 
arrested !—A. As near as I could tell a^ou I sui)pose it a\ as about four 
o’clock. 

Q. Was that after you had attended the meeting!—A. Yes, sir. I 
left the meeting and Avent home—the meeting aaus, of course, before 
twelve o’clock. 

Q. Was there any hostile demonstration made upon the meeting that 
you held that day !—A. None direct on the meeting, only that the march¬ 
ing Democrats down Jefferson street came doAvn to break it up. 

Q. That was at your meeting!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you disturbed in the meeting before it had got through its 
business !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You made a speech on that day!—A. I did. 

Q. Did you state in this si)eech that day to your jAarty friends that 
they must carry that election by any means!—A. No, sir; no liAungbe¬ 
ing on God’s earth eA-er heard that off* my lips. We had no reason to 
state it; avc had numbers sufficient to carry the election. 

Q. You did not say they must come prepared to Aundicate their rights 
at all hazards!—A. I did not. 

Q. What day did you hold the last meeting before that!—A. We 
held a sort of day meeting—a ward club meeting on Saturdav night 
before that. ^ & 


Palish.} 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


141 


Q. Tliat would be tlie 14tli ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Democrats have a meeting the same day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon speak at your meeting ?—A. They called upon me to say 
something; that is, when they wanted some opening remarks they called 
upon me tor that, I suppose; I had no spee(;h, and I only made a few 
remarks. I encouraged them to stand up and be true to their party, 
and, if possible, every man to work for the interests of his party, an(l 
carry the election. That was about the purport of my remarks on that 
night. 

Q. Did you on that occasion tell them they must come and carry the 
]>arish whether or not?—A. 1 did not. 1 stated just now I did not on 
tlie 21st of September, or any other time, and no living being ever heard 
me make such a remark. 

Q,. Was it advertised before that meeting that the Democrats would 
have a meeting on the 14th ?—A. I do not know that it was. There was 
a meeting held on the 14th, that the Congressman, J. B. Elam, and Mr. 
Williams, candidate for the senate from the twelftli district, addressed. 

Q. You stated to-day in your testimony that your wife and children 
were put in jail.—A. My wife and children Avere marched oh* to the jail 
by Mr. Cunningham there (pointing). My daughter is now 22 years of 
age the first of YoAmmber. She was marched oft* with my wife. 

Q. Did you hear the order th at Avas given ?—A. I heard the order for 
the women and all hands of the house, to take them oft* to jail. 

Q. How long Avas it before they were brought back?—A. Tliey staid 
a few minutes before my house yelling and plundering my house; they 
Avent through it like wild horses through a stable, and they marched im¬ 
mediately oft*, and ! met my wife and daughter. 1 Avas going and they 
Avere coming. 

Q. Who Avas in charge of the jail at that time?—A. I do not know; 
David Boullt was sheriff, but Cunningham and his croAvd took charge 
of eA^erything. He came in the court-house and gUA^^e orders to the 
guards that had me in custody, and he let them pass in and out of the 
office; consequently I took it for granted that he had charge of every¬ 
thing. 

Q. You do not knoAV, then, who actually had control of the keys ?— 
A. ^^” 0 , sir; I do not. 1 knoAV a man was brought there for liaAdng stole 
something and Avas put in the sheriff*’s office, and the sheriff* left, and 
left him in custody of the guard that had me; and it must have been 
that he did not have the keys. 

Q. Who Avere in charge of you ?—A. I do not wish to give the names, 
as I told you. 

Q. There is no use for your putting yourself in antagonism to any¬ 
body, but I think it is necessary Ave should have the names for the in- 
A^estigation.—A. I do not wish to giA^e them. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. These men were detailed by Avhom?— A. By Mr. Cunningham. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. I think you had better give them.—A. Mr. Cunningham Avell 
knoAVS that I promised the chief who took me away not to call his name, 
and that he should not hear from me. If you oblige me to tell, I will 
say the chief of the guard at the court-house, to aaTioiu I was turned 
over was Mr. Dismewk, and a young man by the name of Prudehome, 
Achille, Prudehome’s son, and another by the name of Billy Smith—t 
suppose William Smith; another by the name of Carter, a brother of A. 


142 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Xatchitoclies 


Y. Carter, I do not know Ids business; Dr. Gallein, wlio came in and 
took cliarge of the guard wlien Dismewk left to get his supper or dinner 
at night; and another man wliose name I do not recollect. Mr. Carter 
left before he escorted me away. I think he was somewhat dissatisfied 
at his brother being defeated for sheriff, and took his horse and went 
home. 

Q. Who was the lieutenant or cldef man tliat you spoke of and that 
Cunningham turned over this business to?—A. To take me away"? 

Q. Yes; you spoke of a man as one in the crowd.—A. Sam. Kaines ; 
he is the man that took me from my house and took me out. Cunning¬ 
ham said that I would not be allowed to dictate now, but that he was 
going to dictate now, and I must comi)ly 5 it was Dailies that took me 
from the court-house. Kaines had brought me to my house, and the others 
and Billy Smith took a seat below, and Kaines Avent uiistairs into my 
Avife’s bed-room to see that my Avife gaA^e me no arms. It Avas lu^ that 
brought me doAAUi out of my house and had me ])ut on my horse and took 
me aAA'ay, and he Avent on foot about half a mile Avith us. Billy Smith 
got doAAui off* his horse and giA^e Sam. Kaines the horse to ride, and Smith 
AArilked by us until Ave got to LcA^y’s gate; and he said, “ Here, you 
hadn’t better go any farther, as you are Avalking,” and he stopped. We 
Avent on until I got to the first lane, and it Avas Mr. Kaines Avho gave me 
the order for the last time, that I Avas to leave the States and United 
States, and as I go to tell tlie negroes everyAvhere to desist from politics. 
And he said, ‘AVill you do it ?” I said, “Yes.” And he shook hands 
Avith me, and says I, “Mr. Kaines, you Avill not hear from me (after a 
certain understanding); but he said, “ Yoav, Blount, if you do Avhat Ave 
liaA’^e ordered you to do I Avill forget you, but if you do not do it, by God, 
1 Avon’t forget you.” Gf course I Avas grateful to get away. I never 
thought I Avould get aAvay, and I believed they Avere afraid to keep me 
for fear the negroes Avould rescue me, and therefore wanted to get me 
out of the Avay. 

Q. What Avas the registration at that time?—A. 1,17G was the regis¬ 
tered majority OA^er the whites in 187G. 

(^. Who in a subdued voice called upon you to surrender in that 
crowd ?—A. That AA^as promiscuously by everybody. The party to whom 
I did surrender AA^as Mr. Kaines. 

Q. I thought you testified that some one called upon you to surrender.— 
A. Well, it was Mr. Kaines. Mr. Trammel, that keeps a saAV-mill there, 
said, “Come doAvri, by God, and make a speech.” 

Q. Had you and Cunningham been friends ahvays up to that time?— 
A. 1 saAv nothing to prevent it. He brought suit against me on Ked- 
moiid’s bond, and obtained judgment, and I paid it—in all, $3,000 and 
interest, for Avhich I hold receipts. He had spoke to me friendly at 
times; but Cunningham never did like me, on account of my infiuence 
Avith the party; and I Avielded that infiuence to the best of "my ability 
against the Democratic party. 

Q. You liad no misunderstanding or Avoids up to that time with him ?— 
A. No, sir. I had met him a day or two before that, and whereA^er I 
met him he ahvays spoke to me friendly. If he had anything against me 
it Avas not known to me. 

Q. These 500 AAiiite voters that you speak of, that you had a promise 
of to co-operate with you—Avhere Avere they from, xirinciiially ?—A. From 
the pine Avoods; a portion from the filth, sixth, seA^enth, and eighth AAmrds; 
and the representatives of their organization, not one, but some three or 
four, AA'ere to be there that day and hear the speeches and see the organi¬ 
zation, so that they could have an understanding. Of course, they were 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 


143 


not going in for tlie Eepiiblicans especially, but as workmen; but of 
course they were Eepiiblicans; and that was,the understanding, that 
every one would vote the Eepublican ticket. My ‘‘unbounded influ¬ 
ence,” as the Yindicator says, was the cause of my expulsion. 

Q. Do you know the reason of the failure of the co-operation of these 
500 workmen with you ?—A. They were not allowed to make a ticket. 
That is the reason I left home. If I was allowed to stay there, we would 
l)ut uxi a ticket and they could not elect their officers, and all their bull¬ 
dozing could not defeat us. 

Q. Can you tell me how it is with your large majority that those 500 
men could overpoAver you!—A. Yes, sir; if the White League in the 
suirounding iiarishes had not come in, and minded their business; but 
if Ave have Eed EL'er, De Soto, Eapides, Winn, and Grant parishes all 
to contend Avdth, AA^e Avould certainly be Aidiipped out and Avould haA^e been 
murdered. 

Q. 1 do not understand that these persons descended uxion the toAvn 
from these x)arishes at this time !—A. They draw from every one of the 
surrounding xiarishes. 

Q. The Eexniblicans do not draw, then!—A. They stay at home and 
attend to their Avork, Avhile these felloAvs are sitting doAvn in the shade 
cursing the “niggers” because they do not AAwk. 

Q. You state hoav that the Eepublican counties Avould stand up and 
see the white counties come doAvn and AAdiij) you, and not protect you!— 
A. I state it as a fact—as my exjierience. 1 liaA^e been 20 years in the 
parish next March. If you AAmuld notice the publications in the neAAAS- 
X)apers you Avill see that they call uxioii this parish and that x)arish to 
send in their young men—young bloods. My friends, Avho Avere sorry to 
see me treated as 1 Avas, init their hands on my shoulder and said, “I am 
sorry for this, Blount; but Ave are going to do it everywhere.’’^ They said, 
“Eadicalism is done eA^eryAAdiere.” 

Q. Who is postmaster at your jilace !—A. Mrs. Burke. 

Q. Is she against you too !—A. I suppose so. 

Q. Who have the xiost-offices generally in the iiarishes around yon !— 
A. I could not say. As a general thing, since 1874 there has been ter¬ 
rible Avatching of Blount. They did not alloAV Blount to go around in 
the adjoining jiarishes. My influence Avas such, j)olitically, that they 
intended I should not go. I did not dare to, I only Avent around my 
toAvn, and then I had to be A^ery careful. 

Q. Did Judge LeA^y run a large plantation up there!—A. Yes; aA^ery 
large one between Cane and Eed Elver. 

Q. You say he cultivates a large plantation and Avorks colored peo¬ 


ple !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Does he have any trouble in getting along with them !—A. That 
I do not know. He, Avorks these hands. I knoAV that he has some men 
relieA^ed and quit aa ork occasionally, and their jflaces are filled by others 
Avho come along. That is common everyAAEere. 


By the Chairman: 

Q. Please tell where that paper is tiublished.—A. In Yatchitoches. 

Q. You may read that article (handing the paper to Avitness). -A. 
This paper is called The People’s \indicator; the date of it is Septem- 

^^Q^'yoav you may read that article.—A. “Eed EAer: The people of 
Eed Elver Parish have indeed acted nobly in our behalf, and we should 
be more than grateful to them for their g’allant, heroic conduct. JMessrs. 
Lisso & Scheen gawe us the use of their telegraph-line free of charge. 


144 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


and aided in organizing and sending forward men to our help. Mr. 
8 am. Lisso and Captain James Pearson came in with the first party. 
Two bodies, under Messrs. (Jollins and Cathren and others, arrived 
prompt and in time. All our men, woimm, and children joined in bless¬ 
ings of good wishes to the people of lied lli^ er Ihirish, one and all.’^ 

By Mr. Bailey: 

(J. How often is that paper published'?—A. Weekly. 

Q. Is that the flrst issue of tlie paper following the assemblage of that 
large number of negroes who were interfering to rescue you ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that is the first issue. On that day there was an issue—on the 21st. 

Q. This assemblage of black people took place on the 22d '!?—A. Ao; 
on the 21st. 

Q. I mean the assemblage for your rescue ?—A. On the 21st—that 
evening. 

Q. They came in great numbers, did they not?—A. I could not say 
the numbers; I could not answer. 

Q. You heard from those who went there—some of them came to see 
you, did they not ?—A. M^Mvife, and ]VIr. Parish’s wife, and Mr. Ander¬ 
son. 

Q. Was there any great alarm felt by the citizens in regard to tlie 
object of the black people; 1 mean the assembling of the blacks to 
rescue you? Do you not know that they me litated an attack upon the 
town and a sacking of it, men, women, and children ?—A. No, sir; I do 
not think so—I cannot conceive of such a thing. 1 don’t know anything 
more of wliat the citizens believed than you do; but so far as I know 
was no disposition to bring about any trouble to the city on the 
the blacks. 

am talking about the apprehension felt by the people of Natchi- 
when these negroes had assembled in such numbers for the pur- 
rescuing you from custody; 1 am talking about that, Mr. Blount. 

A. II. Blount recalled and further examined. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Question. Did not the article you read from that newsjoaper, when you 
were upon the witness stand before, have reference to the apprehension felt 
by that people, and their gratitude toward the people of a neighboring 
])arish for coming to their rescue ?—A. T could not so judge it. It is 
(mmmon in that section of the country when anything hai>pens between 

Ile})ublican and Democrat that the Democrats of the neighboring sec¬ 
tions are called upon at once, and generally they respond. 

Q. Do they generally express their gratitude through the news* 
papers ?—A. Sometimes they do. 

Q. Had there been troubles there before ? 

The Witness. In Natchitoches? 

]Mr. Bailey. Yes, sir. 

A. There had been no trouble before. This paper has reference to 
the Red River Parish sending over their young men. I live in Natchi¬ 
toches Parish. 

Q. That paper expresses the gratitude of the people of Natchitoches 
Parish to the people of Red River for coming to their aid? 

The AVitness. Perhaps I didn’t understand your questions; you asked 
if they did not feel an apprehension of danger. 

Mr. Bailey. I mean the people of Natchitoches Parish. 

/V have apprehended danger, after bringing it on. 

Q. I he expression of gratitude to these people, who came to their 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF A. R. BLOUNT. 145 

assistance in tlie hour of peinl, is notliing but natural ?—A. If there was 
any danger it would be but natural. 

Q. You didn’t know that there was any ?—A. There may have been. 

The witness introduced a handbill, which he read, as follows; 

All citizens capable of bearing* arms will report at Lacost’s Hall, on Front street, 
this evening at six o’clock. Onr families and property must be protected at all hazards. 
M. J. Cunningham is appointed chief of police. 

C. F. DRANGUET, Mayor. . 

The witness explained that this was issued about sundown—after they 
had been to his house and taken him out. 

The Witness. It was probably late in the evening when they (Mr. 
Ounningham and his crowd) found that I tvas going to be rescued; the 
colored pc'ople told them ])lainly that they would not go away until I 
was released. Then this proclamation api)eared on the street, but it 
was not issued until they had me arrested and were hunting for the 
leaders of the party. They Avanted the leaders of the party and had 
failed to get any of thean but myself, and this Avas issued to cover up 
their own Auolation of the law. tip to that time there was not a Joav in 
toAAm bearing arms except Mr. Caspari and Mr. Moses, photographers; 
these tAA^o were in the crowd, and at the court-house there Avere tA\^o 
strange faces, api)arently Jews. The balance of them did not take any 
part until they Avere forced out in this illegal way. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. YouhaA^e been here a good many years ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you ever hear of negroes sacking and destroying a town ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you CA^er hear that any negroes were about to sack a toAvn ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Did Mr. Cunningham claim that they aa ere going to sack that 
toAvn ?—A. Not to my knoAvledge. 

Q. He said theyAAwe going to rescue you?—A. Yes, sir; he said that 
I Avas not to be rescued; I aams to be killed right there before I should 
be rescued. 

Q. Where did you reside before the AA^ar?—A. AboA'e Natchitoches. 

C^. Ho\a^ many colored people Avere employed on that place ?—A. There 
Avere 137 colored hands on the plantation. All the plantations were 
filled up AAuth colored people. The one who worked the fcAvest colored 
people is John Haley, and he had seA^en or eight on his place. 

Q. During the AA4r, AAdien the Avhite men were absent, hoAV was it 
then? Did the negroes sack the towns?—A. No, sir; they staid at 
home and took care of the av ives and mothers and sisters and children 
of the absent soldiers. 

Q. Is it not a tact that this fear that the negroes Avere going to sack 
the town AA^as all a pretense ?—A. Certainly it was; there Avas neAw a 
bitterer or baser falsehood than this. 

Q. Senator Garland inquired aa hetlier the gallant young Kepublicans 
Avould come to the rescue of their friends in other counties; state the 
condition of the masses of the Republican party. Are they rich men 
living about toAvn, or men avIio have to spend th^ir time at hard work?— 
A. As a general thing the Republicans are Avorkingmen. The masses 
of the Republican party in this section of the country are colored men 
who haA-e to Avork hard for a living ; they are Avorking in the field Avhile 
tliese men are sitting around drinking and cursing the ‘‘ negro,” and 
saying that he won’t AVork. 

10 T 


146 


LOUISIANA IN 187^. 


fNat«hitoclre3 


Q. How do they generally work ?—A. There is a great differene-e 
among them, of course; some negroes Avorl?: hard and lay np money and 
acquire considerable property; but there is not much encouragement 
for this, for these are the men tliat are most likely to be disturbed. 

Q. Why ?—A. I do not know unless it is because white men get en¬ 
vious of a negro when he gets more property than white men of the same 
a mount of education. 

Q. Are the negroes generally working men?— A. Yes, sir; they are 
working people mostly. 

Q. How many members are there in your church?—A. There were 
507 up to the time of my expulsion and banishment. 

Q. Are there other colored churches in your vicinity ?—A. Yes, sir; 
tliere is another colored Methodist cliurch in town; and then there are 
a good many Baptist churches—twenty-eight or twenty-nine Baptist 
churches in that parish alone. 

Q. Has there ever been what is called an ux^rising of the negroes in 
your i)arish ?—A. Not in my day. 

Q. Have they ever sacked any of the towns in that i)arish ?—A. Not 
that I ever lieard of, sir. 

Q. Have they ever done so in Northern Louisiana anywhere?—A. 
Not to my knoAvledge. 

Q. Have any negroes been murdered in your x)arish ?—A. That is 
common. 

Q. AVhat is usually the cause of such murders ?—A. I do not hear of 
any except ^‘Another damned nigger is killed.” 

(^. I meant what is the reason given for killing them !—A. Maybe he 
was imx^udent, or said or did something to somebody. I judge the kill¬ 
ing is done more for its intimidating effect, to keep them in fear. 

Q. Are those wdio are killed usually the more intelligent or other¬ 
wise?—A. AYell, they haven’t been very particular about that, sir; until 
of late they have tried to make all the intelligence go out of the coun¬ 
try ; generally killing a nigger” here and there was sufficient to keep 
the colored peox)le in fear. Often it has made my hair stand to hear the 
conversation iu the streets about killing negroes. I liave heard it pub¬ 
licly pro(;laimed on the street that Blount or some other leading negro 
was to be killed. They came to our meeting with Winchester and re¬ 
peating rifles; I was most afraid of being shot on the street. 

Mr. Bailey. But you were not. 

The Witness. I was not; thank God, I have my life to-day. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was it or not alleged as an excuse that negroes were conferring 
together ?—A. 1 have never in my life seen the time when the people of 
my x)arish congregated together for any x)ur|)ose excex)t when tlrev came 
to rescue me that night; and 1 didn’t see that. I was told that by Mr. 
('unningham ; these men didn’t bite their tongue to keep from saying 
when they were going to kill me ; they said it publicly on the streets, to 
Avomen and children as well as men. I had property and felt that I had 
as much right there as any of these men. I own more interest in that 
parish, more property there, than the majority of men that drove me 
away trom it; it I am mistaken about this then the assessment roll is 
not correct. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. And have a reasonable share of intelligence, hat^e you not?—A. 1 
hope so, sir. 


3*ari.sh,) 


TESTIMONY OF V. A. BARRON. 


147 


Q. You pay taxes there?—A. Yes, sir; I wrote to my wife to pay the 
taxes for 1877^ and she did^ and sent the tax receipt to me. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Mr. Bailey spoke of the great nnmher of colored peojile who assem¬ 
bled to rescue yon; from the best information yon have, what number 
assembled!—A. My wife says about thirty or forty. 

Q. Did yon learn whether they were armed or not!—A. She said some 
had guns and some had pistols, and one was there with just an ax in his 
hand. She was laughing and telling me how well he was armed. They 
telt sure that I would be murdered; other men had been taken out and 
murdered simply because they were Bepublicans. 


Y. A. BARRON. 

New Orleans, January 7, 1879. 

Y. A. Barron (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. I reside in the parish of 
Natchitoches, and town of Natchitoches. 

Q. How long have you resided there!—A. Since the winter of 1867. 

Q. How old are you!—A. I am in my forty-first year. 

Q. Where did you reside before going to Natchitoches!—A. In the 
parish of Winn—Grant it is named now. 

Q. Of what State are you a native!—A. Of JMississipih; my father 
moved from there when I was about eleven years old. I have resided 
since that time in Louisiana. 

Q. Where yon engaged in the late war!—A. I was. 

Q. In the Confederate army !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long were yon in the Confederate army !—A. I was mustered 
into the service on the 14th of May, 1862, in the town of Monroe, La.; 
I remained until the war was over, and I was mustered out. 

Q. Were you engaged as a soldier!—A. I was, in the infantry service. 

Q. What business have you been engaged in since !—A. I was elected 
sheriff in 1874, and have been holding office most of the time since I 
have been in the parish. 

Q. AVhen did your term of office as sheriff expire !—A. In 1876. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late Congressional campaign !—A. I 
was about to take a part just in the commencement of the cami^aign ; 
that is, I attempted to do so. 

Q. State your connection with that, and what your experience has 
been.—A. My connection in politics is that I have been acting with 
the Republican party. 

Q. Give your experience during the last campaign, that of 1878.—A. 
I was at the meeting of the 21st of September—that was the first meet¬ 
ing the Republicans had; I was the presiding officer of that meeting, 
being first vice-president, and the president being absent. I called the 
meeting to order. The meeting was held for the purpose of beginning 
ai/organization for the parish to go into the campaign for i)arish and 
State officers. We organized our club, went through Avith the usual 
routine of business, and adjourned. When I came out of the house 
Avhere Ave had held the meeting, I saw a great many persons going in 
difterent directions. 



148 


LOCISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


There was evidently some excitement which was unexpected to mei 
as I had heard no report of anything on hand. Going in the direction 
where I lived I met the Breda brothers, and their brother-in-law. I 
(tailed to them and asked what Avas the matter; but they made me no 
reply. I Avent on a little farther and came up to a company of men— 
Aviiat seemed to be a regularly organized company ; I Avent within some 
35 or 40 yards of theiiij and turned around and Avent the other way and 
left town. 

Q. In what condition or position AA^ere those men ?—A. They Avere in 
military array across the street. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. Yes, sir—Avith regular military arms j they 
seemed to be standing at a ready.” 

Q. Hoav many men AA^ere there'?—A. Some fifty or sixty I should say; 
J had but a slight and short Anew of them. 

Q. Were they on foot or on horseback ?—A. They were on foot. 

Q. Were there any officers in command?—A. One man seemed to be 
standing in a position as if he Avere in command of the company—one 
AV. E. Bussell. 

Q. Who Avere these men that you said AAwe running about ?—x\. They 
were negroes mostly, and some AAdiites Avho had been at the Bepublican 
meeting. They told me not to go up there, saying, ‘‘They are bound to 
make trouble; they AA^antyou leaders,” or, “They want to get you lead¬ 
ers.” They seemed to be frightened and running off. 

Q. State AA^hat you did then.—A. I went aAA^ay from there, and AA^ent out 
of toAvn and remained out of toAAm for nine or ten days. I staid away 
until the next Sunday Aveek; that AA^ould make nine days. v 

Q. AA^hy did you go away and remain aAvay ?—A. As I told you, I left 
on account of what these persons told me, that these arme(l men are 
after us, the leaders of the party there. After I had gone I heard from 
home that they had arrested Air. Blount, and had him in custody, and 
that they were inquiring for me. 

Q. AYho Avere inquiring for you?—A. This same party Avho was there 
armed. 

Q. Did they arrest Air. Blount by any legal authority, or as a mob 
Avithout authority ?—A. He Avas arrested by tlie mob, sir. 

Q. AAYll, go on.—A. I heard from home eA^ery day, almost; I was only 
a short distance from home. 

By Air. Kikkaa'OOD : 

Q. Were you staying in a house, or in the AA Oods?—A. A part of the 
time in a house, and a part of the time in the avoocIs; a ery Icaa^ persons 
knoAv to this day at AAhose house I staid. I do not care to tell the 
name of the man AAdiom I staid aa ith. 

By the Ciiairwan : 

Q. Go on.—A. I AA^ent home nine days from the time I Avent out. Af- 
tc‘r returning home I was requested to leaA^e the toAAUi; I was asked if I 
did not knoAV that I had been ordered UAA'ay, and that Blount and the 
Ilredas AA^ere gone. 

Q. AVho did this?—A. A gentleman who is in this room hoav; Air. Af. 
J. Cunningham. 

^ Q. AVhich of these gentlemen is he?—A. (The AAitness identifies Air. 
(ffinningham.) The coiiA^ersation betAA^een us was in his house; he lent 
for me; he sent a young man who aa^s a friend of mine, or at least who 
had alAvays appeared to be, and asked if I had any objection to coming 
and seeing him. I said no, not if he aa ^is alone at his house. I went 
up there, and he asked me my object in coming back there at that time. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF V. A. BARRON. 


149 


I said, none, only to come home. He asked, did I not know that i)arties 
there, Blount and the Bredas, and others, had been ordered away ? I 
said I did not know it positively, hut had heard something of the kind; 
1 had no i)articular information, though I believed it to be true. He 
asked if I did not know that I had been ordered away. I told him that 
I did not know it x>ositively, though I had heard it rumored; and that I 
had come in to see whether it was really the case. He said that I had 
been ordered to leave as the others had left; but he said he would call 
the committee together and see if arrangements could not be made with 
regard to me, so that I need not be comx)elled to leave again. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What committee!—A. A committee called the “ advisory commit¬ 
tee.” 

By the Chairman : 

Q. A x)olitical committee !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A Democratic committee!—A. Yes, sir. He told me that he was 
president of that committee. I remained there a day or two, waiting to 
see what shape matters would take, when Mr. Cunningham Avas taken 
sick and seemed to be very much indisposed. He did not get his com¬ 
mittee together, and I received no answer from him. I had some busi¬ 
ness to attend to, and went out about 30 miles from Natchitoches to my 
brother’s; there I was taken sick myself, and remained sick two or 
three weeks. When I saw Mr. Cunningham again I asked the result— 
Avhether there had been any meeting of the advisory committee, and 
Avhat the result was; he said that he had been sick himself, and had 
not called a meeting, but would call one as soon as he could. The next 
day he told me the committee Avoidd not withdraw the resolution, al¬ 
though there Avere some Avho were in favor of not carrying it out with 
I'cgard to me. Blount had left, the Bredas had left, and others; and 
they could not make any distinction, and I must go, too. 

Q. What reason did they give for wanting you to go !—A. He said 
they wanted no leaders of the party about. 

Q. Of what party !—A. Of the Eepublican jAarty ; that they intended 
to carry the election; that the government was theirs ; that they had 
been beaten out of it long enough; that they would endure it no longer, 
and Ave must get out of the way ; that they did not intend to liaA^e any 
opposition in the caiiAmss in the parish. During the conversation I re¬ 
marked, Here is D. H. Boullt running on the Indei)endent ticket; you 
have not ordered him aAvay; why do you let him remain here Avhile you 
compel the rest of us to go!” lie answered, ^^Well, we do not regard 
him as anything; Ave Avould rather he would run than not.” 

Q. Did "you leav^e !—A. Yes, sir ; but before I left he said to me this: 

I am authorized to say to you that it is not material that you leaA^e 
the entire limits of the i)arisli—you can go out of toAvn—can go over to 
Avhere your brother liv^es if you choose ” (this was about 30 miles), ‘‘and 
remain there until after the election is over; then you can correspond 
with me and I Avill advise you AA^hether it shall be safe for you to come 
back here or not.” 

Q. What did you do !—A. I left and AAxnt to Shreveport. 

Q. HaA’-e you been back there since !—A. No, sir; only as I passed 
through it on a boat coming down to New Orleans, by way of Bed Elver. 

Q. Was there any reason for sending you out there excejE the fact that 
you were a Eepublican !—A. None that 1 know of. 1 asked the reason, 
and he said they Avere not discussing the merits or demerits of any party 
at that time. 


150 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Did they charge you with crime of auy kind ?—A. ^o, sir. 

Q. Did Cunningham accuse you of committing any crime?—A. Ko, 
sir; on the contrary, he said he had nothing against me. He was pros¬ 
ecuting attorney when I was sherift* there; we always got along together 
well; we were officers together in the court. 

Q. Did he tell you Avho composed this committee?—A. No, sir; he 
incidentally named one or two persons. 

Q. Whom did he name?—A. AVilliam H. Jack, J. H. Cosgrove, and 
W. E. Eussell. 

Q. What kind of men are these? How are they regarded by their 
white neighbors ?—A. By their white neighbors of the same political 
faith they are regarded as leading men. 

Q. Is Mr. Cunningham a man of family ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a man of property ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How old is he?—A. I should suppose him to be about 31 or 32 
years old. 1 haA^e been acquainted Avitli liini some ten years. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AVho Avere these other men that he said were members of that com¬ 
mittee?—A. One of them aa as a lawyer; he had always been, or appeared 
to be, a friend of mine, too. , 

Q. Had there been any ])ersonal difficulties between you and him ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you a family ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where?—A. In Natchitoches. 

Q. You spoke of some others having been sent off; who Avere they ?— 
A. There were the Bredas, Blount, Lewis, and Boby. 

Q. AVhy Avere they sent off?—A. I have no personal knoAvledge of 
what was said or done to them, only what Cunningham said; he said 
they had sent off* these men. 

Q. They Acere Kepublicans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Mr. Blount was a liepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He Avas a colored man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He had been a member of the legislature?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Avas accounted a leader among Kepublicans?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After lie and the Bredas and these other men you IniA^ementioned 
were sent off, Avere there any active leading Eepublican men left?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q,. None of the others ever acted as leaders or took much actWe part 
in carrying on the meetings ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What has been the political complexion of the county since you 
lived there up to 1878?—A. Eepublican. 

Q. Hoav large a majority have the Eepublicans had ?—A. About tAvo 
to one. 

Q. Of what race is the Eepublican party there mainly composed ?—A. 
Of colored people mostly. 

Q. There were some Avhitemen, I suppose?—A. Yes, sir; some. 

Q. Had the negroes shown any disposition, up to the time you left, to 
alaiidon theEeimblican party?—A. sir; they showed as good a dis¬ 

position to stick to the })arty as they ever had. 

Q. Your jirospects of success seemed as good as eA^er ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(J. Do you know what Avas the result of the election last fall—or what 
it was claimed to be?—A. It Avas claimed to be Democratic; at least it 
was so claimed in the official journal of the parish. 

Q. You have seen the official returns ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Parish. ] 


TESTIMONY OF V. A. BARRON. 


151 


Q. All tlie Democratic officers claimed to be elected !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By how large a majority ?—A. I cannot tell the figures j I paid no 
attention to the exact count. 

By Mr. Gameron : 

Q. Was Mr. Cunningham a candidate for any office on the Democratic 
ticket*?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. For what office*?—A. For member of the legislature. 

Q. At the time he gave you notice to leave the parish was he a candi¬ 
date for that office ?—A. He was. 

Q. Were any of the others Avhom he called a committee candidates 
for office *?—A. I do not think they were; I do not know' that they were. 

Q. Was Mr. Baby a leader among the Bepublicans *?—A. Yes, sir 5 he 
w as one of the leaders. 

Q. Was he wdiite or colored ?—A. He w^as colored. 

Q. What became of him *?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Do you know what was reported to have become of him*?—A. I 
heard that he left the parish ; there was the body of a man found dead 
on the Sabine road, ten miles from Natchitoches, answering his descrip¬ 
tion, and one rumor was that this was his body j what truth there was 
in this rumor I do not know. 

Q. You said that Mr. Cunningham, during a part of the time when 
you were sheriff of the parish, was district attorney, ditl you not?—A. 
Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. Was he elected, or appointed, to that office, as you understood 
it ?—A. I do not remember for certain, sir; I believe he was appointed. 

Q. If api)ointed, by whose authority w^as he appointed—who was gov¬ 
ernor?—A. Kellogg w^as acting governor during his term of office as 
district attorney. 

Q. How long did Cunningham act as district attorney while Kellogg 
was acting governor?—A. I think about a year; it may be longer; Mr. 
Tucker was acting a part of the time during my term of office. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Have you been back to Natchitoches since you left in obedience 
to tlie order of that committee?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you a family at home?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. You are waiting on Providence, I suppose? 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

Mr. Garland. No, he is waiting on the district court. 

The YVitness. I expect to be examined here; I exi)ected to have been 
examined before this, but if not examined, I would not have gone home 
unless I had received notice that it was safe to return. 

Q. You have been through there on the steamboat?—A. Yes, sir; on 
my way here to answer the summons by the United States grand jury. 

Q. How long have you been here?—A. I got here on the 21st of 
December. 

Q. You were summoned as a witness before the grand jury in refer¬ 
ence to these matters?—A. I cannot say as to that; the summons doift 
state what; it is not the usual way when the grand jury orders witnesses 
to appear to specify any particular purpose. 

Q. You suppose this is the purpose?—A. Yes, sir; I supposed it was. 

Q. You have been here in answer to that subpoena since the 21st of 
December?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And have not testified yet?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Do you report daily?—A. Yes, sir. 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natcllitoches 


lo2 


Q. Have you any idea when you will be able to give your testimony !— 
A. I was told yesterday by a friend that he expected we would be taken 
before the grand jury to-day. 

Q. When you were sheriff for that parish were you elected sheriff as 
a Democrat or Republican?—A. As a Republican, sir; I have been known 
as a Republican during my whole time in the parish. 

Q. That is since 1867?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And while you were sheriff Cunningham was district attorney?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And at the same time Breda was judge of the parish court?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Dr. Breda was coroner ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you went away from home hrst you staid ten days?—A. Yes, 
sir; about ten days. 

Q. Was any assault made ui)on you at the time of the meeting of 
which you testified?—A. Yo, sir; there was no assault, but one was ex¬ 
pected from the general appearance of things.' 

Q. There were five of you, then, who left that parish under the same 
circumstances: the two Bredas, yourself, Blount, Lewis, and Raby; that 
makes up, if I understand you, the leaders of the Republican party in 
the parish ?—A. They are the principal leaders that lived in and about 
the town. 

Q. Do you know the number of votes that were polled at that election 
in Natchitoches Parish ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know the number of tickets reported to have been polled ?— 
A. I have seen the number stated, but I do not charge my memory with 
these things at all. 

Q. How did the vote compare in number with the votes previously 
given in the county since you went there in 1867 ?—A. 1 think there was 
about the same vote; somewhere near it. 

Q. Was your family, which remained there, maltreated during your 
absence?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you hear from them now ?—A. I have heard from them twice 
since I have been here. 

NO PERSONAL DIFFICULTY ORIGINATED THE TROUBLE. 

Q. W^ere you on good terms with Mr. Cunningham and the other 
neighbors ?—A. Yes, sir. There were no hard feelings between us that 
I know of; at least, there were none on my part; if he had any toward 
me it is more than I know anything about. 

Q. Had you had any iiersonal misunderstanding or difficulty with any 
of the rest of these gentlemen ?—A. No, sir; with none of them. I 
have never had a personal difficulty with a man in the i)arish since I 
have been in the parish; hardly a harsh word. 

Q. Then you have got along well with them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know the father of Mr. Cunningham?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you and he on good terms ?—A. We have always been friendly, 
sir. 

Q. Is he a man of good standing in the community as a law-abiding 
citizen, or otherwise ?—A. 1 have never heard anything to the contrary, 
sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. WYre you at the meeting on the Saturday morning spoken of — 
that political gathering ?—A. Yes, sir ; I was at that meeting. 

Q. Were all these other persons who were banished from the parish 
also at that meeting ?—A. I think they were. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF V. A. BARRON. 


153 


Q. You spoke of another person Avhoin yon called Bonllt; was he 
there ?—A. i^o, sir j he was then acting sheriff, and he did not attend 
the meeting. 

Q. Was it annonnced there, at that meeting, that yon had received an 
accession of strength of 300 Democrats ?—A. No, sir; not in my hear¬ 
ing. This thing was talked over by the committee, by parties sent in 
Irom the country by some other parties. I was not present in conference 
with them. 

Q. Do yon know who that committee were ?—A. One was a Mr. Bates, 
representing himself to be a member of such a committee. Mr. Schn- 
borek was one name I heard mentioned, but he was not present at the 
meeting. 

Q. Yon leaders had determined to accept that accession of recruits 
from the Democratic party, had yon not ?—A. Yes; as a matter of course 
we would accept all the recruits we could get from any quarter, and 
divide offices Avitli them. 

(i. 1 understand it was understood that you should divide offices ?— 
A. 1 was not a party to this understanding. 

Q. The result of that election was. that you had 1,200 or 1,300 major¬ 
ity, had you not'?—A. As I told you before, I i)aid no attention to the 
ffgures. I know we always have enough to elect our ticket and some¬ 
thing to spare; it is a very easy thing for the Bepublican ticket to carry 
the election when there is a fair election. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. There was no Bepublican ticket to be in the field there at all ?—A. 
No, sir; none at all. 

Q. Were there any Bepublican candidates voted for?—A. No, sir-, 
there were no Bepublican nominations made. Mr. Boullt ran for sheriff 
as an independent conservative; a few votes were polled for him. 

Q. How many ?—A. Some seventy or eighty. 

Q. You expect to return to the j^arish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is Mr. Cunningham a member of the present legislature, as you 
understand it ?—A. Yes, sirj I sui)pose so. He was returned elected. 
He couldn’t well help being elected; he had no opponent. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You say Mr. Cunningham told you that they didn’t intend to have 
any opposition?—A. He said they had been long enough under this old 
Bepublican regime ; that that organization had to go down. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Can you particularize the time when Mr. Cunningham had that 
conference with you with regard to your being permitted to return to 
your home ?—A. That was after I got back, sir. 

Q. Was anybody present at the time, or were you and he alone when 
he said this?—A. The matter was spoken of twice, sir, after I got back. 
The first time there was one person present; the last time there was 
none. 

Q. Where were these conversations held ?—A. There in the town of 
Natchitoches. We did not meet anywhere else than in that town. 

Q. For what office was Mr. Boullt running ?—A. For sheriff*. 

Q. How was he running ?—A. I saw some notices stuck up saying that 
he was in the field as an Independent Conservative. 

Q. Who ran against him for the office of sheriff*?—A. L. A. Deblieux. 


154 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatcbitoches 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Bid you talk with any other Beiiiocrat in reference to your leaving* 
the parish—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who “?—A. With C. T. Dranguet. 

Q. Who is he 1 —A. He was mayor of the city. 

Q. What did 3 "Ou say to him or he to you—A. I called his attention 
to the fact that I had been ordered away; I asked him if there was any 
reality in the order or was it all bluffy he said, advise you as a friend 
to go away. You are not safe if you stay here.” I said, “ Some people 
advise me to stay. They say that nobody will molest me so long as I 
take no part in politics.” He said his advice was for me to go. Said 
he, I advise you to go away, and to remain away, for your own per¬ 
sonal safety.” 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. This was the mayor of the town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he was the uncle of the Bredas !—-A. Yes, sir. 


JOHY G. LEWIS. 

New Orleans, January 7, 1879. 

John G. Lewis (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where have you resided heretofore?—Answer. For the 
jiast nine years I have resided in the jiarish and city of Natchitoches. 

Q. What is your age ?—A. I am 28 years old. 

Q. Bid you take anj^ iiart in the last iiolitical campaign or attempt to 
take any part in it ?—A. I attempted to do so, but was not permitted. 

Q. State what your connection with the campaign was.—A. As the 
initiatory step, and for the purpose of perfecting an organization and 
making it more complete, in every political year when we have a general 
election (that is, an election for governor) or a Presidential election, we 
reorganize all the clubs. Prior to my reaching home (I had been quar¬ 
antined out), the clubs had all been reorganized except one; that was 
in the first ward (formerly the twelfth ward), the “Mother” Pepublican 
Club, Ave called it. I had the honor of being the secretary of that club, 
if there is any honor in it. We met for the purpose of reorganizing that 
club on the 21st of September, 1878. The meeting was called for 10 
o’clock; but owing to the absence of the president, Mr. Kaby, tlie meet¬ 
ing Avas not called to order until very nearly 11 o’clock—possibly fully 
11 o’clock. AYhen the meeting Avas called to order, it Avas addressed by 
a number of speakers, Judge Breda, Mr. Baby, ]\Ir. Blunt, Mr. T. J. 
Boullt, and myself; after wliich, we proceeded Avith the reorganization 
of the club. The old officers Avere re-elected. Then, there being no fur¬ 
ther business to attend to, the meeting adjourned. The Messrs. Breda, 
Barron, and Briggs started for hom(‘,; and Mr. Blount and some fol¬ 
lowers started for home on their horses. I lived right across the street 
from where the meeting Avas held; the store was formerly owned by 
myself, having been built by myself. Mr. Baby went to his home. 

On the same day the Bemocrats were holding a political convention. 
Their conA^ention met at 12 o’clock. When their conA^ention met our 
meeting Avas on the eA’e of adjourning. The speakers and officers elected 
by our club had started for home. I stood on the gallery back of my 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN G. LEWIS. 


155 


fatlier-in law’s house, aiul I saw some colored peojde coming down the 
street hallooing, “ The democrats are coming to kill Blount, Breda, and 
Lewis.” I had heard a good deal of that sort of talk before, but had not 
])aid any attention to it, as I had seen nothing in particular to bear out 
their statements. The Messrs. Breda came galloi)iiig down town past 
my house, and I hallooed to them, “What’s the matter*?” But they 
were pushed too tight to answer, and they didn’t answer me. 

My father-in-law wanted to go and look up the street; I said, “ There 
is a crowd coming, sure enough”; and he said, “You had better go out 
yonder.” 1 said, “ No, I am sick, 1 can’t go anywhere; I expect to stay 
here.” He said, “You hadn’t better stay in here.” My brother-iii-law 
then came in and said, “Y^ou had better get out of here; they will get 
yon, sure.” I thought then it was best to make “discretion the better 
part of valor,” and I did go out, I went in my room, locked it and 
went out the back door and into my grandmother’s orchard behind the 
house, where the weeds were rank enough to hide a good-sized man and 
horse. I got in the weeds and staid there, and 1 had the pleasure of see¬ 
ing the following gentlemen come down. I believe I have the names 
here; I keex) them in memoriam. These gentlemen came down under the 
lead of a gentleman there by the name of Dr. Galleiii; he was acting 
leader, but the real leader was Ex-Congressman Levy, and he took good 
care to keep in the rear; the others were J. P. Johnson, Beverly Tucker, 

L. Charleville, Jo. Charleville, D. Pierson, Billy Gallein, E. Mason, and 

M. Hertzog; those are the gentlemen who came to call upon me. 

Q. Did they come to the house*'?—A. Yes, sir; and Dr. Gallein find¬ 
ing my front door locked, kicked it open with his foot, and stationed 
Matthew Hertzog there (who, by the way, had a piece of iron about as 
long as your arm, to brain me with, I suppose; I can’t say, however, for 
I couldn’t forestall his intentions). Mr. Johnson dr(‘.w his revolver and 
took his station by Mr. Hertzog. Mr. Charleville took his station by 
Mr. Gallein, while Dr. Gallein ran around to the back door with his rifle, 
with this expression, “ Damn him, Pll shoot him if he comes out.” I 
was then standing in the weeds, but thinking it had become uncomfort¬ 
able, I moved from that locality and went back to my father-in-law’s 
garden, some of those gentlemen taking it upon themselves to ride all 
over that place in the weeds. 

Q. The last place ?—A. Yes, sir; thinking I had gone there. They 
didn’t ransack my room, for certain reasons, I do not wish to mention, 
but they ransacked the room of my wife’s grandmother, looking for 
things generally, and went to my father-in-law’s and went through the 
same process. 

During that process Colonel Levy, in words that I could hear, said, “ He 
is in there ; get him out, by God ; he is playing ’possum.” 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was he still in the rear?—A. Yes, sir; he was in the rear and took 
good care to keep comfortably so. This Beverly Tucker, after finding 
the weeds so rank, went out with the expression, “ He is not in there.” 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was he armed?—A. Yes, sir; with a double-barreled shot-gun, 
and he had a pistol. He was riding a little pony and had a whip in his 
hand, which he made very good use of in the weeds; but he went out 
on short notice. I staid in those weeds until 3 o’clock p. m., when 1 
arose ami went to a friend’s house and remained till dark. 

Our meeting was at twelve o’clock in the day, and adjourned till 8 
o’clock p. 111 . I sat down and wrote to Col. David Pierson and sent it 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatchitoches 


156 


l)y a friend of mine, to this effect, as near as I can remember it: “ Col¬ 
onel Pierson, what do you gentlemen want that we should do?” 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who was Pierson?—A. He is the district judge. 

Q. A Democrat, 1 suppose?—A. O, yes, sir; and a good one, too. 
Well, he neither answered me in person nor did he write. He aiipeared 
to forestall me there. He wouldn’t write, but as it was he sent Mr. J. 
P. Johnson, the then and now supervisor of registration and elections, 
who rode down on his horse. I walked out to see him when he arrived 
(that interview took jilace on Pine street, at the end of Second street). 
I walked out; he called my name and said I, “ What do you gentlemen 
Avant that we should do?” He says, ‘‘There is just this required of 
you: you have got to go up to tlie court-house and stand your chances 
with Blount” (whom they had captured). 

I left the parish immediately. There were two propositions, and I re¬ 
served my right to act upon either one. I said, “ I accept it; but,” I 
said, “in the event that I go to the court-house, Avhat time shall I go?” 
He said, “ The crowd is A ery great, and I aa ouldn’t guarantee any pro¬ 
tection for you now, but you can go in the eA^ening.” 

Q. What time was it ?—A. About 8 o’clock. 

He said I could use my discretion in the premises, which I did, and 
didn’t go at all, but AA cnt up to a friend’s house. About 12 o’clock AA^ord 
came to me that they had taken Blount from the court-house, and he 
hadn’t been heard from since. That determined me about going to the 
court-house; I decided that I would not go. I Avent three miles out of 
toAAm and staid until afternoon. In the afternoon my brother in laAv 
brought me word that Blount had escaped or got away from the parties 
who had him, and sent me word that I should get away too and meet 
him thirteen miles below toAA n, at a point designated, at 8 o’clock the 
next Sunday night. I met him, and he and I came together on boat 
and stage to 'New Orleans. We left on the 21st of September and 
reached New Orleans on the 1st day of October. 

Q. Who was your brother in-la av ?—A. Ex-Senator Blunt. 

At the time I left I Avas a member of the legislature, and am now. 

I am noAA^ about to make an assertion that I knoAv to be true, though 
the power of saying it is idle: that I am the only legally-elected repre¬ 
sentative from that place, because my term of office is not out until my 
successor is duly elected and qualified for office, and that has iieA^er been 
done in this instance. 

Q. What do you say about Cunningham?—A. He has neA^er been 
elected. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. I suppose you have no faith in being seated ?—A. No, sir ; I had 
too much of a time in the last election, and knoAv^ hoAV it would be. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How far Avere you from that house when you Aveiit out in the field 
or orchard ?—A. I Avas about as far as from here to the back part of this 
room; I suppose a distance of 20 or 25 paces; about that. 

Q. You were not on horseback ?—A. No, sir; it Avasn’t safe to be on 
horseback. 

Q. How far did you go from there when you AAent to your father-in- 
laAv’s ? —A. I went about a hundred yards ; possibly a little more, but 
not much more. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN G. LEWIS. 


157 


Q. It was while you were at this second place that most of this oc¬ 
curred?—A. No, sir; it while in the first place, and I saw it myself; 
nobody told me. 

Q. You were afoot in the weeds in the orchard ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You saw these gentlemen ?—A. I saw Mr. Levy and the others, 
and knew them by their voices; and I saw Levy with a pistol in his 
hand about that long (showing). I saw Mr. Gallein when he went u]) 
to my door and heard him when he kicked it, but didn’t see him kick 
it. 

Q. AVas this door that he kicked on the side of the house next to you 
or was it on the opposite side ?—A. This way: I was standing in the 
back door looking in the front door, and I stood back there looking at 
what was going on. There Avere other i)arties there. 

Q. Who is this Johnson ?—He is supervisor of registration. 

Q. When were you last in Natchitoches ?—A. On the 21st September. 

Q. The meeting was on the 21st ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not leave until the next day?—A. I left on the morning 
of the 22d. 

Q. Have you seen anything purporting to be the returns of the last 
election ?—A. I have seen them casually. 

Q. How do they compare in numbers with the preceding elections ?— 
A. Not at all. It is an entire reversal of the figures. 

Q. How do they compare in the number of votes ?—xV. They didn’t 
begin to compare. There isn’t over half. 

Q. You differ from the other gentlemen ?— A. Yes, sir. The reason 
I say so is because I was census-taker in 1875. 

Q. What year were you elected to the legislature ?—xl. In 1876 I was 
elected by 370 majority, and then didn’t get all the vote out of the 
parish. 

Q. When were you last in New Orleans ?—A. On the 1st of October, 
1878. 

Q. Have you been here all the time since then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you a Avitness uoaa^ before the United States grand jury?—A. 
I ha\^e never been summoned by the grand jury. 

Q. IlaA^e you testifted before them upon these matters '?—A. Yes, sir; 
voluntarily. 

Q. How had you got along Avith those gentlemen—Gallein, Judge 
Peirson, and Mr. LeA\A"—preAuous to that time ?—A. Pretty well. 

Q. Levy is not here noAv ?—A. He may be here iioav ; I don’t know. 

Q. You' have always been friends?—A. I have no cause to complain, 
and I don’t belicA^e they have, excej^t that I have been a Pepublican. 

Q. Are you accpiainted A\ith Mr. Blount, of Avhoni Mr. Barron spoke ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVas he a candidate there?—A. He Avould luiA^e been a candidate 
if we had been allowed to hold a coiiA^ention. 

Q. He Avould have been a candidate before the Pepublican conven¬ 
tion, I understand you?—xV. Yes, sir; also Mr. Barron. 

Q. AYas there much disposition Avith the colored people of that parish 
to form a Avorkingmen’s ])arty ?—A. They didn’t countenance anything 
but a Pepubli(ian and Democratic party; and if a Democrat goes up 
a lane (as they say there), he Avill certainly go down. 

Q. The other way ?—A. Yes, sir. , . 

Q. How do the crops compare this year Avith the previous crojis iii 
that parish?—x\. I am not able to ansAA^er. I Avas not there at the ma¬ 
turity of tiie crops. I Avas there at the maturity of the corn, which Avas 
A'cry al^bundant. 


158 


LOUISIANA IN 1878, 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Wliere are your family now!—A. My father and sister are in 
Natchitoelies. 

Q. Do you hear from them?—A. Sometimes, when the letters are not 
stopped. 

Q. Who is postmaster there ?—A. Mrs. Burke 5 hut she is not always 
present j if she were, 1 could get my letters. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. It is claimed that a remarkable conversion took place in that parish 
this year ; that, althougli they were formerly Republicans, they are now 
anxious to vote with the Democratic i^arty.—A. I never knew but two 
colored Democrats: one in Natchitoches, and one in Cloutierville; the 
one in Natchitoches is called Hill (he is also called By-the-way,” be¬ 
cause he frequently uses that expression); he votes the Democratic 
ticket, and he does it from conviction; he really believes that he ought 
to be a Democrat. The same way with the one in Cloutierville; he is 
in good standing always with the Democrats prior to the election until 
he votes, and as soon as his vote is taken he is in bad standing and falls 
from grace. They can get meat and bread before the election ; but after 
the Democrats get out of them all they want, they can’t. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You mean in good standing with the Democrats ?—A. Y^es, sir. 
I have been secretary of the 12tli Ward Republican Club ever since 
1871; each time 1 have been secretary of the ])arish central committee 
for the same space of time, with the exception of half a term. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Had these two colored Democrats any influence, that you know of, 
with the colored voters of that parish ?—A. None at all. The family of 
this man Lewis Hill have preached to him about voting aAvay their 
rights, as they call it. 

Q. So his domestic peace is broken up somewhat by voting the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket ?—A. Well, by his family ; not otherwise. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. They did not drive him away from the community!—A. No, sir; 
you can’t get rid of a bad dollar. 


MRS. ALICE BLDUNT. 

NEtv Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

Mrs. Alice Blount (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Are you the wife of Alfred Blount !—Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where do you reside !—A. At Natchitoches. That is where I 
have been residing since 1 have been married. 

Q. How long have you resided there !—A. Since the 30th of July uj) 
to the 19th of Septendier. I arrived here on the 27th. 

Q. Were you there at the time of the disturbance last fall when Mr. 
Blount, your husband, was taken in charge by the parties !—A. Yes, 
sir. ’ 

Q. Now you may state all the circumstances of that day.—A. On the 
21 st ot September, between twelve and one o’clock, my husband came 



TESTIMONY OF MRS. ALICE BLOUNT. 159 

in followed Uy two or three of his acquaintances. Shortly after their 
coming a mob of men appeared before the house yelling and hooting, 
lie told me to go down and shut the door and let no one come in. A 
lady friend, his sister and daughter, and another lady went with me. 
The men came and they ordered me to open the door. I asked them 
what they wanted, and they said they wanted Blount; and they said, 
'■‘Open the door”; but I w^ould not do it. 1 went upstairs and looked 
tlirough the blinds and saw them coming from all directions, and I think 
there was 250 of them around there. 

They asked me to open the door, and I told them I would not. They 
said they proposed to open it; but I still told them I would not open it. 
Finally they took the bench from the gallery and burst open the panel, 
and came in and drove every person out. 

They told me to go out, and the captain (they called him Captain Cun¬ 
ningham) told me to go out. He said I had no business there—in my 
own house. They took me, and he held a pistol by my head, and said 
if I did not hush uj) he would shoot my head oft*. He forced me out very 
violently, and if it was not for the bench I would have fallen. And then 
they entered the house and would allow no one but this mob to go in. 
They kept going in and coming out, and finally they commenced yelling 
and saying they had found Blount. 

He gave the order to march the women to jail. 

Q. Wio was taken with you ?—A. His daughter, and— 

Q. How old is his daughter —A. She was 22 years old last November— 
unmarried. And they marshaled me toward the jail, and made me 
stand on the corner, and finally an order came that Blount wanted to 
see me, and they took me back. I met them, and just as he passed by 
he took his watch and pocket-book out on the corner and gave them to 
me. Mrs. Parish was there. When the mob cume in she Avent through 
the yard and in the garden; but she was afraid to be out of the house, 
and she had returned by the time I got back to the house. I said I was 
going to return to the jail to see if I could find Mr. Blount. 

I went back and I saw Mr. Bussel, Avho told me I could not be ad¬ 
mitted then. I went back again after dark, and I remained with him 
some time; I could not tell exactly how long. Before I got there I was 
stopped on the road and asked Avho I Avas and Avhere I Avas going. I 
told them and they let me pass. I asked permission to see Mr. Blount. 
I was told to Avait, and they opened the door and I AAmnt right in myself 
and remained some minutes. Difierent ones AA^ere coming and AA^ere talk¬ 
ing, and finally they said, “ Blount, you Avill have to use your influence 
to stop this mob or gang of negroes up here.” Mr. Blount said, “ 1 am 
in your charge and I can’t prevent it.” Mr. Blount turned to me and 
asked me if 1 would send some person, and then asked me if I would go. 
I said I Avould go, and they gave me a guard to pilot me through AApere 
this gang had gathered. I asked Mrs. Parish to go with me. It aa as a 
mile and a half out. 

When I got there I met 30 or 40, and I told them what message Mr. 
Blount had sent, and for them to go home and not make any disturbance. 
I stood there until I saAv them start back, and then I returned. I went 
back, and then I w'ent home and put myself in my night-clothes, and 
finally I heard them knock. 

It AA^as Mr. Blount Avho entered with tAvo armed men. He said he 
came for his horse and clothes. I got his saddle-bags. They AA-ent up¬ 
stairs Avith him to the bed-room. Mrs. Parish was there in her night¬ 
clothes, and the daughter also. He took leave of me and I didn’t see 
him any more until I arrived here. 


160 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. How many colored men were tliere that night in that gang ?—A. 
I could not tell how many; maybe 30 or 40. 

Q. What did you understand they were there for?—A. They told me 
they were coming in to ask them to give Blount up j that is what they 
told me themselves. I knew very Avell they Avould not giA^e him up by 
the manner they Avere guarding. I knew tliey would prefer killing him 
before they Avould giA^e him itp. 

Q. ISToav AA^hat Avas the general conduct of these men in front of the 
house ?—A. They all had their guns i)ointed right to the house. 

Q. Were they noisy ?—A. Yes, sir; very noisy; cursing and SAA^earing 
the AAdiole time. 

Q. Were there a large number of them ?—A. Quite a number. I am 
sure there Avere OA^er 250. 

Q. Did you remain there after that ?—A. IJp to the time I started for 
the city. 

Q. Did you see any other armed bodies of men during the time you 
remained ?—A. 1 saAv different squads of them j they continued that up 
until after the election. 

Q. Hoav often did they go around that you saw ?—A. I could not tell 
you hoAV often they come around. 

Q. You Aver(‘. not disturbed after that ?—A. NOj sir; oidy by insidts 
as I passed by. Some Avould say Avith an oath, “ There she is, shoot 
her.” I Avas often insulted that Avay. 

Q. Do you knoAv Avhat the effect of these demonstrations aaus in the 
neighborhood there?—A. It i)ut them all in dread of their lives. They 
Avere afraid of their liA^es, as far as I could understand. 

Q. Do you know of their making arrests of colored men up to that 
time?—A. I could not say positively after thatj but I knew they were. 
I heard there AA^ere about 20 or 25 in jail, but I could not tell you for 
what. 

Q. Colored people?—A. Yes, sir. But that happened tAvo or three 
days or a Aveek after the disturbance. 

By Mr. Garland : 

(^. What hour of the night did you say this AA^as ?—A. Midnight. 

Q. Who Avas the gentleman that presented his pistol toAvards you ? 

A. One they call Captain Cunningliain. 

Q. Did any of the rest of tlie croAvd present a pistol to you ?—A. All 
of them did. When I Avas talking one of them told me if 1 did not hush 
he AA’^ould shoot me. I said as 1 Avas unarmed that they could shoot. 

Q. That Avas before you AA^ent in the house?—A. Yes sir. 

Q. Hoav long Avere you at the Jail ?—I could not tell vou. 

Q. AVere you in jail?—A. 1 Avas marched toAvard the 'jail, and I re¬ 
mained there until the order AA^as given to march me ba(;k‘ 

Q. Do you knoAv who gave that order?—A. I don’t. They said the 
order came from Captain Cunningham. 

Q. Who Avasthis liusselyouspeak of?—A. I don’t knoAv: they called 
him captain, also. 

Q. Was the coming of these men there anticipated by you ?—A. I 
had heard threats previous to that, but 1 did not think they Avould come, 
I hawe heard threats that they Avould come, and I had seen threats in 
the papers—in the Vindicator—that if Bloiint didn’t leave, that twenty 
yards of hemp Avould be his fate. 

Q. Was the proprietor of the paper in this croAvd that night ?—A. I 
don t knoAAq but other persons that kneAv hitn told me he Avas there. 


I'arish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. R. HORNSBY. 


161 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Ilou stated tliat those men came to your house about midnight — 
A. The first time they came that was in the day. Two of them came in 
the house with him when the mob came ; that was in the day. 

Q. What did Cunningham or any of his men say when they came to 
his house f—A. I didn’t hear myself; but I did hear others. 

Q. That lie should surrender—^A. They didn’t say anything of that 
kind outside; but I heard the crowd say when they thought they had 
found him, Bring him out dead or alive.” 


J. B. HOBKSBY. 

Yew Orleans, January 10, 1879. 

J. E. Hornsby, white, sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Katchitoches, about a 
mile and a half below Marthaville. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. I have resided in that neiglu 
borhood since the spring of 1867. 

Q. Of what State are you a native?—A. Of Louisiana. 

Q. Were you engaged in the late war ?—A. I was. 

Q. How long were you in the army?—A. About fourteen months. 

Q. On which side ?—A. On the Confederate side. 

Q. Did you participate in the last political campaign up there ?“~A. I 
started to participate in it a little then, though not very actively; when 
1 was waited upon by a committee and ordered to stop. 

Q. Who constituted that committee ?—A. They were Ernest Mason, 
S. O. Scruggs, Baptiste Eachal, Jackson Buard, Wash. Cockfield, Wm. 
Airheart, senior, Jas. C. Johnson, John Hertzog, and A. Deblieux. Mr. 
Johnson read to me an article or agreement which they had prepared 
for me to sign. They said that they were a committee appointed by 
order of the Democratic parish central committee. They would not 
give me the article, but tliey read it to me. 

The article was substantially that I should not speak to any ^‘nigger” 
in regard to politics; that I should not interfere in politics in any man¬ 
ner, shape, or form during the campaign; and that 1 should not make 
any speeches, and should not aspire to any office. The article may have 
been a word or two different from that,, but that is the substance of it. 

Q. What did you say in reply?—A. I asked them, ‘^What are the 
consequences if I do not sign that?” They said, ‘Won know what 
became of Bland and others. If you don’t sign the article you have got 
to leave the parish.” Said I, ‘^I am not going to sign it.” They said, 
“ Well, then you have got to leave.” 

They then appointed a committee of three, Dr. Scroggs, and Johnson, 
and Eachal, to wait on me out of the parish on Wednesday, the 9th. It 
was on the 7th that they were at my house. Wednesday morning I went 
up to Dr. Scroggs’s house and asked him if he was going with me. He 
said he was not going anywhere to expose himself on such a day as that, 
I went to see the other committee-men. They said they were not going; 
that I knew the way out of the parish as well as they could show it to 
me, and I would have to go. I went up to see Masson again. He said, 

I will let you have till Friday, for I know you are in bad health now.’> 
I was a little better than I am now when I left. I went down home 
11 T 



162 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Natchitoches 


again on Wednesday. Arriving there, my family told me that Gilbert 
Hernandez had slapped my child, a boy seven years old. On Friday 
morning I went over the river. On Saturday I came back. I met Gil¬ 
bert Hernandez, and asked him what he slapped my child for. He said 
lie hadn’t •, that it was a damned lie f he had not touched my child. My 
child had come to me crying, and told me he had slapped him, and my 
family told me so. 

Then Hernandez went and got a shot-gun, and came back and com¬ 
menced cursing and rearing and charging, and said he was going to 
shoot me. I told him he had better go away. He gave his vife liiS 
gun, and she took it back home. The next thing I knew there was a 
bill of indictment against me for assault with intent to murder. 

Q. An indictment up there, in that parish !—A. Yes, sir; this is what 
they are holding me on here. If I could be allowed to go back there, 

I could easily get my bonds to the amount demanded, $350, and return 
to the city. 

Q. Did you leave the iiarish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you go*?—A. I went down through Eapides Parish, to 
Saint Landry Parish. I staid at my brother’s, i was taken sick there 
at iny brothers. I staid about ten days, and then started for this city. 

Q. Where were you arrested"?—A. I was arrested here. I contend 
that it was an illegal arrest, being made by a special officer of the chief 
of police on a warrant addressed to the sheriff of the parish of Yatchi- 
toches, H. D. Wolff. The law says it is the duty of the sheriff to follow 
into any of the parishes. He had no right to execute it on me here. I 
was treated as a fugitive from justice. I told them I was not a fugitive 
from justice, and that they could not do it. 

Q. How long have you been here?—A. I filed an affidavit with Gov¬ 
ernor Mchols on the 9th N'ovember. 

Q. What was that affidavit?—A. In regard to being driven away; 

I said I could not go back unless he would protect me. He said I need 
not be afraid. 

Q. Have the grand jury up there taken any steps in the matter?—A. 
The grand jury have thrown that paper aside, if it has ever been sent 
them. 

Q. When were you put in jail ?—A. On the 10th of December, 1878. 

Q. Have you been there since then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been sick all this time ?—A. Ko, sir; not all the time. 
Part of the time 1 lived up stairs, where it was more comfortable than 
down stairs. 

Q. Is it not comfortable where you are?—A. E'otvery; I am in the 
hospital now. We have nothing to sweeten our tea with, and the tea 
is very poor; I can’t drink it, being sick as I am. The bedding is very 
hard, too. I have better bedding now than I had, but I am told that 
it is very lousy. 

Q. Have you a physician ?—A. Yo, sir; they have not called in a 
physician. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were you a Eepublican in your parish?—A. Yes, sir: I have been 
a Eepublican since 1867. 

Q. Have you taken part in politics?—A. Yes, sir; an active part 
every season. ^ 

Q. Did that committee charge you with any crime ?—A. Ko sir • 
they just wanted me to sign the article or to leave the parish. ^ ^ 


TESTIMONY OF J. K. HORNSBY. 163 

Q. These men are considered your first citizens, are the^^ not f—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. They are considered men of high character ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the people of the parish consider them so ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many were there of this committee that drove you out of the 
I)arish?—A. Nine. 

Q. By whom did they say they were appointed?—A. They came 
under the orders of the parish Democratic committee. 

Q. What ofiense are you now charged with ?—A. Assault with intent 
to murder. 

Q. To murder whom ?—A. Gilbert Hernandez. 

Q. Is he the man who came to your house with a shot-gun ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did you attempt to shoot him ?—A. No, sir; he was not worth 
shooting. 

Q. Can’t you send up to your parish and get the bond necessary to re¬ 
lease you from prison?—A. I suppose I could if I could get anybody to 
come and see me so that 1 could tell them what to do. Unfortunately, 
nobody comes to see me. 

Q. Who were the witnesses when you had your examination here ?— 
A. Nobody. 

Q. Have you had an examination ?—A. Yes, sir; I was examined be¬ 
fore Judge Miltenberger, Mr. McDonough swore that the warrant was 
handed to him by the deputy sheriff. I was standing by the steps and 
the sheriff of Natchitoches stood by. 

Q. Was he the only witness that swore on the examination ?—A. That 
was all. 

Q. He said you were a fugitive from justice ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had been warned by the committee of nine to leave the parish ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After you were so warned to leave, and did leave, they now call 
you a fugitive from justice ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are held here in jail without opportunity for any examinatiou? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Bailey. I think you do not understand that he is under an indict¬ 
ment up there in Natchitoches Parish. They brought this one man be¬ 
fore the grand jury on the 5th of December. The bill of indictment is 
for assault with intent to murder. 

The Chairman. I do not understand how they can hold a man indicted 
in Natchitoches in jail here. 

Mr. Bailey. I imagine Mr. Leonard would take him out very quickly 
if he was illegally held. 

The Witness. I saw a party from there who said that all they wanted 
was to get me back so as to hang me. In 1867 they tried to make a 
charge against me. That was when I first engaged in political affairs. 
I defeated them in their action. 

By Mr. Caivieron: 

Q. Where is your family now?—A. They have just come down to-day. 

Q. They are here now ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. When did you come to New Orleans ?—A. Early in December. 

Q. You stated you went before Governor Nicholls and made an affida¬ 
vit on the 9th of December ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long had you been here before that ?—A. About three days. 
I think. 


164 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Was the affidavit a statement of what tliis committee had said be¬ 
fore you leftf—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How soon after that were you arrested ?—A. On the 10th December. 

Q. Before the 10th Det^ember, had you been called upon to tell about 
this matter ? Had you been before the United States grand j ury ?—A. 
No, sir; I was before the grand jury after this—after I Avas arrested. 

Q. AYell, now, let me understand about this indictment against yon. 
You say the indictment was found against you in Natchitoches ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. On what charge ?—A. I saw on the back of the warrant, it was for 
assault Avith intent to kill. 

Q. AVas the warrant issued on the indictment?—A. Yes, sir; signed 
by the district judge. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. AA^ho is Gilbert Hernandez—one of those nine that AA^aited on you?— 
-A. No, sir; he is a A^ery low-doAvui-charactered man. 

Q. AVhat was the misunderstanding betAveen you two?—A. About 
slai^ping my child. 

Q. After you came here the chief of police arrested you because, as 
he said, you were a fugitiA-e from justice; that was the reason he gave 
jou?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By a warrant directed to the sheriff of the parish of Natchitoches ?— 
A- Yes, sir. 

Q. And were you examined iqion that warrant before Justice Milten- 
berger, and, in default of giving bonds, sent to jail?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhere are that committee now ?—A. Dr. Scruggs is in the city. 
At least he was here yesterday. 

Q. Are the other eight here?—A. Not that I know of. 

Q. Have you testified before the grand jury of the United States 
court?—A. Yes, sir; Avhen I started out on Friday, the last day they 
gave me, I was told that if I did not leave the parish, four men would 
take me out and hang me, and that the best thing for me to do was to 
leaA^e. 

Q. Who told you that?—A. A young man who is MassonAs book- 
keeper, and rules him a good deal. He has been Charleville’s book¬ 
keeper for years. 

Q. Did you liold any office in the parish Avhen you were driA-en away ?— 
A. I have been justice of the peace eA^er since 1808, sir. 

Q. Hav^e you held the office of justice of the peace within the last 
year?—A. Yes, sir; I have a commission from GoAwiior Nicholls. They 
came to me and asked me to accept it. 

Q. Who came?—A. The Democrats. 

Q, Tlien, as you understand it, you were appointed by Nicholls as jus¬ 
tice of the peace upon the recommendation of the Democrats?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Were you holding the office of justice of the peace when you left 
the parish?—A. No, sir; this man Masson claimed to be acting; but I 
never investigated the matter as to his right to act. He made a demand 
on me for the papers according to law, and I gave him the papers. 

Q. You had a commission from Nicholls?—A. Yes, sir; I have it noAV 
at home. 

Q. When did you get that commission?—A. Some time the year before 
last. 

Q. How long does a justice of the peace hold office here?—A. Tavo 
years. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. BOULT. 


165 


By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. When did you appear before the grand jury?—A. I do not remem¬ 
ber the date. 

Q. When were you arrested by that process ?—A. On the 16th Decem¬ 
ber. 

Q. How long was that after you arrived here?—A. I do not believe it 
was manj^ days before they brought me up. 

Q. Three or four?—A. O, no; longer than that. 

Q. Did you go before the grand jury before Christmas day ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Were you arrested on the ICth?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You there stated substantially what you state here?—A. Yes, sir; 
though probably I put it a little plainer there. On account of my being 
so weak now I cannot speak as I would. 


T. J. BOULT. 

New Orleans, January 15, 1879. 

T. J. Boult sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the parish of Natchi¬ 
toches until Avithin the past month. 

Q. Since then where have you resided ?—A. In this city. 

Q. How long have you resided in Natchitoches ?—A. I Avas born in the 
parish. 

Q. What business are you engaged in there ?—A. Nothing at all now. 

Q. Were 3 on in the parish during the last campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in the campaign ?—A. Nothing in particular. 

Q. -Whereabouts in Natchitoches Parish do you reside ?—A. In the city 
of Natchitoches. 

Q. Were jmu i)resent in Natchitoches at the time of the Democratic 
coiiA^entiou?—A. I was. 

Q. Were you present at the Democratic convention ?—A. No, sir; not 
in the same room. During the convention, between two and three o’clock, 
I was standing opposite the court-house, the place Avhere the conveution 
was held. 

Q. Were j’ou present Avhen the coiiA^ention adjourned !—A. Imme 
diately after the^^ adjourned I saw them coming doAvnstairs as they came 
out. 

Q. Did you hear any conversation as tlie^^ came out ?—A. Yes, sir; 
two gentlemen, Esquire Haythorne and George W. Lucky, from Black 
Lake, came doAAUi out of the convention together; they came out of the 
court-house and came across to where I was standing. 

They shook hands and parted, and then Esquire Haythorne remarked 
to me, “The conA-ention has adjourned for the purpose of breaking up a 
Republican meeting. Isn’t there a Republican meeting in some place 
in the loAver end of tOAvn ?” I said yes, I believed there AA^as. He said 
to me again, “They have adjourned for the purpose of going doAvn there 
to break up that 'meeting ;' and I don’t tliink it is a right thing to do. 
I don’t approve of anything of the kind.” This conversation occurred 
while Ave were standing at the corner of Second and Church streets, just 
opposite the courthouse. 



166 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches Parish.] 


He was facing Clinrch street and looking down Church street, and as 
the members of the convention went on down the street he says, There 
they go now.’’ Then I looked and I saw them passing, going down 
town. 

Q. How many men did yon see going down the street toward the Ee- 
pnblican meeting!—A. I didn’t count them, of course; I turned and 
took a look at them, and then turned right back, and the gentleman left 
me, and I crossed over to the court-house to see my brother and ask him 
to go home. I told him there would be some trouble. 

Q. What trouble did you anticipate !—A. I didn’t anticipate that there 
would be any violence right then, but I didn’t know but they might 
molest us in some way. 

Q. Were you molested at any time afterwards!—A. ]No, sir; we were 
not molested at all. 

Q. Had you been to this Eepublican meeting youi-self ?—A. Yes, sir; 
1 Avent down there just about twelve and came right ba(;k. 

Q. Had you taken any ])art in the meeting!—A. A very small part. 

(^. What had you done !—A. I made a little speech and came away. 
I was there not more than two minutes, I suppose. 

Q. Hid you mnain up there during the balance of the campaign!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you have any knowledge of the two Mr. Bredas being sent 
off!—A. That is Avhat I was told, but those gentlemen are here to speak 
for themselves. 

Q. You didn’t see anything of it!—A. No, sir; only what I was told. 

Q. Were you there when Mr. Bland was sent away!—A. I was in 
town, but I didn’t see anything of it; we were at home. 

Q. Whom do you mean by we ” !—A. My brother and myself. 

Q. You say you and your brother staid at home !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why!—A. Because we didn’t think it best to be on the street. 

Q. Were you present at the election !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know how the election terminated !—A. No, sir; I don’t 
know. I took no part in it. 

Q. Did your brother take any part in it!—A. No, sir; none at all. 

Q. Did you vote!—A. Yes, sir; I A^oted. 

Q. You say you haA^e not been back there for some time !—A. No, sir; 

I have been here about a month. 

Q. What Avas the occasion of you coming down here!—A. My father 
lived here; has been here for about a year. 

Q. AYere you subpoenaed as a witness here before the United States 
grand jury!—A. Since coming here I luwe been. 

Q. Have you been testifying before that grand jury as to these mat¬ 
ters!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you run on either ticket!—A. No, sir; but my brother was a 
candidate. 

Q. Did Mr. Haythorne express dissatisfaction at the idea of breaking 
up the Eepublican meeting!—A. Yes, sir; he did. 

Q. He and the other gentlemen were together !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the only conversation you had about it !—A. Yes, sir. 


TENSAS PARISH. 


FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTIO^^ OE 1878. 








TENSAS PARISH STATISTICS. 


POPULATION. 

Colored (by Uiiited States ceiisiis of 1870). 11, 018 

Wliite (by United States census of 1870).. 1,400 

Colored majority in 1870. 9, 618 

Colored (by State census of 1875).*. 17,100 

AVliite (by State census of 1875).. 1,417 

Colored majority in 1875 . 15,683 

KEGISTKATION. 

Colored (by registration of 1874).-. 3,511 

White (by registration of 1874). 353 

Colored majority in 1874. 3,158 

Entitled to vote (by census of 1875): 

Colored (see Tables I and II). 4,252 

White (see Tables I and II). 492 

Colored majority.T. 3,760 

Colored (by registration of 1878). 2,931 

White (by registration of 1878).. 318 

Colored registered majority in 1878. 2,613 

PROMULGATED VOTE IN 1878. 

For treasurer, Democratic candidate. 2.802 

For treasurer, Opposition candidate. 90 

For Congress, Democratic candidate. 2,795 

For Congress, Republican candidate .. 90 

For State representatives. Democratic candidates.2234-2278 

For State representatives, Opposition candidates. 610-607 







































TENSAS PARISH. 


ELISHA WAEFIELD. 

New Orleans, La., 

Jmmary 7,1879. 

Elisha Warfield (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Tensas Parish of this 
State. 

Q. What part of the jiarish—A. The upper part, near Lake Saint 
Joseph. 

Q. How long have you resided there !—A. Six years, sir. 

Q. What State are you a native of?—A. Kentucky. 

Q. How long have you lived in Louisiana ?—A. Between six and seven 
ye ^rs. 

Q. You have come here since the war ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you engaged in the late war ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On which side ?—A. On the Confederate side, sir. 

Q. How long were you in the war ?—A. Four years. 

Q. As a soldier ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Bland?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you live in his neighborhood ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in this independent movement?—A. Yes, 
sir; I was a candidate on that ticket. 

Q. Eunning for what ?—A. ]\fagistrate. 

Q. What business are you engaged in?—A. Cotton planting, sir. 

Q. I see you are called colonel; did you hold a commission in the Con¬ 
federate army ?—A. I did. 

Q. What position did you hold ?—A. I was colonel of an Arkansas 
regiment. 

Q. State your observations on this election; what part you took in it.— 
A. Well, sir, I was on that ticket as a candidate for magistrate of my 
ward, the second ward of that parish. 

Q. What are your politics ?—A. I am a Democrat. 

Senator Kirkwood. Still f —^A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. State what occurred in connection with the organization of this 
independent ticket.—A. Do you wish to know the whole story from be¬ 
ginning to end ? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir; tell us how you organized, for what pur¬ 
pose, what class of men they were on your ticket, and the result.—A. 
The fact is, we bolted because* men were nominated on the other ticket 
whom we did not like. They were men who had been Eepublicans for 
eight or ten years, and had been holding office as Eepublicans in 
the parish. MTien they were nominated we bolted. We nominated a 
straight-out Democratic ticket; it was indorsed by the colored people 
of the parish. They proposed to vote for it from beginning to end—to 



170 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


f Tensas 


take the ticket solid and vote for it. But lu}^ idea was that on account 
of the bulldozing movement which took place most of them were afraid 
to vote that ticket. We got a large ’v ote as it was, but many were 
kept away from voting by intimidation. 

Q. State the character of the intimidation that came under your own 
observation.—A. I saw only one body of armed men—possibly 50 men, 
between 40 and 50—who came up there. We supposed they came to 
make an attack upon us. We had heard that they were coming to kill 
us, or to do something to drive ns out of the field entirely. I went down 
to meet the band, some three or four miles below my house, to know 
what they had come for. They said they had understood there were 
armed bodies of men up there, but finding there were none they were 
going back. They sent out smaller bodies or squads of men, some eight, 
ten, or fifteen in a squad, and one of these squads killed a man about 
four miles from my house. He was, as far as I could gather, an inoffen¬ 
sive man, perhaps 19 or 20 years of age. He was doing no harm to any¬ 
body. In fact, he was at work on the wheel of a wagon. While he was 
working, they came up and frightened him; he ran, and they followed 
him and killed him. That was all the killing in my neighborhood that 
I know of. 

Q. Was there any truth in the report about armed bodies'?—A. They 
found none. 

Q. Had there been any?—A. I saw two bodies of armed men. We 
had heard reports from the lower end of the parish, but I did not know 
what truth there was in those reports. But our party persuaded them 
to go home, and they w ent back. 

Q. That was w hen the trouble occurred at Waterproof ?—A. Yes, sir. 
There had been no armed men there for three or four or five days; not 
that I could see. 

Q. What wms the effect on the negro vote of these armed men coming 
there ?—A. I think it kept them from voting our ticket. 

Q. The independent ticket?—A. Yes, sir. I think they would have 
voted that ticket but for intimidation. 

Q. And that ticket w^as composed of white Democrats?—A. Yes, sir; 
entirely. 

Q. And did the other x^arty claim to be regulars?—A. Yes, sir; and 
they claimed that we were bolters. 

Q. They had the control of the machinery of the Democratic x^arty ?— 
A. Yes, sir. Every one of the commissioners wms ax>pomted by them; 
we had no commissioners whatever. They w^ouldn’t allow us any chance 
at all. / 

Q. Were there any United States inspectors there ?—A. I^one at all, sir. 

Q. Did you attend the election ?—A. I did. 

Q. Where?—A. In the second ward. 

Q. In the same ward as Bland?—A. No, sir; Mr. Bland was at Saint 
Joseph. 

Q. What was the result of the vote in your ward ?—A. I supposed 
our ticket would have 70 majority; but when the ballots were counted 
they made it out that they had 70 votes ahead of us. 

Q. Did you pay attention to the way in wdiich the voting was done in 
your ward ?—A. Yes, sir; I was there alb day, except that I was gone 
down to the first ward about an hour and a half; the balance of the 
time I was there. 

Q. You had no representative on the board there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were the votes counted in x>ublic?—A, Yes, sir; I was present. 
Our tickets were yellow; theirs were purple. We polled the last votes 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ELISHA WARFIELD. 


171 


that were polled that evening; the last tickets put in the box were 30 
or 35 yellow tickets. When we opened the box the purple tickets were 
on top four inches deep. Then 1 knew we were beaten. 

Q. You had yourself seen those yellow tickets going in just before 
the close of the voting f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many white men were associated with you in this independ¬ 
ent movement ?—A. About twenty-live or thirty, I think, sir. 

Q. What was the character of these men !—A. They were the best in 
our country, sir. 

Q. Were they property-holders ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And intelligent gentlemen?—A. Yes, sir; the largest planter in 
the parish was associated with us, as were other wealthy men. 

Q. What was the character of the men that you had put on the 
ticket ?—A. They were all as good men as there are in the parish; I do 
not think anything could be said against a single one of them. There 
was not a single politician on the ticket. 

Senator Cameron. You did not understand the ropes—that was the 
reason you got beaten. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Bid they count the votes at the polls ?—A. Yes, sir. The purple 
tickets came out first, and there were no yellow ones found until 150 or 
200 purple tickets had been counted. 

Q. How do you account for that ?—A. I think a lot of purple tickets 
had been put in the box after the voting stopped. They could not have 
got on toj) of the yellow tickets unless they had been put in afterward. 

Q. You gave special attention to that matter ?—A. I did. That was 
1 he first thing that struck me after the box was opened—that the yellow 
tickets which we had voted last, and that ought to have been on top in 
the box, were not there. Then I gave up. They had told us they were 
going to beat us anyhow; if they could not win by voting, they woidd 
by counting. And they did it. 

Q. Who told you that ?—A. I could not tell their names, but that was 
the general talk throughout the whole parish. In the first ward, which 
I visited while I was absent from my own ward, they got, I think—ac¬ 
cording to the tally we kei)t there—about 15 or 20 votes out of 500 votes 
cast. They would not count the votes there; they carried them out to 
Saint Joseplf s, and when they were counted there they were 15 votes 
ahead of us. After the voting, and before the votes were counted, the 
commissioners acknowledged that our ticket was a long way ahead. 
One of them said to me, Of course we will have to give you this elec¬ 
tion any way.” But when they took the box to Saint Joseph they re¬ 
considered the matter, and gave themselves 15 majority. 

Q. What majority did they claim in the parish?—A. I do not remem¬ 
ber. 

Q. Sufficient to beat you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of the result of the voting at any other 
])olls except the ones you have mentioned ?—A. Ko personal knowledge. 
I was told by a gentleman who attended the polls at Saint Joseph that 
they voted 350 votes which they knew went in, and when they came to 
count them there were only 15 votes in the box. 

Q. The tickets were all of one kind—of the same color?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Their tickets were purple?—A. No, sir; they were not all purple; 
they were purple in our ward. I did not see the colors in the other 
wards. I did not mean to say that the tickets were of the same color in 
all the wards. 


172 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. They were different from yours ?—A. Yes, sir. In the other wards 
some of the tickets were white and some of other colors. 

Q. Do you know of any other persons being killed except this yOung 
man of whom you have spoken f—A. Not that I know of myself j I was 
told of another man being killed. 

Q. Was there any excitement on account of what occurred at Water¬ 
proof?—A. Yes, sir; there was great excitement on account of that. I 
lost three or four as good men—colored men—as I had on my place, as 
the result of that. 

Q. How do you mean you lost them ?—A. They became so frightened 
that they left me and went into the woods, where they hid and staid out 
all night, without sufficient clothing and without bed-clothing. They 
caught pneumonia and died a few days afterwards. 

Q. Why did they go into the woods ?—A. Because we could not keep 
them back, they were so frightened. They would leave their quarters 
and come and sit in my yard, or would run out and hide in the woods. 

Q. How many men did you have on your place ?—A. Seventy-five or 
one hundred—about seventy-five perhaps. 

Q. How many women ?—A. I could not tell exactly. 

Q. The most of your men went to the woods?—A. Yes, sir. I went to 
see them in their quarters and they were pretty nearly all gone. The 
women were moved to my house, but the men staid out. 

Q. What is the effect upon your labor when things like this occur ?— 
A. It is very damaging, indeed. It makes it very uncertain. It has not 
affected our i)ortion of the parish as badly as it has some others. In our 
part of the i)arish all are very well satisfied. There is no bad feeling 
between the whites and blacks; there is perfect harmony and good feel¬ 
ing. We were never on any better terms. We never had any trouble at 
all. 

Q. You have had a good deal of experience with the colored people ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I was brought uj) in Kentucky, where there,were a great 
many colored people. I lived among them in Arkansas too. In fact, I 
have lived on a plantation since my babyhood. 

Q. Do you frequently hear reports or rumors that negroes are about 
to sack a town !—A. No, sir, except the rumors at Waterproof. 

Q. What do think about the probability of such a thing occurring ?— 
A. I should think it was very improbable, without some cause. 

Q. Would it not take considerable cause to make the negroes do 
that?—A. I think it would. I am not very familiar with the class of 
labor about Waterproof, but I suppose it is very similar to that in the 
other parts of the country. 

Q. How would it be in your own neighborhood?—A. It would take a 
great outrage to cause anything of the sort in my neighborhood. Even 
with the dreadful reports we had, they quit work and ran away. There 
were only one or two armed bodies about there after all. 

Q. Did you have any apprehension for yourself and family?—A. Not 
at all. 

By Senator Cameron : 

Q. For what purpose did you understand these armed bodies to be 
assembled?—A. They had heard of men being there threatening to kill 
them, and were actually frightened almost to death. 

Q. Is the negro inclined to make war ?—A. I think not, sir. 

Q. He is rather inclined to be peaceful, is he not?—A. I think so; at 
least, as far as I am acquainted with him. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ELISHA WARFIELD. 


173 


Q. Since yon have been in that parish, what have been its politics; 
which party has dominated?—A. The Republican party, sir. 

Q. Wliat lias been the character of the parish government?—A. It 
has been very good, sir. We have nothing to complain of particularly. 
The finances are in good condition. Even these men whom the Demo¬ 
crats had on their ticket were good men, against Avhom we could find 
no fault outside of their politics. But I did not like this mixing up of Re¬ 
publicans and Democrats; not that we had anything against these men, 
for they were very good men, and made A^ery good olficers, all of them. 
Our parish lost some—in fact, a good deal—of money by the defalca¬ 
tion of the treasurer of the school board about a year ago, who ab¬ 
sconded, defaulting to the extent of about $28,000 or $30,000. That is 
the only mismanagement of financial affairs that there has been in that 
parish within my knOAvledge. 

Q. 'You say you liA^e in Chicot, Tensas Parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You liaA^e ahvays been a Democrat, I understand?—A. Yes, sir; 
always. When the Whig party was in existence I Avas held to be a 
Whig, and my father and his family were Whigs before me. 

Q. You ran as a Democrat in Tensas ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was the ticket composed entirely of Democrats?—A. Yes, sir; 
entirely. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who had control in the regular Democratic party.—^A. They called 
themsetyes so, but they had been Republicans in that parish for ten 
years. 

Q. They assumed to be Democrats, then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they get any Republican support that you knoAV of? —A. Yes, 
sir; they got some in that way. 

Q. It Avas AA hat they claimed to be a regular Democratic ticket against 
what they claimed to be an irregular Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They did not admit that yon were regular Democrats?—A. No, 
sir; they claimed that we Avere bolters. 

By Senator Kirkavood : 

Q. By what authority was the other ticket nominated ?-—A. By the 
executive committee; not by any convention at all. 

Q. The executive committee of Avhat ?—A. Of Tensas Parish. 

Q. Of Avhat party?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. Of how many did that committee consist ?—A. I have forgotten, 
but there were eight persons deputed to select a ticket. 

Q. And they selected this ticket for the Democracy, and you would 
not stand it?—A. Yes, sir; that was about it. I tell you I really believe 
that. Cordill was the man who was the principal mover in the thing. 

Q. Was Cordill one of the eight who constituted the committee of 
Avldch you have spoken?—A. I do not think he was, for as.he had been 
a Republican up to that time, he probably would not have been on tlie 
Democratic executive committee. 

Q. Did I understand you to say that he had been a Republican up to 
that time?—A. Yes, sir; up to'that very day. I Avas very much sur¬ 
prised Avhen I found him on the Democratic side. 

Q. The office of justice of the peace is an important one in your or¬ 
ganization, is it not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In tlie first ward W. 1). Rollins was your candidate for that of¬ 
fice?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of man Avas he ?—A. He was a very nice man— a good 
man, sir. 


174 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. How old was he ?—A. Twenty-eight or 30 years old. 

Q. In the second ward I will not ask because you were the candidate. 
In the third Avard Mr. A. C. Watson Avas the nominee j Avho Avas he — 
A. He Avas a planter and a Democrat. 

Q. In the fourth ward Dave Mickey was the nominee ; who was he?— 
A. He was a pleasant gentleman, sir, and a planter—a Democrat before 
that time. 

Q. In the fifth ward D. Muir was the nominee; aa ho Avas he ?—A. A 
l)lanter and a Democrat. 

Q. In the sixth Avard E. W. Wales j what sort of man is he ?—A. A 
A'ery nice gentleman, I understand j I do not knoAV him iiersonally. I 
know he is a Democrat. 

Q. In the seA^enth Avard D. C. Miller; Avhat about him ?—A. I do not 
knoAA^ liim, but I know that he is a Democrat. 

Q. Were any of these men in the Confederate Army ?—A. Almost all 
of them, sir. I do not know exactly, but I am i^retty certain that they 
were, with perhaps one or tAvm exceptions. 

By Senator Cameron : 

Q. AVhich ticket was supported by the Democratic executiA^e commit¬ 
tee of your county ?—A. What was called the regular ticket. 

Q. They opjAOsed the independent ticket then?—A. Yes, sir. 


AKTHIJE EAIEEAX. 

Xeav Orleans, January 8, 1879. 

Arthur Fairfax (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Where do you liA^e?—A. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. Where did you live last October ?—A. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. Are you a brother of Alfred Fairfax ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIoAV long did you live in Tensas Parish before last October ?—A. 
About seA^en years. 

Q. Were you at your brother’s house in October last when there was 
an attack made upon it ?—A. I AAms. 

Q. What other colored people were at the house that night besides 
yourself and him, Kennedy, Branch, and William Singleton ?—A. Mrs. 
Ladd, Mrs. Eoss, and Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Fairfax. 

Q. Did you live Avith your brother at that time ?—A. I did. I had 
been up to my brother’s house the night of the attack. I never thought 
anything of the kind. 

Q. Kow you may go on and state what occurred at your brother’s 
liouse on the night of the attack.—A. I was in the house that night. I 
think Mrs. Fairfax was going to her bedroom between eight and nine 
o’clock, and in going to her bedroom she sat down on the step a wliile 
on the outside. While sitting tliere, she saAv some men coming across 
the Avalk, and as they got up to the gate she returned in the house, and 
said there was a lot of white men coming. Everybody jumped up 
and went to see Avhat it was, and Mrs. Ladd Avas the first one who got 
to the door. 

Some gentleman met her there at the door, and he said, Where is 
Fairfax?” She says,‘‘What do you want Avith him?” Well, about 
that time Ave saw the men were armed out there, and my brother made 



rarish.J 


TESTIMONY OF ARTHUR FAIRFAX. 


575 


liis escape to the hack, and this man spied him and said, There is the 
damned son of a bitch I want,” and commenced shooting at my brother. 
The bullet missed him and lodged in the door. 

Q. Had your'brother or any of the other colored people in the house 
fired any shot before that"?—A. sir 5 not a shot. 

Q. Did they fire any shot during the whole difficulty ?—A. Not to my 
knowing they did not. 

Q. You didn’t yourself?—A. No, sir; I did not. 

Q. What else did you say or hear from that time ?—A. Of course they 
commenced a general shooting from the outside. VV e were in sliort road 
in there, and had to make our escape. There was one or two other men, 
that didn’t come out, and were shot in the house. 

Q. Had there been any trouble between the colored and white people 
in that neighborhood before that ?—A. No, sir; not to my knowing. 

Q. You heard of no one?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Which got out of the house first, yourself or brother ?—A. I think 
he made his escape first. I went out after him, the same way. 

Q. What time in the evening was it ?—A. Between the hours of eight 
and nine at night. 

Q. Was the evening dark ?—A. There was no moonlight at all, but it 
was not dark at all. 

Q. Where did you go after that evening ?—A. I left that night and 
went up to the quarters—^it was the same place, however—and stayed 
there that night and walked around a good deal Sunday. 

Q. When did you go back to your brother’s house ?—A. I went back 
there the next Sunday morning. 

Q. Whom did you find there when you went back?—-A. I found no one 
there. 

Q. Tlie house was vacant?—A. Yes, sir; I found the house pretty 
badly riddled uj) with bullets; that was all I found. 

Q. How many shots were fired there, as near as you could estimate?— 
A. About seventy or eighty. 

Q. Were the windows broken ?—A. Yes, sir; they were broken by the 
shot. 

Q. Did you remain in the parish after that until after the election?—■ 
A. No, sir; I did not. I remained there about two or three weeks after 
they arriA^ed. 

Q. Where were you during those two or three weeks?—A. I was 
sometimes in the woods and sometimes walking around in the fields. Of 
course I thought it was best for me to keep myself concealed. I heard 
a good many rumors, though I had no threats made to my face, and 
thought it Avas best to keep well concealed. 

Q. At the end of tAvo weeks where did you go?—A. I came to the 
river at Bass’s place on Wednesday, and I remained there until Satur¬ 
day, and then took the boat and came here. 

Q. Did you see any armed Avhite men going through the parish after 
the attack on that house?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you see the first party ?—A. I think it was Sunday even¬ 
ing. 

Where were they ?—A. They were coming towards Saint Joseph. I 
was at Bass’s, and they passed right by the house. 

Q. How many were there?—A. About sixty or seventy. 

Q. Were they mounted ?^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Armed?—A. Yes,sir. 

Q. What were they armed with ?—A. With guns. Of course I could 


176 


LOUISIANA IN J873. 


[Tensas 


not tell wlietlier tliey were sliot-giins or Henry rifles, or wliat j but they 
were gnus. 

Q. Did you hear anything they said as they passed!—A. Xo, sirj I 
heard notliing, only they were yelling and hallooing. . 

Q. Did they api^ear to be under the command of any one man in par¬ 
ticular!—A. Yes, sir j they appeared to be under command. Well, in 
fact, before they got to Bass’s there, there was a lot of colored men in 
the lane there, and they shot in on them and ran them do^vn the lane 
about five hundred yards, and then the men squandered. They didn’t 
kill ally, but they wounded a good many. I saw them myself. 

Q. Did you see any other armed men in the parish after that!—A. 
Yes, sir; I saw 300 or 400, I think. 

Q. Where did you see these !—A. In about the same place the follow¬ 
ing evening as they came along. 

Q. Were they in one armed body, or in several!—A. There was sev¬ 
eral gangs of them. 

Q. Where did you understand they were from; who were they !—A. 
I understood some of them were from Franklin Parish and Black Biver, 
and some said they were from Mississippi, but I do not know. 

Q. What effect did this have upon the colored people !—A. Very 
bad—they all felt very bad. They came in there shooting among them 
and scattered them. 

Q. With what political jiarty have you acted heretofore !—A. None ; 
I have not taken part in any only in voting. 

Q. What ticket did you vote!—A. I have always voted the Eepub- 
lican ticket since I voted at all. That is the only interest I have taken 
in politics. 

Q. Was there any trouble between the whites and colored people in 
the jiarish last fall before the attack on this house!—A. Not at all. 

Q. That was the first!—A. That was the first. 

Q. Do you propose to go back to your home in Tensas Parish!—A. If 
I thought I could go back there in safety I would as soon go there as 
anywhere else. 

Q. Have you received any information as to whether it will be safe for 
you probably to go back or not !—A. Not personally. I have not from 
the individuals themselves; but I have heard it rumored that those that 
lived there should never return again. 

Q. How many left at or about the time you did!—A. At the time I 
left, to my own knowledge, I suppose there was about eight or ten. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Since then how many have left!—A. I do not know. 

Q. Have you seen them here!—A. I have seen them here, off and on, 
all the time. 

Q. Do you know of any colored men being whipped or hung or shot 
except those that were at your brother’s house!—A. I know of one or 
two parties that were said to be shot; a good many I know. 

Q. Do you know of any being hung up or cut down before life was 
extinct!—A. I know several that was hung, I think. 

Q. By whom were they hung!—A. It was by this squad of white men 
that were going around through the country. I could not identify any 
of them. 

Q. Did you see any of those that were killed !—A. I did not. 

Q. Were you acquainted with any of those who were said to have been 
killed!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you seen them since that time !—A. I have never seen them 
since that time. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF FLEMING BRANCH 


177 


CROSS-EXAMINATION. 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. When you say that the colored people were hung up and cut down 
and killed, &c., do you speak from what you know or what you heard?— 
A. I only speak from rumor; I did not see it personally. 

Q. How far were you from your brother Alfred when these men came 
up ill the highway?—A. I was in the house with him. 

Q. How far from him ?—A. I do not know, but it could not have been 
very far. I was sitting in the house with him. 

Q. In the same room ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many shots were fired at him before he left ?—A. I think two 
shots before he left. 

Q. Was there any fired at him after he left?—A. There was a general 
shooting after he left out of the door. 

Q. He went out the back part of the house ?—A. Yes, sir ; the back 
part of the house. 

Q. Those men that came there were on horseback ?—A. I do not know; 
they were walking when they came to the house. Of course, they could 
not ride over the levee, but it is reasonable to suppose they hitched their 
liorses and walked over. 

Q. Did you know any of them personally ?—A. Yes, sir; I knew one. 

Q. Who was that?—A. G. 0. Goldman. 

Q. Did you know Peck?—A. I did not know him; probably I have 
seen him a good many times, but 1 never knew him. 

Q. You said that you saw a squad of white men fire into some colored 
people up in the road?—A. 1 did, sir. 

Q. How far were you from them ?—A. About GO or 70 yards. 

Q. How fiir were the colored people from them when they were shoot¬ 
ing?—A. About the distance of 50 or GO yards. 

Q. Were you in the same room at your brother’s house with Fleming 
Branch?—A. 1 was in the room he was. 

Q. Did you see him go under the bed ?—A. I saw him go under the 
bed before I left the room. 

Q. Did you go back into tliat room afterwards?—A. I did not, sir. 

Q. There had been no trouble, then, of this character before this, that 
yon know of ?—A. None at all, by my knowing. 

Q. At what place did you vote?—A. We voted in Waterproof. 

Q. How far was that from your brother’s ?—A. About a mile. 

Q. Is it above or below Waterproof ?—A. Waterproof is below my 
brother’s. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Where did you vote at the last election ?—A. I did not vote at all. 

Q. Why ?—A. Because I was not there to vote. 

Q. You came away before the election?—A. YYs, sir. 


FLEMING BEANCH. 

New Orleans, Jamiary 8,1879. 
Fleming Branch (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do yon reside?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long haye you resided there?—A. From the 20th of Novem¬ 
ber up to this present time. 

12 T 



178 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Where were you at the 2()tli of IS'oveinber ?—A. At a plantation. 

Q. What i)arish is that in“?—A. It is in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. 

Q. How long' have you resided in Tensas Parish?—A. 1 have lived 
there twenty-eight years. 

Q. What is your age ?—A. I am twenty-nine years old. 

Q. What political party have you affiliated with heretofore?—A. Ee- 
luiblican, sir. 

Q. Do you know a man named Fairfax who resides in tliat parish ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you known him?—A. For the last eighteen years. 

Q. How far does he reside from Saint Joseph ?—A. I think it is about 
14^ miles. 

Q. What is his business?—A. He is a preacher, sir ; his business is to 
lead the colored people in the light of the welfare of the Avorld; to show 
tliem what is right and wliat is wrong. 

Q. Were you present at his house when a difficulty occurred there a 
short time before election ?—A. I was. 

Q. When did it occur?—A. On the 12th of October. 

Q. AVho were present besides yoursell ?—A. There was Daniel Kennedy, 
William Singleton, and Alfred Fairfax, Mrs. Fairfax, Mrs. Wallace, Ee- 
becca Eoss, and Mrs. Ladd. 

Q. Tliey were all colored peoi)le?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was Mr. Fairfax a candidate for any office at that time?—A. He 
was, sir. 

Q. For what office?—A. He was running for Congress for the short 
term. 

Q. He belongs to the Eepnblican i)arty ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Have the colored i^eople of the parish regarded him as a leader in 
p oli tic s ?—A. Ye s, sir. 

Q. State what occurred at his house on the night of the 12th of Octo¬ 
ber.—A. Well, sir, 1 had been sick tliere all day Saturday with a severe 
pain in my side. About four o’clock I got up and walked down town. 
After going down town—I didn’t stay very long—I went back up to 
Mr. Fairfax’s, where I very often staid. A friend of mine staid there. 
He was my brother-in-law. Eetween nine and eight o’clock Mrs. Ladd 
was standing at the door, when she saw some gentlemen coming over 
the levee. She says to Mrs. Fairfax, “ AYlio is them coming over the 
levee yonder ?” I do not believe that Mrs. Fairfax returned any answer. 
Another girl came and said, “ Here is a whole lot of men.” Mrs. Fair¬ 
fax looked and said, There is, for a tact. I wonder what they want.” 
When they got np to the hall-door they entered on the steps. They had 
guns with them till they looked like a small army. The captain—at 
least he seemed the leading one among them—he came up and inquired, 
‘‘ Is Mr. Fairfax at home ? ” Mrs. Fairfax said, ‘‘ Y^es; what do you want ?” 
They returned no answer. IVIr. Fairfax stood next to the kitchen-door, in 
the next room. The captain of the men said, “ Yonder is the son of a bitch, 
now,” and then fired at him. Other firing followed. They called the 
man who fired the first time Captain Peck.” I thought they would 
shoot me next. I raised np a little in bed; the shot fired at Fairfax 
didn’t hit liim. WTllie Singleton was standing by the side of the door 
next to a bureau. Peck said to him, You son-of-a-bitch, what are you 
standing here for ?” Gentlemen, I am not lying about it; I am telling 
the truth. They went nj) to him and shot him ; he fell to the floor, and 
while he was lying there on the floor they emiitied five or six more shots 
into him. Mr. Kemp Avas standing in the hall, and he said, “ Look under 
the bed; maybe Fairfax has got under the bed.” For as soon as the 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OP FLEMING BRANCH. 


179 


first sliot was fired at him Fairfax had got out of the house, and in the 
confusion they didn’t see where he had gone. They looked under the 
bed and there they found me. Of course, I came right out partly, and 
partly they pulled me out. I was mighty scared, I tell you. I said, 
O, no, boss; this isn’t Mr. Fairfax.” Then he grabbed at me here [show¬ 
ing the place where the other seized him], and turned his face and shot, 
me. It was Mr. Goldman that shot me. He wrestled with me, and we 
tustled until we got near the door 5 about turning the corner of the 
door I twisted his pistol out of his hand. 

Q. Is Mr. Goldman a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A Democrat ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He is the man who shot at you, I understand ?—A. He is the man 
who shot at me first. He shot me here. [Here the witness pulled up 
the sleeves of his coat and shirt from his right arm and showed where 
the bullet went in and where it came out.] The next shot went through my 
coat and vest right here [showing where], and cut up $10 wort of notes 
I had in my pocket; then it went on into my stomach. Five or six 
other shots passed as I was going out. One of these shots that went 
into my back has been cut out by the doctor. The others he didn’t cut 
out; he couldn’t find them, and they are in there yet. 

Q. How many of these armed men were tlieref—A. I didn’t count 
them, sir; I couldn’t tell exactly. 

Q. As near as you can estimate'?—A. Well, sir, the ones that I pretty 
well knew and could always swear to were Goldman and Burnett and 
Kemp. 

Q. Where do these men live f—A. Eight there in Tensas Parish; they 
are close neighbors to me. 

Q. Where does Captain Peck live !—A. They said he lived in Cata- 
hoida. 

Q. This young man Singleton—was he killed'?—A. He died, sir, six 
days after he was shot. 

Q. What became of Kennedy?—A. They fired eight shots into him, 
but didn’t kill him. They are in him yet. It is a terrible yoke for a man 
to bear, but he is bearing it. 

Q. You have one ball in you ?—A. Yes, sir; this hand and arm is ot 
no use to me; it is paralyzed. I never can do anything with it all my 
life. 

Q. It is your right hand ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What became of Fairfax?—A. He got out at the time they com¬ 
menced shooting. They all got out except me and Willie Singleton; we 
couldn’t get out. 

Q. Was there any shooting done from the house by the party in the 
house?—A. O, no, sir. 

Q. How do you know there was not ?—A. I was lying under the bed 
and could see all through the house. 

Q. It is said that Peck was shot and killed?—A. Yes, sir; his own 
party did that. 

Q. How came they to do that?—A. Peck was in the house. Wlien he 
came in I thought that under the bed would be a safe place for me; but 
I soon found it wasn’t. They soon grabbed me and hauled me out and 

shot me. ^ ^ ^ . 

Q. It has been said that Fairfax shot back when Peck shot at him?— 
A. O, no, sir. If Fairfax’s gun was present, and the loads tliat were in 
it haven’t been shot out at squirrels or something, you would find the 
same loads in it yet. 

Q. Did Fairfax or any other person in the house shoot at anybody at 


180 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


all?—A. There was never a shot fired from the house; hut from the out¬ 
side of the house the shots just rained in. I tell you, sir. Peck was shot 
hy his own party—hy some of the men outside of the house. He was 
living when he went out of that house. 

Q. Did you have any gun or weapon yourself?—A. I didn’t have even 
a i)ocket-kuife. 

(^. I asked you before, liow many men were there in this armed party 
that came to Fairfax’s house ?—A. As I told you, I never got any chance 
to count ’em; but from tlie looks of the party I should say there ap¬ 
peared to be fourteen or fifteen liead. 

Q. Were they mounted as they came up to the house or were they on 
foot?—A. They were on foot when I first saw them. 

Q. How far from Fairfax’s house were they wdien they were first dis¬ 
covered by those in the house?—A. Just about ninety or eighty yards, 
sir. 

Q. What was the first word that any of that party said on approach¬ 
ing the house that you heard ?—A. Captain Peck first came to the place. 
1 heard him say to Mrs. Ladd, ‘Hs Mr. Fairfiix here?” She answered. 

What do you want of him ? ” They didn’t exchange another word with 
her. They espied him going across the floor, and said, “Yonder is the 
damned son of a bitch,” and fired at Fairfax. 

Q. But missed him?—A. Yes, sir; they missed him. 

Q. How soon did Fairfax escape from the house?—A. At once, sir. 
He broke right out for the kitchen, and made his escape from the house 
throng]i the kitchen door. 

Q. Look at that diagram of Fairfax’s house, and see whether it rep¬ 
resents it properly. 

[Witness examines the diagram.] 

Q. In what direction does the house face as near as you can state?— 
xV. Here [indicating the iilace on the diagram with his finger] is the road; 
here is the levee; liere is the house; here is the river; here is where these 
men came up over tliis levee in front of the house; there is the gate. 
The gate Avas open when they came uj); they ran right along here in 
front of the house. Here are the steps where Captain Peck ran up. 
Fairfax was right in this room here. He Avent into tlie kitclien. The 
first shot passed right into tlie kitchen. It missed him and struck the 
coi’iier of the kitchen door about here. The next shot struck the bot¬ 
tom of the door, down liere. AVhile this shooting Avas going on Fairfiix 
escaped. Here is me, where I first stood, at tlie hall d()or,"in the same 
room Fairfax was in. I gets under the bed that stood here. Here is 
Avhere Willie Singleton s’ood, by the bureau. He was shot and killed. 
Here stands the balanoe of the men, scattered all through here. 

Q. Did you obserA’^e aaJio shot Singleton, the boy aaJio Vas killed ?—A. 
■<3ai)tain Peck shot him. 

C^. Did you see him ?—A. Yes, sir; I saw him. I aavus lying under the 
!bed looking at him AAotli all my eyes. 

Q. Did you say aaJio shot you?—A. It Avas Goldman shot me. 

Who shot Kennedy?—A. I do not know, sir; I couldn’t say that. 
He was not shot by any one in the house. That Avas done through the 
window-glass. 

Q. Did Peck or any of his party giA^e any reason for making the attack 
on Fairfax’s house in that a\ ay ?—A. 1 never haA-e heard of any reason 
before nor since. 

Q. Were all tlie members of that attacking party white men ?—A. 
Yes, sir; all that I saAv were Avhite men. 

Q. Were or aauu’o not all those of the party whom Amu saAv and knew 
Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF FLEMING BRANCH. 


181 


CROSS-EXAMINATION. 


By Mr. Garland : 

(^. Did you see Peck when he was shot ?—A. No, sir; I never saw him 
after he was shot. 

Q. I mean, did you see when the sliot was fired and who fired it!—A. 
i^’o, sir; hut I know he was shot by his own party. 

Q. Was he in the house when he was shot or on the outside ?—A. I 
couldn’t state exactly when he was shot, but he was shot after he got 
out of the house. 

Q. Could you see everything that transpired around?—A. I could see 
everything that transpired around inside of the house. 

Q. Did you know Mr. Peck ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But he did not live immediately about there?—A. l^o, sir. 

Q. You said that Captain Peck lived up there at Catahoula; how far 
is that from where you live?—A. 23 or 22 miles. 

Q. You spoke of going down to town; what town?—A. Waterproof. 

Q. When did Mr. Fairfax come back to his house ?—A. I don^t know 
as Mr. Fairfax has ever seen sight of his house since. 

Q. When did you meet with him again ?—A. The next morning he met 
me where I was lying shot; he came where I was. 

Q. That was the 14th of last October ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say there was as many as 14 or 15 men coming up in this 
crowd ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know who they were ?—A. I knew the most of them. The 
men whose names I have called I knew; the balance I did not. 

Q. What hour of the day was it when they came ?—A. Between eight 
and nine o’(dock in the evening. 

Q. Was it dark?—A. Yo, sir; it was almost as bright as day. The 
moon Avas shining brightly. 

Q. You say these parties were within 80 or 90 yards when you first 
observed them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When Fairfax went out, in which direction did he go, north or 
south ?—A. Between north and east. 

Q. Was the house lighted uj)?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What sort of a light, candles or oil ?—A. I think it was oil. 

Q. Was it cool enough for a fire?—A. Yes, sir; there was a tolerably 
good fire in the house. 

Q. How many rooms were there in the house ?—A. I think there were 
six rooms, sir; fiA^e or six. 

Q. Had you eA^er seen Mr. Peck before that time ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
think I ought to have seen him; my mother nursed him aaPcu he was a 
baby. 

Q. How old is he ?—A. He is a little older than I am, and I am 29. I 
am the oldest child my mother e\'er had. She used to be a nurse-maid 
for Peck. 

Q. Although you did not see Peck Avhenhe Avas shot, yet you are sat¬ 
isfied his own men shot him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the last you saw of Peck ?—A. He was shoving his pistol 
in my face and wanted me to tell where Fairfax was. I told him Fairfax 
had left and I did not knoAV Avhere he Avas. 

Q. Did you know ?—A. I tell you if I had known I would not be 
here. 

Q. Did you say that you were the first to discover this company com¬ 
ing ?—A. O, no, sir. 


182 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Who was the first to annoiiuce that they were coming ?—A. Mrs. 
Ladd. 

(^. Where were you standing when Mrs. Ladd made that announce¬ 
ment ?—A. I was standing right at the door by the bed. I had been 
drinking a cup of tea; I had been sick there all day. 

Q. There had not been any disturbance there before that, and you 
were not looking for anything of that sort ?—A. ^^o, sir. 

Q. You were surprised when you saw these ijersons coming —A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did they come on foot ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see anj^^ horses ?—A. I never saw a horse, sir. 

Q. What kind of weapons did they mostly use ?—A. Eevolvers, and 
shot-guns, and sixteen shooters, sir. 

Q. A variety of weapons, were there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see the person who fired the shot that went through your 
right arm ?—A. Yes, sir; I was looking right straight at him—as straight 
as I am looking at you now. 

Q. The shot was aimed at you, was it?—A. Yes, sir; it was aimed 
straight at me. 

Q. How large was that room ?—A. I could not tell you how many feet 
each way ; it was about the same width as this room one way and not 
quite so wide the other. 

Q. Was it a square room?—A. Yes, sir ; pretty nearly square. 

Q. Did it have but one bed in it?—A. Only one, sir. 

Q. There was no other question asked, then, by the leader but to know 
where Fairfax was ?—A. That was the only question asked of me, sir. 

Q. There had already been one or two shots fired at Fairfax?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were those shots fired by Peck?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yet Peck asked you where Fairfax was?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Would he not know where he was if he had seen him and fired at 
him ?—A. He did shoot at him when he first came into the door, but then 
Fairfax went outdoors and escaped. 

Q. Did you see whether it was Peck or Fairfax that shot first?—A. 
Peck shot first. 

Q. Tell just how it occurred.—A. Mrs. Ladd was on the porch when 
Mr. Peck, heading the company, ran up the steps and asked, “Is Fair¬ 
fax here?” Mrs. Ladd said, “Why; what do you want of him?” He 
shoved the door open and ran by her into the hall next to the kitchen 
door. Then he spied Fairfax and commenced shooting at him. Then I 
went under the bed. 

Q. Then he did not shoot at Fairfax before he asked any questions 
about him ?—A. Tim questions were asked on the outside of the house. 

Q. He passed by Mrs. Ladd and Avent on through the door?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And then he commenced the shooting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The first shot went inside of the door-casing ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was that door situated on that diagram? 

[The Avitness explained, and in response to further questions again 
showed where the bed and the bureau were situated, the door from which 
Mr. Fairfax made his escape, and the place in the door where the shots 
struck it.] 

Q. Where was Peck standing when he fired at Fairfax ?—A. Eight 
here [pointing], sir; as near as I can tell. 

Q. Ho AY many feet apart were they when he shot ?—A. Pretty close, 
now I tell you; I don’t see how he missed him. 


I’arish.] TESTIMONY OF FLEMING BRANCH. 18^ 

Q. Did be follow Fairfax out of tlie bouseJ—A. ^To, sir; lie turned 
around and pitched into Willie Singleton then. 

Q. He did not follow Fairfax i —A. No, sir. 

Q. After shooting Willie Singleton down he emptied into him the last 
load out of his revolver. Then Keinii says, ^^Look under the bed.” 
Then I thought my time had come, sure; for I was under the bed. He 
looked under the bed and saw me, and he grabbed me and pulled me 
out, and I said, ^AVell, boss, here I am, but I ain’t no Fairfax”; but it 
made no difference to him. He held me in one hand and his pistol in 
the other, and he turned his face off and fired into me. 

Q. You said your mother had nursed Mr. Peck ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you on good terms with him?—A. Well, I never lived with 
him. 

Q. You have knoA\m him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you had any difficulty ?—A. I never exchanged a word with 
him ill all my life, sir. 

Q. Who is the gentleman that you said made the suggestion to look 
under the bed and they would find Fairfax ?—A. Charlie Kemp. 

Q. Where was Peck then !—A. Eight in the middle of the floor, firing 
at Willie Singleton. 

Q. Where was Fairfax ?—^A. I don’t know, sir; he liad gone out before 
that. 

Q. Then when they looked under the bed, you responded that you 
were not Fairfax ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And this young man Kemp that you spoke of, did he see Fairfax 
go out of the room ?—A. I don’t know, sir, whether he did or not. 

Q. Yet he said, “ Look under the bed and you may find Fairfax 
there”?—A. Yes, sir; and when he said that I knew that there was no 
chance of my saving myself. 

Q. How many shots were fired up to that time ?—A. Why, sir, they 
come like rain. 

Q. Are you sure that no shots had been fired before that ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. I could not tell how many. 

Q. At the time these men were in the house did tlie party outside still 
keep firing into the house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Captain Peck, you say, was behind you brandishing a pistol in 
your face, and demanding to know where Fairfax was ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is, as you were being taken out of the door ?—A. I was not 
taken out; I ran out. 

Q. Were outside parties then firing into the house?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Firing in through the door ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it light in that room?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you near the door then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they were firing into the house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was this the first trouble between the whites and the colored peo¬ 
ple in that parish that year ?—A. Yes, sir; the first I heard anything of. 

Q. One man was killed; at least he died six days afterwards ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Two others were wounded ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Fairfax ran away ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That accounts for all the men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you ever see any riding through the parish by armed white 


184 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


men after tlie attack on Fairfox’s house ?—A. sir; for at that time 

I was hack in the bushes. 

Q. Why were you there?—A. To keep them from running on me 
again and killing me ; at least I heard they were going to do that. 

Q. Were there any other colored peoi^le there in the bushes beside 
yourself?—A. Yes, sir; a good many. 

Q. Why?—A. They were afraid of their pitching into them, too. 

Q. Why, did you understand, did Peck and his party make the attack 
on Fairfax ?—A. 1 don’t know, sir. They didn’t have any right to do it 
unless for disturbing the peace or something; but no peace was disturbed. 

Q. Fairfax was a Pepublican, was he not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A candidate for Congress?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. An honest, upright man, too?—A. Yes, sir; he tvould not have 
disturbed the peace on any account. 


DAYIEL KEYYEDY. 

Yeav Orleans, January 8, 1870. 

Daniel Kennedy (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Senator Cameron: 

Question. Where do you live?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. I have been living there a 
number of years. I have been bred and born there. 

Q. How old are you?—A. I am thirty-eight years old this coming 
October. 

Q. Are you a Eepublican or Democrat ?—A. I am a Eepublican and 
always claimed to be. 

Q. Did you knotv Mr. Fairfax?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you known him?—A. For eight or nine years; 
ever since he came to the country. 

Q. What are his political sentiments?—A. He is a Eepublican. 

Q. What office was he a candidate for last fall, if any?—A. I do not 
remember. I think he was running a short time for the legislature— 
Congress, I mean. 

Q. Where were you on the 12th of last October?—A. L was at Mr. 
Fairfax’s, I think. 

Q. Were you there when this difficulty took place?—A. Yes, sir; I 
was there then. I do not remember the day of the month. 

Q. Kow you may state what took place at Fairfax’s at that time.—A. 
I came that evening from Waterproof, and as I came to the gate I met 
a little colored girl at the gate, and she says to me, “ Mr. Fairfax wants 
to see you.” Then I rode up on the levee, and I saw him and went 
over there, and he says, ‘MJaniel”, and I says, “Sir.” Says he, 
“ I have learned this evening that there is going to be a comjiany of 
men coming here to-night.” Says I, “Is that so?” He said, “Yes.” 

' Says I, “ I reckon not. It has been talked of so much, perhaps thev 
are not coming.” Says he, “I am in hopes they are not coming.” 

But, sajs he, “as for that, I would like to have some of you stoi) 
herewith me.” I stopped there awhile with him; then I left and 
went out on the levee. I met a man coming from Waterproof, who said 
he had just come from there through the quarantine-guards, whom he 
knew; and he said there was a gentleman came there and told the 
guards that there would be a company of men come from through there 
directly—some time to-night-and, that he must let them pass right 
through and not hail them or say anything to them. Says I, “ If that is 



Parisli.] 


TESTIMOKY OF DANIEL KENNEDY. 


185 


the case, I take it for granted that that must he the company of men 
that is coming to Fairfax’s ”; and I at once returned to Mr. Fairfax’s 
house, and I said, “ Fairfax, you had better look out for yourself, for I 
believe the men are coming.” ^Ye were talking about it, and he asked 
why, and I told him what this young man had told me. 1 told him I 
had imd the young man out there on the road, and that he told me there 
Avould be a company of men coming through the (piarantine, and the 
guard had orders to let them through without hailing them. He 
asked me iclio told me that. I told liim that it was a young man 
by name Doc’ Bethel. It was about 8 o’clock in the night then, and we 
were talking about it, and at last it came on bed-time. AVe were not 
expecting any men then, and Mrs. Fairfax,started to her bedroom, and 
Mrs. Ladd was standing in the door at the time. They went to the door, 
and while they were there they look(^d over toward" the levee. They 
spied some men coming. They said “ Look yonder, who is that com¬ 
ing We jumj)ed up and ran to the door and Avent to look. By the 
time Ave got to the door the men had run oaw the leA^ee up to the gal¬ 
lery. Airs. Ladd met them right at the door, and says she, “ What do 
you mean ) what do you Avant ? ” Asked them tAVO or three times. Then 
they said “AYe AAmnt Fairfax; that is Avhat AA^e ay ant.” Andyhen they 
got sight of Fairfax A\dio AAvas going out of the room. He AAms standing 
in the kitchen door, and there Avas a man shot through the door, right 
across through the room, at Fairfax. 

Q. Did you see that shot fired'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know AAdio the gentleman Avas?—A. Yo, sir. Fairfixx ran 
through there and out through the kitchen door and down the back 
steps. I was still in the room, and I went then straight across the 
house, and went to look out of the Aviiidow to see if I kneAV any of them. 
As I got to the Avindow they shot me from the outside right through the 
arm. Then I just headed and broke out of the house the other Avay, and 
they Avere then firing right through the house. 

Q. How many shots struck you !—A. Eight. 

Q. AA^here did they hit you ?—A. In the right arm. 

Q. How far apart did they hit you ?—A. All in this arm. 

Q. AA'here did you go then ?—A. I went right across the corn-fields 
and Avent tOAvard home. I did not go home, because I was not able to 
go right aAvay. I A\^ent home about midnight, and then I laid down m 
my bed until the next morning; and then some of my friends came to 
me and told me I hml better not stay in the house, that I had better go 
out of the house and get into a peaceable country. The doctor dressed 
my wounds for me. I got up then and went from the house. I Avent 
out in an old field Avhere the gratis and stutt* had groAATi up, and staid 
there until night. At night I went to the house and staid there all the 
night. The next morning early—I liaxl to flee early for fear they might 
come there; and from that time I had to stay in the woods, Avitli my 
wounds. 

Q. IIoAV long were you in the woods?—A. About seven or eight days. 

(^. AA^ere there any others in the Avoods ?—A. Yes, sir; you could al- 
AA^ays run across them. One of them was Avitli me at the time. 

Q. AAdiy were they in the woods ?—xY. There was men from other 
parishes about there, and they said they were hunting for them. I 
knoAV they were asking for them. 

Q. IIoAV many colored men were killed in that parish?—A. I think, 
from Avhat I could learn, there was about seventy or eighty men killed. 

Q. Had there been any trouble in the parish before the attack on 
Fairfax’s house ?—A. ISTo, sir; it was as quiet and peaceable as you ever 
saw in the parish until the attack. 


186 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas 


Q. How soon after the attack on Fairfax’s house did the killing of the 
other negroes commence in the parish f—A. It commenced on the Tues¬ 
day following. 

Q. Did yon vote at the election?—A. 1:^0, sir; I was not here; I wms 
in the city here a fugitive from home. 

Q. Have you been back since?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Why not?—A. I am afeard to go back. That is the reason why. 

Q. Is your arm disabled; can you use it?—A. I can use it a little— 
not mnch, though. 

Q. Do you know whether anybody has been prosecuted for shooting 
you?—No, sir; not that I know of. 

Q. Have you ever been asked to go before the grand jury or the 
magistrates in your i^arish and give testimony about it?—A. No, sir; 
I never was. 

Q. Did you see any of the raiding parties that went through the 
parish after the attack on Fairfax?—A. No, sir; I did not want to see 
them; I did not want them to see me. 

Q. What do you think in regard to their raid through the parish?— 
A. I do not know anything in particular of the other raiding throngh 
the parish, because I kei^t out of sight of them. 

Q. What you wanted was to keep away from them?—A. Yes, sir; as 
far as I could. 

By Senator Bailey : 

Q. Do you know of any persons that have been kiUed in that 
parish?—A. I know xJersons that I have heard were killed. 

Q. How many?—A. Tliere was Charley Bethel, he was one; Monday 
Hill was another; Bob Williams, and Louis Postway. 

Q. Killed during the last fall?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any others?—A. No, sir; I have heard rumors 
of others. 

Q. That was mere rumor, I suppose?—A. I don’t know whether it 
was or not; just what I have heard. 

Q. Were you sitting in the front porch at the time these men came 
up, or in the house?—A. In the house. 

Q. Within the hall of the house?—A. Yes, sir; I was in a room, 
rather, not in the haU. 

Q. How many men came in the room ?—A. I could not tell you that; 
they began to shoot when they got to the front door. 

Q. Did any persons come in, in the room?—A. I ran out when they 
began to shoot. I did not see any one come into the room. Thej’ got 
in the hall by the door, and by that time I ran out. 

Q. Did you see Oaidain Peck when he was killed?—^A. No, sir; I 
did not see him at all. 

Q. I thought you said you saw him.—A. No, sir. 

Q. Where were you shot in the arm—it was a single shot, I suppose, 
from a single firing of a gun ?—A. I do not know whether it was single 
or not. They i)ut eight buckshot in my arm. 

Q. Pretty close ?—A. Some pretty close, and some not. 

Q. Did you see Fairfax when he ran out?—A. Yes, sir; he ran out 
before I did. Some one was firing at him at the time. 

Q. Did you see this nep’o man, William Singleton ?—A. No, sir; I 
left him in the house. I ain’t seen him since. 

By Senator Cameron : 

Q. Did Mr. Fairfax fire any shots during that trouble?—A. No, sir; 
not that I know of. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF MRS. ANNA LADD. 


187 


MRS. LADD. 

New Orleans, La., January 8,1879. 

Mrs. Anna Ladd sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. Here in the city. 

Q. How" long- have yon lived here in the city of New Orleans?—xV. I 
was horn and raised right here; this is my home. 

Q. Where were yon in October last, at the time there was an attack 
on Fairfax’s house in Tensas Parish ?—A. I was right in his house. 

Q. How long had you been there at that time ?—A. Nearly four months. 

Q. Had you been visiting her ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you known Mr. Fairfax ?—A. Three years. 

Q. The yellow fever was here; did you leave on that account ?—A. 
No, sir; I went there before the yellow fever broke out. 

Q. Now you maj^ go on and state what took place at Fairfax’s house 
that night.—A. On the night of the 12th these men came to Mr. Fair¬ 
fax’s house. I don’t know how many; there were so many I could not 
count them. Mrs. Fairfax and the other two young girls were putting 
away the clothes, and they came up and said, “ Here comes these men.” 
I said, “ Who are they ? ” and they said, The bulldozers.” I jumped to 
the door, and by that time they got into the gate. I said to them, What 
do you want?” They said, “We want Fairfax.” I said, “ What do you 
want him for ?” They said they came to arrest him; and by that time 
they got up to the gallery, and I shut the door, but the gentlemen 
run right by me. They saw Fairfax in the hall, and the gentlemen com¬ 
menced to lire on him and said, “ Fairfax, you are a damned son of a 
bitch, and we want you.” Then I run right across the hall, and I heard 
them cursing and firing. Mrs. Fairfax and myself and another lady ran 
out and went in the woods. 

Q. Had you heard any rumors up to that time that the bulldozers 
were coming ?—A. I had heard it that day, but I didn’t know Avhether 
it was so or not. 

Q. Who were at Fairfax’s house besides yourself and Mrs. Fairfax 
that night ?—A. Violetta and Mrs. Ladd, Arthur Fairfax, and Mr. Flem¬ 
ming, and Mr. Branch, and so on. 

Q. Did you see any men who were raiding through the parish after 
that?—A. Yes, sir. Tuesday I saw them, but I didn’t know them, of 
course. 

Q. Where did you see them?—A. I was three miles below on Tues¬ 
day, and I see them pass. 

Q. Were they white men?—A. Yes, sir. All white men. 

Q. On foot or mounted?—A. Mounted. 

Q. Armed?—A. Yes, sir; armed. 

Q. With guns ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many w^ere there in that squad ?—A. About fifty. 

Q. In which direction were they going ?—A. At that time up to Water¬ 
proof. 

Q. Did you hear anything they said as they passed?—A. No, sir; I 
didn’t hear anything they said. 

Q. How long did you remain in the parish after that?—A. Just a 
week—until the next Saturday—and then 1 took a boat and come down. 

Q. What effect did that have upon the people? Did they remain at 
their homes?—A. O, no, sir; they went to the woods. 


188 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


Q. Did you see any of the young men who were shot at Mr. Fairfax’s 
that evening ?—A. Yes, sir; I came back on Sunday morning to get my 
clothes, and I was over to Mrs. Lewis’s and I saw the young man Avounded. 

Q. Billy Singleton?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In Avhat condition was he ?—A. He Avas right bad off. 

Q. In your opinion, how old a man was he?^—^A. He Avas about 23. 

Q. Was he residing at Mrs. LeAvds’s?—A. Yes, su\ 

Q. At Avhat time AA^as the attack on Fairfax’s house?—^A. Between 
eight and nine o’clock. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Who was it that went out the AAdndow ?—A. Mrs. Fairfax and my¬ 
self and the little girl. 

Q. Did you see Alfred Fairfax leaA^e the house?—A. Yes, sir. He 
Avas out of the house Avhen I went out. He must have Avent out the back 
door, because I Avent out the AAundow. 

Q. You did not see him when he went out?—A. No, sir; but we saw 
him when we were out. 

Q. You Avere not personally acquamted with any of these men that 
came up there in this crowd?—A. No, sir; I didn’t know any of the 
parties. 

Q. The rumor that you heard of their coming made no particular 
impression on you?—A. No, sir; I didn’t pay any attention to it. 


EEBECCA ROSS. 

Neav Orleans, January 8, 1879. 

Rebecca Ross, colored, sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you liA^e now ?—Answer. I lAe here in the city 
now. 

Q. Where did you live last October?—A. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long did you live there before ?—A. I was bred and born 
there. 

Q. Do you know Alfred Fairfax?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv AAiiere he lAes ?—A. Noav ? 

Q. No; in October last.—A. Yes, sir; he liA^ed on Bass’ place. 

Q. Were you present at his house when the trouble occurred there 
last October?—A. Yes, sir; I was at Mrs. Fairfax’s. She sent for me 
to iron for her, and I was there that night. I was rather late going- 
home, but I was intending to go after I got through my work; but just 
as I got ready to go Ave saAV men coming with guns, and I ran in the 
house, and I said, There is a parcel of men coming along A\dth guns”; 
and then, as they got upon the gallery, they all said, “Where is Fair¬ 
fax?” I ran out the back Avay to the kitchen. They stood on the gal¬ 
lery a while, and then they come on in tlie house and began to shoot, 
and then I run to Mrs. LeAyis’s,the next neighbor joining Fairfax’s; and 
Avhilst I Avas over there we saAV this squad of men. One squad was 
going up and the otlier doAvn the road, and in this squad I recognized 
Mr. Goldman; and just then I heard them shout, “Mount your horses, 
men,” and then I saAv Goldman and one or tAvo other men AAuth him that 
I knew. 

Q. About how many men Avere there ?—A. I do not know. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF REBECCA ROSS. 


189 


Q. White men ?—A. Yes, sir; there was a good many, because 1 saw 
them. Some of them was on tliis side of the levee, and some on the 
other side of Fairfax’s house. 

Q. Where were you when the affair commenced ?—A. I run outdoors 
when the firing commenced—down the back way. 

Q. Did you go out from the kitchen ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you last see Fairfax at that time t—A. I did not see him 
any more after he run from the kitchen; and I heard white men say, 
^‘Yonder, see the son of a bitch Fairhixj” and then he was going out 
of the kitchen. 

Q. Had there been any trouble in that neighborhood between the 
whites and colored i)eople during this summer; do you remember any¬ 
thing about armed white men coining there?—A. Yes, sir; there was a 
team of them came there. , 

Q. Where did you go after that night ?—A. I staid with the white 
people one i^art of the time, because I was so frightened after I was over 
to Fairfax’s. I was obliged to stay away, because they said all that was 
at Fairfax’s that night they were going to kill because they did not kill 
Mr. Fairfax. 

Q. Did you see any colored peo]de who were shot or killed in the 
parish last fall after they were killed ?—A. Yo, sir, I did not see any that 
were shot, only these that came down here. 

Q. Did you see any armed white men in the i^arish about that time ?— 
A. Yes, sir; a team of them. 

Q. How many ?—A. I could not tell yon. 

Q. Were they on horseback?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know any of them?—A. Yo, sir; I did not know any of 
those strange men. 

Q. What were they called ?—A. “ Franklinites.” 

Q. What were those Franklinites doing when you saw them?—A. 
They were going out from the town to kill colored people. They take 
them and hang them up by the necks in the woods and shoot them. 

Q. Did you see any other armed white men except those that came 
up to Fairfax’s house and these ‘‘Franklinites,” as you call them—any 
other armed men in the parish last fall ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What effect did those Avhite men have upon the people? Did they 
stay in their houses or flee to the woods ?—A. Some would stay in the 
woods all night. Sometimes they would go to the colored people’s 
houses at night and take them out and kill them; that is, white men 
would do that. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How many did you say they hung and killed?—A. I did not see 
them; but I heard white people talking about it during the time I was 
with them. 

Q. How far is the road from Mr. Fairfax’s house?—A. I think it is 
about 100 yards, as far as I can guess. 

Q. How’ flir is the levee from his house ?—A. Yot very far from his 
house. 

Q. Is the road between the house and the levee?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. These men that came ui) there were on liorseback ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time?—A. Between 8 and 9 o’clock that night. 

Q. How manv shots did you see fired at Mr. Fairfax?—A. I did not 
see any at all;’ I heard them. I was going out from the back door 
around toward the kitchen, and I heard them shoot. 


190 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


(Tensas 


Q. Did you know any of the men except Goalman?—A. Yes, sir; I 
knew Goalman well. 

Q. Did yon see Flemming Branch at the time there?—A. Yes, sir; he 
was there. 1 was in the room where they were at the time. 

Q. Then you went out and left him in the room?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see him when he was under the bed?—^A. No, sir; I was 
gone when he was under the bed. 

Q. Where did you say you went?—A. I went over to Mr. LeAvis’s house, 
the next neighbor. 

Q. How far Avas that?—A. About one hundred yards, as far as I can 
guess it. 

Q. Was the settlement A^ery thick thereabouts?—A. Yes, sir; a good 
many neighbors around there. 

Q. Hoaa^ far Avas it to Mr. Bass’s ?—A. It was not very far to Mr. Bass’s 
from Mr. Fairfax’s. 

Q. When did you leaA’^e there?—A. I left there the first of November. 

Q. And came here?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IlaA^e you been here ever since?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliat sort of a night was it; you say it AA^as a bright night?—A. 
Yes, sir; it was as light as day. 

Q. Was the house lighted up?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. Fairfax’s house was. 

Q. Were all the rooms lighted?—A. I think all but two, where they 
slept in. 

Q. When did you see Mr. Fairfax the next time after that?—A. I saw 
him the second day after they shot on Sunday. 

Q. Did you go back there that night after you went to Mr. Lewis’s ?— 
A. No, sir; I did not go back any more until the next morning, and 
then I iieA^er went back there any more. 

Q. Did you see Daniel Kennedy there?—A. Yes, sir; and William 
Singleton there that night. 

Q. Did you see Mr. Kennedy after he was shot ?—A. Yes, sir; I saw 
him every Aveek. 

Q. Did you see Willie Singleton after he AA^as killed?—A. Yes, sir; 
he came right where Ave Avere that night. 

Q. Hoav long did he live after he Avas shot ?—A. I do not know; he 
lived for more than a Aveek—tAA’^o weeks anyhow. 

Q. Did he walk over there hunself?—A. Yes, sir; he walked over 
there. 

Q. Did he go to bed unmediately after getting to Mr. Lewis’s ?— 
A. Yes, sir; he Av^ent and laid right across the bed; he was speechless, 
because he was shot very bad through the arm. He could not ansAver 
any questions we asked him. 

Q. Did you see the shooting of Captain Peck ?—A. No, sir; but I 
heard about it. 

By Mr. Kiukavood : 

Q. Why AA'ould you go away from Tensas ?—A. Because I heard the 
white people said tliat night that all the colored people that Avere there 
at Fairfax’s that night Avere going to be killed; and I kneAv I Avas there, 
and so I Avent aAvay. 

Q. Have the people all gone away from Fairfax’s ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
belieA^e they are all here. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Who told you that you Avere to be badlv dealt with—those that 
were at Fairfax’s?—A. I heard it from a colored lady-Frances Davis 
told me about it. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF VIOLETTA WALLACE. 


101 


i 


VIOLETTA WALLACE. 

New Orleans, January 8, 1879. 

Violet A Wallace (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. CAivieron : 

Question. Where do yon live?—Answer. I am li\dng here now. 

Q. Where did you live last October ?—A. I lived in Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long had you lived there since that time ?—A. I had been 
living there for many years. 

Q. Do you know Alfred Fairfax?—A. Yes, sir; 1 lived with him. 

Q. How long have you known him ?—A. About nine years. 

Q. He is a minister of the gospel ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you at his house on the 12th of October last when it was at¬ 
tacked by these armed men ?—A. Yes, sir; I was right in the house. 

Q. Now you may state what you heard and saw at that time ?—A. I 
was sitting in the front gallery, and Mrs. Fairfax, she says, ^‘Vi, who is 
that coming across the levee ? ” and 1 says, ‘‘ Some boys.” “ No,” says 
she, they are men.” I went in the house and says, “ Mr. Fairfax, the 
white men are coming”; and he run to get his gun, and Mrs. Fairfax 
says, “ Who are you, and what do you want ?” By that time they had 
come up, and they says, “We want Fairfax,” and she says “What do you 
want with him ?” and they said, “We want to arrest him.” He stood in 
the kitchen door and I stood right by him. Tliey spied him and tliey 
commenced to curse him, and said, “ There is the damn son-of-a-bitch,” 
and they fired at him and missed him, and I pulled him out by the tail 
of his coat, and he went out and around the house, and I went across 
the levee to Mr. Lewis’s liouse. 

Q. How many armed men were there ?—A. I do not know; I was so 
frightened I did not take any notice. After I got over there to Mrs. 
Lewis’s, I heard them cursing, and there was a squad went down the 
road—another squad up the road; and in the squad that went down the 
road I saw Mr. Goalman. I have known him nine years. 

Q. Did Mr. Fairfax fire any shots ?—A. No, sir; because he did not 
have time to shoot. I know that, because I was standing right by him. 

Q. Where did you go after the attack was o^ er ?—A. 1 still staid with 
Mrs. Lewis. 

Q. Did you see any persons who were shot in the house after they 
were shot?—A. Yes, sir; tliis young man, Willie Singleton, staid there. 
He came over home after he got shot. 

Q. How old a man is he ?—A. A young man about 20. 

(^. Did you see the white man who was shot after he was killed ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Did you continue to live at Mrs. Lewis’s after that took place ?—A. 
No, sir ; I only staid there that night; after that niglit I left there. 

Cl. Where did you go then ?—A. Up to Mr. Bass’quarters; it is on the 
the same place. 

Q. Had there been any disturbance between the whites and colored 
people before that time?—A. No, sir; everything Avas A-ery quiet. 

Q. Had you heard anything before that time about white men coming 
to attack Fairfax ?—A. "Yes, sir; we heard it. 

Q. What did you hear ?—A. We heard they were coming there some¬ 
time, but we did not believe it, and Mr. Fairfax we tried to get away 
from home, but he said he did not belieA^e it; he stuck out that he did 
not belieA^e it. 


192 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did any firing occur when you were at Bass’ quarters ?—A. Yes, 
sir 5 they say it was Mr. Begistei’s men that came down and shot doA\Ti 
Bass’ lane. I heard the shooting myself and heard the bullets falling 
at the quarters. Everybody left the quarters and went up in the house. 

Q. How long was tliat after the attack on Fairfax’s house A. I 
think it was the next week after that. They say there was two men 
wounded. 

Did you see the men called Eegister’s men '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many were there ?—A. Some say 80 and some say 90. I do 
not know how many. 

Q. Were those armed that you saw ?—A. Yes, sir j all of them. 

Q. Were they white men !—A. White men. 

Q. Were they on foot !—A. Yo, sir ; they were on horses. 

Q. Did you hear anything they said at the time ?—A. I^o, sir. 

Q. How far away from them were you !—A. I was inside and they 
were in the road on their horses. 

Q. What did the colored people in the quarters do when they com¬ 
menced firingf—A. They run up in Bass’house, up stairs; the house 
was crowded. 

Q. Did you ever see any armed white men riding through the parish 
excei>t at that time?—A. Yes, sir; when I left there they were riding 
around killing people. 

Q. How long since you left there ?—A. I have been here about two 
mouths. 

Q. Did you leave after or before election day f—A. Before the elec¬ 
tion. 

(^. But you saw them riding around through the imrish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see all those that were killed ?—A. I did not see any of 
them that were killed; but I know a right smart number were killed. 
There was Monday Hill, Kobert Williams, and Dick Miller. There ai^e 
two or three more that I am very well acquainted with—Mr. Postway 
and Jim Stanford. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Others besides?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Gamier on : 

Q. Who were they killed by ?—A. They say they were killed by the 
bulldozers. 

Q. All the armed men you saw riding through the parish were white 
men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see the negroes bulldozing around the country?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Where did the negroes go ?—A. They went to the woods. 

Q. They were frightened and went to the woods ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know what the names of the two men were that were shot 
in Bassas’s quarters?—A. There was one man shot there, and that was 
Charlie Bethel. I saw him myself after he was killed. He was shot and 
his throat was cut 

Q. Was he shot and his throat cut at the time that Register’s men 
came down there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When was he shot ?—A. He was shot after they had been there. 

Q. Where was he shot?—A. He was in the house", but they called to 
him, and he jumj)ed out of the window, and then somebody shot him, 
and he fell, and then they cut his throat. You may just as well say they 
cut his head off, it was so nigh off. 


I^ariah.] TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 195 

Q. When was that; was it before or after the election ?—A. Tt was 
before. 

Q. How long after the attack on Fairfax’s house before Charlie Bethel 
was killed ?—A. About two weeks, I think. 

By Mr. Garland ; 

Q. How many of these men did yon know personally that came np to 
Fairfax’s house'?—A. I don’t know any, I think, that came to the house. 

Q. I understood yon to say that you know Goalman ?—A. I saw him 
going home after they left the house; I saw him going home with his 
gun. 

Q. Were those men on horseback?—A. Yes, sirj all of them were 
riding. 

Q. How many shots were fired at Fairfax ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. You vspoke of one being fired at him ?—A. I know one shot at Mr. 
Fairfax, because he spied him and he says, The son of a bitch,” and 
fired right at him and missed him. 

Q. Was there any other shot fired at him but that one?—A. I do not 
know. 

Q. You pulled him’away, and he made his escape then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do you know that Monday Hill and Dick Miller were killed ?— 
A. Because the people all around there say they were. 

Q. You did not see them ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. You only saw Charlie Bethel?—A. That is all. 

Q. These men you call Eegister’s men 5 who is Kegister ?—A. He is the 
high sherilf of the county. 

Q. Do you know him ?—A. No, sir j I am not personally acquainted 
with him. 

Q. He was sheriff at that time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. These men that came up to Bass’ quarters, were they mounted or 
on foot ?—A. They were on horses. 

Q. William Singleton went over to Bass’ did he, after he was shot?— 
A. He went over home. 

Q. He died there?—A. Yes, sirj he died there. 

Q. He lived at Lewis’s ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see anything of Flemming Branch in the difficulty at 
Fairfax’s house?—A. I did not see until after he was shot the next day. 

Q. You knew he was there ?—A. Yes, sir 5 I saw him the next day. 

Q. About what time ?—A. About twelve o’clock the next day. 

Q. You left Tensas Parish at what time to comedown here?—A. I do 
not know what day of the month it was 5 I got here on Monday and the 
next day it was election day. 


LUCIEY BLAYD. 

Yew Orleans, Jminary 8, 1878. 
Lucien Bland sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. What is your age?—Answer. I am thirty-six years old. 

Q. What is your native State ?—A. I was born in Mississippi, and 
raised in Louisiana. 

Q. What is your business?—A. I am a planter. 

Q. In what place ?—A. In Tensas Parish, Louisiana. 

13 T 



194 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Wliat distance from here by the ordinary method of traveling ?— 
A. I believe it is called 369 miles by river. 

Q. Is there any railroad connection ?—A. No^ sir. 

Q. How long have you lived in Tensas!—A. I have been there, oft 
and on, all my life. 1 lived up the Yazoo, for five or ten years. 1 left 
Mississippi when I was quite a boy. 

Q. Were you in the late war!—A. I was; I belonged to the Twelfth 
Mississii)pi Confederate cavalry. 

(i. How long were you in the service ?—A. About twelve months. 

Q. What position did you hold !—A. A soldier. 

Q. Have you taken any part in political matter in Tensas!—A. Never 
l)efore this campaign. 

Q. Hid you in this campaign !—A. Yes, sir; I was independent can¬ 
didate for sherift*. 

Q. What have been your politics heretofore !—A. Always Hemocratic. 

Q. At what time were you announced as an independent candidate!— 
A. After the Democratic ticket was nominated in Saint Joseph, which 
was nominated by four or five men Avithout the calling of a convention. 
They si)lit the ticket in Tensas, and nominated an independent ticket, 
which was indorsed by the colored people. 

Q. How many colored voters are there in Tensas!—A. About 2,500. 

Q. How many Avhites !—A. Between four and six hundred. 1 tliink 
that is about the vote of the i)arish. 

Q. Give your exi)erience during this your first political campaign in 
that parish.—A. My impression is, our ticket would have been elected 
if there had been a fair election. The only difference in the tw o tickets 
between the men was that the regular-Democratic ticket had put on two 
men who had been notoriously connected with the Bepublican party, 
and the other party didn’t propose to support them ; the colored people 
got mad and Avouldn’t go with them; that caused a,split and the col¬ 
ored people voted the independent ticket; that is, they would have voted 
it to a man if they had been allowed to. 

Q. Was that independent ticket elected !—A. No, it was defeated; 
at least, the other side was counted in. 

Q. Were the negroes alloAved to vote !—A. At all the polls that I Avas 
at they aa ere allowed to vote. 

Q. Do you know of any efforts being made to i)revent them!—A. 
Not of my 0A\n knoAvledge. 1 liaA^e heard of such efforts being made. 

Q. Where!—A. In the fourth ward and in other wards ; most of the 
trouble was not on election day, but on the day before and the night be¬ 
fore the election. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How^ did you hear of that, Mr. Bland !—A. I saAv a part of it. 

Q. I thought you said that they Avere all permitted to vote, so fiir as 
you knew !—A. I aa us speaking iioaa of the day before election. On the 
day of election, I think, everybody A oted that wished to do so except, 
perliaps, a feAc w ho could not find their names on the roll. I saw sev¬ 
eral who said they had registered, but their names could not be found 
on tlie roll. There w^ere other persons wiio wT.iit u}) to vote, but Avere 
not alloAATHl to vote because it was said that they had voted. 

Q. ^Tiat Avas the trouble the day before!—A^ I was at Dr. Weather¬ 
ly’s, fifteen miles from Saint Joseph; there A\as a meeting held there; a 
lot of men came there Avho said they represented the sheriff* and wanted 
to make some arrests. They stopped in front of the gate; one of the 
parties told me he had come there to hear the speaking. 


Parish. 


TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 


195 


Q. Was there any speaking?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Why not ?—A. The people did not come, I suppose because they 
thouglit there would not any speaking be allowed. 

Q. You suppose so ?—A. I know it. 

Q. How do you know it ?—A. I am satisfied of it. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You may state why you think so.—A. When I see a body of men 
come to a political meeting of the opposite party armed, I think it is for 
the purpose of breaking up that meeting. 

Q. How many of these armed men came there?—A. Sixteen or eight¬ 
een. . ^ 

Q. Plow Avere they armed?—A. Generally Avith Winchester rides. 

Q. How did they come—on foot, on horseback, or in buggies?—A. In 
buggies. I saw others pass by before. 

Q. Had they gone to attend some other political meeting?—A. I do 
not knoAv. 

Q. What were the iiolitics of these sixteen armed men?—A. I suppose 
they were opposed to the independent ticket. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You suppose so?—A. Yes, sir; I didn’t know; they didn’t talk like 
men who Avere supjiorting our ticket. There were only tAAm tickets in 
held; both had on them the name of Floyd King and John S. Young for 
Congress. 

Q. Both the independent and the Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How large is Tensas Parish in length and breadth?—A. I do not 
knoAv; it is a large parish. One of the largest cotton-parishes in the 
State. 

Q. Did you know of any disturbance -or killing of people ?—A. Not 
of my own knoAA ledge. 

Q. You did not see anybody killed?—A. No, sir; but I heard of it. 

Q. Where did it puriiort to hawe been done ?—A. At Waterproof. 

Q. How far do you live from Waterproof?—A. Forty-five or fifty 
miles. 

Q. When did the killing, or the supposed killing, occur at Water-^ 
jiroof ?—A. I think on the 14th of NoA' ember. 

Mr. Cameron. Not after ejection ? 

The Witness. No, sir; just before the election. It Acas the day the 
(X)lored people held their coiiA^eiition, AAFich Avas held back of Water¬ 
proof, on the 14th. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Gf October, was it not ?—A. Perhaps so, sir. I could tell by re¬ 
ferring to my notes. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say the independent ticket aams not declared elected?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv what the A^o"e was as certified to by the officers?— 
A. No, sir. I have never seen the returns. 

Q. You do not knoAV, then, Avhat proportion of the Amte they claim to 
hav^e receiAmd ?—A. I think they claim 1,700 imijority. 

Q. Were you in the saaie Amting-precinct with Mr. McGill ?—A. I was. 

Q. Do you know how many votes were returned as being from your 
A'oting-precinct ?—A. Not exactly. I distributed a great many tickets. 
1 saAA^" many going to the boxes. " I asked for a copy of the election law, 


196 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas 


thinking the votes would he counted in the presence of the voters. The 
ballots for the independent ticket had been placed on the toj) of the 
box. When the boxes were opened none of those tickets were found on 
the to]). I thought that if they were not on top they coidd not be in there 
at all, and 1 went off. I distributed about 350 votes myself. 

Q. Yon know that some of them Avere voted A. I saAV some of them 
go into the boxes; how many I could not swear. 

Q. Did you see more than fourteen go in?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. So, seeing that the Amtes Avhich you knew had been put into the 
box were not there, you made up your mind the thing Avas uj), and quit? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there some other white men with you in this movement for 
an independent ticket?—A. A good many, sir; some ot the Avealthiest 
men of the parish. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Carpet-baggers or nath^es?—A. There were no carpet-baggers 
with us, sir. 

By the (yHAiEXiAN: 

Q. They AA^ere all uatiA’^es?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They A\ ere interested Avith you in the success of this moA^ement?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It Avas a lAurely local fight, if I understand it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Y^ou Avere all supi)orting the Democratic member of Congress—A. 
Y^es, sir. 

Q. At this meeting to which armed men came, was it proposed to liaA^e 
some speaking in the interest of the independent moA^ement?—A. Yes, 
sir; Ave had called a meeting for that purpose, and they came to pre- 
A-ent it. General Floyd King came shortly after the meeting dispersed, 
and assured the people that there Avould be no trouble; that nobody 
would be disturbed; that there would.be a fair and i^eaceable election. 

Q. You say this AA^as after the meeting had dispersed?—A. Yes, sir; 
he said this to the feAv people that AA^ere left there. 

Q. What ticket Avas he supi>orting ? —A. I think, sir, he was on the 
fence and didn’t kuoAV wliich ticket to support. 

Q. Did anybody run against him in that Congressional district?—A. 
John T. Ludeling, of Fairfax, was a candidate, but there AA^as no ticket 
with his name on it in the held there. 

Q. Did you see any other bodies of armed men?—A. Yes, sir. The 
night I AATiit in to Saint Joseph an armed body of men visited my room— 
I supx:)ose for the luirpose of taking the tickets aAAmy from me.' 

Q. What did they say ?—A. Kot a great deal; tliey aa anted me to 
come out of doors and listen to a A ery a iolent si)eecli that aauis being 
made by 3Ir. Cordill, in AAdiich he said lie AAould take me out and break 
my neck. He said he Avould hold me res^ionsible if there aatis any 
trouble in the parish, AAdiich I thought Avas very unfair and unkind; any 
drunken man might have shot a negro. 

Q. AYas there any trouble from your men?—A. I neA^er saAV any 
trouble in our end of the iiarish. 

Q, The men aa lio Av ere supporting the independent moA^ement AA ere not 
making any threats?—A. i iieA^er heard of any. 

Q. I)id you see any bodies of armed men ?—A. I did. The day after 
the Fairfax trouble the colored men Avere A^ery much frightened. Then 
I saw tAA elve or fourteen men armed. I asked them AAdiere they Avere 
going. They didn’t seem to know AA^here. 1 told them to put their guns 


TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 197 

away; that they couldn’t protect themselves j that the white men would 
protect them. They did put away thejr guns. 

Q. What was the result of the trouble at Waterproof!—A. There 
'were flying rumors, very much exaggerated and multiplied, until it was 
said that hundreds of the colored people had been killed there. 

Q. That excited the negroes!—A. Yes, sir5 and if it had not been for 
the independent movement in Tensas there might have been a great deal 
of trouble. 

Q. Why!—A. Parties were issuing warrants and arresting men inno¬ 
cent of any crime or of any charge; at least of any crime except that 
ot participating in the independent movement. I saw parties of men 
going to make arrests. We protested against the arrests, saying the 
men had done no harm, and we would see that they did none. 

Q. Did they arrest any of these men !—A. They did, sir. 

Q. How often did they come up with armed men!—A. I saw but one 
body of armed men come to make arrests; after that protest against it 
they went away. I didn’t see the men myself. I was fearful they were 
going to have a difiiculty with us. We exchanged, not exactly flags of 
truce, but we came to an understanding with them so that they went 
away. 

Q. Did you expect they were coming to attack your men!—A. I was 
told so; I was told that my life was threatened, and that if we went 
into a convention and nominated a ticket we would never go out of it 
alive. 

Q. Who told you that!—^A. A member of the Democratic central 
committee. 

Q. Did he tell you that to deter you from going in !—A. That is what 
I suppose. 

Q. Where was your convention held!—A. In the Grange Hall, about 
three hundred yards above Yewelton. 

Q. Was that convention composed entirely of colored men !—A. There 
was not a colored man in it. 

Q. Were they all white men!—A. Yes, sir; the colored men had in¬ 
dorsed the ticket prior to its being nominated in convention. 

Q. How did they do that!—We had made the leading members on 
the ticket so that there would be no color-line drawn; so that it could 
not be said that there was a color-line between the races. The colored 
people had agreed to support this independent ticket although it was 
composed entirely of white men. 

Q. Were the men upon your ticket respectable men—men of charac¬ 
ter, men of property, &c.!—A. Yes, sir; they were all planters; I be¬ 
lieve none of them had ever been in politics before. The night that I 
was in Saint Joseph, when these parties came into my room in a threat¬ 
ening attitude, I made a demand on the sheriff, my friends telling me 
my life was in danger. I asked him if he could secure us a fair election. 
He said he could not. I asked him if he could protect me. He said he 
could not and would not do it. From that I supposed he was in favor 
of the other ticket. 

Q. Wlio was it that you said made a threatening speech on the 
levee !—A. Judge Gordill. 

Q. He was judge of what court!—^A. He was parish judge. 

Q. Of what parish !—A. Tensas Parish. 

By Mr. Camebon : 

Q. Were the commissioners who held tlie poll at your precinct Ee- 
publicans or Democrats!—A. They were Democrats. 


198 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. AVliicli ticket did you understand they would support—regular or 
independent!—A. The regular ticket. The commissioners were not 
appointed from the country, but from the town of Saint Josephy I was 
told by a member of the police jury that there never was a (piorum to 
appoint them. 

Q. It is the duty of the police jury, under the law, to appoint the 
commissioners !—A. I am told that it is. 

Q. According to your best judgment, what number of votes were cast 
at the poll in favor of the independent ticket ?—A. I could not testify 
as to the exact number of votes. 

Q. I did not expect you to testify accurately, but as nearly as you can 
estimate.—A. I should say 250 at that poll. 

Q. How many, as you understand it, Avere reported by the election 
commissioners as having been cast?—A. I do not know how many were 
returned. At poll No. 1—my brothers were there—they kept tally-sheets, 
and they saw 445 ballots cast; 15 of these were cast for the regular 
ticket, tiie balance for the independent ticket. The commissioners re¬ 
turned 50 majority against the independent ticket. 

By Mr. Harland : 

Q. You say your brother kept a tally-sheet ?—A. Yes, sir—outside of 
the commissioners’ room, not inside. 

Q. He was not one of the election officers that day?—A. No, sir. At 
the close of the polls he demanded that the votes should be counted in 
the presence of Avitnesses. The commissioners told him that they were 
kings to-day, and they wouldn’t count the Amtes in the presence of wit¬ 
nesses ; and they returned the ballot-box to Saint Joseph without count- 

Q. You were a candidate for sheriff then, I understand?—A. I was. 

Q. You say you neA^er saw the sixteen or eighteen men who went 
to make tlie arrests?—A. No, sir; the deputy sheriff told me he did. 

Q. Hid anybody attempt to make a speech that day ?—A. You haA^e 
got two things mixed. I saw the men at the meeting; but the men that 
went to make the arrests I didn’t see. 

Q. At the time that you supposed somebody was intimidated from 
speaking, did anybody make a speech?—A. I heard a gentleman say he 
had come to hear the speaking. 

Q. Are you acquainted with this gentleman, Oordill?—A. I am. 

Q. Hoav long has he lived in Tensas ?—A. He was born and raised in 
Tensas. 

Q. What are his politics ?—A. He has been on both sides of the fence. 

Q. Has he got along well by being on both sides ?—A. I think the 
parish never got along better. 

Q. He is now a Democrat and in the legislature here, is he not ?—A. He 
is; lie was a Eepublican judge before. ^ 

Q. It was he that made the speech, as you understand, in which he 
said that he would not hold the colored peojile, but would hold you and 
somebody else responsible, if there was any trouble there ?—A. Yes, sir; 
and I sent a friend of mine to Mr. Oordill, and said he ought not to for¬ 
get himself so far as to make such a speech as that, and he said a card 
that we had Avritten was the cause. 

Q. What was the nature of that card; what did it contain?—A. I 
think ill that card I charged him with being a Kepublican and the off- 
scouring of the Kepublican party, and denounced him for the course he 
had taken. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 


199 


Q. And lie didn’t like that ?—A. 1 think not; it was a pretty bitter 
card, sir. 

Q. Yonr chief objection was that he was a Eepnblican, was it ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How many voters are there in yonr jiarish ?—A. I think about 
2,500 colored and between 400 and 000 whites : that would make between 
3,000 and 3,100 voters in all. 

Q. Do yon recollect the return of votes at this last election !—A. I do 
not, exactly; I was told that there were about 1,700 majority against the 
independent ticket. 

Q. I meant the aggregate vote of the parish ?—A. I do not know the 
aggregate vote. 

Q. Conld you not come within fifty or one hundred of it I —A. I could 
not. 

Q. Was there 2,700 or 3,000 ?—A. I conld not answer as to numbers. 

Q. Was there any remarkable diminution in the number of the votes 
as compared a\ ith the previous election ?—A. I do not think that so 
many men voted at this last election as usually, sir. 

Q. How much did it lack f —A. I could not say. 

Q. Gould you not form an estimate ?—A. Only in regard to the neigh¬ 
borhood where I live, sir. There was, I am satisfied, one-sixth of my 
people who did not vote at all. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

You say some messages were exchanged between you and the man¬ 
agers. of the Democratic canvass, both sides being apprehensive of a 
difficulty ?—A. I do not think I said that both sides were apprehensive 
of a difficulty. 

Q. But there were messages exchanged with a view to prevent a col¬ 
lision ?—A. Well, yes, sir. Those parties who were sent to Newelton 
were sent to attack us in the house. I was told not to go there. We 
met Colonel Warfield and came to an understanding, and they didn’t go 
there. They w^ere sent there for the purpose of attacking us. 

Q. You sent messages to Warfield, and the attack didn’t take place ?— 
A. I never saw these men. Colonel Warfield went down and met them. 

Q. Whom did he meet ?—A. He met Wade E. Young, who had come 
there for tlie purpose of taking the men away from there, and said they 
had no business there. Colonel Warfield said they didn’t come there 
for the purpose of intimidation, but to suppress riot and turmoil and 
trouble , and there being no riot and turmoil and trouble, he would go 
away. 

Q. Was riot and turmoil and trouble apprehended ?—A. You could 
apprehend anything if a man would keep getting up tales. They said 
I was getting up a collision between the colored and the white people. 

Q. I understand you to say that the night before the election Judge 
Cordill declared in a public speech that if a collision did take place, and 
bloodshed did follow, he would hold you responsible for it, and not the 
colored people ?—A. Yes, sir; and he said the best thing that could be 
done would be to take me out, the son of a bitch, and break my neck 
then; but when they were making all the trouble themselves I could 
not see why I should be held responsible for it. 

Q. You were one of the defeated candidates ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And feel a little sore ?—A. 1 feel a great deal sorer that my friends 
and neighbors, whom I was born and raised among, should charge me 
with crime when I was not guilty and they were. 


200 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


By tlie Chairman : 

Q. Mr. Bailey asked you if you sent a luesseuger to prevent a collision; 
was there any talk of a collision on your part?—A. When we went to 
hold the convention we were notihed that if we did hold a convention 
we never should come out alive 5 we Avere notihed of this by Mr. Farrar 
and others, with a number more of Democrats from Saint Josejih. We had 
been standing on our arms—Avhite men, not colored men—for two or three 
days, watching for fear we were to be attacked. They said we Avere try¬ 
ing to lead the colored men against the whites, Avhen it was no such thing. 
During the war Ave had some difficulty Avith some of the back people, who 
Avere robbers, and were afraid of trouble. When these strange men, forty 
or hfty of them, came our AAmy, we thought they Avere coming to our 
house; aa^c gathered our band of AAffiite men together and exchanged 
wliat Ave might call flags of truce. 

Q. How many Avhite men came out ?—A. IVenty or thirty. 

Q. AVhat were their i)olitics ?—A. They Avere Democrats supporting 
the indeiiendent tickets. 

Q. They didn’t claim to be Republicans?—A. No; for they ha\^e al- 
Avays A'oted tlie Democratic ticket. 

Q. Judge Cordill is a Achite man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is tliat the card you referred to ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Please read it. 

[T e Avdtness read the card, as follows:] 


CARD» 


TO THE PEOPLE OF TENSAS PARISH. 


Bi'cause we took issue witli tlie executive committee’s riglit to uomiiiate a ticket 
for the peoiile of this parish, a portion of which ticket was recruited from the Re])ub- 
licau ranks; because we declined the offcasts of the Republican party, C. C. Cordill 
nnd John Register, to be our standaril bearers, and refused to recognize them as Dem- 
ocr.ats deserving the support of the Democratic party for any office, we were de¬ 
nounced as haying drawn the color line, and ready to lead the negroes against onr 
triends and neighbors to murder their women and children, to burn, pillage, and de¬ 
stroy. We were denied access to the columns of the North Louisiana Journal to refute 
such scandal, aiyl give the lie direct to any and all such accusations. We were left 
l»owerless to detend ourselves to strangers. Our friends and acupiaintances needed no 
refutation ; theA" knew us to be incapable of these things, as we have always held the 
]»osition of gentlemen ami men of honor. Our fair name has been assailed b^- dema¬ 
gogues and slanderers, and Ave take this means to brand all such as have spread these 
reports as liars and scoundrels of the vilest order. We are accused and held responsi¬ 
ble as being the cause of the late disturbance. We have been alwaA’^s in favor of peace 
and quiet, and we are preqiared to prove our innocence in the matter, and can saddle 
the blame where it justly rests. We have the proof readv; whenever called upon will 
produce it. ‘ 

(Sil?ued) j. s. DOUGLASS, 

L. BLAND,* 

E. WARFIELD, 

A. ROLLINS, 

J. R. WEATHERLY, 
ROBT. PERCY, 

A. BLAND, 

C. B. MUIR, 

D. MUIh, 

W. D. ROLLINS, 

and others. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 


201 


LUCIEN BLAND. 

New Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

Lucien Bland recalled. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Can yon explain to the committee what the system of quar¬ 
antine was up there—at what time it commenced ?—A. No, sir; I can¬ 
not tell the exact time when the quarantine commenced. As soon as 
the yellow fever was reported as being bad at Vicksburg we established 
a quarantine against outside communication, against steamboats and 
travel. There was no quarantine in the parish against the neighborhood 
until a few days before the convention met at Saint Joseph; it was then 
rejiorted that there was considerable yellow fever at Dr. Weatherly’s 
Osceola i^lace. I had some business with Dr. Weatherly, and went 
down into the neighborhood to see him. I went on the island and staid 
all night with Mr. McGill. I told McGill I thought there was no yellow 
fever at Weathering’s; that it was nothing but a political move, to make 
a sham quarantine for the interest of politics. I went to Tullis’s at the 
same time. Tullis said he had seen parties carried out from Dr. Weath¬ 
erly’s place, and was sure the yellow fever was there. I said I would 
like to see Weatherly. He objected. I went down towards Saint Jo¬ 
seph. I hired a horse and went to Dr. Weatherly’s place. On the way I 
met a negro. I gave him half a dollar, and wrote Weatherly a note 
and asked him to meet me under a tree. I had had the yellow fever 
myself, and so was not afraid of it. When Dr. Weatherly arrived 
within twenty steps of me I stopped him, and told him to come no 
farther. I was afraid I would be quarantined and not allowed to go 
ba(?k home. I attended to the business I had with him, talked over the 
matter of yellow fever with him, and then asked him to give me a cer¬ 
tificate that he had no yellow fever on his i)lace. This is the certificate 
that he gave me. I had heard that the quarantine was going to be used 
for political purposes before. There Avas no strict quarantine in the par¬ 
ish until after the Democratic executive committee had selecte<l their 
ticket. Many people had been allowed to come into the parish. Oordill 
had come into the parish. 

Q. Did the impression go out in the parish that th e quarantine had 
been established or was being used for political purposes ?—A. I think 
pretty nearly everybody understood it was being used fbr political pur¬ 
poses. I told Weatherly I thought the best way to break up that qiiar- 
antine was to send for Dr. Greenville for a consultation. I do not think 
that Greenville ever thought it was yellow fever. I knew Weatherly 
had been through three or four seasons of yellow fever. 

Q. You testified ha\ing seen Kinney with some men !—A. I did. 

Q. Who were Avith you?—A. Kollins, McGill, Bland, my brother, 
James D. McGill, and a dozen other white men were there. 

Q. At one time you served a notice on Kinney; when was that?—A. 
That notice was served at Mr. Douglass’s house. Kinney came there 
and stated that he had a notice for the arrest of Coolidge, Walker, 
and- 

Q. What Walker?—A. Eobert J. Walker. 

Q. The man Avho testified here the other day ?— A. Yes, sir; he said 
he Avas going to arrest these men. We said, They have done no harm; 
to arrest them may engender a spirit of resistance among the negroes. 
They have done no Avrong and don’t intend to do any. To arrest them 
will only stir uj) strife and hard feeling.” 



202 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Bid yon serve tlie notice ?—A. I did. 

Q. Bow many men did he have with him at the time ?—A. He iiad no 
men with him; he had left them back a ways. 

Q. How many men were there in his company!—A. I dididt see the 
men. I heard Colonel Warheld say there were twenty-five of them under 
Captain Cann, or McCann, I am not certain whicli. 

Q. Was Mr. Warfield present at that time also!—A. Yes, sir j and a 
great many other gentlemen were present. 

Q. Have yon with yon a copy of the notice which yon served on War- 
field !—A. I have. 

Witness produced the notice, which is as follows: 


Lake Place, October 18 , 1878 . 

Mr. C. S. Kinney, 

Deputy Sheriff of Tensas Parish: 

We, the undersio’iied, citizens and white men of this pavisii and the immediate^ local¬ 
ity, do specially request that you will not arrest the persons of Robert J. Walker, 
William Coolidj^e, and Noah Kelley, there being no demonstration made by them what- 
eviu' up to this time, and we do lirmly believe that they do not intend to make any in 
future; and Ave believe that, should these arrests be made, it will engender a spirit of 
resistance among the negroes, Avhich we white men and citizens do not wish to make. 

WILLIAM D. ROLLINS. SMITH G. WILSON. 

L. BLAND. E. WARFIELD. 

A. BLAND. J. S. DOUGLASS. 

A. SHULTZINGER. ,1. R. WEATHERLY. 

S. S. ROLLINS. W. X. FOURHEE. 

A. ROLLINS. A. DOUGLASS. 


Q. In addition to giving him that pa])er, what did yon state to Mr. 
Kenney !—A. I told liim it was wrong to make those arrests ; that these 
men liad done no liarm. Kenney said he did not care to make the 
arrests, but lie had orders to do it. He had rather that they would get 
out of the way, so that they would not have to arrest them ; he did not 
want to see the])Oor devils incarcerated in jail or hurt in any way. He 
said he was deputy sheriff, and. had to execute his warrants j but he 
rather tliey would get out of the way. 

Q. What was it they had done !—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Bid Kenney show you any warrants !—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Bo you know whether he really had any warrants or not!—A. 
Ko, sir ; I don’t know. 

Q. Were these men intelligent colored men, active in politics!—A. 
Yes, sir; they have always been politicians—been used as speakers. 

Q. You heard Mr. Walker testify j^esterday j is he one of their lead¬ 
ing men !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he a property owner !—A. Yes, sir ; he owns a farm there. He 
bought a piece of property from Mr. Smith and lives on it. 

Q. Bid you in this (mnversation state or intimate that you intended 
to defend these men against any unfair attack !—A. I tiiought I had 
enough to do to defend myself. 

Q. Bid you think you were in danger !—A. I had been told that my 
life was in danger. I had been told before coming into that convention 
that we should not hold a convention at Kewelton. 

Q. You thought that meant you as well as the colored peofile !—A. 
I had every reason to suppose so. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Bid not Mr. Kenney tell you that he was acting under the orders 
of the sheriff!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He was deputy under Mr. Kegister !—A. Yes, sir. 


Msh.l TESTIMONY OF LUCIEN BLAND. 203 


Q. But those men with IVIr. Kenney were strangers ?—A. I did not 
see the men. 

Q. Here is a card; I wish yon to look at it, and see if it is a genuine 
card, and one that you helped promulgate and i^ublish to the country. 
(Mr. Bland read the card to himself, and afterward read it aloud.) 


[ ADVEimSEMENT. ] 


To the citizens both of Tensas Parish and of the State of Louisiana : 

Genteemex; It is 'whispered and Ido-wn around that the undeisigned are ne.^ro men, 
and havedrawn the color-line, and taken sides with the negro. Onr position is this: We 
are not willing, nor never will l)e, to see C. C. Cordill and John Register occupy and hold 
office over ns. We cLaim that they were nominated illegally, with the balance of the nom¬ 
inees, by the executive committee of this parish; that the great executive (eight) 
never had the power, nor could they gWe themselves the power, to nominate a ticket 
for the people of our parish. While discussing this matter, we were waited on by the 
leading colored men of our parish and re<piested and begged to nominate a clean white 
ticket of onr best citizens, and they would ])ledge themselves to vote for it; and if we 
refused to do so, then they would nominate a clean black ticket. They said they were 
bound to have revenge on Cordill and Register. Gentlemen, c)ur white peo]>le met in 
our end of the ])arish and consulted together. We all had large families, and of course 
we were very careful what wo did. We came to this conclusion: that if we nominated 
a ticket with Col. ,1. Floyd King at the head, with all the balance of the parish officers 
white and of the best men in the parish, we then could swallow Fairfax (colored) for 
three months in Congress, if necessary, as the great executive (eight) had swallowed 
Cordill for two offices and Register for one. Gentlemen, wo thought then, and do 
still think, that onr ticket meant |)eace and good will for two years more. But we 
have heard these whispers (but can’t tiud the man), so wish to state for all whom it 
may concern, that we are Avhite men, never were radicals, nor never Avill be among 
ns, and we claim to be gentlemen of the first water, and if any man, let him be Avho 
he may, says or intimates otherwise, then they are liars and slanderers, and we are 
ready at any time to prove the same at the mouths of onr rifles. Below you will find 
a copy of our ticket. 

■ S. DOUGLASS. A. ROLLINS. 

IMUIR. W. S. COLE. 

BLAND. COL. E. WARFIELD. 

BLAND. DR. ROBERT PERCY. 

B. MUIR. DR. JNO. R. WEATHERI.Y. 


J. 

D. 

L. 

A. 

C. 

WM. FORSHEE. 


and many others. 


I certify the above is a true copy. 


A. R. CHUMM. 

Grange Hall, 

Tensas Parish, La., October 12, 1878. 
WM. D. ROLLINS, Secretary. 


And after reading the card, Mr. Bland said: ^^Tliat is the card that I 
signed.^’ 

Q. And it was signed by these other gentleman, and published ?—A. 
Yes, sir; the only newspaper We had was in charge of the Democratic 
executive committee, and that paper refused to publish that card, the 
editor saying the fiaper was not under his control and he could not ffub- 
lish it. 

Q. As a matter of fact, was there not a very general apprehension all 
through your parish, during August and September, that the yellow 
fever would visit that country ?—A. There was. 

Q. Did you not apprehend that there would be yellow fever there?— 
A. Yes, sir; from the outside world, not from the inside. We thought 
that so long as we were quarantined against the outside Avorld we were 
safe from any attack of yellow fever from the inside. 

Q. Was there any rumor that there was yellow fever in the parish !— 
A. Just before the election we heard that Dr. AVetherly had the yelhuv 
fever on his ])lace; that there 30 or 40 cases there, but that proved to 
be a mistake. 


204 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. You heard of yellow fever being iu the vicinity of Port Gibson?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far is that from Saint Joseph?—A. Some 15 or 16 miles, 
may be 20 miles. 

By the Cii airman : 

Q. I see that this card is put in the paper as an advertisement?—^A. 
Yes, sir; we sent it to the paper, and asked them to juiblish it and send 
us copies so that we could send it out to the people in the country, but 
they refused to do so. 

Q. Did you have to paj^ for it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the name of the paper in your place ?—A. It is the 
Louisiana Vindicator. 

Q. Is there not another iiaper in that iiarish, the I^^orthern Louisiana 
Journal?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you send the card to them ?—A. We did j but they refused 
to publish it. 

Q. EveiL when you offered to pay them for it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What reason did he give ?—A. That the paper was not under his 
control. 

Q. Did Mr. Henderson, the editor of the paper, write upon it ?—A. He 
promised me that the card should go into the paper. Afterward he 
MTote a letter to me explaining that the jiaper was not under his con¬ 
trol, and he could not publish the card. If he had control of it the card 
would be inserted. 

Q. Was the Journal under the control of the Democratic executive 
committee ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know who composed the Democratic executive committee ? 
—A. I know some of them. 

Q. Give their names.—A. Colonel Beeves was president, and besides 
there was S. C. Saxey, Capt. T. Q. Munce, and my brother, S. Bland, 
was a member of it too. 

Q. You mean he was, in the first place?—A. Yes, sir; I think Judge 
Cordill was admitted as a member the day the convention was held. 
He was not a member before that. It went into secret session, and 
during that secret session my brother withdiew. Mr. I^ewton also with¬ 
drew at the secret session. 

Q. What ticket did this Democratic executive committee support, the 
ticket Mr. Cordill was on ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they reorganize the committee when your brother withdrew ? 
—A. I don’t knoAV what they did. 

Q. Did your brother act with him?—A. He did prior to the split in 
the party there. 


ELISHA WAEEIELD. 

Orleans, January 9,1879. 
Elisha Warfield sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Did you hear Mr. Bland’s testimony with regard to his 
conversation with Mr. Kinney ?—Answer. I did not. 

Q. Were you present when Mr. Kinney came into your neighborhood 
with a posse of men to arrest certain jiarties ?—A. I was. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ELISHA WARFIELD. 


205 


Q. Did you liave any conversation with Mr. Kinney yourself?_A. I 

did ; I wrote that protest myself. 

Q. State what was said and done in that connection.—A. Well, we 
had been threatened by an armed body of men; Kinney came down, 
as one might say, with a sort of Hag of truce; he said h 3 was not going 
to kill ns all; he had only come up therewith his posse of men to arrest 
certain i)arties ; he gave ns the names of those lie had come to arrest. 

I asked him what they had done; he said he didn’t know; he had simply 
been ordered to arrest them and take them to Saint Joseph’s. We 
believed this was done for political purposes. I didn’t believe then, 
and 1 don’t believe now, that it was done for anything else. 

Q. Did yon ask him what charge there was against these men?—A. 
He said he only acted on the orders of the sheriff. Then we persuaded 
him that he had better not arrest them. 

Q. How did yon persuade him ?—A. We read a protest, and told him 
that we would not submit to anything of the sort; that this was push¬ 
ing the thing a little too tar. 

Q. What did yon mean Avhen yon said yon would not submit?—A. I 
meant we woidd resist. 

Q. You did not suppose that it was a bona fide arrest ?—A. I am satis¬ 
fied that the men had committed iio crime except that they supported 
onr ticket. I thought our party ought to have manhood enough to pro¬ 
tect men who had served ns, and we intended to do it. 

Q. Yon say yon heard that yon were likely to be attacked; did yon 
give any credence to that ?—A. 1 did. 

Q. Did yon make any preparations for defense?—A. We did. 

Q. What ?—A. We told him that this was entirely a white movement; 
that there were no negroes concerned in it; that this was onr fight, if 
there was fight to be made, for that if anybody was hurt it would be ns. 
We went to work and built up a barricade of cotton bales. 

Q. Where?—xA. At Mr. Douglass’s house, on the banks of the bayou. 
There we exjiected to make a fight, if it was necessary. 

Q. When was that ?—A. I do not really recollect the date; in fact, we 
made two. The first, I think, was on the evening of the 17th, after the 
convention. Onr friends had been there; and friends in Saint Joseph 
had sent a message that onr lives were in danger. We had been told 
by two gentlemen whom we regarded as credible not to go into the 
convention; that we would certainly be killed if we did. 

Q. Did yon believe that yon would be killed ?—A. I believed that if 
we went there we Avonld be attacked. 1 did not think Ave would be 
killed, for I thought Ave Avere too many. 

Q. Yon say yon fortified?—xV. Yes, sir; that evening; but nothing 
came of it, and I believed that the trouble had passed. 

Q. What kind of fortification Avas it ?—A. Of cotton bales. The cot¬ 
ton was taken from a shij). 

Q. Well, state what next occurred.—A. We had all agreed to keep 
AAuthin call of each other—not too far apart, so that Ave could gather on 
short notice—and a day or tAAm afterward there was a body of men came 
up the lake. This Avas one or two^ perhaps three, evenings afterwards. 
We Avere told that they Avere coming to make an attack upon ns. We 
hurriedly got together and put nj) another fortification. It was at that 
time that Mr. Kinney rode down and informed ns that he did not intend 
to make an attack upon ns. 

Q. Was it pretty Avell known that yon Avere going to defend yonr- 
seh es ?—A. 1 think it was pretty aa^cII knoAvii. 


206 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. IIow many men were there coming to make an attack upon you ?— 
A. We heard there were twenty-five coming. 

Q. Armed men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Would you have fought them if they had attacked you ?—A. Most 
assuredly. Had they come, not one of them would have got away. e 

were better armed than they, and we were better men. 

Q. Was there any charge against any man in your crowd ?—A. sir. 

Q. Kinney, in fact, concluded that you were not the men he wanted to 
light ?—A. Yes, sirj I don’t think Kinney Avanted to fight us A ery much. 
They said afterAvards that all they wanted to do Avas to see Avhether Ave 
were ^‘skeert” or not. 

Q. You did not take to the woods, then f—A. Ko, sir. 

By Senator Kirkavood : 

Q. One of the witnesses has said that the reason you Avere not attacked 
Avas because you had a number of Avomeu and children there.=—A. They 
Avere not in the way of an attack, sir. 

By Senator Bailey : 

Q. Was that fortification at Mr. Douglass’s house!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. You say Mr. Kinney Avas deputy sheriff at that time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Under Begister, the regular sheriff ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Kinney stated that he had a writ for the arrest of those par¬ 
ties?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you say you were ready to resist the arrest ?—A. Yes, sir; aa c 
did not intend to let it be done. 

Q. Koav, AAms not all this barricading done siinidy to keep the colored 
lines steady, in order to Amte with you ?—A. Ko, sir; it AAms not. We 
supposed that they had more men, 200 or 300, and that Ave had to make 
up the difference betAA^een 300 and 35." 

Q. Kinney had charge of the posse that was coming to attack you!— 
A. Captain Cann was in command of the posse. 

Q. Who Avas Captain Cann !—A. He was captain of a company from 
Ouachita. 

Q. He did not belong to your parish at all !—A. Ko, sir. I Avent to 
see Cajitain Cann. He said things had been misrepresented to him. 
He had been told that large bodies of armed men Avere inirading the 
country; that he came there and could find none. 

Q. If Cai)tain Cann commanded the company, in what capacity was 
Mr. Kinney there !—A. Mr. Kinney Avas there as deputy sheriff—as a 
sort of coA^er. 

Q. You Avere then making all reasonable efforts to secure the colored 
A^ote for your ticket !—A. Yes, sir. 

. Q. Are you certain that this putting up of cotton bales, &c., was not 
all done for the purpose of holding their A^ote!—A. I knoAA^ that it was 
done for nothing of the sort. I can speak as to that fact, for I had 
command of the men, and I knoAV I did it for our x^iotection—so that 
they could not storm the place. 

Q. There is a card in this x)aper, which Avas read by Mr. Bland, who 
preceded you. Attached to tliat card there is a name ansAA ering to 
yours. Will you look at it and see if it is a genuine card that you 
signed with these other gentlemen !—A. Yes, sir. (After reading the 
card, the Avitiiess continued:) Yes, sir; that card is genuine, and that is 
my name. 


Parish.] 


TES'lIMONY OF JAMES m’gILL. 


207 


JAMES McGILL. 

New Orleans, January 0,1879. 

James McGill sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. How old are you?—Answer. Fifty-eight years. 

Q. Of what State are you a native f—A. Mississipi)i. I was born in 
Claiborne County, Mississippi. 

Q. How long did you live in Mississipj)! ?—A. My father when I was 
a cliild bought property in Louisiana. When I became 21 I went over 
there and took charge of his estate, and have claimed my residence 
there ever since. The most of the time when I was a young man 1 lived 
with my mother. 

Q. What business are you engaged in ?— A. Planting. 

Q. AVere you in the late war?—A. 1 was not. • I did not belong to the 
army. 

Q. Were you a slaveholder before tl^e war?—A. Yes, sir. I was a 
large slaveholder. I owned about one hundred and forty negroes. 

Q. Have you been engaged in politics?—A. No, sir; only as an 
amateur—just for fun, as you may say; but I have never been a candi¬ 
date or made myself conspicuous in politics. I have had my opinions. 
I was an Old-line Whig. I opx)osed secession, but when the war com¬ 
menced I was just as hot a ‘‘reb” as any one. 

Q. You went with the State when the State went ?—A. I did as much 
as I could to help it in the Avay of men and arms. 

Q. Did you take any part in this campaign of 1878?—A. Yes, sir; a 
little; but I was forced into it. 

Q. Give us your experience in this campaign of 1878. Let me ask you, 
first, what party have you acted with since the war ?—A. Neither party es¬ 
pecially. I generally opposed the Kepublican party in xiolitics, because 
I did not exactly agree with them; but I voted with the Democratic 
jiarty and with the Eepublican party. I voted for Grant once in ojipo- 
sition to Greeley. I found myself in the same position this time. I did 
not want to take sides. I voted for Hayes, and voted for Nicholls in op- 
j)Osition to Packard. YVith many I did not agree, because they liked lo 
vote our money away too much and to make too many taxes. 

Q. Now give us your experience this last political campaign?—A. I 
live in Tensas Parish, about six miles from the town of Saint Joseph. 
I did not anticii)ate to be drawn into any iiosition in the way of xiolitics at 
all. I have been a sort of outsider. Both x^arties have rallied me on 
want of faith, and as an old fogy. I never comxiletely affiliated with 
the Democratic party, whom I have always opx^osed, although fre- 
(piently voting for them. I have not joined a Eex^ublican club, but I 
have attended all the Democratic conventions, more because I haxipened 
to be in town that day, and because my friends—life-long friends they 
were—were there. I attended the convention, and heard the resolutions. 
At that time I saw the Democratic executive committee go into secret 
session, and I heard the speech afterwards heard by the president. I 
sx)oke to him afterwards about it, and told him I thought it was entirely 
too denunciatory. I told him I did not think that kind of talk would 
X)acify the black peoxde.. I asked him if those remarks would apx>ly to 
me, and he said, No, to the black peox^le.^^ He said, The ticket nom¬ 
inations are good, and you must vote for them this election, and our 
ticket shall prevail. It shall be elected. If any man opposes it he must 


208 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


stand out of our way, and we will put liiin out of our way.” He said 
that tliree or four times. Tliat is the reason I tliought there would be 
some violence. At that time I was intending to vote the ticket. I 
thought there would be no other. He advised against such in a x)ublic 
si)eech. At the time of this convention there was a x)roi)osition made 
by the Eei)ublican x)arty to the Democrats to affiliate or comx)romise, 
which compromise I understood to be a division of officers. Some of 
them would take some offices and some the others, and they would vote 
the same ticket. I heard a motion made by a member of the Democratic 
committee that we inform the committee who were api)ointed by the 
Eepublican x)arty to wait uiion us that we would admit of no compro¬ 
mise. The i)resident then got ux) and said he would x>eTform his duty, 
and went and announced it to Mr. Faff'et, a colored man, whose name has 
become familiar since. I saw there was no use announcing it, as he was 
present; but he formally announced it to him at the door, in true Con¬ 
gressional style, I suppose. There was a secret meeting, in which the 
X)ublic was not allowed to be x>i*esent, and I left there and attended to 
such matters as I Avished, until my friend Mr. Bland called on me a 
wmek or so afterwards and asked me if I would sux^x^ort him if he would 
run. I remonstrated with my friend; but he has been a life-long friend 
of my own, and the family liaA^e been my friends, and I told him if we 
got ux) a party Ave might succeed, and it Avould be a good thing if we 
could beat tliem. He had my name on the ticket among a number of 
others Avdioin he said were all x)nre Democrats. But he made a mistake 
AA^hen he said they AA^ere all x)ore Democrats, as I was not one of the x)ure 
• Democrats; and I am not a bolter, because I never Avas there to Amte. 
They put me on the ticket, but I declined by letter. They say they did 
not receiA^e the letter. I did not decline on xAolitical grounds at all; but 
I had been a candidate before, and I did not feel disposed to ask them 
to Amte for me a second time, as, indeed, I did not the first time. But 
Ave thought there AAms going to be some trouble. 

Q. Why did you think so ?—A. Common street rumor; I could not 
state hoAv I got hold of it. There Avas a determination to carry that 
ticket any way. 

Q. What ticket ?—A. The ConserAmtive Democratic ticket. I Avent to 
town for the x)nrx)ose of making the compromise again, Imt I got into a 
little difficulty at the quarantine station, and I did not even deliA^er the 
])rox)osition. I thought I could get them to make friends, but I wms 
afraid. The time I went to make this xu’oposition wms the Monday after 
the attack upon Fairfax, in Avliich Peck aa as killed. I had heard Sun¬ 
day evening that there was great excitement there. T heard that Peck 
Axas killed and another man by the name of Baker. On Monday morn¬ 
ing I went doAvn and tried to get into the toAvn, Saint Josexdi. I Avent 
to the town and tried to get through the quarantine station, but was 
refused. Other persons had got through, how^ever, and I did not get 
through. I found there a number of black people in the road, who av ere 
attending the Eepublican convention, which was that A^ery day. I did 
not know it at the time. If I had heard of it at the time, I have since 
forgotten it. They had heard of the attack ipAon Fairfax, and Avere con¬ 
siderably excited. At that time they w^ere not armed. A member or 
delegate from the Eex)ublican club asked me if he could get through. I 
asked him w hat he aa anted, and he said he was a delegate to the con¬ 
vention. He was refused, and told he could not possibly pass. I asked 
Avhat those men were collected on the road above for. He said they were 
coming to the convention. He said he had asked them to stop ux> there, 
because he w as afraid the wdiite people would think they Avere trying to 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J4MES m’gILE. 


209 


force themselves through. TTpou my telling him there was no possibil- 
ity of his getting in, and that the Kepublican convention had been ap¬ 
pointed at some other place, he returned. While he was there some 
things occurred that made me think that my friends of the other party 
had made a singular mistake—that I had brought those negroes over 
myself; and 1 became somewhat excited and angry that any person 
would think such a thing. T saw the sheriff, who had sent a deputy, 
warning all persons who had collected on the road to disperse; that he 
had the means and the power to break them up, and would disperse by 
force any armed mob or body. I told him there were no armed men on 
the road ; that I had passed right through them, and they did not have 
a gun. On my return I stopped at Watson’s, and a large ])arty of armed 
men did arrive there along the road. 

Q. Black men or white men ?—A. Black men. I got a drink of water 
there, and asked my friends there to go down and carry a message to 
the town. I felt it was my duty, as I had told them there were no armed 
men, to correct it, and so I went back and told them that there were 
armed men on the road, and I said I thought I coidd get them to go 
home. Some of my own citizens entreated me to stay, but I said no; I 
had many things of my own to attend to, and I would go home. I met 
the men on the road, and I found somebody there with them—Miss 
Watson, I think—and they were trying to disperse them. They were at 
the head of the lake, about a mile away. I persuaded them by threats, 
and almost violence, to go back. I informed them there were 100 armed 
men from Oatahoochee, and if they did come up there would be violence. 
I used my whip and got them to go back. Some of them belonged on 
my plantation. Such as there were of my o^m I got together that night, 
and told them to what peril they had exposed themselves and these men 
coming in from the back parishes. It was not worth while to discuss 
with them whether it was right or wrong. I did not want to lose my 
negroes, l^ext morning they were quiet and went to work. Four days 
afterwards there was a company of armed men rode over the place and 
had a search warrant for Bobert Slaughter. 

Q. These men were what ?—A. White—about GO of them—all stran¬ 
gers. They were conducted by T. C. Saxe, and I was told they had a war¬ 
rant for the negro. Those men caught Bobert Slaughter on my planta¬ 
tion, although he lived on Watson’s plantation. They went on around 
the town after they got the man. Some of the men committed some 
outrages of a partial character. I believe, however, that to Mr. Saxe I 
am indebted for protecting us to some extent—^for not allowing them to 
go beyond all reason. They broke open some doors and looked around 
for guns and arms. Mr. F. Watson and others rode around with them. 
There was no great outrage done. It Avas merely a demonstration to 
make them feel the power of the white man. Up to that time I sympa¬ 
thized with them, for they did not do any harm, and I wanted them to 
know what the power of the white man was. I did sympathize with the 
movement up to that point. 

Q. What did they do the negro A. They arrested him and 
carried him to town and scared him into fits,” and made him agree to 
vote the Democratic ticket; and the next thing I saw in the paper was 
a card from him that he was going to vote the Democratic ticket. He 
advised all negroes to do it. It was all lawlessness and wrong, but at 
that time I thought it was necessary. I did really think we were in 
danger of a fearful riot at that time. 

Q. What induced the negroes to arm themselves ?—A. The Fairfax 
business, and the way they were trying to get into the Bepublican con- 
14 T 


210 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


veution. Two evenings before the attack on Fairfax was made a mes¬ 
senger came over, calling upon all that were men to stand upon their 
rights and to arm themselves for defense. 

Q. What was this matter in regard to Fairfax ?—A. I know nothing 
of it personally. There are others here who know more ot it than I do. 

Q. What was the report that came to the negroes in that neighbor- 
liood A. Well, that Fairfax was killed, and two or three negroes 
killed, and there was war. It amounted to an attack upon Fairfax by 
Peck and others, and Fairfax resisted and had some nien with him in 
the house, and Peck, who happened to be standing in the light, was 
killed. They made an attack upon Fairfax in his own house. 


J. D. McGILL. 

Hew Orleans, January 7, 1879. 

J. D. McGill sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. In Tensas Parish, Louisi¬ 
ana. 

Q. How long have you resided there !—A. All my life j twenty-one 
years. 

Q. You are twenty-one years old !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your father lives there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In what business is he engaged!—A. He is a cotton-planter. 

Q. What is your business !—A. It is the same, sir j assisting him. 

Q. Are you Ihing at home, then !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you have any knowledge of the conduct of the campaign in 
Tensas Parish in 1878!—A. I did not take much interest in it until late 
in the campaign. 

Q. State what you did and what you saw.—A. Well, they started an 
Independent ticket there, and pretty soon afterward the bull-dozing 
(commenced. 

Q. You supported the Independent ticket!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your father supi)orted it!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any trouble regarding the matter! If so, state wliat it 
was.—A. The night before the election was when the main part of the 
trouble occurred. Several days before that a crowd came up on the 
island from Saint Joseph, headed by one of the deputies; they marched 
around over our place and took one of the negroes out and thrashed 
him. 

Q. What was that done for !—A. To scare the negroes away from the 
I)olls; to keep them from voting; they were on our side, in favor of the 
Independent ticket; they were very much opposed to Cordill. 

Q. Was there a regular Hemocratic ticket in the field!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a Kepublican ticket !—A. Ho, sir; there was no Eepublican 
ticket in the field; they thought of starting one, but when this Independ¬ 
ent ticket was started the negroes all took that up in preference to a Ke¬ 
publican ticket. 

(J. Were there any white men supporting it!—A. There were at first. 

Q. Were any of tliem property OAvners !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What else did you see more than you haA^e already told !—A. On 
Monday, the day before the election, there was going to be a meeting 



Pariah.] 


TESTIMONY OP J. D. m’gILL. 


211 


at I)r. Weatlierly’s; the meeting assembled but the speakers had not 
arrived ; a crowd of men came tliere from toward Lake St. Joseph ; my 
lather and Kollins advised the negroes to disperse and to go home j they 
were afraid there would be bloodslied tliere. 

Q. Were the men who came up there toward Lake St. Joseph armed ‘f — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many of them were there'?—A. Tliere were about eighteen 
ill the first squad. They came in buggies ; a buggy brigade, we called 
them. The negroes were pretty badly scared and went home, and we 
had no meeting. We would liave had a meeting if they had not come 
there with those guns. 

Q. Your father advised them to go away?—A. Yes, sir; he was afraid 
of a fight. ^ ^ ^ 

Q. Y^ou have no personal knowledge of any outrages except what you 
have already mentioned t —A. Except the night before election; we were 
in town and got run out of there, as you might say. 

Q. How were you run out ?—A. Cordill and his party made some vio¬ 
lent threats; Cordill himself got upon the levee and made a speech; 1 
only heard part of it. 

Q, What was the character of the speech?—A. He said, ‘Hf there is; 
any trouble at any of the polls to-morrow we will hold Blunt and Kollins 
jiersonally responsible, and we will go for them.” They were in the room, 
at the time, only a few feet from me. 

Q. Were there other white men there?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

(^. You say that the night before the election some men came on to- 
your father’s plantation and charged around ?—A. No ; it was not the 
night before election ; the night before election I was in town. 

Q. What do you mean by ^‘charged around”?—A. Why, they came and 
ran all over the i>lace, and scared all the negroes off the place; they 
found one in a house, under some hay, where he had tried to hide him¬ 
self from them, and took him out and whipped him. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Had he done anything worthy of punishment ?—A. Ko, sir;, lie had 
only run away from them Avhen he heard they were coming, that is all; 
he iiad run away and hid under a pile of hay ; other negroes ran away 
and succeeded in escaping. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Did you see the whipping ?—A. Ko, sir; I Avas in toAvn. 

Q. How" do you knoAv, then, that he was whipped ?—A. The negro 
told me. 

Q. How long have you knoAAii Cordill?—A. For a long, long while. 

Q. What are his politics?—A. Tavo years ago he was a Kepublican. 

Q. He said if there was an^^ trouble the next day he Avould hold the 
negroes and not the Avhite men responsible ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were you present at the election?—A. I Aims there that evening, 
late; I was afraid to go there before. 

Q. You AA^ere afraid to go?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why?—A. There was such a mob that I didn’t care about going 
there. 

Q. State how many negroes voted.—A. I took tAventy-six in aa ith me, 
and I saw all their ballots go into the box. 


212 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did tliey vote the Tiidepeodeiit ticket!—A. Yes^ sir; I was on tlie 
Independent ticket for justice of the peace, and next morning', or rather 
several days after, when the returns wei*e made, only fourteen tickets 
were counted. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Only fourteen 1 —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yet you say you saw twenty-six tickets g’o into the boxA. 
Yes, sir 5 I saw twenty-six tickets go in, with niy own eyes. I was afraid 
the tickets would be exchanged, so I stood at the box and saw them 
put in. 

By Mr. Garland : 

You saw twenty-six tickets go in ?—A. Yes, sir; I can swear to at 
least those twenty-six tickets going into the box. 

By Mr. Ca^meron : 

Q. Who were the inspectors of election, or whatever it is that you call 
ithem 

The Witness. Commissioners, you mean f 

Mr. Cameron. Yes. 

A. I think, as w-ell m I can remember, Charley Mcholls, Jim Corey, 
Tullis Wasson—those are all the names I can think of. 

Were they Eepublicans or Democrats A, O, Democrats. 

By the Chairman : 

.Q. Ali of theml—A. Yes, sir; all of them. 


JAMES M. McGILL. 

New Orleans, La., January 8, 1878. 

James M, McGill recalled. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. We are ready, Mr. McGill, to hear the remainder of your 
statement?—Answer. I believe I left off at the a(5Count of a visit of a party 
or company of militia from Franklin Parish to my plantation. Allow 
me to correct an error which I saw in a report in one of the morning 
papers. In my son’s testimony, he said a few “days’^ before; in the 
Picayune, of this city, it says nights.” It was in broad daylight, about 
12 o’clock in the day. In relation to my testimony, the Picayune also says 
that those peoide took a negro man from my place. That man lived on 
a neighboring plantation—Watson’’s. He was arrested on my place 
on his way passing through there. I did not object to these gentlemen^— 
I mean the militia—visiting my place at that time. Some of their con¬ 
duct was a little out of the way and improper, I thought. I do not think 
it was authorized by the gentleman who had charge of the company, 
who led it. They scattered about over the plantation. I was told by 
the engineer on the Yelverton place, which belongs to my sister—Sunny- 
side is my place, Yelverton is my sister’s, but both are generally called 
my place. I was told by the engineer that men came there, took this 
man away from the engine, presented a gun at him, and held liim under 
guard while they searched him, much to the danger of the engine, which 
was running at the time. The people were feeding the engine, but being 
attracted by the soldiery around, they were interrupted and stopped 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OB" JAMES M. m’gILL. 


213 


feediuj?. Tlie engine of coarse ran very nincli more rapidly. The man 
begged to be allowed to go and stop the engine. They did not allow 
him to do it. But when the officer in command ariived, he reprimanded 
them for what they had done, and ordered him sent back. He was sent 
back, and no serious damage resulted. Such things occurred and will 
0 (*cur. This was represented by some as a great thing. I regard it as a 
trilling thing, I do not think that they meant any harm. 

By Senator Kirkwood : 

(^. They did not know any better, eh?—A. Well, no; for when the 
engineer raised the safety-valve and let the steam escape, the whistling 
of the steam-engine that followed scared them all from the place. Gen¬ 
tlemen, I do not make any complaint about that at all. I look upon it 
as a sort of necessary evil. I have been accused of volunteering my 
testimony and of doing it with a great deal of zeal. I beg of you, if you 
at any time think that I give my testimony as a partisan, that you will 
interrupt me. I am not a partisan; I belong to neither party; I belong 
to my country. 

By the Chairman : 

(i- Go on to state what occurred further.—A. After this some threats 
were made, and some violence occurred. 

Q. State what it was.—A. Well, some negroes were told, ^^You shall 
vote the regular ticket, or you shall not go to the polls.^^ 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. Who said that ?—A. 1 do not know. It was hearsay, as far as I 
was concerned. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who was charged with having made those statements ?—A. The 
most of them were strangers to me entirely. My negroes—I call them 
mine yet, though perhaps I ought not—they and myself were never 
treated by the regular citizens with any degree of contumely that I know 
of, though we have got into some warm discussions—^talk sometimes 
that might be called almost violent. By the native, permanent i)opula- 
tion, I have never been treated with any degree of roughness myself. 

Q. By whom were those threats made?—A. The threats were made 
against Bland and Douglas. 

Q. What was the character of those threats?—A. “They may be 
elected, but they will never live to fill the office,” and things similar to 
that. 

Q. Who made the threats ?—A. Gentlemen, it is with a greal deal of 
reluctance—(witness hesitated). I would ask the chairman whether it 
is actually necessary for me to tell ? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. 

(The witness hesitated for a considerable time, and the Chairman 
continued.) 

Q. Do you know who made those threats?—A. I was advised to keep 
out of it. 

q. Why?—A. I was told that I would get into trouble. 

By whom ?—A. The remarks made were these- 

q. My question was, who made those remarks?—A. Well, am I com¬ 
pelled to answer, Mr. Senator (appealing to the Chairman). 

The Chairman. I think you are. 

A. The name is that of a man who is a particular friend of mine, who 
simply knew that such threats were made, and told me of them for my 
own good. 



214 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. He did not make those threats?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Well, what is his name?—A. The name of the gentleman is John 
C. Henderson. 

Q. What was it he said ?—xV. “He may he elected, but he will never 
live to fill the ofiice.’^ 

(^. That was in regard to Bland ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. Henderson did not make those threats to you ?—A. He did not. 
He was connected with the party accused of being a bulldozing i)arty. 
I understood he knew of some movement to bulldoze Mr. Douglas. 
Douglas is Bland’s half brother. He is looked ui>on as a leader. He 
is a friend of my own, and his father was a friend of my father. That 
is the reason why I supported him. I did not admire his politics, but 
there was nothing else better to do, and I supported him. I sent him 
Avord that threats had been made against him. I thank the gentleman 
for his attempts to screen me yesterday. Mr. Bland got his word a short 
time after dayliglit. The word was conveyed to him by my son, wlio 
rode to his place. I sent him a verbal message. I was afraid to write 
it. I sent him word that lie had been accused of trying to raise a negro 
riot, and that his life was threatened. That was all the message I sent to 
Luoien Bland. 

Q. Why were you afraid to write it ?—^A. There were armed men on 
the road. My son had met two different parties. 

Q. Were they white or D.ack men?—^A. They were black people. 
You did not draw that out of me yesterday, but I would have told it. 
There were other parties scouring the country. The reason I sent a 
verbal message was because I sent some letters in June last, written to 
the same individual, but they failed to reach him; so I sent a verbal 
message. 

Q. What other parties were scouring the country ?—^A. They Avere 
the men of Colonel King’s militia. 

Q. What militia?—A. Militia ordered in from Washington, Franklin, 
Catahoula, Eichland, Concordia, and other parishes, and I believe some 
from the State of Mississippi. 

Q. These were Avhite men?—A. Yes, sir; white men. 

Q. How many of these men came in there?—A. I cannot tell you hoAv 
many. I saw three different jiarties myself. One of them was composed 
of about sixty men; another of about seventy-five men, I think. I was 
told that there were a few others, but I think that was very much exag¬ 
gerated. 

Q. How many men were there in the three companies that you saw?—^ 
A. That may have been a portion of the same company. There were 
about forty men of them. 

By Senator Bailey : 

Q. Was this after the riot at Waterproof?—Yes, sir; a week or 
ten days. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who ordered these men in there?—A. It was understood that they 
were ordered by the adjutant-general, J. Floyd King. 

Q. Adjutant-general of the State or of this militia organization?—iV. 
I suppose of the militia; but I don’t AYish to be understood to be talking 
by the card. 

Q. Were they organized under State law?—A. So I understood. I 
saw Colonel King, and he said that these were his men. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES M. MCGILL. 


215 


Q. What is his full name?—A. J. Floyd Kiri^):. 

Q. Was he running' for Congress then !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Senator Camekon : 

Q. In that district ?—A. Y"es, sir; in that district. He was running 
oil both tickets; he for the long term, Young for the short term. 

Q. Those men who came over from Mississippi—who had them in 
charge f Do you know f—A. I did not see them, sir. I am not speak¬ 
ing positively. I did not see them myself. I heard that a number of 
men had crossed the river at Bodney, hearing that the negroes had 
risen, and that men, women, and children were murdered, or were about 
to be. And a gentleman (I do not want to tell you his name) told me 
that he understood they had crossed the river at Eodney and had come 
a mile or so ui> towards Saint Joseph, where their leader received infor¬ 
mation that this was a Avhite man’s quarrel—not a quarrel between 
whites and blacks *, that he was doing wrong to come there from another 
State into this. He turned, and recrossed the river immediately. 

Q. From whom did your informant receive this information f—A. I 
cannot tell; I ]^resume from some of the authorities about Saint Joseph. 
The rumors were exaggerated. We could effect no communication on 
account of the quarantine at Saint Joseph, and only heard reports of 
what was going on below ; and many of them, I have found since, were 
considerably exaggerated. 

Q. What was the effect of all these rumors on the negroes 1 Did they 
show any indignation, or seem disposed to resist ?—A. After the 
demonstration made, which I have explained just now, they were very 
quiet. 

Q. What did they do?—A. They went to work regularly after a few 
days. At first, wlmn these exaggerated rumors were afloat, they ran 
into the woods and hid around for awhile. Some of the men came and 
slept in my house, and would not go out of sight of my wife when I was 
away from the jilace. They slejit on my gallery, but I did not think 
there was any danger, and I told them so ; but I could not make them 
think it. 

Q. Hov long did they stay out in the woods ?—A. They would return 
in the daytime and watch. It was dry weather and very dusty, and 
when the party of which I have spoken came up everybody knew they 
were coming half an hour before, for the dust curled up from the road 
until it could be seen over the tops of the trees. When they came up 
they could not find anybody tliere at all. I tried to overtake them, but 
they beat me. I found many negroes in the yard with my wife. Many 
others were hid in the woods. 

Q. You say the negroes saw the dust and ran away?—A. Yes, sir; 
they had been informed that this was coming, and they skedaddled. 

Q. Was any harm done to any of them?—A. Tlie only parties that 
were treated with any degree of rudeness were innocent persons who 
lan away when they were ordered to stop. 

Q, What was done to these men?—A. They were cut and cuffed, or 
whipped, if you call it whipping to strike them over the toes. 

Q. And after that, what?—A. Then my friends on the other side 
went beyond what was right, almost so, beyond what was necessary, I 
think, for the safety of the country. 

Q. In what way ?—A. With bulldozing Douglas and Bland. Tliey 
threatened them and prepared for a fight. If they had fouglit it would 
have been a terrible misfortune. I was very much concerned. On my 
way to town I met Colonel King. He was riding and makiug a speech 


216 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


iis lie rode along* to the men who were with him. The other men were 
waving their hats and cheering at what he said. I wanted to Iniy some 
beef that morning, and was on my way to town after it, when I met 
Colonel King and his command. 

Q. State what Colonel King said.—A. Well, sir, his speech closad 
just about the time I got there. I only heard his last remarks. 

Q. What were those?—A. That white men should rule. I thought 
he was going up to my own or my sister’s place, and I remonstrated 
with him. My own and my sister’s place were accused of being more 
refractory than any others anywhere about, and I do not deny it, sir. 
I think they were. They were a more dissatisfied people on my own 
place and Yelverton plantation than on any other thereabouts. 

Q. Why were they dissatisfied f—4. They were the nucleus of the 
dissatisfied portion of the colored people in that neighborhood. There 
was where the negroes met to talk over their wrongs. They were looked 
upon as sort of leaders in the muss. The Kepiiblican club met there. 

Q. You say they were good men ?—A. I say that, sir, as a planter. 
They were good men to work. I would not like to lose them. I do not 
dodge the question, sir. There is a hostility between the white men 
and the black men; there is a hostility between the negroes and the 
Democratic party. Show me a negro who votes the Democratic ticket 
and I will show you either a hypocrite or a fool. 

Q. These negroes are very easily intimidated ?—A. Yes, sir. They 
are very easily intimidated. So much so that simply the exhibition and 
the x>resence of these men quieted things about my place entirely. 

Q. How many white men would be necessary to keep in submission 
100 negroes ?—A. Kot many when you make the first attack. But let 
them once get the advantage of you and they will never have any 
mercy on you. 

Q. Well, how many white men do you think would be necessary to 
keep in awe 100 negroes ?—A. Well, I could hardly answer that. Where 
I am acquainted, with my own people, I am not afraid to direct, coun¬ 
termand, &c., the whole of them myself, alone. My sou can manage 50 
negroes on my place ; but if they once get mad and want to fight, I do 
not know where the thing would end. 

Q. They are not a people of quite the nerve of white people, are they ? 
—A. O, no, sir, not by any means. There is hardly a comxiarisoii 
betAvcen them. 

Q. What became of King’s troo|iers this last time ?—A. I thought 
they were going up to my place, but King said he was not going there ; 
he was going to Bland’s ; tliat frightened me still more, and I begged 
him for God’s sake to stop. He said he was going in the interests of 
peace. I asked him why he was going armed, then. I said he had 
l>etter go with a laurel branch instead of with Winchester muskets. 

By Senator Kirkwood : 

Q. What did he say then ?—A. He said the people of Saint Joseph’s 
Lake were quiet. He said he had been told in Saint Josex)h that it was 
dangerous for him to come up there alone. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Whom did he say told him this ?—A. He did not say who told 
him. That was merely one of his remarks in the course of conversation. 
I cannot give his whole conversation. He said he had been told it was 
dangerous to come uj) there alone. I assured him that myself and my 
son had been up there the day before entirely unarmed, and that there 
was no danger whatever. I begged him for God’s sake to go alone, or, at 


Parish.] 


testimony of JAMES M. m’gILL. 


217 


least, not with that arnied troop. I was afraid that they would he looked 
upon as a hostile movenieut, and that there might he an actual conflict. 

Q. Were these white men'?—A. Yes, sirj they were white men. This 
was not a negro trouble. 

Q. What has heen the character of Bland and Douglas in your com¬ 
munity heretofore"?—A. They are gentlemen, honorahle men, sir. I 
must say I do not exactly apj)rove of everything they do or say, or of 
everything they did or said im this last cami)aign; for both sides said 
and did a great many things that were wrong. 

Q. You say that this was a contest between white men?—A. Yes, sir. 
Bland and Douglas were as good men as there were on the other side. 
They allowed themselves to become very much excited. Kecrimination 
got them into a terrible passion, and there was great danger of a hostile 
conflict. I begged Colonel King to avoid it if possible. 

Q. What did Oolojiel King do"?—A. Well, whilst he was talking, his 
men rode on about half a mile ahead. There were two roads: one went 
to the right hand and one to the left. The men rode on leaving Colonel 
King and myself behind. When they came to the forks of the road 
they mistook the way, and took the left-hand road. I went on to town, 
and immediately returned. I stopped at my nephew’s, A. C. Watson, 
jr., and there, to my surprise, I found Colonel King. He explained to 
me how the mistake occuired. 

Q. Was there any complaint made in regard to the conduct of those 
men"?—A. A negro com[)lained that these men had used him badly. 

Q. What did he say they had done to him?—A. He said they had 
whipped him—beat him—but he afterwards denied it. I saw the negro 
afterwards, and he denied it to me. He said so at first, but afterwards 
he said it was not so. 

Q. Which time did he tell the truth ?—A. I have no doubt he was 
treated roughly by the men ; but it was not in Colonel King’s presence. 
He was whipi)ed with a rope, so he said at first; but afterwards he denied 
that he wa^ whipped at all. I have just related this to show you how 
men will tell the most contradictory stories. 

Q. Do you know whether they did ill-treat him ?—A. I think they did. 
I asked King what he meant misusing an old man like old John Irving. 

Q. He did not deny it ?—A. He avoided it. 

Q. Have you any idea why the man first asserted that he had been 
whipped, anjd afterwards denied it ?—A. I have only a suspieion, sir. 

Q. What is your suspicion ?—A. He was paid to hold his tongue. 

Q. By whom was he paid ?—A. I do not know, sir. 

Q. Have you any idea ?—A. I have no idea. 

Q. What became of the troops ?—A. They went on up towards Lake 
Saint Joseph. The next day I went up in my buggy to Saiut Joseph. 
I was afraid there might be a muss, and I had heard that there was 
another company coming under Captain Cann. 

Q. W^here was this company coming from ?—A. They were coming 
from Ouchita; but I went for the purpose of trying to stop or hinder 
any disturbance. If there was a conflict 1 knew that' it would be a ter¬ 
rible thing, for I knew that Jim Douglas was a fighting man. 

Q. What was the complaint against Douglas ?—A. He would not vote 
the Democratic ticket, sir. 

Q. W^as there any other complaint ?—A. He was a Democrat too. 

Q. i mean was there any hona fide complaint against him ?—A. I know 
of no other but that he was a voter. He was accused by the boys of 
trying to raise a negro riot, and all that kind of thing; but there was 
no truth in that story, not a bit of it. He was a high-toned gentleman. 


218 


[Tensas 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 

There was a large number of black people proposed to vote that ticket, 
and sometimes demonstrated in rather a noisy, riotous manner, the 
same sort as in New York, Philadelphia, and other i)laces where you 
gentlemen come from, I presume. They were crying, ^‘Hooray for 
Douglas and Bland,” &c. 

Q. Did you see any demonstration of violence among the negroes after 
that?—A. I did not at all; but I did before, gentlemen. I think the 
gentlemen on the other side who were listening to my testimony will 
say that I am correct. 

Q. Did you see Mr. Douglas ?—A. I did not at Neweltown. I do not 
remember whether I told you that Tom Farrar was with me. He told 
me a great many things as we went along. 

Q. Who is Tom Farrar ?—A. He is the son of Thomas P. Farrar, of 
Saint Joseph, a lawyer. He was on our side then, but got scared, and 
went over on the other side afterwards. He said that day that he 
admired Douglas, and would vote for him. Mr. Kinney, the de^nity 
sheriff, informed me that King was there, and that Captain Oann was 
there with his men, and he wished to introduce me to Captain Cann, for 
he told him lie was going to see Douglas. Whilst I was talking with 
him, Mrs. Bland, Mrs. Douglas, and other ladies came uj) the street for 
church in their buggies. I complimented them for it, when women in 
o:ir part of the parish were afraid to go outside the house. I mention 
that to show you that the northern part of the parish was not in a state 
of turmoil, or you would not see ladies driving buggies and going to 
church—ladies by themselves. 

Q. AVhat was the result of your conversation with Kinney ?—A. He 
introduced me to Captain Cann. He said he had come up there to see 
what the muss was, but Colonel King having, come, he was superseded, 
of course. AYhilst I was there talking to the ladies, a buggy came up 
which I recognised as Douglas’s buggy. There was a black man in it, 
who had brought a letter. The letter was to Colonel King. Douglas 
told me afterwards that he had written a note to Colonel King asking 
him to come to his house, and to come alone; and he had sent his buggy 
to bring Colonel King. Douglas’s liouse is about four miles from Newei- 
ton. We had such a conversation as I suppose you can guess we would 
have—Douglas and myself, I mean. It is not worth while to detail it 
all. Wlien Colonel King arrived we had a (inference—Warfield and 
myself and other gentlemen were present. Douglas protested against 
the presence of so many troops, and pledged his word of honor as a gen¬ 
tleman that there was no disturbance among the black x)eople; and if 
there was, he himself was plenty able to keep it down; that he would 
do it at whatever cost. They were perfectly friendly to each other. 
Douglas attempted several times to speak of their political status, but 
Colonel King interrupted him, saying he was there in his official capa¬ 
city, and not as a politician; and he pledged his word that he would 
not interfere or take part in parish politics. Douglas reminded him 
that his vote (Douglas’s) had secured his nomination ;"that at his (King’s) 
nomination at the convention at Monroe he pledged the support of his 
party to Colonel King. He said that they intended to vote for him and 
would vote for him. Colonel King on his part promised solemnly that 
he would not take sides in this parish discussion. He did that in my 
presence. He did not agree then and there to disband the troops and 
send them home, but he and Douglas went in a buggy down to Newel- 
ton. I remained there, and a while after dinner I started home. On 
my way I met Douglas. He told me that Wade Young had superseded 
King, or rather had been put in charge, and Wade Young had ordered 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES M. m’gILL. 


219 


the troops to leave, and the next morning they were moved out of Ten¬ 
sas Parish. It was reported that Colonel King had jnst at that time 
received a dispatch from the governor, finding fault with him or repri¬ 
manding him for his conduct. How true that was I do not know. 

Q. What was the condition of affairs after this! Continue with the 
narrative!—A. Well, affairs proceeded about as before. There were 
various quarrels, and threatening talk, and strong discussions, &c., such 
as you would find elsewhere, and some knock-down fights, as there are 
in every election which is liable to be contested. At onetime the Doug¬ 
las and Bland faction, as it was called, attempted to set themselves right 
by a card in the paper. We have but one i)aper in Tensas. It is sub¬ 
scribed to for, and supported by, both parties alike, by one about as much 
as another. I subscrilm for it, for two copies, one for myself and one 
that I send to my sister in Mississip])i. But tliey (Douglas and Bland) 
could not get the card iirinted. They had been accused of trying to 
raise a negro riot. They wrote a card denying this, and the card was 
refused. This, I think, had more to do with the violent personal feeling 
that followed than anything else. ^‘That is a lie, a damned lie,’’ and 
everything else of that sort passed on two or three occasions, but noth¬ 
ing very serious came of it. They had proposed to hold a convention, at 
which they would exxdain their xiosition fully; they were to hold it at 
Saint Josex)h. They were forbidden to come into the town on account 
of the yellow-fever quarantine. The quarantine was afterwards removed, 
I think. The controllers of the party thought it was safe to hold a meet¬ 
ing at Dr. Weatherly’s, not elsewhere, for fear of a disturbance. On the 
Monday before the election they aj^iiointed and held a meeting. I was 
rather loth to go, and was hesitating, but my son was determined to go, 
and went. I went to town, to Saint Joseifii, and was there informed 
that the meeting would be broken uj) violently by armed men. I went 
to Saint Joseph with Mr. Kollins. I at first doubted the truth of this 
rumor; afterwards I began to think that it might be a fact. I saw men 
with pistols. I heard men saying to each other, ^Wre you ready”! I 
heard the answer, ^Wes; we’re ready.” Then another would say, ‘MIow 
many!” and the answer would be, “Twenty-five; will that do!” I 
thought I knew what this meant. I sprang into my buggy and called 
Rollins to go. 

Q. To go where!—A. To Dr. Weatherly’s. He jumx)ed into tlie 
buggy and we started. Wlien we had proceeded about a hundred 
yards from the town somebody called. I stopi^ed to see who it was, and 
found it was my nei)hew. He called Rollins and not me. He had just 
been remonstrating with me, telling me that I had better not go to the 
meeting. Rollins got out. I thought that my nephew had something 
to say privately, so I sat still in the buggy and did not turn round even 
to accost the young man. But I overheard some portion of his talk. I 
heard him say to Mr. Rollins, “ Please keep Uncle Jim from going to 
that meeting. Don’t go yourself, and do not let any white men go.” I 
did not hear all that he said. They talked quite a while, and after that 
in a low voice. Then they separated. My nephew went back; Mr. 
Rollins came and got into the buggy and told me that we must not go 
to that meeting. I told him that if he was afraid, he could get out. He 
said to me, “ Don’t go” ! I was—well, if I must tell the truth, I was a 
little blasphemous. I swore I was going; my son was there, a boy I 
loved with more than parental affection. I knew he was to be there. 
He had before expressed to me his intention to go, and if there was 
going to be a fight, I knew he was a brave little fellow, and that he would 
be among the first men to fall. I went on to Weatherly’s. I advised 


220 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


every negro on the road not to go there. When I got there I found 
forty or fifty of my ac(inaintances there, mostly black i)eople from the 
island; Weatherly’s is not on the island. I called up the leading men 
and simply stated to them a few facts; that the meeting was going to 
be broken ni^; that violence and bloodshed were threatened; and that 
they had better go quietly home. The most of them went. Mr. Bland 
came up and i)rotested against their going. Mrs. Weatherly and IVIiss 
Ida Weatherly also protested, and gave me fits in two volumes, so to 
speak, for being a coward. They Avanted a fight. 

Q. The women did ?—A. The ladies^ sir; just as nice ladies, sir, as 
ever you saw in your life. Upon Mr. Bland’s protesting, and upon wit¬ 
nessing the conduct of these ladies, those who had not gone all re¬ 
mained, so that quite a number of black peoj^le remained there. I re¬ 
mained myself half an hour or an hour; then I left, having business— 
an imijortant engagement with the deputy sheriff, who was going to see 
parties on my place on the time. He had told them that he would be at 
my house that day, and, after a good deal of reflection, I concluded that 
I had better go home. The business affair of which I liaA-e spoken was 
such that I could saA^e $300 or $400 by doing so. I thought that, as the 
negroes had most of them gone, there Avould not be any inuss, and I 
started home. On my Avay, when about half a mile from Dr. Weather¬ 
ly’s, I met the famous Buggy Brigade going toAvards Weatherly’s. They 
Avere fully armed; almost eA^ery man had a rifle. They were led by Mr. 
Kinney. I asked Mr. Kinnej^ what AAais the matter. If he answered me, 
it was in such a tone that I did not understand him. I asked another 
gentleman Avhat Av as the matter, and he laughed at me. I said, “ Gen¬ 
tlemen, this looks like intimidation.” The man to aaIioiii I had spoken 
said, You had better take notes.” I told him I would do so. I took 
it in dead earnest. I called o\"er the name of eA^ery man in the croAAul. 
They had invited me to take notes, and I did not think they should take 
any oftense because I did. I turned my buggy and folioAved them back, 
after first asking their commission. 

By Senator Kirkavood : 

Q. Was this a military company?—A. Ko, sir. These were well- 
knoAvn and worthy gentlemen of Tensas Parish, and it is Avith a great 
deal of regret that I have been compelled to speak of them as I liaA^e. 

Q. It AA'as not an organized military company, if I understand j^ou?— 
A. Ko, sir; it Avas a posse comitatus under the command of the sheriff, 
with authority from the i)arish judge. 

Q. Who was the parish judge?—A. 0. C. Cordell. 

Q. Had he any authority to do that ?—A. I do not knoAV I under¬ 
stood that he had the right. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who was the sheriff ?—A. John Register. 

Q. Was he running for sheriff ?—A. He was sheriff, and he was a can¬ 
didate for re-election. He Avas a A^ery nice gentleman, sir. I have 
nothing x)ersonal against him. 

Q. What folloAved after they returned?—A. When they got to Dr. 
Weatherly’s, they stopped in front of his house in the midst of the 
crowd of white people and black people. I did not hear AAdiat was said. 
I heard talking pretty loud between the ladies and Captain Cann, I 
supposed; but the road is narrow along there, and I was far back at the 
rear in the lane and could not get ux> to them. After a while I got out 
of the buggy and walked up to Avhere they were. I was informed by Mr. 
Tcllis that they came there to arrest a black man by the name of Wash 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES M. m’gILL. 


221 


Nellnm. I was told that by one of tlie party. I don’t say it as a fact. 
We had quite a little discussion. They said they were going to beat us 
by 2,000 votes. I told them we were going to beat them. By my advice 
the black people went inside Dr. Weatherly’s lot, and by my advice 
they held their meeting there. I said, If you want to hold a meeting, 
do not hold it right out here in the public road, but go inside Dr. 
Weatherly’s private lot. Every black person present here will tell you 
that I earnestly entreated them that no guns should be carried there 
that day, and that no hard words should be said by any person that day. 

Q. Did you go home then?—A. I returned then, sir; as soon as the 
buggy brigade left and dispersed, I left. My horse was faster than that 
of anybody else there, and on the way I passed them all. As 1 passed 
the men I si)oke to them—almost every single one. I said: “You can 
intimidate negroes, but you had better mind how you attempt to intim¬ 
idate gentlemen. You will find it dangerous.” 

Q. Did they arrest this negro !—A. ISTo, sir; they did not try to do 
so. 

Q. You said the ladies wanted a fight; please explain that.—A. They 
said “ Hold a meeting, and if attacked fight.” But how could we fight; 
we had nothing to fight with ? 

Q. Were all these men armed with Winchester rifles?—A. Yes, sir; 
and some of them had two. I saw one man with a gun on each side of 
him, and one between his legs. 

Q. How many shots does a Winchester rifle carry?—A. Sixteen, I 
believe. 

Q. And was the meeting held ?—A. Well, there was not much of a 
meeting ; they had some little talk, but I left previous to the meeting. 

Q. Was your son there ?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. Bland wanted to fix up 
our tickets. I told him I did not want to take any active part in the 
campaign, and would not go. He asked if I had any objection to James 
going—that was my son—and helping fix up the tickets ; I said no, but 
I had an objection though I did not wish to act as if 1 had, for I thought 
it was determined on the part of certain parties to bring about a conflict. 

Q. What was the object ?—A. That I could not conceive. 

Q. Between whom ?—A. Anybody; just to have a little fighting any¬ 
how, for the fun of the thing. Both sides were pretty nigh ready for a 
fight, sir. 

Q. Specially the ladies ?—A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Well, I admire their pluck.—A. Allow me to say that . 
Dr. Weatherly was absent, one of his patients was very sick, indeed 
dying. The doctor was expected to be there every minute. He being 
absent, Mrs. Weatherly had the management of affairs. 

Q. She was the head of the house ?—A. Yes, sir; just then. 

Q. What kind of man is Weatherly ?—A. Well, sir, the people of 
Kew Orleans know a great deal about him. He is a man of considera¬ 
ble intelligence, a smart man; but he drinks too much. 

Q. Is he dissipated otherwise; is he a man of character ?—A. Yes, 
sir; otherwise a good man. 

Q. Is he a Southern man ?—A; Yes, sir; he was born in Jefferson, 
Claiborne County, Miss. 

Q. Do you know of any other acts of violence than those you have 
already inentioued ?—A. My son has related to you what occurred that 
night. At 2 o’clock in the night I was awakened by him as he came 
home. He came to my bedside and informed me what had happened. 
He said that he, Lucien Bland, Barton Bland, and young Murdoch sat 
in a private room that they had engaged at Buckman’s, where they were 


222 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


fixing the tickets. There were certain erasures to be made of men wlio 
(lid not wish to be candidates, or wlioin they did not wish to have on the 
ticket, and others were to be put- in their places. I hail asked them to 
erase my name from the ticket, but they would not do it. I was not a 
candidate, and never was. Well, certain names, as I said, had to be 
erased and others written in their place. This required some hours to 
do. They asked that some of them be done at home. About 2 o’clock 
in the night my son came and told me that while they were busily 
engaged in fixing up the tickets—erasing those names, as I have ex- 
l)lained, and writing in others—their room was entered by various par¬ 
ties, and they were asked in a l)oisterous manner to go out and hear a 
speech that was being made. They were asked in a threatening manner. 
Then quite a number of young men, most all of whom had been drink¬ 
ing, came in. My son, and the rest who were with him, stepped back 
and prepared for a muss, but none occurred. He said that Mr. Kinney 
came again to the front and announcjed to Mr. Bland, ui>on his word as 
a mason, that his life was in danger. Then Bland asked Kinney if he, 
as deputy sheriff, would see him safe to the sherili'’s dwelling or to the 
court-house, I forget which. He said he would. They started to find 
Sheriff Eegister. 

Q. What occurred after that?—A. He was not a witness to it. He 
said that ux)on Mr. Bland’s return he was informed by Bland that there 
was no chance for a fair election; that there would not be the ghost of 
a chance for a fair election; that Kinney had advised him to leave for 
fear of the consequences. Then Lucien and Barton Bland went to the 
stable and got their horses and rode home. He, my son, got home at 
2 o’clock. I reminded him that our friend J. Stacy had agreed to be at 
the polls to Avatch the voting. We could not'get a commissioner on our 
side, and no person was allowed to have any suj)erintendeuce. Mr. Stacy 
Avas to go there early in the morning and AAntch the polls. My son went 
across the lake in a skiff at 3 o’clock in the morning and stopped him 
from going. The understanding aa as by message from Bland to me that 
he had been authoritatively informed that A\^e could not get a fair elec¬ 
tion, and the best x)lan aa as not to go to the polls at all. That suited 
my idea exactly, for then I did not think there would be any tight. 
Next morning various black people called on me to see if I Avas going 
to the x)olls. I AA^as going to town, but not to the polls. I met A^arious 
black lAcople on the road; they asked me shoidd they go and vote; I 
said, If you wish to vote the Oardell ticket go right along, if the Bland 
ticket you need not go; it is of no use, for it is driven out of the field.” 
I iieA^er adAused one single one to A^ote either ticket. I ahvays expressed 
the Anew that they might vote for Avdioni they pleased. I i eturned home 
from toAvn Avithout going to the polls. I saw plenty of persons that day 
whom T thought Avauted to get into some difficulty. 

Q. White men, do you mean?—A. Yes, sir. 1 saAv rifles and arms of 
various kinds standing around in the stores. I noticed it because it 
was against the law to bring arms Avithin a certain distance of the 
court-house. 

Q. Were they within the distance .prohibited by laAv?—A. I think 
they were, sir. 

Q. What is that distance ?—A. I am not certain; I think it is half a 
mile. I saAv rather an unusual number of rifles standing about that day. 
That A\^as all I obser\^ed. I did not see anybody touch them. 

Q. Were there many of the opx)osition tickets Amted at that election ? 
—A. I receiA^ed a letter signed by Hr. MYatherly and Bland saying, 
^‘We haA^e received information that there Avill be no difficulty, and 


ParislJ 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES M. MCGILL. 


223 


we are down to vote.’’ They not only sent me word, but they 

sent runners all over the plantation. By that time all Yelverton and 
Sunnyside were there. 1 wrote some tickets and fixed them as they, 
the negroes, wanted them. My son at once started for down town, and 
sent Avoid to Mr. Stacy, and he went with 26 men; a number of voters 
came in, and I having both tickets sat on my gallery Avith my little writing- 
desk before me, and as fast as they came up 1 said, ^‘Which ticket do you 
Avant,” and I fixed up whateA^er ticket they said. I said, “ Mind you are not 
tricked out of this ticket.” I gaA'e one man five. He said he might meet 
some frienfis aa ho Avould Avant such tickets and he Avould like to be able to 
furnish them. I gave another man five. I fixed out a considerable num¬ 
ber of tickets that Avay. When they were all gone I asked my daughter 
how many of them had been given out. She said 60. She had sat by 
my side and counted Iioaa^ many of them had been gWen out. That may 
not haA^e been an exact count, but it was Avithin tAvo or three of AA^hat she 
said. Well, they Avent on doAvn town. When they came back they said 
they had all a oted. They came back in extraordinary quick time. I had 
cautioned them to come right back and not to stop at the stores and drink 
Avhisky or anything. I Avas afraid they Avould get into trouble if they 
staid in toAvui, so I promised them that if they Avould say to me positively 
on their return that they liad not drunk anything 1 Avould give them a 
drink of Avhisky apiece. They came back, and on their arriA al hoorayed 
for Douglas and Bland and appeared quite animated. The next morn¬ 
ing I Avent to town and when 1 heard the result of the election, to my sur¬ 
prise there were but 14 votes counted for the Bland and Douglas ticket. 
Dr. Weatherly’s people all \oted that ticket, also many from the 
Stacy place, and many from the Pond Bun place, some few from the 
Watson place, and all those from Sunnyside place to a man. There was 
but one from Yelverton who A^oted any other ticket. He came and asked 
me Avould I think hard of him if he A^oted for Cordell. I said, “Bless 
your soul, my dear fellow, A'Ote for just whom you Avant to.” He said 
he had understood he would be driven from the place if he should a ote 
for Cardell. I said, “ You won’t be drHen from the place, no matter how 
you A'ote. You may vote for the devil if you Avant to.” All the rest 
from Yelverton i^lace A^oted the Douglas and Bland ticket. 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. How far was it from the place where you fixed the tickets to the 
place of voting ?—A. Six miles. 

Q. You did not go to the place of voting yourself ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You did not go from your writing-desk to the A^oting place ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. When you spoke of our side, which side did you mean?—A. I 
meant the Bland and Douglas faction. 

Q. Lucieu Bland aa as candidate for sheriff ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You said something in your testimony about an objection to Mr. 
Begister for sheriff. You said you could not A^ote for him. Why could 
you not?—A. Why, I liked Lucien Bland better; that is all. 

Q. Had you any objection to Begister ?—A. Nothing, only he changed 
sides so quickly. He was a Bepublican last year. He Avas elected by 
a Bepublican vote; then changed OA^er and declared himself a Democrat, 
and AA^as adopted by the party. 1 do not approA^e of sudden changes 
either in church or politics. I Avould not make a man a presiding elder 
the next morning after he Avas ba|)tised. 

Q. He Avas a Bepublican Avliile slieritt?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was Mr. Kinney?—A. A gentleman ay ho has IHed in our 


224 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


|[Tensas 


country for some years. TTe was connected with the Federal Ariny^ I 
think, in some way. He has been holding; offices for some time. 

Q, He was deputy slieritt' under Register?—A. Yes, sir; on several 
occasions. 

Q. He had charge of what you call the buggy brigade?—A. So I 
was informed. 

Q. What were Kinney’s politics?—A. I believe he supported the 
regular Democratic Conservative ticket, sir. 

Q. What were his politics previous to the late election?—A. I do not 
know. I do not think Kinney has ever been very active as a politician, 
any way. I think he voted the Republican ticket. I think so because 
he was a Northern man, but I cannot say. 

Q. How far is it from Saint Joseph to Dr. Weatherly’s?—A. About 
live miles. 

Q. How far is it from Saint Josexffi to Newelton?—A. It may be 
about fifteen miles. 

Q. Did you know Mr. Kinney when he was supervisor of elections 
under Governor Kellogg?—A. Yes, sir. That is one reason I think 
he was a Republican. If he had not been he could not have got office 
under Kellogg. 

Q. That was a fact, was it?—A. Yes, sir; that wms a notorious fact. 

Q. Do you know anything of what was called the Fairfax trouble ?— 
A. Only as I was informed by other parties. I was told a great many 
stories—some that I think were not true—and I do not think it is worth 
Avhile to tell you what I myself believe to be lies. 

Q. Did you hear the speech spoken of made by Judge Cardell ?—A. 
O, no, sir; I was not there; I Avas not in tOAvn at all then. 

Q. I understood you to say that you persuaded the colored peoxdenot 
to go up and vote if they intended to vote the Bland ticket ?—A. I said, 
‘Hf you are going to Amte the Cordell ticket, there will be no difficulty; 
but if you are intending to vote the Bland ticket, it will be of no use, for 
the Bland ticket is not in the field. 

Q. When did you tell them that ?—A. That was in the morning, and 
about three o’clock in the afternoon—too late to get all their people 
together—they learned that they could haAm a chance to vote the 
Douglas and Bland ticket, and then they went down. 

Q. How many of themAmted?—A. It is my opinion that more than 
200 of them Amted that ticket. It is my oiiinion that if they had had 
four hours’ more time, 400 of them Avould have Amted for it. 

Q. Those that did vote were not troubled, were they?—A. Kot at all; 
and more, they told me they iieAmr had such a quiet election. The 
state of feelfng among them was at once changed. The tables turned 
immediately—right there. There Avas no harsh talk—no bitter feeling. 
Kext morning I AA^ent to toAvm. I Avas treated AA^ith remarkable courtesy. 
They knew they had us, and they could afibrd to be magnanimous. 
They forgave all our offenses, and Avere ready to receiA^e us Avith open 
arms. My friends, with Avhom I had quarreled, were all friendly again. 
Some of them are here. We are all good friends now. There Avere 
many bitter things said that had better not have been said, on both 
sides. 

Q. You had no quarrel or dispute with the buggy brigade, I under¬ 
stand ?—A. O, no, sir ; we had a jolly time. I bantered them. I quoted 
the elegy on the death of the mad dog, and all that, and AA^e laughed 
very much, sir. They enjoyed it too. We all laughed together. 

By Senator Kirkwood : 

Q. You said something about your being blamed for volunteering tes- 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. D. m’gILL. 


22.5 


tinioiiy.—A. I do not know tliat I am included in tlie category, but I 
liave been told that we hastened down here to give testimony, and I 
Avish to be placed right on that point. 

Q. AVhat I AA^ant to know is this: Does anybody charge you Avith tes¬ 
tifying to AA^hat is not true—A. O, no, sir. 

Q. Further, is it considered a crime here for a man to tell the truth, 
on proper occasion f—A. AVell, sir, our country is a good deal like yours. 
AVe do a good many good things and some wrong things. Just now 
bulldozing seems to be the order of the day. I hope you gentlemen A\’ill 
be able to do something to pour oil on the troubled waters." There seems 
to be a disposition to find fault with those who giA^e testimony here Avhen 
called upon. I heard an observation yesterday, which seemed intended 
for my ears, that some persons gaA^e in their testimony with great zeal.” 
I think that Avas the expression used. I assure you, sir, I regret A^ery 
much to be here. I came here with great reluctance. My circumstances 
at home are of a A^ery distressing character. 

Q. I understood that you attended a Democratic couA^ention ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. At that coiiA^ention a proposition came to it from the Kepublican 
l^arty, or from some Eepublicans’ proposing a compromise of some kind. 
That proposition was rejected by the Democratic coiiA^ention ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that is about the state of the case. 

' Q. And that some declaration was made by some one that the other 
ticket would ne\"er be allowed to preAaiil?—A. AAYll, sir, I regard that 
as an oratorical display in the way of a speech; something after the 
Andrew Jackson style: This ticket must preA^ail, and, by the Eternal, it 
shall preAmil, and anybody opposed to it must get out of the way.” If 
these circumstances had not occurred, that speech Avould ncA^er liaA e 
been thought of afterwards. 

Q. I understand you to say that in your judgment the colored people 
are rather easily intimidated?—A. Yes, sir; much more easily than 
white men are. 

Q. Is it considered an especial CAudence of bravery for armed men to 
ride around and disperse these unarmed people who are so easily intimi¬ 
dated?—A. I don’t consider it so, sir. The most of these persons, these 
young men, get excited on such occasions, and they think they are 
doing good for their country; and, being encouraged by the older peo¬ 
ple, they proceed from one step to another until it gets to be a lawless 
thing. Our country is very unfortunate in that respect. I Avould A^ery, 
A^ery much grieve, indeed, gentlemen, if an^Thing I haA^e said should 
bring any of my friends into difficulty. Some of these persons of whom 
I haA^e spoken are my life-long friends. If you can do anything toward 
pacifying our country and make the people of all sections friends again, 
instead of arresting and punishing, you Avill receive the blessings and 
the prayers of the Avomen and children at least, if not of us. 


J. D. MoGILL. 

Yeav Orleans, La., January 10, 1870. 

J. I). McGill recalled. 

Mr. AIcGill requested an opportunity to correct a statement which 
had appeared in a morning iiaper in regard to his sending a letter to his 
son by Mr. Bland, and AAms giA^eii an opportunity to do so. He said: 

“ I presume I did not speak very definitely. I think I said there were 

15 T 



226 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


armed people on the road. If I recollect rightly, in my cross-examina¬ 
tion I said there were armed people of both colors. The black i)eoi)le 
A\’ere above me and the white people below me. I was not afraid of the 
black people; the most of them could not read at all, and would never 
have thought of asking for a letter. Mr. Bland had been threatened, 
and I wished to notify liim of the fact. I didn’t agree entirely with Mr. 
Bland in ])olitics, but I am his friend j I have loved the boy ever since 
he was a child.” 

By the Chairwan : 

Question. By whom did you mean to be understood his life was threat¬ 
ened"?—Answer. By the white men, those who accused him of trying to 
raise a negro riot. I had seen bofbes of armed men—strangers—i^atrol- 
liiig the road. I took charge of my engine before daylight that morning. 
He told my son to get on his horse and go and tell our friends Mr. Bland 
was in danger. I was going to ride, but my son urged me not to ride j he 
said he might meet some of these fellows from Catahoula x)arading the 
road, and they might see him dashing along on his horse before day¬ 
light, and might want to know what he was going for; so he said to me, 
“ (rive me the message, father, and I will give it to him.” He afterwards 
told me he had met armed negroes on the road—two diiferent parties— 
but they did not molest him at all. 

Q. How many were there in these parties?—A. In one there was half 
a dozen ; in the other a little more. 

Q. Where were they ?—A. On their own idantations where they lived. 

Q. AYhen was this ?—A. It was two days' after the Fairfax troubles. 
The negroes were very much alarmed. I was alarmed, but not on ac¬ 
count of the negroes; I was afraid of the white men. 

I vish to explain another thing about that letter. When these gen¬ 
tlemen first organized their ticket I had been offered a place upon it; at 
least, I had been spoken to in reference to the matter. I then wrote a 
letter to Mr. Bland asking him to i)lease not place my name ux>on the 
ticket as I didn’t want it there, and I did not want to be a candidate for 
any office. That letter never reached Mr. Bland. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did you put it in the post-office ?—A. Ko, sir; I left it at the land¬ 
ing to be put on a steamboat. I wish to say, also, that I suppose my 
fears or my son’s fears were somewhat groundless; the circumstance of 
riding fast before daylight in the morning—for I started an hour before 
day—would look rather suspicious; the more so as these armed parties 
were taking police charge of the road, and would be apt to question me. 

Q. AVere any threats made by the press of your parish?—A. Yes, sir; 
but not against Bland. 

Q. Against other persons ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Against whom ?—A. The parties named in the Louisiana Journal 
were Fairfax and Stewart. 

Q. AA^hatAvas Stewart’s first name?—A. J.Eoss SteAvart, I belieA^e his 
Jiame Avas. 

Q. A colored man ?—A. Yes, sir. I don't know as it was exactly a 
threat ; it AAmrned and admonished them; called them scoundrels, said 
that siieedy A^engeance would overtake them, &c. 

Q. AATien did these threats appear"?—A. Kot long before the Fairfax 
trouble. I recollect that on the Sunday when I first heard that Fairfax 
had been attacked I said, ^^How unfortunate it Avas that that editorial 
(iame out in the paper yesterday, and Fairfiix aa as atta(*Aed that very 
night.” 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. D. m’gILL. 


227 


Q. You spoke the other ihiy about the quaraiitiue; do you know 
whether the candidates on the Democratic ticket—Cordill and others— 
were allowed to pass the quarantine lines?—A. I don’t know of CordilPs 
passin*^ the quarantine lines. I know that he came down the river to 
8aint Joseph and came into Saint Joseph. He owns a ]dantation on 
Lake Saint Joseph. He lives in Saint Joseph. He was in Tensas dur¬ 
ing the summer and returned in the fall. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. The quarantine of which you speak was the one that was so loosely 
enforced!—A. Yes; it was rather loosely enforced when Mr. Cordill 
passed through. 

Q. Was that before the killing at the house of Fairfax!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And before the appearance of the cases of yellow fever, or swamp 
fever, or whatever it may have been, at Dr. Wetherly’s!—A. Yes, sir: 
previous to that. 


Yew Orleans, January 8, 1870. 

J. D. McGill recalled. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. In regard to the quarantine up there, Mr. McGill, by what au- 
tliority were those quarantine regulations established !—Answer. They 
were established about the first of October, i)ossibly the latter part of Sep¬ 
tember ; I cannot speak certainly as to the time. I think there was a 
health committee appointed by authority of the police jury of the parish. 
There was first established a quarantine of the town, and afterward of 
the whole parish, against all infected places, against the Mississippi 
Biver generally, and particularly against people coming from those 
places in Mississippi where the yellow fever prevailed. The quarantine 
was kept up continuously against the river and against those places 
until late in the fall. The health committee afterward thought it their 
duty to establish a quarantine against the country. This they did 
about the first of October—no, some time in the latter part of September, 
I think. They established a quarantine against the country for a fcAv 
days, and kept everybody from the country out. We from the country 
felt that this was rather a burden on us; it was quite troublesome; but 
they seemed to think in town that persons would be likely to cross the 
river from infected districts and come into toAvn. This quarantine 
against the country Avas kept up for a feAv days, perhaps a Aveek or two, 
and Avas then opened again, and we AA^ere alloAved the privilege of going- 
in freely. 

Q. During that intermission of the quarantine, were there any politi¬ 
cal meetings intOAvn!—A. I think there were; the Democrats held their 
(jonvention there during that intermission of the quarantine Avith the 
country. Immediately afterward the quarantine was established again 
on account of the report that the yellow fever had made its appearance in 
the neighborhood, on the Osceola plantation. Dr. Weatherly’s planta¬ 
tion. It Avas kept very strict against us. I thought then, and I still 
think, that it was kept unnecessarily strict; but I am not the one to 
judge. I know that a great many persons in town really thought that 
there was yelloAV fever at Osceola. 

Q. Was there any!—A. Yone at all; there neAxr has been any. I 
say so on the authority on Dr. Weatherly, who is a physician. There 



228 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas 


was one death there of a sudden character, from a violent fever, which 
was reported to be yellow fever; tlie people in town, at least some ot 
them, believed it to be such. They established the quarantine again 
and kept it very strictly. I thought it was the yellow fever; many of 
ns thought so for a few days. But the impression of the ])eoi)le in the 
country—not mine particniarly—was that it was a got up thing. 

Q. For what purpose—A. To keep them out of town and to prevent 
them from attending their convention. That was the widespread imi)res- 
sion, as I learned from numerous conversations I had with them. 

Q. You mean the country people?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The black people?—A. Yes, sir. We planters submitted to it will¬ 
ingly. I was quite willing to, for one; it kei)t my people out of town. 
About election time they had a habit of going to town, drinking whisky, 
and wasting their time and doing worse, when they ought to be in the 
held. For selfish reasons, therefore, I submitted to a strict enforcement 
of the quarantine with a great deal of willingness, although I was under 
the im])ression that it was a sort of a trick myself. I know that many 
others firmly believed it. 

Q. Was this strict quarantine established before the time of the Ee- 
publican convention at Saint Joseph?—A. Yes, sir; and I must say that 
this was as much the cause of the dissatisfaction among the black people 
in the more northern part of tlie parish as anything that occurred. I speak 
now only of the northern part of the parish; 1 know nothing of the 
troubles in the south end of the parish, therefore I do not pretend to 
say anything about them; but the black ])eoiile of the north end of the 
parish firmly believed, and believe to this day, and I presume always 
will believe, that the quarantine was kept up for the puiq^ose of ])re- 
venting them from holding their convention; an angel from heaven 
could hardly convince them to the contrary, and, from their standpoint, 
I do not blame them for thinking so. 

Q. It looked like it to you, did it not?—A. Well, yes, it did; and yet 
T know that men of ^Txacity did firmly believe, and therefore did confi¬ 
dently assert, that there was yellow fever at Dr. Weatherly’s. 

Q. How far was Dr. Weatherly’s place from St. Joseph’s?—A. He 
lived about five miles from town. While the rumor was abroad that the 
yellow fever was at his place, I went part way with a friend, Mr. Bland, 
to Dr. Weatherly’s, in order to satisfy myself. My mfe and family were 
very much alarmed at the rumor of yellow fever at Dr. Weatherly’s, 
and I had promised them that I would not go there. We were all very 
fearful of the yellow fever, and did many foolish things; I did, I know, 
and so I can excuse other people for doing so. Mr. Bland didn’t go to 
the house; when he was yet some considerable distance away he met a 
colored man, to whom he gave four bits to go there; and he brought back 
from Dr. Weatherly a, certificate that there was no yellow fever there. 
There was a man on the doctor’s plantation who died of consumption 
about that time, but he died a slow death. A woman there died of 
swamp fever, of a very malignant form ; and she died very soon. And 
one or two children died, in the course of a month or two, about that 
time. These deaths are what gave rise, I suppose, to the report of yel¬ 
low fever there. Tlie country was in a state of great excitement and 
dread—you may call it a panic. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How long previous to the time set for the Eepublican convention 
was it that the quarantine was made stricter ?—A. Have you a calendar 
here ? If you have, I could tell exactly; it may have been a week; I 


Parish. 1 


TESTIMONY OF J. D. m’gILL. 


229 


tliiiik, liowever, it was only three or four days. Previous to the time of 
the Democratic convention there had been a quarantine, but it had been 
raised against the country; the quarantine against the river was kept 
strictly, liowever, all the time. I went down, one time, to the quarantine 
station ; 1 wanted to go to town, and made application to pass the quar¬ 
antine and was refused; half an liour later another man applied and 
was allowed to go in ; I protested against this, looking upon it as a sort 
of discrimination; it was explained to me afterward, however; they said 
that Just at that time—Just after I left—they concluded to raise the (]|uar- 
antine, and that was the reason the other party got in after I had been 
refused. The lines were not closed again until the week when the Demo¬ 
cratic convention met. The Democratic convention met on Monday, a 
few days after the quarantine was raised. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The facts, then, were, that a few days before the Eepublican con¬ 
vention met the (luarantine was made strict; a few days before the Demo¬ 
cratic convention met it was raised ?—A. That is the fact; whether it 
was done on purpose or not, I do not Judge; but I do say the negroes 
thought so, and this was the cause of more trouble in my immediate 
neighborhood than the Fairfax affair. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Tensas Parish lies on the Mississippi Eiver?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there not a general apprehension and dread all over the 
country about the yellow fever—A. Yes, sir; a very great dread. Our 
friends and relatives Just across the river, at Port Gibson, Avere dying 
every day. 

Q. How far is that from you ?—A. Only fifteen miles. 

Q. This swamx) fever that you si)eak of—is it not sometimes as de¬ 
structive as the yellow fever ?—A. It resembles it considerably in some 
respects. 

Q. Is it not sometimes, by persons not ffimiliar with it, confounded 
with yelloAV fever?—A. We were so scared those days that Ave Avere 
ready to take anything for yellow fever; if a man had the toothache he 
thought it was yellow fever. 

Q. Were you at Saint Joseph’s when the Eepublicans held their con¬ 
vention ?—A. I never was at a Eepublican meeting of any kind in my life. 

Q. Were you in town on the 5th of October?—A. Ko, sir; the 5th of 
October was Sunday. 

Q. Well, the Saturday before that?—A. Ko, sir; the first notice I had 
of the Eepublican convention was at the Democratic coiiA^ention, aa hen a 
proposition for a compromise was offered. 

Q. Who offered the compromise?—A. The Eepublicans; I happened 
to be i)resent at the time it Avas offered, and I remember that. 

Q. Were you in town at the time of the Eepublican conAmntion?—A. 
I don’t remember anything about the Eepublican convention. 

Q. At all events, you were not in Saint Joseph Avhen the Eepublican 
convention Avas held ?—A. I do not say I was not there; I am frequently 
in town, and may have been there on that day; I only say that I remem¬ 
ber nothing at all about the Eepul)lican coiwention. I might easily 
have been in toAvn on the very day of the convention, and yet not haA^e 
known anything about it; they might have held their convention, and, 
indeed, I presume they did, in the court-house, Avliich is situated in the 
loAver ])art of town, Avhile my priAuite business is conducted almost ex¬ 
clusively in the upper part of town. 


230 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tcnsa-s 


WASHINGTON WILLIAMS. 

New Orleans, January 8,1870. 

Washington Williams (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do reside ?—Answer. In Tensas Parisli. 

Q. How long have you resided in Tensas f —A. All my life. 

Q. How old are you?—A. I will he twenty-six years old at June. 

Q. What hnsiness have you been engaged in ?—^A. Farming. 

Q. Are yon laboring on a farm for others, or on your own account ? 
—A. I labor on a farm for others generally j but sometimes I rent a 
place for a year. 

Q. What has been your political faith ?—A. Eepublican. 

Q. Have you been active in politics ?—A. Well, no, sir; I was not 
active, but I always took sides with the Eepublicans. 

Q. Have you ever held office ?—A. I was the coroner in 1872 and 1873 
—two years. 

Q. liidyou take any part in the late election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What iiart did you take in it?—A. I took sides with the Eepubli- 
cans when I started out. After a while the feeling got so bitter that I 
thought we could not put up a ticket and elect it ; so I took sides Avith 
the Bland and Douglas faction, the Independent ticket, as it was called. 
I thought it better to do so, in hopes of avoiding all trouble. 

Q. What trouble did you anticipate?—A. Well, I heard a great deal 
of talking by Democrats, who said that Ave could not put up a Eepub¬ 
lican ticket and elect it. 

Q. Whom did you hear say so?—A. Well, Mr. Cordill, Mr. Hender¬ 
son, and Mr. Frank Watson among others. 

Q. Are those all Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Oardill had acted Avitli the Eepublicans before?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did Cordill do ?—A. He had been off north last summer. 
While he Avas gone the Eepublicans called an executiA^e committee meet¬ 
ing for the purpose of selecting delegates for the parish Eepublican nom¬ 
ination. We had a little quarrel oaw it. 

Q. Well, go on and state what occurred.—A. Last summer, while he 
was gone, as I say, the Eepublican executAe committee set a time for 
electing delegates to the jiarish Eepublican coiiA^ention. We had a little 
quarrel between ourseh^es Avhom we should haA e for officers. Mr. J. E. 
►Stewart Avas an aspirant for the office of sheriff’, and Avas trying to con¬ 
trol matters; but he had played a dirty trick on me, and I did not want 
him for sheriff. Besides that, neither did I want Mr. Eegister for sheriff. 
Then they said that Ave had started the color line. I fought SteAvart to 
keep him from being sheriff on account of the trick he had played us in 
the legislature. He said I was paid for working for Eegister. I was not 
going to support Eegister. I AA^ent to see Judge Cordill. I told Cordill 
that, thinking he would take sides ANuth us as he had always done here- 
that since he had got home, Stewart and Griffith had got ux) a bill say- 
tofore. I, not knowing his change of politics, stated my case. He told 
ing whom they should support for the offices and Avhom they should not. 
I said I had not signed any bill. He told me the thing had gone so far 
that there Avas no telling what would be done. He told me he had 
AATitten to Bryant in regard to this trouble, and received no answer. 
He said, I myself am not going to liaA^e anything to do with 
it. I ain’t going to haA^e my head shot off' for any such foolishness.” 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WASHINGTON WILLIAMS. 


231 


I said, I wisli yon would explain tliis fully to me; I am not going to 
snpi)ort Stewart.” He said, “ Yon men go to work and pursue tlie 
course you have pursued, and get rid of Stewart and Griffith, and Jack- 
sou and Brown, and then,” says he, may he we will make a compro¬ 
mise. Delay your convention to another time.” This was on Thurs¬ 
day. On Friday the delegation was coming to town to hold a caucus 
and see what to do on Saturday. I said to a friend with me, Perhaps 
it would he as well for us to go and see Judge Cordill, and see if we can 
arrange this business.” I thought that we, the majority of the colored 
people, by getting rid of Stewart, Griffith, Brown, and Jackson, could 
make a combination and put up a ticket which would suit these gentle¬ 
men. When the proposition was brought into their Democratic conven¬ 
tion, the gentlemen on the opposite side—the Democratic side—said, 
“We will not accept of anything.” Walker and Stewart, Bryant and 
all, went to see Mr. Watson, and he put his hand on my shoulder and 
said, “By God! this is my meat; I bought it and paid for it; and Ave 
don’t intend for this man to go to the legislature, and he shall not go.” 
I told them, “ Gentlemen, if that bill is signed”- 

Q. By bill, you mean an agreement to A^ote for, or not to vote for, 
certain parties.—A. No; but that we should fight no colored man who 
AAmnted to run for sheriff, and that no political speaker should fight any 
colored man who wanted to run for sheriff*. But Cordill, Henderson, 
and others, made believe that the bill got up all this excitement. Said 
I, “Gentlemen, I did not sign the bill; I do not blame those that did 
not sign the bill; but I hold those responsible that did.” I did not get 
any satisfaction. We went doAvn to the com^ention. The rifle-club A\ms 
called to meet on the same day as our coiiA^entiou. Some of our side 
said that that was intended for intimidation, and got skart and fright¬ 
ened. Well, then the quarantine was opened, so that the day the 
Democratic convention AA^as held it Avas not a strict quarantine as before. 
Then we concluded to appoint a committee to wait on the Democratic 
committee, and see whether they would accept any comi)romise or not, 
to see if they would take certain offices and give us certain offices, 
diAuding them. We would take some of the Democratic nominees ; we 
thought that we could stand them for a year or tAvo, anyhoAV. We 
would have done anything in the world to have kept down trouble in 
our parish. 

Q. And they would not accept!—A. They said they would not accept 
of anything. They would not make any compromise at all. They said 
they Avould nominate a ticket and Avould elect it; they didn’t care what 
it cost. 

Q. That was at the Democratic Convention !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Eepublicans put up any candidates at allf—A. No, sir; 
Ave put up no candidates. 

Q. How long afterAvard was it that the independent ticket came out 
Avith the name of Bland and others upon it A. I do not remember 
hoAV long it Avas. 

Q. Did you remain in the parish till election time'?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you leave ?—A. I think the convention AA^as held on Sat¬ 
urday night. We got word of the trouble at Fairfax’s ; I lived sixteen 
miles from Fairfax. I heard that he Avas killed—although afterAvards 
Ave found out that to be a mistake. But aa e heard that the next man 
killed would be at our end of the parish. The time I got this Avord I 
was four or five miles from home, at a place called the Island. One of 
the men on the plantation where I lived told me I had better look out; 
they had killed Fairfax and Avere coming up to clear out our end of the 



232 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


parish next. That was on Snndav. I came hack Sunday evening about 
tliree o’clock. 1 staid home Monday. On that Monday following we 
were to hold a convention at Saint Josei)h. The colored i^eople came 
from the Island thinking that there would be a convention held in Saint 
Joseph. They had ]io arms—no nothing. I have since then been ac- 
cased of threatening to break the quarantine to go to Saint Joseph, 

Q. Was there any truth in that ?—A. i^’ot a word. Solomon Shafer— 
he is with the Democrats now, issuing certificates of protection to all 
who vote the Democratic ticket—was there. He told his people that 
they had killed Fairfax, and that they Avere coming ui) to kill me. On 
Monday we Avere to hold the (JoiiA^ention. On Monday a crowd came up 
tlie road as far as about a mile from Saint Joseph to go there. They 
did not haA^e arms AAuth them. I AA^ent down the road to them. When 
I got there I found, I supi)ose, about 300 or 400 men coming to the con- 
A'entioii. I said, We cannot hold any convention. The Democrats 
liaA^e nominated their ticket, and I don’t know Avhat to do. Weaint 
able to fight these Avhite people.” But I did hear Ave were to hold 
a convention out at Delta. I said, I am not going myself; I don’t 
Avant to be killed. I am going to stay at liome.” On Monday Mr. Mc- 
Ciillagh and others had come from the Island. They told me they had 
a AA arrant for Washington ^^^elhinis. I told them, ‘AVe cannot hold a 
coiiA-ention— aa'c cannot do anything.” And Ave did not do anything. 

Q. If you saAV any violence, state it.—A. When I lieard there A\ms a 
AA’arrant out for me 1 ran aA\my. They said they had a list of the leaders, 
and that they Aranted to get hold of them. 

Q. Who said they had a list ?—A. Here is Mr. Kinney. He told me 
in front of the custom-house, since I have been here, that they Avere 
going to hang me. 

Q. They have got you here?—A. Yes, sir; as a witness. He said. 
You know AAiieii you AA^ere hunted I did not take much trouble to find 
you. The sheriff hadn’t any Avarrant for you, but the sheriff* told me to- 
go after you.” 

Q. Had you committed any crime ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Were you charged Avith intending to commit any ?—A. Ko, sir; 
AA^e Avere going to assist in holding that convention on Monday. On 
Wednesday this posse, led by Mr. Kinney, Avent to my father-in-law’s 
house, and searched it thoroughly. They went Avitli re\mlvers and 
searched the house for me. 

Q. AVere these Avhite men ?—A. Yes, sir; they were all A\diite men. 
They told my tather-in-laAv and my friends that all they Avanted was to 
find me, and that they would bloAv the head off me. 

Q. They didn’t find you ?—A. Ko, sir. I went to Dr. AAYatherly’s. 
He said to me, “You are welcome in the top of my house. You areAvel- 
come as long as you have a mind to it.” I staid there till they said 
they were going to hang Weatherly and Bland and Douglas. 

(J. Were these men armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Could you see them?—A. Yes, sir; I could see them out of his top 
Avindow. 

Q. How often did they come there?—A. Twice. 

Q. Hoav many of them a\ ere there ? —A. About 30, I should supj)ose, 
in the company I saAv. Then I left. I came back afterward, AAdien they 
said things had got quiet. I Avent out speaking afterAAmrd with Bland 
and Douglas, and did make two speeches. . 

Q. Speakingfor their ticket?—A. Yes; the Bland and Douglas ticket. 
Only one of them AA^ent Avith me. Then I aa ent to Saint Joseph with 
Mr. Douglas. Henry Shafer Avas there, and told me he Avanted to see me. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WASHINGTON WILLIAMS. 


233 


I Avent along side of Liin. He took me off on one side and said to me: 

Do you know that the Avhite people own this countiy ” ? I said that I 
kneAv tlie white people owned the best part of the soil. “ Wellj” said 
he, “do you know that the whole of the Southerners are doAvn on Ten¬ 
sas Parish and Concordia, because they are strong Eepublican parishes.” 
Said I, “I know they are down on anything that is not Democratic.” 
“Do you know,” said he, “that you are with Weatherly and Douglas 
and Bland, and that they can’t protect you.” 1 said, “ They have pro¬ 
tected me so far. He said, “1 want to tell you your life is in my hands, 
to dispose of when I say the word.” Said I, “Is it” I Said he, “ Yes, it 
is. Y^ou are spotted for ten years to come. You are spotted till the dirt 
shall take the spots off from you.” Said I, “ Then it is time for me to 
get out of this.” He said, “Are you going to speak at this meeting on 
Monday”? I said, “Yes.” He said, “ To prove that Douglas can’t pro- 
[ tect you, I will tell you that that croAvd went out to take Mr. Douglas^ 

I head. Douglas and his crowd had built a little fort of cotton bales, but 
that didn’t stop us. We stopped because he had 30 or 40 a\ omen and 
children with him, and we don’t Avant to hurt Avomen and children.” I 
kneAv it was true about there being a lot of women and children there, 
and I got skeered. He said “If you go and speak at Weatherly’s you 
Avill be killed.” Said I, “Mr. Shafer, I Avill tell you my standing: the man 
I live Avith, who agreed to protect me, is Mr. Gillespie.” He said, “We 
don’t care j if you make a speech at Weatherly’s on Monday Ave will 
kill you.” Well, the meeting was called. I rode from Douglas, eighteen 
I miles from Weatherly’s. On the Avay I met a crowd of men. They 
looked at me, but didn’t knoAv me. They cried, “ Hooray for Cordill.” 
Our lot hoorayed for Bland and Douglas. I said to the men that I was 
riding Avith, “I am going to stop at Weatherly’s,” and I did. About 
ten minutes after I had stopped the buggy-brigade came up. They asked 
I my friends Avas I there? They said, “Ko.” A man came and told me, 

! and said, “ These men are going to kill you.” Kinney says, “ I Avould 
give $40 to any man who will tell A\here Kellums is.” No one would 
tell. I staj^ed in the house; they came and looked for me, but did not 
tind me, and then Avent back. 

Q. Have you been back there since ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you leaA^e there then ?—A. No, sir ; I staid in his house. 

Q. How long is it since you left the parish ?—A. Next day Avas elec¬ 
tion. I left Weatherly’s and Avent to Dave Steuben’s that night. 

Q. Did you a ote ?—A. No, sir j I dare not be seen on the ground, nor 
anyAA here around there. 

C^. Had there been any fighting or anything of that kind, any great 
excitement, previous to the coming of Peck ?—A. No, sir; but after that 
there Avas great excitement among all the colored people. There Aras no 
Avork done for two Aveeks. 

Q. Why not ?—A. Because the people were running in the woods. 

Q. How many Avere in the AAmods?—A. I started from Weatherly’s in 
the night, and as I went through the aa oods I could hear the sticks crack¬ 
ing, like as if a lot of sheep AA^as running through the bushes. Some¬ 
times I would say, “Halloo, Bill,” calling them, so that they would knoAV 
Avho I Avas, lest they might think I might be hostile. Some of them 
Avould knoAV my Amice and would ansAver. 

Q. How many men did you see in the woods ?—A. I saAV from thirty 
to forty men. They Avere in the SAvamps, on the ridge-backs, and CAmr^ - 
where. 

Q. Were these men armed?—A. O, no, sir. 




234 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did they act as if they were anxious to get up and fight ?—A. No, 
sir; they Avere skert almost to death. 

Q. Did you see any large bodies of armed men parading the country 
up there, after the killing of Fairfax ‘I —A. No, sir. 

Q. No large bodies of men in arms anywhere there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. If there had been, would you haA^e seen them —A. I think 1 should, 
sir. 

Q. What is the largest number of colored men you saAV in a body, 
going Avithout arms ?—A. The Monday they were to hold a convention at 
Saint Joseph, 500 or COO stopped there. 

Q. That AAms before the killing of Fairfax?—A. No, sir; it Avas after. 
Peck was killed on Saturday night, and this was on Monday. 

Q. What became of that large body of men ?—A. Dr. Weatherly told 
them they had better go home. He said he was a citizen there; he had 
land there; and he would see their Avrongs rectified. 

Q. They Avere all going to the Kepublican conA^ention then ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. What was the next large body of men that you saw ?—A. They 
were the men avIio had arms at Gillespie’s plantation. 

Q. Were they marching through the country ?—A. No, sir; they were 
right in their quarters. They had the arms in order to protect themselves. 
They said if anybody came uj) there they Avould defend themselves. Gn* 
less they did, they AAwld be killed like dogs. 


DUNCAN 0. SMITH. 

Neav Orleans, La., January 8, 1879. 

Duncan C. Saiitii (colored) SAVorn and examined. 

By the Chairaian : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long liaA^e you resided there ?—A. Twenty-four years. 

Q. How old are you ?—A. Twenty-four years old. 

Q. Then you have always lUedin Tensas?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What has been your business?—A. I have farmed a little, and I 
have been constable for the last year or two. 

Q. Were you in Tensas Parish during the last summer ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take any jiart in the political campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What part ?—A. I sustained the Bland ticket. 

Q. State what you did in connection Avith that campaign.—A. We Avere 
to call our coiiA^ention on the 5th October. SeA^eral of us—myself and 
Fairfax and others of the delegation—came OA^er from Waterproof to at¬ 
tend the parish convention. We had affiliated with the Eepublican 
party for eight or ten years i)ast. We found that no white Eepublican 
would accept a position on our ticket; so Fairfax said he would put the 
coiiA'ention off, and appointed a committee of five to confer Avith the 
Democrats. This Avas done, and the Democratic conA^ention was called 
on the Monday following. When the Democratic conA^ention met a res¬ 
olution was passed to instruct the Eepublicans that they wished no com¬ 
promise, and would have none. Colonel Eeeves deliA^ered a sjDeech in 
the conA^ention. He said they had nominated their ticket and they Avould 
elect it; and if any i)erson opposed it and tried to defeat it, they would 
simply make him stand out of the way. He said of Fairfax, “ There 



Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF DUNCAN C. SMITH. 


235 


is the great Ajax of the Eepuhlican league; he has been leading the 
Kepublican party for the last 14 years.” Fairfax was then standing 
there, beside myself. Fairfax returned home. On the Monday follow¬ 
ing—the 14th—we were to call oiir convention at Saint Joseph again. 
On the Tuesday or Monday before onr convention we heard that Saint 
Joseph was strictly qnarantined. Fairfax said that we conld not hold a 
convention. Afterwards we heard that the quarantine had been raised. 
Then, on Thnrsday evening, Fairfax wTote twenty or fifteen notes to the 
delegation on the lake, and synt to them to notify the people to go to 
the place for holding the convention. I went np there and was there 
on Sunday morning. Mr. Bland came np there and said, ‘‘Duncan, I 
hear that Fairfax was attacked on Saturday night.” I said, “WhaF?” 
He said it again. I said there was no tronble when I left there—which 
was on Friday, at half-past one o’clock in the afternoon. This was on 
SiTiiday morning. He assured me that Fairfax and two other colored 
men in his house had been shot. I said I wonld not believe a word of 
it. That night Walker and I and several others met there. I asked 
Walker to come down. We came down that night—Snnday night. 
The people told me there, “On Saturday morning those white men came 
up with shot-guns and looked for you; if you had been here you would 
have been cotched and killed.” They said they Avere told you had gone up 
to arrange for a place to hold a convention. I went down to the office Avith 
the justice of the peace in the fourth ward—^liis name was John Cutts; 
he told me he had heard that Fairffix was killed. Walker said he Avould 
hold a coiiA^ention whether Fairfax was killed or not. We waited and 
AAmited; and as Fairfax did not come, Ave elected E. C. Knth chairman 
of the convention. When it came to nominating a ticket Walker asked 
me would I represent my ward. I said “Yes, if Fairfax is killed.” We 
could get no different iieAvs, only the rumor that he was killed. I sfarted 
home, and met Fairfax and a crowd of men coming. He said, “Well, 
boys, they Avere like to liaA^e killed me Saturday.” He said that five or 
six men came into his house; that there were fifty or sixty others out¬ 
side, and so on; and he added, “I will indorse whateAWticket youhaA^e 
nominated.” We went back with him. He deliAwed a speech, saying 
that although he did not get there in time to help nominate the ticket, 
he Avould indorse the ticket we had nominated. 

Q. You had nominated a ticket ^ —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the candidates on that ticket ?—A. A. P. Martin, for 
parish judge; Mr. Bland, for high sheriff'; Mr. Coolidge, for justice of 
the peace; Dr. Weatherljy for coroner. It was a ticket of white men; 
there was only one colored man on it. 

Q. What further interest did you take in that campaign ?—A. Mon¬ 
day night I came back home, and Fairfax and I went down through the 
toAvn. Tuesday morning I came up to Wateri)roof again. A feAV col¬ 
ored peoi)le gathered in town. We found a great excitement there. 
There were rumors that a body of armed men were crossing the river. 
McCullagh said-- 

Q. Who is McCullagh ?—A. He is a white man and a Democrat. Mc¬ 
Cullagh said he would see who it was. He found that it was Kegister 
and his posse that were coming down. Kegister was sheriff, and w^as 
candidate for re-election for the same office. There were 25 men from 
Franklin Parish, and about 35 citizens—boys from Saint Joseph. 

Q. Franklin is another parish ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. What became of these men ^.—A. They came on down there. Eeg- 
ister told me he had a warrant for Fairfax. I said, “ What for?” He 
said that some one had made affidavit that Fairfax had killed Peck. 




236 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Where did these men go ?—A. Below Waterproof, about Smiles, 
I understood. 

Q. Did you see anything of Fairfax after that?—A. l^o, sir. 

Q. lie left ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Eight away ?—A. As soon as lie could get away. Three or four 
hundred men raided the iiarish hunting for him. 

Q. Armed men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any other armed men except those you have men¬ 
tioned?—A. Yes, sir ; I saw citizens around there armed. 

Q. How many?—A. All the young men, and old men, too, in Water¬ 
proof. Mr. Eegister deputized most of them. 

Q. They joined his posse, did they?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know of anybody being killed ?—A. I did not go and look 
at them personally. I heard of some one being shot, here and there and 
everywhere, but i was afraid to go and look at them. 

Q, Why ?—A. I was afraid I would be killed myself. 

Q. Whom did you hear were killed ?—A. Charley Bethel was shot, 
but not killed, and they cut his throat afterward; and Monday Hill was 
hung, and Kobeft Williams was hung, and James Starver was shot 5 
William Hunter was taken and a rope was put about his neck, and he 
was run about half a mile. When thoy got to the place where they in¬ 
tended to hang him he was dead. They had put the rope around the 
pommel of the saddle and galloped the horse off. 

Q. Did you know him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has he disappeared from the country ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do you know he was killed ?—A. Men on the place told me he 
was killed. Mr. Guise told me so. He was one of them that went there 
and cut him down and buried him. Dick Miller was arrested by the 
sherifl; and posse. I met the sheriff with Dick. He said he had ar¬ 
rested him for burning a gin. He started to carry Dick to jail. Then 
they went back to the swamp and hung him. His mother got on the 
trail of him. She met an old man coming out of the swami> from hunt¬ 
ing. She asked the old man, did he see Mr. Eegister mth her son ? 
“ What kind of man is he?” said he. “He is a yellow fellow with a 
small mustache.” He said, “ Yo, I did not see Mr. Eegister with any 
such man, but I saw a yellow man hanging in the woods with a note on 
his back.” 

Q. How did you learn that?—A. I learned it from his mother; she 
told me herself. His wife told me, too. His mother and his wife had 
him cut down and buried. 

Q. You say they charged him with having burned a cottoii-gin ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any other parties said to have been killed ?—A. 
I know in the adjoining parish, Concordia Parish, several persons were 
killed, but I don’t know how they were killed. One of them was a ne¬ 
gro who owns four or five plantations on the lake. I was told that 
Commodore Smallwood was carried out on the lake in a skiff, with a 
rope around his neck, and they made him preach his own funeral ser¬ 
mon, and then threw him into the lake and drowned him. They killed 
little Charles Carroll, I was told. 

Q. Do you know of anybody else being hung or shot?—A. Yes, sir; 
they shot a man by the name of Starver. 

Q. Did you see him shot ?—A. No, sir. 

()i. How did you learn of it ?—A. He told me of it himself. 

Q. When was he sliot ?—A. On Thursday. 

Q. Anybody else ?—A. Yes; they also shot Mr. Postelthwaite on the 


TESTIMONY OF DUNCAN C. SMITH. 237 

same day. They didn’t kill him the first time; they took him and killed 
him afterward. 

Q. Did they kill Starver the first time ?—A. No, sir 5 he was carried 
to his house, as was also Postelthwaite. 

Q. Were yon acquainted with these men —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon see any other violence?—A. Only what I heard of. 

Q. What did yon hear ?—A. There were three or four colored men 
hiding; Mr. Hayes and his men caught these men and brought them in. 
Hayes says, “ Turn these niggers loose; Ave are not after them ; we want 
these niggers that pretend to know so much.” 

Q. Who Avas Hayes ?—A. He Avas one of these Ouachita fellows that 
was riding around from plantation to plantation. 

Q. A x^rominent citizen ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How often were these armed bodies riding back and forth ?—A. 
Well, sir, as I was lying hid there among the bushes I could see them 
passing e\"ery two or three minutes; the parish was full of them; I 
couldn’t find woods and bushes enough to hide from them in. 

Q. Were there any other colored i^eople hiding there?—A. Yes, sir, 
plenty; I could find them any time by going to the bushes, but I 
AAmuldn’t sight one. 

Q. Why not ?—A. Because if there were so many of us together they 
would be more ax^t to catch us; and then if they catched one they 
would catch the whole lot. 

Q. Did you sleexA in the woods ?—A. Yes, sir. 

A. Why did you do that ?—A. Because they were taking out colored 
men and hanging and shooting them; and we were afraid it AAmuld be 
our turn next; even women slept in the woods; for if a woman talked 
too big, they threatened to take her down and Avhip her. 

Q. Who commanded these men?—A. The x^osse I knew of was com¬ 
manded by CaxAtain Kibbolt, captain of Company 110, that did so much 
damage, and killed and hung and cut throats. 

Q. How were those men armed ?—A. Some had shot-guns, some rifles, 
and x^istols, and the like of that. 

Q. Do you know of any other Auolence committed?—A. Well, I was 
going doAVn the levee one day, AA^hen I met one of these rifle-clubs; one 
of the men said, “ Pull off your boots”; one said Jerk off your coat,” 
and another said, Clod damn you, we are king here now.” 

Q. Were they from Ouachita Parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What else did they say or do ?—A. They said, “If we have to come 
back here again we won’t except anybody.” 

Q. Did you see any large bodies of armed colored peox^le ?—A. No, 
sir; no more than after Fairfax was fired at I met five or six hundred 
coming to the convention, some of Avhom were armed. They said they 
were going to x)rotect Fairfax. 

Q. How were they armed ?—A. Some had old shot-guns, and some 
had pistols. There was perhaps fifty loads in the whole business. 

Q. Besides that, how many bodies of armed men did you see ?—A. 
Not any at all. I didn’t see a one. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. All these killings, shootings, and hangings, did you see any of 
them A ourself? 

Q. Did you see Dick Miller hanged?—A. I saw the sheriff Avith him. 

Q. You didn’t see the sheriff hang him?—A. I didn’t see him hanged, 
but his mother told she found him hung in the woods. 

Q. Is his mother alive?—A. Yes, sir. 


238 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Where!—A. At Waterproof. 

Q. And Monday Hill, and Charlie Carrol, Charlie Bethel, did you see 
any of them killed!—A. i^^o, sir. 

Q. Did you see Bethel after his throat was cut!—A. No, sir; hut 1 
was on the same place. 

Q. What were you doing there!—A. I was there trying to catch a 
boat at Bass’s Landing. . 

Q. The Fairfax who went to that convention, was that Alfred Fair¬ 
fax!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The man who ran for Congress as a Eepiiblican !—A. Yes, sir. 


EOBEET J. WALKEE. 

New Orleans, La., January 8, 1879. 

Egbert J. AYalker (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AA^here do you reside!—Answer. In Tensas Parish, this 
State. 

Q. How long have you resided there !—A. Since 1868 it has been my 
home. 

Q. AAdiat has been your politics !—A. Eepiiblican. 

Q. Are you a iiroperty-holder up there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you held projierty in the parish !—A. Alore or less 
since 1870. 

Q. What business are you engaged in !—A. Planting. 

Q. Have you taken any x>art in iiolitics !—A. Yes, sir; in every cam¬ 
paign since 1872. 

Q. AVhat part have you usually taken !—A. On the part of the Eepub- 
licans, always. 

Q. Have you ever run for office!—A. Yes, sir; member of the legis¬ 
lature. 

Q. AYere you elected!—A. In 1876 I was. 

Q. Did you take any part in this late political campaign!—A. Yes, 
sir; a very active part. 

Q. State about it.—A. On the 25th of October, when our convention 
had been called to meet we met, and prior to that meeting of the con¬ 
vention there was a good deal of political excitement. I thought it was 
(piite natural. I di(l not think any serious results would come from it. 
On the morning of the convention Senator Bryant came in the town. 
He was chairman of our parish executive committee. He had heard of 
the excitement and part of us got together and talked the matter over, 
and tried to see among ourselves what could be done to cause harmony 
among the citizens. Mr. Bryant went down the next morning to see 
s )me of the leaders of the Democratic party. AA'hen he came back a 
goodly number of us were seated on the court-house steps waiting. He 
said he had been down and made overtures to them to see what we could 
do, and that we would put up a ticket, a local ticket, and stand by it. 
He said lie had asked Saxe what could be done, and what they would 
be satisfied with, and they told him not anything, and that if we did 
put up a ticket his head would be in danger, and then Colonel Eeeves 
spoke up and said, “ Yes, a hundred bullets put through them.” The 
Eepiiblicans assembled and tried to see what could be done that would 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT J. WALKER. 


239 


keep back trouble. Some tliouglit it was best to send a committee to 
act as a committee of coiifereuce with a similar committee of the Demo¬ 
crats. Others thought that as a Democratic convention would be held 
on Monday morning, it would be a good thing to do, and perhaps there 
would be some disappointed men there, as there always are after a con- 
^^ention, who would go in and help us make up a ticket. There was no 
white Republicans who would go on the ticket. That is the reason we 
did not put up a ticket. 

Q. You did not desire to run a color ticket ?—A. ]N’o, sir; we have 
never done such a thing, and our people were opposed to drawing the 
color line in politics, generally. 

Q. Did you have a conversation with Colonel Reeves?—A. Yes, sir; 
Colonel Reeves never used any threats to me at all. I went in company 
with him and several others, and asked if he did not have the right to 
put a ticket in the field, and he said we had a right to do anything that 
was not contrary to law and good morals. 

Q. He did not say whether that was contrary to good morals ?—A. 
ISTo, sir. 

Q. Did you remain in the parish during the campaign?—A. YTes, sir. 

Q. Was there much excitement in the parish ?—A. A good deal. 

Q. Did you see any bodies of armed white men ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Did you hear of them being there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know of any acts of violence ?—^A. No, sir ; I saw none; 
there was none near my neighborhood. 

Q. Y^ou heard a good deal about it, did you ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You heard of the attack on Fairfax ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What had been the condition of affairs up to that time?—A. 
Peaceable. Up to the time of the attack on Fairfax’s house on the 
night of the 12th, there was a good deal of wild talk, but it seemed to 
me not more than usual just before election-day. We did not believe the 
people there would commence any kind of bulldozing. There was a 
good deal of this kind of talk, and the white men resolved in convention 
that they would burst it, so far as we were concerned. We never thought 
of such a thing. 

Q. You did not bulldoze ?—A. No, sir; there was no talk of it. 

Q. This bulldozing did go on, did it not ?—A. Yes, sir ; I will state it 
did, although I did not see any. 

Q. You cannot say, then, to what extent?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know what the effect was on the colored people there ?—A. 


YYs, sir. 

Q. Wliatwasit?—A. The effect was this: it disorganized the party 
to some extent, and caused a great many people not to go to the polls. 
They were afraid to vote; and if they dared to vote any other ticket 
but the Democratic ticket, things unpleasant would happen to them. 

Q. Were the colored people frightened at these demonstrations ?—A. 
YYs, sir. 

Q. Did you know of any that went to the woods?—A. YTes, sir. But 
they went to other houses; for instance, I was one. 

Q. Why ?—A. Because 1 heard threats. I went to one of my neigh¬ 
bors’ houses, and slept until such a time as these rumors had ceased. 

Q. Did you live in your own house ?—A. My brother and I live to¬ 
gether. 

Q. Y^oiir own property ?—A. Yes, sir. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You may read the card of this paper. 



240 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[ Tensas 


The card is as follows': 

Saint Joseph, La., Octohei' 25, 1878. 

Dear Sir: You, perhaps, know me better than any other white man in the parish, 
and therefore know that I have a sincere interest in anything I do, and I liave given 
the political status of my people a good deal of thought; and, after mature delibera¬ 
tion, there being no Rejinblican ticket in the field, would advise them to support and 
vote the ticket nominated by the Democratic party on the 7th of October. 

Very respectfully, &c., 

ROBERT J. WALKER. 

Colonel Alba Reese. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. State the circumstances under which you signed that paper A. 
I would have to go over a good deal of ground. 

Q. Well, explain all the circumstances that are necessary.—A. After we 
had failed to nominate a ticket, for causes I have already stated, I was one 
of those Avho believed that when the Democratic, party had their conven¬ 
tion on the 7 th there would be a great many disaffected men, and possibly 
we could get enough to make up a ticket that would give satisfaction, 
and I advised my friends that we had better go home and wait, and 
in the mean time each member of the party would visit every white man 
of his acquaintance in the parish, to see how many we could get that 
wmuld go on and help us make a ticket to-satisfy the colored jieople and 
white people in general. I was satisfied that the committee would do 
110 good at that time. Accordingly we adjourned, and went home. I, 
among others, went to see what white men I could, and found a number 
who Avould accept places on a ticket. A number of other men did the 
same thing. On Saturday, the 12th of October, after we had found a suf¬ 
ficient number of men, a meeting was called. Several copies of tickets, 
Avhich had been made up by prominent colored men, were iiresented to 
our meeting for selection. In fact, our caucus was largely made iij) by 
the disaffected of the Democratic party. A ticket was handed in which 
was not quite filled out in respect to the candidate for the legislature. 
Air. Alurdock and myself were jiroposed as candidates. I told them 
they could run me if they wanted to, but that I thought John Murdock 
would be the man; and I took the men out and told them I desired the 
success of our ticket, whoever Avas on, and that Air. Alurdock deserved 
high of the ]fiace, and, so far as I Avas concerned, I would be willing to 
go off and him go on. We did make up a ticket and let him go on. 
That night we had a mass-meeting of three or four hundred voters, and 
AA^e told them what we proposed doing—that we were going in Avith the 
white people there, and I belieA'e a resolution or motion was adopted 
unanimously indorsing our course. After having agreed upon the ticket 
AA^e had draAvn up, I addressed a private letter to Air. Fairfirx, a member 
of the Kepublican party, telling him AA^hat we had done, and asking him 
to sanction us, as I knew he aa ould. After that, a man came to Air. 
Fairfax’s Avith a number of notices, saying that Saint Joseph had been 
quarantined from the surrounding country, and that Ave could not hold 
the coiwention on the 14th. AVe considered the matter, and another 
])lace was sought after by a messenger from us, and he returned to me 
and told me that he had found a place known as the Aliller place, 
Avhere the convention could be held. I told him I did not think it 
Avas necessary to go doAA n tliere to have a convention, but the members 
decided that the convention must not only go on but AA^e must go there, 
and soon wheard about the disturbance at Waterproof. We went 
down there j Ave found everybody in a state of excitement. They said 
that the woods Avere full of armed men, and they had sent men out to 
break up the convention, and so AA^e did not go to the Aliller place, but 


Tarish.] 


TESTIMOiNY OF EGBERT J. WALKER. 


241 


stopped at a place known as the Hard llargain place. We nominated 
an independent ticket, composed mostly of white men, and we had an 
agreement with the white men that they wonld support our man for Con¬ 
gress, and then we (iommnnicated to the men what had been done. They 
thought it was best for the white men to meet and indorse us, and then ha v(* 
a general meeting, and we went down to do so. In the mean time I went 
home as 1 had a good deal to do, and while I was home, during tln‘ 
time the bulldozing took place in the parish, they sent me word that 
everything was in readiness, and we were ready to make our campaign 
and work liard. 1 am satisfied that the ward went solidly for oiir ticket. 
I went down to Saint Josei)li then. I had some business with an attorney 
in Saint Josei)h, and I told him that I liad heard it rumored tliat lieeves, 
Cordell, Saxe, and others had furnished a list of colored men who, they 
said, was to be killed, and asked me if there was any truth in it, and he said 
he tliought not; and he said Reeves wanted me to go down, and 1 did so ; 
and he showed me that he had not done anything to the men. He conversed 
with Cordell and Saxe, and fludge Reeves told me he did not know anything 
of the kind, but said when Kendell went up in the parish to make some 
arrests he had told him not to interfere with me, and they did not. The, 
next day I saw Robert Harrisburg, and he told me that Captain Buck¬ 
ner and some others had gone u]) to my house to visit me. I asked him 
why, and he said they had heard of my opposing the ticket actively, 
and, in fact, that 1 was the main man up there; that I was doing the 
main work. I thought of this matter, and 1 knew it had been said that 
l^eck had gone to visit Fairfax, and I knew how that had turned out, 
and I did not want my case to be a similar one; 1 did not want to taki' 
my chances of being visited in the same way, of being killed or run off 
from home like Fairfax. 1 told the gentleman that 1 had been told by 
Mr.< Buckner and others that I was to be visited at my house, and that 
I did not want to run my chances. I had heard that there had been 
some agreement to support Col. Jolin H. Young for Congress, instead 
of Fairfax. I must say that that caused a relaxation in my feelings; 1 
felt easier, and wanted to be at home and not be molested, and in order 
to do that 1 wrote this card, and 1 intended at the time to stand by it, 
because I was always getting along well with the white men, and I know 
so tar as my friends are coiu'erned X can live there and do well and prosper; 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Your object was that you might be let alone?—A. Yes, sir; and 
attend to my business. 

By the Chairman : 

(^. That is the reason you signed it ?—A. I knew that Buckner had 
no business to visit me; lie had never done such a thing betore, and 1 
knew it would turn out as it did with Fairfax. 

Q. You did not invite him?—A. ]^^o, sir; it might have been differ¬ 
ent, but 1 feared otherwise. 

Q. Who is Mr. Buckner ?—A. I do not know; 1 never saw hiim 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Where is Senator Bryant that told you, Saxe, and others sonu'- 
thing ?—A. He is now in the city, a member of legislature. 

Q. Yon only know of the visit from his speech to you ?—A. He came 
back and told that to Mr. Stewart and myself and a number of others. 

Q. Did you vote tlie ticket as you promised to do in that (*ard?—A. I 
voted for some of the men. 

Q. Yot for all of tliem ?—A. No, sir. 

1(> T 



LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


:>42 


Q,. Did you ever vote for any that was on that ticket before?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. John Cardell and Greor^e Eegister. Regis¬ 
ter was elected sheriff in 1808 on the Republican ticket, and Cardell was 
(dected as parish judge on the Republican ticket. 

Q. AYhich one on the ticket did you fail to vote for after you signed 
tliat—do you recollect?—A. I do not recollect which one now. 

Q. 1 understood you voted for some of them?—A. Yes, sir; I made a 
ticket to suit myself, and voted it. 

Q. Did you vote for Cardell and Register at this election ?—A. I am 
(*ertain I (lid not vote for Register. 

Q. Are you (jertain you voted for Cardell?—A. 1 do'not know; my 
heelings were very different toward him from my feelings to Register. 

Q. Xow, are there any others on the ticket that you are certain of 
\ofing for, or not voting for ?—A. I am certain I did not vote for Reg¬ 
ister. At the polls on the day of election in my ward I was the most ac¬ 
tive man on my side there. 1 went to the polls and arranged my ticket 
and voted it, and for the balance of the day I was engaged in helping 
my men around there to get their tickets straight, &c. 

Q. Your impression is that you voted fur the balance of the ticket?— 
A. Yo, sir. 

Q. You are not c.ertain whether yon voted for Cardell or not?—A. I 
think 1 voted for Cardell; but as to the balance 1 sui:>ported my own 
ricket. 

Q. What ticket was it ?—A. It was the people’s or independent ticket. 

Q. That was what has been called the Bland ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Sometimes called the people’s ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From your kno wledge of the tickets, were they not all Democrats ? 
—A. Beyond all question. The only difference was that they came out 
when these bulldozers got there. They opposed bulldozing, and helped 
the colored ])eople to beat the Saint Joseph ticket, otherwise known as 
I lemocrats. 

(}. Did you know of any particular sentiment then in the parish against 
('ardell and Register, on this ticket particularly?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Was that the sentiment there generally; the opposition seemed to 
be ])articularly against these two persons?-^A. Yes, sir; I was bitterly 
oj)posed to Cardell myself at the lirst. I thought they had gone over to 
the Democrats, and thought they had made a compromise to beat the 
colored people. I afterward talked with Cardell, who is well known and 
liked there, and I dare say there is no man in the party in whom we had 
more confidence, and after the trouble I talked with him. He assigned 
me some reasons why lie had acted with our party, and he assured me 
h(‘ was not opposed to the interests of the colored people, all of whicli 
had a good deal to do with softening my feelings towards him. 

Q. Did not you and Fairfax try to- make a compromise there ?—A. He 
wrote a letter. He has always opposed there what is knoAvn as the car- 
] let-baggers. 

Q. That is ARred Fairfax?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you not agree with Alfred Fairfax in this movement at that 
time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliat are the politics of I^orth Louisiana?—A. I don’t believe it 
has any politics. 

Q. What ]>arty did it support last ?—A. It supported our party last 
(‘lection and the Reimblican party in 187(1, 1874, and 1872. 

Q. It siqiported Cardell last ?—A. Yes, sir. 


rarisli] TESTIMONY OF C. E. RUTH. 243 

Q. You olaiined to be Democrats up tliere tins last campaign ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you write this card yourself?—A. I AYrote one card. 1 don’t 
know whether this one or not. 1 liaA^e forgotten Avhether I wrote that 
(aird or AAiiether it was destroyed. 

Q. Did you consult with some parties before writing?—A. Yes, sir; 
with some (*olored friends of mine. I talked with Judge Cardell ami 
()oloiiel Iteeves, and I talked with a number of AAdiite men. 

Q. About the card ?—A. Yes, sir; and on politics in general. 

Q. It was while you were there that you came to the conclusion that 
you AYould lAublish this ?—A. Yes, sir; it was while I was there Mr. Has- 
AYell, the man that told me that Bu(.*kner was coming to my house to 
visit me. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

( 4 . Was any one present ?—A. 1 do not know whether any one was 
l>resent or not; it AYas written in the store, and it seems to me there was 
a number in the store at the time. 

Q. Was Cardell there?—A. I do not recollect; it was Saxe’s store, 
and it is likely he AYas there. 

Q. You are not certain AYhether the card you wrote AYas this one ?—A. 
1 don’t remember; I know I AA^rote one card. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. If you did not AA^ite it, aa Iio did ?—A. I AYas at IMr. Saxe’s store, and 
Mr. Saxe AYrote a card first, and ayc did not agree upon that. 1 wrot(‘. 
one, and I belieAm there was some objection to that, and 1 do not recol¬ 
lect now AYhether Saxe wrote it or I AYrote it. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Which was published ?—A. I don’t know AYliether that is the card I 
AYrote or whether it AYas one he AYrote. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was Cardell present ?—A. If he was I have forgotten; I <ion’t 
remember seeing him at the time. 

Q. It AAms written to be iniblished, I suppose ?—A. Yes, sir. 


C. E. KUTH. 

Yew Orleans, La., January 8, 187b. 

C. E. Buth (colored) SAYorn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Mr. Kuth, AA here do you reside ?—AnsAYer. In Tensas Par¬ 
ish, sir. , 1 , 

Q. How long have resided there ?—A. I have always lumd there. I 

AYas bred and born there. 

Q. How old are you?—A. Thirty-two years and six months. 

Q. What liaA^e been your politics-heretofore ?—A. 1 have been a Re- 

publican.^^ hat Tensas Parish do you reside ?—A. ButliAvood 

phuitation, the place where I Avas born. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last political campaign ?—A. I did. 




244 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teu.saa 


Q. What part did you take ?—A. I went with wliat was ealled tlie 
Bland and Douglas faction. 

Q. You supported what was called the independent ticket ?—A. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. In what businCvSS are you engaged ?—A. In fanning and oftice-hold- 
ing. 

Q. Wliat ofti(*e have you held ?—A. I was justice of the peace at that 
time. 

(^. What part did you take in the election ?—A. I canvassed for the 
Bland and Douglas ticket all I could. 

Q. State any fact connected with this campaign that you think proper 
to state before the committee.—A. 1 saw one or two armed bodies of 
men coming up to the part of the parish where I was living. 

Q. When was that ?—A. On the 18th October. 

Q. How many men were there in that body ?—A. About fifty or 
sixty. 

Q. Who was in command ?—A. They were led by 0. S. Kinney, deputy 
sherift*, and C. Gann, the captain of the company. 

Q. Where did Captain Gann live ?—xV. I do not know, sir. 

Q. Did you see any other companies ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What other companies did you see ?—xV. On Saturday—that was 
the next day—the lOtb October, about three o’clock. Colonel King came 
up with a comj)any. 

Q. Is Colonel King the Democratic candidate for Congress ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How many were there in this company ?—xV. Eighteen or twenty. 

Q. Where were these men going ?—A. They came as far as Kewel- 
ton and stopped there. 

Q. That was where you lived ?—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they do ?—A. They first arrived on the 18th. They 
came there in the night. On Saturday morning they left for Kewell’s 
Kidge, in the back part of the ward in which I lived. 

Q. What comi)any is this you are now speaking of?— A. Captain 
Gann’s company. 

Q. AYhich Kinney was leading ?—xV. Well, yes, sir. 

Q. Where did they go and what did they do?—A. They went on 
till they saw a man named Asbury Epx)s. He was skert, and broke 
and ran away. They shot him. I saw him about eight hours after he 
was shot. I did not see him shot. He was a mend)er of my debating 
society, and so when I heard that he was shot I went out to see him. 
He was shot right here [witness indicated the place]. The doctor went 
to search for tlie ball in him, but he could not find it. 

Q. Under what circumstances was he shot ?—A. He was shot because 
he ran away, sir. 

Q. Was he accused of any crime?—A. No, sir. 

Q. He was shot by these armed men—this military company ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any other acts of violence?—xV. Y"es, sir; I know 
of another. 

Q. State what it was.—A. On the 18th of October, the first posse that 
arrived, I was standing talking with Captain Cann and another gentle¬ 
man. They were pledging me that no damage or violence would be done. 
They asked lue if I knew of any armed colored men. I said no. While 
we was talking a man named John Bull was there, one of Colonel 
King’s men. He struck a man with the breech of his gun and knocked 
liim down. Kinney picked him u}) and told him to go home. 


Parish. I 


TESTIMONY OF C E. RUTH. 


245 


Q. What was the name of tlie man that was knocked down ?—A. It 
was Perry Johnson. Bull knoc.ked him senseless, and Kinney picked 
liim up and told him (Johnson) to go home or he would be killed, or 
put in jail. The man had asked liim what party he belonged to. Perry 
said it was none of Ids business, and then Bull knocked him down. Bull 
then asked for a string of twine to mend his gun with, and said he 
wanted to fix it so that he could knock down another nigger. 

Q. What became of Jolinson'?—A. He went home. His head was 
pretty badly injured. 1 don’t think he will ever get over it, altliough 
he is going about. 

Q. Do you know of any other acts of violence committed in that neigh¬ 
borhood?—A. Xo, sir; more than on the day of election, when I went to 
vote, a colored man, named Jack Walton, asked me what ticket I was 
going to vote. I said the Bland ticket. He said, ‘‘ If you do you will be 
killed.” I said, should.” He said, “Take me as a friend, and don’t 
you vote that ticket.” To avoid that, I had a Cordill ticket and 
scTatched all the names off from it, and wrote in tlu^ mimes tliat were 
on the other ticket. 

Q. So you voted the Douglas and Bland men on the Cordill ticket?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you make any political speeches during the cam])aign ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliere did you make them ?—A. In several clubs around there in 
the second ward. 

Q. Was there any excitement there?—A. There Avas not then. 

Q. What time Avas that, before the attack on Fairfax, or after ?—A. 
About a month before. EA^erything Avas peaceable and quiet then. I 
was iiiAuted to Dr. Weatherly’s the Monday before the election to make 
a speech to a mass meeting Avhic'h had been appointed to be held there. 
As I Avas going down to the meeting, I met a croAvd of armed men—fifty 
or sixty of them, I should think. They yelled, hoorayed for Cordill and 
Begister, and then we hoorayed tor Bland and Douglas; and Ave passed 
on by each other. Xear Dr. AVeatherly’s Ave met another croAvd of 
armed men. They said they had a Avarrant for the arrest of Washington 
Xellums. 

Q. Flow many men did it take to arrest Washington Xellums?—A. 
Well, sir, there Avere twenty-five or thirty of them there; some of them 
Avere in buggies, and some on horseback. 

Q. Where Avas Washington Xellums?—A. I think, sir, that he AAn,s 
just then secreted in Dr. Weatherly’s house. 

Q. What had he done that they should arrest him ?—A. 1 do not 
know; nothing, that I am aAvare of. 

Q. Did you see any other acts of Aiolence aside from those you luwe 
already mentioned ?—A. Xo, sir. I returned; although there Avas ex¬ 
citement no one troubled me. 

Q. Did you make any speeches after the Fairfax trouble ?—A. Xo, 
sir. When I AA^ent to Dr. Weatherly’s, and this croAvd of armed men 
came, 1 thought it Avas better not to speak. I was afraid to speak. I 
told the people that I thought it was better for them all to go home, that 
thev AAwe in danger. 

Q. Why were they in danger ?—A. This armed crowd aa ^s there. 

Q. What Avas the effect of the-armed croAvd being there upon the 
])eople ?—A. Itdiad a tendency to frighten them and to lueA^ent them 
from Amting. 

Q. Was there any trouble up to the time the attack Avas made on Mr. 
Fdiirfax ?—A. 1 never heard of any. 


246 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


Q. Are you pretty well a-cqiiaiuted in that parish ?—A. In the upper 
part of the parish I am; in the lower part I am not very well ac(piaiiited. 

Q. How far is it from where yon lived to Waterproof f—A. It is some 
thirty or thirty-five miles. 

Q. Are yon acquainted at Waterproof ?—A. I am not very well 
aecinainted down there. 

Q. Did yon see any armed colored men in that part of the i)arish ?— 
A. 1 did. 

Q. How many f—A. About fifteen. 

Q. When did yon see them ?—A. They came there one evening—1 
forget the day—a day or two before Mr. Kinney came there with his 
crowd. 

Q. After the Fairfax trouble was this ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, what did they do f—A. They came to Kewelton. I asked 
where they were going, and they said they had come to protect me. I 
said I did not need any x)rotection, and that they had better go home. 
I said if they did not disarm and disperse I would issue warrants and 
put them in jail. 

Q. Yon are a magistrate, then!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, what then ?—A. I took them to a saloon and gave them a 
(piart of wliisky, and they went home. 

Q. Were these men armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With what ?—A. With old shot-guns j they were not loaded, 
either. 

Q. Did yon see any other armed men ?—A. Ko, sir. I heard of some, 
but I did not see them. 

Q. What did yon hear ?—A. I heard that three or four hundred went 
to escort Fairfax to the back pai t of the parish. 

Q. Were they armed men ?—A. I heard so ; I did not see them. We 
held a convention and got aAvay before Fairfax got there with his crowd. 
I understood that they were armed. When we were returning from this 
convention home we met armed men going toward Waterproof and Saint 
Joseph. 

Q. How many ?—A. Well, they were in squads of two, three, four, five, 
and six. 

Q. How many Avere there, all told ?—A. I should say one hundred and 
thirty or one hundred and forty, as nearly as I could make it out. 

Q. Did you know anything about the people hiding in the woods, and 
sleeping there during this time?—A. No, sir; I never seen any of them 
in the woods, but the people kept dodging around. 

Q. Hoav ‘^dodging around”?—A. Sleeping in the back part of the 
fields at night, and hiding in the bushes. 

Q. They did this because they av ere alarmed?—A. Yes, sir; for two 
Aveeks they Avere Avorse alarmed than if there Avas an army i>assiiig 
through the country. 

Q. Do you knoAV whether many colored men have left the parish 
since that ?—A. I do not know, but I see many are here in the city Avho 
formerly lived there. 

Q. Belonging in that parish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav are the Avhite men in that country; do they generally haAU* 
arms ?—A. Lately they have, sir. 

Q. How many military companies are there up there ?—A. They call 
them rifle-clubs up there. 

Q. But hoAv many have you?—A. Tavo; one at NeAvelton, Avhere 1 
live, and one doAcn at Saint Josejdi. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF C E RUTH. 


247 


Q. How many men are there in these two coni])anies ?—A. It is 
inii)ossible for me to say, sir. 

(>). How often do they get together ?—A. I do not know, sir; it is 
impossible for me to say. I do not think they get together often, except 
AAdien there is an election approaching. 

Q. The election being over, what then !—A. Well, then they do not 
meet so often; once a month or once in two months. 

Q. Do they march through the country there after an election!— 
A. No, sir; except during the election time. 

Q. What is the character of the guns among the (colored people !— 
A. They are shot-guns—pot-metal barrels they call them ; old shot-guns, 
not worth mucli. 

Q. Are the colored people, armed with these guns, able to contend 
with the white men with their improved arms!—A. No, sir; not by 
any means. 

By Senator Garland : 

(^. You say a colored man advised you not to vote the Bland ticket!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was his name !—A. Jack Walton. 

Q. Which ticket did you vote!—A. I voted the Bland ti(*ket, but tin* 
other side did not know it. 

Q. Were you molested at all in voting that day !—A. No, sir; not 
beyond what I have already said. 

Q. You did not take his advice, then!—A. No, sir; no more than I 
(^hanged the jvppearance of the ticket. 

Q. The other case of violence towards colored people that you spoke 
of, did you see it yourself!—A. No, sir; I saw the man eight hours 
after he v as shot. 

Q. You did not witness the shooting!—A. No, sir; I heard that he 
was shot, and as he was a mend^er of my debating society I went out 
to see him. 

Q. These companies that you spoke of—were they under the com¬ 
mand of Deputy-Sheriff Kinney!—A. No, sir; only one. That was tlu‘ 
one that I saw on the 18th. On the 19th Colonel King came with a 
crowd, supposed to be his body-guard. Who was in possession of that, 
1 do not know; but Colonel King was riding in front of them. 

Q. When you went to Dr. Weatherly’s to speak, did anybody forbid 
your speaking that day!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You si)oke about rifle-clubs. You said there were two in the par¬ 
ish!—A. Yes, sir; to my knowledge. 

Q. Do you know who composed those clubs!—A. No, sir; except that 
they were white people. 

Q. Do you know any of the officers of them!—A. I used to know; but 
they may have changed them since. 

Q. Who were the officers the last time that you knew about them!— 
A. The one that Avas organized at Newelltown Mr. Douglas used to be 
president of. 

Q. The gentleman whom this ticket is named after!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Who were the other officers!—A. C. E. Euth was secretary; but 
eA^ery year or Cavo they change officers. 

Q.* Mr. Douglas Avas on the ticket that you supported!—A. No, sir; 
he was on there, but Avas scratched off. 

Q. Was Mr. Bland connected with any rifle-club!—A. He may have 
been a member of the club at NewelltOAAui, too, but I do not know aiiy- 
tliing about it if he Avas. 

Q. HeAvas on that ticket, too, Avas he not—for sheriff!—A. Yes, sir. 


2t8 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


By tlie Chairman : 

Q. Were you acquainted with a luan naiiisd Jackson in Tensas Par- 
isli ?—A. Yes, vsir. 

Q. IIow Ionliave you been acquainted vvitli hini!—A. About three 
years. 

Q. What were Ids politics prior to the last election?—A. Kepublican. 

(^. Were you present when he was converted from a Bepnblican to a 
l)(‘nu)crat?—A. Yes, sir; 1 Avas there. 

Q. Explain Iioav that was done.—A. Well, sir, on the 19th Octob(‘T 
.All-. Kinney asked me to tind Avhere Jackson was. 8 ays he, “You go and 
t(dl Jackson that I have a Avarrant for his arrest. If he aa ill come to me 
himself, and give up, I assure him there A\dll not be anything done.” 
Jackson was at that time in a lane near KewelltoAvn. I went doAvn this 
lane prett 3 ^ near a mile, Avhere he Acas standing in a hedge-row. I said 
to him, “Come out; all thej^ aaIU do to yon Avill be to make 3^011 join a 
l)(miocratic club, and then they Avill turn ^mu loose.” Jackson said he 
would be God damned if he Avould do an^^ such thing. “ Well,” said 1, 
“don’t let us stand here a-talking, or the^ aaHI immediately" suspicion 
something.” “Kow go,” said he, “and tell Kinne.y to come doAvn, and 1 
Avill see him, and have a talk with him.” T told Kinney", and he Avent to 
see Jackson in private. Kinney Avanted me to come back with him. I 
would not go, but got a man named Mickey* Moore to go AAuth him; so 
he Avent doAvn to Avhere Jackson aa as, and talked Avith him. AYhat iiassed 
b{d\A"een them I do not knoAv. In a short time Kinney came back, leaving 
Ja( 5 kson doAvn in the lane. About half an hour or tAventy-fiA"e minutes 
aftei Avards, Jnckson came up sloAvly*. Colonel King dismounted, and took 
liim on one side, and talked AAith him for an hour; then Caiitain Cann 
talked Avith him for a good Avhile. Then three guards Avalked up and 
took him into their ])ossession and held him under guard until he signed 
a roll, and then they* discharged him. 

Q. What roll?—A. The roll of a Democratic club. 

(>). Who is Colonel King?—A. His name aauis printed on a card as 
General King, of the State militia. 

Q, Was he a candidate for the long term for Congress?—A. Yes, sir; 
he is the man. 

Q. AVhere does he live?—A. He lives in Concordia Parish, if am not 
mistaken. 

(^. AYho is Captain Cann?—A. He aaus cai)tnin of this strange com- 
])any. 

Q. When did this conference take i)lace ? — A. It Avas on Sunday even¬ 
ing, 1 think. 

Q. After or before the attack on Fairfax?—A. After, sir. 

Q. When Avas the (*lub organized whose roll Jackson was made to sign ? 
—A. It Avas organized that Sunday* morning. 

Q. A great many people signed the roll, did they not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Colored ])eople ?—A. Yes, sir; and they* issued to them certificates 
for their protection. Every man Avho had one of these certificates Avonld 
get protection. 

Q. But Avithout it he had no protection.—A. Ko, sir. 

Q,. That Avas the plan the club was organized upon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIoAv many colored peoide were induced to join the club in that 
way* ?—A. About 200 . 

Q. Had these 200 colored men been Eepublicans prior to that time ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I do not remember but one colored Democrat there. 

Q. AYlio issued these certificates of protection ?—A. The secretarv of 
the club, Mr. J. D. S. KeAvell. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF C E. RUTH. 


249 


Q. Did you see any of these certificates ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did they read—in substance f —A. Well, sir, it was just a 
certificate of protection for such and such an one, because he was a 
ineinber of tlie Dayliglit Club; that is what they called it. 

Q. Were any who joined the club under tiieses circumstances at¬ 
tacked or injured by white men after that ! —A. Yot one—not the first 
one, sir. 

Q. Were they protected by the whites then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did this company under Gaptain Oann do after the shooting 
of Epi)s?—A. Well, sir, they went on about four miles and arrested 
three men. 

Q. Colored men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you there when they were arrested?—A. No, sir; but they 
sent a boy wlio asked me to go there, and 1 went to see them; and I 
said to them, “AYhat are you doing here?” And they said, We are 
under arrest.” I said, ‘‘What for?” They said they did not know. I 
said, “ Didn’t they read the wnrrant to you ?” They said, “ no.” Says I, 
“What do you want of me?” They said, “Something to eat.” 1 said, 
“I am now going to see Mr. Kinney to try if I can get you released.” I 
went to Kinney, and said I, “Those boys have not done anything; I 
will be resjmnsible for all the damage they do. I want you to turn 
them loose.” He turned two of them loose. One of them he kept 
and carried to town. One of them was down to New^elltown when the 
shooting occurred, and so he refused to let him go. “Well,” said I, “he 
did no liarm.” And I xdedged myself do be responsible for wliat the 
(‘olored people did. I said, “If you will kee}> your own people down, I 
will keep the colored people down.” Finally I got them to go home. 
They kept two under arrest in an old house tliere, and one they turned 
loose. Sunday morning they turned the other two loose. 

Q. Of what crime was Jackson accused ?—A. I don’t know. I was 
wdth him the whole campaign. He and I went together speaking. In 
his speeches he never advised the people to do anythingiiarsh. 

C^. Was he a leader of the Eepublicans, or regarded as such ?—A. 
Yes, sir. I think he Avas kind of spying for a representative on the Ec- 
])ubli(?an ticket. 


By Senator Garland : 

Q. Mr. Euth, this gentleman, Kinney, that sent you to see Jackson 
was a Eepublican deputy slierid' under a Eepublican sherifi*, was he 
not ?—A. I cannot tell whether he Avas a Eepublican or not. He was 
in a mighty bad crowd for being a Eepublican. 

Q. He held office under a Eepublican sherift*, did he not ?—A. Yes, 


sir. 

Q. Did you vote for Eegister as sheriff AA^hen he was elected last time ?— 
A. I did not. 

Q. Did he go into office as a Eepublican?—A. Yes, sir; he could not 
luiA^e been elected without. 

Q. You did not vote for him, you say ?—A. No, sir; because I disliked 
him as being a reformed man who Avent into the Eepublican party for 
office. 

Q. Kinney Avas his deputy ?—xV. He told me that he Avas his deputy. 
Q. How could he be a deputy without being a])pointed by Eegister ?— 
A. As a. matter of coiirse, if lie was a deputy at all, he Avas appointed 

bv Eegister. . , i > 

’ Q. Did you ever issue Avrits of arrest to parties violating tlie laAvs?— 
A. No, sir ; nobody applied to me to make affidaAits. The Avhite peo- 



250 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensa.H 


l)le did not respect me as an officer at all until they saw this black 
crowd; then they came to me for protection. 

Q. Did yon examine the guns of the black crowd t—A. Only three or 
four of them. 

Q. How many guns were there ?—A. Only seven or eight in that 
crowd. 

Q. Is that all ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And were the white people scared by only seven or eight guns ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many white men were there ?—A. 1 supi)ose there were about 
twenty-tive or eighteen in number. 

By Senator Cameron : 

Q. Which ticket did Kinney support last fall ?—A. I do not know. 1 
did not live in the same ward as he did. 

By Senator Kirkwood : 

Q. Who was the sheriff under whom Kinney was deputy ?—A. All. 
Kegister. 

Q. Was he elected on the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. There was a dispute, was there not, as to which was the regular 
Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; both tickets were Democratic. 

Q. But one was regular and the other was independent ?—A. Yes, sir. 


GEOKGE BALSTOK. 

Kew Orleans, La., January S , 1879. 

Col. George Balston sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. AVhere do you reside ?—Answer. In the lower iiart of Tensas 
Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Ten years. 

Q. What State are you a native of ?—A. Pennsylvania. 

Q. How long have you resided in the southern country ?—xV. I suppose 
about thirty-odd years; I have been backwards and forwards. Aly 
parents are natives of Mississippi, my mother was—my father was a 
Scotchman. 

Q. In wliat business are you engaged ?—xV. I am a iilanter. 

Q. Were you one of the candidates on the Independent ticket ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What office were you running for ?—A. The legislature. 

Q. Have you been a politician ?—xV. Ko, sir; not much of one. 

Q. What are your ])olitics ?—A. On one occasion they ran me for the 
senate four years ago on the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Have you been a Democrat in politics ?—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take an active part in this last election ?—xV. Ko, sir ; 1 
was sick and got out of a sick-bed to go to the polls. 

Q. Do you know anything about the armed men passing backward 
and forward through your section of the country ?—A. Some were at 
my house. They were under the command of a captain; one company 
passed through without stopping, and another stop])ed at my house. 



Parish. 1 


TESTIMr>NY OF GEOaOP: RALS'ION. 


251 


Q. How long (lid they sta^'?—A. But a few ininutes. 

Q. How many of them were there ?—A. I think the company at my 
house were about 75. They went in by details of six to get sojiie water, 
and went off. They asked me if 1 liad any unruly negroes or disorder- 
and I said. “ No ; none but what 1 could manage.” 

Q. How many do you have on that plantation f—A. As many as 1 c^an 
get ordinarily; well, hbout 30. 

Q. You do not have any trouble with them ?—A. No, sir. They asked 
me if they had arms or shot-guns; and 1 said they had guns that they 
shoot birds or sctuirrels with, l)ut I don’t feel uneasy about that at all. 

Q. How many armed men did you see during tlie campaign ?—A. That 
is all. 

Q. About 75 in one band?—^A, I think about 75, The otliers passed 
in my rear j 1 could not say how many. 1 saw one or two in the rear 
just as they passed by the liigii fence. 

Q. Were you engaged in the last war ?—A. Yes^ sir. 

Q. On which side?—A. Confederate side. 

Q. How long were you in it ?—A. I was tlirough the whole war. 

Q. What commission did you hold?—A. Captain, and, on one occa¬ 
sion, major. I was a prisoner for seventeen months. 

Q. Hid any of these men make any threats against you at any time ?— 
A. No, sir; I am not easily bulldozed. 

Q. They did not try that on you ?—A. No, sir. Tliere was a great 
deal of bitterness between the two sides. There was a split in the party. 

Q. Do you know of any threats being made to men on the opposition 
ticket ?—A. No, sir; they looked upon ours as belonging to the pure 
Democracy; that the others were of a mixed character. 

Q. Still claiming to be of the regular order ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And announced you as bulldozers ?—A. Yes, sir; I was solicited 
by three parties. Fairfax himself came to me the Thursday before Peck 
was killed, and said he had been appointed a committee of one, and said 
that the Democratic committee had been ignored entirely, and they 
wanted some white men in the parish to run on the ticket; and he said 
he had been appointed a committee of one to wait ui)oii me, to see if 1 
would run on the ticket for the legislature or judge; but I declined. I 
said that a man who had been voting the Democratic ticket for thirty 
years could not do that. 

Q. He offered to supx)ort you if you would run ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did he say the proposition was ?—A. He said that the Ke 
publican party had held a convention at Saint Joseph, and they had 
appointed a committee of conference to confer with the Democratic State 
central committee at Saint Joseph, and they had ignored them entirely; 
and then they had determined to try and select some of the best element 
and make a ticket of it. I piesume if I had consented to run there was 
two or three other white men in the parish who would have run for offi¬ 
cers, but when this thing occurred I had no anticipation of trouble. 
This was on Thursday before Peck was killed. 

Q. You have no knowledge, of course, of that transaction ?—A. No, 
sir; I live live or six miles from there. 

(i. Had you known Fairfax ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he a leader ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What business is he in ?—A. He is a prea(;her. 

Q. Do you know whether he has any property or not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Does he own it ?—^A. No, sir. My impression is that he leased it 
from Bass. His church is on Bass’s i)lace. 

Q. What denomination is he ?—A. Baptist, 


252 


LOUISIANA IN 187S. 


[Tensas 


Q. How long had Fairfax heen living at this placo !—A. He helonged 
there before the war. I think he has resided tliere abont all the time. 

Q. What kind of a man is Fairfax, from your knowledge of him ?—A. 
1 ne’N'er looked n])on Fairfax as a bad man, although I have been told by 
many parties that he was one of the i)arties who struck the color line 
prior to that convention. They had signed a i)aper that all officers of 
the parish should be colored, and I heard that he denied that he had 
signed that ])aper. I told Governor Xicholls that I thought I could man¬ 
age Fairtax. I have never seen anything wrong in Fairfax; he has 
always been very polite to me, as 1 told you. The day he came to my 
house and made this proi)osition he was as polite as he could be to any 
one, although 1 was rather hurt, or rather astounded, that he should 
make such a proi)osition to me. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. What are these military companies f—A. I understand they be¬ 
longed to the regular State militia. The one at my house was under 
command of a captain, and they formed' into line exactly as if thej^ had 
been drilled. 

Q. Do yon really know whether they were organized under the law of 
the State—the volunteer organization f—A. I understood they were reg¬ 
ular militia from the back parishes. 

(A Hoav were they armed f—A. Some of them had shot-guns and some 
rides. 

Q. Some repeating rides, (to you know ?—A. I (?ould not say. 

Q. You stated something about the arms of the blaek men; what kind 
of arms have they, and to what extent have they arms '?—A. I suppose 
there is not ten men in my part of the country but what owns a shot-gun 
or something made of pot metal. 

Are they considered good arms, or more dangerous to the man wlio 
dres them than to the man pointed at ?—A. I would not like to dre one. 
I told iny hands to come to my yard and 1 Avould protect them; that if 
they ha(l violated the law in any Avay, of course 1 would have to give 
them uj), but unless the odicers conld show to me a warrant or something 
of the kind, that they had violated the law, 1 would not allow them to 
be hurt. I went from my house into the town of Wateri)roof, and Avhen 
I returned 1 found that Mrs. Ralston had disarmed the whole plantation. 
She thought it was more advisable for them to bring their arms to her, 
and they did so, and when I got back 1 found a stack ot them in my 
kitchen. 

Q. As a rule they have not good guns ?—A. As a rule; some of them 
have good arms that they stole during the war. Two or three have 
double twisted shot-guns—Fngiish shot-guns. 

(}. But as a rule they are untit ?—A. Yes, sir; some of them won’t 
stand cocked. 

Q. lliffit for an organized body of men ?—.Y I suppose so. 

(^. Can you tell me whether this trouble growing out of the attack 
upon Fairfax’s house had any effect ui)on the labor of that region— 
whether or not the colored men are remaining or leaving ?—A. It had a 
very bad effect; many are leaving the country. With me it is different; 
they are flocking into my quarters and lilling them np. 1 presume I 
have the name in the neighborhood of protecting them, and such as 
were under mj' care. A great many ar(‘ ('oming to the coast. 

Q. Have you any more labor in your parish than you need?—A. No, 
sir. In tact there are imnmnse tracts of land that are not cultivated for 


I’ansh.J TESTIMONY OF GEORGE RALSTON. 253 

want of lielp. There are forty plantations that 1 know that need eiilti- 
vatiuf>\ 

Q. lliis injures yoiir material interests '?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Oakland : 

Q. In relation to those plantations not bein»' cultivated, that has Ikmmi 
the case before this difheulty, has it not I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It is the complaint all o\^er the Southern country ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did Alfred Fairfax know that you had taken a Democrat when 
you made this ])roposition ?—A. 1 presume so. 

Q. And he ohered to su])})ort you for the phuic ?—A, Y"es, sir j he so¬ 
licited me to run for the legislature or ])arish judge. 1 told him I was 
not in health. When 1 ran for senator I came out with tlhO majority, 
and they ignored me entirely. 

Q. I understood it was a contest which of these two tickets that you 
speak of was the sinion ])ure Democracy and which was the bolting 
ticket !—A. There was no discount as to which was the pure Democratic 
ticket, because the parties who were running for the legislature had 
heretofore been Bepublican, although born and raised in the i)arish, and 
had abandoned the party. 

Q. Y"our ticket was not mixed?—A. Xo, fsir; but the other was. 

Q. Did you as favoring that ticket have hopes of getting the sup])ort 
of colored voters ?—A. Yes, sir. On the day before election I was 
confined to my bed, and 1 had a delegation of fifteen colored men insist on 
coming into my room to see me, and asked me if I was going to run on 
the ticket, and I told them yes, and they said I should have every one of 
their votes. 

Q. Four years before, when you ran tor senator, you were ignored in 
the parish ?—A. Yes, vSir. 

Q. Who ignored you!—A. The colored people. 

Q. How inany votes did you get in Tensas ?—A. Only about ninety. 

Q. But you had good assurances that many of them would support 
you at this last election!—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The machinery of the party was in the hands of the other ticket, 
was it not! they claimed to have the executive committee, &c. ?—A. 
Yes, sir; the ticket was formed at this convention. My name was not 
first on it; they didn’t know I would run. After the whole thing had 
passed they told me they were sorry 1 had taken my stand, and tried to 
persuade me to withdraw, and said if they had known I would have 
accepted they would have put my name on the ticket. However, that 
was after I was defeated, and it was poor consolation then. Colonel 
King and Colonel Young were on both tickets. 

Q. But stood on the regular ticket !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The other ticket, on which was Cordill and Register, claimed you 
Avere a bolter !—A. I had not registered even until I Avas urged by these 
])arties to run for the legislature. I then went to Saint Joseph and reg- 
istei ed, and then some members of the Democratic central committe(‘. 
came to me and tried to persuade me to AvithdraAV, and I told them no, 
I thought it AATis my duty, and I Avould go through Avith it. These mem¬ 
bers of the Democrath*. central committee Avere supporting the other 

ticket. ^ . 

Q. Was not Smith who shot Kennedy and run for poli(?e a Repub¬ 
lican ?—A. I never looked upon him as a Republican. 

Q. Was not James Gillespie recognized as a Bepublican ?—A. I think 



254 


LOUISIANA IN 187^. 


[Tensas 


so; lie is an own cousin of mine. He was elected, therefore, by tlie 
Republicans. 

Q. You say this ticket Avas a compromise between the Republicaiis 
and the Deiiiocrats A. 1 think so. That Avas the impression after 
this trouble. We organized in clubs and gaA^e them i)rotection paiiers. 

Q. Whatwere they f—x\. It Avas merely a memorandum that this party 
belonged to the Democratic, club, and Acas therefore Avorthy the protec¬ 
tion of all good I)emo(*rats. 

Q. Then, if a man Avas A^oting the Republican ticket and joined a 
I )emocratic club, they Avere assured that the Democratic ])arty would 
give them protection ?—A. They led them to the polls, and that is about 
all; and there AA-as a A^ery quiet and peaceable election, as far as I saw, 
although I Avas there but fifteen minutes. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Noav just tell us how it Avas done.—A. I understood that Bonney 
Avas overseeing the plantation and (tarrying all the hands up to the polls 
in line. 

By the Ciiairaian: 

(i^. And A'oted them for the other ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he a Republican ?—A. I think not. 

Q. Had he ever acted with them?—A. I think not. Some of these 
hands that came to me and assured me that I should haA^e their supiiort 
had great contidence in me as* having protected the hands in the neigh¬ 
borhood, and they Avere told by other jiersons AAdio AAwe li\dng on the 
])lantation that I could not protect them any more than anybody else; 
therefore they got them to vote the other ticket, and so I didn’t get 
them. 

Q. How many Azotes did you get ?—A. I cannot tell you; I was so 
completely disgusted that I didn’t CA-en look or try to find out how many 
A'otes had been made in the jiarish. 

Q. What disgusted you ?—A. The mode of the election. 

Q. Explain to us Avliat it was.—A. Well, 1 think they Avere so utterly 
intimidated that Avhen they Avent to the polls and were seen Avith a green 
ticket, it was taken aAvay from them and the yellow ticket or Democratic 
ticket put in their hands, and they Amted it trembling. 

Q. You think that the Amters were not allowed to eximess their choice 
of tickets?—A. No, sir; 1 do not believe they liaA^e their choice at all. 

Q. They had their clubs before this, and they had to A^ote as they Avere 
told ?—A. They had no discretion about it. 

Q. Why ?—A. Because they Avere told to do it. 

Q. By AAdiom?—A. Their leaders. 

Q. Was there any armed force brought to bear upon them to make 
them vote the Rei)ubli(;an tiihet?—A. They had military comiianies of 
their oavii. They Avere organized. There is a man on the place who had 
been a corporal in the Federal Army who had about 100 men. By the 
advice of a gentleman on the jilace he remained out of the way and 
didn’t go to the ])olls. 

Q. He was a (*olored man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you mean to say tliat at any time you ever kneAv armed men 
riding through the country compelling negroes to Amte the Republican 
ticket?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You think not?—xV. No, sir. 

Q. I ask you if the armed men riding through the country, in your 
judgment, had any influence to prevent any of these men voting for 
yon?—A. Well, it had a general influence through the whole country. 


1 TESTIMONY OF GEORGE RAl STON. 255 

Q. AVliat was that?—A. The ('olored people were utterly frightened; 
tliat was about it. 

(}. All classes of colored people?—A. Yes, sir; I think the majority 
of them. 

Q. Were your oAvn hands frightened?—A. Yes, sir; I could not get 
them to go out to their quarters after night to get a drink of water. 

(^. They didn’t take to the woods?—A. Well, they did the first time. 
The first time when the militia came in they Avere picking cotton, and 
stampeded on the appearance of an old fellow they saw and a young 
white inan and a colored man going out hunting, and thought they wer(‘ 
soldiers, and they were frigliteiied, and i)ut away as fast as they (Jould. 

You promised them protection ?—A. Yes, sir. 
j Q. You Avere able to giA’^e them this ?—A. Yes, sir. 

' Q. You meant to protect them ?—A. I did. Nobody (^oiild be alloAA^ed 
to injure them; they should not do it unless they had authority. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

(,^. If I understand this matter rightly, there AAns a Democratic con- 
A'eiition in that ])arish, called by the Democratic execaith^e committee ; 
Avhere AA'as it ?—A. Saint Joseph. 

Q. At that coiiA^ention the ticket that AA'as op])osed to your ticket AA^as 
nominated ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. And therefore, being the ticket a oted by the regular convention, 
Avas claimed to be a regular Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. Upon that 
the.y placed two or three men aa Iio had fornierly been Republicans. 

Q. Do you knoAV AAdiether, at that coiiA ention, a i)roj)osition Avas mad(‘, 
by the Republican organization to agree, and Inwe but one ticket for the 
l)arish, before your ticket was formed ?—A. That Avas my understanding. 

Q. That was rejected?—A. Yes, sir; that AA^as Fairfax’s statement. 

Q. The ticket upon Avhich you were AAns made on Simon-pure Demo¬ 
crats ?—A. YYs, sir; AA^e looked ui)on ourselves as pure Democrats. 

Q. Any carpet-baggers or negroes ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Noav, when your parish Avent back on you four years ago for the 
senate, you Avere on the regular Denuxiratic ti(‘ket?—A. Yes, sir; 1 AAns 
j regularly nominated. 

I Somehow the bla(;ks didn’t take kindl}- to that ticket, although 

; you Avere on it ?—A. No, sir; the matter Avas all in their OAvn hands, as 
i the ])opulation, I think, AAas about four hundred whites and three 
thousand colored i)eople in the parish. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Y^ou say it Avas in their oavii hands then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav is it noAV ?—A. They are disgusted. 

Q. Why are they disgusted?—A. I suppose from this trouble. 

Q. Prom this intimidation ?—A. 1 suppose so. 

Q. Is there not a general objection among (colored men to voting the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. There are many Avho did A^ote for the Democratic ticket ?—A. No, 
sir. I think there is a great change among them hoav. There are a great 
many Democrats among them. I thiidv they are beimming satisfied that 
the white element in the Smith is about as good friends to them as the 
carpet-baggers, and that they have been mistaken. 

Q. Have you any cariiet-baggers in Tensas ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Who are they?—A. Our district attorney is one—Mr. Stevens. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Are there any others ?—A. There is one avIio has been elected as 




256 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


collector and assessor (we looked ui)ont]iein as carpet-ba^’gers), Captain 
Whitney—he was in the Federal Army, and is now assessor and C(d- 
lector, and bought a plantation in the i)arish. I am told he is a con¬ 
servative kind of man. Still, he is a carpet-bagger. 

Q. Did they regard him as a carpet-bagger ?—A. N'o, sir. 

Q. Yon were born in Pennsyhainia ?—A. Well, that was an accident. 
I studied law there with William A. Porter. 

(^,. Does the fact that yon were in the Confederate army keep yon 
from being called a carpet-bagger?—A. Yo, sir; not the mere fact that 
I was born in Pennsylvania or was in the Confederate army. 

Q. It is a fact that to havm. lived in some other State makes them a 
carpet-bagger?—A. Yot that; bnt prior to the war they had tlioiisands 
of Northern men who came and li\"ed among us and worked among ns 
and went into the Southern army, and 1 think they are not regarded as 
carpet-baggers. I think the carpet-bagger is a man that comes out here 
like a vampire to suck the blood of the people that they havm. wronged. 
These men hav^e acted in such a way tliat a portion of the people hav(‘ 
ignored them. We want energy, and would be glad to see an intelligent 
and decent man come and live with us, but we do not want them to live 
oft* of us and seek office. 

Q. Do you think that the (*ondition of your parish for the last few 
months has been such as to induce any sensible and decent people to 
(*ome in there ?—A. 1 thiidc not; I vmuld be very glad, though, if any 
would (tome in. I thiidv they would l)e protected. I would not b(‘ 
against them at all. 

By Mr. Kikkavood: 

Q. I understood you that a man who seeks an office among you is a 
(tarpet-bagger ?—A. Yes. 

Q. Supi)ose he (tomes down and dwells with you audAU)tes the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket, he is all right ?—A. Yo, sir; I didii’tsay that at all. [ say 
if he comes here and behaves himself and brings his ca])ital he is not 
any trouble at all. 

Q. And be a Kepublican ?—A. Well, ev^ery man has a right to his 
oi)inion to that. 

Q. Suppose I would come down Inwe and buy a plantation.—A. You 
look like a conservative man and I think you would get along very 
well. 

Q- I am a Bepublican, and suj)pose 1 bought a plantation.—A. I 
want you to uiiderstand one tiling, that in this (iountry we make a dis¬ 
tinction (I do imt know but that it may be a distiiiction without a dif¬ 
ference)—we make a distinction between a Kepublican and a Kadical. 

Q. We do not know the diff'erence u]) there. Yow suppose I (?ame 
down here and bouglit a plantation, and being accustomed to servu‘- my 
imdiuation and run for oftice, and not suppress my opinions, would I be 
a, carjiet-bagger ?—A. I do not think you would be in any danger. 

Q. What would be the result; would I be ignored?—A. Well, s()m(‘ 
would and others would not. I am not such a radical Democrat as to 
feel disposed that way. 

By the Chairman: 

(^. You are different from some of them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. You are more liberal than some of them ?—A. I do not know 
whether I am or not; if I meet a gentleman 1 will always treat him as a 


I‘ari8h.] TESTIMONY OF GEORGE RALSTON. 257 

gentleman if lie acts as a gentleman. I think a young man who has 
been brought np as a gentleman would do so. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How are native southerners, who join the Eepublican x)arty and 
have acted with them, treated by the Democrats of the South f—A. We 
treat a carpet-bagger better than with death. AVe do not like scala- 
Avags. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. You count them scalaAA ags, don’t you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. HaA^e you any knowledge or information of there being any difiS- 
culty betAveeii the whites and colored people in Tensas Parish during 
this last year prior to the difficulty at Fairfax’s house'?—A. No, sir 5 I 
think not. 

Q. That is the first you have heard of?—A. Yes, sir; I heard the tes¬ 
timony giA’^en by one of the members of that conA ention that they held 
at Fairfax’s house, and he said that they w ere ordered to come up there 
Avith their arms, and it was the first time that they had been ordered up 
i there. This Avas his testimony, and I was present at the time. 

Q. AVliat is his name ?—A. Elijah Lucas. 

Q. A colored man?—A. Yes, sir. He leases part of a plantation. 

Q. Who sent out?—A. The county did. 

Q. AVere these Bepublican clubs organized after tlie attack on Fair¬ 
fax’s liouse?—A. Yes, sir; I think they were. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. AA^liat I w ant to get at is whether you heard of any difficulty be¬ 
tween the rest of the parish prior to the trouble at Fairfax’s house?—A. 
No, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey: 

Q. In regard to this carpet-bagger and scalawag business, I under¬ 
stand your people in Louisiana have no objection to a Northern man, 
AAffiether Democrat or Eepublican, coming into your midstand living like 
other citizens of the State ?—A. Of course not. 

Q. Your objection to the carpet-bagger is based then upon the fact 
that he is a man in noway identified wdthor interested in. the real inter¬ 
ests of the State; he don’t come in to work, but simply to get office and 
hold it?—A. That is the w^ay we look upon it. That has been done a 
great deal before under the administration of Governor Kellogg. AVe 
have a great many Avho have been here and still own no property. There 
is no objection to a man who has bought property and makes a liAung 
among the people. Where his interests are identical witli tlie Southern 
people, I do not think there w^ould be any. 

Q. The Democrats would haA^e A^oted against him if he w^as a Eepub¬ 
lican?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the Democrats Avould vote for him if he is on the same side?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

By Air. Ca^ieron : 

Q. AATll you please state wdiy it is that you dislike the scalaw ags 
worse than\he carpet-baggers ?—A. The truth is that w e have been 
Avith our nose at th^ grindstone so long and liave sufiered so intensely, 
that now we attribute our misfortune to the Eepublican party; that is 
the real case. Under Democratic rule we w^ere going along smoothly 
until the Eepublican party got possession of the State. That is one of 

17 T 





258 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


my reasons. The fact that they have identifled themselves with those 
wiiom we look upon as being- 

Q. In office?—A. ]No, sir; because of our troubles. You would feel 
the same way if you had been served the way we have, would you not ? 

Mr. Gamekon, I do not know. But there are a great many men in 
the country where we reside, and it is never tliought of whether the 
man was born in that State or this State. 1 know it is different down 
here. 

The Witness. We attribute all our troubles to bad government, it 
you have bad government in the i^orth you would attribute it to the 
same thing. We know that we have been badly used, and that is what 
makes us feel sore, I presume. 

Q. Has your condition imi)roved very materially since the Democrats 
got control of the State government ?—A. I think it is. I cannot tell 
so much about it, because you know I am in a different section of the 
country. 

Q. Has the debt of the State increased or decreased ?—A. That is 
one trouble among the i)arty. Some comi)lain that the taxes in the city 
of New Orleans are too heavy and not heavy enough in the country. 
We have not had possession long enough to get into the merits of the 
thing. 

Q. But you think the State did improve as soon as the Democrats got 
possession ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Do you know whether or not the interest which has matured on 
your January indebtedness has been paid ?—A. I do not know; but it 
ought to have been. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Don’t you know that it has not been ?—A. This is information that 
I got from the papers—that it has not been. 

Q. Then do you think the condition of the State would be improved 
by not paying the interest ?—A. I could tell you better a year hence. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Is it not a fact that there is a strong prejudice in your parish against 
some, at least, of the gentlemen who were on the ticket at the last elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I understood there was, but I never got it through any au¬ 
thentic source. They thought it was a family arrangement. There is a 
large family of them in the upper part of the parish, and that is what 
one of the parties told me at Saint Joseph—that there was a family con¬ 
cerned. 

Q. The parties on your ticket were good citizens generally I—A. Yes; 
as far as I know. 

Q. Democrats ?—A. I think not—only one of them. 

Q. They allowed themselves to be candidates in opposition to the reg¬ 
ular nominees of the Democratic ticket; is not that the cause of it ?—A. 
I do not know. I look upon my parish seat as a rotten thing. 


WILLIAM H. ANDEBSON. 

New Orleans, La., January 8, 1879. 
William H. Anderson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. About ten years. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. ANDERSON. 


259 


Q. Wliat business are you engaged in f—A. Farming. 

Q. A liat party have you acted witli f—A. Eepublican. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last political campaign in Tensas ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What place did you reside ?—A. Yiomede. 

Q. In vTiat part of the parish ?—A. Upper end, Fifth ward. 

Q. A\ ere tliere any armed bodies of men in that parish that you saw?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you first see them f—A. On the 5th of October we went 
to Saint Joseph to hold a convention. We went there to hold a conven¬ 
tion tor this cause : The white Ivepublicaus that had been with us here¬ 
tofore said they would take no active part with us, and they stagnated 
us, and we consulted with ourselves what would be the best to do. We 
tlid not feel disposed to go on because they were dissatisfied, but we de¬ 
cided to go on and hold a convention. We assembled in the court-house 
yard on the 14th of November. We had an invitation from Mr. Fairfax 
to hold a convention, and the delegates concluded we would not go up 
until Monday morning. I went down to Tensas Place, where I had 
never been before. When I got down I met a man and he told me that 
I must be very particular, for the white men had been crossing down 
there by the ferry all night, from Franklin Parish, and he said, ^^They 
are coming down to slaughter you and the other colored men.” That same 
day we heard that Fairfax was killed. We did not hold this conven¬ 
tion on the 14th, as we meant to do. AYe waited for Fairfax, and finally 
we heard that Fairfax killed Peck. I started to go away, and just as I 
got to Slice’s plantation a woman by the name of Mary met me, and says 
she, ^AA^hich way you going ?” 1 said, don’t know where in the 
name of God I is.” I said, am hunting for that convention.” She 
told me where to find it. Just as I got about a mile and a half from 
there I met about 150 armed men, with their guns in their hands. 

Q. AAJiat kind of men?—A. AYhite men; all on horseback. Some 
had saddles, and some saddles did not have stirrups. AATien I see them 
coming my horse bucked his ears. They said ^^halt,” and I just slipped 
off my horse and slipped in the bushes. One said, ^‘Did you see him ?” 
They said, “ Yo.” The other said, ‘AA"hy, God damn him, he Avent right 
in there!” And I had to leave my saddle, bridle, and horse. 

Q. AATiat became of them?—^A. Well, I had to leuA^e them; I was lost 
in the woods by that time. Finally, I wandered in that Avoods all day, 
and about ten or eleA'en o’clock that night I came to an old field. I staid 
there all night with a man by the name of Harris. I told him I left my 
horse and sadtlle and blanket, and I said, Can’t you go do aa ii there 
and get it?” And he said, could not do it; that they Avere fighting 
at AVaterproof.’’ I went to Air. Douglas, and I asked him what was the 
best to do, and he said we had better Avait a couple of days and let 
things cool off; and so on Friday I went to see if I could get out, and 
he said there is a road leading up through the woods, and if you meet 
anybody tell them you are going to pick cotton. I rode on a piece Avith 
him and I met Air. Clifton. He said, ^AATiere are you going?” 

Q. AA"ho is Clifton ?—A. xA white man. I told him I was going to pick 
cotton, and he said, ‘‘At what place?” I said, “Back of Slice’s place;” 
and he said, “The reason I ask you is this: noAv if you are going to pick 
cotton, go right on peaceably ami pick it, and no one Avill hurt you, but,” 
said he, “if you are going for any other object you Avill not be safe.” 
And I told him, “No, sir; I am going there to pick cotton.” Finally I 
met a woman, and I said, “HaA^e you seen my horse ?” And she said, 
“Yes; a man brouglit him up here, but the saddle was lost.” She said, 


260 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[ Tensas 


^‘You must not be uneasy; there is nobody here going to hurt yoii.^^ 
She said, you had come a little earlier you would have met the white 
men going back to Franklin Parish.’^ I went to get my horse, down in 
the field; he was chained to a tree. I got him, and I come back, and then 
I struck out for Lake Saint Joseph. Mr. Harris said there Avas twenty- 
five men gone up there to Lake Saint Joseph and to Helltown. Some 
call it FTew Helltown. I did not know what to do about it, because that 
was between me and my home. I rode along A^ery briefiy. I met a man^ 
and I said, “Any white men right along hereF And he said, “Yes, sir; 
twenty-five men.’’ And I said, “ What do they say!” He said, “Nothing.” 
Just then I met another man coming along, bleeding, and I asked him 
what was the matter, and he said they were treating the colored men 
A^ery badly. I said, “Now, if you knoAV any Avay in the wwld to go 
around Helltown, tell me, and I AAill go, if it takes me all night.” And 
he told me how to do it; and finally I got around, and I came to Black 
Water plantation, and I found that they had raised these twenty-five men 
to arrest all the leading parties of the Kepublican party; and I says I 
have long been one of the leaders of the party, and so I got out of the 
way. There was also a little boy shot by the men on Newell’s Eidge. 

Q. How do you know they shot him?—A. Because the parties came 
right from there. I kept out of the way pretty much. 1 staid in the 
woods about two Aveeks. 

Q. Was there anybody else in the woods?—A. Yes, sir; alltheAvomen 
and children. Nobody picked any cotton for OA^er two weeks. ' 

Q. Why did they stay in the woods?—A. They Avere afraid of these-1 
bulldozers. Nobody hardly staid long enoiigh in the house to get any¬ 
thing to eat. Finally a white man told them if they would pick cotton 
they would keep the bulldozers off. Soon after that we organized what 
they call the Democrat or Daylight Club, and they said all that joined 
it would not be bulldozed; but I did not join, as I had been running 
AAuth the Democrats. They furnislied us Avith the papers (shoAAung) to 
all members of the club. 

The i^aper is as follows: 

CERTIFICATE OF AIEMRERSHIl’. 

State of Louisiana, 

Farish of Tensas: 

Know all men by tliese presents, that Jas. M. Brown is a member of the AVideawake 
Daylight Clnb of AVard No. 5, of parish of Tensas, in good standing, and as snch is 
entitled to the assistance and prott'ction of all members of this clnb, and of the Demo¬ 
cratic Conservative party thronghont tlu- State, and of all other good citizens. 

J. B. O’KELLY, 

President Daiiliqhts. I 
AVAI. K. AIADIS'ON, , 
Secretary DaylUjhts. • 

Q. That is the class of certificates they gat’e you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they gWe you one ?—A. No, sir. I would not go close enough 
to get one. Every time they rung the bell for the club I got to the 
woods, because they would devil me to join, so I went out of the way. 

I neA^er would stay in my house when'I heard the bell ring for that 
club. i 

Q. Were those all the armed men you saAv ?—A. I saAv about 150 near 
Doc. Slice’s. 

Q. Did they have arms ?—A. Yes, sir; they were riding along quietly 
and nice until they saAv me and then they commenced hollering. 

Q. Did they fire at you?—A. No, sir; they run right at me. I slid 
right oft* my pony. I thought the best chance for me Avas to keep the 
woods, so I left the horse. 




Pariah.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM D. ROLLINS. 


261 


Q. Did they follow you in the woods?—A, No, sir; they just came 
right around the edge and hollered. I did not know much about the 
woods, and when I took in there I just kept running. 

Q. You were frightened?—A. Yes, sir; and a angel from heaven 
would be frightened if they was in my place, I believe. 

Q. Were you in the Army ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What regiment?—A. A Mississippi regiment. 

Confederate ?—A. No, sir; Federal. 

Q. I low long were you in the Army?—A. Three years and six 
months. 

Q. You had seen men vith guns before?—A. Yes, sir; but it was so 
long since peace was declared; and when I saw them guns I thought 
the fuss had commenced again. I did have even a pocket-knife. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The guns were not pointed toward you in the Army?—A. Not 
always; but I always had a gun in the Army to i)oint myself. 

Q. Were you there on election-day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it quiet?—A. Yes, sir; jiretty. 

Q. What precinct did you vote at?—A. Fifth precinct. 

Q. Where are you living now?—A. 1 am in the same parish yet; but 
I don’t know how long I will live there. 


WILLIAM D. BOLLINS. 

i New Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

William D. Eollins sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Mr. Eollins, where do you reside?—Answer. In Tensas 
I Parish, in this State. 

j Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. For about fourteen years. 

Q. Where did you reside before that time ?—A. At Port Gibson, Miss. 
I was born and reared there. 

Q. Were you engaged in the last war ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you a candidate for any office at the last election?—A. I 
was, sir; for justice of the prace. 

Q. On what ticket ? A. On what was termed the independent ticket. 
Q. What are your politics ?—A. I am a Democrat. 

Q. You vote the Democratic ticket?—A. I have always voted the 
•Democratic ticket, sir. 

Q. Did you see, or were you acquainted with, any acts of violence dur¬ 
ing the last campaign up there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see any armed bodies of white men parading the country?— 
A. I saw a party of men numbering about 250, under the command of 
Captain Cann, or McCann, I do not know which. They came up to New- 
elton. 

Q. In what part of the parish do you live ?—A. On Buck Eidge, in 
the northern part of the parish. 

Q. When was it that you saw thematNewelton?—A. About ten days 
before the election. 

Q. You were there then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who else of your i)olitical friends were there?—A. I do not know, 
sir. 





262 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Was Bland there ?—A. I do not know. I saw these men twice. 
I went dowiiy I think, on Saturday, and I was there on Sunday; a great 
many of them came to church on Sunday. 

Q. Were they armed there ?—A. Yes, sirj they stood around there. 

(iJ. How long did they remain ?—A. I do not knoAv, sir.. 

How long did you see them tliere ?—A. I saw them three times. 

Q. How far apart were the times when you saw them ?—A. I think it 
Avas on Saturday the first time that I saAV them; the next time was on 
Sunday—the next day. 

Q. Was that the only armed body of men you saAv ?—A. At the polls 
of the first ward I saw about fifteen men. 

Q. When was that ?—A. On election day. 

Q. Who AA as in command ?—A. His name is Eobert Hansbury. 

Q. What AAwe they doing at the polls ?—A. Xothing; they hung 
around till the polls closed and then they Av^ent off to Saint Joseph—at 
least they said they were going there. 

Q. Were they citizens of your A cting ,precinct ?—A. Yo, sir. They 
belonged, I think—at least, Hansbury belonged—in the fourth Avard. 

Q. Hid any of these men belong in "the first ward ?—A. Yone of them, 
I think. 

Q. How were they armed?—A. Some of them had shot-guns and 
some had rifles. 

Q. Did they wear uniforms ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. AVhat kind of an organization was it ?—A. 1 do not know, sir; 
Hansbury said he was deputy sheriff. 

Q. That Avas his posse of men that he had there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What Avere his i)olitics ?—A. I do not know; I think he A^oted the 
Saint Joseph ticket. 

Q. That was the regular ticket ?—A. I do not see as one is any more 
regular than the other; the Saint Joseph ticket was nominated by a 
handful of men; so AA^as the other. 

Mr. Kirkavood. One is the straight Democratic ticket, the other 
scalaAA^ag. 

The Witness. The Saint Joe.ticket Avas the one that Avas claimed by 
the majority of white A^oters to be tlie regular ])emocratic ticket. 

By the Cii airaian : 

Q. Y Inch ticket did you A’^ote ?—A. I haA’^e ueA^er A oted anything but 
the regular Democratic ticket. I think the country peox)le’s ticket was 
as regular as the other, and I A^oted that. 

Q. AVere any threats made against you directly ?—A. I do not know 
of any, except that speech of Cordill’s, made the night before election. 

Q. Did you hear that ?—A. I heard a portion of it. 

Q. What did he say ?—A. He said that Eollins and Bland had told 
the negroes he Avas one of the bulldozers. He said: ‘‘ If there is any 
trouble to-morrow I aauII hold these men personally responsible.^^ Then 
about tAventy of them hollered out, “ Yes, yes, yes.” AVe Avent on to a 
room where the tAvo Blands AA ere. went there for the purpose of being 

at the polls before election-day; that was the night before election. 

Q. That was all the threat that Avas made against you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYliat was the eftect upon the negroes of these armed men coming 
up there ?—A. It intimidated them; it made them afraid to come to the 
polls. 

Q. To what extent do you think that affected the result of the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I think the country people’s ticket would haA^e been elected 
by a majority of two thousand or OA^er if it had not been for that. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM D. ROLLINS. 


263 


Q. Did any of tlie colored peoide go oli* to tlie woods—A. Not in my 
ward that I know of. It had no effect except to prevent their coming to 
the polls } that is, so far as I know. 

Q. AVas there any necessity of armed men being at the polls ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. There was no danger of any riot there —A. None at all, sir. 

Q. Yonr party didn’t propose to interfere with the freedom of the 
polls ?—A. Not at all, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I didn’t catch just what you said about those fifteen armed men at 
the polling place. Did I understand yon to say these were sent there 
to carry off* the ballot-box ?—A. They said so; I demanded a count of 
the vote, as a candidate j they told me they wouldn’t do it j they said 
they were going to carry the ballot-box to Saint Joseph. 

Q. These armed men said they were going to carry the ballot-box 
to Saint Joseph?—A. Yes, sir. Before taking oft* the ballot-box it was 
acknowledged that the Independent ticket had carried the day. One of 
the commissioners said to me, “ I acknowledge that you are elected 
magistrate; when I appear before yon don’t be hard on me.” I said, 
‘‘ No, but I demand an account of the vote.” 

Q. AVhere did the commissioners reside—in yonr ward ?—A. One did 
and one didn’t. 

Q. Who resided in the third ward ?—A. Mr. Tnllis. 

Q. Should they by law have canvassed the votes there ?—A. I believe 
that is the law. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How many Eepnblicans voted the ticket that yon ran on ?—A. 
AA^ell, sir, all the colored people, with very few exceptions. 

Q. Yon think the colored people, as a general rule, desired to vote 
that ticket ?—A. I think so ; yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the scalawags on the other ticket ?—A. John Kegister 
and C. C. Cordill. 

Q. They had been Republicans always before ?—A. Yes, sir; I believe 
so. I do not remember their ever having been on the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Yon think that of the two the ticket yon were on was the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket ?—A. Yes 5 I think so. 

Q. AYhat is the name of the Jew that spoke to yon about it?—A. 
Cohn. 

Q. How long has he been living there ?—A. I don’t know, sir, cer¬ 
tainly how long he has been living in the ward. 

Q. Did he have anything to do with the election ?—A. I think he was 
one of the commissioners ; I am not certain 5 at least he was there all 
day. 

Q. Hansbnry was deputy sheriff at the Hollywood poll ?—A. Yes, sir 5 
that is, in the first ward—my ward, sir. 

Q. Yon stated that Mr. Cordill in his speech said if there was any 
disturbance he would hold yon and Bland responsible, but wouldn’t 
harm the negroes ?—A. I supposed he was alluding to me, sir. 

Q. He said Rollins ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I want to inquire about this matter of scalawags. A scalawag is 
a man of Southern birth who affiliates with the Republicans ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 


/ 


264 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Who were those persons who, you say, were scalawags A. Cor- 
dill and Eegister. 

Q. I understand that being a scalawag places a man rather below 
par ?—A. Well, I do not know, sir. 

Q. A scalawag, you say, is a Southern man who affiliates with the 
Eepublican party since the war!—A. We have scalawags” and “ car- 
I)et-baggers ” in this country, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. And the difference between you and the Democrats 
on the regular ticket was, they thought the nomination of a scalawag 
on a Democratic ticket made a good Democrat of him, and you thought 
otherwise ? 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Mr. Kirkwood says that being a scalawag places a man rather be¬ 
low par } you mean politically !—A. Yes, sir; I mean politically, sir. 


J. E. LOSGEY. 

Yew Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

J. E. Loscey sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. What is your age ?—Answer. Twenty-four. 

Q. Where do you reside ?—A. Tensas Parish, Saint Joseph. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. About one year. 

Q. Where were you before that ?—A. In Indiana. 

Q. What business are you engaged in up there ?—A. I am a clerk in 
a store. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in that business?—A. Since I 
have been there. 

Q. What are 5 'our i^olitics ?—A. I stand neutral in the matter. 

Q. What ticket did you support in the last election?—A. I supported 
none. 

Q. What ticket did you vote ?—A. I didn’t vote any. 

Q. Were you not a voter ?—A. I am, if I choose to vote; but I didn’t 
feel like supporting either party. In other words, I said, two years ago, 
the first vote I cast, that I would not cast another. 

Q. Did you take any i)art in this campaign ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you around about through the parish any during the cam¬ 
paign ) where were you during the campaign ?—A. I was in town. I 
was a short distance below Saint Joseph. 

Q. On Avhat occasion ?—A. I Avas summoned by a sheriff*’s posse. 

Q. Who signed that ?—The deputy sheriff. 

Q. What was his name—Kenny ?—A. No, sir; Kennedy. 

Q. What time Avas that ?—A. I do not remember exactly the time; 
about the last of October, I guess. 

Q. How many times were j'ou summoned to go out ?—A. Only once. 

Q. When were you summoned, and where did you go?—A. I went 
doAvn to Waterproof. 

Q. How long AA ere you out ?—xV. We were out about, a day and a half. 

Q. What company were you in?—A. Ido not know hardly. What 
do you mean? 

The Chairman. I mean the name of the company. 

The Witness. I do not know as the company had a name. 



Pariah.] TESTIMONY OP J. R. LOSCEY. 265 

Q. Was it independent of those that went with the posse?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Who went as tlie sheriff’s i^osse under the sheriff; who led that 
posse'?—A. The sheriff’ of Tensas Parish. 

Q. Who was he?—A. John W. liegister. 

Q. Who was captain of tliat company ? 

The Witness. Oaptain of the whole command, do yon mean? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

A. If I remember right, a man by the name of Trespan. 

Q. Was he a captain ?—xV. I think so. 

Q. Who was the lieutenant ?—xV. I do not know. 

Q. How many did you have?—xV. I do not know. 

Q. Did you have any lieutenant?—xV. I do not remember of calling 
anybody lieutenant. 

Q. Where did this Trespan live?—A. I think in Franklin Parish; I 
am not certain. 

Q. Did you know the men in this company?—A. I did not. 

Q. Where were they from, that you understood?—A. I understood 
they were froin Franklin Parish. 

Q. Is that an adjacent i)aiish ?—x\. I think so. 

Q. Above or below?— A. I do not know, sir. 

Q. How many men did he have ^vith him—I mean outside of Saint 
Joseph?—A. I do not remember. 

Q. Well, give us an idea.—xl. There were some twenty-five or thirty, 
likely. 

Q. How many men were required by the sheriff as a posse at Saint 
Joseph ?—xl. I think there Avere fifteen or eighteen of us. 

Q. Besides Franklin men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now state what time you left Saint Joseph.—A. I think it was 
about ten or eleA^en o’clock. 

Q. In the morning ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you go ?—A. We Avent from there to Waterproof. 

Q. What is the distance from Saint Joseph to Waterproof ?—A. About 
sixteen miles, I think. 

Q. Were you all mounted?—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. Armed ?—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIoAv were you armed ?—A. Some with Winchester rifies, others 
with shot-guns. 

Q. How was the captain armed?—A. I think only with a pistol, if I 
remember right. 

Q. Did he have any sword ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Under AA'hose direction did you march?—A. We Avere marching 
under the direction of the sheriff and parish judge. 

Q. Who was the parish judge?—A. His name was C. C. Cordill. 

Q. Did he accompany you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In Avhat cai^acity did he go ?—A. I do not know, sii'. 

Q. Was he armed, too?—A. I do not know whether he Avas or not; 
I could not tell you. 

Q. You think they gave the directions as to the general course?—A. 
I do, sir. 

Q. Wlio gaA’e the command to lialt, march, and all this?—A. Some¬ 
times one and sometimes another. 

Q. What did the captain do ? What were his duties?—A. That was 
one of his duties. 

Q. Did you proceed directly without interruption to Waterproof?— 
A. We dki not. 




266 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. What inteiTuption did you liave!—A. While we were there, we 
were told we met a band of negroes and our advance guard was fired 
upon by the negroes. 

Q. How many men did you have out as an advance guard?—A. Two, 
I believe, sir. 

Q. How far had you got from Saint Joseph wdien you were told that you 
had ceen fired on by an armed mob of negroes ?—A. I think about two 
miles. 

Q. What was the name of the ifiace ?—A. I think it was known as the 

Bass place.” 

Q. Who informed you of that f—A. Our advance guard, I believe; 
they said they were fired upon. 

Q. Did you hear any firing?—A. I did not. 

Q. What did your company do after this ?—A. It was ordered to 
march to the front. 

Q. Who gave that order ?—A. I think the cai^tain of the comi^any j I 
am not certain who did. 

Q. What did you do then ?—A. We did so. 

Q. How far did you go after that order was given ?—A. We only ad¬ 
vanced a sliort distance. 

Q. What did you do ?—A. After this advance a part of the company 
dismounted. 

Q. How many?—A. I could not tell you how many. 

Q. Can you guess whether it was half of them or two-thirds ?—A. It 
was hardly half of them. 

Q. You were dismounted, and what then?—A. After we were dis¬ 
mounted the order was given to fire, and they did so. 

Q. Who gave that order to fire ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Somebody in command ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you fire ?—A. I did not fire at all. 

Q. I didn’t ask that; I mean what did you fire into or at?—A. As 
near as I could where these darkies were in mass; there they fired into 
them. 

Q. Was it daylight ?—A. It was. 

Q. Did you see any darkies ?—A. I did not until after they were dis¬ 
persed. 

Q. Where were they when you fired at them ?—A. In the house. 

Q. Did you fire into the quarters?—A. I believe so. 

Q. The firing was in the quarters where the negroes were ?—A. I be¬ 
lieve so. 

Q. You saw negroes, then?—A. Y'^es, sir; after they dispersed. 

Q. Where did you see them ?—A. I saw them in different parts of the 
place. 

Q. Did they run out from the quarters ?—A. Yes, sir; Bass’s quarters. 

Q. How many of them ?—A. I could not tell you ; I saw a number of 
them. 

Q. Did you go into the quarters ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Now, let us know how many negroes ran away.—A. I could not 
give you any idea; I do not know. 

Q. How large are these quarters ?—A. I do not know; we were behind 
the bushes and trees. 

Q. Were there any shots fired by your company then ?—A. I did not 
know; I was told they fired first. 

Q. I mean after you went down there were there any shots fired?—A, 
I believe not. 


Paiish.l TESTIMONY OF J. R. LOSCEY. 267 

Q. All you know about the firing was from these advance guards ?— 
A. That is all. 

Q. How far ahead of yon did these advance guards keep ?—A. Some¬ 
times they were farther than at other times. 

Q. About hoAV far ?—A. About 300 yards. 

Q. Yon didn’t see any firing at them and yon didn’t hear any ?—A. 
It stands to reason there might have been firing, and that the others 
heard it, as I was a little deaf. 

Q. Ho yon know whether the company hit the negroes?—A. I do not. 
I saw two or three wounded. I do not know whether the company 
wounded them or not. 

Q. Did yon see them there then ?—A. Yot just at that time. 

Q. How many were hit ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. How many did yon nnderstand ?—A. I never did understand how 
many. 

Q. Did yon nnderstand that any were killed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Who were wounded?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Don’t yon know that some were wounded ?—A. I saw two or three 
wounded. 

Q. At the time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were they ?—A. In Bass’s lane. 

Q. When they ran out of the lane did they fire again at them ?—A. 
Ko, sir. 

Q. How many volleys were fired ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Well, about how many?—A. I think they only fire<l once. I think 
the command was given to fire but once, and I think then the darkies 
dispersed. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did they fire at them as they ran ?—A. I think not, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Now, I think yon ought to be able to judge how many negroes yon 
saw running away 5 whether it was five or fifty.—A. I could not tell 5 I 
saw a number of them. It was a great distance ahead of ns. 

Q. But yon didn’t fire at any great distance ?—A. No; but when they 
dispersed it seems they were slow about it. But the negroes I speak of 
seeing running were some three or four hundred yards ahead of ns run¬ 
ning right down the lane. 

Q. Yon were going down the lane ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon were in the rear ?—A. I was about the rear. 

Q. How many did you see running down the lane as near as you can 
estimate; was it full or not ?—A. It was not fnll. 

Q. Was there a dozen men?—A. Yes, sir; fully that. 

Q. Did you see any women ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you see any there?—A. Yes, sir; I saw some women as we 
went through the lane. 

Q. Where ?—A. At the house. 

Q. At their quarters ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whatw^eretheir houses?—A. There were some two or three houses 
scattered along the lane. 

Q. Just describe those quarters, how they were built and what was 
the character of them.—A. As near as I can remember, there were 
only some three or fom\ 




268 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tonaaa 


Q. What kind of houses are they?—A. They are ordinary cabins 
such as we have there—probably of average size. 

Q. Are they nsnally built with one roonij or more?—A. Some of these 
were double quarters. 

Q. Now when the command was given to fire how many negroes did 
yon see in sight?—A. I didn’t see any. 

Q. Wliere were the shots directed ?—A. At the quarters j they fired 
through in the building. 

Q. Now you wonT say that you saw a dozen men in the lanej did you 
see a dozen?—A. I think I did. 

Q. How many did you see out of the lane?—A. I do not know; I saw 
them scattered all about the fields., 

Q. I mean these that went out of the quarters ?—A. These dozen I 
saw? I do not know that they went out of the quarters. 

Q. Ho you think they did go out of the quarters?,—A. I think they 
were massed together with the balance of thejii. 

Q. How did they get out of the house—come out of the door ?—A. I 
do not know; I do not know that they were in the house. 

Q. In the house, or behind the house?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many did you say were wounded on that occasion?—A. I do 
not know; I remember seeing two or three. 

Q. What condition were those wounded men in?—A. Some of them 
didn’t seem to be very badly wounded. 

Q. Where were the wounded men?—A. I saw them in Bass’s lane. 

Q. Where had they been wounded—not in their person, but where 
were they shot at ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. What were they doing ?—A. I do not know that. 

Q. Were they running or standing still?—A. I remember of asking 
one a question—what he was doing there. He said he was with them 
and ran away, but when he was running he was shot at. 

Q. Hid you see any wounded lying down?—A. No, sir; all the wounded 
were standing up. 

Q. Ho you know whether any of the wounded negroes died afterwards ? 
—A. I do not know; I never learned. 

Q. You had something over fifty men there ?—A. No; I do not think 
we did. 

Q. Hidn’t you say the Franklinites were about thirty-five ?—A. No, 
sir; I think about twenty-five or thirty. 

Q. And you think eighteen were picked up at Saint Joseph ?—xl. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. There were between forty or fifty altogether ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. These negroes running down the lane had no guns with them ?— 
A. I didn’t see any. 

Q. Well, if they had, you would have been apt to see them. Where 
did you go then?—A. Then we proceeded to Waterproof. 

Q. You were then about four miles from Waterproof ?—A. Yes, sir. 

, Q. What then?—A. We went below Waterproof. 

Q. How far ?—A. About four miles. 

Q. To what point ?—A. At that point. 

Q. What did you do down there?—A. We did nothing at all. 

(^. That is the only time your command was ordered to fire ?—A. That 
is the only time. 

Q. Then where did you go from that point ?—A. We went back to 
Waterproof. 

Q. What did you do down there at this point ?—A. We did nothing. 

Q. Wliat were you down there for as you understood ?—A. We under- 


TESTIMONY OF J. R. LOSCEY. 


Parish.] 


269 


stood before we left Saint Joseph that the negroes were massed there for 
bad purposes and we went there to see about it. 

Q. What do you mean by bad purposes ?—A. I mean for committing 
outrages. 

Q. What kind of outrages were they charged with committing ?—A. 
My understanding was they were to make an attack on ditferent small 
towns. 

Q. You have not lived very long in the South ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. So you do not know whether there was any danger from such a 
thing or not!—A. I do not really know, but I had reason to believe 
there Avas. 

Q. You Avent back there to Saint Joseph?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You Avere then disbanded?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you paid for these services?—A. We were not. 

Q. Who furnished you your provisions?—A. We stopped over in 
Waterproof one night and the citizens furnished us. 

( 4 ^. AVhere did you lodge ?—A. In the house, part of us were bedded. 

Q. Were you ever summoned after that?—A. I was not. 

Q. Did you knoAV of other parties being summoned ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Hoav long had these Franklin men been there before you were 
summoned?—A. They came in one eA ening and they were summoned 
the next morning. 

Q. You do not knoAV aa hat distance they had to come ?—A. I do not. 

Q. How Avere they supported while in Waterproof, do you know ?— 
A. They were provided for by the citizens at private houses. 

Q. Were you furnished Avith a horse or did you liaA^e to furnish your 
OAvn horses ?—A. I had to furnish my own. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. What day of the A\^eek was this that you started ?—A. I do not 
remember exactly. 

Q. How many days was it after the trouble Avhen Fairfax’s house was 
attacked at Waterproof? Suppose the attack was made on Saturday 5 
that will enable you to tell Avhen you started out.—A. We started some 
three or four days after that. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you see any armed negroes at Bass’s place at the time the 
quarters aa ere fired into ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Did you estimate the number of negroes there at 300 or 400 ?—A. 
I did not estimate them at all, but I saAv a dozen or so running. I do 
not know hoAV many more there were. 

Q. Judge Oardill was with that party, was he? Here is an official 
report he makes to the goA^ernor, in which he states: ‘‘On Tuesday, the 
15th, the bringing of a posse of fifty men summoned by the sheriff about 
two miles from Waterproof were fired on by a body of armed negroes 
numbering betAveen three and four hundred 5 we killed eight of them and 
dispersed the remainder.” You didn’t see as many as three or four hun¬ 
dred ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You saAvno armed negroes?—A. No, sir; but I saw arms lying 
along the lane that AA^e supposed were lost by them. 

Q. You supposed that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You didn’t see arms in the hands of any of the negroes ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. About how many arms did you see ?—A. Three or four pieces. 

Q. Did you examine the pieces to see Avhat kind of arms they were ?— 
A. No, sir. 


270 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. AVhat arms were they ?—A. Pistols. 

Q. Did you see any ^^uns i —A. No, sir 5 I saw no guns. 

Q. How far from Waterproof was the point where you fired into these 
negroes 1 —A. It was three or four miles, I think, but it seems by that it 
was about two miles. 

Q. This refers to the same event ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many white men were killed or wounded at that time ?—A. 
None at all that I know of. 

Q. Who were the two advance guards of your company '? 

The Witness. At the time I 

Mr. Cameron. Yes. 

A. I do not remember who they were. We changed them about. 

Q. Well, just at that point can you give the names'?—A. I do not re¬ 
member ; I could not say positively. 

Q. Can you give your best impressions as to who they were *?—A. I 
am not positive, but I think two men named Mickle and Watson. 

Q. Were you at any time one of the advance guards '?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They probably did not think it was safe to send a Northern man 
who had recently come among them"?—A. I do not know. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. The trouble at Fairfax’s occurred on Saturday night, the 12th of 
October, and this exiiedition was on Tuesday, the 15th f—A. I do not 
remember; it was two or three days after that. 

Q. How far is Bass’s place from Waterproof ?—A. I thought it was 
about four miles. 

Q. Is Bass’s place a large plantation ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many colored people were upon that!—A. I do not know. 

Q. Is that a densely populated country of colored people ?—A. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. From Bass’s to Waterproof and around there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You didn’t take any part in the political contest ?—A. No, sir. 


FBANK WIT SON. 

New Orleans, La., January 0, 1870. 
Frank Witson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—AnsAver. Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Ever since 1858, off and on. 
Q. How old are you ?—A. About thirty seA en. 

Q. What is your business ?—A. Farming. 

(i^. In AA'hat part of the parish do you reside ?—A. 1 reside in the 
lower part of the parish—in the south i)ait. 

Q. Near Avhat toAAii ? —A. Near Wateri)roof. 

Q. IloAv far from Waterproof ?—A. Eight miles. 

Q. Above or below ?—A. At the foot of the SAvamp, back toAA aids 
Tensas Kiver. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late politic^al campaign there?—A. 
I did a little. 

Q. What did you do ?—A. I supported the Bland and Douglas ticket. 
Q. Did you make any si)eeches or do any thing else ?—A. No, sir • I 
did not. " ’ ’ 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF FRANK WITSON. 


271 


Q. What was your experience in the matter; did you have any trouble 
in voting the Bland ticket?—A. I did have, so far as this: I did not 
have an opi>ortunity to vote any. 

Q. Kow you may state the reasons; were there any threats made ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tell us what ?—A. By some parties. There were some parties 
came out to my house three or four different times looking for me. I 
was told by a white Democratic friend of mine there that they were 
going to kill me, and that ke])t me in the woods four or five days. He 
said he would let me know when to come in, and I staid there three or 
five days, coming in at night. There was no trbuble there at night. 
On Sunday, the 20th of October, he sent for me to come to the store j I 
I went to the store Sunday night, as the gentleman sent for me, and I 
asked him wliat was the trouble. He told me the best thing I could do 
was to get away as far as I could. 

Q. Who was this gentleman ?—A. William F. Kilev, a man who clerks 
for D. B. Miller. 

Q. Mliy did he say you had better get away?—A. He said Tom 
Hayes would have me hung or shot if it took ten years to do it, and the 
best way I could do was to get away and keep quiet. 

Q. What did you do then ?—A. I left about two o’clock Sunday night. 

Q. Did you have a family ?—A. I left them there. 

Q. Were you raising a crop ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What became of that ?—A. 1 left it there. 

Q. Did you gather it ?—A. Yo, sir; about half of it was gathered, 
and the stock eat it up, the biggest part of it, after I left. 

Q. Did you see any armed bodies of men around there ?—A. Three 
or four companies. 

Q. Where did you see them?—A. At the place where I staid. The 
first company that came there was a company of our own men in com¬ 
mand of Captain Wales. 

Q. How many men ?—A. Twenty-nine. I knew all of them, as they 
were our own people. That was on Monday after the affray at Fair¬ 
fax’s. On Tuesday a captain—we lived on the line of Concordia and 
Catahoula—whose name was Clayton, came there from another parish 
with 30 armed men going to Waterproof. They were from Catahoula, 
and some from Franklin Parish. 

Q. How far did they come ?—A. From across Tensas going to Water¬ 
proof. 

Q. Do you know what distance they had come ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they on foot or on horseback ?—A. Tliey were on horseback. 

Q. What other men did you see ?—A. The first men I saw was Cap¬ 
tain Peck’s crowd, when they were going to Fairfax’s. 

Q. Where did they come from?—A. From Tensas; they were met 
up in Catahoula Parish. 

Q. Were they met up there previous ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there any that you knew ?—A. Sam. Boman’s two sons, 
Charlie Boman is one of them; Dr. Usher, Frank Jones, Warren Marbly, 
Frank Bruce, Willie Harrington. I was very well acquainted with Cap¬ 
tain Peck. 

Q. How many men were with Captain Peck ?—A. Twenty-eight or 
twenty-nine. One of our parish men went with them; his name was 
Billy Fulton. He lived about three-fourths of a mile from me; he staid 
with them. 

Q. Kow, what other men have you seen besides those you have men- 


272 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


tioned '?—A. I saAV Jack Jolinson witli the crowd of men j he lives in 
my ward. 

Q. When did you see him ?—A. I saw him Wednesday. He came to 
my house inquiring for me of the posse of men. 

Q. How many men did he have ?—A. About sixteen or seventeen 
armed men. 

Q.. AVhite men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you know them?—A. Some of them. 

Q. Where were you when they came tliere ?—A. I was lying right in 
the woods where I could see the parties. 

Q. What were ydu intheAvoods for ?—A. To keep from being got. 

Q. Hid you know they were coming?—A. Yes, sirj I knew every time 
they were coming. 

Q. How did you know ?—A. Somebody told me. 

Q. Hid they search for you?—A. No, sir; but they inquired for me 
three or four times, but they never got me. So on Sunday, when Hayes 
came out, this man told me that there was fifteen or twenty men com¬ 
ing out, and they were going to hunt the woods for me Monday. So I 
left Sunday night. 

Q. How many came there Sunday ?—A. Sixty or seventy-five. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. All of them, I think. I saw them take 
one fellow down to the store, a young boy, to hang him there in front of 
the store. He was about sixteen years old. The way it happened was 
this: One man in the crowd asked him his name (lie was standing on 
the gallery), but the boy did not tell him, and the man said: You God 
damned son of a bitch, come out and 1 will make you tell your name.’’ 
I was in ^Miller’s, so I kept looking at it. They brought a rope, put it 
round his neck, but Miller got them to take it ofi*. That company was 
the last company I saw there. 

Q. AVhere were they from ?—A. From Ouachita. Filey had a man 
they wanted to get "to kill that Sunday. There was myself, Sam 
jMackey, and a constable under me, and Giles Baker, Sandy Baker, and 
Aleck Bedmond; they were the men they wanted, and went in to get 
them, and the women told them they did not know where they were. 

Q. You were what ?—A. I was justice of the peace, and this man was 
constable. 

Q. How did you know they had the names of these men ?—A. Mr. 
Eiley told me. 

Q. Wlio is he ?—A. Clerk in Miller’s store. He told me if I would 
wait a wliile he Avould show them to me, that my name was among them; 
but I felt uneasy, although he had always been a good friend of mine, 
and I told him never mind, I would go aAvay anyhow. I thought the 
best thing I could do Avas to get away. I left about two o'clock. 

Q. Where did you go ?—A. I went up to AVaterproof. Nearly all the 
way I went through Kalston’s Avoods and came doAvn the rh er to A^an- 
dalia. 

Q. HaA'e you been home since ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AA^ere you Avorking the land on shares ?—A. I leased it. 

Q. For how long ?—A. For tAvelve months. 

Q. Hoav much land did you lease ?—A. Tavo of us leased thirty acres, 
fifteen acres a piece. 

Q. Hid you haA^e a family ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How much of a family ?—A. A wife and two children. 

Q. Are they up there ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How are they supported during your absence ?—A. AVhile I was 
at Blackman’s, I sent the money as I could get it, and now I do not 


TESTIMONY OP FRANK WITSON. 273 

know; I have been sick for three Aveeks aa itli pneumonia and have been 
unable to Avork. 

Q. How long did you stay in the woods ?—A. Nine* days. 

Q. Were there any others f—A. Yes, sir j four Avitli myself. 

Q. What Avere they in the woods for ?—A. The same thing; to keep 
out of the Avay. 

Q. What were they doing ?—A. Farmers. 

Q. What did they do ?—A. They came doAvn the river Avith me. 

Q. How many men of your own do you knoAV that haA^e left in the 
same way ?—A. I don’t knoAv of but four or fiA^e, of myoAAm knowledge; 
but I have letters from there, and a good many have left. 

Q. Are you corresponding aa ith your family ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you going back ?—A. I doift think I will. 

Q. AYliy !—A. Well, I don’t feel like I Avas safe to go back there. I 
was not doing anything then; but iioav I consider that I am doing some¬ 
thing. 

Q. What are you doing ?—A. I consider that I am doing the A^ery 
Avorst thing now I ever did. 

Q. What is that ?—A. Telling the truth. 

Q. Wliat fault did they find with you ?—A. Nothing at all. 

Q. What did they say you had done?—A. I am not able to tell you. 

Q. Hid they pretend to have a warrant for you ?—A. No, sir ; there 
Avas none of that carried on doAAU there. Hayes commanded that 
Ouchita crowd around there. 

Q. They did not haA^e any deputy sheriff with them ?—A. No, sir; he 
was the boss. 

Q. How were these men armed in this country ?—A. I could not well 
tell; I was about 60 yards from them. One of them I could tell. The 
gun that Regan had and the one the captain had was a sixteen-shooter. 
I judge from the length. The others, I think, were armed with different 
kinds of guns. 

Q. While you were there did you see large bodies of colored people 
around there ?—A. Yes, sir; I saw some of my own ward men after this 
affray at Fairfax’s. Some of them brought the news Sunday morning 
that a posse of men had killed Fairfax, and had killed the negroes on 
Bass’s plantation, and that raised an excitement OA^er the whole country 
generally, and the boys in my country thought their time Avoiild be 
next, and they armed themselA^es. 

Q. What did they have ?—A. Shot-guns and pistols; some of them 
had no locks on and some of them had no loads—I am satisfied of it— 
and some of them Avould not fire at all. 

Q. Hoav many of them ?—A. About thirty. They came to my house 
and Avanted to know what to do. I told them to go home and told them 
on Wednesday or Thursday there Avould be a meeting, and I told them 
to go home. They Avere anxious to go to toAAm to see what was going 
on, and they wanted to go there and assist the colored people. I did 
not go myself, but I sent .the constable and another man to satisfy them, 
and they went there and met Mr. Cordill and Register on Sunday with 
their posse of men coming down, and they told me that Cordill and 
Register had told them (Clark and another man) to go back home and 
behave themseh^es, and nothing would be done. So when our men met 
these men they all returned home. 

Q. Those are all the armed men you saw ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When AA^as this you met this Cordill ciwd ?—A. On Sunday after 
Fairfax’s attack. I Avas told this by my constable and another reliable 
man, that they saAV Cordill and Register. 

18 T 



274 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You say tliat.Iiiley was a clerk at Miller’s store ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wkat sort of a store did Miller keep ?—A. A large store. 

Q. Did he furnish supplies to farmers and people through there ?—A* 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you deal with him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he have a mortgage on your croi) ?—A. He had a recorded 
lien on it. 

Q. Are you and Eiley on the same side iiolitically ?—A. Yo, feir; he is 
a strong Democrat. 

Q. AVhat ticket was he supimrting ?—A. I suppose the Cordill 
ticket. 

Q. You were supporting the other ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there a good many of your colored friends supporting the 
Bland ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; they would if they had the chance, hut I 
think they were bulldozed in such a way that there was no one voted 
for the Bland ticket in the lower end of the parish. 

Q. Eiley told you this, and you did not have any confidence in him ?— 
A. Xo, sir; I had confidence enough in him to go away. 

Q. How far were you from Eegan ?—A. I was about 50 yards from 
him. 

Q. You are satisfied that Cordill came down with these men on the 
17th of October f—A. Yes, sirj 1 am satisfied of it. 


SPEYCEE EOSS. 

Yew Orleans, La., January 0, 1879. 

Spencer Eoss (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. I was brought there from 
the State of Misssissippi when I was four years old. 

Q. Have you lived there ever since f—A. Yo, sir; during the war I 
went up in the country, but came back in 1869. 

Q. What are you doing % —A. I am croiiping now. 

Q. Are you stiU living there '?—A. Yes, sir 5 though I have been away. 

Q. Do you know anything of armed bodies of men riding through the 
country?—A. There was an armed body of men coming to Yeweltown 
on Friday morning. I did not see the body of men; only the next 
evening—Saturday—about 7 o’clock they came over the place where I 
lived ; but I kept away. I learned that they Avere after me. I heard 
they were coming up with the intention of breaking up the Eepublicau 
party. There was a good many of them I think, and one of my friends 
there thought it was best for me to go away.’ So then, on Saturday 
morning, I took myself oft*. On Satiuday evening, about 3 o’clock, I 
recognized Mr. Kinney as one of the men in the crowd that I knew. 
He came up to the place and said he Avas deputy sheritf and had a right 
to arrest me. I Avas a speaker there and leader of the club. This Kin¬ 
ney called for me, but I Avas aAvay Avhen those men came there and called 
for me. I knew no other Avay to save myself but to leave the parish. 
TheyAventup to YeAvelton, and they arrested one man there by the name 
of Lucas, and they asked for me. Tliey said, If you don’t tell us where 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF SPENCER ROSS. 


275 


Spencer Eoss is, you will not see daylight to-morrow.” Before I went 
away I came up almost to my house to get some clothes to take witli 
me, as I was going out of the parish; but I stopped within about 150 
yards from my house, and I sent a gentleman ui) there to get me some 
clothes. When they—the armed body—left the store, they said they 
would be back there between 9 and 10 o’clock. After 1 got my clothes, 
from my house I started away. 1 tried to get away. When 1 got started I 
was riding my horse, and 1 rode to the back part of the place. There I 
met some men—seven of them—who recognized me, and they came dowTi 
the back part of my place to cut me oft*. There was no way to get out 
only by coming through the back part of my plantation. I crossed the 
bayou. It was a pretty cold night, and as I rode along I heard horses.” 
feet on the ground. I did not know in what direction they were comingr. 
]VIy brother was with me. I said to him, ‘‘ Let us make for the woods.”’ 
And just as I got over the bridge we met some colored people, and I 
asked them if they saw them, and they said, ‘‘Xo.” There were others 
there that had left the parish. 

Q. How many were there that niglit ?—A. There was eight of them. 
Then I left the parish and stopped away ten days. I crossed over ta 
Madison, and got there about three o’clock. I started out early, and on 
Sunday there was a posse of men (jame up inquiring for me at Fairfax’s^ 
but I did not go to see them. They said they would not kill me, but 
they said, We will kill Fairfax,” and then they said, ‘‘ Unless they are 
quiet, we will kill them all.” I went on to Lockport and staid there 
ten days. A white man on the place in that end of the parish where I 
lived sent a brother-in-law up to Lockport and told me all this. I asked 
him how things were, and he told me that everything was perfectly 
quiet now; so far I did not know what had taken place. After he told 
me I did not want to go back, for I expected to be killed. He said they 
had demoralized and intimidated the men so that they did not want to 
vote. Then I came back, and I commenced speaking. 

Q. What party were you supporting f—A. I was speaking for the 
Bland and Douglas party. On the 17th October I had come back to 
the parish, and I arrived at the time they had a meeting in Xewelltown. 
Colonel Eeeves had spoken before I got there. I tried to get there to 
hear him speaking, but I could not. Judge Cordill had spoke when I 
got up to the stand, and said he had written to Franklin Parish to his. 
brother to bring over 10 or 15 men, as he expected there would be 
trouble. I know I had been out of the parish, so I left again. I spoke 
on Monday, and advised my colored friends how to vote. My advice to 
them was how to vote, and if they could not vote the regular nominees^ 
not to vote at all. I told them if I had to vote, and could not vote the 
way I wanted to, I would not vote at all. I had taken a Cordill paper 
to vote to save myself. I voted that paper, but I put my nomination on 
it. The moment I went up to the polls there was a lot of men there. I 
did not know them. 

Q. White men !—A. Yes, sir; and as I commenced walking up they 
came up to me. I had two tickets in my hand. They commenced to 
crowd up, and I had to shove the Cardell ticket in, though if they liad 
not been so close I would have put the other in. One man said, “ Saxe, 
is that the right paper he has voted !” And Saxe said, Yes.” One 
of them said, “ That is all right, then.” I judge if I had voted that paper 
I would have been killed before I left. And so I voted their ticket. 

Q. Have you been back there since ?—A. I have not been back there 
since the election. 


276 


LOUISIANA IN 187d. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did you know any one in the upper part of the parish ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. That is the most quiet part?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any that were killed there ?—A. I do not. There 
was a man killed on IS'ewell Eidge by the same crowd that came down 
to arrest me. 

Q. What was the man’s name ?—A. I do not remember. 

Q. Did you know ?—A. I seen him, but I am not personally acquainted 
with him. 

By Senator Garland : 

Q. This man that gave you advice about taking care of yourself—is 
he running for office in the same ward !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For what ?—A. Justice of the peace. 

Q. You live in the same ward that he did ?—A. Yes, sir. The reason 
he gave me that advice was that we had nominated a colored justice of 
the peace and coroner on the same ticket, and were supporting four men 
at the same time on the other side 5 and the men commenced to come all 
over the parish, and commenced saying what they would do to the col¬ 
ored men that sux3ported that ticket. 

Q. Who was the man that asked you, when you were voting, if that 
was the right ticket ?—A. Mr. Saxe—he asked Mr. Saxe if that was the 
right ticket. 

Q. Do you know Mm f —A. I^o, sir. Ernest Shood patted me on the 
shoulder and said that was all right when he saw that I voted that par¬ 
ticular ticket. 

Q. I mean do you know the man who asked that question of Mr. Saxe? 
—A. No, sir; they were all strangers to me. 

Q. Were you acquainted with Mr. Saxe?—A. Yes, sir 5 he was a com¬ 
missioner there, and another man by the name of Corey. 

Q. You lived up in the northern part of the parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was all quiet?—A. Until these men came up from AVaterproof 
and made a disturbance. 


AVILLIAM H. GEIFFITH. 

New Orleans, January 9, 1879. 

AYilliam H. Griffith sworn and examined. 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In the city. For the last 
ten years I have resided at Waterproof. 

Q. What parish is that?—A. Tensas. 

Q. What business are you engaged in?—A. For the last four years I 
have been justice of the peace, and during the last two years postmaster. 

Q. Were you there during the late campaign?—A. During a portion 
of it. I was there until the morning of the 18th of October. 

Q. You left there then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliydid you leave?—A. The reason I left was because on the 
night of the 12th a body of armed men, as I afterward learned^ went to 
Fairfax’s house, and my friends also informed me that they intended to 
visit me, and I was apprehensive that might be done, and I took refuge 
with L. H. Moss, and staid there until the following morning and then 
left. 

Q. Were you justice of the peace?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And postmaster also?—A. Yes, sir. 



Parish.] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. GRIFFITH. 277 

Q. Has anybody been appointed in your place!—A. Eecently tliero 
bas been. 

Q. What was the condition of the parish up to tlie^tiine of the attack 
on Fairfax’s !—A. Well, sir, quiet, I believe. 

Q. Had you heard of auy disturbance !—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted in the parish!—A. Tolerably so, 
sir. 

Q. Why did you understand that they proposed to visit you !—A. I 
was secretary of Fairfax’s club; he was president of the club. 

Q. What club do you mean!—A. The Eepublican club. We were re¬ 
garded as the most prominent men in the locality. 

Q. Fairfax and yourself !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far did he live from you!—A. I lived iu town, and he was 
about a mile above. 

Q. Hid you take auy part iu the campaign up to the time you left!— 
A. I did, sir. 

Q. You may state what connection you had with it; what you had 
done up to the time you left!—A. AYell, sir, as I said before, 1 was sec¬ 
retary of the club; I always attended tlie meeting in that capacity. I 
do not thinlv; we had more than four or live meetings prior to the time 
1 left. 

Q. What was the character of this meeting!—A. Quiet. 

Q. How many would you get out to the meeting!—A. Over fifty; 
sometimes up as high as 200 at that particular club. 

Q. Was there any disturbance!—A. l^one. 

Q. Were there any threats against anybody!—A. None. 

Q. Had the Eepublicans nominated a ticket up to the time you left !— 
A. No, sir. We had elected delegates to attend the parish convention 
to be held in Saint Joseph ou the 15th of October. They met there, but 
were unable to make any nominations, because, as stated to me, they were 
unable to find any white men wlio would have the nominations. They 
didn’t wish to nominate an entire colored ticket, and on tliat day they 
met and appointed a committee of conference to confer with the Demo¬ 
crats. 

Q. Were you connected with tliat!—A. No, sir; I was not. 

(^. You didn’t have anything to do with that!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you know of auy other political meeting iu tlie X)arish except 
those you have mentioned, previous to the attack on Fairfax’s!—A. 
Well, my impression is that we thoroughly organized in two parts of 
the parish. The register was about as full as in any olf years. 

Q. What was the registration at that time !—A. About 2,500 or 2,000. 

Q. Colored !—A. Colored and white. 

Q. In what proportion!—A. 2,000 would be colored—well, I suppose 
2,300 or 2,400. In one parish the register was very full. This one I was 
connected with was very full. 

Q. Explain why you would not nominate a ticket entirely of colored 
people !—A. I can state it in this way: one reason was because they 
were afraid it would bring on trouble. 

Q. Afraid you would not be allowed to hold a fair election!—A. That 
was true. 

Q. Have you been iu the habit heretofore of nominating a ticket of 
colored men exclusively !—A. Not always. 

Q. Did the Democrats nominate at that time, on the 5th of October!— 
A. No, sir; on the 7th. 

Q. Yo-u haven’t any personal knowledge of what occurred on the 14th 


278 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


of October?—A. No, sir; I was in Natchez about that time; but I had 
letters from there saying that murders were common, and whippings. 

Q, Do you know of any men that were murdered ?—A. Only in that 
way, from information received. 

Q. Did yon intend to return ?—A. Yes, sir; I returned on the 14th ; 
Btaid there seventeen days. On the 4th of November I put myself in 
communication with some of the people down there that I regarded as 
friends, and asked them if there was any danger in returning. Some of 
them advised me to remain away a little longer, and some did not. 
Eventnally I concluded to return. After returning on the morning of 
the 14th I saw Dr. Andrews and had some talk with him. He told me 
he thought I would be as safe in remaining there as anywhere else, 
unless those troubles followed, and then, as I was regarded as an intel¬ 
ligent man, I might be in some danger. 

'Q. Who is this man, Dr. Andrews ?—A. He was a prominent i)hysi- 
<cian there. He has been on the police jury, I belieA^e. 

Q. Is he a Democrat ?—A. He calls himself an independent. He has 
accepted a place from the Kepublicans several times. 

Q. How long did yon stay after you went back ?— A. I staid until 
^Sunday night, the ITth. On Saturday morning following my return 1 
heard of their hanging a man by the name of John Higgins. He was 
Imng in the vicinity of , and 1 understood the reason of it was 

that he knew too much of what transi^ired at Mr. , who owns 

a plantation across the lake. 

Q. Did yon know this man who was hung ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of a man a\ as he ?—A. A quiet sort of a man. 

€1. Was he charged with any crime ?—A. I do not knoAV. 

Q. He was not hung by legal authorities?—A. No, sir. 

’Q. By the mob?—A. Yes, sir. 

<^. Did you then leave?—A. I left the next night. On the evening 
of that day I had a conversation with the mayor of that toAvn, Mr. La- 
Jlonte, and I told him I had returned there owing to assurances I had 
received from him and others; and that I didift like that act, and if 
there was any danger in my remaining there I aa anted to knoAv it. He 
assuiwl me I would be perfectly safe, and told me that parties in Frank- 
iin had been consulted as to my remaining. And so I thought I would 
not be in danger. “But” I said, “I am justice of the peace here,and a 
g’ootl many colored i)eople come to me in reference to complaints of these 
troubles, and it will be my duty to receive those conq)laints; and I want 
to knoAY what support I can receive from people about here in executing 
warrants.” He advised me—if he A\^as in my place he Avonld not do any¬ 
thing at the time; that I had better Avait and let things settle down. 
That same evening I received a letter from a friend of mine, stating 
I was in a position of great danger, and to keep my eyes open. Putting 
these facts together, I thought I had better leaA^e. 

Q. What did you do—resign your office ?—A. No, sir; I left my assist- 
saiit, but I haA^e since resigned it. 

Q. HaA'e you any knowledge of the attack on Fairfax’s house; did 
you see men going there ?—A. I saw a portion of them after the return 
from his house. I Avas in a cellar. 

Q. Did you knoAV of any attack being called ?-A. I learned that 
night. 

Had you heard any rumors of the attack before this ?—A. Satur- 
day morning, the 12th, Fairfax met this man. Dr. Andiws, in the post- 
office, and he asked him in reference to a remark he had made to the 
effect that he was making himself too conspicuous about there, and 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. GRIFFITH, 


279 


thereby making’ liiinself too objectionable to the white people; that is, 
Andrews said that Fairfax was, and that he would be hung up some 
iiigiit. He asked Andrews if he had made that remark, in my presence, 
and he said‘‘Yes.” He said the reason he said so was that he had 
heard that it would be done. It was only a short time afterward that 
I learned that the object of Peck’s visit was to see Fairfax and myself. 
They took in Fairfax tirst and me next, or were to have done so. 

Q. Thej^ passed through town about half past nine o’clock returning 
from there ?—A. Ii^'o sir, they were up there about half past nine. I sup¬ 
pose it must have been after ten when thev returned. 

By Mr. CA3IER0N : 

Q. Did you recognize any of those men ?—A. I did not, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What was it I understood you to say that these men said to Fair¬ 
fax !—A. That the boat would come to Franklin and take him out some 
night. 

Q. AVliere is Franklin ?—A. It is a parish back of Tensas. 

Q. What business had the men in Franklin down in your parish look¬ 
ing after men ?—A. The supposition is that they had been sent for to 
come in there. I have here in my pocket a statement of Mr. Wade E. 
Young, in which he says it was the intention of the colored men to ride 
down the quarantine. 

Q. Is it customary to lend help from one parish to another when there 
is trouble on baud'?—A. Xot tliat I am aware of. 

I will read from the Katchez Daily Democrat and Courier, of Octo¬ 
ber 15, 1878, as follows: 

Tensas Parish trouble—Fairfax and his followers bold and defiant—They 

ARE IN ARMS AND THhEATEN TO SACK THE LITTLE TOWN OF WATERPROOF—FULL 

PAP.TICULARS OF THE DIFFICULTY. 

Editors Natchez Democrat: Having just returned from the scene of the uiifortii" 
Bate occurrence in the parish of Tensas, which resulted in the death of Capt. John 
Peck, and the wounding of three colored men, I beg to communicate to you a state¬ 
ment of the facts. 

Mr. Francis Shields and myself went by appointment to meet the members of the 
executive committee of the Democratic party of the parish of Tensas, at the house ot 
Mr. Goldman, about two miles above the town of Waterproof. On reaching Water¬ 
proof we were advised tliat there was a strict quarantine against Concordia Parish, 
and that we would not be allowed to enter the town, but were very considerately 
allowed to pass around and proceed to our destination. 

We found the people of the town and neighborhood very much excited on account 
of the course pursued by Alfred Fairfax, the Radical nominee for Congress, and his 
followers, who had drawn the color line, and were stirring up the passions of the ne¬ 
groes and threatening to come with five hundred armed men to ov^erridethe quarantine 
in Saint Joseph, as Avas threatened to be done by John Young, the negro sherift, in the 
case of the town of Vidalia. 

The Democrats of the parish had a few days before nominated their ticket, composed 
of two members of the legislature and a sheritf Avho had always acted with the Re¬ 
publican party, and in fact su])ported Hayes and Packard in 1870, but were good men 
and enjoyed the confidence of the peoi)le. This course seemed to give umbrage to 
Fairfax and a few of the worst of the leaders, and they had called a convention to 
meet in the town of Saint Joseph, to nominate a straight-out black ticket. On ac¬ 
count of fears of yellow fever, the town was strictly quarantined against all persons 
without, and the authorities notified them that they Avould not be permitted to enter 
the corporate limits. 

io this they replied that they would come Avith five hundred armed men and ride 
doAvn the quarantine guards. 

As the negroes of that parisli outnumber the Avhites ten to one the people were nat¬ 
urally alarmed, and as Capt. John Peck, of Sicily Island, in Catahoula Parish, com¬ 
manded the nearest com])any of State troops, they applied to him to come into the 
parish and visit Fairfax in person and remonstrate Avith him and notify him that the 


280 


LOUISIANA IN ]878. 


[Tensas 


State troops were prepared to siistaiu the authorities of Tensas Parish. To this Cap¬ 
tain Peck readily assented and reached Waterproof with a few men about dark on 
Saturday evening. He ju’oceeded at once to the house of Fairtax, about one mile above 
the town, and dismounting from his horse and suspecting no evil walked up on the 
gallery for the purpose of knocking at the door. As he entered upon the gallery two 
shots were tired from the house, and he fell dead. The few men with him were nat¬ 
urally infuriated, and returning the shots unfortunately wounded three negroes in the 
house, but immediately rejiented and spared their lives. 

They then immediately returned with the body of Ca})tain Peck to his home in Cat¬ 
ahoula. On reaching the scene of the disturbance next morning with Judge C. C. 
Cordell, the parish judge, we found Fairfax and his followers bold and detiaut and 
refusing to submit to arrest. 

Judge Cordell issued a Avarrant for the arrest of Fairfax and placed it in the hands 
of the sheriff; but haAuug no force sufficient to oA^ercome resistance, and fearing to 
provoke a conflict, it Avas deemed unsafe to attempt to execute the warrant until aid 
could be obtained. The negroes are congregating about the town of Waterproof from 
this parish and Tensas, with arms and threats to sack the town. 

The State troops have been summoned from other and neighboring parishes, and it 
is hoped that a sufficient force aaJII be assembled to OA'^ercome the negroes and disiierse 
them Avithout further bloodshed. 

In the death of Captain Peck we liaA-e to deplore the loss of one of our most useful 
citizens, equally marked for his gallantry and moderation and for his many social 
qualities, aaJio leaA’es behind him a Avife and seA’^eral children entirely dependent. 

Yours, trulA’, 

WADE R. YOUNG. 

That is their explanation of Peck’s visit in there. I also want to call 
yonr attention to another statement of Mr. Young. 

Q. Who is Mr. Young ?—A. He is of Concordia Parish. 

By Mr. Garland : 

(^. How does he sign that paper ?—A. Wade E. Young. 

Q. In an official way ?—A. Yo, sir. He says Francis Shields and 
myself went to the house of Mr. Goldman, about two miles above the 
tovm of Waterproof. This visit was made on the same evening that the 
Fairfax attack was made.” 

Q. How far is Goldman’s honse from Fairfax’s ?—A. About a mile and 
a half. 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yon were acting justice of the peace at Waterproof?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. M as there any application made to you for a warrant for Fairfax 
on that occasion !—A. Yo, sir. I remained thereuntil about nine or ten 
o’clock on Sunday morning. I saw Judge Cordill and Saxe, and one 
or two others, coming from Saint Joseph. At sunrise that morning I 
was on the levee. That was on Sunday after the affray at Fairfax’s on 
Sunday night. 

Q. AVho else was there besides yourself to issue a warrant ?—A. Yo- 
body. 

Q. Cordill Avas not there on Saturday morning ?—A. Yo, sir. 

(»). Yo warrant Avas had from you ?—A. Yo, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Yow you liaA^e read this article here. Was there any intention on 
the part of the colored people to break the quarantine ?—A. Yo, sii\ 

Q. Had you heard any threats of that kind ?—A. Yo, sir. I saw Fair¬ 
fax on Friday, and I know that he sent a message off* to different col¬ 
ored men in the parish to select a place to hold a convention in; but 
there was no intention at all of violating the quarantine. 

Q. They say here, To this they replied they would come Avith 500 
men and ride down the quarantine guards.” Was there any such tiling 
—A. Yo, sir. ^' 


Parish,] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. GRIFFITH. 


281 


Q. Up to tliis time, you say things were quiet in the parish ?—A. Yes, 
sir. The first thing I knew that there w oukl be trouble there came from 
Mr. Goldman. In September he came to my office and seemed anxious, 
to talk with me, and had quite a talk with me. He said I was regarded 
favorably by the white people and that then was the time to come over, 
and if I wanted my position in the future I would have to get it from the 
Democrats. He said, too, that the Eepublican and Democratic parties 
were in a state of dissolution. I told him we had a majority here, and 
there was no trouble in electing our ticket any way and was not likely 
to be, and he said, ^^Well, you will seeJ^ I said, I didnH see how they 
could beat us, except by threats. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What reply did he make to that?—A. He didn’t make any. I 
afterwards learned that this Goldman was delegated to apply to me and 
see if I would accept the position of justice of the peace on their ticket. 

Q. Did Mr. Peck die before you left ?—A. He was dead when he was 
brought to Waterproof^ he died at once. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You were well acquainted with Goldman before he called to see 
you at that time ?—A. I had been well acquainted with him. 

Q. Were you on friendly terms with him?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he converse with you in a good humor on that occasion ?—A. 
Yes, sir; he was good-humored. Well, it was something out of common 
for him to drop around to the office and stay that long; he generally 
just came to get his mail, but on this occasion he stopi)ed two or three 
hours. 

Q. You know nothing about the killing of Mr. Higgins except what 
you heard; you were not there in person ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you go to Saint Joseph on the 5th of October ?—A. Yo, sir; I 
remained in Waterproof. 

Q. You understood that your friends had a kind of conference that 
day at Saint Joseph ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were not at the hbuse of Mr. Fairfax on the night of the 12th 
of October ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Now you speak of these men that you saw coming to Fairfax’s 
house, but you have not answered the question put to you by Senator 
Cameron, tliat you did not recognize or identify any of these parties; 
you said you saw some of the men going to Fairfax’s house ?—A. No, 
sir; I said I saw some of them after my return. 

Q. You didn’t see them as they went up ?—A. No, sir; but I was no¬ 
tified they went up, by a friend of mine. 

Q. Now, how do you know they had been at Fairfax’s ?—A. I do not 
know that they went there except by common report, but I do know 
there was a difficulty there, because when I w^as moving my family over 
to Moss’s, wdien I was on the back gallery, I heard some guns up there. 

Q. How far was that?—A. It was a mile, perhaps, but it w^as a clear, 
still night. 

Q. Who told you that after they got through with Fairfax they were 
going to come for you?—A. Mr. Newton, of Waterproof, is one, and 
Mr. Moss, of Waterprooi; is another. Mr. Newton told me that he saw 
Captain Peck before his going up to Fairfax’s house and asked him what 
was the object of his visit, and Peck stated to him that it was to see Mr. 
Fairfax and Griffith. 

Q. Was Newton a candidate for office in that canvass?—A. Not that 
I am aware of. 


282 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Was Moss!—A. ISTo, sir. 

Q. Wliat were their politics !—A. Democrats, both of them. 

Q. Dr. Andrews advised you not to issue any more writs at that time, 
but to remain quiet!—A. No, sir; Mr. La Monte, the mayor. 

Q. Did you not have some conversation with Andrews before!—A. 
Yes, sir ; I had some with him on the morning of my return. 

Q. Did he not give you some advice that was not mentioned at all— 
La Monte was the mayor !—A. Y^es, sir. ^ 

Q. What were his politics !—A. He is a Democrat. 

By Mr. Kiiikwood : 

Q. I supposed Captain Peck was a resident of Waterproof, but this 
communication locates him in Catahoula Parish.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He did not belong at Tensas Parish !—A. No, sir. 

Q. He frequently visited Fairfax, then, from the outside parish !—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. These friends that talked to you after you came back from Natchez, 
who were they ! You say there were several that talked to you as to your 
own safety, &c.—A. I saw Mr. La Monte, and Mr. Moss, and Mr. Mc- 
Collough, of that place. 

Q. What are McCollouglfs politics !—A. He is a Democrat. In fact 
I saw a great many white men talking with them. They seemed to think 
it was a good thing I got out of town at the time I did, but that there 
was not much danger now. 

Q. That was the sentiment of all that talked with you!—A. Yes, sir; 
about. 

Q. You had l)een on friendly terms with all those ]>eople!—A. Y^es, 
sir; with all of them. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you see Mr. Goldman on the 12th of October, the time of the 
attack on Fairfax’s, or the <lay before!—A. I have no recollection of 
having seen him on either of those days. 

Q. Do you know whether it was claimed by the whites, before Captain 
Peck \dsited Fairfax, that the colored people intended to break down 
the quarantine !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of any such a claim prior to that time!—A. No, sir. 

Q. When Captain Peck was inquired of as to his reason for visiting 
Fairfax, did he assign that as the reason ?—A. 1 don’t know about that. 

Q. Did jmu ascertain that he ever gave that reason!—A. No, sir. I 
vill tell you what Governor Nicholls said of Governor Stewart and 
Governor Pinchback. He states on inquiry that he found ont that the 
leading colored men were to be captured and carried off. He did not 
suppose any of them were to be hurt, but they were to be got out of the 
parish and kept out until after the election. 

Q. Did you hear that statement!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When was it made!—A. Now, as to the day I cannot recollect. I 
think it has been four or five weeks ago. Stewart and Pinchback, and 
a young man by the name of Newman, and myself were present. 

Q. For what purpose did you call upon the governor!—A. Well, I 
had heard that he had been up there, and I wanted to see him. He said 
he had heard of me, and that there was no danger of my returning. 

Q. Whnt fact did the governor say he had ascertained on inquiry!— 
A. He said he learned there was an attemijt to be made to capture the 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. GRIFFITH. 283 

colored men in tlie parish—that is, the leading colored men—and carry 
them away until after the election. 

Q. Did he state what the object was of carrying them off ?—A. I un¬ 
derstood if the leaders were carried away, it would be easy enough for 
the Democrats to control the vote there. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. AYliere did the governor make that statement ?—A. At the house, 
in the presence of these men. 

Q. When was that ?—A. It was about five weeks ago. 

Q. Who did you understand was going to take these colored men 
away ?—A. He just made the remark that the colored men were to be 
captured and taken off out of the parish. There are two things I went 
to call your attention to here—two dispatches sent from N'atchez, Miss., 
one the IGth and one the 17th. 

The dispatches are as follows: 

Waterproof, La.—The reported riot has no foundation—Quiet restored 

AND NO FURTHER TROI’BLE APPREHENDED—HOW THE REPORT OF THE RIOT 

ORIGINATED, 

[Special to the Democrat.] 

Natchez, Octoher 17. 

Oiir Mr. Botto returned from the scene of the Tensas troubles last night after I had 
telegraphed you. He gave the troubles a searching investigation, and its result con¬ 
vinces him that it has been more sensational than real. He could find no evidence 
that any negroes had been hilled, besides the one who was wounded when Captain 
Peck was killed and afterwards died. The greatest number claimed by any one to 
have been killed is six. 

The negroes on Monday passed through Water])roof and were extremely insulting 
and threatening in their conduct, and tlie people of the town had good reasons for 
being greatly alarmed. 

We do not think that anything need be done in regard to the reported outbreak. 

The rumors sent to you last night came from tlie steamer Natchez, and were thought 
to be reliable. 

THOS. GRAFTON. 


A BLOODY RIOT—ATTACK OF NEGROES UPON THE TOWN OF WATERPROOF—ThE ATTACK 
REPULSED WITH HEAVY LOSS—ThIRTY-SIX OF THE ASSAILANTS SLAIN AND THE RE¬ 
MAINDER DISPERSED—Assistance from the whites from neighboring towns. 


[Special to the Democrat.] 


Natchez, Miss., Octoher 16. 


On Sunday last a call was made on citizens of Mississippi by the people of Water¬ 
proof, La., to come to their aid, as Captain Peck had been murdered by a lot of ne¬ 
groes, at the house of Fairfax, the colored candidate for Congress in the fifth district. 
It is said that a number of persons crossed the river, but finding everything quiet 
they returned to their homes. 

News continued to come that the negroes were massing, and on Tuesday they were 
said to be burning dwellings and gins, and threatening to sack the town. 

Great excitement exists here, and a number of men chartered a steamer and went 
to the scene of disturbance. 

On their arrival they found that quiet had been restored. They have not yet re¬ 
turned, but we have reliable intelligence that a fight occurred between the citizens of 
Tensas and the insurgents Tuesday afternoon, in w^hich several persons were killed. 

The best information puts the number of killed at thirty-six. The negroes were 


scattered to the winds. 

The number of negroes around Waterproof was stated as 2,500. 

Governor McEnery is said to be at Waterproof with a posse of volunteers. 

A dispatch was received here this morning from Clinton, La., asking if 200 men 
would be permitted to pass through the country, which was promptly answered in 

the affirmative. ___ 

THOS. GRAFTON, Natchez Democrat, 


284 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensaig; 


Tlie Witness (continuing). I want to say that from Saturday night 
np to Wednesday, with the exception of those men hurt at Fairfax’s, I 
did not see any colored men out around the parish at all; hut from 
Wednesday until the following Sunday there were some eight or ten 
men in Tensas and in Concordia that were hung, and shot, or disposed oC 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. That you heard?—A. Yes, sir; hut there are plenty of witnesses, 
here who will he ahle to develop that fact. Still it is stated in the dis¬ 
patches that at that time everything was quiet. Another thing, the 
negroes were not in arms there Tuesday. 


Y. H. NEWELL. 

New Orleans, La., January 10, 1879. 

Y. II. Neavell sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Yliere do you live !—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have you Iwed there?—A. Always; I was horn and 
raised there. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. Planting. 

Q. MTiereahouts in the parish do you live ?—A. On Lake Saint Joseph ^ 
near the center of the parish. 

Q. How far from the toAvn of Saint Joseph ?—A. Nine miles. 

Q. Did you take any active part in the political campaign in that 
parish?—A. I did. 

Q. State to the committee what, if anything, you know, and all you 
know, about Avhat are called rifle-cluhs in that parish; how many there 
are, who form them, and Avhat is the alleged reason for their forma¬ 
tion?—A. I am a inemher of the Lake Saint Joseph ritle-cluh myself. 
The organization Avas formed two years ago, simiAly for sport and pleasure. 
I believe there is only one other club in the parish, and that is in the 
toAvn of Saint Joseph. AYe have regular meetings monthly for target 
practice. 

Q. They are, then, what are called sporting-clubs in some places?— A. 
A^es, sir. 

Q. You know of there being but two in your parish ?—A. That is all 
I know of, to my positive knowledge. 

Q. Did you ever hear any declaration from members there of those 
clubs that they would carry the election whether or not?—A. No, sir; I 
never did. I am sure that nothing of the kind was ever said in the 
Lake Saint Joseph Rifle Club. 

Q. AVhere did you Amte?—A. At poll No. 1, Hollywood. 

Q. How many votes were cast there?—A. 1 do not remember exactly. 

Q. Was it aiieaceable election there or not?—A. Yes; entirely so. 

Q. Was there any violence committed that day on any person, white 
or black ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AVas any person deprived of the right to vote that day ?—A. No, 

sir. 

Q. How long did you remain at the polls ?—A. I was there from 9 
o’clock until 4. 

Q. While you were there was eA^erything quiet?—A. Yes, sir; per¬ 
fectly quiet. The voting Avas over before I left there. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OP V. H. NEWELL. 


285 


Q. Are there many colored voters in that ward ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a great many in the parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted with the colored people in that 
parish?—A. Yes, sir; I know a great many of them; nearly all of them 
in my neighborhood. 

Q. How did the results of their labor conq^are this last cropping year 
with former years ?—A. More than before for four years past. Pro\ds- 
ions are cheaper and prices about the same as last season. Provisions 
being fully oiie-half cheaper, they make more money. 

Q. What is the system of cropping there? Do they put iu and harvest 
their crop themselves, on their own responsibility, or on shares ?—A. It 
is different in different places. They divide on shares a good deal. On 
my place Ave work together on shares. I furnish the mules and imple¬ 
ments of every description, and we divide one-half of the crop; they take 
one bale and I another, and they pay me for the supplies I advance to 
them. 

Q. How many laborers are there on the place that you have the super¬ 
intendence of?—A. Sixty that go to the fields. 

Q. Did any of them run off* the i)lantation last fall ?—A. i^Tot one. 

Q. Has there been any disturbance upon your place ?—A. None what¬ 
ever. 

Q. Were you not a candidate for office at the last election?—A. No, 
sir; I ncA^er was and never will be. 

Q. You are not a politician, then ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You go to vote?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Of how many members does your rifle-club consist ?—A. I think 
we had forty-odd members. 

Q. How many of these are Eepublicans ?—A. None of them, I think. 

Q. Are they all Democrats ?—A. I don’t think there are any white 
Eepublicans in our neighborhood. I don’t know of any. 

Q. I was not asking you about that. I ask whether any Eepublicans 
belong to your rifle-club.—A. None. 

Q. When did you have the last meeting of your club before the last 
election ?—A. About a year before. 

Q. That was your last meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. There were one or two 
meetings called by the president, but there has not been a quorum pres¬ 
ent for a year. 

Q. When did you attend the last meeting of your rifle-club prior to the 
last election ?—A. I think the last meeting I attended was about a year 
ago, as well as I can remember. I am not positive. I know I have not 
attended any in a year. You asked me the question if there was any 
trouble on my place during the campaign. There was none on my place; 
but in the neighborhood there was a good deal. A great many armed 
niggers rioted around generally, but on my place there were none. 

Q. But there were in the vicinity of your place ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On whose place, do you remember ?—A. On the places of James 
Gillespie and A. Cohn. 

Q. Were the negroes armed ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did you have any coiwersation with them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they say they AA'^ere doing ?—A. They said they under¬ 
stood there Avas trouble in the lower end of the parish, at Waterproof, 
and they were going do aaui there. They said, “There are about three 
hundred of us going doAvn.” I said, “ You can’t go on account of the 
quarantine.” They said they didn’t care anything about the quarantine. 
They were going, and they intended to kill and burn as they went. 


286 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensa» 


Q. Who was this Gillespie ?—A. He was the gentleman who was run¬ 
ning for justice of the peace on the Bland ticket. He was running for 
police jnror on both tickets. 

Q. When did you see these armed negroes!—A. On the Monday 
Tuesday after Captain Peck was killed. I don’t recollect exactly which 
day. 

* Q. Were you personally acquainted with any of those negroes !—A. 
I was personally acquainted by sight, bnt I don’t remember their names. 

Q. You can’t give the names of any of them !—A. If I were to think, 
I might j but I don’t believe I can just on the instant. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Can you tell the names of those who said they were going down 
to Waterproof to kill as they went!—A. I don’t believe I could this 
minute, but I could init my hand on them if I saw them. 

Q. I should think such threats as that woidd be apt to attract your 
attention !—A. So they did. < 

Q. And impress upon yonr mind who they were!—A. It did. It at¬ 
tracted my attention very much, for I was very anxious about the matter. 

Q. How many were going at any one time !—A. They were in squads 
of ten, or fifteen, or twenty. The largest squad was, peril ai)S, twenty- 
five. 

Q. Did you see any squads of white men after that!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon know them !—A. Yes, sir ; some of them. 

Q. Where were they from !—A. Some of them were from Ouachita, I 
believe. All that I saw were from Onachita, and possibly there may 
have been one from Morehouse. 

Q. How many did you see !—A. I think there were sixteen in one 
party and twelve in another. 

Q. Under whose command !—A. I understood they were militia. 

Q. Do you know the name of the officer in command!—A. Captain 
Cann was in command of the company from Ouachita j at least he was 
one of the officers. 

Q. I thought he was from rranklin!—A. Xo, sir. He was from Oua¬ 
chita. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. How early on Monday did you see the first of these armed ne¬ 
groes !—A. About eight o’clock in the morning. 

Q. How many were gathered at that time!—A. There were about 25 
in that party. 

Q. Which way were they going !—A. They were going doAvn towards 
the island—towards Hard Times; at least they were going in that direc¬ 
tion. They went about half a mile, and turned round and came back 
again. I asked them which way they were going! (That was after 
they had gone down and come back again.) They said they were going 
to meet a party of armed men that belonged to their club, and had cal¬ 
culated to go together, but had concluded that they had better let them 
alone. 

Q. Was it reported in your neighborhood that Fairfax had been 
killed!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did these negroes speak of that ?—A. I don’t remember right now. 

I siqipose they did, but I don’t remember. It was generally talked of 
all aromnl there. 

Q. In what direction were they going when you last heard from them, 
towards Waterproof or from it!—A. They could go to it or from it either; 
they could take the road to Waterproof or they could take another road.. 


Parish. TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 287 

Q. They told you that after going down they had concluded they 
would not go on !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many more armed bands of negroes did you see on Monday ?— 

A. Four or five. 

Q. ^Yhere ?—A. All in the same place, on the banks of Lake Saint 
Joseph. 

Q. Hid you have any talk with any of those ?—A. Yo; only with 
this one party. I simifiy wanted to find out their object in going up in 
that condition. 

Q. Hid you have any further conversation with the others ?—A. Yo, 
sir ; I was perfectly satisfied that all were on the same business. 

Q. In the last conversation you had with them they said they were 
not going down ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then, were you satisfied that none of that comi^any intended to 
go !—A. That is what they said. 

Mr. Kirkavood. Was there any Kepublican convention to be held at 
Saint Joseph that day ?—A. I believe there was. 

Q. That was on the Monday after Fairfax had been raided, Avas it 
not?—A. Yes, sir. 

[The committee directed that the following circular should be incor¬ 
porated into the evidence:] 

TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXSAS PAIHSH. 

Saint Joseph, La., October 14, 1878. 

Wliereas bodies of iniantliorized and turbulent armed men are gathering in different 
parts of the parish, thereby exciting alarm among the good citizens and violating the 
law: 

Now, therefore, we, the undersigned officers, do call upon all unauthorized armed 
bodies of men to disperse, retire to their homes and usual avocations, and assure all 
good citizens that we have the means and will protect them against lawlessness. 

C. C. CORDILL, Parish Judge. 

JOHN W. REGISTER, Sheriff. 


L. H. KEEYES. 

Kew Orleans, La., January 11, 1879. 

L. H. Beeves sworn and examined. ^ 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—xVnswer. In the parish of Tensas. 
Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. For nearly 40 years. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a lawyer and planter. 

Q. Were you in the parish during the last political campaign?—A. I 
believe I was there during all that period, sir. 

Q. Were you connected in any way with any Hemocratic clubs in that 
parish ?—A. I am the chairman of the Hemocratic executive committee 

of that parish. . r, * t ^ 

Q. Where does that committee hold its meetings ?—A. In the town 

of Saint Joseph. 

Q. State in your own Avay, witliin your own knowledge, the manner in 
which that campaign was organized and conducted by the committee of 
which you are chairman ?—A. Well, sir, I suppose it would be proper 
that I should state as to the arrangement of the ticket, the manner in 
which it was done, and the object of it. The Kepublican party since 
the war, until recently, has had greatly the ascendency there, and the 





288 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


members of that party, the ^’reat majority of them, the leading men of 
that party, have become identified in interest in the parish, having be¬ 
come landholders, and therefore seem to have recognized a common 
interest and common sympathy in regard to the prosperity of the 
parish. Seeing that, unless there could be some arrangement liy 
which the excitement of party issues could be allaj^ed, it would pro¬ 
ceed in a way that would be detrimental to the great planting in¬ 
terests of the parish, it became necessary to make arrangements by 
which we should allay that feeling and have a common ticket. For 
purposes of that kind the Democratic party and those re|)resenting 
the Eepublican party agreed and arranged that a ticket should be 
formed which should unite two of the prominent parties—those which 
had before been known as the Republican and the Democratic parties— 
and that this ticket should be called the Democratic ticket. This was 
done; and, indeed, it looked as if a great work was done in that parish 
at first. It seemed to allay all feeling and to harmonize all interests 
and all parties, and it appeared as if the true interests of the parish 
were to be magnified by the course that was taken. On the day of the 
nomination—the manner in which the difiiculty arose is what yon want, 
I apprehend. On the day of the convention and nomination there were 
certain contestants for the official positions, as there is before all con¬ 
ventions, and there was one among the number who was looking to the 
position of magistrate in a ward in the northeastern part of the parish. 
Having been defeated in his anticipation in reference to success, he be 
came discontented, and after going out of the convention, as was not 
known at that time, it would seem that the matter was stirred ui^ by 
which those, or at least some of those, who had been previously known 
as Republicans should unite with some who had been i)reviously known 
as Democrats, and form what they called an independent ticket; yet 
they called it a true Democratic ticket. Hoav they could so call it is a 
problem for them to solve. I am not able to understand exactly how 
they could occujiy that position. You will see, gentlemen, by the 
testimony, that they called it an independent ticket, and yet at the 
same time they claimed that it was the true Democratic ticket. That 
seemed to be all that occurred at that time; but afterward this mat¬ 
ter seemed to be earnestly set at work stirring up these discontented 
parties, uniting and gathering strength, as it were, until it presented 
a formidable array in opposition to the regular Democratic ticket 
that was nominated by the convention. Now, so far as the magni¬ 
tude of the difficulties Avhich occurred in the parish of Tensas are con¬ 
cerned, being there, and being familiar Avith everything that took place, 
although of course there are many things that did not come under my 
own observation, I did not labor under the apprehension that this great 
difficulty—and a serious one it was, too—I do not understand it to have 
groAvn out of political matters. I think the truth of history Avill bear 
me out in stating that it did not groAV out of political questions. At a 
period subsequent to these nominations of about seven days, it seems 
that a party from Sicily Islands, in the parish of Catahoula,’came there 
upon a mission which, to my oaa^ii personal knowledge I do not kiioAv, 
but I am inclined to believe that it Avas intended in the interests of 
peace, to prevent anything like dissatisfaction. I consider it, in short, 
to have been a mission of peace on the part of those AAdio came. The 
gentleman commanding that expedition. Captain Peck, approached the 
residence of Mr. Fairfax with a view, as I have no doul)t, of having an 
interview Avith him in reference to some matters—it may be, and I 
suppose that they were, political matters. But here let uie premise by 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 


289 


saying that the rumor had gone abroad, and tliere was some evi¬ 
dence to sliow tlie truth of it, tliat We were threaten<Mt with Avhat is 
Oidled the eolor-line. It is needless to say tliat the iieople in that 
vicinity were mncli concerned and alarmed in reference to an 0 ])])osition 
ot that kind, knowing well that if a coarse of that kind were taken it 
Avonld ])r(‘sent serious difticnlties, and, in fact, I might say, great dan¬ 
gers. >Iy o])inion was, as 1 heretofore remarked, and noAv is—and 
1 state it merely as an opinion, because I will state nothing as a 
tact except Avhat comes nnder my oAvn immediate observation— 
my opinion was that his purpose was to see Mr. FaiiTax and to converse 
with him, explicitly asking him not to urge this matter. IloAvex^er, 
there are some who put a (lifterent construction iijion it; and it may be 
susceptible of a different explanation for aught I know. I only giAV' 
my ojiinion in r(‘.gard to it. But to retui*n to the facts of the eventful 
day: On Oa])tain Peck’s aiTival there, aa hat ociMirred has become a mat¬ 
ter of history. Captain Peck Avas shot doAvn, and then unfortunately 
some of the colored people belonging on JMr. Fairfax’s ])lace, and ])er- 
ha])s elsewhere, Avere Avounded, and perhaps one afterward died, as I 
IniA e been informed. In my judgment from that time on it no longer 
liore the as])e(*t of a jiolitical ControA'ersy, but be(*ame a raci* issue. 
The excitement which prcA'ailed perhaps has not been sinni in any part 
of this country liefoi-e, and it AAms threatening to an alai'ining extent. 
Very large numbers, as I am informed, uoav mari'hed—I do not say this 
even n])on my own responsibility, for 1 Avas at tliat time in my bed sick, 
and Avas sick for six orscA^en days coA'ering the most of the period AAiien 
the greatest excitement aaiis going on—but (*ommon history or*common 
rumor says that a large number of the colored peojile congregated at 
the scene of this tragedy and the danger seemed to be A ery great. On 
the part of the ciA il authorities it became necessary to allay that excite¬ 
ment, and, if ])ossible, dis])erse that croAA'd. Xear that time Judge t’or- 
dill, tlie gentleman who AA iisthen parish judge, and a civil otlicer, issued, 
as 1 am informed, a Avrit for the arrest of Mr. Fairfax for the killing of 
Captaiii Peck. An attempt Avas made to execute that Avrit, AAJiich 
I am informed aaiis resisted and opposed by the colored ]) 0 ])nlace. 
lie Avas not able to arrest Mr. Fairfax, and, as a matter of faid, 
did not arrest him, although he aa as there or in that A idnity for some 
days. He tlnu'eniion called upon the sheriff to jiroceed to the scene 
of this disturbance Avhere this great excitement prex ailed and quell 
the difficulty. The sheriff' attempted it, but found himself unable 
to do so, and thereniion called in a posse of a considerable number of 
men to aid and assist him, accomiianied by Judge Cordill, aaJio is a pea(*e 
officer, Avith a AueAv of (pielling this diflicnlty and restoring peace and 
order; but I am obliged to say, in order to speak the truth, that Judge 
Cordill deseiwes more (*redit than any other man in the parish for his 
energy and indefatigable eff'orts to restore ])eace and to ])reA^ent blood¬ 
shed, for it Avas imminent. He exercised all diligence in attempting to 
do eAwythiug to restore quiet, and prex^ent a scene of slanghter, the like 
of Avhicii Avonld approximate to that of San Domingo. The sheriff* also 
exercised due diligence, and did everything in his poAAcr to (piell this 
disturbance; and nltimately liy untiring eff'ort, by unceasing vigilance, 
1 may say, these men AA ere siu'cessful, and a great trinnqih it was in my 
judgment in accomplishing the restoration of peace and the jireserA a- 
tion of life. 

Q. Who Avere the tAA O gentlemen avIio had been acting aa ith the Repub¬ 
licans that vonr i»arty ])laced upon the ticket ?—A. C. C. (’ordill and 
.Mr. J. W. Register. 

11) T 


290 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


Q. Coidill had Ih^cmi your parish judfie, had lie not ?—A. He liad been 
jiarish jiidj>e,;elected liy the Eopublieaii party; and John \\\ Eegister 
was sheriff, elected uixni the Eepiiblican ticket. 

Q. Had they made accejitable officers to tlie cominiinity there ?—A. 
They had made acceptable officers, and seemed to be faithful, vigilant, 
and competent officers, and everybody of e\ cry party was entirely satis¬ 
fied with them. 

Q. Had your executive committee sent uj) for Peck and those men to 
come down ?—A. Never, sir, to my knowledge ; and I do not believe that 
any member of it ever had. 

Q. Did you belong to either of the rifie clubs iu your parish ?—A. I 
did not. 

Q. Did those rifle (*lubs act under the order of your executive com¬ 
mittee iu any resjiect ?—A. Never. They were never called upon. 

Q. You spoke of Judge Cordill taking steps to bring about peace; 
did he issue any proclamation ?—A. My recollection is that he did. Of 
my own knowledge, 1 do not know as much of this difficulty as I might 
had I not been confined to my domicile sick. 

Q. AVhere were you on the day of the election ?—A. 1 was at Saint 
Josejih. 

Q. Did you vote?—A. 1 did. 

Q. Was there any disturbance at Saint Joseph ?—A. None at all. It 
was as quiet and peaceable an election as I ever witnessed iu my life. 
There aa as nothing to indicate that there Avas or was going to be any dis¬ 
turbance. 

Q. Did you see any one interfered AAith in his attenqit to Aote?—A. 1 
did not. I AA^ould say, however, that I did not remain at the polls the 
entire day. 

Q. What time did you leave the voting place ?—A. I think it must 
liaA'e been one or two o’clock. 

Q. If I understood you as to the movements of the tAAV) parties, or the 
parties voting the tvA^o tickets, one Avas getting the influence of Cordill 
as a Eepiiblican, and the other the Fairfax influence as a EepubUcan ?— 
A. That is about the proi)er understanding. 

Q. Your ticket had the names and influence of Cordill and Eegister; 
the other ticket liaAdng or desiring to haA^e the Fairfax influence?—A. 
That Avas my belief, and that is all I could say. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. With AA'liom AA^as this arrangement for this joint action first made ?— 
A. With Judge Cordill and other Eepublicaus. 

Q. Please mention the others.—A. Well, I do not think I can men¬ 
tion the names of the parties. Judge Cordill generally represented the 
X)arty in that matter. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What A\e want to get at is the names of the Eepublicaus and Dem¬ 
ocrats Avho met together and agreed in this arrangement.—A. Well, the 
Democratic executive committee, Avith Judge Cordill and Mr. Eegister, 
representing their party, sjieaking for the Eeimblicans, 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Let me understand you. Of hoAv many men aa as the Democratic 
committee composed?—A. At first, I believe seven men. 

Q. At the time of this conference how many Democrats composed the 
Democratic executiA^e committee ?—A. I think there were in the neigh¬ 
borhood of fifteen. 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 291 

Q. Did all these fifteen meet together ?—A. I think they were very 
nearly all of them together. 

Q. Who met these tifteen on the part of the Kei)nl)licans!—A. Oordill 
and Itegister. 

Q. Anybody else ?—A. I do not recollect of anybody else. 

Q. And they made an arrangement whereby Cordill was to run for the 
legislature, and Register for sheriff*, and the Democrats were to have the 
balance of the offices ?—A. No, sir 5 we did not have the balance; there 
were five or six colored persons that were pnt upon the ticket. 

Q. AVhat were they pnt on for ?—x\. Because we thought it just and 
])roi)er. 

Q. 1 mean for what offices ?—A. O ; for constables. We thought it a 
matter of right that the colored population should be represented in 
part. 

Q. Was there any convention of Republicans called in connection with 
this matter ?—A. There was no Republican convention called in connec¬ 
tion Avith the Democratic coin^ention. 

Q. I mean Avas any coiiA^ention of Republicans called in connection 
Avith the nomination of this ticket ?—A. I told you that Judge Cordill 
and John W. Register Avere there representing the Republican party. 

Q. Then you made the arrangement with Cordill and Register ?—A. 
AA'ith them representing the Republican i)arty. 

Q. You met only witli Cordill and Register ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they represent themselves as acting in accordance Avith the 
instructions of any Republican com ention ?—A. They did not say whether 
they were acting under the instructions of any coiiA^ention or by common 
consent, but they acted as if they were authorized to act. 

Q. Did not a subsequent com ention rather weaken your opinion on 
that point ?—A. It is a matter of interpretation and construction. 

(,). On AA’liat day Avas this arrangement made ?—A. This Avas a mat¬ 
ter that was talked of for some considerable time. 

Q. At what date Avas it consummated ?—A. It was consummated on 
the day of the nominations by the Democratic party. 

Q. Was there a Democratic com ention ?—A. A^es, sir; and on that 
occasion this ticket was nominated. 

Q. Of AA horn was that Democratic convention composed ?—A. Of the 
executive committee authorized by the conA^ention; Ave appointed it, 
and delegated its members to make those nominations. 

Q. Then the couA-ention AAms composed of those fifteen, Avith C’ardill 
and Register ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that the coiiA^ention that you had the first meeting of the 
fifteen ?—A. You do not seem to understand me. 

Q. I think I do; you stated that you had a com^ention composed of 
seventeen men.—A." I did not say sev enteen I said fifteen. 

Q. You said fifteen with Cordill and Register; that makes seventeen, 
does it not ? I Avant to know whether that body of men or any consid¬ 
erable part of them had met before that for that i)uri)Ose.—A. This 
com^ention had their regular meetings ; had talked about the matter in 
divers and sundry times and places without assuming to be a conven¬ 
tion. 

Q. Had Cordill and Register been present on those occasions ?—A. 
Judge Cordill was always present; Ave could not havT talked about it 
otherwise. 

Q. Was Mr. Fairfax present ?—A. 1 noA cr saw Fairfax there. 

Q. Was he present on tlie day of this nomination ?—A. He was. 


292 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


(*). For what purpose '?—A. I do not know for what ])urpose ; lie was 
jiennitted to eoine; we liad no elosed doors. 

Q. Did Mr. Fairfax participate f—A. He did not. 

Did any colored men iiartieipate ?—A. No further than by looking: 
on. 

Mr. Cameron. They were spectators^ jicrmitted to look on and see 
what you did ? 

Jiy the Chairman : 

Q. A most gracious ])rivilege. Do you not know for wliat purpose 
Mr. Fairfax attended that meeting ?—A. I do not know that he had any 
particular imrjiose in attending that meeting. 

(»). J)id he not (*ome as a member of the committee ajipointed by the 
lieimblican convention to confer with the Demoeratie (invention with 
reference to an agreement u])on a ticket f—A. The colored i)eople had 
held a convention on the ^Saturday previous to the day of the Democratic 
convention. On that day, instead of making a ticket, as it was thought 
they would make, decided, in view (d‘ the excitement that seemed to pre¬ 
vail about the color line, to refrain from making a nomination, but ap- 
])ointed a committee of conference. On the same day (that is, on Satur¬ 
day), ]Mr. Fairfax came to me and reported to me what had been done, 
and asked me if an arrangement could be made in reference to this mat¬ 
ter. I said, “ I ha^'e no oi>jection in the world; it is a matter Avhich 1 
Avill submit to the committee, and if they think projier to appoint a com¬ 
mittee of conference, 1 shall have no objection.” lie asked me to do so 
when a suitable occasion arrived. Isahl to him, ^‘AVe are going to hold 
a convention on Alonday, and I will submit your proposition to the con¬ 
vention, and if it is their pleasure to a])point a committee of conference, 
1 will let you know the action of the (*ommittee.” 

(^. AMiat did he say he wanted to confer about?—A. He said with 
reference to iiolitical matters, Avith reference to the tii'ket (‘omposed 
partly of colored men and partly of Avhite men. 

Q. ihirtly Ileimblic'ans and jiartly Democrats?—A. He did not say. 
The convention Avas held on Saturday, the nth of October; the Demo¬ 
cratic. on Alonday, the 7th of October. 

Q. You said you did antici])ate on Saturday that this Republican con- 
Aumtion would nominate a ticket?—A. Yes, sir; I sipiposed so. 

(,). Then you did know that there Avas some dissatisfaction Avith ref¬ 
erence to CordilFs arrangement?—A. No, sir; I did not knoAv that there 
Avas any dissatisfaction. Mr. Fairfax had a ])ui j)ose in this, because he 
was a candidate for Congress, and Isup])ose felt anxious to have us put 
u]) some sort of a ticket by Avhich his rights Avould be promoted in the 
CailAMSS. 

Q. Did your (mmmittee take action on Mr. Fairfax’s jiroposition ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you decade ?—A. The ('oua ention decaded not toapiioint 
a committee of (conference. 

Q. Did you notify Mr. Fairfax?—A. I did; in inopria ])(UASome. I 
liroceeded to Avhere he aams standing in the house, and notirtcM him in 
the most res])e(ctful manner. 

Q. You said at first it seemed as if a great work had been a(*com- 
plished; Avhen did that strike your judgment ?—A. The A ery day it aams 
consummated. 

(j). Hoav hmg did you remain in that blissful condition?—A. 1 re¬ 
mained in that (‘ondition—you may term it blissful, if you jilease—if it 
had not been destroyed by the acdion Avhicdi Avas taken, it Avould have 
been a most blessed thing for the ])arish of Tensas. 


rarish.] 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 


2[j3 


Q. But liow l()u«- was it l)ef()re you were uiideeeived ?—A. It was only 
a tew days before I found that this diseontented elenient had organized^ 
and it appears from rumor that it commenced working that very day. 

Q. Who (jommeneed ?—A. I do not know; it seemed that Bland," for 
one, was dissatisfied. 

Q. Do you not know that Fairfax Avas dissatisfied ?—A. Fairfax was 
a wise man; he did not say a word. 

Q. Were you not aAvare" that Fairfax did not acce])t tliat ticket ?—A. 
sir; he never said a word. 

Q. When did you first learn from anybody that Fairfax was not satis¬ 
fied ?—A. ISTot from anyl)ody really. 

Q. AVhen did he first express his objection ?—A. 1 never heard him 
express any objection. 

Q. When did you understand from rumor or otherAvise that he did 
express it ?—A. I Avas led to believe it from the fact that on the next 
Monday after our nomination they appointed again a coiiA^ention to 
meet on the next Monday. 

Q. When was the notice giA en for the coiia ention on the next Mon¬ 
day ?—A. I did not knoAv anything about it until I heard it some time 
<luring the week. 

Q. During the week you understood that they proposed to hold a 
coiiA ention ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It Avas generally understood in that community that they proposed 
to draw the color line ! —A. I cannot say that j I say it was rumored, 
and it created a great deal of alarm. 

straight colored ticket f—A. He never said anything at all of that; I 

Q. Did Fairfax say to you at any time that he should insist on a 
. iiCA^er talked Avith Mr. Fairfax about it. 

Q. How earlj" did you learn of the project to put a (colored ticket in 
the field ?—A. A short time only before this Democratic conA ention 
took place; rumor was that they Avere going to draAV the color line, and 
had fixed their com ention for October 5. 

Q. Did you hear anything further about the color line after the ad¬ 
journment of the coiiA^ention on the 5th ?—A. I do not knoAV that I did. 

Q. But, during the Aveek after your convention, you understood the^' 
were bound to nominate a ticket of their OAvn ?—A. I heard so. 

Q. What other white Bepublicans did you huA e in your town besides 
Cordill and Kegister ?—A. Judge Steele Ihes there; Captain Whitney 
lives just below. 

Q. But neither of these took any part in this matter at all ?—A. 
Ko, sir. 

Q. They were not consulted by Cordill and Begister ?—A. Well, they 
ceased to act with the Bepublicans and acquiesced in the movement. 

Q. They did nothing politically, though ?—A. Nothing except this, 
that Captain Whitney allied himself Avith the Democratic; party and a otod 
for the Democratic ticket. Judge Steele did not, I think, because he was 
absent. 

Q. AVhen did Peck come there from Catahoula ?—A. I do not knoAV, 
sir. 

Q, AYhen did this affair at Fairfax’s house occur ?—A. On the night 
of the 12th of October, as near as I can recollect. 

Q. It was on the Saturday following your com^ention ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How^ far is it from Waterproof to Catahoula ?—A. It is about 20 
or 25 miles. 

Q. Do you know wliere Peck resided?—A. Yes, sir. 



294 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. How far was it from Wateiproof to where Peck resided?—xV. 
About 2o miles. 

Q. Were those men who (iame with Pe(*k Catahoula men ?—A. I do 
not know. 

(^. Do you know who (*ame ?—xV. I do not; I was si(‘k in bed. 

Q. You do not know for what i)urpose Peck (;ame there ?—xV. No fur¬ 
ther than I have already stated. 

(»>. You are satisfied that he came there on a mission of peace ?—xV. T 
am satisfied of it. I do not know. 1 said 1 was inclined to think so, 
knoAvin^* the man as well as I did. 

Q. What did you suppose he was to do there ?—xV. 1 do not know that 
I supposed he was to do auythin<>'. xVs 1 said before, Peck Avas identified 
Avith the interests of the country there. 

Q. Where ?—A. Why, Avith all that region of country. 

Q. Is he identified particularly Avith the interests of Waterproof ?—A. 
It is a common interest running all through. 

Q. NeA^er mind about that; is he specially identified with the interests 
of Waterproof?—A. Not that I know of. 

Q. Is he specially identified Avith the interests of Tensas Parish ?—A. 
Not that I knoAA’ of; any more than the interests of all portions.* 

Q. Never mind that; giA^e us the reasons that inclined you to think 
he came over on a peace mission.—A. I believe so from the high char¬ 
acter Avhich he has always borne, and from the ancestral line from Avhich 
he descended—being of the best blood of Kentucky, and being a high- 
toned gentleman, so far as I knoAv anything of him. 

How many men did he l)ring over from Catahoula ?—A. I do not 
knoAV. 

Q. Did you not hear hoAv many ?—A. I understood he brought 20 or 
2.’) men. 

Q . Were those men armed ?— A. I do not knoAV. 

Q. Do you not knoAv that rumor says they Avere armed ?—A. Pumor 
said they were. 

Q. IlaA^e you eA*er coiiA ersed Avith any men who Avere ])resent on that 
tlay?—A. I never have. 

Q. What Avas the puiimse of iiitervieAving I\drfax ?—A. I do not 
know, unless it Avas peace. 

Q. Is that the ordinary method of intervieAving peo])le in a friendly 
and peaceable way in your section of country ?—A. I do not know, sir ; 
different i)ersons have different AueAvs in reference to matters of this 
kind. 

Q. Would you expect a man Avho Avanted a friendly interAieAA* to come 
to your house Avith a company of 25 armed men ?—A. It Avould not dis¬ 
turb me at all. 

Q. You AAmuld still have a high oinnion of his (;haract(‘r ?—A. I Avould 
if he did not forfeit it by his conduct. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

(J. If I should break into your house, folloAA ed by a company of armed 
men Avith guns and pistols in hand, and on seeing you should shoot at 
you, exclaiming, ‘‘There is the damned son of a bitch 1 was after,” you 
Avould continue to haA*e a high opinion of my characder and ancestry? 

By the Chairman : 

Q. This is all you base your opinion on Avhen you say you thought 
he came on a mission of peace ?—A. I say 1 do not know a\ hk his errand 
was; but from the circumstances that surrounded the matter, taking 
into consideration his ancestry, and his own high character, I Avas led 


Pavisl).] 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 


295 


to l)olievo tliat liis was a ^iood mission and not a bad one. 1 want to 
exi)lain tlie reason why 1 know no more about tliis matter than I do. 
JJnring' mueh of tliis time 1 was contined in my domicile sick. 1 have 
only desired to state, in regard to this difficulty, that throughout this 
wliole matter 1 was opposed to anything that was unpleasant—to any¬ 
thing that Avould bring about difficulty, or that would interfere with the 
rights of anybody, or would prevent any person’s voting, or that would 
be o])posed to order and harmony and nnity. I am directly oi^posed to 
that in Tensas or in any other place. I am opjiosed to engendering op¬ 
position and strife and bloodshed at any time and in any community, 
r desire only to support truth and to render justice as nearly as 1 can to 
all parties and to every iierson. 

Q. After this convention, then, you say there a\ as dissatisfaction ex¬ 
pressed by Mr. lUaudf—A. I said there appeared to be. 

Q. When was this so-called Bland ticket put in the held in your par¬ 
ish ?—A. I do not recollect the date. 

Q. Was it during that week ?—A. Xo, sir j it must have been as much 
as two weeks afterward, 1 think. 

Q. It was not during that week, you are certain ?—A. 1 cannot gi^ e 
dates. 

Q. You (‘annot understand Avhy Bland and his party should call 
themselves Democrats?—A. I do; because they had always met with 
the Democratic party, and I still consider them Democrats. 

Q. You said you could not understand how they could call their ticket 
a Demo(*ratic ticket'?—A. I said 1 could not understand how they conld 
(‘.all theirs an independent ticket, and at the same time insist that it was 
the regular Democratic ti(*-ket. 

Q. Were they Democrats?—A. YYs, sir; and had always been. I 
would like to have you understand, gentlemen, that Mr. Bland and Mr. 
Douglas and the other gentlemen running on that ticjket I consider my 
friends. I consider them respectable men. 1 have nothing against 
them. I have no feeling towards these men. 

Q. Y^ou say, when these men went to Fairfax’s house Peek was killed, 
and that then, after P(*ck was killed, some negroes Avere killed; do you 
knoAV which were killed first ?—A. I do not knoAV, oidy from rumors. 

Q. Then you do not mean to say Avhich, in point of time, was killed 
first ?—A. Only from rumor, being myself at that time sick in bed in 
my domicile. 

Q. Y^ou say that the next day a Avarrant Avas issued for Faii fax’s 
arrest ?—A. I do not know as it Avas the next day. 

Q. Well, shortly afterward ?—A. Y"es, sir; shortly afterward. 

Q. YY)u say the execution of that writ Avas resisted?—A. I Avas so in¬ 
formed. 

Q. State Avhether it AA as resisted.—A. T do not know. 

Q. Did you ewer hear that the sheriff came in sight of ]\Ir. Fairfax, or 
CA^er knew Avhere Mr. Fairfax was from that time to this ?—A. I never 
heard anything on that ])oint. 

Q. Where did you hear that Avrit Avas resisted ?—A. Close to the scene 
of this tragedy. 

Q. At Bass’s lane ?—A. I think so. 

Q. On the Tuesday following?—A. As nearly as T can re(‘olle(d. 

Q. Do you know that Mr. Fairfax was at that point ?—A. 1 do not 
know. 

Q. Did you eA^er hear that he Avas there?—A. I do not now recollect. 

Q. State the (diaracter of that resistance as yon understood it.—A. 





296 


LOUISIANA IN 187?. 


[Tensas 


The o ily thing 1 heard was that lie declined to be arrested. I do not 
know that this is so; 1 state it only from rumor. . 

Q. Ifid you understand that he declined to be arrest(‘d, or that he re¬ 
fused to come out and deliver himself up to tliosein juirsiiit of liim ?—A. 
AVell, I do not know. 

Q. Tlien you have not any knowledge about the resistance of the 
ofticer at any time or anywliere f—A. 1 know very little about this 
matter; as 1 have alr(‘ady told you, 1 was at that time sick in bed. 

Q. Do you know whether any attempt had been made ;o arrest Fair¬ 
fax from Saturday night until Tuesday when that occuriencc took place 
at Bass's lane ?—A. I do not know anything about it, sir. 

Q. From that time on you consider that it ceased to be a political 
question ?—A. It looked to me so; it seemed to be a war of races then, 
sir. 

Q. Yon say large bodies of armed negroes Avere parading the country?— 
A. I said I was so informed. 

Q. AVhere w^ere these large bodies of negroes jiarading the country ?— 
A. I can only s])eak from rumoi’. 

Q. Well, A\ hat was the rumor in this case ?—A. Well, 1 am so accus¬ 
tomed to tying myself down to the rules of e\ idence that it is difficult 
for me to feel that I am doing the right thing in stating Avhat comes to 
me only by Avay of rumor. 

Q. You have started Avith rumor and have (*ontinued to detail rumors, 
and Ave Avill traA'el Avith you.—A. The rumors aa ere that large numbers 
of negroes Avere gathering and congregating about this scene of blood¬ 
shed, near Avhere Fairfaxes residence is. I understood that that was the 
place of their coming together—in that part of the country. 

Q. About how many did you understand from rumor had gathered at 
Bass’s lane ?—A. From rumor I learned that some tAvo or three hundred 
had congregated there. 

Q. Armed negroes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you first hear that ?—A. I think it Avas about Tuesday 
after this thing had occurred on Saturday night. 

Q. Do you knoAV whether it was true or not ?—A. 1 know only from 
rumor. 

. Q. Did jmu really believe that there Avere two or three hundred armed 
negroes there ?—A. Yes, sir; I have it from men of undoubted A^eracity 
whose Avord has neA^er been doubted. 

Q. Hoav many went down there Avith the sheriff ?—A. From mere 
rumor I understood that 35 or 40 Avent doAvn there. 

Q. Did you eAer read Mr. Cordilfs statement ?—A. I don’t knoAv that 
I eA er did. 

Q. You heard that 35 or 40 men AAent doAvn to disturb tAvo or three 
hundred armed negroes; do you consider that a sufficient number ?—A. 
He went under the forms of law and had reason to believe that they 
Avould yield. 

Q. He Avent Avith a jiosse, did he not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has an officer a right to call a posse until he meets Avith resist¬ 
ance ?—A. I think not. 

Q. That is a pretty AA^ell established principle of law, is it not ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. If there had been a resistance and the posse Avere needed would 
35 or 40 men have been enough to overcome tAA o or three hundred armed 
negroes?—A. When they came with the forms of hiAv I should think it 
Avould be enough. 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 297 

Q. bii|>[)osiiig’it had been white men?—A. Well, some eolored men 
are as brave as white men. 

Q. W onld yon like to lead dd or 40 men against two or three hundred 
armed white men '?—A. I would not like to lead them at all. 

Q. Perha])s you are not andhtious for military <»lory'?—A. No, sir; 
nor tor ]>olitieal honors either. 1 aspire only to do Justiee to all men, 
and to walk u])rij>htly. 

Q. A\ hat was the result of the trouble at Jhiss’s lane ?—A. From 
rumor I hear that there was eollision, and that the eolored men were 
dispersed. 

Q. Did you hear irom rumor how many were killed'?—A. I did not 
understand that any were killed, but I thiidv I did hear that some wero 
wounded. 

(^>. Did you know that dudge Cordill reported eight persons killed 
and wounded'?—A. No, sir; 1 did not know what he reported. 1 have 
had as little to do with this matter as possible; besides, as 1 have al¬ 
ready mentioned, 1 was siek in my bed for about two weeks al)out that 
time. 

Q. Did you hear how many of the sherid’s posse were killed ?—A. 1 
did not hear that any of them were killed. 

(^>. Did yon hear that any of them were Avounded '?—A. No, sir. 

Q. 1 )o you not knoAv that none of them Avere either killed or Avounded ?— 
A. 1 have heard there Avas. 

Q. What Avas the next disturbance that .you heard of in your parish '? 
You say this Avas a aa ar of races from that time on—Avhen did the next 
engagement occur '?—A. If you understood me correctly—to go back to 
the scene of the trouble—I said my judgment aa^s that from that moment 
it assumed the sha])e of a Avar of races instead of a political Avarfare; 
that is Avhat I said, or meant to say. As soon as this thing had been 
done, and the re])ort had gone out that it had become a Avar of races, 
and AA hen the x>eople in the parish and in all that region of country 
kncAV the disparity of numbers betAveen the Avhites and blacks, A^ery 
naturally it created a symiAathy for the Avhites, and stimulated active 
moA'ements looking to their protection. 

Q. What is the x)roi)ortion of colored x)eople and aa hite jAeoi)le in that 
l)arish '?—A. It is a statistical fact that there are ten to tAA eh^e colored 
persons in the ])arish to one white person. The fact is, if these things 
had gone on in earnest, and no jnotection had been given the white 
people, and the colored race had followed this thing u}) in earnest, they 
could have extinguished the whole aa hite race in that parish in tAA enty- 
four hours—men, aa omen, and children. 

Q. It seems that they did not?—A. No, sir; they did not. Fortu¬ 
nately, sir, they Avere prevented. 

Q. When did the next conflict occur '?—A. I do not know of any other 
place where they came in conflict. 

Q. Did you know of any armed bodies of men coming from neighbor¬ 
ing ])arishes ’?—A. I learned so from rumor; and I saAv some armed bodies 
that had come from other parishes. 

Q. From what ])arishes did they come ?—A. f cannot saA of my OAvn 
knoAvledge; I umlerstood that they came from Catahoula, from Frank¬ 
lin, and from Ouachita. 

Q. Under what officer Avere the C4itahoula men ?—A. Well, sir, I did 
not inquire; 1 was sick in my bed about that time. 

Q. You do not knoAv, then ?—A. I cannot say that 1 do. 

Q. From rumor, who was it said had come over with the company of 
men from Catahoula ?—A. Captain Peck. 


298 


LOUISIANA IN J87S. 


[Tensas 


'Q. Capt. Joliii Peck?—A. AotJolin Peck, but another Captain Peck. 

(}. A i)r()tlier ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men did tiie second Captain Peck have ?—A. I did not 
see tliem. 

(^. How many did minor say he liad ?—A. Twenty-five or thirty men. 

Armed men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And mounted ?—A. I Avas so informed. 

Q. What distan(*e <lid they have to ('ome ?—A. From the same region 
tliat Ca])t. Jolin I*eck came. 

Q. .Vt Avliat time did tliey reach tlie s(iene of’ disturbance?—A. Well, 
sir, in the latter ])art of’ the Aveek after this thing liad occurred on Sat¬ 
urday; eitlier in the latter part of the next week, or the first part of the 
Aveek after, 1 cannot say A\dii('h. 

Q. Where dill yon see tliese men ?—A. T saw some of them in Saint 
Joseph. 

Q. What is the distan{‘e from P>ass’s lane to Saint Joseph ?—A. About 
sixteen miles; may be not more than fifteen miles. 

Q. Then these men had to come forty or tifty miles in order to reach 
Saint Josejdi ?—A. Yes, sirj about that distance. 

Q. From AAliat other i)arish did yon see or hear of men coming to 
your iiarish?—A. 1 heard that men Avere there from Ouachita. 

Q. When AAcre the Ouachita men there?—A. 1 tliink about the same 
day, sir, according to the best of my recollection. 

Q. Xow, sir, if yon think a moment, aa as it not the next Aveek after 
Peck Avas killed that these men aacic tliere?—A. It is iiossible, sir; 
but, being si(*k at the time, I did not knoAv anything about it. 

(^. What distance did the Ouachita men haA^e to come?—A. AYell, 
sir, that is oAA'ing to AAliat portion of Ouachita they came from. 

Q. If they came from anyAA'here in Ouachita, Avhat aaus the shortest 
distance they must have (^ome?—A. I suppose the shortest distam^e 
must liaA e lieen fifty or sixty miles. 

Q. Is Ouachita a farming country?—A. Yes, sir. 

(}. At the least, they must liaA C come tifty or sixty miles, and some 
of them jirobably much farther ?—A. Yes, sir; some of them must IniA e 
come eighty miles, if they came from the ujixier part. 

Q. Is there any railroad upon Avhich they might liaA^e come?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. They did not come by rail, then ?—A. No, sir; they came by land, 
1 judge. 

Q. Did the Catahoula men ('ome by land ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who AA'as in command of the Ouai'liita men?—A. I do not kiiOAV. 

Q. Hoaa' many of them AAere there ?—A. I do not knoAv that. 

Q. JIoAA' many did you hear from rumor ?—A. TAACuty-five or thirty 
men. 

Q. Were there any Franklin men?—A. T heard there AA^ere. 

Q. lIoAv many ?—A. I do not knoAv; I judge about a similar number. 

Q. IIoAA’ far AA'ould the men from these neighboring jiarishes on the 
Avest of Tensas liaA'e to come to reaiJi the scene of disturbance ?—A. 
The Avay they Avould have to come, thirty-five or forty miles; the route 
is quite circuitous. 

Q. That is the nearest iioint ?—A. If they could have come a direct 
route it AA’ould not have been so far. 

Q. Hoaa' far Avould it be as they had to come ?—A. Thirty-fiA C or forty 
miles. 

Q. Is that a farming itarish also?—A. Y^es, sir. 


] TESTIMONY OF L U. ‘REEVES. 29^ 

Q. Wore these men planters?—A. I suppose they were, sir; almost 
everybody livino- in that region of the ('.ouiitry are ])ianters. 

(}. Is Franklin Parish thickly settled with white men ?—A. Tolera¬ 
bly so. 

i}. .More so than Ouachita ?—A. 1 think more so than Ouachita. 

Q,. JIow many men were thei'e from Franklin ?—A. .Vbout the same 
number—thirty-tive or forty. 

They got there about the same time?—A. There was not much 
ditterence in the time of their arrival there from Avhat 1 heard. 

(}. AVho commanded them ?—A. I don’t know that I can recollect the 
name. 

(J. Did any other eom])arnes come from western ])arishes exce])t those 
you have already mentioned ?—A. 1 did not learn of any. 

Q. Did any come from anyAvhere else ?—A. I learned that some came 
a(;ross the river. 

Q. Ilow many came from ac'ross the river ?—A. I hear<l of but one 
com])any. 

(}. Wdiat company was that ?—A. I nevei* saw them, and do not 
know. 

Q. Whis the company ('ommanded by Captain Baker ?—A. 1 do not 
know, sir; as I told you before, I was sic^k about that time. 

Q. AVhat ])art of the State did they come from ?—A. From bac'k of 
Bodney somewhere; I do not know where. 

(}. lIoAv many came over ?—A. I can only tell you from rumor. I 
umlerstood there Avere some tAA^enty-live or thirty. 1 think 1 was in¬ 
formed there Avere some men Avho came to the other side of the Ha er 
and Avere adAused by the citizens not to cross. 

Q. These men that did (*ross the river from Arississi])i)i, Avhere did 
they land ?—A. They crossed the river at Bodney onto our shore. 

I understand so; but Avhere did they land on your shoi e ?—A. 
Bight opposite Bodney. 

(2. Is there any toAAui there ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How did they come ?—A. On horseback. 

1^. They did not cross the riA^er on horsebm'k, did they ?—A. No, sir; 
they ])ut their horses on the ferry-boat. 

(). Where did Gai)tain Clayton bring his com])any from ?—A. I do not 
know, sir. 

Q. J)id you ever hear of Captain (dayton ?—A. No, sir ; 1 did not see 
half the men Avho Avere there, because during that Aveek I Avas at my 
Innne sick, and saw but little of this myself. 

Q. You heard of no killing at Bass’s lane ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of any other ])eo])le being killed?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Wdiere ?—A. I heard that tAvo or three were killed in Tensas. 

(}. At Avhat ])lace ?—A. J)own in the loAAcr end of the ])arish. 

(). Wlien Avere they killed ?—A. I thiidv just after the dispersing of 
this (M)mpany that I IniA e s])oken of. 

Q. 11OAv long after ?—A. Perhaps tAvo or three days; maybe a little 
longer. 

Q. W>re they white or colored peoi)le ?—A. Colored, I belieA e. 

(}. Is that all that you heard Avere killed in Tensas Parish ?—A. It is; 
as Avell as I rec'ollect there Avere three in the loAAer end of Tensas and 
one in the up])er end; that is all that 1 liaA^e heard of. 

Q. Four, besides the men killed at Bass’s lane, if there AAwe any killed: 
that is all that you heard of ?—A. I did not hear that any Avere killed 
at Bass’s lane. 

Q. Did you inclu’de in those four men killed the man that died from 





300 


LOi;iSIANA IN ]87S. 


[Tcusas 


the otV(‘cts of tli(‘ sljot at Fairfax’s house ?—A. Ao, sir 5 I <li(l not iii- 
eliule him. 

(^. Tlien with him you lieard ol* hvo men killed ?—A. A es, sir. 

(*>. Were any other white men killed besides Peek, that you heard 
of ?—A. 1 did not team of any. 

Did you hear of any wliite men bein^- killed ?—A. Xo, sir; none. 

Py Air. (’AMEilON : 

Q. Was there a lar<ie destruetioii of i)ro])erty iu that vieiuity during 
those troubles ?—A. I learned that after that, in the neighborhood of 
Water]>roof, a gin and seventy bales of cotton were burned by one ot 
these colored men that was killed. 

By the Chairman : 

AVhieh colored man ?—A. A colored man by the name of Miller. 

(^>. You understood that Miller tired the cotton-gin ?—A. Yes, sir. 

AYhose cotton-gin was it ?—A. It belonged to Moss, AYise & Co. 

Q. When was it l>urned '?—A. Al) 0 ut the time that this large mob I 
si)oke of gathered there. 

Q. How far was this cotton-gin from Bass’s Lane ?—A. It was just 
back of it, about a mile or a little more. 

At what time of day was it tired?—A. 1 cannot say the time 
of day. 

Q. Did you understand that it was fired after the conflict at Bass’s 
Lane ?—A. That is the way I learn it was. 

(}. Was it done in the ilight or in the day time ?—A. In daylight, as 
I understood; but whether iu the morning or afternoon 1 could not say. 

By Mr. t'AMERON: 

Q. I understood you to say that, in your opinion, the dilticulties that 
occurred in Tensas Parish last fall did not arise out of i)olitics ?—A. 
Well, sir, 1 do not know what induced Captain Peck to go there. If he 
went there in reference to political matters, it would be imlitics that the 
difficulty arose out of; but I do not knoAv whether he went there in 
reference to politics or not. 1 did say that after this tragedy had oc¬ 
curred 1 thought it then becaiiie a war of races instead of a ])olitical 
difficulty. A\ hether Captain Peck went there from i^olitical motives or 
not is a thing that 1 would not undertake to say, because I do not know. 
1 said I was led to think, and my opinion was—and it is only an opinion, 
gentlemen—I was led to think, from what I know of the man and his 
ancestors, that he could hardlj^ have gone there for the i)urpose of pro¬ 
voking a scene of difficulty that would not oidy involve the people of 
Tensas, but would involve his own people, who were in close proximity. 

Q. Did you support the election of Governor Xicholls ?—A. I did. 

^Ir. IAmeron. 1 will read from Governor Xicholls’s recent message. 

Air. Cameron began to read an extract from Governor Xicholls’s mes¬ 
sage, when Air. Bailey said that if a part of the message was to be read 
he should insist that all the portion bearing on this class of troubles 
shoidd be read, which was agreed to without objection, and the follow¬ 
ing portion of Governor Xicholls’s message was made a part of the record: 

I liavo, tlie pleasure of reportinj^ to you that throughout almost the entire State the 
laws have been well observed, and that where violations of the same have taken place 
they have been jjjenerally punished. I regret, however, to say that iu a few loealities 
there have occurred during the past year some of those acts of vi(dence and lawless¬ 
ness which in this State, as in other sections of the country, occasionally happen, and 
which, while startling and distressing the mass of the people, are practically beyond 
the reach of the constituted authorities. These troubles and disturbances are not 
leferable to anyone cause. In some instances the perpetration'or alleged perpetration 


Parisli.J 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 


301 


of a crime of liciiioiis cliaracter, or tlic repetition of a series of ])etty misdemeanors., 
ditiicnlt ol detection as to their per})et-rators, seem to throw ev^en *>'ood men into a kind 
ot frenzy, which for the time beiiif^ sets Judgment and reason at defiance; in others, 
a belief that what is called the technicaliti<'S of the law may [)ermit the escai»e of 
some one g(merally believed to he snhstantially guilty of crime, causes men to substi¬ 
tute their own ideas of jnstice and methods of remedy for tin* machinery provided for 
the enforcement of right and pnnishment of wrong. So, want of contiden(*e in the 
honesty or ini])artiality of Judges, juries, and oflicials is sometimes made the basis of 
an attem])ted Jnstification of those acts which in the United Stat<“s have come to he 
known by the d<*signation of ‘M^ynch la w.” Fi'om whatever cause S})ringing, these 
acts are rarely pnnisluMl in any portion of tin* Union. There are or<linarily so many 
persons concermalin them, that those who are cognizant of tin* facts are either nnwili- 
ing to speak, from symjaithy with the acts, or afraid to s])eak, lest they shonhl invidve 
themselves in tronhle. 

Evidence being theessential basis in all Judicial ]»ro(‘eedings, the want of it ])resents 
an insnperahle (d)stacle to officers whose duty it is to seek out and imnish law¬ 
breakers. Some months ago three, men charged with crime, two of them with tin* 
murder (d’a white man ainl one convicted of the killing of a colored man, were forci¬ 
bly taken from the Jail at Monnx* and killed. The men so killed were colored men. 
The mob is supposed to have l>een made up either entirely or mostly of white men. 
Later, a man by the name of St. ^Martin, confined in the parish Jail of Saint Charles 
Parish on a charge of murder of a colored man, was taken therefrom by a large num¬ 
ber of men and murdered. The mob in this instance were color<*d men and the victim 
a white man. l>oth of th(*se cases have received investigation from the grand Juries 
of the respective j)arishes, and yet nothing has resnlted from the investigation in 
either case. I have no reason to doubt the thorough sincerity, in each ciisi*, of the 
officers condneting th(*se investigations. In one instance they were Republi('an, in 
the other Democratic, officials. It (*an scarcely he believed that in these two affairs 
there an* not i)ersons not legally responsible, for the crimes coniniitted who are cog¬ 
nizant of the same, and yet hold their ])eace when it is their duty to speak. I can lay 
no blame at the door of these oflicials. Even had they failed in their duty (Avhicii 
they did not), being constitutional officers, tlujy could not have been snspendt*d or 
removed by me; nor is there any power granted to any one, in any manner, to orig¬ 
inate ])roceedings and try persons in any other parishes than those in whicdi the 
crimes have been (‘ommitted. The constitution ex])ressly gnarantees a trial by tin* 
Jury of the parish in which a crime, is committed, subject only to a change of venue 
when the case has reacln*d a certain point. l)es})ite my great desire to see the 
supremacy of the law viiulicated in all cases, and desjute the fact that under the 
shadow of these great fundamental ))rinc,iples the ])erpetrators of crime may some¬ 
times es(*ape (hdection and consequent punishment, I should hesitate long to suggest 
any modification in tln*m v'esting in either the executiv^e or any other de])artment tin* 
power to initiate pro(!eedings or try the same, wln*n so commenced, out of the Jurisdic¬ 
tion of the court of the parish or (listi’ict where the crime may have been committed. 
.Snell ])ower vested in the, executive, or any other <lepartment, would be as ])owerfnl 
for harm in bad hands as it would lie for good in the hands of conscientious offi(*ers. 

I make these remarks for the jmrpose of showing that good institutions and reme¬ 
dies and honest officials re<[nire the concnrrenci^ of other facts to make them thoroughly 
effective. After all, the renl effeidive instrument for putting an end to acts of law¬ 
lessness is the force of ]mblic o])inion, manifesting itself on all occasions in aid (d‘ the 
supremacy of the law. When, in the campaign of 1876, I ]n’oclaimed through the 
.State, that in the evmit of my election as go\u*rnor of tliis State 1 felt assured that 
peace and goo<l order would follow, I did not do so relying in any manner ni>on the 
mere jdiysical and legal instrumentalities which would be in my hands for that pur¬ 
pose, for I was well aware that these were extremely limited confined almost entirely 
to re))orting to this body careless or delimpient oflicials and abstaining from an inju¬ 
dicious use of the ])ardoning power. My declaration was predicated upon the c(*r- 
tainty that the election of the officers who were, before the people would eliminate 
most of the causes of bitterness and r(*proach then existing, and that the gradual o])- 
eratioii of conservative iiiHuence would ultimately lead to a conqdete good feeling 
between all classes ami races, and cause the crystallization of public sentiment against 
all s])ecies of lawh*ssness. My deliberate Judgment is not to force, or attempt to 
force, these results hy harsh proceedings, except wlum they (am be Judiciously eni- 
jdoyed, for I foresee that a course of that charac'Ter will defeat the very end and ob¬ 
ject I liave in vi(;w. 'fhe result of the softening intln(*nces of the last two years is 
apparent to any one who knows the State; and whilst here and there a tew bad m(*n, 
or a tew foolish men, hived trouble, which all good men regret, and whilst the good 
men in some ])lac(*s have not taken the determin(*d active stand against them that I 
had hop(*d and ex}>ect(*d, I am satisfi(*(l that day by day and month by month wt* are 
surely moving forward to the condition of things which all good citizens are hopefully 
anticipating. J would regard the ivtarding of th(*se results by injudiciims action, 


302 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


\vhicli sonu* \vi.s(> aiul as a :!Ji,r(‘at cahuiiity to tlie State. I say this 

binder a fall sense ol" tin* resjanisihility which attaches to iny jxisition. It lias so haj)- 
peiK'd that some of the acts of lawlessness (wliich I condemn and regret) have been 
directi'd against colored men, and it is sometimes sn]»])osed that they have been so 
<lirected by reason of their being colored men. This is not tine. The fact results 
from the circumstance that the greatin- number of the infractions of the law are 
necessarily found in all communities among those classc's who, from ignorauce or idle¬ 
ness or thriftlessness, fail to understand and ajuneciate their duties and obligations; 
and that, in this State, the mass of these classes is found among the colored people. 
Tlu' fact of theii- lieing colored peojde is merely accidimtal and incidental. The same 
acts would take place under the same circumstances without regard to ccdor. 

It is a notorious fact that for over twenty y(*ars there have existed in some ]>arts of 
Lonisiana organizations known as “vigilance committees,” whose acts hav(‘ stricken 
white men oftener than colored men. It is said that some of the trouldes in this State, 
within the last year, have had their origin in politics. I do not suppose that there is 
any State in the Union in which politics have not beim, mon* or less, the cause of difti- 
culties. The passion and interests of men in every community become so much excit¬ 
ed, that here and there in every State trouble* took place on that account. Louisiana 
does not differ in this res])ect from her sister States. Troubles do not exist in Lou¬ 
isiana based on opposition to any man voting on account of his c<dor. The exercise of 
that right in a manner diffeieut from that wished by other individuals causes opposi¬ 
tion here, just as it does in Maine or Oregon. This sometimes results in personal 
difficulties, and whenever matters reach that i)oint there springs uj) here an element of 
clanger not found in those States, not the cause of the difficulty, but resulting from it 
and from the fact of there being two se]»arate rac(*s in the State. A difficulty origi¬ 
nating in ])olitics, which goes to the i)oint of blows or bloodshed, is apt to l)e partici- 
]»ated in by others from'that time forward, not on account of the politics involved iu 
it. but race sympatby or race fear. I found this, in my opinion (formed after personal 
investigation), to have been the case in the recent disturbances in the jiarishes of 
Tensas and Concordia. The ju-oxiniate cause of that trouble was the going at night 
of a party of men numlxTing from twenty to twenty-tive to the house of one Fairfax, 
a colored political leader in Tensas Parish, which act resulted in the killing of Peck 
(who seems to have been the leader of the party), and the wounding by Peck’s com- 
})anions of three colored men who were in Fairfax’s house, one of whom afterwards 
died. 

The visit of these men to Fairfax was utterly wrong—in my opinion, utterly without 
Justification; and whilst attenipt(‘«l to be justified upon the ground that they went in 
the interest of peace to expostidate against a rumored proposed attempt of the colored 
peo])le to force the quarantine lin(‘s at the town of Saint Joscqth, I am satisfied that such 
was not the purpose, but that it had a political object. I do not think the purpose 
was to kill or harm Fairfax, but I do believe it was to influence his course and the 
local campaign in the parish. Tin* killing of I’eck and the wounding of the colored 
men was, in my o[nnion, totally unex[)ected and attend<Ml by results which none of 
the parties contemplated, and from which political conshba ations utt(‘rly disappeared. 

Just as soon as these men wer<‘ killed and woumh'd reports of the same s})read with 
astonishing rapidity through Tensas and Concordia, and instantly armed bodies of 
colored men, evidently organized prior thendo, mov(‘d from every direction to the 
seem* of the occurrence. Whilst this was taking ]dace the i)arish judge of Tensas, 
who had be<‘n informed of the circnmstances of Peck’s d(*ath, issued a warrant for tin- 
arrest of Fairfax, who was charged with having killed him. Instead of either h-aving 
the parish, if he beli(‘ved himself about to be wronged, or at once surrendering to the 
authorities, who were pursuing the forms of law, Fairfax remained with the larg«* 
number of nn-n who had assi-mbled, sonu- of whom wen* making the most horrildc 
threats, Thesi* threats ju-odneed a t(‘(*ling of terror and «i])preln‘nsion in tlui parish, 
and with the (*vents which followed, in my ojfiniou, politics had nothing to do. The 
situation will be nnd<*rstood when 1 say that Tensas is a ])arish of large territorial 
exti'iit, with an exce(*dingly s])arse white and very dense colored population, the ])ro- 
portion lM*ing nearly as ten to one in favor of the latter, and that the bodies of arm(*d 
colored nn*n parading through the parish are variously estimated from 1,000 to 2,000 
nn*n, whilst the whit(*s seem to ha ve been totally unprepared. The fears entertaim*d 
by the latter of general bloodshed and pillage, i am satisfied, were fully justified by 
appearances, ami were, Ixjyond ([uestion, tboroughly real. Th(*ir comidetely defense¬ 
less condition demonstrates at once the folly and wrong of the original act which 
brought about the situation, and also the fact that it was unex])ected. I cannot con¬ 
ceive that men could wantonly and deliberately place the lives and pi-oi)erty of their 
tellow-citizens in such ja-ril as they were then iu. Assistanci* was immediately called 
trom neighlmring i)arishes, and when it came it found the people of Tensas, wiiite 
and black, almost solidly arrayed against each other. 

It needed but a si)ark to ignite the train, and it was given by the firing of a 
body of color(*d men upon a party, under the parish jmlg(!, luoceeding to put an 


l*<u isli.. 


TH.SriMi^MY OK ], II REEVES. 


303 


) 


oiul to tlio ainuMl (l(MiioiivStratioii. This lire was returned, and from tlie best infor- 
niation 1 can reeeivi* several lunsons were wounded, hnt not kilhal. The return tire 
eanse<l tlie ne<»;roes to disperse. In tlie mean time a negro set tire to a gin in the neigli- 
horliood of Waterproof, containing seventy hales of eotton. It is asserted that tliis 
was a pr(‘eoneerte(l signal for a general rally of the colored j)coide. This man w-as 
afterwards, by some ]*ersons unknown, found and killed. This, together with the 
killing of another negro, also by persons unknown and for a eausc unknown, Avere 
tin' only lives taken at that time that I have heard of. 

The strife thus recklessly originated in the [>arish of Tensas sjnead to the parisli of 
Concordia. Large bodies of armed colored men trom that parish hurried toward Ten¬ 
sas and mauifesti'd their ]»resenee in various ])arts of the parish. 

An armed body of white men, aeting und(‘r a warrant for the arrest of Fairfax, 
who, it w'as supposi'd, had passed into Concordia, entered the parish for the purpose 
of th(' execution of the warrant, and w hile there some eight or nine colored men w ere 
killed. 

Cn the return ol* the men from the adjacent parishes, w ho had gone to the assistance 
of the whites, (juiet was gradually restored and everything is now peaceable. 
The events of those few days will, I trust, serve as a lesson out of which possibly 
good may ultimately come. It may teach those who lightly engage in acts tending to 
such terrible consecpiences to halt before again venturing in that direction, and it must 
necessarily result iu arraying solidly against such persons those who have at heart the 
well-being of the community. I do not know how^ far steps for the punishment of 
those persons w^ho brought about this condition will be successful. Politically, the 
otticers of the district in which Tensas is situated are Republicans, the district judge 
and district attorney being of that party. I had intended going in person to several 
other points wdiere it is said violence has occurred. Circumstanc('S over w hich I had 
no control have delayed and prevented nu'. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

(^. Do you agree with the opinions expressed by Governor Nicliolls ?— 
.V. 1 am disposed to give credit to wliatever tlie governor says as being 
honest and correct as he believes it. I am unprepared to say that his 
opinion is not correct; he had facts to base his opinions on which I have 
not. He investigated the matter, and liad an opportuidty of fornung, 
perhaps, a more correct conclusion than 1 have had. 

By the Chairman: 

(}. 1 would like to suggest that he was, probably, not so well ac¬ 
quainted with Cai)tain Peck’s character and ancestry.—A. It was nnfor- 
tunate tor him if he was not. 

]\Ir. Cameron. I once heard it said of a man who boasted of his an¬ 
cestry, that in most cases such a man was like a beet—the better part 
of him was under ground. 

The Witness. AVell, sir, the better part of a good many people may 
be under ground, but that is a thing we cannot hel]). 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. To get back to our subject: What 1 want to know is, do you agree 
with Governor Mcholls ?—A. 1 can only say if Peck went there with a 
view of induencing politics in any way it was wrong, and if that be the 
('ase I would concur with the governor fully; l)ut, not knowing that to 
be the fact, I could not say positively that he did so. I believe the gov¬ 
ernor has given an honest ex[)ression of his views in reference to the 
matter. 

Bv Mr. Kirkwood : 

t. 

Q. I was out a short time after the commencement of your exanuna- 
tion. 1 want to understand this matter a little more fully. Do 1 gather 
correctly that you and your associates on the executive committee were 
desirous of avoiding a political canvass f—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. That you wished to avoid a political trouble and difficulty ?—A. 

Yes, sir. . . , ^ 

Q. For that purpose the Democratic executive committee counseled 


304 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


togetliBr witli Judge Cordill aud Slierift Ilegister'?—A. YeSj sir j with 
them as i*ei)reseiitiug tlie Iveimhlieau party, sir. 

Do I iiiiderstaud you tliat any meeting of the Itepuhlicau orgaui- 
zatiou was lield that deputized Cordill aud Ivegister to meet aud con¬ 
sult with you ?—A. Ao, sir. 

(^). Was any Kepublicau (‘oiiveiition or anything of that kind held 
authorizing these two men to consult with you on the subject ?—A. Ao, 
sir. 

Q. But they, as leaders of the Bepublican ))arty, came to you, as the 
executive committei' of the Democratic party, and consulted with you? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On the day when the l)emo(*ratic convention met, on the 7th, there 
did come to your meeting, if I understand you (‘orrectly, a delegation 
authorized and appointed at the Bei)ul)lican convention held on the 
])revious Saturday, the oth of October ?—A. I will exidain that. On 
Saturday the r>th, the colored convention met and were nominating a 
ticket. They appointed a committee of conference to meet with a like 
committee oil the i)art of the Democratic', ('onvention, if the Democratie 
convention saw proi>er to appoint such a comudttee, to confer in reference 
to political matters. 

Was not their object the formation of siu'.h a tic'ket as Avould avoid 
a i)olitical canvass ?—A. I do not know whether that was their object 
oi* not. 

Q. Did they not state such to be their object ?—A. They did not state 
it to me. 

Q. That delegation did ('ome to your convention, did it not ?—A. That 
delegation did come to see Avhetlier a committee of conference would be 
aj)pointed. 

They came to your convention ?—A. They ('ameinto the town and 
into the house where the conventiou Avas held. 

(*). State Avhether or not the subject of api)ointing such a committee 
of ('onference Avas discussed by your conventiou.—A. It Avas. 

(}. And your com'lusiou was that you Avould not confer AAith them ?— 
Yes, sir 5 and J as ('hairman of the convention Avas ai)pointed to no¬ 
tify them, and did notify them, that no siu'h committee of conference 
would be a])pointed. 

Q. XoAV i)lease be kind enough to tell me Avhy, if you were so desirous 
of aA oiding a ])oliti('al ('aiivass, you did not confer Avith this committee 
Avhich Avas authorized by the Bepublic'an coua ention and sent to you on 
purpose to confer with you, and Avliy you should coniine your interA ieAV 
entirely to those tAvo men Avho Avere not authorized f —A. I Avas chairman 
of our committee, and all I had to do Avas to report to the committee 
that AA C had dec'ided that it should not l¥i; but 1 Avill give you my idea 
Avhy Ave thought it unnecessary. We thought that Ave had the intelli¬ 
gence and the integrity of that party Avith us, that aa as more able to 
represent the i)arty than the men Avhom they had appointed, and that 
Ave could ac'complish the desired result in the aa ay that Ave had already 
agreed upon better than by making an a]>i)ointment of a committee and 
doing the Avork all over again. 

Q. As betAveen Mr. Cordill and ]VIr. Kegister, which constituted the 
intelligence and Avhich the integrity of the Kepiiblican ])arty f—A. I 
think that C'ordill has the intelligence and the integrity, too. 

Q. Then having these tAVO men, both of Avhom, if I understand you, 
are scalaAvags, are they not?—A. Well, some call them so; they had 
been acting with the Kepublicans for a loiig time before. 

Q. And being men of Southern birth and breeding, they Avere entitled 


TESTIMONY OF L. D. REEVES. 305 

to the lioiiorahle, or otherwise, appellation of scallawags ?—A. You may 
call them scalawags if you choose. 

(»),. O, 1 am not calling tliem scalawags. I am asking what do you 
cull them?—A. They had been representing and leading the Kepublican 
party for years. Mr. Oordill was an able man; had i)rov"ed• himself 
acceptable as an officer, and had made a good judge. We were not 
])rejudiced against him because he was a Itcpublican; Ave are more 
liberal in our Adews than that. 

Q. Suppose he had been nominated by the Itepublican couA^ention 
instead of by your convention, would you have voted for him f—A. I 
should have stuck to my oAvn party; 1 ahvays do that. 

Q. Noav, about anotlier matter—this affray at Fairfax’s. Captain 
Feck and his men Avere from Catahoula Parish, av ere they not ?—A. Aes, 
sir. 

Q. They came into your parish ?—A. So I am informed. 

Q. As an armed body of men ?—A. I understood so. 

Q. They Avent to the house of one of your citizens ?—A. So I am told. 

Q. They did not all go to the house at tirst I—A. So I Avas informed. 

Q. They all Avent near the house, and a portion of them, armed, Avent 
into the house ?—A. I knoAV nothing of this, being at the time sick, as I 
haA^e before said; but I have since learned that such Avas the case. 

Q. All Avent together until they reached a certain distance from the 
road, did they not “?—A. They stopped in the road, as 1 understood. 

Q. And all of them AA^ent to the house !—A. lAvas informed that Ca])- 
tain Peck and one other man Avent to the house. 

I Q. And Avhile at the house one of these—these—Ausiting statesmen 
[ Avho had come on that errand of peace—one of these men got killed!— 
j A. Captain Peck Avas shot down, sir. 

' Q. One of the inmates of the house aa^s shot so that he died, and 
another Avas badly AAOunded!—A. So 1 understood. 

I Q. Whereupon a aa arrant AAms issued against one of your citizens who 
I was thus assailed in his OAvn house because one of the invading body 
j got killed!—A. I heard so. 

Q. Did you ever hear that any AA^arrant was issued against any one for 
the killing of the black men AAffio AA^ere in the house?—A. I do not knoAV 
that there AA^as. 

Q. Has there eA^er been since?—A. I do not know that there has. 

Q. Is that the Avay the people of Tensas Parish look to the Avelfare of 
outsiders rather than of your own citizens ?—A. The others returned to 
their j)arish immediately, taking the body of Peck Avith them. 

Q. I understood tliat; but here aa as a citizen of your oavii parish, 
Avhose house AA as invaded; in that iiiAmsion one of your citizens Avas 
killed, and tAA'O seAxrely AAmmded; the persons who had done it retired 
into their parish and no efforts AAde made, or ever luwe been, to pun- 
, ish them ?—A. In the state of feeling we had enough to attend to in our 
* OAvn parish Avithout going abroad. 

Q. Put your citizens did have time to look after the maiiAvliose house 
had been invaded ?—A. It seems so, sir. 

Q. (Jan it be considered as any part of the reason why the murderers 
were alloAved to escape, Avhile every attempt was made to arrest the man 
whose house was invaded, that one man was a white man and the other 
man was a negro ?—A. I think not, sir; in Tensas Parish the Avhite 
people luwe the very best feeling in the Avorld toAA^ards the colored peo- 
I)le, and I see no prejudice on account of color. 

Q. You say the political aspect of the (piestion disappeared and it be¬ 
came a war of races ?—A. I say it looked so to me. 

Q. Do you suppose that, in a race conflict, Colonel Warfield, and men 



306 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusaa 


like him, would abandon their own race ?—A. I cannot say what they 
might do. 

Q. And Ealston, McGill, Bland, and Douglas, are these men who 
would abandon their own race in a war of races ?—A. I cannot say what 
they might do, after pursuing the course they have. 

Q. You think their courne exceedingly strange?—A. Yes, sir; 1 
think so. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You think they might be guilty of any c] ime since they have been 
guilty of the crime of putting u}) a ticket against the regular Democratic 
ticket!—A. I do not say any such tiling. 

Q. You say you cannot tell what they might do after Avhat they have 
done. Now, what have they done !—A. I was not speaking of crime. 

Q. Senator Kirkwood asked you if Warfield, Bland, and otliers would 
array themselves against their own race in a war of races. Now, what 
have you to com})lain of regarding them, except that they have i)ut ii]) 
a. ticket!—A. If I said tliat in reference to a. war of races, I did not un¬ 
derstand your question. I have no idea that either of these men would 
cnmmit any crime. I was speaking politically. I have nothing to say 
against these men i)ersonally. I have no prejudice against them ; I was 
only disapi)ointed as to the course they took. I have no idea they would 
array themselves against their own race in any difficulty. It may seem 
that I have si)()ken with some feeling in this matter, but I assure you 
that such is not the case. 

Q. Are Cordill and Kegister members of the Democratic committee!— 
Q. Cordill is, Begister is not. 

Q. Do you consider Cordill a Bepublican !—A. I do not thiidc he is, 
because he has been indorsed as a Democrat, and is acting Avith the 
Democratic party, and I look upon him as a Democrat. 

Q. Has not Begister also been indorsed!—A. Yes, sir; Begister has 
been indorsed, and is acting in good faith, and doing his duty as a Demo- 
(‘vat. They acted well as Bepublicans, and are acting well now that 
they are Democrats. 

By Mr. Garland : 

(^. Sicily Islands is in the parish of ('atahoula !—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Bight across from Tensas t —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where is the trading-point of those people up there on the Mis¬ 
sissippi !—A, Waterproof. 

Q. Is Water])roof on the Mississii)pi!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How long did Cordill and Begister act with the Bepublican party !— 
A. Well, sir, they have been acting Avith the Bepublicans for a number 
of years; I do not recollect the exact period. 

Q. During Avhat portion of the time liaA^e they been holding office !— * 
A. Judge Cordill has held the position ot parish judge for eight years; 
this is the third tei’in that Begister has been sheriff. 

Q. He was re-elected at the recent election !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Prior to the last election, Avhenever Begister was elected, Avas he 
elected by the Bepublicans !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Cordill also!—A. Yes, sir; and both have proA'ed acceptable 
officers and good men. 

Q. The Bepublican party, then, for six or eight years past has been 
in the ascendency!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But at ])resent the Democratic party is!—A. They seem to have 
tlie poAA^er just uoav. 


Palish.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. WATSON. 


307 


T. J. AYATSOK 

^N^EW Orleans, January 13, 1871). 

T. J. Watson sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

<v)nestion. Where do yon live ?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

C»). In Avhat part of Tensas Parish ?—A. Hear Saint Joseph. 

Q. What is yonr occupation?—A. I am a planter. 

Q. How far from Saint Joseph do yon live ?—A. Three miles. 

Q. AA'ere yon there during the last political campaign?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid yon take a part in that political campaign?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were yon a candidate for any office ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Do yon belong to any club of either party?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. AYere yon on the committee of either party?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AAffiere Avere yon on the day of election?—A. Ai Saint Joseph. I 
AA'as one of the commissioners of election there. 

Q. State if the election was a quiet and peaceable election or not.— 
A. Yes, sir; it Avas very qniet and peaceable; it was the most quiet we 
haA"e had since the AAnr. 

Q. AA^as any one prevented from Acting ?—A. No, sir; not one. 

Q. Two other commissioners AA'ere acting with yon?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AATiat party did the three commissioners belong to ?—A. The Dem¬ 
ocratic ConserA^atiA^e party. 

Q. AYere there anyTtepublican commissioners?—A. No, sir; we had 
no Kepnblican party in that parish. The Democrats and Kepnblicaiis 
consulted and made a Democratic ConserA^ative party of it. 

Q. IIoAv many Amtes were given that day at the polls ?—A. About 
eight hundred, and something OA^er. 

Q. Yon counted them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon recollect how many white Amtes were cast?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do yon recollect how many votes Avere cast by colored persons ?— 
A. No, sir; there was but one ticket in the field until late in the 
eveiling, and nearly all A^oted the ConservatiA^e ticket. 

Q. AYliat Avas the ticket called besides the Democratic ConserAmtAe 
ticket; is it AAffiat has sometimes been called here the Bland ticket ?— 
A. YeSj sir. 

Q. Now, do yon know of any trouble or disturbance—any marching 
and countermarching of armed men there during that day ? State to 
the committee Avhat yon know, and all yon know about it.—A. On the 
Sunday morning after Ave heard of Captain Peck’s death, four of ns Avent 
down in a buggy; Judge Cordill and Air. Alichie and Air. Satchse and 
myself. AYe Avent down from Saint Joseph to Wateiqiroof and back that 
day. On our return, shortly after Ave left Waterproof, Ave saw four or 
five linudred negroes; a little further on Ave found the Avhole leA'^ee lined 
Avith negroes. We told them we were friends, and Avere permitted to 
])ass. 

Q. Hoav far was the first band from Waterproof ?—A. About 300 
yards. 

Q. How far was the second band from them ?—A. About three-fourths 
of a mile from them, at Bass’s lane. 

Q. Did you meet any others on the way to Saint Joseph ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Did you meet any AAdiite persons armed that Sunday, going doAvn 
to Water]iroof or (mining back ?—A. AYe were in AAffiterproof all day. 

Q, AYell, going down or coming back, did yon meet any armed Avhite 
persons ?—A. No, sir; we AAent doAvn early that morning, and AAxntback 





308 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


I hat night. The people in Waterproof were so much frightened that 
they wouldn’t let us leave until night. 

Q. Were you the only ones that Avent down to Waterproof that day 1— 
A. Ko, sir; Mr. Kegister came down Avith a posse that day. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. On Sunday?—A. Yes, sir; he returned earlier in the day than 
did. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who returned earlier in the day ?—A. The sheriff, jNIr. Eegister. 
Q. Did he go back Avith the posse ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How many constituted his posse?—A. Eight or ten, sir. They 
were men whom he picked ui) on the road. 

Q. Did you see or know of any other armed bands during those 
troubled times ?—A. There AA^ere companies in there from some of the 
back parishes during the week. 

Q. Did you see them ?—A. 1 saw them pass my idace, sir. 

Q. With reference to the Amtes that you got there at the box in Saint 
Joseph, were they all fairly counted by you and the other commission¬ 
ers ?—A. Yes, sir, in the presence of a number of gentlemen of both 
l)arties. 

By Mr. Caivieron : 

Q. I understood you to say there AA^as but one party there ?—A. The 
Democratic party came down late in the evening. They didn’t put any 
ticket in the field until about five o’clock. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Was there considerable feeling of dread in the community in ref¬ 
erence to the yelloAV fever about that time ?—A. Yes, sir; there was a 
strict quarantine established. I was arrested myself for attemx)ting to 
break the quarantine one day. I was arrested by the deputy sheriff. 

Q. The quarantine was acquiesced in by the citizens generally ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And its necessity was recognized by the people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you go doAvn AAdth Mr. Cordill again after that Sunday ?— 
A. Yes, sir, I Avent doAAuion Tuesday. I Avas one of the advance guards 
going down, Mr. Kutli and myself comiiosing the adA^ance guard; aa^c 
were two or three hundred yards ahead of the column. Year Bass’s 
lane, the negroes commenced firing at us; AA e had orders not to fire, but 
to raise the white flag. Fifty or one hundred shots were fired before Ave 
came. The boys then charged them down the leA ee, and they fled. 

Q. Hoav many of you Avent down there that day f—A. About thirty- 
five. 

Q. And the first firing, then, according to your recollection, was done 
by the colored people ?—A. O, yes, sir; I aams one of the advance guard, 
and they fired fifty or one hundred shots at us. 

Q. Hoav Avere they armed ?—A. They had old shot-guns. I kneAv they 
couldn’t hit us. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. They fired at long range, did they ?—rA. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Ca:vieron : 

Q. Of which political party are you a member ?—A. Of the Conserva- 
tiA^e Democratic party. 


Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. WATSON. 


309 


Q. AYliicli are you, Conservative or Democratic ?—A. Democratic 5 in 
fact, not niucli of either. 

Q. hat was that party called in your i)arish before the last political 
campaign ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. And after Cordill and Register became members it was called the 
Democratic Conservative party f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So Cordill and Register Avere such conservatiA^e gentlemeu that 
their intiueiK^e caused you to change the name of your party and name 
it after them —A. All the Republicans in the parish joimnl our party— 
all the Avhite Republicans. 

Q. llow many Avere there ?—A. SeA en or eight. 

Q. Can you giA^e the names of those gentlemen who joined your party ? 
—A. I coidd only give the names of those A\iio Amted Avitli us. 

Q. You don’t knoAv AAiiether they joined your party or not ?—A. They 
A oted Avith us. 

Q, That I understand; but you understand that Cordill and Register 
joined the party?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAV that any other Avhite Republicans in your parish 
joined the party?—A. No, sir; I don’t knoAV that I do. 

Q. Were Cordill and Register called conservative men before they 
joined your party, or Avere they called Republicans'?—A. They Avere 
called Republicans. 

Q. When did they become cnnserAmtive men?—A. I don’t knoAv. 

Q. You say your party is called Conservative; no Avhite Republicans 
except Cordill and Register joined it; the party was called Democratic 
Conservative after they joined. Noav, please explain how the acquisi¬ 
tion of tAA o Radicals to your Democratic party could transform it into a 
Conservative party ?—A. Well, all the white Re])ublicans a oted Avith us. 

Q. You liaA'e said that before, several times. Noav, please explain hoAv 
the acquisition of two Avhite Republicans to your party could make it a 
ConserAmtiA'e party Avhen before it was Democratic ?—A. The negroes 
dreAv the color-line and said they AAmuld liaA^e no Republicans Avith them, 
and all the AAdiite Republicans came to us. 

Q. You eAudently don’t understand my question. Can you explain how 
the acquisition of two radicals to the Democratic party made it a Con- 
serAmtive party ?—A. No, sir; I can’t explain. 

Q. Now, Avhat negroes, to your knoAvdedge, stated that they intended 
to draAV the color-line and Amte for no Avhite Republicans?—A. Well, 1 
heard that Ross SteAvart had a list- 

Q. Did you hear any colored Republican state that he didn’t intend 
to A ote for any Avhite Republican ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Df your (rwn knoAAdedge, then, you know nothing about it?—A. 
No, sir; I took A'ery little part in politics. 

Q. AVhere were you first fired upon by the negroes on Tuesday ?—A. 
About dOO yards from Bass’s lane. 

Q. How far in advance of the main column Avere you at the time?— 
A. I sui)pose at least four or five hundred yards. 

Q. What did you do ?—A. We stopped on the leA^ee there and AA^aited 
for the others to come up. 

Q. A Avitness the other day stated that you rushed back to the main 
column.—A. O, no, sir. 

Q. Then that witness Avas mistaken?—A. Yes, sir; he was mistaken. 
I believe his name Avas Wallace; he A\ms mistaken. He aa^s behind; 
he belonged in the rear-guard, someA\diere. 

Q. How many shots did you say Avere fired ?—A. Fifty or one hundred. 





310 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusas 


q. Where were they hred from?—A. Tliey were fired out of Mr. Gold¬ 
man’s quarters, and then out of the lane. 

Q. Did you see the persons who fired on you ?—A. O, yes j I saw a 
number of them. 

Q. How near were you to them?—A. About 300 yards. 

Q. Did you return the fire?—A. No, sir. 

Q. A"ou stood perfectly still, did you?—iV. Yes, sir. 

Q. About how many negroes were there, according to your best knowl¬ 
edge?—A. About 000, I understood. 

Q. I want what information you can give from your own observation. 
—A. I, myself, saAV at least a hundred; there was an Osage-orange hedge 
on each side of the line, and I could not see clearly. 

Q. When tlie column came up to the xioint where you were, where wen* 
the negroes ?—A. At the mouth of the lane. 

Q. One witness testified that the sheriff’s posse fired into the negroes’ 
(]uarters?—A. No, sir; the negro quarters were some distance away. 
Mr. Oordill sent ahead to say to them that this was a sherifi*’s posse, and 
would not harm any of them, but the negroes fired, notwithstanding. 

q. By Avhom Avere you ordered to fire?—A. I don’t knoAV. 

Q. You said awhile ago that you Avere ordered not to fire.—A. Well, 
Ave did not. 

Q. n)id you not fire?—A. I meant to say Ave did not fire at first. 

Q. Why did you not fire at first?—A. Because, as I said, we had been 
ordered not to fire. 

Q. Who had ordered yon not to fire?—A. I don’t knoAV". 

q. You say that afterwards you did fire?—A. Yes, sir. I fired in the 
air; I didn’t want to kill anybody. 

Q. Hoav many negroes Avere killed ?—A. 1 don’t knoAV. 

Q. IIoAV many AA ere wounded ?—A. I do not knoAv; I suav one or tAvo 
wounded. 

Q. HaA^e you eA'er seen Judge Cordill’s ofiicial report of the aftair?— 
A. I ha\"e never seen it; I haA^e heard of it. 

Q. Where did you ascertain that any negroes were killed or Avounded 
there ?—A. I rode through the lane afterwards, and did not hear of an;^^ 
being killed. Next morning I rode doAAui the levee to return home and 
I saw no one, but I heard of one being AAmunded. There Avere reports 
of negroes being killed, but Avhen A?e came aAvay Ave could not learn of 
any being killed. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. That Avas on Tuesday, the 15th ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Cameron. On the 18th, Judge Cordill made an official report. 
He states thus: On Tuesday, the 15th, I accompanied a posse of fifty 
men, summoned by the sheriff about two miles from Waterproof. We 
were fired on I)y a body of armed negroes. We returned the fire, killing 
and AAmunding eight, and disxAersing the remainder.” 

The Witness. I suppose he heard that. 

Q. Then he made his official report you say from mere hearsay ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Mr. CAaieron. Well, I thought so. 

The Witness. I suav and talked Avitli negroes afterAvards who were in 
the fight, and they told me that they dkln’t know of anybody being 
killed. Tliey said there Avas no one missing. 

Q. Then you think that Judge CordillVas mistaken in his official 
report?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And made it from mere hearsay ?—A. Yes, sir. 


rarish.l TESTIMONY OF T. J. WATSON. 311 

Q. So far as you know, tlie whole report was made from mere hear¬ 
say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you go out on any other armed expeditions ?—A. Yo, sir j 1 
went to my place ; I was afraid my negroes would become demoralized, 
and I staid with them. 

Q. How many negroes are there on your place ?—A. One hundred 
and fifty. 

Q. How many white people f —A. Only one. 

Q. Did your negroes become hostile f—A. None left my place; all 
staid at home and picked cotton. 

Q. At what hour were the polls opened on election day f —A. About 
sunrise. 

And at Avhat time did they close'?—A. Six o’clock in the evening. 

How many votes were polled, dhl you say, during that time ?—A. 
1 think about 800 5 I hax e forgotten exactly. 

Q. You had to work x)retty busily, then, didn’t you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was only one ticket in the field until late in the evening, you 
say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The commissioners were all Democrats—I beg your pardon. Dem¬ 
ocratic Conservatives ?—A. Yes, sir; they were all Conservatives except 
the Douglas and Bland men. 

By the Cii airman : • 

(^. You say you went down Sunday morning from Waterproof to Saint 
d osei )h ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many went down with you f—A. Tliere were four in the buggy 
(it is a two-seated buggy), Mr. Cordill, Mr. Micliie, Air. Sachse, and my¬ 
self. 

Q. Were you armed?—A. Yes, Ave i)ut guns in the buggy; Ave didn’t 
know what we might liave to meet. 

Q. Hoav many armed negroes did you see going doAA n ?—A. Yone. 

Q. When did the sheriff get there Avith his posse ?—A. About tAA elve 
o’clock. 

Q. Hoav many men did the sheriff' liaA e in his posse ?—A. SeAxn or 
eight. 

Q. Armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Alounted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav long did they stay ?—A. About tAA’^o hours. 

Q. Where did they go then ?—A. Back to Saint Joseph. 

Q. What did his men do there !—A. They Avent to their homes. 

Q. Went back and left you there at AYaterproof unprotected ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat time did he start back ?—A. About four o’clock. 

Q. What time did you start ?—A. After dark. 

Q. About hoAv far is it from Waterproof to Bass’s lane ?—A. It is a 
mile from Waterproof and three-quarters of a mile from Fairfax’s house. 

Q. AYhen you got up there you saAv large numbers of armed men ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About how many did you see ?—A. Four or fiA^e hundred. 

Q. All armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What were they doing there ?—A. I do not know; they Avere along¬ 
side of the road, umi as Ave drove by some of them hailed us. We said 
Ave AA^ere friends. 

Q. What did they say?—A. They said, ‘^Pass on,” after consulting 
their leaders. 

Q. What distance did you drive through them?—A. We drove through 


312 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


fTcusan 


about a quarter of a mile of cavalry, and then tlirougb about as many 
on foot. 

Q. What proportion of the negroes were on foot?—A. About one-balf 
of them. 

Q. What kind of guns did they have?—A. It was dark and I could 
not see; sliot-guns, I suppose. 

Q. Did they make any threats?—A. We said we Avere friends, and 
they let us go on. I heard some one say, “A hell of a lot of friends you 
are.” 

Q. What position did Mr. (iordill hold?—A. He was parish judge. 

Q. Wliat position did Mr. Saclise Hold?—A. N^one, that I know of. 

Q. Was he not chairman of the Democratic central committee?—A. I 
don’t think he was chairman; I believe he Avas secretary. 

Q. And Mr. Michie, what aaus he?—A. He Avas a planter. 

Q. Did he not liold some office?—A. He Avas running for magistrate. 

(^. Were you a candidate for any position?—A. N^o, sir. 

Q. You were simply a private citizen ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After passing these men, a\ horn did you meet ?—A. The infantry 
on the levee. 

Q. Hoav many of them Avere there ?—A. There AA ere a large number— 
two or three hundred. 

Q. That makes about nine hundred in all?—A. Yo, sir* I said there 
Avere liA^e or six*hundred altogetlier. 

Q. Y^ou mean to say that there Avere live or six hundred all told?— 
A. AYs, sir. 

Q. Did you see any negroes after that?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. AVhere did yon go tlien?—A. To my plantation, sir. 

(^. Did you lind everything quiet there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav came you to go doAvn on Tuesday ?—A. I Avent to Saint 
Joseph, and the sheriff;' told me he wanted me to go Avith his posse. 

Q. Armed ?—A. Yes. 

Q. WithAvhat?—A. Winchester rifles. 

Q. What kind of guns did the rest of them liaAX ?—A. Rifles, and 
some shot-guns. 

Q. You got to Bass’s lane, you say, about tAvelve o’clock ?—A. Yo, sir; 
about three or four o’(flock. We left Saint Joseph about eleven o’clock. 

Q. Hoav far is it to Bass’s lane ?—A. About fourteen miles. 

(»). How many negroes AA^ere there in the lane ?—A. The lane Avas full 
of negroes. We Avere told by the citizens that there Avere five or six 
hundred. They begged us to come back, saying that we were not strong 
enough to charge tliem. 

Q. But Avhen you got there you found it Avas a mistake ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you were at the head of the lane you saAV a hundred men ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where AAUue the other men ?—A. In the lane. 

Q. Could you not see them if they Avere in the lane ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. How do you know they Avere there if you could not see them?—A. 
The citizens said so. 

Q. I understood you to say that Avhen you tired you Avent doAvn so as 
to have a full AueAv of the lane?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When your men charged down the lane, how many negroes did 
you see ?—A. It Avas so dusty you could hardly see anything. 

Q. You must have some idea ?—A. I Avas not among those that made 
the charge. I only know Avliat the citizens said. 

Q. WIio told yoii ?—A. Mr. McCullough and Mr. Goldman. It was 
in front of Goldman’s quarters where the tiring commenced. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. WATSON. 


313 


Q. Was he tliere?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And his family f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He didn’t send them off !—A. Yo, sir. 

(^. Where did Mr. McCnllough live!—A. He lived hut a short dis¬ 
tance away—about fifty yards. 

Q. Was his family there !—A. I suppose so; I saw a number of ladies 
there, 
there. 

Q. AYhat became of Goldman and McCullough f—A. They staid 
til ere. 

Q. You don’t think that anybody was killed ?—xA. Yo, sir. 

Q. Hid you ever hear that a colored man named Bethel was killed 
tliere?—A. He was killed two or three days afterwards. 

Q. How far did you pursue these colored men after they left?—A. I 
don’t know how far the boys pursued them; about half a mile, I sup])ose. 
fl udge Cordill told me to go down afterwards and find out tlie cause of 
the ginneing burned. 

Q. Was not the gin burned before this attack?—A. The gin was 
burned when the first shot was fired. That was the signal for the ne¬ 
groes from the back parishes to rally. 

Q. How do you know that?—A. The negroes told us so. They said 
they were going to rally and destroy the gin. They were to come up 
there Avith sai^ks and bags, and sack the towns. 

Q. Did you see any women there with sacks and bags?—A. Yes, sir; 
they were on the levee there Avith sacks and bags all prepared to sack 
the toAA n. 

Q. Were the Av^omen armed tool—A. No, sir. 

Q. You then AA^ent to your ])lantation?—A., Yes, sir; and staid there 
until election day. 

Q. Your negroes Avere quiet?—A. Yes, sir; not one left the place. 

Q. We&^e they disturbed in any Avay by the news of Avhat Avas going 
on?—A. Yes, sir; that is why I staid there with them. 

Q. Were they frightened?—A. Ye.s, sir; somewhat; but I promised 
them protection. 

Q. Were your negroes armed?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Were there any guns on your jfface?—A. There may liaA^e been a 
few. 

Q. What proportion of your men had arms ?—A. I suppose there were 
not half a dozen on the place. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. What time did you leaA^e Saint eloseph Sunday morning?^—A. A 
little before day. 

(^. There were four of you sent doAAUi to Waterproof ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had you at that time got Avord of the attack on Fairfax?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How did that news get to you?—A. I do not know that I can tell 
exactly. The news had come to Saint Joseph, and Ave heard it among 
the rest. 

Q. But they didn’t knoAv it in Waterproof until the next morning. How 
came you to knoAV it before they learned of it in the same toAvn Avhere it 
occurred ?—A. I Avas staying with Judge Cordill that night, and he 
asked me to go doAvn with him the next morning, and Ave Avent. 

Q. But Mr. Wise and Mr. Morse, merchants living in Waterproof, 
haA^e been summoned here in reference to that affair, and they told ns 
they didn’t knoAV until the next morning that an attack had been made 


314 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas 


on Fairfax’s house. Now, I want to know how you came to know it at 
Saint Joseph.—xl. I really cannot say from what source I obtained the 
information, unless it was from Judge Cordill. 

Q. How far is it from Saint Joseph to AVaterproof ?—A. Twelve or 
fourteen iriiles. 

Q. And the news reached you so that you and these three men started 
down the next morning about daylight ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The attack was made at Fairfax’s house on Saturday night between 
eight and ten o’clock. Next morning about daylight—what hour Avould 
that be—about live o’clock, would it not? Tlie 12th of September is 
about the time of the equinox, and daylight is about an hour before sun¬ 
rise. If the attack Avas made on Fairfax’s house at nine o’clock in the 
ev^ening, there were but eight hours intervening between that time and 
the time you men left Saint Joseph. How do you account for it that the 
l)eo 2 >le in Water})roof, only a quarter of a mile aAvay, did not know of 
the attack on Fairfax’s house until after you and these otlier iq^n were 
on their way there from Saint Joseph, twelve or fourteen miles awa^^ f— 
A. Saint Josepli is the parish seat, and news from all parts of the coun¬ 
try comes there. 

Mr. Bailey. I suppose some of the people in AVateriiroof knew the 
fact and some of them did not. 

Mr. Kikkwood. Yet it AA^ould scarcel^^ be probable that neAvs would 
be sent a distance of fourteen or tifteen miles betAA^een nine o’clock at 
night and Aa'c the next morning. 

The AA^I'J'NESS. The sheriff AAcnt down the same day. 

Q. But the sheriff* did not go doAAUi Avith you?—A. No, sir; he came 
afterAvards. 

Q. AVhere did the sheriff get his posse ?—A. He took some from Saint 
Joseph and some he picked up on the road. 

Q. You returned that night ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But AA ent doAvn again on Tuesday ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your posse, you say, consisted of thirty or forty men ?—xV. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Hoav many of them were residents of Saint Joseph ?—A. I should 
say about half of them. 

Q. AYliere Avere the rest from?—xl. From Franklin. Fifteen or 
tAA^enty, I should say, were from Franklin. 

Q. When did they come from Franklin to Saint Joseph?—A. I think 
on Monday. 

Q. Tliey arrived there on Monday ?—A. I saw some squads passing 
my place on Monday. 

Q. Do you knoAV hoAv far they had to come ?^—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did they have to come ten miles, or tAventy or thirty, according to 
your best judgment?—xV. About fifteen miles 1 should suppose, sir. 

(^. Noav, about this battle at Bass’s Lane, you and another man AA^ere 
the advance guards, you say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. xind you Avere fired upon fifty or one hundred shots?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And none of them struck you ?—xV. No, sir. 

Q. Nor came near you ?—A. Yes, sir; I presume they did. 

Q. You felt perfectly safe under all that fire ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The negroes had shot-guns—inferior arms, not very serviceable ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was your posse armed with ?—A. With shot-guns, some of 
them, and some of them with Winchester rifies. 

Q. In what proportion ?—A. There were fifteen rifles, maybe. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. WATSON. 


0l5 


Q. And tlie rest liad double-barreled shot-guns ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Your anus, then, were of a superior order to those the negroes 
had !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Very lunch superior?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far is a Winchester rifle good for a nigger ” ?—A. About 
200 yards. 

Q. Is it not good for game of that size farther than that ?—A. It will 
shoot with accuracy about 200 yards. 

Q. It a man with a Winchester rifle in his hands and another man 
with a darkey shot-gun Avere 300 yards apart, the man a\ ith the Winches¬ 
ter rifle would not be in much danger, I conclude ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. And the man with the shot-gun would be in a great deal of dan¬ 
ger from the mail with the Winchester rifle ?—A. Yes, sir; of course. 

Q. Were there any Avomen and children among the crowd that you 
met that day ?—A. They were on the leA^ee. 

(^. Do you count them in when counting the number of black people 
you saw there that day?—A. No, sir; I saw them AAith the sacks. 

Q. You were not seriously afraid of the sacks ?—A. No, sir; but I 
lieard they a\ ere going to Wateiinoof to plunder and sack the town. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You say Saint Joseph was the parish town of that parish ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. The sheriff' liA^es there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he keep.i his office there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The county judge IWes there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. xVnd keeps his office there?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. When you AA^ent to Wateriiroof on Sunday the people there were 
Au^ry much frightened?—A. Yes, sir; we started to go back three or 
four times, but they took hold of our horses and stopped them, and 
Avould not let ns go. 

Q. Can you tell us why the sheriff and his posse Avouldn’t stay?—A. 
The posse Avms com])osed of jiersons Avho had other business on hand. 
Some of them AAwe clerks from Saint floseph, AA^ho had to go back to 
their stores; and some of them Avere planters along the road, who could 
not stay aAvay from their business. 

Q. Did you not thiidv it was the sherift'’s business to stay and protect 
that defenseless town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But he didn’t do it?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Yon left about dark ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Didn’t you suppose that there aa ould be more danger after night 
than there was during the daytime ?—A. We didn’t think any of them 
Avould be out on the road after night. 

Were you pretty aa^cII satisfied that Waterproof Avas in no danger 
that night after you left?—A. Yes, sir; the judge wanted to go back to 
Saint Joseph, and send a dispatch to GoA^ernor Nicholls. 

Q. You say the judge wanted to go back to send a dispatch to Goa'- 
ernor Nichoils—that reminds me—here is the dispatch he sent; I Avill 
read it. [For this dispatch and correspondence between Cordell and 
GoA’^ernor Nicholls see documentary eAudence.] 

Q. AYhen and where did you hear that Fairfax had murdered Peck ?— 
A. We heard it in Saint Joseph. 

Q. Did you hear that Peck’s party had killed or wounded any colored 
men at Fairfax’s ?—A. Yes, sir; Ave heard some AA^ere Avounded. 

Q. Did you hear that Peck, AAdio resided in another parish, had come 
with a body of armed men to Fairfax’s house at night and attempted to 
force an entrance?—A. AYe heard that afterward. 




316 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


I 

Q. Before this dispatcli was sent?--A. I don’t know. : 

Q. Bid yon hear it before he and you went hack ?—A. I do not know. | 

Q. Bid yon hear that Peck, with an armed body of men, had gone to i 
Pairtax’s house on Saturday night!—A. I heard it Sunday. 

Q. Bid you hear that before you heard Cordill say he wanted to go 
back to Saint Joseph to send a dispatch to the governor?—A. I heard 
it in Waterproof during the day. 

Q. Then you say you did hear it before Cordill said he wanted to go 
back in order to send a dispatch ?—A. 1 presume so, sir. 

Q. I observe that Mr. Cordill don’t refer to the fact that Peck had 
gone to Fairfax’s house with an armed body of men. When did you 
hear that Fairfax was trying to excite the negroes to violence?—A. On 
Sunday or Monday. 

Q. AVhich was it, Sunday or Monday ?—A. On Sunday I heard that 
he was rousing the negroes and urging them to arm themselves and 
come into Waterproof. On Monday we heard that Fairfax was back of 
Saint Joseph with five or six liundred armed negroes, marching through 
the parish. 

Q. You say you lieard that ?—A. A gentleman told me so who knew 
him. 

Q. What storehouses were broken open and sacked by negroes about 
that time ?—A. Weaver’s store was. 

Q. Where was it?—A. About ten miles below Saint Joseph. 

Q. When ?—A. On Monday. 

Q. Bid you ever hear Fairfax make a political speech ?—A. No, sir. 

Q, Bid you ever hear of his making a i)olitical speech before the 
attack was made on his house?—A. Yo, sir; I live in the u])per part of 
the parish, and do not hear all that is going on in the lower i)art of the 
parish. 

Q. Bid you hear that he had made any speeches ?—A. I heard that 
he had drawn the color line. 

Q. I want to know whether you heard of his making any i:>olitical 
si)eeches.—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Bid Judge Cordill tell you that Fairfax had been making any 
political speeches before this attack on his house?—A. 1 know only 
what the judge says here in his official report. 

Mr. Bailey requested that the Avhole of that correspondence should 
be made a part of the report. 

Q. Judge Cordill in his report to CloA^ernor Mcholls says: ^‘This de- j 
Xfiorable state of affairs Avas brought about by the incendiary speeches 
of Fairfax and other negro leaders, avIio are alone responsible.” Goa"- 
ernor Mcholls states, in his recent message, that it Avas brought about 
by the visit of Peck to Fairfax’s house ; that that Avas the cause of it; 
and tliat that visit was utterly unjustifiable. HaA^e you eA^er examined 
into the matter yourself to see Avhich of these accounts is correct and i 
Avhere the blame really lay?—A. Yo, sir; I took no part in i)olitics. 


Yeav Orleans, January 15, 1879. 

J. T. Watson recalled. 

By Mr. Garland : 

(^^uestion. Are you acquainted with the circumstances attending the 
enforcement of the quarantine regulations in Tensas ?—AnsAver. i am, 
to some extent. 






Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF DAVID DISE. 


317 


Q. Were the quarantine rules relaxed for the purpose of letting both 
parties attend the convention held at Saint Joseph ?—A. Yes, sir; they 
were. 

Q. Have the colored people pretty much abandoned that parish on 
account of the troubles there f—A. Yo, sir 5 they are coining in on every 
boat down the river; those avIio left a year ago are all coming back. 
There is more labor in the neighborhood of Saint Joseph now than there 
has ever been before since the Avar. 

Q. You think there will be no difficulty in getting as much labor this 
crop year as is needed ?—A. None, at all. 

Q. Were the quarantine regulations relaxed at the next proposed con- 
A^ention or not ?—A. They were not; because the yelloAv feA^er had bro¬ 
ken out in tAA^o or three places in Saint Joseiih, anil the toAvn Avas quar¬ 
antined against it. 


DAVID DISE. 

Neav Orleans, January 13, 1879. 

David Dise sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. Waterproof, La. 

Q. Parish of Tensas!—A. Yes, sir. 

Hoaa^ long havx you lived there!—A. Forty-two years. 

Q. What is your occupation!—A. I am a merchant and a planter. 

Q. Were you there, at your home, during the last political campaign 
in your parish !—A. I was. 

Q. Did you take any part in the campaign!—A. I did not. 

Q. You were there, then, during the months of August and Septem¬ 
ber!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is AVaterproof a i)lace of much business—it is upon the Missis¬ 
sippi Kiver !—A. Yes, sir; and on the river. 

Q. A shipping place for a large back country !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do the people of Catahoula Parish come tliere to do their trad¬ 
ing !—A. Not A^ery much—still there are some. 

Q. AYere you there on election-day !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State in your own way Avhether that election was peaceable and 
quiet.—A. It Avas as peaceable as I ever saw in my life. 

Q. Did you A"ote at it!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any one interfered with—any one Avho attempted to 
A'ote!—A. No, sir. 

(^. Was there a general apprehension in the months of August and 
September of tlie yellow fever!—A. Yes, sir; there Avas considerable 
excitement; there was a quarantine. 

Q. Was the quarantine acquiesced in by the citizens !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There Avas something said in the testimony as to the coming of a 
body of men to the house of one Alfred Fairfax, and the disturbance in 
consequence; do you knoAv anything about that!—A. I did not know 
anything about it until after it was all done; I heard that a party of 
men came there. 

Q. AVhen did you first hear that!—A. I believe it was Saturday night, 
after a man was killed. I was at home that night. 

Q. How far do you live from the house of Fairfax!—^A. About one- 
quarter of a mile. 

Q. Did you see any body of men going there !—A. I did not. 



318 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did you see any returning?—A. I did not. 

Q. You do not know of your own knowledge wlio were tliere ?—A. I 
do not. 1 staid at lioine. 

(»). Wliat was the cause that you understood of their having been 
there ?—A. I never lieard any reason given at all. 

Q. Did you know Mr. (JiitViths that was postmaster at your town ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything of his having left there ?—A. He left the 
next Sunday morning. 1 loaned him a buggy to go off. He told me he 
was afraid to stay there. 

(y Had you heard of any threats being made against him ?—A. I had 
not; I never go out at night. 

Q. AVas there any commotion after that time in the town of Water- 
])roof?—A. No, sir. 

(y Did you see him after he returned?—A. YYs, sir. 

(y Was he maltreated after he came back?—A. No, sir. 

(y You did not hear of any trouble about his returning?—A. No, sir. 
(y AVas your gin burned (luring that time?—A. A"es, sir. 

(y Do you know who burned it ?—A. A"es, sir. 

(y Who was it ?—A. A c-ouple of niggers—one was named Dick Miller 
ami tlie other John AIcDeer. 

(y On what day did that burn ?—A. On Tuesday. 

(y The same month and same day ?—A. I do not know what day of 
the month it was, but it was cm Tuesday, following the diftlculty at Fair¬ 
fax’s. 

(y Why did they burn your gin; do you know?—A. 1 do not know; 
they had no cause at all whatever to burn our gin. 

(y Had you any misunderstanding or trouble with these men ?—A. 
None whatever. 

(y How far was that gin from the town of AA^aterproof ?—A. About 4 
miles. 

(y AVhen you got the news of the Inirning of your gin, did you go uj) 
tliere ?—A. I did not; I was afraid. 

(y Why?—A. Because there were hedges on both sides of the road, 
and I was afraid I wonld get shot. 

(y Did you know, of your own knowledge/or hearsay, that there Avere 
(mlored people going through the country ?—A. Yes, sir; five of them. 
Tliat was on Alonday morning. 

(y AVhere did you see them yourself?—A. Alarching through the 
town. 

(y How many ?—A. Seven hundred, about. 

(y Did they liave guns?—A. A^es, sir. 

(y Foot or horseback ?—A. Horseback, and some not. 

(y Ah)u think there Avere TOO ?—A. Yes, sir. 

cy Did they come from Tensas Parish?—A. No, sir; I think some 
came irom the loAver parishes—Catahoula and others. 

(y Did you see any more after that day?—A. No, sir; I did not see 
any more after Tuesday. I just saw some Tuesday morning. 

Q. AVhere ?—A. At AVateri)roof. 

(y Hoav many ?—A. There Avas a good many right around. 

(y AVere they armed?—A. Some of them.* There Avere AAomen and 
(•liildren and boys all around. They stood and hallooed out that they 
Avonld burn the toAvn and kill the Avhite folks, all of them. 

ty AVlnwe Avas that ?—xA. It Avas right before my store in AAmterproof. 
cy Did they threaten to do anything else?—A. Not that I know of. 


I'ariah] TESTIMONY OF DAVID DISE. 319 

Q. Did yon know of any of them having guns or killing people or hiirn- 
ing anything?—A. IS'o, sir. 

Q. Do you know Alfred Fairfax personally?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you ever talk to him before that about polities ?—A. I never 
talk about politics. 

Q. Have you heard him make political speeches?—A. sir. 

Q. Was he at the head of the colored Itepublicans in tliat parish ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it understood that he was making efforts to beat the Demo¬ 
cratic party ?—A. Yes, sir; that is what was understood. 

Q. To keep the color line?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You lieard him make no speech during the last campaign ?—A. I 
did not. 

Q. What kind of a store have you?—A. A country store—dry-goods, 
cheap clotliing, groceries, and provisions. 

Q. Did you keep any ammunition before the trouble at Fairfax’s to 
Avliich you have referred?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you sell a good deal of ammunition to the colored people?— 
A. Yes, sir; whenever any wanted anything we sold it to them. 

Q. Were they asking for a large amount about that time?—A. Yo, 
sir; no more than usual. 

Q. They generally asked for a good deal ?—A. Well, for half a pound 
or a pound. 

Q. You sold it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there any colored people from any other parish besides that 
of Catahoula ?—A. Yo, sir; not that I know of. 

Q. The parish below is the parish of Concordia?—A. Yes, sir; not 
Catahoula. I made a mistake. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Ot‘ which iM)litical party are you a member ?—A. Of none. 

Q, How long have you resided at Wateri)roof ?—A. Forty-two years. 

Q. Give the names of any negroes Avho were residents of Concordia 
Parish, and who were in Waterproof on Monday.—A. I could not tell 
any names now. I saw them when they came there. 

Q. GiA e the names.—A. I don’t recollect any of the names. 

Q. You can’t give the names of any ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How far is Concordia from Waterproof?—A. About two miles. 

Q. Had any of these armed negroes that you saAv there been in the 
habit of trading at your store ?—A. Some of them. 

Q. Did they luive any accounts Avith you?—A. No, sir; none that I 
know of. 

Q. When Avas the (piarantine established there ?—A. About the 4th 
of July. 

Q. Hoav long did it continue ?—A. Till the yelloAV fcAW was over; till 
the latter part of September. 

Q. Noav, give the date as nearly as you can fix it.—A. After that riot 
Avas there Ave kept it up two or three Aveeks longer. After the election 
Ave had some cold Aveather about that time. 

Q. Was Waterproof quarantined against the country ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it quarantined against Concordia Parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it quarantined against Franklin Parish ?—Yes, sir; against 
all the parishes around. 

Q. Quarantined against Catahoula also ?—A. Yes, sir ; they Avould not 
alloAV the colored people or the Avhite people to come in to trade from 



320 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


the suiToundiii;][ X)arislies, excei)t they came in for medicine, and then 
they had to go right off. 

Q. I suppose you sold ammunition to anybody who applied for it if 
they paid for itf—A. Yes, sir; both whites and blacks—sometimes on 
credit. 

Q. You suppose your gin was burned ?^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You gave the names of the men who did the burning?—A. Yes, sir. 

Have those men been prosecuted for the burning ?—A. No, sir. 

(). Why not?—A. We cannot find them. 

Q. Was there any indictment against them?—xV. No, sir. 

Q. Have you ever been summoned by the grand jur^^ against them ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you any information that any i^roceedings whatever were 
instituted against them?—A. No, sir. 

Q. From whom did you receive information that satisfied you that 
these men had done it?—A. From our overseer. 

Q. What is his name?—A. P. F. Barney. 

Q. Have you not lieard that Miller was killed since that time?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Tlien he was found?—A. Well, he Avas killed. 

Q. Have you not heard that the other man, JNi^cDeer, A\ns killed?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. AVhen and where Avas Miller killed, did you understand?—A. He 
was killed on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Q. You say your gin Avas burned on Tuesday ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Ho you understand that your gin aauis burned on the same day ?—• 
A. 1 do not know; I.heard a few days after that he was killed. 

Q. When did you first hear he Avas killed ?—A. I think two or three 
days after that. 

Q. Who gave you that information ?—A. Some i^arties gaA^e me that 
information. I could not fell exactly avIio told me. I ncA^er notice such 
a thing as that. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You thought that it was not of much consequence ?—A. No; I 
heard he Avas killed, and I was satisfied of it. 

Q. Hid you see any armed Avhites in the xiarish of Tensas during the 
last x^olitical canvass of the x)arish ?—A. I saw none at all, except the 
Xmsse which came down from Saint Joseiih. 

Q. When did that x^osse come down from Saint Josexih?—A. On 
Tuesday. 

Q. Under whose command were they, as you understood?—A. I don’t 
know; I saw Charley Oordill and the sheriff. 

Q. Hoav many, as nearly as you can judge, Avere there in that posse ? 
—A. From 15 to 20. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On Monday, you say, there Avere some negroes in front of your 
house, saying that they were going to burn the town and kill the peoxde. 
—A. Yes, sir; many of them Avere there at that time—a good many. 

Q. About how many?—A. 150 to 250. There was a big pile of them, 
ami I was afraid, and 1 didn’t hardly dare go out of my house. 

Q. Was that ‘‘big pile” composed of men, women, and children?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were the Avomen armed?—A. No, sir; they had sacks and bas¬ 
kets—to go in the stores, I expect, and help themselves. 

Q. Hid they kill any white people in Waterproof that day?—A. 
No, sir. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF DAVID DISE. 


321 


Q. Did they burn any building-s in Waterproof that day?—A. ^^"0, sir. 

Q. When was the last negro uprising in Tensas Parish?—A. We 
never liad anything before. We never had any killing before among 
the colored imople. 

Q. What was the repute of this Mr. Fairfax as to being a x)eaceable, 
orderly man?—A. I thought he was very x)eaceable. 

Q. Was he not a man of good repute in that neigliborhood?—A. 
Yes, sir; he was very well known as a good man. 

Q. Now, when did you learn that he intended to influence the negroes 
so as to keej) up the color line?—A. I heard it several weeks before the 
nomination; people talked about it around my store. 

Q. You took no part in politics yourself?—A. None at all; I keep a 
store and I want to have good friends on both sides. We have colored 
l>eoi)le on our place, and I want to have them all right. Those two 
men had been right on the i)lace for several years. 

Q. Heretofore they have been good men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time was your gin burned?—A. About dinner time; 
about 12 o’clock. 

Q. How many people were on the jjlace about that time, as nearly as 
you can fix the number ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Where was your overseer?—A. He was at home. 

Q. How near to the gin?—A. About two squares. 

Q. Any other white people on the i)lace at that time ?—A. His wife 
and child. 

Q. How many colored i^eople were there?—A. We had over 100 peo¬ 
ple there. 

Q. Did you inquire of any of the colored people who burned the gin ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What information did you get from them?—A. They told me it 
was burned; that is all I know. All I know about it was what I 
heard. 

Q. Who gave you their names ?—A. There was William Hawley- 

Q. When did he tell you that ?—A. Several days after. 

Q. Did Hawley tell you he saw them burn it ?—A. No, sir; only that 
he heard some others say that they had burned it. 

Q. Did you understand from the overseer that he saw these.men burn 
it ?—xA. I believe so. 

Q. Well, do you knotc f —A. I believe he said he saw them running 
away from the gin. 

Q. How far from tlie gin ?—xV. He saw them running right through 
the field, away from the gin. 

Q. How near to the gin were your negro cabins ?—A. Away off. 

Q. How near to your gin was the nearest negro cabin ?—A. About 
two squares. 

Q. What is the distance of a square ?—A. Two hundred or three hun¬ 
dred feet. 

Q. What is the population of Waterproof ?—A. About 300. 

Q. Did you know Fairfax personally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of man was he, leaving out his color ?—xA. He was a 
very good man, as far as I know. 

Q. Quiet and imaceable ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AAhth a good deal of intelligence ?—A. AYs, sir. 

Q. AVhat is'the proportion of your population in AAAterproof—what 
white and what colored ?—A. There is more black than white—about 
three blacks to one white. 

Q. About this ammunition: you would not have sold them this am- 
21 T 





322 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


munition if you liad sui)posed tliey were ^oing to raid the country ?—A. 
Ko, sir. I would not like to he killed with my own powder and shot. 

Q. Not in the event that you got paid for it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What day did you say they gathered ?—A. On Monday they had 
■the convention. 

Q. O, yes, yes; there was a colored convention, and you think there 
were several hundred of the colored peox)le ?—A. About 300 or 400; no, 
sir, I don’t think there was that many—maybe 200 men—most of them 
were men. 

Q. The rest of them were women and children ?—A. Yes, sir; women 
and children stood in front of my store. 

Q. Tliat was the first day—on Monday?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The day the big crowd was there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they have baskets and bags that day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The next day—Tuesday—you saw some more of them ?—A. Yes, 
sir. They gathered around the town; they wanted to hear the news 
from the convention. 

Q. You say they were armed ?—A. I cannot say they were all armed. 
All those on horseback were armed. 

Q. Could you say that half of them had arms that day ?—A. Yes, sir; 
more than that. 

Q. What kind of arms ?—A. Guns. 

Q. What kind of guns ?—A. I did not notice them. They had shot¬ 
guns, rifles, and different guns—old-fashioned ones, I expect. Some had 
no guns. I didn’t examine any of them. 

Q. Was the cotton-i)icking over at that time?—A. O, no, sir; hardly 
commenced. 

Q. Can you say how many days’ ])icking you had had on your ifianta- 
tion uj) to that day ?—A. I did not understand you. The people were 
about half done picking the cotton. 

Q. Had the colored people begun to bring in their croj^s to sell?—A. 
Well, no. 

Q. Do the colored people get through with their little pickings much 
quicker than the large planters get through their x)ickings ?—A. No, 
sir; they pick about as long as anybody else. 

Q. Do you buy cotton ?—A. Sometimes. 

Q. Had you been buying at this time ?—A. Not at that time. There 
was very little ginning done at that time. 


11. F. SHAFEE. 

New Orleans, La., January 14,1870. 

H. F. Shafer recalled. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Can you state on what day the Democratic convention was 
held last fall?—Answer. I cannot recollect exactly. 

Q. Was it prior or subsequent to the attack on Fairfax’s house ?_A. 

I think it was before. 

Q. How long before the attack on Fairfax’s house—which was on the 
l2tii October—was the Democratic convention held?—A. Ten or twelve 
days. 

Q. Where was the Democratic convention held ?—A. In Saint Joseph 
I am told. I was not in town, and did not attend the convention. ’ 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OP H. F. SHAFER. 


323 


Q. Please explain to the committee how it happened that delegates 
from the country wards were allowed to get into Saint Joseph for the pur¬ 
pose of attending that Democratic convention, notwithstanding the strict 
quarantine which Avas established, and which yon were employed to en 
force.—A. My business carried me into the country j I did not get back 
until the night after the convention. There Avas no one particularly at 
the head of the matter, and the delegates might have come in without 
any great restraint. 

Q. Where were your guards j did you take them off?—A. I left 

the matter to be attended to by the citizens. 

Q. What instructions did you give the guards ?—A. Nothing, only to 
keep the quarantine up as well as possible. 

Q. Do you mean to keep the citizens from coming in ?—A. Well, gen¬ 
erally. One or two of the citizens said that they Avould attend to the 
matter during my absence. 

Q. Whom did you leave in charge during your absence?—A. Mr. 
Sachse. 

Q. He agreed to see that the quarantine was enforced during your 
absence?—A. Well, that is my recollection. 

Q. What are Mr. Sachse’s politics ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. What office did he hold in connection with the Democratic execu¬ 
tive committee ?—A. I think that he Avas secretary. 

Q. Did you knoAv he was?—A. I believed he was; I don’t know. 

Q. Ha\"e you any reason to doubt it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you return to your post?—A. On the night of the day 
of the convention; I got home a little after dark. 

Q. What report, if any, did Mr. Sachse make in reference to the en¬ 
forcement of the quarantine ?—A. I did not call on him for any regular 
report. 

Q. Did he make any report ?—A. No formal report. 

Q. Did he make any informal report ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did he make any report at all ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you make any inquiry after you returned for the purpose of 
ascertainiug whether the quarantine had been strictly enforced during 
your absence ?—A. I do not recollect that I did. 

Q. Do you recollect whether you did or did not ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Did you receive any information of the fact that the delegates of 
the Democratic con\^ention from the country wards had been allowed 
to pass through the quarantine lines into the town of Saint Joseph on 
that day?—A. I heard of people from the country being through, sir. 

Q. Did you not hear that persons had passed in for the purpose of 
attending a Democratic convention ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. O, you did?—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. You understood that Mr. Sachse who was in charge during your 
absence had permitted, or at least had not prevented, their passing the 
quarantine lines ?—A. He certainly did not prevent it. 

Q. Did you leaA^e Mr. Sachse in charge at any other time, except that 
particular"time ?—A. No, sir; not that I can recollect, sir. 

[The following documents bearing upon the quarantine were ordered 
by the committee to be printed in connection AAuth Mr. Shafer’s testi¬ 
mony.] 

A. 

QUARANTINE ORDINANCE, ADOPTED BY THE POLICE JURY OF TENSAS PARISH AUGUST 

21 , 1878 . 

Whereas the yellow fever is known to prevail in New Orleans and other towns along 
the Mississippi: Now, therefore, in order to protect the citizens of the parish of Tensas 


324 


LOUISIANA IN. 1873. 


[Ton.sad 


from said contagious and epidemical disease, be it ordained by tlie police jury of the 
parish of Tensas— 

Skc. 1. That it shall be unlawful for any steamboat or other water craft to land ])as- 
senj^ers from any infected port at any point on the bank ot the Mississippi Kiver within 
tlie limits of this parish. 

Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful for any jiersoii to land and enter within this parish froiii 
any steamboat or water craft running' the Mississippi liiver, or to lioard or return from 
same. 

8ec. 3. It shall be unlawful for any person to land and introduce into this parish any 
commodities from any port on the Mississippi River, except on a written permit from 
tlui officers liereinafter ai)pointed and sjiecihed. 

Sec. 4. That all mails coming into this parish shall be fumigated immediately one 
liour at the landing liefore distribution by the proper officers. 

Sec. 5. That any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be 
ju'osecuted by information before the parish court, and, on conviction, shall be lined 
jiot more than two hundred and fifty dollars and not less than fifty didlars, and in 
default of payment shall be confined in the parish jail not less than thirty days nor 
more than sixty days. 

Sec. (5. That the acting ])resident of the police jury shall immediately apjioint one 
lujalth officer for the following ])oints on the river, to act in conjunction with the offi¬ 
cers to be apiiointed at each place by the sheriff of this parish, in keeping out of the 
]>arish persons and commodities from infected districts. And that the sheriff of this 
])arish is hereby fully authorized to a])])oint deputies, duly sworn in, at each of said 
jmints, whose duty it shall be to immediately arre.st any ])erson viidating any of the 
]>rovision8 of this ordinam'e. Said deputies to receive a compensation of not more 
than twenty-five dollars per month. 

The points and appointments are as fidlows, to wit: 

IJArdent. —,1. P. I’otter, health officer, and Daniel Elliott, deimty sheriff. 

J\in(fs Point. —Prosper King, health officer, and W. T. Burnett, dejmty sheriff'. 

Waterproof. —,Jas. Moore, health officer, and N. B. Hunter, de})uty .sheriff. 

Bass's. —(i. C. Goldman, health officer, and A. P. Martin, deputy sheriff. 

Jfempe's. —W. H. Goldman, health officer and deputy sheriff. 

BeiJer’s Landing. —E. L. Wliitney, health officer, and J. A. Curry, deputy sheriff. 

Brown’s Landing. —George Wallace, health officer, and Gus. Smith, depiity sheriff. 

Saint Joseph .—B. G. Greenfield, health officer, and James Norman, dejuity sheriff. 

liondiirant's Landing .—Albert Bondurant, health officer, and Thomas Farrar, deputy 
sheriff. 

Hardscrabhle .—J. J. Fenwick, health officer and de]>uty sheriff. 

Hard Times .—C. C. IT. Fenwick, health officer, and S. F. Hopkins, deputy sheriff. 

Shipp’s Bagon .—T. S. Jones, health officer and deputy .sheriff'. 

Jinclc Bidge .—T. Q. iSIunce, health officer, and Thornton Stiles, deputy sheriff. 

Point Pleasant. —T. J. Donnelly, health officer, and C. S. Kinney, deputy .sheriff*. 

Ashwood .—W. L. Potts, health officer, and J. A. Q. Qnackenbo.s.s, deputy sheriff. 

New Carthage .— S. B. 1‘ittman, health officer, and Lucien .lames, deputy sheriff. 

Lower Point Pleasant. —M. S. Merchant, health officer and dejuity sheriff. 

Sec. 7. That in addition to the committees already appointeil by the citizens at Saint 
Joseph and other points in this pari,sh, the acting president of the police jury is hereby 
authorized to appoint a committee of .seven, Avho, in conjunction Avith said committee.s, 
.shall have full ])ower to cause all places to be disinfected, Avhen pronounced neces¬ 
sary liy said committees, and to .see that all necessary ])recantions be used to prevent 
the introduction and sju'ead of yellow lever in this inirish. Said committees to have 
full i)ower to enforce the provisions of this .section, l)y having the parties refusing to 
obey their orders arrested and dealt AA'ith according to the foregoing proA'isions of this 
ordinance. 

The folloAving Avere appointed as .said committee: S. Elgutter, J. D. S. NeAvell T. C. 
Sachse, H. F, Shaifer, Da.vid Wise, Reeve LeAvis, A. S. Davidson. ’ 

Be it further ordained, That the sum of one thousand dollars, or sufficient thereof, is 
hereby ai)])ropriated to carryout the i)ro visions of this ordinance ; and that the i)olice 
jury hereby pledge, the faith of the ])arish to see this ordinance carried out and the 
officers appointed paid, and supported in their efforts to carry out the provisions 
hereof. That this ordinance take effect immediately. 

Upon motion, the clerk of this board Avas authorized to have one hundred copies of 
above ordinance ])rinted and mailed to all landings in this parish. 

And the police jury adjourned sine die. 


JosETH Curry, Clerk. 


MARK ANDREWS, 

Presiden t pro tern. 


Parish.1 


TESTIMONY OF H. F. SHAFER. 


325 


B. 

QUARANTIXE NOTICE—CITIZENS’ MEETING. 


S.4INT Joseph, La., August 1, 1878. 

At a meeting of tlio citizens of Saint Joseph, held this day at the store of Robert 
Murdock, for the pnr])ose of establishing a quarantine, Capt. Thomas F. Farrar was 
appointed chairman and C. G. Nicholls, secretary. 

On motion, a committee was appointed to draft resolutions, which were signed and 
unanimously adopted. 

We, the undersigned citizens of Saint Joseph, in order to protect ourselves and fam¬ 
ilies from the infection of yellow fever, now epidemic in New Orleans, have unani¬ 
mously adopted the following plan of quarantine, to be enforced according to the fol¬ 
lowing articles and rules, the same to continue in force so long as in our oj)inion danger 
exists: 


Article I. A quarantine station shall be established at Saint Joseph’s Landing, 
Beiler’s Landing, and Bondurant’s Landing. 

Art. II. No ]»erson shall be allowed to land from a steamboat or other w ater-craft 
at any one of these stations and come to the town of Saint Joseph without a written 
liermit from the health officer of the town. 

Art. hi. The merchants of Saint Joseph are required to leave all goods at the Saint 
Josexdi Landing until the health officer shall grant a xiermit to have them brought uj) 
town. 

Art. IV. Strict surveillance shall be exercised by all citizens over migratory x^ersons. 

Art. V. Dr. B. G. Greenfield is herebj’' apxiointed health officer, unanimously. 

Art. VI. A standing committee of three is hereby aiiX)ointed, to wit, William Mur¬ 
dock, Josexih Moore, and B. Levy, whose duty it shall be to collect subscrixdions and 
emxdoy such aid as may be necessary to carry out the foregoing resolutions. 

liesolved, That in case of emergency the committee be, and they are hereby, author¬ 
ized to call out the citizens as a x>osse to enforce the foregoing resolutions. 

T. P. FARRAR, Chairman. 
JOSEPH MOORE, 

WM. MURDOCK, 

B. LEVY, 

1). S. NEWELL, 

T. C. SACHSE, 

B. G. GREENFIELD, 

J. T. WATSON, 

JOHN W. REGISTER, 

H. F. SHAIFER, 

And many others. 

C. G. Nicholls, Secretary. 


C. 

quarantine notice. 

At a meeting of the health committee held at Saint Josex»h, La., this 9th day of 
October, 1878, the following x)reamble and resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas the yellow^ fever is said now to exist on Osceola plantation and other places 
in this vicinity ; Therefore be, and it is hereby, 

Besolrecl, Tlnat from and after one (1) o’clock p. m. this date a rigid and strict quar¬ 
antine shall be and is hereby established in this town against any and all ])ersons, 
from wTiatsoever direction, and that stations shall be located beyond the picket-line, 
w'here cotton will bo received, delivered, and from thence hauled to the landing by 

dray. ' ., . i , 

Persons wanting suxiplies will be required to remain at said stations, and the same 
wTll be furnished them. No one, under any circumstances, will be allowed to hold 
converse wdth any person outside the lines. " All such communication must be done in 

writing. , ^ t i 

Physicians living in town are exemxit from the action of said quarantine wTien they 

are called outside the lines protessionally. 

This quarantine is to continue iu force until at such time Avheu, in the judgment of 
Dr. B. G. Greenfield, health officer, it is no longer necessary. 

It h further resoh-ed, That any and all planters and citizens of Saint Joseph specially, 



326 


LOUISIAKA IN 1878. 


[TensaiB 


and the chairman of the colored committee, are earnestly requested to co-operate in 
sustaining the action of this committee and entorcing said quarantine. 

H. F. SHAIFER, 

WM. MURDOCK, 

T. C. SACHSE, 

BENJ. LEVY, 

C. G. NICHOLS, 
JOSEPH MOORE, 

Committee. 

C. G. Nichols, Secretary. 


H. F. SHAIFEE. 

^^EAV Orleans, La., January 15, 1879. 

H. F. SiiAiFER sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. Saint Joseph, Tensas Par¬ 
ish, Louisiana. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. I have been there since 
1867, temporarily; during the war I moved up with my family. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. It is mixed; I have a plantation to 
attend to, and agencies for two or three other places. 

Q. AA'ere yon there during the entire portion of the late campaign*?— 
A. Yes, sir; in toAvn all the time. 

Q. Hid you take any part in that cauAmss ?—A. Nothing marked that 
I know of. 

Q. AYhere did yon Amte ?—A. At Saint Joseph. 

Q. In the town of Saint Joseph?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYas the campaign a peaceable and quiet one?—A. AATth the ex¬ 
ception of the riots there sometime prcAdonsly it Avas perfectly quiet. 

Q. Of which riots do yon speak ?—A. At AA^ aterproof. 

Q. Any other outside of these ?—A. None that I know of. 

Q. Ho yon know anything of yonr personal knowledge ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You A^oted at Saint Joseph on the day of the election ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. AYas the election peaceable and quiet ?—A. I thought more so than 
I ever knew. 

Q. Hid yon see any one prcA^ented from voting or interfered with?— 
A. No, sir. AYith the exception of one hour I think I Avas on the ground 
all the time. 

Q. AA^as the usual number of Amtes polled there at that precinct?—A. 
Yes, sir; perhaps from seventy-five to one hundred less; I don’t recol¬ 
lect the exact figures. 

Q. Was there any apprehension in that parish as to the yellow feAW 
getting in there ?—A. Yes, sir; it Avas to such an extent that at first the 
citizens acted in forming a quarantine, and thinking that it had not the 
effect of law or the backing of the law, they petitioned the legislature to 
meet and make a quarantine, which they did unanimously, both Eepub- 
licans and Hemocrats; they were both represented on the board that 
composed the quarantine. 

Q. It was generally acquiesced in by the citizens ?—^A. I neA^er heard 
any objection to it. 

Q. You think there was a necessity for it ?—A. Yes, sir; as much as 
Natchez, Eoderj^, or any other x)oint on the river. 

Q. You knew nothing, personally, of these riots?—A. No, sir; those 


Msh.] TESTIMONY OF H. F. SHAIFER. 327 

I know are in reference to tliose riots that occurred in my yicinity. It 
did not amount to a riot; it was simply threatenings. 

Q. Threatened by whom, and what was the character of the threats?— 
A. I will say that when we had tried the quarantine regulation for a 
week or two the citizens came to the conclusion that in order to enforce it 
properly, after the police jury met and passed these recommendations, that 
they, as the citizens of the town of Saint Joseph, would pay some party 
to take command of the yolunteer quarantine guards and keep them 
regulated during the day and night—to have the day guard at his place 
and stay in his position himself until the night guard (which was en¬ 
tirely yolunteer) relieved him. They came to me and made this propo¬ 
sition to know if I would accept it. I told them that I would. One 
gentleman said, “Mr. Shaifer, we don’t want you to do this for nothing, 
Ave Avant to pay you for your trouble.” I told them I could not give 
my time to the thing and do it for nothing; that I was not in a position 
to do it; that, if they insisted on it, I AA^ould take it for so much money 
a month, which Avas agreed on, and I took command of the guards, 
night and day, j^et we had a subcompany of the guard, dmded into, 
say, three or four guards, one for each night, until the number of 
active men was exhausted; then it commenced again. For the day 
guard I had such men as 1 (‘.ould x>ick iq). They could run for six or 
seA^en days, until I Avould call on the same guard again. The political 
excitement came on, and it required us to be more Augilant in order 
to keep the lines closed. A disease occurred in the same neighbor¬ 
hood, on Lake Bruin, AAuthin a week—about the first of October—that 
killed a great many peoj^le, and killed some Avhites and some blacks. 
We quarantined against it,'for, although it aa us not yellow feA^er, it was 
so much like it that we quarantined against it and made it efficient 
against everybody—black and white—as near as we could. The quar¬ 
antine Avas ordered by the pohce jury. The part 1 took in it was to take 
charge of it night and day, for which they agreed to pay me so much 
money. 

Q. This disease you speak of at Lake Bruin was thought by a good 
many to be yelloAv fever itself?—A. Well, sir, it comes in so many forms., 
When Dr. Weatherly Avas first questioned of it by our quarantine med¬ 
ical officer he said that it bore a great resemblance to it, but that he 
Avould call it something else, and afterward ridiculed the idea altogether 
that there Avas any deadly disease about it. All we know is that it killed 
a good many x)eo]Ale on his place and the adjoining xfiace, and lost to 
both of them the gathering of their croi)s. 

Q. Do you knoAV anything about that Fairfax trouble, except the gen¬ 
eral talk ?—A. I do not. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AYhere was your quarantine established ?—A. In the town. 

Q. Hoav did you stand guard there ?—A. In the tOAvn and on the roads 
approaching the toAvn. 

Q. On every road ?—A. Yes, sir; sometimes in the openings, where 
parties could come into the town, in order to scare away, and I had a 
guard stationed there. 

Q. When did you commence that seA^ere quarantine ?—A. I think 
about the 1st of September. 

Q. When did you quit it ?—A. Only a feAV days—well, it became in¬ 
efficient about tlie time of the election. 

Q. Before or after ?—A. I cannot say. I recollect the day on which 
a threat was made that they would break our quarantine lines. 





328 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas 


Q. What (lay was that!—A. On the 12th. 

Q. What day of the week was that—A. It was on Saturday, per¬ 
haps—the day of the killing of Peck. 

Q. By whom was that threat made ?—A. By Add. Brown j he lives on 
the Snnnyside idantation, east of north of Saint Joseph. 

Q. Where did he make that threat ?—A. At my upper guard station. 

Q. Whereabouts?—A. Just on the edge. 

Q. About whom did he make it ?—A. To the guard that was on that 
day. 

Q. Did you hear it ?—A. I did not. They reported it to me as soon 
as they came. 

Q. Did he say he would break the quarantine ?—A. He did not say 
he would. He said, ‘AVe will be here on Monday and break these lines 
and hold a convention.” That occurred directly after my interview 
with the man. He questioned me very closely as to the locality of the 
convention to be held in any other place than at the court-house. I re¬ 
marked to him that it did not matter where a convention was held; that 
they could hold it at any j^lace agreed on by the parties. E remarked it 
to a large party that came in. He said they were going in to register. 
I told him that in order not to deprive them of the light of registering, 
I would bring to the lines the books, and they could register there. 
They were satisfied and went away. The talk I had to this large 
(?rowd was on the plank road in the northwest part of the town on 
Sunday. Directly after that I was told that there was a good l)ig crowd 
at the Tq)per line, and that they were excited, and I went ui) and had 
an interview with the leader. 

Q. What were they coming in for ?—A. They were dissatisfied. They 
wanted to come to town and trade and talk this convention matter over. 

Q. Did they say anything about registering ?—A; I don’t think they 
did. I repeated "to them, after talking to them, that the party coidd 
hold their convention anywhere else as well as in the court-house, and 
I told them 1 had already said to these parties on the other line that I 
would see they were registered in proper time, whether the quarantine 
continued or not. 

Q. About how many were there at that time ?—A. About twenty-five. 

Q. Now, I mean not on the plank road, but on the other?—A. Well, 
that is what I mean; on the plank road there was not less than fifty. 

Q. Was Brown there?—A. Yes, sir; he came previous to that. 

Q. Then, when you explained this matter, they all went away satis¬ 
fied ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the plaidv road people appear to be satisfied ?—A. Yes, sir ; 
they knew me well, and when I gave them that personal explanation, 
they all went away. 

Q. How many men came down to the plank road ?—A. I think not 
less than forty. 

Q. Twenty-five on the other ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. These men were dissatisfied because they wanted to come in Mon¬ 
day and hold a convention ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The meeting was called to be held at the court-house?—A. Possi¬ 
bly it was. 

Q. This was on Saturday, the 12th ?—A. I believe about the 12th ; 
that is my recollection. 

Q,. From the evidence taken before the governor’s commission sent up 
there, they did not break the quarantine ?—A. Not then; but I doubled 
my guard on Monday, and put responsible men there, 

Q. How many men did you put on ?—A. Six. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. F. SIIAIFER. 


329 


Q. Distributed them around where it was uecessary ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You speak of the riot; what riot do you refer to?—A. I cannot 
call it a riot, sir. I will say this: that in proof that they did mean 
something by their threats on Saturday", that on Monday we came, in 
answer to a call to the upi)er line, saying that there Avas a large lot of 
people there, and that they were excited, and that about a mile aboAX 
there Avms another lot of men. 

Q. Did you go to see?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men did you find?—A. About twenty. 

Q. Is that a large body?—A. Well, we speak of a large body that 
way. 

Q. What did these men do ?—A. They appeared to be listening to a 
conA^ersation betAveen Mr. McGill—old Thomas N. McGill—and I think 
it AA^as Mr. Sachse, in reference to a note that McGill had written to the 
sherilf, or some party in the toAvn that morning, stating that there was 
no armed demonstration or anything that looked like a riotous proceed¬ 
ing. He made that statement in toAAui, but I reckon he found Avhat he 
said afterwards to be a large lot of men armed, and he returned imme¬ 
diately and gave notice of that, for fear we would censure him. 

Q. Had he returned now?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It was from him that you learned of this large body of men?—A. 
Y^es, sir. 

Q. What do you mean by a large lot of men—Avhat do you understand 
McGill said about it?—A. I Avould say that twenty men Avould be a large 
body. 

Q. Did you understand there were twenty up there when he said a 
^Garge body”?—A. Well, I understood there Avas a large body. 

Q. He did not tell you there were five or six hundred ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. These men AA^ent off that day?—A. Yes, sir. He said at the same 
time that Dr Weatherly was still there trying to disperse them. I got 
Mr. Sachse—and Major Richardson Avas one of my aids in this quarantine 
matter; I got him and Mr. Sachse to go out and intervieAv these people. 
They went out and found them with arms, and Major Richardson told 
me that he Avent up and asked them if thej" expected to do any harm 
Avith those guns as organized, well armed men. I suppose he had refer¬ 
ence to arms that they were to use that day. 

Q. Did Richardson say they were badly armed?—A. Well, they had 
all sorts of arms; none of them very efficient. 

Q. They did not come down and break the line ?—A. Ho, sir; but they 
threatened to. 

Q. How, that is the only riot you know anything about ?—A. I did 
not hear of any others, nor that at Waterproof. 

Q. But you (lid hear of this ?—A. It was a matter of notoriety to every¬ 
body about there. 

Q. Did that occur on the same day ?—A. Ho, sir. The threat to break 
the quarantine was made on Saturday, the day of the night on Avhich 
Peck was killed. 

Q. Did you attribute the affair at Waterproof to the threats they 
had made there that day ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Had no connection with it ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Do you know when you relaxed the very strict quarantine, if it 
was immediately after the convention was over ?—A. Ho, sir; I Avill say 
that it did not lack two days of the election. I will say it was almost 
simultaneous Avith the election. 

Q. Was it just immediately before or immediately after ?—A. I cannot 
say. 





330 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. How did tlie voters get into vote on election day ?—A. We made 
no objection to it. 

Q. How about these men registering?—A. They registered just as 
soon as the quarantine was raised—that gives me a clew—it was about 
a week before, or the first of November, because I gave it out publicly, 
and sent a party to Bristol to let them know they could come in. 

Q. It was a very quiet election all through, was it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any excitement in the county pending the campaign?— 
A. Yes, sir; excitement everywhere. 

Q. I mean politically ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did any excitement grow out of any killing in that country ?—A. 
No, sir; I do not think there was any in reference to killing people; but 
there was two parties, and there was a good deal of feeling between the 
two parties in consequence of the feeling by which they became two 
parties. 

Q. Can you state the circumstances of that ?—A. I reckon I can. I 
will state that the ticket, as made up and agreed to by the Democratic 
l)arty appeard to be complete until Bland made some objection to it. 
He was left oft the ticket as magistrate for his ward, and he took ex¬ 
ception to that, and bolted, and made his own ticket, and that made 
bad feeling. 

Q. In what shape did that feeling exhibit itself?—A. How do you 
mean? 

Q. How did it show itself ?—A. It shoAved itself in a bitter feeling. 

Q. What was the bitter feeling?—A. By the talk and remarks made 
between the twm parties AvheneA^er they came into collision. 

Q. Were they severe in their language?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Any threats made on either side?—A. Well, sir, I was appointed 
with another gentle tit an to go and talk with Mr. Douglas, and see if we 
could not settle these matters. He said that threats had been, made 
against him and his party. I told him I didn’t believe there was any 
such feeling. He said he could not disbelieve it. He put himself in a 
position to defend himself. After these things were all talked over he 
acknowledged, so far as I can learn, that he Avas misinformed, and all 
that. 

Q. Did you hear him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any armed bodies of men around your county?—A. 
Yes, sir. During the riot at Waterproof there was. 

Q. Was there a riot on Monday ?—A. I think so. I cannot say there 
was a riot; but they were making threats. 

Q. Then you saw on Monday some armed bodies of men ?—A. Yes, sir. 
On Monday evening, in the toAAm of Saint Joseph. 

Q. Where did they come from ?—A. From the back of our parish. 
People who said they were intimidated, and that they were collecting 
together to defend themselves. 

Q. How many men did you say ?—A. About thirty, I suppose. 

Q. Where did they go ?—A. They Avent under the direction of the 
sheriff and judge to Waterproof on Tuesday. 

Q. Noav, Avhat other bodies did you see besides those ?—A. I saw men 
from farther out west. I don’t know where they were from. 

Q. Do you know where they were from ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you see these men ?—A. On Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Q. Hoav many of them ?—A. Sixty or seventy. 

Q. Were they armed men?—A. Most of them. 

Q. Were they not all armed?—-A. No, sir; a great portion of them 
were. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. F. SHAIFER. 


831 


Q. What (lid they come iu for I—A. Because they understood we were 
fighting a question as between races^ and they came in to defend the 
whites as against the blacks. 

Q. And you think they came in armed for that purpose?—A. I think so. 

Q. Is that the custom in your country^ for men to come iiq half of them 
unarmed, to defend the whites as against the blacks ?—A. I cannot say 
as they do. 

I Q. What proportion of these men do you say were armed !—A. Three- 
j fourths of them. 

I Q. They were there Tuesday or Wednesday?—A. Wednesday, I 
I think. 

i Q. What other armed bodies did you see ?—A. I think on Thursday 
1 there was another body came in. 
j Q. Where did they come from ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Who had charge of them ?—A. I don^ recollect how many iu that 
, company—about fifty. 

’ Q. Were they armed?—A. Yes, sir; most of them. 

Q. Were they on horseback ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did they go?—A. They went to Waterproof,most of them. 

Q. Why did they go there ?—A. It was quiet, as far as I know, 
j Q. Did you see them go back ?—A. I don’t recollect, except scatter- 
i ing bodies. I think the main body went out on the lower road from the 
parish. 

Q. These men all went through the town of Saint Joseph ?—A. Yes, 

' sir; most of them. 

i Q. Did you object to their going through on account of quarantine?— 
I A. No, sir; under the circumstances we were glad to see them, 
j Q. Could they have gone to Waterproof without going to Saint Jo- 
1 seph ?—^A. Yes, sir; but they came there with the fixed i)urx)ose of car- 
I rying out the law. 

Q. They have carried out that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With the deputy ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Under whose control did they put themselves?—^A. Under the 
sheriff. 

Q. He furnished the deputy?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know who he selected for commissioners ?—A. I don’t. I 
know that iu all these cases there was a deputy sheriff with them. 

Q. Now we will take the first company. Who went ahead of that com¬ 
pany ?—A. The sheriff* and the judge himself. 

Q. Now the next company. Who was the deputy ?—^A. I don’t know 
who went through with them. 

Q. Who wore they ?—A. It was a company that went up from Lake 
Saint Joseph, in the upper part of the parish, I believe. The captain’s 
name was Kinney. 

Q. Now what day did Kinney go up ?—A. It appears to me it was on 
Thursday, as well as I can re(X)llect. 

Q. That was the same date that a large body of men went down ?— 
A. I don’t know, indeed. 

Q. Did you not say that on Thursday another body was at Water¬ 
proof ?—A. I may be mistaken as to the day. 

Q. Was it the same day that the men went down that Kinney went 
up to the other part ?—A." I don’t know ; I was not in town that day. I 
was on a commission to have a conference with Douglas and his party. 
On the morning of the day that I left to see Douglas this company left, 
going in the same direction I was—agoing towards the upper part of the 
parish; but took a dift‘erent way coming back. I did not see them. 




332 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. I understood you that the first body of men that come in said they 
were intimidated themselves ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, they were in a sparsely-settled portion of the parish ?—A. 
They felt that they were in more danger than anybody else. 

Q. How many men came in from that country ?—A. About 20. 

Q. About how far did they come—A. From 25 to 30 miles. 

Q. Hid they bring their families along ?—A. I^o, sir. 

Q. And yet they considered themselves in danger out there ?—A. Yes, 
sir; although I don’t know that they were in danger. 

Q. Hid you not say that these men said they were in danger where 
they were, and therefore they had hastened into town, leaving their 
wives and children behind them; that is what they said?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you were keeping ui^ a strict quarantine, did you make any 
distinction between the classes of people jmu kept out ?—A. is^o, sir. 

Q. Hid your men ?—A. Not that 1 know of. 

Q. Hid Colonel Zachary come up at that time ?—A. He came up about 
a week before the troubles. 

Q. Hid he get in ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did he come from ?—A. From New Orleans. 

Q. You did not quarantine against him?—A. We did not. I suppose 
it was a week or ten daj^s afterwards. 

Q. The yellow fever was raging all the time down here ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not think it was dangerous to let him in ?—A. We thought 
there as much danger in letting him in as anybody else, but he was 
a man in authority, and we did not i)ropose to go against him. We Avere 
willing that the statute should be investigated, and laid no objection in 
the way. 

The Chairman. Have you any witness, Mr. Garland, that you desire 
to place on the stand ? 

Mr. Garland. I have scA^eral witnesses from Tensas Parish, who are 
under indictment here by the grand jury, or expect to be, but they have 
not yet concluded to come upon the stand before this committee, and 
will not be able to decide until to-morrow morning. I therefore ask 
the committee to indulge me until that time, to give them opportunity 
to consult. 

Permission was granted. 


A. J. BRYANT. 


Neav Orleans, La., January IG, 1870. 

Senator A. J. Bryant (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman ; 

Question. Where do you liA^e ?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long haA^e you lived there?—A. All my life. 

Q. Ho you hold any official position ?—A. Yes, sir; I am senator for 
the district in Avhich I li\^e, the twenty-sixth senatorial district. 

Q. You are a meniber of the present legislature ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When were you elected?—A. In 187G. 

il. Hid you take any part in the late political campaign?—A. I did 
not. 

Q. Have you any knoAvledge of the way in which that campaign was 
conducted? —A. Yes, sir; I liaA^e some knoAvledge regarding it. 

Q. You inay (‘.ommence at the beginning and state Avhat you know.— 
A. I live in the parish of Tensas. The Republican party did not put 



Pariah.] 


TESTIMOJSIY OF A. J. BRYANT. 


333 


any ticket in the field last fall on account of threats tliat were made by 
the Democratic party in the parish. We commenced there to reorgain 
ize the Eepiiblican party some time in Sei)tember. I was looked upon 
as a sort of leader of the party there. We called a convention to nom¬ 
inate a ticket. We did not nominate a ticket tliat day, from the fact that 
Ave could not get the men to accei)t the i)osition we expected Avould do 
so. We luwe always run a ticket, we Kepublicans, of both Avliite and 
black. The white men that we exi)ected Avould accept the positions on 
the ticket refused to do so. We postponed making any nominations 
till the following Monday, a week afterwards. After adjourning the con¬ 
vention—when we did not nominate a ticket—we were threatened by 
Democrats there in tOAvn, and adA ised not to make a ticket. We were 
told that if Ave did it Avould be considei ed a declaration of war. A com¬ 
mittee Avaited on me from the Democratic side—a committee of three— 
AA'ho told me that if I adA^ocated the putting uj) of a lie|)ublican ticket 
[ my life Avas unsafe, and that they Avould consider it a declaration of Avar. 

I 1 then did not put any in the field, nor advocated putting any in the 

field. On the day of our (‘oiiAention Ave appointed a committee of con¬ 
ference to confer aa ith the Democratic party, to see if aa e could not make 
a fusion ticket and get along aa ithout difficulty. This aa as on the 5th of 
October, on Saturday. On Monday, the Ttli of October, the Democratic 
; convention met. I was chairman of the committee of conference that 
had been api)ointed. I AA^ent to the Democratic coiiA^ention expecting 
that a similar committee would be appointed by that. Some one in that 
convention made a motion that no committee on conference should be ax)- 
XAoiiited, and the chairman Avas requested to inform us of the fact tliat 
they did not want any alliance Avith us. On the same day, after the ad¬ 
journment of the convention, the committee waited on me, and said they 
AA anted no conference, and did not i)i‘ox)ose to run any fusion ticket; 
and, furthermore, that the best thing I could do Avas to keeiA quiet, ami 
^ not take any hand in adA ocating the liexAublican ticket or in xAutting any 
I in the field. They.said that it Avas dangerous. They threatened to i^ut 
in operation a programme which they afterwards carried out. I liA^ed 
there among them, and I thougiit it best to keex) quiet, and did so, and 
took no part in the camx>aign afterwards. 

Q. What did they say they Avould do; wliat AAms the x^rogramme wliich 
you said they carried out afterwards ?—A. They said they intendiM to 
carry the election in that x>arish at all events and by any means. If any 
one got in the Avay, they intended to move him out of tlie way, ewen if it 
was I. It Avas not safe for me to lead the x)arty any further. Then, after 
tliat, I Avent sIoav. The folloAving JMonday Avas the day for our coua en- 
tion—the Kexmblican coiiA ention. Our coiiA’^ention was held on the 14th. 
BetAveen the 7th and tlie 14th tlie town Avas quarantined, so tliat we 
could not get into the toAvn. So our ]>olitical coiiA^ention had to meet 
about tAvelA^e miles from town. Between the 7th and the 14th there was 
such excitement going on, and so many threats Avere made, that I didn’t 
go to our convention at all. Mr. Fairfax was to meet there that day; 
but on the 12th the difiiculty took x>kace in the lower end of the x^arish, 
AAdiere he lived, so that I didn’t go. ]\lany delegates Avent, according to 
Avhat I heard afterAvards—about twenty-five or tliirty. The place where 
they held the coiiA^ention was right in the road betAveen Saint Joseph 
and Tensas. But they heard that crowds of men were coming from the 
back parishes, going toAvards AVaterproof. Finally, they got scared and 
dispersed. I staid at home and did not take any x^art in the camxiaign, 
one way or the other. As I could not adA^ocate the liexuiblican ticket, I 
thought I would remain quiet and do noth in g. After the 14th, that same 



334 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Teusaa 


week, a crowd of men came up into our neighborhood—I believe, twenty- 
four of them—under the deputy sheriff, from Saint Joseph. I was going 
to Newelltown that day and met them. They asked me some questions. 
When I returned home, I found that a man had been shot on the road 
by these men. 

Q. Did you see the man that was shot ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you learn the circumstances under which he was shot ?—A. I 
was told by the man by whom he was employed that he and this man 
were working together on a wagon in the road. Tliey looked up and 
saw this company of men under the deputy sheriff coming in that direc¬ 
tion. This man became frightened and ran away. The others followed 
liim and shot him as he was running across a cotton-field. He did not 
die immediately. He lived about two weeks, and then died. 

Q. Was it the sheriff’s posse that shot him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the name of that sheriff!—A. It was Kinney; I was 
acquainted with him. He told me he was deputy sheriff*, and that this 
was the sheriff ’s posse that he had with him. He asked me if I knew 
of any armed men in our neighborhood. I told him that I did not; and 
he then said that he Avas ui> there to arrest armed men that he had heard 
of in that neighborhood. 

There Avere scAwal solicitations made to me by both sides of the Dem¬ 
ocratic party. They solicited me to support their side. There was a 
Democratic club organized at NewelltoAvn, called the Daylight Ohib, and 
they put me doAv n as being Auce-president of the club, but I was not 
there. I never authorized them to make me an officer of the club, and 
took no part, CA^eu after being put down as the A^ice-president. 

On the night previous to the election, between 25 and 30 men came 
from toAvards Tensas, which Avas back of my i)laGe about 0 miles. They 
came toAvard my house about 12 or 1 o’clock in the night. They sur¬ 
rounded the house and called me out and marched me about a quarter 
of a mile from the house; I was in my night-clothes. They did not 
allow me to put on any other clothing. This was the night preA^ious to 
the election. I asked them AAdiat they were seiwing me in that way for. 
I told them I had not done anything against the Democratic party. I 
had been sheriff* of the parish for four years and I had conducted the 
affairs of the office satisfactorily to all. I had made no enemies in the 
parish that 1 knew of, and I asked what I had done. They charged me 
with advocating what Avas knoAvn as the Douglas and Biand ticket in 
preference to the straight Democratic ticket. They said I had been 
selling them out. I had not seen Douglas nor Bland nor Weatherly, 
nor any of their party—had had nothing to do with any of them, not 
even exchanged any coiiA^ersation Avhatever A\ith any of them. I told 
them that I had not had anything to do whatever Avith that party. 
They made threats that if I had done so they intended to put me 
through,” or Avords to that eff*ect. They cursed around and f hreatened 
me in various AAays, but I talked pretty clever, and finally they turned 
me loose upon my pledging myself that I Avould be at the polls next 
day to vote the regular Democratic ticket. Upon this they turned me 
loose. The next day I went out, according to promise, and, as I Avas 
afraid they would come after me again, I voted the Deinocratic ticket. 
There Avere some of these same parties there at the polls that had taken 
me out and threatened me, and I thought it best for me to submit and 
vote the regular ticket. 

Q. You kneAv some of these men, sir?—A. Yes, sir; I recognized two 
of them to be the same men that had taken me out the night before. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. The tAVO that I recognized lived there in the 


Parish. ] 


TESTIMONY OF A. J. BRYANT. 


335 


parish; one of them was named Backney, another was named Hansbury. 
I had known Hansbnry for about ten years. We had always been 
friendly. He said that he was advised to do what he had done. That 
was about all that they did or that I did. 

Q. Will yon give the names of this committee that called upon you— 
the Democratic committee?—A. Their names were T. Q. Muntz, Cor¬ 
neille Goldman, and T. G. Sachse. 

Q. What did they threaten to do to yon ?—A. They said they would 
kill me if they were satisfied I had sold out to the Douglas party. I 
don’t know as they used the word ‘^kill”; they said they would ‘^put 
me through.” From the way they said it, and from other things, I un¬ 
derstood them to mean that they would kill me. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they have any other implements by which they might have 
killed you ?—A. They had a rope with them. 

Q. Did they threaten to use the rope, or attempt to use it ?—A. The^^ 
did not attempt to use it. 

Q. Did you see any other armed bodies of men besides these !—A. 
Yes, sir; I saw this crowd of men that passed along in the daytime; 
the crowd that Kinney was at the head 6f. This was the first crowd. 

Q. How far did you live from Saint Joseph ?—A. About 22 miles. 

Q. How far from Waterproof!—A. About 35 miles. 

Q. You live back from the river, in the country!—A. Yes, sir; I live 
in what is called the north end of the parish. Waterproof is nearly on 
the line down at this end—the south end. 

Q. Did you have any conversation with any others in which threats 
were made !—A. Ko, sir; no more than in a general way. 

Q. How in a general way!—A. Well, I talked with several Democrats 
who lived there in the parish, and they said in a general way that if I 
did advocate the Kepublican ticket, and lead my friends against the reg¬ 
ular Democratic ticket, it would not be well for me. 

Q. Can you name these parties!—A. Well, no, sir; I cannot name 
any one particularly. I would be in a crowd sometimes where they 
would be talking in a general way. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Where did you vote in that parish !—A. In the second precinct, 
where I lived—in Kewelltown. 

Q. Did I understand you to say that when you voted you saw some 
persons there that had taken you out at night and threatened you !—A. 
I saw several persons that were strangers; I don’t know their names, 
and did not ask. I was told that some of them were the same parties 
that had taken me from my house that night. 

Q. Were those i)ersons that came to your house the night before the 
election disguised or masked !—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you recollect Sachse, Goldman, and Muntz among them!—A. 
Ko, sir; they were not the ones that took me out the night before the 
election. They that did it were Buckney and Hansbury. 

Q. Hansbury lives down below you, in the country, I think you said !— 
A. Yes, sir; 15 or 20 miles, on what we call the Tensas Eiver. 

Q. This committee that waited on you on Saturday, the 5th, were 
Sachse, Goldman, Muntz,-!—A. That was on Monday, the 7th. 

Q. Who waited on you on Saturday, the 5th, and told you that it was 
unsafe to put a ticket in the field !—A. Mr. Sachse and Colonel Beeves. 
This talk was in Mr. Sachse’s store. Mr. Beeves and I were both in 
there that day. This is what Sachse and Beeves were saying. 



336 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Did tliey make any tlireats^ did you say, that day ?—A. IlTo, sir; 
not tliat day. 

Q. When were the threats made the first time to you?—A. On Mon¬ 
day, the 7th. 

Q. Was it not a matter of fact that Fairfax was the man to whom 
they addressed all their communications, as leader of the party?—A. 
No, sir; Fairfax and I were both leaders. Fairfax lived in the south 
end of the ward, and was leader there; while I lived in the north end 
of the ward, and was considered as a sort of leader there. Fairfax was 
Avaited on, I think, the same Monday I was. 

Q. Were you together, you and Fairfax, when you were waited on?— 
A. No, sir; we were waited on separately. I was told by Fairfax and 
lioss Stewart and Noah Nealy that the same committee waited on them 
that day that waited on me. 

Q. Did you see Mr. Fairfax on the 14th of October ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you seen him since the trouble at his house ?—A. No, sir; I 
have never seen him since the 7th. 

Q. HaA^e you been subpoenaed as a Avitness before the IJnited States 
grand jury as to these matters here?—A. I have been subpoenaed, but 
I haA^e not been before them yfet. 

Q. When did you come doA\m to the city ?—A. I came down here last 
Monday week. 

Q. You did not come till the legislature coiiA^ened ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You remained up there all the time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say there were as many as tAventy-tour people Avith the deputy 
sheriff, Kinney ?—A. Yes, sir; there were twenty-three or twenty-four. 

Q. Were you well acquainted with him ?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. You knew he was then deputy sheriff ?—A. I did not know he was 
deputy sheriff until that day. He told me that he had been apxAointed 
deputy sheriff to go around with this crowd of men and hunt u^) armed 
bodies of men iix) in that neighborhood. He said he had heard of such 
armed bodies, and asked me if 1 had seen any. I told him I had not, 
and did not know of any. 

Q. You are going back there after you get through Avith the legisla¬ 
ture?—A. Yes, sir; I am planting up there. 

Q. Do 3 mu know where Alfred Fairfax is noAV?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What is the name of the man that was shot up there ?—A. Asbury 
Epps. 

Q. You did not see him shot ?-—A. No, sir; I met this crowd of men 
under the deputy sheriff as I was going to NeAvelltoAvn on Saturday. 
When I returned home I heard of it. The house where he was shot was 
right on the road; close by the side of the road. He lived near my 
X)lace, on the next place. 

Q. How long was he shot before you saw him ?—A. I suppose about 
six hours. 

Q. Was there any inquest held OA^er him while you were there ?—A. 
No, sir; not to my knowledge. I Avas in the neighborhood Avhen he 
died, but I neA^er heard anything about an inquest. 


ABEAHAM THOMAS. 

Neav Orleans, January 16, 1879. 
Abraham Thomas sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Tensas Parish. 



Pai’sli] TESTIMONY OF ABRAHAM THOMAS. 337 

Q. How lon^' have you resided there ?—A. I was bred and born there, 
sir. 

Q. What business have yon been engaged in?—A. In making cotton, 
corn, potatoes, beans, &c. 

Q. Were yon there during last summer ?—A. Yes, sir. 

State what experience yon had in the last camx>aign up there.— 
A. Well, sir, I never saw such trouble before as existed between the 
parties in that last campaign. 1 liad not been registerifig and voting 
for a few years V)ack, because I was not old enough to vote. Wlien I 
got old enough to vote I conceiA^ed I had a right to Amte and help elect 
our otlicers, as otlier Kepubli(ians did. 1 thougiit that it Avas no more 
than rigiit for eA-ery man to appreciate his oavu rights and priA ileges. 
But it happened this campaign that I didn’t get a chance. 

Q. AYliat occurred that you didn’t get a cliance toAmte?—A. There 
occurred a great riot, and I had to come aAvay before the election came 
otf. 

Q. State the particulars more fully.—A. I Avas in my field picking 
cotton. I li\'e about a mile from the quarters, on the back of the plan¬ 
tation—Alyrtle Grove they call the place. I heard that these foes had 
arrived, and 1 didn’t know aa hat to do. 

Q. What foes are you talking about ?—A. Those riding about in Ten¬ 
sas. 

Q. In Avhat place?—A. About Myrtle Grove—that is the name of Bass’s 
])lace; they said some gentlemen had come in there. I lieard of that,, 
but didn’t see it. I heard at my i)lace that these men were at the (luar- 
ters, armed, killing people. I couldn’t pick any more cotton then, I got 
so disturbed. I started into the quarters to see if I could hear any iieAA^s., 
There was a little, grove between me and the quarters; and, as I Avas on 
my Avay out, they popped from behind that grove tAA o or three hundred 
yards aAvay. Then I broke and run. They fired at me, but I escaped 
into a cockle-burr patch. I hid myself in there. They rode on aa ithout 
seeing me. I lay there until about midnight; finally I slipped out and 
Avent home. I heard that they had killed some men in the quarter. 

! Q. What day of the AA^eek was that ?—A. I think it Avas Tuesday. I 
I disremember for certain. I got somethiug to eat, and Avent back into 
my hiding-place again. My father lived on the same place; it AA^as a 
double house AA^e lived in. The next morning, Avhen I Avent there, my 
father said I Avould better stay aAvay. I said I knew I had done noth¬ 
ing. I had AA aited on white gentlemen around there, and they always 
gaA^e me a good name, and iioav what they Avere after me for, Avhen I had 
harmed nobody, I couldn’t understand. I think they shot at me just 
because I ran." Finally they came to my house in the night. I laid. 
aAvay the Avhole Aveek • on Friday night I AA^eiit back into tire quarter. 

q" What about their coming to your house ?—A. My father said they 
liad been there and asked for me. They said they had some refreshment 
for me. I made my way out of the Avoods and went into the quarter. 
Charley Bethel AA^ent with me. I Avas in one room and Charley Bethel 
in another. There AA^eresome men sitting in the house Avith him. These 
armed men came and nmde the Avomen open the door. They hinged 
rioht in, and a part of them surrounded the house. As Charley Bethel 
juniped out of the AvindoAv, they shot him doAvn. I aimed to open the 
door and these Av^omen got hold of my coat and pulled me back. I staid 
AAdiere I Avas, in the doorvA'^ay. The door was half ajar. I stood there 
shivering, not knowing Iioav to get out of this. They had shot down 
Charley Betlud. One of the men got out of his pocket a lantern; another 
man said, “Cut his God damned throat.” Charley said, “Please, gen- 

22 T 



338 


LOUISIANA IN 187^ 


[Tensas 


tlemen, don’t cut my throat, and I will tell yon where Dan. Kennedy is.’’ 
Dan. Kennedy was another man they were after. They cut his throat; 
they didn’t ask any more about me. " I could tell when they went off by 
the dogs barking as they went along. Then I went and got a light. 
Another of the men that had been hid in the quarter came up and 
knocked at the door, and I opened it. Said he, “Abraham, didn’t he 
kill somebody or other here this morning ? ” I said, “ Yes; there is a man 
here somewhore—Charley Bethel (they sometimes called him Charley Co- 
ville). We went out, and right there in front of the door was Charley 
Bethel, dead. After that I heard they were riding around Tor me. I 
laid around there until I got a chance to come away. I have been away 
ever since. 

Q. How long did you stay after they killed Charley Bethel ?—A. I got 
off* the next Saturday. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. When you found Bethel, what did you find had been done to him ?— 
A. He had been shot in the back and his throat cut. I went to him. 
His throat was split down to his collar band. It was the dreadfulest 
sight I ever saw in my life. 

Q. Did you recognize any of the men in the party!—A. No, sir; I 
was so scared I didn’t know where I was. 

Q. Did you observe whether they were white or colored ?—^A. They 
were Avhite men, thougli 1 cannot say that I saw them all; but the ones 
that I saw were white men. 

Q. How many did you see!—A. There was such a crowd of them I 
could not tell. There were enough to surround the house. I could hear 
them on all sides of the house. My wife and children were there, and 
what little i)roi)erty I had, and I had to leave. 

By Mr CArland : 

Q. How old are you !—A. I am going on 27 years. 

Q. How far is the ])lace you lived on from what is called the Bass 
jdace !—A. That is the place I live on. Myrtle Grove is the name of 
Mr. Bass’s place. 

Q. How tar were you in the field from the public road !—A. I was 
coming up to the iniblic road from the house. 1 had my house on my 
own land. 

Q. When did you first see these men !—A. They were coming along 
the road. There was a little grove that hid them from me, so that I 
didn’t see them until they got within two or three hundred yards of me. 
When 1 saw them, I tried to run away; then they shot at me, but didn’t 
hit me. 

Q. How many shots were fired?—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Did you know any of the persons in the company?—A. No, sir; I 
liave never seen tliem since, and I don’t feel as if 1 wanted to. 

Q. Where did you sleep that night ?—A. I laid out until the coming 
Saturday. I laid out until about twelve o’clock that first night, and 
then I went to my house to tell my wife. She took the children and 
went down to my father’s house. She slipped me something to eat 
until 1 got away. 

Q. Wlien ?—A. That same week. 

C^. How ffir is the house where Charley Bethel was killed from your 
house ?—A. It was in the quarter. I kept hid about the quarter so that 
I could get on a boat without being seen. 

Q. How far was the ])lace where Charley Bethel Avas killed from your 
house ?—A. About a mile. 




Pariah.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES DEWING. 


339 


Q. Wliat time of niglit did they come to the house where you and 
Charley was t—A. It was pretty near daylight in the morning. 1 should 
say between three and four o’clock. 

Q. How many shots were lired at Charley ?—A. One. 

Q. Did you see them when they cut his throat?—A. Yes,sir; one 
pulled out of his pocket a lantern, and the others said, “Out his throat,” 
and Charley said he would tell where Daniel Kennedy was; but the 
other paid no heed to that, but repeated, “ Cut his damned throat.” He 
was half an hour there, breathing hard, before he died. I was trembling 
just like a leaf on a tree. 

Q. Was Daniel Kennedy the one that was shot at Fairfax’s house ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You know him, do you!—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you’leave ?—A. The next Saturday night. 

Q. Have you been here ever since ?—A. I came on the coast for two 
or three weeks, and then came here. 

Q. Are you a witness before the United States grand jury ?—A. Ko, 
sir ; I have not had anything to say j I have been too scared to talk; I 
never liked to talk much any way. I never was here before, and this 
place is a perfect stranger to me. I would like to go home to my family, 
but I am sort of feared of what will become of me if I go back there. 

Q. You do not know any of the men who killed Charley Bethel?—A. 
Ko, sir. 

Q. But you are certain they were white people?—A. Yes, sir; I am 
certain they were white gentlemen. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. About how many were in the party ?—A. I don’t know. There 
were enough to surround a double house. 

! Q. Were they mounted ?—A. No, sir; they walked up from the town. 

I The place where I lived was on the back of the plantation, but the main 
quarters were about a mile from the town. 

Q. What time in the morning was it when you were fired on by those 
men whom you saw in the edge of the woods?—A. About nine o’clock 
in the morning, as near as 1 can come to it. 


CHABLES DEWINH. 

Kew Orleans, La., January 17, 1879. 

Charles Dewing sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. Greenwood. 

Q. Were you there on election day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In what capacity ?—A. United States supervisor. 

Q. Did you remain'there during the day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You may state what you did as supervisor.—A. I went to the polls 
early in the morning, and they refused to let me in where the boxes 
were. 

Q. Wlio refused you?—A. The commissioners did; they said there 
were enough in without me. 

Q. Was there any United States supervisor in there ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Who, if anybody, was in the room, besides the commissioners ?— 
A. There were three or four gentlemen there. 





340 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. Besides the clerks?—A. Well, including’ all. 

Q. Was there anybody in there besides the clerk and the coinmis- 
sioners of election ?—A. I do not know which were commissioners and 
which was clerk; 1 did not go inside to see them; they- would not 
admit me. 

Q. What reason did they give for not admitting you?—A. They said 
there wei*e enough in there; that I could stand outside and see all I 
wanted to see. 

Q. Did you show your commission?—A. They did not give me any 
chance. 1 told them who I was, and they told me there was no room in 
there. 

Q. Were you present at the canvassing of the votes?—A. Yes, sir; I 
was present in the evening when they were counting the votes. 

Q. How many boxes did they have ?—A. Three. 

Q. Did you see the canvassing?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State how it was done.—A. They got to counting the votes, and I 
noticed some names on the tickets they did not count, and I asked them 
wh}^ they did not count them; they did not give me any reason. 1 did 
not pay any more attention to it. 

Q. Do you know anything about the killing ? Were you at Caledonia 
soon after the election?—A. I was there the next day after it. 

Q. You may state what you saw there the next day at Caledonia.—A. 
All that I saw at Caledonia was two colored dead men. 

Q. Where were they ?—A. One was lying in the church, and one in a 
little house below the clumdi. 

Q. Do you know how they came to their death?—A. I did not see 
tliem when they were killed; they were pretty badly eaten uj) by hogs 
and dogs. Q^heir faces showed thej^ were eaten up a good deal. 

Q. Did tliey look as if they had been long dead f—A. Well, about 
twelve hours. 

Q. Did you understand they were among the killed of the day be¬ 
fore?—A. Yes, sir; I was told so. 

Q. Did you see any otlier dead bodies about there ?—A. About a week 
afterwards I was going up on the steamboat called the Vicksburg ”— 
1 was a clerk on her—and I saw one dead man in the river, and I went 
out in a skiff and buried him. 

Q. Was that on the river ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far below?—A. About 25 miles by water, probably 23 miles 
by land. 

Q. How did he come to his death?—A. He had two bullet holes 
through him. 

(}. Were tliey bullet holes?—A. I judged them to be; I took a stick 
and stuck in them. I don’t know whether they were bullets or shot. 

By Mr. CAMERON: * 

Q. Who were the commissioners at the polls you attended ?—A. There 
was a white man, a Democrat, Mr. Togger, and Mr. Wilbourn. 

Q. Is he also a white man ami a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was the third ?—A. A colored man. 

Q. Do you know his name ?—A. Yo, sir; became there that morning 
with those gentlemen. 

Q. Was the clerk a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q- know whether the colored man was a Republican or a Dem¬ 

ocrat ?—A. I never asked. 

(^,. You did not understand ?—A. Yo, sir. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWART. 


341 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How far is Greenwoorl from Shreveport?—A. About 16 or 18 
miles. 

Q. In a different ward from Shreveport?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whit wird is Greeawool in?—A. I don’t know. Wiien I got 
there I was refused admittance, and I did not ask any {piestions. 

Q. Do you live at Shreveport ?—A. Ye^, sir. 

Q. You lived there when you were appointed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Upon whose recommendation were you appointed ?—A. Mr. Leon¬ 
ard’s and Mr. Bowman’s. They gave me my commission. 


J. BOSS STEWART. 

Yew Orleans, La., January 17, 1870. 

J. Ross Stewart (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Mr. Stewart, where do you reside ?—Answer. In the town 
of Saint Joseph, i)arish of Tensas. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. For the past nine years. 

Q. Have you ever held any ])ublic office?—A. Yes, sir. 

State what.—I have been a member of the police jury, a mem¬ 
ber of the school board, and a representative in the State h^gislature 
from that parish for six years. 

Q. You were a piember of the legislature ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you in Tensas Parish during the last political campaign ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, you may go on and state what was the condition of affairs 
there, commencing at the beginning.—A. We opened our cani])aign 
there about the last of August or first of September. I was a member 
and was chairman of the Congressional district committee, and a mem¬ 
ber of the parish committee. We had organized all our clubs, and had 
them in good working order, at least about 25 out of the 30 of them. 

The first thing I knew of any trouble was on the 19th day of Septem¬ 
ber, or rather that night. I was living in the town of Saint Joseph, 
and was called on to take part, as one of the guards, at the quarantine 
station. H. F. Schaiffer was captain of the quarantine guards. We 
were talking about politics, and the name of Mr. Ludeling came up. It was 
understood that he was in the town of Yidalia, and was coining to Saint 
Joseph to speak. Mr. Schaiffer told me that he had reliable informa¬ 
tion that, after the first speech made by Ludeling, he would be killed; 
he told me that in presence of Henry A. Brown and others who were 
on guard there Avitli me. Everything was going on smoothly until the 
30th of September. On the 30th of September a cou])le of gentlemen 
(mine to my house very early in the morning. My house was the head¬ 
quarters for all the Republicans in the parish; they came down there to 
eat and to sleep, &c. Two of them told me that Mr. Sachse had told 
them that if I and George H. Griffith did not stop our political speaking 
we would be run out of the parish or killed. I went on the street in 
company with Solomon Shafer, who was recorder at Saint Joseph; we 
met Mr. Sachse. I asked Sachse if it was true that he had said what I 
liad been told he had said; and he told me yes. I asked him for what 
reason we were to be killed; he said he didn’t propose to tolerate political 
sentiments now as in the past. He said that Griffith had come from Baton 
Rouge, Avhere he had had 200 or 300 negroes killed, and he and I now 
proposed to run the politics of this parish. He said he didn’t propose to 





342 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensaa 


stand it. Some morning,” he said to me, you will want to wake up 
and can’t.” I asked him why. He said, Because you will be killed, and 
1 will take the responsibility on myself,” said Sachse. After getting* 
l)reakfast I went to see Mr. L. V. Beeves, chairman of the Democratic 
parish committee. I met Caj^tain Farrar and Colonel Beeves. Captain 
Farrar was district attorney pro tern. I related to them what Sachse had 
said to me, and asked whether that was the sentiment of the party. Col¬ 
onel Beeves told me that was Sachse’s individual sentiments and that 
the party and the (committee had nothing to do with it. We had 
(piite a long talk, and during this time Sachse came up, and reiterated 
what he had before told me; Colonel Beeves didn’t give his indorsement 
to that, but Sachse still adliered to it, and repeated what he had said 
to me. Beev'es and myself and Mr. Farrar agreed that as 1 was going 
out to make a canvass during the week, because our convention was to 
be held on tlie jiiorning of the 5th, they agreed that if 1 and my friends 
among the Bepublicans would give them the jxdice jury and the parish 
Judge, they would go in with us and put ui) a ticket that would be accept¬ 
able to all the people of the i)arish. 1 made a speecli that night, and 
Tuesday night, and Wednesday night, and during the day on Thursday, 
coming back to Saint Joseph on Thursday evening. On my way to 
Saint Joseph I met several ])rominent ward politicians, among them L. 
Cammack and C. J. Beed, wlio told me that Sachse and Beeves and Cor¬ 
dell had told them that no negro could be sheriff of that i)arish, and that 
if he attempted to run he would be killed. I went to see Judge Cordell, 
and asked him about this. He said, yes, he had said so and that they 
proposed to carry this parish the same as other i)arishes had been car¬ 
ried in 1870; and that he was going to be elected to the house, and that 
Begister was going to be sheriff. I said, ‘A^ou don’t say that you pro¬ 
pose to count us out?” He said ‘^No, but I am going to be elected 
to the legislature, and Begister is going to be elected sheriff. We 
aie certainly going to carry this ivarish if we have to go to Missis- 
si])pi to get oOO men to carry it.” 1 appealed to him, saying in 1870, 
your nerve and influence kept off the bulldozers, and in return for 
that the black peoi)le voted for you, and if you would stand by 
us now, I thiidv we could accomplish the same result. Says 1^ “ If 
Bryant could be sheriff for four years under a bad governor why can’t 
I be sherift for two years under a good governor ?” He said, “Try it on 
if you want to, and see what you will make by it.” I met a nuinber of 
men and talked with them about the matter, and I saw that they were 
all intimidated about it. On Saturday the (convention met, anil they 
were so intimidated that they were afraid to ])ut up a ticket. Mr. Fair¬ 
fax and myself, and one or two others, were the only men willing to put 
up a ticket. We knew we couldn’t get the co-operation of the white 
Bepublicans; that the white peo[)le were trying to force us to put a color¬ 
line ticket. Mr. Bryant and Mr. Coolidge' and myself went to see Col¬ 
onel Beeves. Colonel Beeves said, “Bryant, we Want no compromise 
with you, and I say to you, Mr. Bryant, as the leader of the Bepublicans 
in Tensas, that if you attempt to put up a ticket you will be a target, 
and 100 bullet-holes will be shot through your body.” 1 went back to 
the convention wliicch had not yet assembled—the men were together 
merely informally; and I made known to them what had been said to 
me. The men were clamorous for a ticket. Fairfax and I prei>ared and 
wrote out a resolution or document, with whicli we waited on Colonel 
Beeves. Colonel Beeves, after consulting Ids friends, appointed a com¬ 
mittee of conference to meet on Monday, the 17th of October, the day 
the Democratic convention was going to assemble. We went to tlie 
place where the convention was held. I didn’t go into the convention. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWART. 


343 


Colonel Reeves called the convention to order, and the convention pro¬ 
ceeded to the nonunation of sergeant-at-arms, and attended to some 
other preliminary business, and then it went into secret session. That 
secret session nominated a ticket; they then came out of the secret session, 
and Colonel Reeves made a speech to the convention. He said, “ This 
is a good ticket; no man can say a word against Cordell and Register; 
we propose to carry this ticket.” Said he (Reeves), ‘‘Any opposition 
that comes in our way we will quietly move it out. I make no threats, 
but w^e will elect this ticket if we have to go through fire to do it.” Then 
he made a gesture as if he were firing a gun. After that convention, 
T\ Q. Muntz, G. 0. Goldman, and T. C. Sachse came to my house, and 
in the presence of my wife and another lady, who was at the time visit¬ 
ing me, said, “ I have come to notify you, as one of the leaders of the 
Republican party in Tensas Parish, that for the good of yourself and 
your x)eople, that any opi>osition against our ticket or our course will be 
regarded by us as a declaration of war.” I said, “ Is that all 3^011 have got 
to say to me ?” I said, “ Do you propose to say to me that I cannot vote 
for Congressman and other ofiicers as we used to” And I called his 
attention to the resolution passed bj-dhe Nicholls legislature. I said to 
Mr. Goldman, “ You I had api)ointed as a member of the police juiy.” 
They said, “Well, you are notified”; and then inquired, “Is Xeely 
here ?” I said, “ Yes; he is in the back yard, feeding his horse.” They 
asked me to call him out. I did so, and the^" asked me if 1 had an^^ 
objection to stepping aside. 1 went to one side, and they then notified 
Air. Neely in the same language that the^" had notified me and Bryant 
to my knowledge. Thej^ didn’t notify Air. Fairfax, as Air. Bryant said in 
his testimony j^esterda^^ I want now, gentlemen, to call the attention of 
the committee to this matter of dra wing the color-line. Mr. T. J. Watson 
stated in his testimony that I had drawn the color-line in Tensas; that I 
had w ritten and circula ted a document that no w liite man should be put in 
office, and that a number of us had signed it. I wish to explain to .you 
all that there is in that. About the Ifith day of September Ave held a 
meeting of the Republican executive committee of theY^arish of Tensas, 
of Avhich I am a member. The committee met for the purpose of fixing 
the apportionment and making other arrangements for the parish con¬ 
vention. I had made a canvass of the parish, and had been indorsed 
by 25 out of the 30 clubs in the parish for the office of sheriff. After 
that the committee adjourned. I stated to the leading men of the com¬ 
mittee, “ Gentlemen, in 1870 ^mu put me up for sheriff' and I wms indorsed 
1 ) 3 " neail 3 ^ every club in the parish ; out of 54 members I had the indorse¬ 
ment of 40 for the office of sheriff', but I wms taken down and run for the 
house in order to beat a certain man. If you intend to stand by me and 
Avork for me for the office of sheriff'I want you to sign this paper. This is 
the pa})er wdiich they say I liaA^e circulated, and which the 3 ^ declare con¬ 
tains the i)rovision that no white man should be run for office. 

We, the undersigned, do lierehA" agree to support a colored man for the office of 
sheriff at the convention to be held at Saint Joseph, Octol)er 5, 1878. 

(Si^med) ROBERT J. AVALKER. 

° AVILLIAM COOLIDGE. 

WILLIAM SULLIVAN. 

A. B. JACKSON. 

N. N. NEELY. 

WILLIAM G. BLACKBURN. 

G. A. GRIFFITH. 

P. T. BURKETT. 

H. A. BROWN. 

S. SHAFER. 

J. ROSS STEWART. 

A. J. BRYANT. 


344 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


After I heard this rumor that I had drawn the color line, I showed this 
paper to Colonel Keeves, to Mr. Murdoch, to J. C. Henderson, to T. Ih 
Farrar, and to Captain Mickey, a member of the Democratic Conserva¬ 
tive committee, who would have been my dei)uty had I been selected 
sheritf. I said, gentlemen, here is the pai)er Avhich, you charge, contains 
the drawing of the color line. They acknowledged that there was noth¬ 
ing wrong about it. You will notice that it says that they will vote for 
some colored man for sheriff^ but it says nothing about anybody else, 
or any other office. On the 5th of October, Mr. T. (k Sa(*hse was so 
sure that we would put uj) a colored ticket and draw the color line that 
he telegraphed down to the Natchez Democrat, Stewart and Fairfax 
liave drawn the color line.” We had not j^et put up any ticket at all. 
AVe didn’t put up any ticket until the 13th of October. After our ])roposi- 
tioii to the Democratic convention had been rejected, between the 7th 
and 13th of October, Mr. Fairfax and myself, and other leaders of the 
party, were counseling together and endeavoring to tix a plan to hold 
the convention outside of Saint Joseph ; for there never was the least 
intention on our part to break down the (luarantine. We held the con¬ 
vention at a i)lace 14 miles away from Saint Joseph. AVe nominated a. 
ticket composed of white men and colored men. On the 17th the white 
peoi)le met in convention. The bulldozing had grown so great at this time 
that Ave had to take the colored men off the ticket, and make an entirely 
Avhite ticket. The white Demo(Tats met at Newellton on the 17th, and 
latihed that ticket. Shortly after that every leading colored man Avas 
jiotitied that if he supported that ticket he Avould be killed. 

Q. That Avas the Bland and Douglas ticket?—A. Yes, sir 5 there was 
not a colored man on that ticket on the 17th of October. 

I AA ant to exxjlain about the quarantine. I belieA^e that some of you 
gentlemen have a paper in Avhich a quarantine notice was published. 
They established a quarantine there; but after the night of the 12th of 
October there Avas no more quarantine at Saint Joseph. That was the 
night Fairfax Avas attacked. That day, about' one o’clock, Mr. T. C. 
Sachse called me into the store of Joseph Moore; then he took me into 
the rear portion of the store. It is a very long store; some (K) or 70 feet 
long. While Moore Avas coming from the front part of the store Sachse 
attacked me with a loaded cane, at the same time having a x)istol in the 
other hand. He beat me over the head with the cane, and called me a 
God damned son of a bitch. He said that Fairfax and I were going to 
bring in the negroes to break doAvn the quarantine; and ‘^God damn 
you,” said he, am a good mind to shoot you.” I said, “You asked 
me to come here and haA^e a talk with you. Noac, you must not use any 
Adolence.” By this time Mr. Moore came up and said, “Mr. Sachse, you 
are too hasty.” I told Sachse that there Avas no intention on the part of 
the colored people to hold a convention or to break doAvn the quarantine 
lines. This Avas at tAvelve o’clock on Saturday. That evening quite a 
number of white men armed themselves and went out of toAvn. I saw 
them as they were on their Avay. On Sunday morning at four o’clock 
District Attorney Farrar and Mr. Bichardson came to my liouse. I had 
a dog that was pretty bad; he barked and threatened * them; I called 
him off. Bichardson had a Winchester rifle. He said, “ SteAA art, don’t 
let that dog bite me ; I have got a gun, but I ain’t going to use it to 
hurt you.” They said they had come on a mission of peace; they said 
that Fairfax had been attacked, and Avas sui)i)osed to have been killed; 
that Caj)tain Peck had been killed, and they didn’t know how many 
others; and that the best thing I could do was to go to iail. I said, 
“Gentlemen, I was never in jail in my life; and as for protection, I 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWARI’. 


345 


remember what sort of proteetion they had given to John Gairj they 
took him froni the slierilf and killed him, and that’is what they would 
do with me if I should go to jail. I have a wife and child here, and I 
don’t mean to go anywhere, but to stay at home; and if anybody comes 
here to kill me, I Avill try and see if I can’t kill as many of them as the}' 
will of me.” Well, they said every man in Saint Joseph has been sum¬ 
moned as a posse to ])rotect Saint dosepli, and they may carry you out 
and kill you, and going to jail may protect you. I asked him who these 
men were. Mr. Farrar said they were Foi. John S. Young’s men, and 
Gen. J. Floyd King’s men, from the back i)arishes. 

I want to clear up a ])oint about Register’s being down to Waterproof so 
early Sunday morning. Kegister sent his deputy, Mr. Winter, to my 
house on Saturday evening at eight o’clock. He had sent another man to 
see me about two o’clock that day (Saturday) in reference to a business 
matter, a judgment that I had against a certain party; and I told him that 
my^ attorney had the case in hand and would attend to it. At eight o’clock 
that evening, as 1 said, Sheritt* Register’s deputy, Mr. Winter, came and 
recpiested me to go with him to the conrt-house at once. lie said, 
“ Register is going to Waterproof, and wants you to fix ux) this matter 
about the judgment.” I said, ‘‘ My wife is here alone, and I do not think 
this is the time of night to settle business affairs. We can attend to it 
just as well in the morning.” He said everything was arranged for Mr. 
Register to go down to Water})roof early in the morning, and so he 
wanted the matter fixed that night. Two days before that, on Tliurs- 
dayy Mr. Ih T. Rurc'kett told me—this was two or three days x>Hor to 
the attack on Fairfax—that Register had been out to see Cai)tain Pe('k 
on two occasions; that ('aiffain Peck said that Register and Cordill 
must get on the Lord’s side or they Avould be killed; that he (Peck) was 
coming there to regulate things in Tensas Ihirisli; and on Saturday 
night they did come in there. Charlie Nicholls told me, after the bull¬ 
dozers left the ])arish of Tensas—I had said to him, hearing that threats 
were made against my^ life, “ You are the secretarv of a rifie-club or 
something of that sort; ymu know what these x)eople are going to do; 
can I be x)rote(‘ted or not”! He said, “The thing is all over now; you 
are as safe as J. The intention of Peck was to take Fairfax, Bryant, 
Griffith, Shaffer, and all of y ou leaders, and take you over to his x>arish, 
and keei^ you there quiet until after the election. They would have fed 
you high and given you i)lenty of good whisky, but wouldn’t have 
harmed .von at all.” 1 thought the war was over. I said t() Cordill, 
“Judge, it apx)ears that you are running this whole machine; I know 
you can have a man killed, or his life save<l, at aauH. I Avant to know 
whether I can be i^rotected. I don’t feel like ghung ux^ my life 
on account of this ticket, Avhere tliere is no (‘oloi'ed rexnesentation 
on it.” Judge Cordill said, “Tliis is a fight betAA’een Houglas 
and me, and any man who gets in my way has got to fight.” Mr. 
Cordill told me that he liad told Coolidge, the coroner, that if he went 
doAvn there to buiy those men Avho AA ere hung he AAmuld never get back. 
Cordill says to mej “ SteAvart, you are just as safe as I am.” Three days, 
or tAvo days, x>rior to the election I Avas in a lady’s house for the piu’pose 
of taking dinner. While there I heard Judge Cordill tell some gentle¬ 
men Avho Avere in another room where they couldn’t see me, but Avhere I 
could hear them. Judge Cordill said that, “ Avith ordinary negroes, all 
you haA^e got to do is to x>ift a shot-gun over your shoulder and scare 
them; but when you come to a negro like StcAvart, who has got some 
bravery, you haA^e got to kill him.” On Sunday night I got two mes¬ 
sages telling me not to sleex) at home. For G or 8 days about that time 



346 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Tensas 


I didn’t sleep at home. I staid where I could hear them talking about 
me. I could hear them talking about killing me—about making gloves 
out of my hide. They said my hide would make first-rate cream-colored 
gloves, &c. On Sunday night, the night I intended to leave my home, 

I got two messages that I must not sleep at home. At first I was dis¬ 
posed to believe there was no danger; I was more disposed to doubt of 
there being any danger from the fact that one of the men who was said 
to be in the plot to kill me was a man at whose house I had slept two 
nights during the time I was not sleeping at home. I was to sleep in 
his house Sunday night, so I could hardly think there was any truth in 
the warning that was gh en to me. 

Q. Are you willing to state his name !—A. His name is Arnold. After 
I got these messages to leave immediately, I left. There is a large levee 
nearly 10 feet high about 100 yards from my house. I had sent my 
wife out as a scout to see what she could learn about their plans against 
me. She put on men’s clothes and went up among the bulldozers listen¬ 
ing ; she said she heard that at ten o’clock that night Arnold and a 
gang of other men were to be at my house; wlien 1 heard that I left 
immediately; I went over beyond the levee; the moon was shining 
bright; I got about 100 yards the other side of the levee; I heard my 
dogs making a terrible noise; I walked up behind the levee until I came 
opposite to my house, and saw Mr. Arnold, with the deputy sheriff and 
about twenty-five men, and a spring-wagon, coming from my house. 
Arnold asked my wife for me. My wife said, “ He has gone to your house 
to stay all night.” Arnold said, ‘‘No, he is not there.” My wife said, 
“Weli,he isn’t here.” Arnold said, “I know he is here.” He then went 
to the dining-room, saying, “ Stewart is in this house, I know it, and I 
mean to have him.” From the dining-room he started to go into the bed¬ 
room. My wife went to the bureau, and made as if she was going to 
draw a ])istol, and said, “If you go inside that room I will blow your 
head off.” On that they went out, and I saw them going away from 
my house. 

Q. When was that—A. On Sunday night, November 3. 

Q. Where did you go then ?—A. I went over to Mississippi. 

Q. You were not in Tensas Parish at the time of the election !—A. 
i^o, sir. 

Q. And didn’t vote ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hid any other people from your section of country go over to Mis¬ 
sissippi?—A. Mr. Schaffer told William Giles, a hard-working man, a 
liei)ul)lican, “ If you don’t go away from here we Avill kill you.” Schaffer 
said that he had heard me defending the rights of negroes to travel on 
steamboats (in accordance with the 13th article of the constitution of 
Louisiana), &c., and said, “You shan’t vote against us and our property, 
and 1 have twelve of your kind picked out to be killed; and when these 
bulldozers come back here I won’t be responsible for your life.” 

Q. Hid you attend the meeting the Monday after the Fairfax trou¬ 
ble?—A. No, sir; I was quarantined inside of the town. Mr. Schaffer 
says the quarantine Avas raised just prior to the election. There were 
no quarantine regulations regarded, so far as the white people were 
concerned, during the entire time of the quarantine. Mr. Ludeling 
came to Saint Joseph to speak in the latter part of September, but tliey 
Avouldn’t allow him to pass the lines, and ordered him to turn back the 
Av ay he came; but a feAv days afterAvard J. Floyd King came with no 
better bill of health than Ludeling had, and he Avas allowed to ])ass the 
lines and to make a speech in the ])arish, at Saint Jos,eph. After that 
trouble of the 12th of October, there was no quarantine regulations; it 


Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWART. 


347 


is true tliat it was reported they had yellow fever on Dr. Weathery^s 
place, but that didn’t hinder the white men ^oing anywhere they chose 
just the same. I counted 528 bulldozers who passed by me; there 
were no quarantine regulations enforced against them. 

Q. Do you mean that you saw these 528 bulldozers all at once, or at 
different times ?—A. At different times, in squads of ten or twenty. I 
saw one scpiad of men that numbered 128 or 130. 

Q. Where did they come from ?—^A. From Morehouse Parish, Ouachita 
Parish, Kichland, Franklin, and other back piirishes. One night I came ‘ 
out from my hiding-place and went among these men and entered into 
a conversation with a young man among them, who said he was from 
Kichland; he told me that he was lying down in his bed sick, and that 
he had a sick family at home in Richland Parish, when he received a 
note from a friend of his ; he said that note was from Judge Cordell; the 
note begged him for God’s sake to come and help the people of Tensas, 
for the negroes had risen and were sacking oim towns, x>lundering our 
stores, burning our gins, killing our children, and ravishing our wives, 
&c.; this was along about the 12th of October; these men could not have 
got there by that time—could not have marched 80 or 100 miles—unless 
it was a preconcerted thing. 

Q. When did you first see these men'?—On Monday, and they kept 
coming until Thursday; some of them no doubt came in at night Avhen I 
couldn’t see them, so I cannot say anything about that; 1 cannot say 
how many there was. During the days Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes- 
clay, I counted over 500 of them. 

Q. Was any statement made in the newspapers as to their number ?— 
A. Yes, sir; "the committee^, I believe, has a i>aper with such a state¬ 
ment in it. That article was written by Joseph Curry; it si)eaks oi 
t.'aptain Trezvant and a certain number of young men from Saint 
Joseph who went down to Waterpi^oof. 

Q. That was on Tuesday ?—A. 1 think it was about Wednesday or 
Thursday. 

Q. Did you know of any men coming from Mississippi ?—A. Ko; not 
of my own knowledge; the gentleman who put me across the river on 
Sunday night told me that my family ifiiysician, l>r. Coleman, who lives in 
Rodney, Miss., headed a squad of 1(K> men; he said they came to the^ 
bank of the Mississippi River, on the Tensas side, and wanted the sheriff 
to summon them as a posse; the trouble was all over then. The sheriff 
would not summon them as his posse and wanted them to go in there on 
their own hook; they refused. 

All this killing occurred after the colored people had come back from 
the convention and had laid down the arms Avith which they had armed 
themselves for self-protection. They laid down their arms on Monday 
night, and Avent to Avork as usual on Tuesday. On Tuesday some of the 
Avhite peoi)le of Waterproof requested the colored people to arm them¬ 
selves and come to toAAn to keep these outsiders out; they wanted them 
to do this for the puri:)ose of getting the colored men to go in there with 
arms as an excuse for murdering them; but they didn’t come in. This 
killing occurred after the convention had been held. 

(^. What number of persons did you understand to have been killed 
after this Fairfax trouble, and from that time until the election f—A. I 
can give you their names if you desire; T liaA^e a list of their names here 
in my pocket-book: Dick Miller Avas hung; Lewis Postlewaithe Avas 
shot; James Starrer Avas shot; William Hunter Avas shot; Billy Single- 
ton was shot; Bob Williams Avas hung; Monday Hill was hung; Hiram 
Wilson AA'as. shot; Charlie Bethel A\a.s shot; Commodore Smallwood was 


348 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


tied to a cart-wlieel and rolled into tlie lake and drowned; Cliarley Car- 
roll was shot; Wash Ellis was shot; Dick Smith was hung; John 
Higgins was hung; Ashury Epps was shot; and Daniel Kennedy and 
Eleming Hranch Avere Avounded. They Avere the men avIio AA^ere shot 
in Fairfax’s house. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Where is Oak CfroAm place ?—A. Just on Xewell’s Bidge, about a 
mile from Avhere Bryant lives. 

Q. Have you any knoAidedge of those transactions at Bass’s lane?— 
A. No, sir, only Avhat I Avas told. I haA'e l)een told by some of the 
Avhite men who Avere there that none of the negroes there that day Avere 
armed. 

Q. Who told you?—A. Joseph Curry; he Avent doAvn there Avith Judge 
Cordill; and I have been told the same thing by one or two others. 1 
Avish to state another thing: AAiiile these bulldozers Avere in Saint Joseph, 
Avhile they Avere passing an adjoining jilantation beloAv my house, a col¬ 
ored man named Jordan Mcholls, a pretty saucy kind of a felloAV, Avas 
picking cotton by the side of the road, not far from the road. The bull¬ 
dozers asked him Avhether he Avas a Bepublican or a Democrat. He said 
he Avas a Kepublican. Thereupon they tired a number of shots at hiui, 
but none of them hit him, and he ran aAAmy. After he had got to a safe 
distance he ])atted himself on his behind. Then some of the men of the 
comi)any swore that they Avould kill liim, but the captain of the com¬ 
pany told them not to bother him noAv—to wait until they came back; 
then they could haAX him. Don’t kill him,” said he; “ if you Avant to 
do anything to him, catch him and gWe 1dm a good strapping.” Then 
idne of them went doAvn to Moore’s store, where they got nine coAvhides, 
and eTaines Mandev ille and Eddy Lewis piloted them down to Avhere he 
lAed. That night, as luck would have it, he Avas not sleeping at home; 
but an old Avhite shoemaker, avIio Avas sleeping in Nicholls’s bed, because 
he Avas not alloAved to come to toAvn on account of the quarantine; they 
Avere sure they had got Nicholls; so they tore the coAmring off the bed 
and jumped in on this old shoemaker and AA^hipped him soundly. He 
crie(l, “ Strike a light, strike a light, and 1 Avill shoAV you that I am no 
nigger.” They struck a light and saAv that it Avas a aa hite man, and 
didn’t Avhix) him any further. 

Q. Do you knoAA' the Avhite man ?—A. Yes, sir; he came down on the 
same boat I dicL 

Q. Who do you say Avrote that article that appeared in the paper ?— 
A. I think it aa as Joseph Curry, deputy clerk up there. I Avas told so. 
1 don’t think he aa ill deny it. 

Q. Is he here ?—A. No, sir; he is not in the city that I knoAV of. 

By JVIr. Cameron : 

Q. Hoav far did those bulldozers, aa horn you saw Sunday morning, have 
to come ? — A. I didn’t see any on Sunday morning. It Avas on Monday 
morning I saw them. If they came from anywhere outside of our parish 
they could not have made the journey in less than 40 miles, 

Q. Could they have been summoned by telegraph?—A. Yes, sir; there 
is a telegraph from Bodney to Delhi, running along the railroad from 
Delta, La., to Monroe. 

Q. Hoav far is it from Saint Joseph to Bodney ?—A. Five miles ; a 
skiff* goes over in 40 minutes. 

By Mr. Garland: 

Q. Were you present at the whipping of that Avhite man ?—A. No, sir. 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWART. 349 

Q. How far were you from where tliey wliipped him ?—A. About a 
hundr(‘d and fifty yards. 

Q. Who told you about it f—A. One of the white men, a young man 
that piloted the nine men that whipped him ; also the man Avhose bed 
he was sleeping in, and also the man himself wlio was whipped. -He 
came down on the boat with me, and he told me. 

Q. Who made that memoranda from which you read the names of 
those men who had been killed 'I —A. 1 made it myself, as persons told me 
about these persons being shot and hung. 

Q. When did you put it down f—A. 1 put some of it down before I 
left Tensas, and some as I was coming down the river. 

(^. You made it out at different times and at different places f—A. 
Yes, sir. . 

il. Wasn’t Smallwood disposed of over in Concordia ?—A. I didn’t 
know him. I don’t know exactly where that occurred, in Concordia or 
in Tensas 5 this lake runs through both parishes. 

Q. Dick Smith was disposed of in Concordia, was he not ?—A. I am 
not positive about that. 

Q. Did you see any of these persons killed ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. What deputy sheriff’ had those men in charge that went to your 
iioiise when Arnoi<l went there ?—A. Mr. Winter. 

Q. Arnold was a friend of yours f—A. I had supposed him to be 
friendly up to that time. 

! Q. You had left your house and had secreted yourself there ?—A. 
Yes, sir; for two days and two nights; that is one of the reasons why 
(Iriffith is here in this city to-day. Arnold told me that if Billy Criffitii 
came back to Waterproof he would be killed. 

Q. Billy Griffith is postmaster at Waterproof, is he not ?—^A. Yes^ 
sir; and justice of the peace. 

Q. How many licks did Sachse give you with his cane ?—A. He beat 
me over the head lightly; he didn’t hit me very hard. 

Q. Was it a loaded cane !—A. I thought so ; I have every reason to 
believe so from the weight of it. 

Q. Mr. Moore told him to desist!—A. Y^es, sir ; and he sat down. 

Q. You heard Mr. Bryant’s testimony yesterday !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have corrected it in one respect, as to the message given to 
Fairfax !—A. I saw Fairfax just before he left town, and no such mes¬ 
sage was ever delivered to him. 

Q. Do youcon^oborate the testimony of Bryant in other respects !—A, 
So far as my own knowledge as to the matter she refers to is concerned, 
1 do. He said Colonel Beeves and Sachse Avaited on him in Alurdock’s 
store; the tact is, we (Bryant, Coolidge, and myself) waited on Beeves 
and Sachse, and he didn’t tell what was said to him by Colonel Beeves. 
(k>lonel Beeves told Bryant that he, as leader of the Bepublican partly 
would be a target; and if any attempt Avas made to put up a Bepubli- 
C-an ticket, a hundred bullet holes Avould be put through his body. Bry¬ 
ant did not tell that Colonel Beeves said this; he merely said that 
Beeves told him it would be considered a declaration of Avar. 

Q. Do you think Bryant ought to have told that ?—A. Yes, sir; if he 
meant to tell the whole truth, 

Q. Was Bryant a Bepublican leader there, too !—A. Yes, sir; he was 
vice-president of the executiA'e-committee. 

Q. You, Bryant, Griffith, Fairfax, and Schaffer were the principal lead¬ 
ers !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Y^ou had supported Begister and Cordill at previous elections!— 
A. Yes, sir. Cordill and Begister, in 1876, joined in signing a paper 




350 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


reading me out of tlie party because I wasn’t a good Eepublican, and in 
1878 they bulldozed me because I was a Eei)ublican. 

Q. Did they get on the Lord’s side'?—A. Well, I don’t know; if that 
is the Lord’s side, it is a mighty bad one. 

Q. I would like to understand more fully about that paper you intro¬ 
duced—“We, the undersigned, &c.” What was the object in getting 
that up !—A. In 187(1, I made a canvass at the solicitation of Bryant; 
he wanted to go to the senate. I was brought forward as candidate for 
sheriff, and had the indorsement of nearly every Eepublican club in the 
parish. Oordi 11 wanted Eegister to be sheriff*; he thought it was too 
good a position for a colored man to have. The only way they could 
get him in was to read me out of the i)arty. I now said to them, “Gen¬ 
tlemen, in 187(1 you put me uj) and then knocked me down; if you intend 
to support me now, I want a pledge to that effect.” Then I drew up that 
paper, and all signed it; their signatures are all in their own hand¬ 
writing, except that Walker wrote the name of Coolege. I did this be¬ 
cause I did Jiot intend this time to be taken down and forced to run for 
the house. This is the paper whereof so much complaint has been made. 
Only live white men in the parish of Tensas have ever seen this paper, 
and no colored man has ever seen that paper excepting those who 
signed it, 

Q. How far was Eandall Nicholls from those men when he patted his 
rear at them ?—A. I should say about 150 yards. 

Q. Then they shot at him *?—A. Yes, sir, 

Q. While he was running?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time of day was that?—A. Along about 3 o’clock in the 
afternoon, I suppose; it was after 12 o’clock, anyAvay. 

Q. You have not been back to that parish since you came away ?— 
A. Not since I crossed the river to Mississippi; only on a boat passing 
by the landing. 

Q. AYere you subpoenaed there as a vdtness ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you testihed in regard to these matters?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been here every day continuously during the session of 
this committee ?—A. Every day but one, I think; on Monday or Tues¬ 
day, I forget which, I was not here. 

Q, Have you heard the testimony by Eeeves, AYatson, and other 
gentlemen from up there?—A. I heard part of the testimony of each 
one of them, and all the testimony of some of them. 

Q. Did you hear Mr. Schaffer’s testimony ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. Has your statement been reduced to AAHting before you brought 
it before the committee ?—A. Yes, sir ; [ have not stated it as I put it 
doAvn, exactly. 

Q. AYhere did you put it down ?—A. Here, in this book (exhibiting a 
l>ocket memorandum -book). 

Q. Who wrote it doAvn for you ?—A. I wrote it myself. 

Q. Did you confer with Air. Horn before testifying here ?—A. AYell, I 
haA e had some coiiv^ersations Av ith him. 

Q. Ha ve you conferred with him about this matter ?—A. Not espe¬ 
cially. I don’t really knoA\^ Air. Horn. I talked Avith him the same as 
Avith other gentlemen who Avould ask me if I knew anything about these 
matters, 

Q. Where is your written statement that you made?—A. Eight here 
in this book, that I have been referring to jiist noAv. 

Q. The testimony is the same that you haA^e deliA^ered here to the 
committee?—A. Yes, sir; in substance. I haA^e not said exactly Avhat 
is AVTitten here nor stated everything tliat occurred, and what I have 


I’arish.] TESTIMONY OF J. ROSS STEWART. 351 

said is not in tlie order tliat I put it down, because I have answered 
according to the questions* that the coinmittee asked me. 

Q. How long since yon testified before the grand jury ?—A. I think 
it Avas before the committee came here, or about the same time. 

Q. Do yon not know the precise date ?—xA. No, sir; I think it was on 
the same Alonday the committee came 5 i^ossibly it was on the Saturday 
or Friday prior; I knoAV it was nearly at that time. 

Q. xAboiit two Aveeks ago'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon know Wash Nellums?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon hear his testimony"?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He said something about not liking you because you had sold out; 
can you tell Avliat he meant by that!—A. Mr. Nellum made a fight on 
me because he was a candidate for coroner; I was opposed to him for 
that position; I did not think him comi)etent; I Avas agent for Ifinch- 
back & Antoine; I furnished him supplies for Avliich he never paid 
me; I dunned him, wliich he didn’t like, and in this last contest I 
moA^ed up to Avhere he Iwed and joined a club of Av^hich he AA^as vice 
president; before Eegister had gwen up fighting on the Eepublican 
side, he employed Nellums and some other men to clean myself and 
three other men out of that club; he gave them $25 in cash and Avas to 
give him $50 more to clean out four of us; they went to get the other 
$50, and Eegister Avould not giA^e it to them because they had not cleaned 
us all out. Nellum and the other boys squealed because they had not 
got the other $50, and came and told me about it. When the Demo(?rats 
got everything their oaaui Avay, Cordill told them that I had passed a 
bill by which colored people had been taxed fifty cents a bale on their 
cotton. I did Amte for the bill making a leA^ee commission; but Cordill 
was a member of the leA^ee commission, and he passed the resolution 
taxing eA^erybody’s cotton fifty cents a bale. So far as regards my going 
I to the Nicholls legislature, I didn’t belieA^e tliat Packard would be sus- 
i tained, and I wanted to saA^e all I could out of the Avreck; in doing so 
I I got a larger colored representation on the school board and police 
jury than they ever had under Ee])ublican rule in Tensas. I secured 
the appointment of Wliitney as tax-collector—the only carpet-bagger 
Nicholls has appointed in the State. 

Q. You think it is possible that Nellums has reference to your going 
from the Packard legislature to the Nicholls legislature, Avhen he speaks 
of your selling out!—A. I suiipose that is Avhat he means. 

Q. Is Nellums a Eepublican '?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. What do you mean by those men trying to clean you out!—A. I 
mean there AA^ere four delegates from the club to be elected to the parish 
convention; Nellum AAas paid to defeat them; he did succeed in clean¬ 
ing out tAA o, myself and Henry Page ; but he didn’t succeed in cleaning 
out the balance of them. 

Q. You mean by that that he succeeded in preventing your being 
elected to the parish convention !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You speak of Captain Whitney; do you know him personally !—A. 
Yes, sir; I have knoAvn him for nine years. 

Q. Where is he now !—A. He is here in the city. 






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CONCORDIA PARISH. 


FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTIO?^ OF 1878. 


23 T 









CONCORDIA PARISH STATISTICS. 


POPULATION. 

(’olorcd (by TTuited States ceiisns of 1870). 9,257 

White (by United States census of 1870). 720 

Colored majority in 1870. 8, 5!17 

Colored (by State census of 1875). 10,794 

White (by State census of 1875)... 673 

Colored majority in 1875. 10,121 

PEGISTUATIOX. 

Colored (by reo;istration of 1874). 2, 358 

White (by registration of 1874). 195 

Colored registered majority in 1874. 2, 16:1 

Entitled to ^'ote, by census of 1875 : 

Colored (see Tables I and II).•. 2,8:i9 

White (se(i Tables I and II). 218 

Coloiv'd majority in 1875. 2,621 

Colored (by registration of 1878). 2, 6:17 

White (by registration of 1878). 294 

Colored registered majority in 1878. 2,343 

I'ROMULGATED VOTE IN 1878. 

For treasurer, l)<unocratic candidate. U 067 

For treasunu'. Opposition candidate. 1:13 

For Congress, Democratic candidate. 1, 037 

For'Congress, Republican candidate. 955 

For State reiiresentatives. Democratic candidat<‘s.. 1,202 

For State rej)resentativcs, Republican candidates. 1,009 








































CONCORDIA PARISH. 


ELIJxVH KEKNxVLL. 

New Orleans, Jamianj 15, 1879. 

Elijah Kern^vll (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Concordia Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. For the last nine years. • 

Q. What is your business ?—A. Farming. 

Q. Do you hold any office in that parish—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What office ?—A. Coroner. 

Q. When were you elected coroner ?—A. In 1871, I believe. 

Q. Were you coroner during this recent election camx)aign ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Were any i)ersons killed up in your xiarish during the last election 
campaign f—A. Yes; I believe there were seven killed there. 

Q. You held inquests upon their bodies?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State who they were and what you know or learned about them.— 
A. I held inquests only upon six. They were Doc. Smith, John Robin¬ 
son, Charley Carroll, Peter Young, Wash. Hillis, and Hyams Wilson. 

Q. Were these persons white or black ?—A. They were all colored per¬ 
sons, sir. 

Q. How did they come to their death ?—xi. Five of them were hung 
and one was shot. 

Q. Were they all hung at once or at different times?—A. John Rob¬ 
inson was hung on the 9th of December. 

Q. When were the others liung?—A. In October, about the IGth or 
17th, as near as I can come at it. 

Q. There was another man Avho was not hung?—A. One was shot. 

Q. Did 5^011 learn the circumstances of the shooting?—A. No, sir; no 
more than what came out on the inquest. The men who Avere Avith him 
at tlie time said that a s(piad of men came riding along Avhere he an us 
l)icking cotton and called him to the fence, and Avlien he came they just 
shot him doAvn. 

Q. Tliat Avas x)roA^ed before the coroner’s jury?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat Avas his business ?—A. Farming. 

Q. What ])roof did you have about the killing of those men that were 
hung?—A. The only proof I had about that Avas what I heard from 
others; the men had been taken down when I got there, and the men 
Avlio took them doAvn told me about it. 

Q. Were they hung on the sam^ tree or different trees ?—A. On dif¬ 
ferent trees. 

(^. Were they all hung at the same time?—A. Three of them Avere 
hung on one day; the others on different days. 

Q. AVere those three Avho were hung on the same day hung near eacdi 
other ?—A. They Avere on trees twenty or thirty steps apart. 

Q. AVho hung them ?—xV. I could not learn that. 






356 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


Q. Was it done in tlie daytime or in tlie night ?—A. It was done just 
before day. 

Q. Did you know the men who Avere hung ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know the men who hung them?—A. No, sir; I couldn’t 
learn that. 

Q. Did you learn anything about the method of hanging ?—A. No, 
sir; only some of them were hung because they said they were going to 
Waterproof. Tlie last one Avas hung because they said he intended to 
poison a Mr. Higgins and others Avho lived about there. He Avas fooled 
out at night and killed. 

Q. How do you mean ‘Hooled out”!—A. A colored fellow came and 
induced him to go out Avith him. 

Q. How!—A. He got him to go out and piloted him across to Har- 
A^ey Brown’s plantation. 

Q. Who is BroAA n—a Avhite man!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What happened then !—A. He piloted them to BroAvn’s house, and 
they came part Avay back; and Avlieii they came to a bridge they were 
met there by fiv^e men in one squad, AA’ho seized this man and delAered 
him into the hands of Stevie Biggins and George Bussell, and he Avas 
hung. 

Q. Were they AAdiite men that hung him!—A. It was suiiimsed that 
some of them Avere white and some colored. 

Q. How supposed, and by Avhom!—A. The man Avho Avent with him 
ov^er to Brown’s said he Av^as at the hanging, but he Avms afraid to say all 
he kncAA^; he left that part of the country, and I haA^e not seen him since. 

Q. He liA^ed in the neighborhood up there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that one Avms killed upon Avhom joii held no inquest!—A. 
Commodore Smallwood. They put AA^eights on him and drowmed him 
in Lake Saint Joseph. 

Q. AVho droAvned him !—A. There is an island in the lake there, and 
the people of that island told me that he Avas taken out and had ropes 
put upon him and tied, and that he floated back to the bank to the land, 
and then he said, “My time has come; you can kill me.” Then they 
carried him out again and put weights on him, so that he a\ ould not 
float out this time, and threw him ov’erboard again. 

Q. Who did this!—A. It a\ as said there aa as a large gang of men that 
did it; they couldn’t tell just Avdio they Avere. 

if. Was it done in the daytime!—A. In the night. All that was 
knovAui was that Avhite men did it. 

IIoAv many of them!—A. It was suiAjvosed there Avas some seA^enty 
or eighty of them. 

Q. When Avas that done!—A. Some time in October. 

Q. About the time of that trouble at Water])roof !—A. The same 
AYcek, sir. 

Q. What did they accuse him of!—A. They said he had threatened 
to kill Mr. BroAvn and his family. 

Q. What AYcre those other men that you huA^e mentioned accused of 
doing !—A. I conld not learn, sir; except the case of Hyamis Wilson. 
Wash Hillis was accused of being a very bold man. 

Q. A bold man—what do you mean by that!—A. Well, he talked a 
good deal. He attempted to go to Waterproof. They said Hyamis 
Wilson had said that he had come to NeAV Orleans and got his ammuni¬ 
tion, and nowAYas ready for any of them. That Avas all I could learn 
about him. This I gathered from one of the witnesses at the inquest. 

Q. You held an inipiest in his case!—A. Yes, sir; I held an inquest 



I^arish.l TESTIMONY OF ELIJAH KERNALL. 357 

Oil six, and one I didn’t hold an inquest on; that was Commodore 
Smallwood, who was drowned. I didn’t see him at all. 

Q. Wbat were the politics of those men who were killed?—A. They 
were all Kepublicans. 

Q. Were they active Eepnhlicans?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had any of them taken any part in the camiiaip^n ?—A. I could 
not say tliat. I didn’t have any great understanding about that. 

Q. Do you know from report, of any other colored men being killed 
up there during the election ?—A. Not in that iiarish. This was near 
the line.. Mr. Armand stated that at the time I was holding the inquest 
oil one of these men that he heard that on the other side of Bayou Le 
Gendre, in Tensas Parisli, there were a great deal of men killed, but I 
didn’t see them. He said that if I were there 1 could hold an inquest 
for a week; but I told him that I had no business there. 

Q. Did he tell you who was killed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Yor how many ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did he want you to go over there and hold an inquest ?—A. No, 
sir; I didn’t understand that he did. 

Q. Did you see any armed bodies of men in your i)arish?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How far do you live from Waterproof ?—A. I could not tell exactly 
how far. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. D id you make out a report—a return of the inquests that you held ?— 
A. I did. 

Q. Have you got those returns with you ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you a copy of them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Where is your report ?—A. It is filed in Governor Nicholls’ soffice. 
I made a general report to the governor. 

Q. The most you know about the hanging of these parties is what you 
learned from the colored people when you went to hold the inquests ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The one that was carried to Harvey Brown’s and brought back— 
I understand you to say a colored and a white man had charge ot him?— 
A. Yes, sir; that is the way the witness gave it in to me. 

Q. Did you know what became of this party that got him to go over 
to Harvey Brown’s ?—A. He left the parish, and I do not know where 
he is. 

Q. Do you know whether there was any difficulty between these two 
persons ?—A. They said there was; they Avere not in good friendship ; 
that is how he came to leaA^e there and get away. 

Q. Then you do not knoAv what became of him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was it a mixed croAvd that hung the others ?—A. No, sir; they 
said thev were all Avhite. 

Q. Yon did not see them cut down from their hanging places?—A.. 
No, sir; I only saAv where they were hung—the trees. 

Q. They were hnng the same morning, or rather just before day? A.. 
"Yes sir. 

Q. How many shots were fired into Charley Carroll ?—A. They stated 
there were two. 

Q. Did you see the holes ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Whereabouts in his body was he shot ?—A. In his hack. 

Q. You didn’t cross the line into Tensas?—A. No, sir; I don’t go 
OA^er there. 





358 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[Concordia 


Q. How long- have yon been coroner of Concordia ?—A. Two years. 
Q. And was elected again at this last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kikkaa OOD : 

Q. It is a ])retty good business up there?—A. AYs, sir. 


GEOBGE AVASHIA^GTOY. 

Neav Orleans, January lo, 1879. 

George WashinCtTON (colored) SAvorn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Wliere do you reside?—AnsAver. In Concordia Parish. 

Q. How long?—A. Eorty-three years. 

il. In Avhat part of the parish do you reside?—A. In the town of Yi- 
dalia, on the iIa er. 

Q. Were you there during the last season?—A. A"es, sir. 

(^. Hid you take any part in i)olitics last season?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What part?—A. I was candidate for the position of coroner. 

Q. Were you elected ?—A. I don’t know Avhether I aa us or not. An¬ 
other man has got the place, I know. 

Q. Ho you knoAY of any armed bodies of men in your section of the 
country about election time?—A. I do. 

Q. Hoaa" many did you see?—A. About sixty-fiA^e or scA^enty men, as 
near as I can make it out, to my oavu personal knoAA ledge. 

Q. Where did you see them ?—A. On HaA is’s Island. 

Q. Where is HaAus’s Island?—A. In the lake of Concordia, about ten 
miles from Yidalia. 

Up the riv^er ?—A. lies, sir. About a mile and a half back from 
the ri\w. 

Q. Who had them in charge?—A. I am not able to say. 

il. Hid you knoAv these men ?—A. I did not knoAV a man in the croAvd, 
but one. 

Q. Who was he ?—A. Eli Y^oung. 

Q. Where Avere they going?—A. They were going to Mr. HaA is’s plan¬ 
tation. 

Q. What happened then?—A. They stoi)ped there in the first quar¬ 
ters they came to, and captured six or eight men, and set them outside 
with a guard o\xr them. They tarried thm^e some time, and got fiA^e or 
six horses on that place. 

Q. What did they do with them ?—A. They took them in their oavu 
cliarge. 

Q. Whose horses Avere they ?—xV. They belonged to colored people, 
sir. After that they left there. I was about half a mile from them, but 
I could see them. I saw them coming to where I a\ as, on the adjoining 
plantation. 

Q. Whose plantation was it ?—A. Mr. Havis owned it, but Mr. Jaeger 
runs it. 

Q. When they got to that ])lantation Avhat did they do ?—A. They 
didn’t do anything at all. A feAv of them rode down to Mr. Yager’s 
dwelling. I didn’t hear what they said. They soon turned back and re¬ 
tired. I was told shortly afterwards that they had carried off my horse. 
I followed them, not to let them get out of my sight, to see Avhether they 
had taken my horse. I found that my horse"Avas gone. They did have 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


359 


liiin. I went on to the first quarters tliey entered. I asked the colored 
folks in the quarters had they seen iny horse. Tliey said, No.” Pretty 
soon the body of armed men marched through there again. Then 1 saw 
my horse in the crowd. 

Whilst I was in the quarters an alarm came there that two men of 
this crowd had hung a colored man down at the graveyard. We went 
there and found a man there hanging. The brother of the man that 
was hung came ui> and said, I understand that my brother is hung up 
in here.” Pie went up and looked at him, and turned him around, and 
took him down, and laid him on the ground, and took oft* the rope. 

Q. Who was it that was hung ?—A. It was Doc Smith. 

Q. Did you understand what he was hung for?—A. No, sir; not par¬ 
ticularly. I did understand that when he saw these two men he was 
trying to dodge them, and ran out of the way, because he was alarmed 
or excited, and they followed and overtook him, and carried him down 
and hnng him. Some one told me that one of his arms was broken. I 
went and took hold of his arm, and could hear the bones crackle through 
the skill. They told me that one gentleman who was in that crowd of 
men rode into the quarter, and asked where was the graveyard. Some 
one said, “There,” pointing oif toward it. lie said, “Well, go down 
into that graveyard, and you will find a fellow hanging on a tree, with 
his mouth oiien, laughing at the pecans on the tree that he wants to eat, 
but can’t get at them.” They had hung him to a pecan-tree, you know. 
Then they passed on and went away. 

Q. What became of your horse?—A. They have got him yet, I sup¬ 
pose, sir. I haven’t heard of him since. 

Q. AVere the other horses brought back?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many of them were taken?—A. Seven. 

(^. Did they never bring any of them back?—A. No, sir; none of 
them, except one mule. 

Q. How many men were there of them ?—A. I was somewhat excited 
and might have thought there were more than there were. I really 
think there must have been sixty-five or seventy, more or less. 

Q. All mounted men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Armed?—A. Y^es, sir. 

j Q. How armed?—A. AATth shot-guns and rifles. 

(j). AAdiere did they come from?—A. 1 don’t know. 

(}. Nor where they went?—A. No, sir. 

Q. About what time of the month was that?—A. On the 19th of 
I October. 

Q. Did you see any other armed bodies of men go through there?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of any others?—A. I heard of a larger body than 
I that, on tile opposite side, a mile and a half or two miles below us, on 
the other side of Lake Concordia. 

Q. How many?—A. Phill as many, if not more than there were on 
this side. 

Q. Did they do any damage to anybody?—A. I never heard of any 
damage tliev did. 

Q. Did you hear of any other armed bodies of men going through 
there?— a1 No. sir; they all seemed to be the same body. 

Q. The same body of men in different places?—A. Yes, sir; then 
they were reported, too, in Tensas Parish. 

(). Y"ou understood they went up into Tensas Parish afterwards?— 
A. No, sir; I understood that they came from Tensas Parish into 
Concordia. 







o60 LOUISIANA IN 1878. [Concoidia 

,Q. Til at is all yon know about tbe matter?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What was done with the colored jieople taken prisoners?—A. 
They let them go after a little. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. You say this was about the 19th of October?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many days was that after that affair in Tensas?—A. lam 
unable to say. 

Q. These men came down into your parish from Tensas ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do they get on to the island ?—A. There was a strip of land 
between the lakes where you can pass in and out when the water is low. 

Q. What was the name of this man you say was hanged ?—A. Doc 
Smith. 

Q. Did the coroner ever sit upon him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The witness who preceded you sat upon his case ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there not another man said to have been hung down at the 
quarters ?—A. That is the same man. 

Q. O, I misunderstood. I thought you intended to say that there were 
two men hung?—A. Ko, sir; only one; there were two men hung him. 

Q. You knew none of those persons, except the one that was hung?— 
A. Ko, sir. . . 

Q. Where did he live ?—A. In Yidalia. 

Q. Is that in Concordia Parish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you ask Mr. Young to return your horse?—A. I did not; he 
came to me and said he understood my horse had been taken to Tensas, 
and he told me to make out my bill and he would jiay me. I went, and 
he put me off* for further time, and it has never been settled.yet. 

<^. Did the other black people ask them to return their stock ?—A. 
They all made out their bills. I don’t know whether they went to Mr. 
Young with them or not. 

Q. Do you knoAV Avhether they haA^e been jiaid or not?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you learn what this man was hung for?—A. There was a rumor 
that he made an effort to run from these armed men that came through 
there, and they ran after him and oA^ertook him. 

Q. Was not something said about his having threatened to take the 
lives of some persons in that neighborhood ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or threaten to administer poison to some person or other ?—A. No, 
sir; he was a very nice young man, sir. 

Q. Didn’t he threaten to poison Mr. Biggins ?—A. No, sir; I don’t 
think he knew anything about Mr. Biggins. 

Q. Where did Mr. Biggins live ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. Where did the young man that a\ as hanged IHe?—A. In the same 
place I did, on Mr. Davis’s land; he had grown up there from a little 
boy. 

Q. You don’t knoAv Avhether these white men accused him of any crime 

not?—A. No, sir. 


THOMAS A. JOHNSON. 

Neav Orleans, January 16 , 1879 . 
Thomas A. Johnson sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?-~Answer. In Concordia Parish. 



l?arisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF THOMAS A. JOHNSON. 


SGI 


Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. I was horn there. 

Q. Were you there during the last campaign ?—A. A^es, sir. 

(^. Bid you take any i^art in it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you present at any voting-place on election day?—A. A^es, 
sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. At Frogmore. 

State wliat occurred there during that time.—A. Some people 
came there and could not vote ; they could iiot get to. 

Q. Why could they not?—A. They said they were not on the roll- 
hook. 

Q. Bo you know Avhether they were ?—A. Some were not; and I 
know some were put on the rolls the same day I put my name on. 

Q. How do you know that their names were on the poll-list ?—A. Be¬ 
cause they registered the same day I did. 

Q. Bid these men have any certificates Avheii they came there?—A. 
No, sir ; not all of them. 

Q. About how many men, now, did you see that could not vote ?—A. 
To my knowledge about 50. 

Q. Who were the commissioners of election ?—A. Mr. Benjamin Leon¬ 
ard was one, and Arthur Johnson, and Mr. Calvert also; 1 forget the 
others. There were three white men and one black man. 

Q. Who was the black man ?—A. Arthur Johnson. 

Q. Bo you know what ticket he was supi)orting ?—A. No, sir ; I donT. 

Q. Bid anything occur after you got through Amting there?—A. After 
we got through the election we counted the Amtes, and they started home 
with the boxes, and they Avere taken aAvay from them. 

Q. Who started home Avith the box ?—A. The commissioners. 

Q. Where Avere they taken away?—A. Between the quarters and 
where these men staid. I saw the three men after it occurred, and they 
said the boxes AA^ere taken away from them. 

Q. What did they say about it then ?—A. They said the men came 
from OA^er the leA'ee and shot at them and knocked them down, and took 
the boxes from them. 

Q. Were they white or black men ?—A. They said they didn’t know. 

Q. Bid they not knoAv Avhether they were Avhite or black ?—A. No, 
sir; because they said they Avere masked. 

Q. Bo you know Avhat became of the boxes ?—A. No, sir; I learned 
six days afterwards that the boxes were burned up in the Avoods. 

Q. Bo you know how the Amte stood there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. HoaV Avas it ?—A. The Eepublicans had a majority at that box. 
There Avere 37 votes cast for the Bepublican partly and 11 for the Fusion 
ticket. 

Q. That is all you know about this matter?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You did not see the ballot-boxes taken away by these men?—A. 
No, sir; I was 250 yards from them, going home. 

Q. You voted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You Avere not disturbed for voting?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was any one disturbed?—A. No, sir; 1 didn’t see any one disturbed 
there. 

Q. There were three Bemocratic commissioners and one Eepublican, 
did you say?—A. I think so; I am not well acquainted AAuth them, and I 
don’t know whether they were Democrats or Eepublicans. 

Q. About, what time in the day Avas it Aviien they started away with 
the ballot-boxes?—A. About nine or ten o’clock in the night. 



3G2 


LOUISIANA IN 1S78. 


[Concordia 


Q. They did not count tlie votes before they were oft) did thej"?—A. 
Yes, sir; they counted the votes first. 

Q. Did they announce the result of the votes?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the way you know it was 37 to 11?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What ticket did you supi)ort?—A. I supported the Ivepublicau 
ticket. 

Q. Did you vote for General King for the long term of Congress ?—A. 
Ko, sir; I didn’t. 

Q. Did you vote for Fairfax for the short term ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whom did you vote for for parish judge?—A. For J. S. Mayne. 

Q. Did he carry that box?—A. Yes, sir; I believe he did. 

Q. Did you vote for Orleans for the legislature?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether he carried that box?—A. Ko, sir; I don’t 
think he did. 


M. T. EAKDOLPH. 


KEtv Oeleans, Jamiary 17, 1870. 

M. T. Eandolpii sworn and examined. 

Ey the Chairman : 

Question. AVhere do yon live?—Answer. At Frogmore. 

(^. How long have you lived there?—A. Since 1870 until now. 

Q. Were you'there ou election day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. State what occurred there on election day.—A. Well, during the 
election they were voting the same as usual, and there was not any dis¬ 
turbance kicked ui) in the daytime, to my knowing, more tlian a little 
talk around by the people that were voting; and after the vote was 
counted they started away with tlie boxes to go Avhere they intended to 
keep them until the next morning, and they were taken away from 
tliem. 

Q. Do you know anything about who took them away?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything about the circumstances—an 3 ^ idea about 
it?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. How do you know they were taken awa^^?—A. AVell, I was right 
there. 

Q. Did 3 ou see them take them awa 3 ^ 3 murself?—A. The 3 "just run 
over the levee, hollering, Give up the boxes, 3 "ou damn sons of bitches,” 
and shooting was going on, and the bullets were passing so fast over 
1113 ^ head 1 laid down. 

Q. AVho did this?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Were they white or colored people ?—A. They had false faces on, 
and I couldn’t swear who they were. 

Q. They took them away, I suppose ?—A. Y^es, sir; they took them. 
Tliey knocked one fellow down. 

Q. Did he have the boxes?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. How many did he have ?—A. He had two. 

Q. Wliat did they do with the boxes?—A. I do not know; they 
carried them off*. 

Q. AYere they ev^er found?—A. Yes, sir; in the woods. 

Q. Y^ou never went around to see them?—A. Ko, sir; I never would 
if I could. 

Q. Why?—A. Because I didn’t know who was there, and I was 
afraid. The people that found the boxes were men that were hunting 
around in the woods, and of course the 3 ^ wouldn’t bother with them. 



Parish.] TESTIMONY OF CHARLES W. JOHNSON. 363 

Q. If you Iniow anytliiuo' about the boxes furtlier, will you state it ?— 
A. 1 know nothing further. 

Q. You say you did not know the men who did this ?—A. I^o, sir. 


CITAKLES W. JOHNSOIS^. 

Yew Orleans, January 17, 1870. 

Charles W. Johnson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairaian : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Yidalia, Concordia 
Parish. ' 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—xV. Two years. 

(l. Were you there during the last campaign ?—A. I was. 

Q. Hid you take any part in it ?—A. 1 did. 

Q. AVhat part?—xV. I was with the Fusion ticket. I was going to run 
for magistrate; but after they began to get a little rough I Avould not 
accept anything further, but I tried to do all I could for the Eepublicau 
ticket. 

Q. What was the Fusion ticket—Democratic and Kepublican together ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What do you mean by their getting a little rough ” ?—xA. After the 
outrages were commenced in the country. 

(^. state what you know about these things.—xA. I do not know 
much from my own knowledge ; our people got scared; and some of them 
said they had seen a list of those who were going to be killed. AYe threw 
open our doors and fed them as well as we could. 

Q. Fed who ?—A. Those who had run away from their homes because 
they were frightened, and were afraid of being killed. 

Q. How many of them were there ?—A. I do not know; the town was 
crowded from Friday night until the middle of the next week. Armed 
men began to ride through there on Tuesday, and frightened men at 
once began to go from the back country into the town, and wanted to 
know if those others could not do something for them. 

Q. AVere any steps taken to protect them?—A. Yone whatever that 
I know^ of. 

Q. How long did they remain there at Abdalia?—A. Some a month; 
some went away in a few days, and some are there yet. 

Q. You speak of armed bodies of men riding through the country; did 
you see any?—A. Yo, sir; 1 did not go out into the country at all. 

Q. Do you know anything about armed bodies of men from those who 
did see them?—A. They said they wei-e riding through the country. 
One said they came to his house and asked for him, and he was standing 
listening, and when he heard that he took for the woods. 

Q. Did you attend the election?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Did the colored people of your x)art of the parish generally atteml 
election?—A. AAYll, sir, a good many of them were going around from 
one precinct to another, trying to find their names on the polling-lists. 

Q. AA^ere not their names on the polling-lists ?—A. The commissioners 
said they were not. 

il. AYho were the commissioners?—A. Alike Joyce, Thomas Biley, and 
Aloses Bell. 

Q. AYere they white or colored men?—A. Two were white, and one 
was colored. 

Q. Did those men claim that they were registered?—^^A. Y^es, sir; and 





364 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


some of them I know were registered, for I worked in the office with the 
registrar and put their names on the register myself. 

Q. Did they have certificates ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they present their certificates ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then why were they not alloAved to vote?—A. The commissioners 
said their names were not on the poll-list. 

Q. Do yon know why their names were not on the poll-list?—A. ]^o, 
sir. 

Q. Do you put their names on the i)oll-list when you give them their 
papers?—A. 1 do. 

(^. How many colored people were thus def)rived of voting?—A. We 
have at least 300 colored voters, and I saw at least fifty Avhoin I knew 
had the right to vote, hut who Avere not allowed to Amte because the 
commissioners said their names Avere not on the poll-list. 

Q. Do you knoAA" of any other Avard except your own where this oc¬ 
curred?—A. Yot to my OAvn kuoAAdedgej 1 heard that it Avas the same 
in other A\mrds. 

Q. Was the election quiet?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there any armed men about?—A. Yot about Vidalia. 

Q. What is the Amte of Vidalia ?—A. There are about 1,257 Alters in 
Vidalia. 

Q. How many wards are there ?—A. Vidalia is divided into two wards. 
The fifth Avard takes one part of the village and the sixth Avard the 
other; and Vidalia is the 11th justice of the peace Avard—so as to huA^e 
a justice of the peace in the \illage. 

Q. In these tAvo AAairds how many Amters are there?—A. About 200 
and odd vote in the fifth Avard; I forget how many in the sixth. 

Q. Are they mostly colored people or white?—A. The colored people 
are A^ery much in the majority. 

Q. What is the result, according to the returns ?—A. In the country 
wards they refused to recognize the tally-sheets kept out there, and 
brought the boxes to Vidalia and made the returns. 

Q. Wliat ticket AAms elected according to the returns ?—A. The Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. 

Q. In the AAdiole parish?—A. Yes, sir; every man that ran for office 
on the Democratic ticket was elected. 

Q. Those men that you said you saAV running around trying to get a 
chance towmte, Avho Avere they trying to vote for?—A. The Iteimblicaii 
ticket. 

Q. Hoav do you knoAv that?—A. They came to me and told me so. 
They asked me if I could not do something for them, for I had issued 
their certificates. 

Q. At what precinct would the commissioners not accept the tally- 
sheets ?—A. At Pittsfield and at Froginore. At Pittsfield the Demo¬ 
crats laid calculated to carry it solid, but there Avas a tie of 115 each. 
At Vidalia the Eepublicans had nine votes and the Democrats all the 
rest. 

Q. Hoav many more Avere there?—A. They gave the Democrats OA^er 
300,1 think it Avas. 

Q. Did you understand why the commissioners would not accept the 
tally-slieets; Avas there any irregularity?—A. I do not know Avhy they 
would not recognize them when they came to Vidalia. 

Q. Do you knoAA^ a man by the name ot Johnson from Progmore?——A. 
I heard that he Avas there; I have had a talk Avith him. 

Q. Was he a colored man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Do you know Avhether he is here noAv or not?—A. I do not know. 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF CHARLES W. JOHNSON. 365 

Q. Did they bring the ballot-boxes into Yidalia and count the vote 
there f—A. Yes, sir, they took them into the court-house. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. AVho brought them inf—^A. The commissioners from the different 
wards. Some of them had deputy sheriff's coming in along with them. 

Cross-examination by Mr. Garland : 

Q. Were you nominated for justice of the peace on the fusion ticket?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. You stated when you began your testimony that you were running 
for that office.—A. Yes, sir, I did at the outset. They said they were 
going to give us a representative on the fusion ticket; I thought if they 
would give us a good representative I would stick by them; but they 
began to get rough and 1 left. 

Q. Did you expect when you started out to be nominated for justice 
of the peace?—A. No, sir; I expected they would stand by me if 1 were 
to run and give them my support on the fusion ticket. 

Q. Who was elected parisli judge up there?—^A. J. S. Ming. 

(^. Was he a Eepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. I said that all who were 
elected were Democrats, but I made a mistake; Mr. Ming was elected 
and he is a Eepublican. 

Q. Elected as a Eepublican?—^A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. There is a colored man in that town who is editor of a paper there ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What ticket did he support?—A. The fusion ticket. 

Q. What is the name of his paper?—A. The Concordia Eagle. 

Q. How many other papers are there in the town of Yidalia?—A. 
There is none going on there now, though they then had two more. 

Q. Were there any others in the parish but those ?—A. I think not. 

Q. \Ylio was elected representative from that parish ?—A. George L. • 
Walton. 

Q. How many white persons were elected from the parish to the dif¬ 
ferent offices?—A. I do not know exactly; 1 think they got all the 
police jury but three out of ten. They got, according to that, seven 
police jurors, and they got the magistrate of tlie town and the represent¬ 
ative—in fact, everything, mighty near, this time, except sheiiff' and 
coroner, and a few justices of the peace out of the different wards. 

Q. How many Eepublicans were elected justices of the peace ?—A. I 
do not think there were more than two or three out of eleven. 

Q. Were any other colored men elected?—A. Yes, sir; but all elected 
were fusion men. 

Q. For whom did you vote for Congress ?—A. For Alfred Fairfax. 

(^. He was for the short term ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For whom did you vote for the long term ?—A. I did not vote for 
any one for the long term; I scratched his name off'. 

Q. You Avere not shot at or driven off'?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Y^ou remained there until after the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhen did you come doAvn to this place lirst ?—A. I left my home 
last Saturday and came doAvn on the steamer Helena. 

Q. Have you been summoned as a Avitness in the IJnited States 
court ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you testified there in regaixl to these matters ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Wlnit ward Avas that AAffiere you say there AAms a tie A ote ?—A. It 
Avas Avard seven, if I am not mistaken. 

Q. Were you acquainted AAuth the diff'erent candidates for sheriff ?— 
A. 1 Avas. 


36G 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[ConcoPtlia 


Q. Oil wliat ticket did tliey run ?—A. One on the Eepuhlican ticket 
the other on the Democratic—fusion. 

Q. Were they both white men?—A. Xo, sir j they were both colored 
men. 

Q. Which one was declared elected?—A. Of course the fusion one 
was. 

Q. By how much majority ?—A. By one hundred and ninety and some 
odd. 

Q. By how much majority was Judge Miug declared elected?—A. I 
think about 400. 


^EW Orleans, La., January 18, 1879. 

Charles W. Johnson (colored) recalled. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Question. You spoke of being at the iiolls on election day at a place 
where the opposing candidates received an equal number of votes. 
AVhere was that?—Answer. ^7o, sir; I was not there; that was at Pitts¬ 
field. 

Q. Were you not there?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How did you receive your information ?—A. I knoAV only by the 
poll that Avas kept by the returning-board. The sheriff that came up 
there told me so. 

Q. Tlie sheriff' brought the tally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Was the sheriff one of the returning-board?—A. No, sir. The 
sheriff* sat down as they counted and keiit tally. 

Q. Who was the sheriff* ?—A. His name Avas John Y^oung. 


CHARLES LINCOLN. 

Neav Orleans, La., January 18, 1879. 

Charles Lincoln (colored) SAvorn and examined. 

By the Chair3IAn : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. At Vidalia. 

(^. Hoav long liaA^e you been there ?—A. I Avas bred and born there. 

(^. Did you take any part in the late political campaign ?—A. Yes, . 
sir. 

Q. Were you present at the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you Amte ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What do you know about the way the election AA^as conducted?—A. 
So far as I knoAV there Avas some people that could not Amte. 

Q. Hoav many people could not Auffe ?—A. Well, sir, to my knoAAdedge 
I looked upon the poll-book and I found as liigh as forty. 

Q. Why could tliey not Amte ?—A. Because they said their names 
could not be found. 

Q. Were they on the register?—A. I don’t knoAv; they said so. 

Q. They claimed they had registered ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the commissioners claimed they liad not ?—A. They said they 
didn’t know Avhether tlieir names were there or not. 

Q. Did they not look for them ?—A. They looked on the poll-books 
for tliem. 




TESTIMONY OF CHARLES LINCOLN. 367 

Q. Were they registered ?—A. Well, the poll-books are one thing and 
the register is another. 

Q. l)id they not look on the poll-books ?—A. Yes, sir. The original 
book was not there; they only had the poll-book there, which was a copy. 
The register is kept of the entire parish and the list furnished from that. 

Q. You do not know whether they ought to have been allowed to 
vote ?—A. It seems to me they ought to have been allowed. 

Q. But they were not registered f—A. They said so. 

Q. You never examined the register afterwards to see f Were you 
out in the country during that time ?—A. Xo, sir ; I was in Yidalia. 

Q. You staid in Yidalia?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. During the campaign were you out in the country ?—A. ¥o, sir. 

Q. You did not see any of these armed bodies of men?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of them ?—A. Yes, sir; of course I heard of them. 

Q. Were there a great many colored people coming into Yidalia about 
that time ?—A. Tliey came in droves, Avomen and children. 

Q. For what puri)ose did they come in there ?—A. They said the bull¬ 
dozers Avere after them. 

Q. About AA'hat time did they come in ?—A. Keally 1 didn’t take any 
particular notice of what time. 

Q. Could you give any estimate of hoAv many came in; was it about 
the time of the Waterproof trouble ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav far is it from your place to Waterproof ?—A. I guess it is 25 
or 30 miles, as near as I can guess. 

Q. Yidalia is right opposite Natchez ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of any troops going from Natchez up there?—A. I 
heard of them; I didn’t see them. 

Q. That Avas Captain Peck’s company ?—A. I don’t know; I heard so. 

Q. Can you giA’^e any estimate of the women and children that came 
in ?—A. I don’t knoAV. 

Q. Was it fifty or one hundred?—A. It was about one hundred, I 
know. 

Q. Hoav long did they stay there?—A. Some a week and some tAAm or 
three days ; some one day and some are there hoav. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Who is the registrar of your parish ?—A. YTlliam Eichardson. 

Q. A Avhite man?—A. No, sir; colored. 

Q. ^Yhat are his politics ?—A. I believe he is a Democrat. 

Q. Noav ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav long has he belonged to the party ?—A. I belieA^e this is the 
first year, to my knowledge. 

Q.*Before that he was a Eepublican?—A. Yes, sir; he pretended to 
be one, Avhether he was or not. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. He is noAV converted, is he ?—A. I belicA^e so. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Why did you think he was a Democrat; because he supported the 
fusion ticket ?—A. He supported their ticket. 

Q. The fusion ticket represented both parties, did it not ?—A. The 
fusion ticket represented the Democratic party. 

Q. Were there not some Kepublicans on the fusion ticket ?—A. No, 
sir; I don’t believe there Avas. 

(^. Were there some colored people on it ?—A. Yes, sir; some. 


368 


LOUISIANA IN 1378. 


) Concordia 


DAVID YOimCx. 

Orleans, La., January 18, 1879. 

David Youngt (colored) sworn and examined. 

BjAlie Chairman: 

Q. Where do yon reside?—A. In Vidalia, Concordia Parish. 

Q. How long have yon resided there?—A. I have been there since 1851. 

Q. Have yon ever iield any public i)Osition?—A. Yes, sir; I have been 
in the legislature since 1808-—in the house six years and in the senate 
four years. 

Q. Are yon in the present legislature?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Were yon in Concordia during the last election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon take part in that election?—A. I did, sir. 

Q. You may state what you know about it.—A. I was the nominee for 
the house of the lleimblicans. 

Q. Did yon run against Mr. Walter?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. Now you may give us the history of the election.—A. It is a pretty 
long one. 

Q. Well, you may go on and tell it.—A. I was nominated on the 12th 
of October by the liepublican convention. I had had some i)revions talk 
with Mr. Walton there. I was not an aspirant for the position; in fact, 
I did not want to bother any longer with politics anyway. I saw it was 
a gone thing, and my business there at home required my i)ersonal atten¬ 
tion, and I thought I would leave politics out. I had been looked upon 
there, 1 think, by both white and black people, as the political leader 
since 1808; and 1 had several talks with him and other leading Demo¬ 
crats. He did not call himself exactly a Democrat, and 1 don’t know 
exactly Avhat to call him. Anyway, I Avould have supported him if he 
would have accepted the place—or any good man—at that time. So, 
Avhen the convention met, on account of the quarantine being established, 
of com-se that cut off all communication. We had no further talk upon 
the subject. When we talked alx)ut it he said he would not acceiit the 
l)osition under any consideration, on account of business at home re¬ 
quiring his attention. In that convention that was held prior to that, 
to elect delegates to the Congressional convention, there was a resolu¬ 
tion offered by the editor of the Concordia Eagle bringing me out as a 
candidate, and urging me to accept—not to abandon politics, but to 
accept a position in the State-house. I hesitated over it a week or so, 
and at last consented to run, and did so. I don’t know as Mr. Walton 
knows the facts as I do; he was a good ways from town. I hope he has 
found out since that I was fairly elected, but I would not have the posi¬ 
tion to-day if he Avas to give it to me. 

Q. Why were yon fairly elected ?—A. I got a majority of the votes. 

Q. Now, givens your reasons why, if so, you are not a member instead 
of Mr. Walton ?—A. You know the Eepublicans were in jiower; they 
had Avhat is known as the retnrning-board for the whole State. 

Q. Yes; I have heard of that board.—A. Well, when the Democrats 
got in and we got out, they had returning-boards in every iiarish. 

Q. Explain about that.—A. I reckon Avhat is “ sauce for tlie goose is 
sauce for the gander.” 

Q. Tell us Avhat you know in this parish about the retnrning-board, 
its State law, and registration law.—A. Well, I can do the voting and 
another party can do the counting. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF DAVID YOUNG. 


369 


By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Is that the way yon did it in Eepiihlicau times!—A. That is the 
way in some cases, I believe. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. This was then here at the capital; now they have it all over the 
State!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is this parish returning-board ?—A. It is the commissioners 
of election. The law itself is good enough if it is not abused by the 
officers. 

Q. Do you know of any instances of its being abused !—A. I think 
I do. 

Q. Where!—A. Well, in our parish I am pretty sure it was; for in¬ 
stance, in registration. 

Q. Who does the registering!—A. The law now as it stands makes 
it the duty of the tax assessor; he is the registrar of voters in the parish 
where he resides. He takes names and puts them on the general regis¬ 
tration-book, and after that poll-books are made up for every ward and 
})recinct. Tlie names are then taken from the general registration-book 
and placed on the poll-books for the several wards and precincts, and 
I the party’s name that is not found on the precinct book is not allowed 
to vote. In my parish such was the case. I think they had men there 
on purpose to do it. It was carried out, and about one thousand men 
were kept from voting on that account; there are about three thousand 
I voters in that parish. At the last registration there were two thousand 
I nine hundred and something colored men registered, and 200 whites. 

I The vote was very small, because they could not vote. I know it was sn 
I in the town at the two polls I staid at all day. 

I Q. AVhere was that!—A. That was at Vidalia. Others came in to 
I the polls twenty-five or thirty miles otf, and said their names could not 
I be found tliere. 

I Q. How are these men who register the votes elected !—A. They are 
appointed by the governor. 

Q. Who is that nian in your county!—A. William Eidgely. 

Q. Is he a Democrat!—A. I don’t know; there are many men who 
affiliate with the party here, and disclaim being Democrats. 

Q. Does he affiliate with the party!—A. Yes, sir; and for years he 
had. 

Q. Is there no way that the voter can be sure he has registered !—A. 
Well, there were a great many there that day; they of course knew 
they were registered and had the registration paper. I mean when they 
would register they would have a certificate given to them. When the 
register first opened they gave about 500 certificates out, and then they 
run out and did not give any more, and even some of those who had cer¬ 
tificates were not allowed to vote. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of any other method by which the peo¬ 
ple were not allowed to express their choice in Concordia! Do you 
know of any other method taken to give the Democrats a majority ! 
You say one was that they could not be allowed to vote, the commis¬ 
sioners saying that they were not registered, or something of that kind. 
—A. Well, I would not like to say; still I have made up my mind on 
my future course in politics. I live here, and I don’t care to say much 
about it. 

Q. I ask you only for facts that you know of.—A. I have told. 

Q. Now, you have given one method by which you say you were 
deprived of votes that you would have got. Now, is there any other! 

24 T 




370 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


—A. The reason I say I was elected is, there were thirteen or fourteen 
places in the parish. I got, I think, according to the statement of the 
commissioners, at least a majority of the votes from every polling-place 
but two. I think they captured the boxes before they got to the places 
of voting. There was one poll at Floiirymonnt that went solid Demo¬ 
cratic, and another poll at Delano, which had about 30 votes, where 
they got a majority. At Flourymount, on Black Fiver, the Democrats 
got the solid ticket; at the Delano polling-place, Walton got a majority 
there; and at all the other boxes in the parish, tweh^e boxes, I got a 
majority of the votes. 

Q. If you got a majority why were they not counted to you ?—A. I 
just now said that the returning-board after they got to Yidalia changed 
the result. 

Q. What reason have you to sui)pose that this is the fact —A. Well, 

I was there watching things pretty close. 

Q. Tell us what you know about it.—A. At Pittsfield and Waucluse, 
the ()th and 7th wards, the Kepublican ticket ran ahead about 100 votes 
at Waucluse and the same result at Pittsfield; we ran ahead there. I 
had my ticket in such a way that it could not be counterfeited. [Wit¬ 
ness showed a green ticket like a United States note in size and appear¬ 
ance.] On the day of election I had my brother at one of the polls, 
and I attended two polls in the town. I had other people appointed at 
Waucluse. The law requires that the result of the election—that is, 
the vote—shall be determined before they remove the box. The commis¬ 
sioners are to be sworn before they start to receive votes, and then they 
are to be sworn that there is an honest count, and swear to tlie vote after 
the count. That is on the tally-sheets, and the boxes are to be sealed 
and delivered in the hands of the clerk of the court. The sherift' 
receives one of the tally-sheets, and another is forvv arded here to the 
secretary of state. That is the case at the poll where Walton was, I 
believe. That was the case all down the river. At Waucluse and Pitts¬ 
field that was the case. After the election was over those that were there 
keeping the tallies as they were counting the ballots, of course they saw 
who was ahead. The commissioners acknowledged to me and my friends 
that were there, that 1 was ahead. They did not compile the vote there, 
and, of course, did not comply with the law ; but left it open. At night 
when they came into town they kei)t the tally-sheets with them all night, 
and I didn’t know what they did with the boxes—whether they were 
delivered to the clerk or not. In the morning when I went iij), about 
twelve o’clock, the commissioners from Waucluse and Pittsfield had not 
yet returned their tally-sheets. They sent up in the deputy clerk’s ottice, 
and the clerk of the court was not there, and they did not return until 
late in the afternoon. The result was that when the result was made 
the tally-sheets were delivered in the hands of my brother and the sheriff, 
and I looked and saw it. They had me al)out one hundred ahead, and 
Pittsfield 15 or 16 votes over Waucluse, but they had taken all my votes 
there. 

Q. How many to the other men ?—A. I think they gave Walton three 
hundred and something. They had a very large vote there that they 
claimed; and the same result was at Pittsfield. 

Q. What did they give you at Pittsfield A. I ran ahead of him at ’ 
Pittsfield, and they returned me nine or ten there. I think it gave Wal- . 
ton, on those two polls, seven hundred and some odd votes. 

Q. You had a majority at both polls A. Yes, sir; I ought to have ' 
had. 

Q. You are not contesting the seat ?—A. No, sir; and don’t pro^mse to. ji 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF DAVID YOUNG. 


371 


Q. h} A. Ill tlie first place I don’t care anytliino- about it: and 
in the second place 1 know it is a Democratic house, and I know I could 
not get in if I did contest, and I would not do it. 

Q. You say there was some excitement up there; wliat occasioned it ? 
^ outbreak in Waterproof. 

Q. What was tlie excitement in your county or parish?—A. There 
were some of our men went up there on Monday*; I think from the upper 
end 01 the parish. I don’t know, of course, whether they did or not; 
but I judge they did, as some of them afterwards told me that they did 
go up there. On Tuesday, M ednesday, or some of these days, fellows 
were running in the town there. Of course all I had to do was to step 
across the riyer to get there, which I did when I desired to. 

Q. You say you went across the Mississippi ?—A. Yes, sir ; at night. 

Q. M hy ?—A. 1 didn’t feel exactly safe in staying. I was adyised by 
my friends there to go. 

Q. Were they white people ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. How long did you stay across the riyer ?—A. 1 staid there three 
nights. 

Q. Then you returned ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Do you kuoAv of any yiolence or intimidation, of your own knowl¬ 
edge ?—A. I do know of some. 

Q. Did you hear anything about it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see it ?—A. ko, sir. 

Q. How long did tliis excitement keep up among the colored people ? 
—A. It kejit up three or four Aveeks. 

Q. Do you knoAv of any other parties going across the riyer besides 
these ?—A. My brother and myself Avent over three nights. 

Q. Was the sheriff ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He went OA^er for the same reason you did ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now you say you do not care to say anything about this ; that you 
haye made up your mind what you will do in the future. Now, v/hat do 
you mean by that ?—A. The course I will pursue. 

Q. What is that ?—A. Well, I haA'e had some experience about Con¬ 
gressional committees and in\^estigations, and I haye seen a good deal 
of what resulted from it afterwards, and I haye lost all confidence in the 
ability of the administration to protect the IHes of my people down here, 
and I haye made up my mind to leaA'e the place, or leaye out politics, or 
join the worst bulldozers there are. 

We haye men like Mr. Walton there that disapproye of any such 
thing as bulldozers, of course. Truthfully speaking we haye not more 
than fiye Democrats in our parish, and haye not had since the war. 
There was only one there before the war; and none of them approyed 
of killing at all. Still, Mr. Walton and such don’t haA^e nerye enough 
to come out and protest against it. I don’t knoAv but they are afraid of 
being bulldozed themseh^es. I know some of them are. I think the 
best course for me politically is noAy to make friends with the worst bull¬ 
dozers, and lay such men as Walton and others like him aside, because 
they can’t protect us. 

Q. Where do these bulldozers come from ?—A. I don’t know; from 
back out there somewhere. 

Q. Are they citizens of Concordia ?—A. No, sir; I don’t think they 
are. 

Q. Are they citizens of some neighboring parish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You mean to go out of politics ?—A. I mean to do one of those 
three things. 


372 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


By Mr. Garlajjd: 

Q. Is there no other objection under the law or constitution to yonr 
taking your seat in the legislature besides the tact of there being a Dem¬ 
ocratic house ?—A. I don’t know; I have never contested. I don’t 
know whether in fact I was to be admitted or not. 

Q. Did you ever hold any office in the parish, up there, except a seat 
in the legislature ! —A. No other office, except member of the town 
council and treasurer of the school board. 

Q. What year were you treasurer ?—A. In 1871 I was treasurer, and 
up to 1870. 

Q. Have you settled your account as treasurer of the board ?—A. Yes^ 
sir, long ago. That has been ke]>t u)) over me for i)olitical purposes. 

Q. What has been kept up f—A. »rust that question you have asked 
me now—whether I have settled or not. 

Q. You may state about it.—A. I was made treasurer in 1871. I kept 
the office two years, and gave bond, and made settlement with that 
board, and another board was api)ointed. I made settlement with the 
former board, and so on, and with the division superintendent; and the 
next two years I did the same. There was a lot of warrants that were 
obtained from the treasurer here, known as the free-school warrants— 
$2,500—which was accumulating before and since the war. I obtained 
that in warrants, and I have some yet. Of course, there was no money 
in the treasury—that has been a public fact—and there was no money, 
and on the presentation of the vouchers they could not give anything but 
the warrants. I presented tlie warrnats to the treasurer and he could not 
cash them. I was ordered, as treasurer of tlie board—the board ordered 
or passed resolutions ai)])ointing a committee—to sell those warrants to 
the highest bidder, which was done. I was one of the committee; 
Albert Harse, and some others. These warrants were sold at a big dis¬ 
count ; they have been all over the State. There were only two or three 
parishes in the State in which these warrants were not sold, as they had 
no money in the treasury. State warrants are not now worth inore 
than forty cents on the dollar. We made our report to the sctool-board, 
and they ratified our action. That is also a public fact. They went to 
work and bulldozed the grand jury and brought in an indictment against 
me, and there was a trial; but they entered a nolle pros., and they 
brought it up again and entered another nolle pros. The Democrats came 
in, and they wanted my mouth shut, and they brought it up in the same 
Avay. I have made the statement every two years, and it has been ac¬ 
cepted. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did they sue you on your bond % —A. No, sir. 

Q. What has become of that suit ?—A. It is pending yet. 

Q. What is the amount claimed that you owe?—A. All the discount. 
At the same time Mr. Walton will tell you, as a member of the school- 
board, that the debt had been created by the Democrats of the parish, 
and our parish warrants were not worth any more than this class of 
warrants. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. So this matter has been put at you by both Kepublicans and Dem¬ 
ocrats ?—A. Yes, sii\ 

Q. Until you got a receipt as treasurer of the school-fund, could you. 
under the law, take your seat in the legislature?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You could do that without your receipt?—A. Yes, sir. 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF DAVID YOUNG. 373 

Q. Wliat was the amount of the bond you gave ?—A. $7,000. They 
required of me $5,000. 

Q. Did you give a bond for two years ?—A. Yes, sir j I gave the bond 
from the time I was reappointed. 

Q. You speak of a nolle pros, being entered on the indictment 
against you; do you know why that was entered ?—A. I don’t know, 
because I think there was no ground for conviction. Mr. Leonard en¬ 
tered it. He is an ex-member of Congress. 1 never said anything to 
him about it. 

Q. Did the governor make any request or order to have it nolle 
pros’’d f —A. No, sir. 

Q. Did he ever do it ?—A. The only thing I ever saw was that I said 
to him in a telegram (there has been a good deal said al>out it, still there 
is nothing in it) that there was nothing in it, and if he found that I was 
not guilty, and there was no (‘Lance for conviction, and it did not inter¬ 
fere with his oath or duty of office, to dismiss it or get rid of it in some 
way. 

Q. AYho was that—Governor Nicholls ?—A. Governor Kellogg. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did this occur—when the warrants were sold'?—A. The 
warrants were sold in 1871. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Who compiles the returns of the election !—A. The commissioners. 

Q. I mean at Vidalia !—A. The commissioners. 

(i. Who were the commissioners there!—A. I don't rememlier their 
names. 

Q. Who compiles the returns made by the commissioners !—A. The 
sheriff and clerk of the court. 

Q. AVho is the sheriff of the county !—A. ]My brother, John Y^oung. 

Q. AYho was the clerk of the court ?—A. E. W. Wall was clerk of the 
court, but he was not there. 

Q. He is a colored man !—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Who is his deputy ?—A. Mr. Ball or Wall or Hall 5 I have forgot¬ 
ten his name. 

Q. Was he a black or a white man !—A. It is hard to tell what he is. 

Q. I understood you to say that the commissioners of election are 
sworn to discharge their duty projierly ?—A. That is the law, I say. I 
don’t say they were sworn, but 1 say that is the law. 

Q. They were sworn, I understood you to say, to make a fair count!— 
A. It is the law that they should be. 

Q. To make true returns !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say it was not so in your xiarish !—A. In some instances. 

Q. Where Vas it not done !—A. The instance I just related. 

Q. Y^ou say the oath was not administered!—A. I have been told 
that it was not. 

Q. Where !—A. At Waucluse and Pittsfield and at the place where 
they caxitured the boxes. 

Q. That was where there was a small vote !—A. There was a small 
vote there. 

Q. What was the vote there!—A. The vote there was about 40. 

Q. Of which you got how large a majority !—A. I got them all j about 
10 or 11 really. 

Q. How do you know that at these different precincts in the parish 
you got a majority of the votes ! Yon say Walton got a majority in two 


374 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


precincts. Now, liow do you know that fact ?—A. From parties that 
were there. 

Q. They told you that you got a majority of the votes !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the only source of information you have ?—A. Of course 
I could not he at every one of the polls that day; but we had men there,, 
and citizens, and commissioners on the part of the United States, and 
at every poll I had men who were pretty well read to watch. 

Q. You speak here of the report they made to you I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are satisfied that you were elected !—A. I am satisfied that 
I got a majority of the votes. 

Q. But you have not contested the seat with Mr. Walton !—A. No, sir.. 

Q. I understood you to say that you did not contest it because the 
returning-board was in the hands of the Democracy.—A. No, sir; I 
didn’t say on that account; I say that the first cause is that I don’t care 
anything about it, and secondly I know I would not get it if I tried. I 
thought they would give me the same that we used to give them. 

Q. What was that ?—A. Ciive them the goose. 

Q. You do not mean to say that tliat was the habit of the Eepublicans 
ill this State —A. I have seen it done in Congress, and 1 didn’t know 
but we could do it. We were in and we tried to stay in, and I believe 
the parties now are going to stay. 

Q. You are ready to oppose the practice by which you obtained and 
held your authority f—A. I believe I do. 

Q. When was this suit made against you ?—A. At the last election. 
There is not a man in the parish who believes that. Mr. AYalton there 
would not tell you that I took a dollar. I am ready for the case to come 
up any time on its merits. 

Q. The criminal action was dismissed in the course of time !—A. Both 
under Kellogg, I think. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You sold these warrants by direction of your board?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that a matter of record ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The resolution was that you should sell them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did you sell them ?—A. To a broker. The committee sold 
them. 

Q. You reported the jirice and all that ?—A. Yes, sir, I did, with the 
certificate of the men they were sold to. 

Q. Where did you sell them?—A. I sold them here in the city. 

Q. They brought all they were worth in the market ?—A. No, sir 
not all they were worth. 

Q. Did they bring the market price ?—A. Yes, sir; we had the first 
class of those warrants that came out of the treasury. We had built 
some school-houses, and we owed some debts.there, and, of course, they 
hadn’t the money, and they appointed a committee first to ascertain 
whether there were any funds of that county, and we found there was, 
and then they appointed a committee to sell them, as they were in the 
shape of warrants. Every parish, I think, in this State had a fund of 
that kind, and you will find it a matter of public record that they sold 
them, and I think I am the only one who was required to pay that dis- 
coimt. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. How long after you sold the warrants were they cashed at the 
treasury ?—A. They might have been cashed in the next hour after I 
sold them. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. L. WALTON. 


375 


Q. Do not know tkey were cashed within two weeks after you sold 
them f—A. I don’t know; I have seen a statement to that eifect. 

Q. Do yon not believe it ?—A. Yes, sir 5 I believe they were cashed 
within a short time after they were sold. He told me several times, in 
the presence ot witnesses, that there was no provision for paying that 
class of warrants, and he did not know when there would be. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Thereupon the board ordered you to sell them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was on the committee besides yourself ?—A. Albert Harse, 
secretary, Thomas Harse, and myself. 

Q. And you three men sold them ?—A. Y^es, sir. 


G. L. WALTON. 

New Orleans, La., January 18 , 1879 . 

G. L. Walton (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Concordia Parish, Louis¬ 
iana. 

Q. What position do you occupy?—A. I represent that parish in the 
legislature. 

Q. When were you elected?—A. Last November. 

Q. State, in your own way, the history of that election, so far as you 
know, and your connection with it, and exiilain the matter of this ticket— 
fusion ticket and Bepublican ticket.—A. My connection with this mat¬ 
ter was brought about by the nomination of the Republicans. I was 
solicited by a good many intelligent men, white people of the parish, to 
run for the legislature, which I declined on various occasions to do, but 
after the Republican party had its regular convention and nominated its 
candidates quite a number of colored men. Republicans, and the most 
intelligent portion of the community too, met together and nominated 
a ticket called the ‘Husion ticket,’^ and without my consent or knowl- 
edge put my name at the head of it. They put me on there as a Demo¬ 
crat—perhaps to unite the Democrats and Republicans. They put upon 
that ticket Mr. Randall (colored) for sheriff, and some name I have for¬ 
gotten for coroner, and left the place for parish judge vacant, and pro- 
])osed to fill the vacancy with a Democrat, saying they would support 
the ticket by from one thousand to twelve hundred men. The Demo¬ 
cratic party met and accepted the ticket nominated, Randall, Cornell, 
and myself, and filled up the vacant place for judge, and the result was 
that three of us were returned elected. Mr. Cornell was defeated, I 
judge, on the opimsite ticket. There were six men on the fusion ticket 
elected iiolice jury and four on the regular ticket. 

Q. What were the politics of the six that were elected?—A. Six 
Democrats. In some wards we put the same men as i)olice jurors ou 
both tickets. They were good, substantial citizens, and had no opposi¬ 
tion. In every ward of the parish, so far as I know, we elected colored 
men justices of the i)eace. In some places we both nominated the same 
men for justice of the peace, all colored. Probably on Black River, 
where the white men were largely in the majority, I think they elected 
one or two justices of the peace, white men. 



376 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


Q. Where were you on the day of the election ?—A. I was at home, 
about 30 miles below Vidalia. 

Q. Was it quiet ?—A. There were a few i>eoi)le who failed to vote on 
account of their names not being found on the poll-book; but that a])- 
plied to both parties. I think there were about as many for the fusion 
ticket as on the other that were rejected, and it was a matter of fun 
there that there were about an equal number lost from each side. Their 
names were spelled wrong, or left out, or soniething. 

Q. Have you information on this subject as to any other of the polls ?— 
A. I have heard more of it to-day than at any other time. 

Q. Were any persons prevented from voting ?—A. ]S^o, sir. 

Q. Yidalia is the largest town in the parish ?—A. Yes, sir; between 
six and eight hundred ])opulation—I don’t know exactly. 

Q. You lived in that parish a good many years ?—A. Twenty-one 
years. 

Q. Engaged in planting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you live in the town of Vidalia ?—A. Yo, sirj I live thirty 
miles below, on the river. 

Q. On a iilantation ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You lived, then, in the extreme southern part of the parish ?—A. 
Yes, sir 5 about half way between the town and the lower end of the 
l)arish. It is about 80 miles to the end of the parish. Concordia is 
south, it extends from Tensas to the mouth of the river, about 80 miles. 

Q. Did you hear anything about this box being broken up at Frog- 
more ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether any returns came in from that place ?—A. 
Yo, sir; I don’t. 

Q. You were away at the time that the boxes were burned up ?—A. 
Yes, sir. I didn’t go to Yidalia for three weeks after that. 

Q. Was it generally believed and accepted that that had taken iilace ?— 
A. Yes, sir 5 that was understood.. I understood it was so. 

Q. You were not up in the north part of the country ?—A. Yes, sir; 
I was. I canvassed the whole of it. 

Q. Were you there after the trouble at \Yaterproof?—A. Yo, sir; I 
was there afterwards, all through, and I made speeches in every part 
of the parish. 

Q. What time were you there ?—A. I was there some six or eight 
days before the election. 

Q. Was it quiet there ?—A. Perfectly. 

Q. You understood there had been some excitement at the upper end 
of the county?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYlien was that?—A. I cannot recollect. 

Q. \Yas it about the time of the Waterx)roof trouble ?—A. Yes, sir. 
At that time I learned from some colored men there that after the trouble 
at Waterproof the colored people, in bodies of 40 and 50, started out 
towards Wateriiroof, and there was several colored men, particularly 
Mr. Wall, clerk of the court, who told me he did his best to prevent 
them from going; but they refused to iiay any attention to him, and 
they went, and came back in a short time very much frightened, and 
scattered around over the country reporting the killed. 

Q. You didn’t hear they killed anybody ?—A. Yo, sir. They were 
there at the burning of the gin; so it was said. There was said to be 
fifteen hundred or two thousand men in Waterproof—colored men. 

Q. Do you know that ?—A. Yo, sir. That is the re^iort; that they 


Pamh.l TESTIMONY OF G. L. WALTON. 377 

were there at the time this large body of colored men were there at 
Waterproof. 

Q. You say it was reported by the clerk; what % —A. He reported that 
he ke])t these men from going to Waterproof, or tried to. I saw some ot 
them down below, as my house was 30 miles below Yidalia. 

Q. What were they doing there ?—A. They were running away, and 
I advised them to stay there. They were badly frightened. I said they 
would be protected. I would help them myself if they did right. 

Q. Hid they stay ?—A. ^^o, sir; they went on down the road. 

Q. How many did you see ?—A. Seven or eight. 

Q. How was it when you Avere there at Wateri)roof ?—A. Everybody 
was quiet; that is, those who were there; some had not yet returned. 

Q. What was the vote on the fusion ticket ?—A. I think it was about 
twelve hundred. 

Q. What Avas the majority ?—A. Something near two hundred. I 
think tlie Amte of the parish Avas something over tAA enty-tAA O iiundred. 

Q. Is the population largely aa hite or black ?—A. Largely black. 

Q. What is the proportion of Avhites ?—A. There are seven or eight 
blacks to one AAdiite man. I should say eight. 

Q. You say you did not see any killing in Concordia Parish at all ?— 
A. No, sir; I didn’t. 

Q. Did you hear of any ?—A. I belieA^e I did hear of some. 

Q. Where aa^s it ?—A. In the upper part of the parish. I don’t knoAV 
anything al)out it; that Avas my information, that sonu* feAV men were 
killed in the ui)])er part of the parish. 

Q. Hoav many ?—A. I think some fiA^e or six; but then it is variously 
estimated. Some say tAA^o or three, and some say eight or ten. It is a 
very difficult matter to get at this thing directly. 

Q. Was that about the time of the Waterproof trouble ?—A. Yes, 
sir; directly afterwards. 

Q. IlaA^e you any estimates that are reliable of the num1>er that AA^ere 
killed?—A. No, sir; I haven’t. I liaA^e heard various estimates about 
it; but my estimates are through the newspapers. 

Q. I did not knoAV but liAuug there you might haA^e heard ?—A. I liA^e 
thirty miles from Vidalia and about fifty from Waterproof. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. I understood you to say that, on the day of the election, it Avas 
found that both parties lost Alters because their names did not appear 
on the voting-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, were those persons AA'hite or colored ?—A. Some two or three 
were white, and some several colored. I suppose at my poll there were 
ten aliogether. 

Q. Is it so that prior to the election law—that under the former elec¬ 
tion laAV each A^oter shall receiAC a certificate of registration?—A. 
Y^es, sir. 

Q. The present law does not so proAude ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. It provides, hoAvever, for the registration of voters ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That registration is kept at the county seat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From that list the registrar makes up a list of the different polling 
places ?—A. Yes, sir. He keeps a book containing the names of the 
respective precincts. 

Q. And thej^ do not allow anyone to A^ote except those who have their 
names in it?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. So that if by accident or design in making out these polling lists a 
man’s name should happen to be left out, he could not vote ?—A. Yes, 


378 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia Parish. S 


sir; that is so. Generally at my poll his name was spelled wrong, or 
something of that kind, and he wonld be refused his vote. Sometimes, 
there was something wrong in the given name. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Is this a printed list ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is there no mode of correcting that by affidavit ?—A. I think that 
a party could go before a magistrate and make an affidavit, and he would 
be entitled to vote. However no one took advantage of that. One man 
particularly I remember told me he had not registered, and I advised 
him not to vote. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Something has been said about ballot-boxes having been destroyed. 
What effect did that have upon the county or votes ?—A. There were 
36 destroyed. 

Q. And the fusion ticket was beaten by about 36 votes !—A. The fu¬ 
sion altogether got two hundred majority. 

Q. Had not the ballots been taken out of the box and counted ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And the vote on each one was tabulated so that the result of that 
ballot-box was ascertained I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The law is that the ballots shall be counted at the precinct. Hid 
the destruction of that box on that day destroy the vote'?—A. IsTo, sir. 
I know the votes are counted at the parish precincts, and the tally is. 
sent to the county seat. The tickets are never recounted. 

Q. Of course the destruction of the boxes amounted to nothing*, if 
they had the tally-sheets it would make no difference.—A. No, sir. 
When the polls are closed at a certain hour, the boxes are opened and 
the votes counted, and each candidate as his name is called is tallied, 
and the result is carried out, and the whole result is then made in a con¬ 
densed form and sealed up; and the commissioners take possession of 
it and return that to the county-seat, with the name of every candidate, 
and number of votes received. 

Q. And when these are received from .different wards, the result is 
promulgated"?—A. No, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You do not pretend to say you know whether they were counted 
there that time or not ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Is not that the result ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. And the ballot-boxes returned to the parish seat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And these tabidated returns returned at the same time?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. The returns then are returned, as well as the ballot-boxes ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 





ST. MARY’S PARISH. 


THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 









SAIOT MAEY’S PARISH STATISTICS. 


POPULATION. 

Colored (by United States census of 1870). 9, 607 

White (by United States census of 1870). 4, 203 

Colored majority in 1870. 6, 404 

Colored (by State census of 1875). 11,975 

White (by State census of 1875). 5, 270 

Colored majority in 1875 . 6,705 

REGISTRATION. 

Colored (by registration of 1874). 2, 541 

White (by registration of 1874) . 1, 050 

Colored registered majority in 1874. 1, 491 

Entitled to vote, by census of 1875: 

Colored (see Tables I and II).*.. 3,194 

White (see Tables I and II). 1,260 

Colored majority in 1875. 1, 934 

Colored (by registration of 1878). 2,174 

White (by registration of 1878). 786 

Colored registered majority in 1878 ... 1, 388 

PROMULGATED VOTE IN 1878. 

For treasurer, Democratic candidate. 969 

For treasurer, Opposition candidate. 1,413 

For Congress, Democratic candidate. 413 

For Congress, Opposition candidate. 798 

For State senator, Democratic candidate. 512 

For State senator, Opposition candidate... 1,782 

For State representative. Democratic candidate. 483 

For State representative. Republican candidate. 960 

[There were different Rexniblian candidates in this parish; the figures for represent¬ 
ative gives the highest Republican and highest Democratic vote. See Table VII.] 










































ST. MARY’S PARISH. 


G. E. M. NEWMAK. 

Neav Orleans, La., January 13, 1879. 

G. E. M. New^ian (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Mr. E^ewman, where do yon reside ?—Answer. In the parish 
of Saint Mary’s. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Ten years. 

Q. What have yon been doing there ?—A. I have been engaged in 
dilferent things up to 1876. 

Q. What are yon doing now?—A. I am clerk of the district court. 

Q. How long have yon occupied that position I—A. For two years, 
and have two years more to serve. 

Q. Did yon take any part in the last political campaign ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. What part did yon take ?—A. In that parish the Eepnblican party 
was (bedded into two factions. I supported the Herbert ticket. 

Q. Was there any trouble in that parish?—^A. There was no trouble 
that I knew of up to the time of the election. 

Q. Did any trouble occur at that time, or in connection therewith ?— 
A. The Eepublicans had registered about 1,900 5 the Democrats 800. 

Q. How about the voting; how many votes were cast there?—A. I 
I think somewhere about 1,700 or 1,800 votes in the parish. The parish 
: was quarantined so that all the people could not register, and those who 
; registered could not all of them vote. I knew of a considerable number 
I of people living up at Irish Bend ” who could not come to town and 
ji vote on account of the quarantine; they belong at the Franklin poll, but 
! they could not get at their poll. The quarantine was raised the next 
j day after the election. 

i Q. Who had charge of this quarantine ?—A. The town authorities. 

I Q. What w’ere they — white or black ?— A. Four were white and two 

I were colored. 

Q. What are the politics of the white men ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. What of the colored men ?—A. Eepublican. 

I Q. Go on and state what occurred.—A. The sheriff had some men 
I assisting him in making the returns. After completing the returns he 
discovered a great difference or discrepaucy between the returns as 
made out and the tally sheets; when the voting stopped that night, it 
seems that the Democrats had received 300 or 400 votes, while they 
were marked down as having received 600 or 700. 

Q. Who had done that ?—A. I don’t know who had done it, but it 
was done. I came in about the time this discrepancy was first discov¬ 
ered. The sheriff stopped work and tore up those statements, and pro¬ 
posed to make out new ones. He went home that night and left the 
papers at the court-house. After I got home the sheriff came to my 
house about nine or ten o’clock, and said that he had heard they were 
going to make a raid on my office and destroy the poll-books and re- 







382 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[St. Mary’s 


turns of the election. I got up and went to niy office and got the 
returns and took them to the recorder’s office. I could not take the 
poll-books, because there were too many of them. 

Q. About how many were there f—A. Eighteen or twenty. 

Q. From all of the precincts % —A. Yes, sir. The next morning I was 
going to market when I heard that my office had been broken open and 
the poll-books destroyed. I went to the office and found that the rumor 
was true. They had broken out the glass in a rear window of the office 
and destroyed all the poll-books. They had also broken into the 
recorder’s office, where the sheriff had put the returns, not all quite com¬ 
pleted, and destroyed them and the tally-sheets. That was on the night 
of the 8th of November. On the night of the 9th, about ten or eleven 
o’clock, Willie Wilson, district attorney pro tern., waited on me and 
wanted me to show him where the returns were that I had saved. He 
pretended to have a dispatch from the attorney-general or the governor, 

I believe he said from both, directing him to wait on me and get them. 

I told him I would give him copies, but not the originals. He wanted 
to see where they were, and promised me if I would go with him I would 
not be hurt. I told him that while 1 did not fear him, I did not know 
what somebody else might do ; so I would not go. He had jumped over 
my fence on to my gallery when he came, as my gate was locked; so I 
had to go out and let him out of the yard. As he was going away he 
said I would see cause to regret my refusal. I did not sleep in my house 
after tliat for about two weeks. 1 had been told it was not safe for me 
to sleep at home. 

Q. Whj^ not?—A. The party who told me so didn’t give me any 
reason; he only said that if the Democrats failedt o carry the election I 
might be troubled. So after the ninth of November I did not remain at 
home. I staid in different houses in town with my friends with whom I 
was acquainted. I went back home on the night of the 17th. On the 
night of the 19th, my house was entered by five or six men, who forced . 
their way into my bedroom, dragged my wife out of bed, and commenced ; 
shooting into bed at me. 

Q. Did any of the bullets wound you ?—A. Some of them struck me, 
l)ut didn’t make any penetration. 

Q. What did they shoot with ?—A. With pistols or something of that 
kind. I got out of bed and wrapped myself up in the cover—it was 
very cold that night.—and got under the bed for safety. I had been out 
hunting that day and had near by a shot-gun Avhich I got hold of, and 
tired from under the bed at the two men who had hold of my wife; 
there were also two men at the foot of the bed. I had one load in the 
gun yet uiidischarged when I came out from under the bed, and I fired J 
at one of them who was on the floor ; then I went out at the back door. i 
As I was going out of the doorway somebody fireil from behind the , 
house at me. I got into a neighbor’s house and went out of that house j 
by the back way, and then out of town. 1 left the i)arish on the 23d of i 
November and came down here. i 

Q. This occurred in your bedroom ?—A. Yes, sir. ! 

Q. At what time ?—A. Between twelve and one o’clock in the night. 

I thought it was that time because the whistles blew for the men to go 
on their new watch where they were making sugar. 

Q. Did you know any of the parties who attacked you?—A. I recog- i 
nized one of them. 

Q. Who was he ?—A. He was Willie Wilson. I recognized him from 
the fact that one of his shoulders is higher than the other. 

Q. Did you recognize only one ?—A. That is all. I 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. R. M. NEWMAN. 


383 


Q. Were any of those men hurt there that night?—A. One of them 
■was killed; but 1 think he was shot by one of his own party; that is, he 
received the fatal wound from them. 

Mr. Bailey. He what ? 

The Witness. I think the shot that proved fatal was fired by one of 
his own party. When I got to the door some one out of the door fired 
into the room; he had a revolver. 

Q. I>id you have a revolver?—A. No, sir; I had a shot-gun. 

Q. What Avas it loaded with ?—A. With bird-shot and dnek-shot. 

Q. There Avas no buck-shot in it?—A. No, sir; I had no buck-shot. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Were yon not prepared for an attack ?—A. No, sir; I didn’t think 
that anybody would make an attack then, so long after election. I 
thought if they Avere going to attack me at all they Avoiild liaA e done it 
before or nearly at the time of the election. 

Q. What else w^as destroyed beside the poll-books?—A. The returns 
made out by the sheriff and the tally-sheets required to be delivered to 
him by the commissioners of election; one set is delivered to him and the 
•other is returned to me as the clerk of the court. 

Q. How^ did the returns and the tally-sheets stand ? Ho you recollect 
the Amte ?—A. No, sir. ^ 

Q. Was the majority Eepublican or Democratic ?—A. The Eepulfficans 
had carried the parish. 

Q. Who had carried the j)arish for member of Congress ?—A. There 
was a dispute as to that; some said Merchant, and some said Hebert. 

Q. What did the returns show; do you know ?—A. I didn’t exam¬ 
ine the returns after the raid on my offce. I never examined the papers, 
but kept them w here I supposed they could not be stolen. 

Q. Were they stolen?—A. Mine AA^ere not; those of the sheriff were. 
The sheriff having no returns to forward to the secretary of state, that 
officer refused to promulgate the returns from that county until he was 
compelled to do so by a mandamus. 

Q. So the vote wms not counted ?—A. The secretary of state would 
not promulgate the result until the mandamus was ordered. 

Q. By what court?—A. The third district court; Judge Monroe, I 
think. 

Q. They destroyed all the evidences of the election for ])arish officers 
there ?—A. The Eei)ublicans were diAuded, but they carried all the ward 
officers. 

Q. Was any one certified to be elected ?—A. No, sir; none of the local 
officers. 

Q. On either side ?—A. The Democrats could not, of course. 

Q. Why not ?—A. They couldn’t elect any because they hadn’t Azotes 
enough; for although the Eeimblicans got diA’ided, they still elected all 
the ward officers. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What were the politics of Wilson ?—A. Democrat. He seemed to 
be A^ery anxious about keeping all local matters in the hands of the 
Democrats. The Eepublicans elected all of the police jurors in 1878. 
Under a law recently passed, after that, the gOA^ernor had authority to 
appoint five more police jurors, making ten in all. He appointed five 
Democrats in our parish. We elected one Democrat and four Eepubli- 
caus; Ave aBvays did that there—I mean we always gave the Democrats 
a representation of one man on the police jury. The governor appointed 


384 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[St. Mary’s 


Willie Willson district attorney ^ro tm., and the police jury elected him 
parish attorney. So those two offices were given to one man. 

Q. Prior to the last election, for a number of years, what was about 
the Republican majority in Saint Mary’s Parish?—A. Twelve hundred 
or 1,500, I think. The majority of 1870 was 1,800. 

Q. Is the parish a sugar-imoducing or a cotton-producing parish ?—A. 
Sugar producing. 

Q. Was there any trouble between the political parties or the differ¬ 
ent races prior to the election?—A. ^7o, sir. The Democrats were 
divided up amongst themselves. The parish committee made a resolve 
not to sup})ort Mr. Acklen for Representative in Congress, nor a man 
named Wells, who was a candidate for State senator. Then the Repub- 
bcans indorsed an independent candidate, named King, for senator. 
The district is Democratic, but the Democrats were divided up, and the 
Rei)ublicans indorsed one of the Democratic candidates, and elected 
him. In making up the returns, the Democrats who favored Wells for 
senator figured out King. I suppose it was to conceal that fraud that 
they destroyed the returns and tally-sheets. 

Q. What number of persons led the attack on your house ?—A. Five 
or six were in the house. How many were outside, in the yard, 1 do not 
know. 

Q. Were they all Avhite men, so far as you could judge ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How many tickets were running in the i)arish at the last elec¬ 
tion?—A. Three tickets. 

Q. What were they called ?—A. The Hebert ticket, the Merchant 
ticket, and the Democratic ticket. 

Q. A Democratic ticket and tAvo Republican tickets?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which one of the tickets, according to the Azotes cast aa as elected ?— 
A. On the local ticket, part of the iVIerchant ticket and ])art of the He¬ 
bert ticket. On the Merchant ticket one member of the legislature was 
elected, and on the Hebert ticket another member of the legislature 
Avas elected. 

Q. The larger portion of the Hebert ticket Avas elected then ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You favored the Hebert ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You ran on the ticket?—A. Ko, sirj 1 had tAA^o years more to 
serve. 

Q. The night your office was entered, was it left by you that evening 
as you usually had left it—in the same condition?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You got notice of its having been broken open Avhen you AA^ent to 
market next morning ?—A. 1 Avas told when 1 Avent to bed that some 
persons were to enter the office and destroy the papers there. 

Q. Who told you that?—A. The sheriff. 

Q. Did you go to your office ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you do?—A. I went and took out the tally-sheets and 
statement of votes, and took them away from the office. 

Q. And left the books and other, papers connected with the election 
there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From the statement that you retained, the result of the election as 
you have just given it to us was shown ?—A. I don’t know whether that 
was the true result or not; that was as the secretary of state gave it 
out. 

Q. Did you kill the man you shot at on the floor?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you wound him ?—A. I didn’t see whether I did or not. 

Q. Did he get up after you shot him ?—A. My wife told me that after 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. R. M. NEWMAN. 


385 


I liad left the house and gone to a neighbor’s, that they picked np a man 
oft the floor at the foot of the bed in my room and went out with him. 

Q. How many shots were flred at yon in bed f—A. I could not tell; 
the firing of the pistols waked me np. 

Q. They first took your wife out of bed and then commenced firing on 
yon?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But didn’t wound yon ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Yon Avere in bed then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On the front side or back side of the bed ?—xA. On tlie back side. 

(»). There were five men there ?—A. Yes, sir; fiA^e or six. 

Q. Were they disguised?—A. Yes, sir; I thought so. It AA^as dark; 
but my impression is that they were disguised. 

C^. It Avas betAA^een V2 and 1 o’clock ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid yon recognize Mr. Wilson ?—A. Yes, sir. 

IIoAV did yon recognize Wilson ?—He has one shoulder consider¬ 
ably higher than the other. 

Q. Yon can SAA^ear here that he AA^as in that croAAM?—A. That is my 
impression. 

Q. Yon belicA^e that he was in the crowd?—A. Yes, sir. 

When did yon come doAAni from Saint Mary’s to this place ?—xA. I 
got here on the night of the 23d of YoAxmber. 

Q. How did yon happen to come doAvn here?—xA. I felt it was not 
safe for me to stay up there. 

Q. Were yon snbpcenaed to come down?—^A. ]N'o, sir. 

Q. Have yon not been subpoenaed by the CJnited States court ?—xA. 
Ko, sir. 

Q. Have yon not been before the United States grand jury ?—A. Yo, 
sir. 

Q. HaA^e yon CA^er talked AAdth any one, or had a statement taken 
doAvn regarding this matter ?—A. I AATote a letter to the attorney-gen¬ 
eral, I think. 

Q. Ha\^e yon eA^er talked Avitli a gentleman named Hall, and had him 
to AAU’ite doAAUi a statement ?—A. ^lo, sir; I AAU’ote a letter to the attor¬ 
ney-general to meet me at the goA^ernor’s oftice, but he ncA^er answered 
the letter. I AAU-ote tw^o letters, but he didn’t reply to either, nor make 
Ids appearance at the api^ointed place, so that I could inform the gov¬ 
ernor and him of the matter. 

Q. Was there a general apprehension of yelloAVfcA^er in yonr parish?— 
A. The yellow fcA^er was not there, sir. 

Q. AYhat is the parish town ?—A. Franklin. 

Q. AYas the yellow fever at the toAAni of Franklin ?—A. Yes, sir; that 
is the county seat, and it was quarantined. 

Q. Quarantined by order of the city authorites ?—A. They had a par¬ 
ish quarantine and a toAvn quarantine besides. 

Q. AYas there considerable alarm in the parish about the yellow fcA^er— 
a good deal of excitement ?—A. At one time there was, sir. 

Q. At Avdiat time ?—A. I believe in Sei)tember or October, Avhen it 
AA'as reported that it was down there. 

Q. Y"on have been a Kepublican all the time ?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. And liaA^e Amted no other ticket ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Yon say the Kepublican A"ote of the parish, even if diAuded, Avas 
strong enough to carry the parish ?—A. YYs, sir; the Kepnblicans reg¬ 
istered 3,200 or 3,300, and the Hemocrats about 1,400. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Yon say yon had tsvo Republican tickets for parish ofticers ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

25 T 


386 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


rSt. Mary’s 


Q. And the Eepnblicans were divided. Did the Democrats have a 
ticket for parisli officers !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did the sheriff’s returns show the result to be ?—A. It showed 
the election of the Kei)ublican ticket. 

Q. And the paj^ers that were destroyed showed the election of the 
liepublicans —A. All the papers showed that. 

Q. You say the Democrats declined to supimrt Mr. Acklen, their can¬ 
didate for Congress '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who did the liepublicans support for Oongress ?—A. Part of them 
supported Hebert, and part Merchant. 

Q. AYhere was the contest between the Democrats and the Eepubli- 
cans ; over wliat offices ?—A. The Democrats were very anxious to get 
control of parish matters, especially of the i>olice jurjy because they ap¬ 
point the commissioners of election every year. 

Q. You think that was their object and purpose ?—A. I thought that 
was tlieir greatest object. 

Q. You say that on the niglit those men came to your house it was 
very dark ^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you have a light in your house at the time ?—A. 'No, sir. 

Q. You say you think these men were disguised ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Now, upon what did you base that impression f—A. When I was 
in bed I looked out to see if I could see who they were. Their first shot 
had set on fire the mosquito bar at the foot of my bed, and I could see 
some by the light from that, and from what I could see of them I thought 
they were disguised. 

Q. You fired at a man who fell at the foot of your bed !—A. No, sir. 
I fired at the two men who had hold of my wife; while coming out from 
under the bed, I found some person at the foot of tlie bed and fired at 
him. 

Q. Was the sheriff a Eepublican or a Democrat ?—A. He was a Ee- 
publican. 

Q. Where did he put his papers!—A. In the recorder’s office. 

Q. It was the sheriff who told you of your danger, of tlie destruction 
of your papers!—A. He said he heard a rumor that there woidd be a 
raid on the office. 

Q. Did lie not fear a raid on his office, too!—A. He keeps no papers 
in his office. 

Q. Wliere does he keep them!—A. In the recorder’s office. There 
are two big iron safes in the recorder’s office j nobody that knew nothuig 
about them could open them. 

Q. What was it the mob destroyed!—A. They tore up the contents 
of the ballot-box and destroyed the poll-book. 

Q. Wliere was the iioll-book !—A. In my office. 

Q. You did not remove them!—A. No, sir. 

Q. But removed the returns!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the sheritf remove his returns!—A. No, sir; his were too 
secure. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How many police jurymen did you have on your ticket!—A. Five. 

(^. Were they elected !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYere they Eepublicans!—A.' Yes, sir. 

Q. Was Mr. Willson a candidate for any office!—A. No, sir; but it 
the Democratic police were retained he could keep the office he already 
had; but it was supposed if the Eepublicans carried the local elections 
he would be ousted. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ERWIN CRAIGHEAD. 


387 


ERWIX CRAIGHEAD. 

Orleans, January 14, 1879. 

Erwin Craighead sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AVhere do you reside ?—Answer. In Kew Orleans. 

Q. How long have you resided here ?—A. About one year. 

Q. AVhat is your business ?—A. I am in the newspaper business. 

Q. Connected with what paper!—A. The IsTew Orleans Times. 

Q. Since the last election, have you visited Saint Mary^s Parish !—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. On business connected with your newspaper!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you make any examination into the alleged outrages by the 
destruction of tlie ballots in that parish !—A. I did. 

Q. What was the extent and result of your examination !—A. I was 
sent for that purpose, and remained tliere three days. I tried more to 
find out about the attack on N ewman’s house than about the destruction 
of the returns. 

Q. What class of people did you interview ! —A. I saw several of the 
best people of the State; I didn’t confine myself to interviews, knowing 
very well that the persons who Avere guilty, and perhaps others, would 
be more concerned in keeping out any reports of violence than in stating 
the truth j therefore I trusted more to observation and to inquiries 
among persons who would know the business and be willing to tell it. 
For that reason I think I got the truth of the affair, at least so far as 
Newman was concerned personally. 

Q. State what you found!—A. I found, first, that on the night of the 
IStli of November certain parties broke into the sheriff’s office, or rather 
the recorder’s office, Avhere the sheriff*’s returns Avere kept, and took away 
the sheriff’s returns and tally-sheets. I do not knoAv whether they de¬ 
stroyed them or not; as to who did it, I could not find out. It was re¬ 
ported variously that one of tAvo factions of the Republicans did it. The 
Republicans, on the other hand, say the Democrats did it. At any rate, 
on the night of the 9th there came the same party that N'eAvman speaks 
of to Newman’s house—his name Avas Willie Wilson—and demanded the 
returns. 

Q. What position was Willie Wilson holding !—A. He was district 
attorney ^ro tern. 

Q. Was he not parish attorney also!—A. I ha^e since heard that he 
Avas; I do not know it. It appears that Newman had saved his tally- 
sheets and returns, and it Avas these that Willie Wilson said he wished 
to get. He claimed to have a telegram from the attorney-general, and, 
I believe, one also from the governor of the State, asking that the re¬ 
turns in the hands of NeAvman be lianded over, but NeAvman appeared 
Avith a pistol or so, and Wilson got over the fence and went home. Be¬ 
fore he AA^ent he told NeAvman not to say anything about it, but NeAvmau 
talked about it the next day very freely, and it was because of this 
talking, I understood, that the second visit was paid to him on the 
night of the 19th of November—more for the purpose of keeping NeAv- 
man’s evidence out of the way than anything else. They knew Wilson 
had not the returns in his house, and they did not ask him for 
them. I examined the premises, and saw clearly that an attempt had 
been made to kill NeAAinan. A rifie shot Avas fired directly where he 
might naturally be supposed to be in the back part of the bed. He 
wan in the back part of the bed, but the bullet did not hit him. The 


388 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[St. Mary’s 


shot was fired from tlie foot of tlie bed. Newman’s wife was with him 
ill the bed. The shot was on the left side—the side where Newman 
was lying. The ball passed between the head of Newman and that of 
his wife, going throngh the head-board of the bed, and on into the wall 
of the house. The shot was fired through the musquito-bar, and so close 
to it that it set fire to it. The fire gave sufficient light so that Newman 
could see, to some extent, what was going on. Newman, to escape, at 
first creiit under the bed, and, while there, he shot at the persons who 
were holding his wife, and, it is supposed, Avounded one of them. He 
tlien made for the door, but, on getting out from under the bed, saAv a 
man at the foot of the bed, lying on the floor Avounded, and shot at him 
and AAmunded him further. The sliot hit the man in the arm, but the 
Avound Avas not sufficient to do any serious damage, and Avent through 
the hat of the person who had been wounded, and set fire to it, and par¬ 
tially burned up the hat. The same man had a rifle-shot Avound in his 
head. There was one rifle found in the house afteiAA'ard, but it Avas one 
that had been brought there by one of the party. Tom Wilson must 
liaA^e been shot by one of his oavii party, as was clear to eA^erybody Avho 
Avould take the pains to examine into the matter. 

Q. Hoav long after it occurred did you make the examination?— A. 
Three days afterAA ard j I aa ent there the 22d of Noa ember. 

Q. Hid you publish an account of it in your paper?—xV. Yes, sir; 
substantially as I have here giA^en it; of course, a little more dramatic, 
so as to ])ut it in neAvspaper form, and make it readable. 

Q. Is this man Wilson, Avho visited NeA\anan, still there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you intervieAv him?— A. No, sir; he was not on the street 
near Avhere people could find him; it Avas reported that he A\ms the man 
Avho Avas AA oimded at the time Avhen NeAvman shot at the man holding 
his AA'ife. 

Q. That was the general report?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Among AAliite people?—A. Yes, sir. 

Hid NeAvman say it AAns him?— A. NeAA inan said he could not see 
exactly, but he thought it Avas him. 

Q. Who AAms the man found dead?—A. He was not found dead, but 
dangerously aa ounded, so that he died before morning. He AAns taken 
back to his home and died there. His name aa as Tom Wilson. He Avas 
a brother of Willie Wilson. 

Q. If all the returns had been destroyed, Avhat would have been the 
result?— A. I do not knoAv. I imagine the result Avould liaA^e been that 
the gwernor would have had the appointing poAA^er, and, being a Hemo- 
crat himself, he would have appointed a Hemocrat. That is the idea I 
haA^e. 

Q. The goA-ernor has the poAA^r to appoint?— A. I understand so. 

Q. What were the politics of your ])ai)er ?—A. Independent Hemocrat. 

Q. What are your politics ?—xV. AVell, I am working on that paper— 
mostly Hemocratic, I think. 

Air. Camehon. As near as you can get at it. 

The AATtness. Yes. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. AVhenAAms this attack committed on Mr. NeAvman?—A. On the 
morning of the 19th. 

Q. You went down there on the 23d ?—A. On the 22d, sir. 

Q. You haA^e been stating your OAvn impressions and conclusions in 
regard to the matter ?—A. Yes, sir. 


TESTIMONY OF ERWIN CRAIGHEAD. 389 

Q. Of course you know notliing yourself!—A. NTothiug except Mr. 
Newmau’s statements aud Avliat I liaVe already told. 

Q. M hen you stated that if the returns were destroyed so as to throw 
on the governor the duty of making the apimintments, some other per¬ 
son tlian the one elected would receive the a])pointments- 

The Witness (interrui^ting). I am afraid. Senator, you did not un¬ 
derstand that point. I expressed, I said the general rumor was that, if 
the returns were destroyed, the governor, having the appointing poArer, 
Avould appoint a Democrat in i)lace of the persons elected. I did not 
say that I thought so. 

Q. Didn’t eA^ery person there knoAV who was elected! —A. AYell, I 
think so. 

Was there any dispute about the result of the election!—A. I do 
i not think there had been any notice, official or otherAvise. 

Q. A"ou mean it had neA^er been legally promulgated in any form!— 
A. lylo, sir. 

j Q. Wasn’t it knoAvn that certain particular persons had been elected !— 

I A. From inquiring around I concluded that eA^ery candidate thought he 
I had been elected. 

I Q. Who Avere the candidates!—A. Mr. Merchant, Mr. Acklen, and 
Mr. Hebert were candidates for Congress. Mr. Hebert aa as not there, 

I but se.A^eral of the men on his ticket, including the sheriffi and the coro- 
j ner, felt certain of haAung been elected. 

; Q. Was Wilson the Democratic candidate for district attorney!—A. 

I ^^o, sir; he was district attorney _pro tern. There was no Democratic 
! candidate for district attorney. 

i Q. There was no election of district attorney this year!—A. No, sir; 

I they are elected when the governor is elected, every four years. Only 

: tAvo years of his term had expired. 

Q. Then hoAv did you get the impression that Wilson was interested 
in having the gOA^ernor appoint somebody to be district attorney when 
I the appointment had already been made ! — A. I did not state tliat as 
[ my imxuession; I said it was rumored there among persons Avho ought 
j to knoAv something about it, some of Avhom were Democrats, that that 
I Avas the reason. I do not know that I could account why or how, or 
AA'hat benefits could be derHed by anybody, by destroying the returns. 

Q. Perhaps I was misled into'that by the other AAutness. I under¬ 
stood him to say that Wilson led the attack on Newman, and that his 
reason for it was he expected to be ai)iAointed by the governor to be dis¬ 
trict attorney. A^ou say you only speak of rumors!—A. Yes, sir; what 
was said to me there. Tlie information is both secondary and rather 
uncertain. I didn’t go tliere to inquire into that part of it. 

Q. The man who Avas killed was a brother of Willie Wilson !—A. AYs, 
sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Who was the sheriff there; which party did he belong to !—A. I 
think he Aras a Republican. I forget his name. 

Q. Do you kuoAv the tenure of office of parish officials! Do you not 
understand them to hold over until their successors are elected and 
qualified!—A. A^'es, sir; that is the Avay I understand it. 

Q. Was there a Democratic candidate for district judge in that dis¬ 
trict !— A. No, sir; not that year. 



390 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[St. Mary’s 


W. B. MEKGHANT. 

Xew Orleans j January 14, 1879. 

AY. B. Merchant sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AYliere do you reside?—Answer. In the parish of Iberia. 

Q. AYhat position do you hold?—A. I liold the position of district 
attorney of the 3d judicial district of this State. 

Q. AYhat parishes constitute this district ?—A. Iberia, Saint Mary’s, 
and Saint Martin. 

Q. Have you been made acquainted, in your official capacity, with 
auy outrage perpetrated on Newman about the time of the election at 
Saint Alary’s ?—A. AA^ell, it was after the election that I was informed, I 
think, by the mate of a steamboat, that Air. Newman had been attacked 
in his house the night previous, and that both Newman and Judge 
Alentz were missing, and it was thought they had both been killed. I 
immediately telegraphed to Governor Nicholls in reference to the rumor 
to that effect, stating to him that I would leave on the evening boat to 
investigate the matter, and asking him to send some one around to in¬ 
vestigate with me. I went down on the boat, and arrived at Franklin 
the next morning. After arriving there I learned that Judge Mentz 
and Newman were both safe, but that Newman had been attacked in 
his house the night previous, and that young AYilson was killed. I so 
informed the governor by telegram from Franklin. I then instituted 
an investigation, ex officio, under the statutory law of the State, and 
found that Newman had been attacked; that is, the evidence that I 
discovered in the house showed that the parties had broken open the 
front door and several gun-shots or lustols had been tired in the house. 
I saw where a ball had passed through the head of his bed, went 
through the ceiling and through the weather-boarding outside. It 
must have been a rifle-shot. There were two or three other holes in the 
wall where shots had been fired in the house. I went to leading parties 
in the town there with reference to holding an inquest on the body of 
young A\Jlson, who had been killed, and who, by the by, had been 
buried previous to my arrival there. I made a proposition to exhume 
the body and have an inquest, and the family objected to it, so the 
Iiarty told me. The mayor of the town said he wanted to have an in¬ 
quest, but there was serious objection raised to it. There being no 
coroner present, the district judge being absent, and the iiarish judge 
at the time, residing, or being here in the city sick, I did not have the 
body exhumed, but learned through ex-parte affidavits all that I could 
have learned from having the body exhumed. 

Q. State what you learned.—A. AYell, I am satisfied through the 
evidence I took, and the ex officio investigation, that young Tom AYilson, 
Avho was killed, was one of the attacking parties at Newman’s house, 
and I think there will be sufficient circumstantial evidence to show very 
conclusively that his brother, the district attorney pro tern., was also one 
of the other parties. There were three of them altogether. It is hard 
to tell who the third party was.. From the indications by the bullets— 
pistol bullets and rifle bullets—in the house, and from the manner in 
which Tom AAJlson was killed, I judge that one of the three attacking 
parties or one of the other two did the killing. He was shot through 
the middle of the back part of his head, and it came out in front. New- 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF \Y. B. MERCHANT. 


391 


• man states, and the circnmstantial evidence shows, that he only fired 
twice; once troin under the hed a donble-harreled shot-gun loaded with 
fine shot, and in going out he stumbled over the floor and fired. I found 
in the basement ot the front door a portion of the load of fine shot from 
^^’ewman’s gun, and I also found at the foot of the bed, about where this 
man was lying (because the blood and everything was still there), a hole 
in the floor about one-half the thickness of the flooring. Upon taking 
my pocket-knife and scraping down in the hole I found about a dozen 
tine shot, so that I am satisfled that Wilson was killed by one of the 
party that went there with him. 

Q. Have you taken any steps to prosecute the matter?—A. Isrothing 
exceiit to that extent. Under the law I am authorized, when no aflida- 
vit is made against the i)arty accused of crime, to investigate ex officio 
and lay the matter before the session of the United States court. 

Q. Have you had any meeting?—A. ^I^o, sir; I want to lay it before 
the grand jury and make a thorough investigation, 
j Q. Hid you make any investigation as to who broke into the sheriff’s 
j office and destroyed the boxes? 

The Witness. You speak now previous to this and after the election? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. 

A. As far as I have investigated the matter in the same manner as 
j the other {ex officio), I have been unable to determine in my own mind 
any of the parties who did that. It was done in the nighttime; no one 
was present, and it would be oidy a matter of opinion. 

Q. No one was seen doing it ?—A. No, sir. I have investigated the 
location and ever^Thing, and found the iilaces Avere’burned uii and the 
ballot-boxes and a portion of the returns; all, except those in possession 
of Newman, the clerk, had been taken out of the clerk’s office and re¬ 
corder’s office, where they had been deposited by the sheriff’, were de¬ 
stroyed—the boxes destroyed and the returns torn up in small pieces. I 
might state here that, in connection with the Newman affair, we spoke 
to parties intimately connected with the Wilson family Avith reference 
to an investigation of the cause and manner of the death of Tom Wilson. 
I told them I would iiiA^estigate the matter if they Avould give me any 
data to go on, and asked tliem if they wanted an investigation, and 
they said they did not Avant any; that it was a very sad affair, and they 
did not care to haA^e it iuA^estigated. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. What day of the month did you go to Franklin ?—A. I can only 
fix that by the date of the commission. I do not recollect iioav. I haA^e 
no minutes or anything. NeAvman’s house Avas attacked in the night, 
and I got there the morning after the next morning of the attack. 

Q. How long did you remain there ?—A. I remained there from that 
time for about three days. 

Q. Who were those parties in the Wilson family that you talked to 
about an inA^estigation?—A. Mr. J. G. Parkinson and Willie Wilson. 

Q. What connection is Parkinson to Wilson ?—A. I think he is con¬ 
nected Avith the family by marriage in some Avay. 

Q. The shot in the head of Wilson seemed to haA^e come from above?— 
A. Yes, sir; from behind. 

Q. And went out slanting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He must have been stooping doAvn at the time the wound was in¬ 
flicted. 

Q. Was it a single shot?—A. Yes, sir. He was buried when I got 
there. 





302 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[St. Mary’s 


Q. Wlien were you elected district attorney?—A. In November, 187G. 
Q. You were elected as a liepublican?—A. YeSj sir. 

Q. Y^ou have ]iot made any report to the governor of tliis matter of 
your investigation?—A. No, sir; outside of telegrai)hing, as I said 
before; the law did not require it. 


MINOS T. GOEDA. 

New Orleans, Jamiarji 14,1879. 

Minos T. Gorda sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Saint Mary\s Parish, in 
the town of Franklin. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. For forty years. 

Q. Of what State are you a native ?—A. [Maryland. 

Q. Were you engaged in the late war ?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. On which side ?—A. In the Confederate arjny. 

Q. How long were you in the war ?—A. For four years. 

Did you hold any public office—were you an officer ?— A. Yes, sir; 
I was captain of an artilleiy conqiany. 

(y Do you hold any office in Saint Mary’s Parish ?—A. I am sheriff 
ot that parish. 

Q. When were you elected ?—A. I have been sheriff for six years, and 
at the last election was re-elected for another term. 

Q. Now, was there any trouble down there about the ballot-boxes, 
returns, &c., at the last election? If so, go on and state what you 
know.—A. Well, sir, we had a most ])eaceable and quiet election until 
after the promulgation of the vote by me, as re turning-officer of the 
I)arish. After the ])romulgation of the vote by me, on the evening of 
the 8th of November, I deposited my returns in the recorder’s safe, vdiich 
is in the court-house; I have no safe in my office. On that night the 
clerk’s office and also the recorder’s office were forcibly entered by i)er- 
sons unknown to me, and my returns were all taken, together with my 
tally-sheets. The ballot-boxes were also destroyed, and found in the 
rear of the court-house on the morning of the 9th. Tlie destruction was 
done on the night of the 8th. I heard of the destruction, and went to 
look for my returns. I found that the doors of the safe had been forced 
open, the returns were gone, and the ballot-boxes and contents torn to 
l)ieces. 

Q. Were there ballots in the ballot-boxes?—A. Yes, sir; but the clerk 
of the court had taken away from the court-house that night the tally- 
slieets, and they were saved. That was the only evidence of the elec¬ 
tion, except the duplicate of my returns which I had made to the secre¬ 
tary of state. 

Q. You kept a duplicate of the returns?—A. Yes, sir; I kept a dupli¬ 
cate, from which I made my returns of the vote to the secretary of state 
after comparing it with the tally-sheets that were left in the clerk’s office. 
The court-house was entered, and the office of the recorder and clerk of 
the court entered by taking tlie glass out of the sash of a window in the 
rear; and the persons who entered went out the same way. The doors 
were not opened at all; the glass is very large—large enough for a man 
to enter without breaking the sash. 



Parisli.l 


TESTIMONY OF MINOS T. GORDA. 


393 


Q. How was tlie safe opened?—A. I cannot explain that; it was 
opened without heing broken; there Avas no lock to the safe; the lock 
had been broken for a long time; but a few persons could open it. In 
trying to shut it again the men who had robbed it had forced the doors, 
and it was in that condition Avhen found. 

Q. It was not locked, then, prior to the robbery ?—A. It was locked 
so that I conld not open it, but the recorder conld. 

Q. It was a combination lock, was it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Which had got ont of order ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that it coidd not be locked according to the combination ?—A. 
iSTo, sir. I made a deposit of the tally-sheets after dark on the night of 
the eighth. I had no thought Avhen I heard that the safe had been 
j broken open that my returns were gone. I Avent and got the recorder 
I and went in, and then I found that they were gone. 

I Q. Had yon duplicates?—A. I had a coi^y of my returns. 

! Q. The clerk had a duplicate ?—A. The clerk had the regnlar tally- 

sheets that belonged to him. 

‘ Q. From each precinct of the parish ?—A. YTes, sir. 

Q. Yon made returns to the secretary of state ?—A. I did. 

Q. Has there been any trouble in cam^assing that Amte—since the 
I canA’^ass, I mean?—A. There Avas considerable trouble in getting returns, 

; on account of the irregularity. The law says the returning officer shall 
send his report to the secretary of state Avith the tally-sheets; but that 
I could not do. I made dui)licate returns of my original returns, and 
sent them to the secretary of state, with a certified statement of the 
: \mte of the parish, and a statement from each i)recinct; but on account 
of irregularity the assistant secretary of state would not promidgate 
I the returns until he was couipelled to do so by a mandamus. 

I Q. So you took proceedings in court to liaA^e a mandamus issued ?— 
A. Judge Mentz, parish judge of the parish, elected at the last election, 
obtained a judgment before Judge Monroe, 
i Q. What did your returns show as to Avho was fleeted ?—A. I do not 
I know that I can giA^e their names; the Ee])ublican ticket all through, I 
[ think. We had a division of the Kepublican party in the parish tliis 
year for the first time. There Avere two factions; some of each faction 
AA"ere elected. 

Q. Did you elect the police-jury ?—A. Yes, sir; but the tally-sheets 
were destroyed, and I made no return except of one ward; that was 
Morgan City, the fifth ward. I would not nmke a return unless I had 
the tally-sheets. The tally-sheets were all taken except those of the 
fifth ward. The commissioners of that ward had neglected to do their 
duty. The hiAV required them to furnisli duplicates, one to me and one 
to the clerk of the court. They gave the clerk of the court only one, 
that of the fifth Avard; so I got the returns for that ward, as regarded 
Avard officers. 

Q. WYre the police-jury, as elected, Eepublicans or Democrats?—A. 
Kepublicans, sir. The whole Kepublican ticket was elected in our par¬ 
ish. 

Q. Do you know anything about the attack made on Mr. Yewman?— 
A. I know that his house Avas entered by somebody. 

Q. Did you examine the house ?—A. lYs, sir. 

Q. State in what condition you found the liouse?—A. About break¬ 
fast time on the morning of the 20th, I think it Avas, a report came to 
me that Mr. YeAvmaids house had been entered during the night of the 
17th. I Avent doAvn there to his house. I found there had been consid¬ 
erable shooting done in the house. There aa'es a hole in the musquito 



394 


LOUISIANA IN 18:8. 


fSt. Mary’s 


bar at tlie foot of tlie bed wliicli looked as if a gun had been fired througli 
it so close to the bar as to set it on fire. Tlie ball was evidently from a 
ininnie rifle—a long round ball. It had gone in between Mr. Newman 
and his wife, wlio were in bed at the time, and buried itself in the head- 
board of the bed. The door had been forced, the catch of it had been 
broken off*, and near the catcli of the door were a lot of small shot that 
seemed to have been fired from the bed; about half the charge taking 
eft'ect on the jamb of the door. The other must have gone through 
the door. There Avas considerable blood about the room. At the foot 
of the bed there was a hole burned in the floor. There was a piece of a 
hat Avhicli had been burned up. A])parently there had been a discharge 
of small shot from a gun into the floor. Pieces of that hat and blood 
mingled with them Avere lying there on the floor. I made general 
inquiry and tried to find out aa ho had done it, but no one can tell. It 
Avas said that all the men in the house had black masks on their faces. 
There Avas enough light from the bar Avhen it Avas burned so that the 
persons in the room could see something. There Avas suiqAOsed to liaA^e 
been three men in the room. Before I Avent to the house I heard tliat 
Tom Wilson, a young man of good reputation, Avho was never knoAvn 
to engage in any sort of difficulty before, had ]been taken home mortally 
Avounded. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Prom this house ?—A. It was supposed so. No one saAV him 
taken from the house, but he died the next morning from a pistol-shot 
that had entered his brain. 

Q. Did you examine the Avound ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You only heard that f—A. Yes, sir, I heard it from the doctor. 
His left arm and hand Avere shot to i)ieces. There was a flesh Avound on 
the right arm and a ball in the head. 

Q. AYas he sensible after it ?—A. He was never sensible after he 
Avas shot. 

Q. You learned these facts from the attending i)hysician ?—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. How far did Wilson reside from Ne\Aunan’s I —A. About two miles. 
He liA^ed above the toAvn. 

Q. What are his politics ?—A. Democratic, although he neA^er mixed 
much Avith politics. He Avas generally considered a very i)eaceable, 
(jiiiet, well-behaA^ed young man. I haA^e known him since he was a boy, 
a baby. 

Q. Did you hear of anybody being hurt besides him ?—A. I heard 
that his brother was Avouuded, but if he Avas hurt it Avas not A^ery badly, 
for lie was on the street tlie next day. 

Mr. Kirkwood. You mean Willie Wilson ? 

The AYitness. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What position did he hold ?—A. He was district attorney, pro fern* 

Q. AAdiat were his politics ?—A. Democratic, sir. 

Q. Is that all you know about the matter “?—A. Yes. 

Q. Is there anybody else here from your parish ?—A. Dr. White Avas 
summoned, but he is not here ; he has tAvo patients aaTio are very sick, 
AA'hich detained him. He told me to say to you that he would be doAvn 
here this eA^ening if he could iiossibly leaxe." 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. I just want to understand one thing: Has it neA^er become known 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF MINOS T. GORDA. 


395 


ill that coinnmiiity how that young man was killed ?—A. It was only 
known by siipiiosition. I have never been able to find any person yet, 
even Newman and his Avife, and I have impiired closely, that knew any 
of the parties positively. 

Q. Did Wilson’s friends say Avhere or how he was wounded?—A. No, 
sir; they Avon’t say; he Avas taken to Dr. Gates’s house and placed on his 
gallery, and from there he Avas taken home. Dr. Gates was not his 
attending physician, howcA^er. 

ByMr. Bailey : 

Q. Who is district judge ?—A. Theodore Fonteuaire. 

Q. Is he a Kepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you a Bepublican?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has Wilson ever been arrested ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. HaA^e judicial proceedings eAxr been instituted against him?—A. 
None, sir. 

Q. Who was the district attorney ?—A. W. B. Merchant. 

Q. What are his politics ?—A. Pie is a Be])ublican. 

Q. What parishes are in yonr district ?—A. Iberia, Saint Martin’s, and 
Saint Mary’s. 

Q. Are they good Eepublican parishes ?—A. They are. 

Q. All three of them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there a candidate for district attorney ?—A. There is no elec¬ 
tion of district attorney at this election; they hold office four years and 
are elected at the general election. 

Q. IlaA^e yon a district judge ?—A. We haA^e a parish judge, not a 
district judge. 

Q. How many candidates had you for parish judge?—A. Three ; tAvo 
of them were Eepublicans, one in each faction, and one Democratic. 

Q. What AA^as the vote of the parish as betAveen those three candi¬ 
dates ?—A. I think the AAdiole vote Avas about 2,200 or 2,300. Mentz’s 
A'ote Avas about 1,200, Parkinson’s rising of 000, and Ethan Allen’s 
about 400. The latter Avas the Democratic candidate. 

Q,. The Democratic candidate, then, had a much smaller Amte than 
either of the otlier candidates, and not exceeding one-third of that of the 
leading Kepublican candidate?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For how many ottices did you luiA^e Democratic candidates ?—A. 
For eA^ery office in the parish. 

Q. Did any of them receiA^e a larger Amte than the Democratic candi¬ 
date for parish judge?—A. Ye^, sir; I thiuk so—I do not remember the 
exact vote; I tiiiiik they ran pretty nearly togetlier, sir. 

Q. There was no doubt that all these Democratic candidates were de¬ 
feated ?—A. There is no doubt in the Avorld of that, sir. 

Q. And the Amte was promulgated by you?—A. Yes, sir; officially, in 
the court-house openly, as re(piired by law. 

(»). When the returns in your office AA-^ere destroyed, did the destruction 
of those returns make it at all impossible to ascertain who Avas elected to 
these different places ?—A. If they had all been destroyed it Avould have 
been impossible to decide it; but they were not all destroyed. 

(2. Was there not plenty of parole evidence by which to establish the 
vote?—A. Yes, sir; everybody kneAV that the Republican ticket had 
been elected. 

Q. Would not your courts have inducted into office the officers thus 
shoAvn to haA^e been elected ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Was Willie Wilson a laAvyer?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you applied to the Secretary of State to issue commissions 




396 


[St. Mary’s 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 

to those officers who were elected-xA. [Interrupting’.] I did not apply 

to him; the vote had to be officially x)roninlgated by the secretary of 
state before the commissions were issued. 

Q. But the secretary of state declined to issue commissions upon the 
evidence that he had in his office'?—A. On account of the irregularity I 
of the returns made by me. * / 

Q. That was because^ under the laAv, he was not iiermitted to do it"?— 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he say he would not issue the commissions until he was com¬ 
pelled to do so, or until the court should direct him to do so !—A. I had f 
an attorney call upon him in my behalf, and he said he could not pro¬ 
mulgate the returns because of the irregularity, but that he intended to ■ 
lay the matter before the legislature and let that decide it. 

Q. And you applied to Judge Monroe?—A. No, sir. Alonroe was ap¬ 
plied to by E. B. Mentz, the parish judge, and he refused to do it; he 
wanted to leave the matter to tlie legislature, but Judge Mentz ap])lied 
for and obtained a mandamus to conix)el him to do it, and he obeyed the 
Avrit. 

Q. In regard to the destruction of the returns, I understood the clerk 
of the court to say that you notified him that ])ersons had threatened to 
destroy those returns, and that he suggested that you put them in a 
safe place; is that the fact !— A. The day the ballot-boxes Avere destroyed 
it Avas rumored on the streets, and the rumor came to my ears, tliat 
there was an intention to destroj^ the ballot-boxes. During the eA^ening 
I saAv Mr. NeAvman and said to him, “You had better be very particular 
about your returns, because there may be an effort made to destroy 
them;” AAffiether he acted upon it or not I do not knoAv; at any rate, he 
saA’^ed his tally-sheets. 

(^. Did you put your ballot-box in a safe place!—xV. They AA^ere not in 
lay-possession. They Avere in the clerk’s office, as required by hiAV. I 
l>ut my returns and tally-sheets in the recorder’s office that evening about 
dark. 

Q. AYe want to get at the AAdiole of this matter. Now AA’ill you say how : 
these rumors reached you that the ballot-boxes and returns AA ere to be 
destroyed !—A. The rumor aa us on the streets of Franklin like any other 
rumor. 

Q. What was the rumor!—A. Well, men were saying this: “I hear I 
that they are going to take the ballot-boxes out,” but I didn’t hear any¬ 
body say how they heard it. 

Q. Did these rumors indicate hoAv he intended to do it!—A. No, sir. 

Q. What possible interest could this man Wilson have officially in de¬ 
stroying those papers !—A. I cannnot imagine Avhat motAe he could 
have; he could not destroy the election, because the laAv, I believe, re- - 
quires the old officers to hold OA^er until the neAv ones are elected and 
qualified. If the ballot-boxes were destroyed, and all other eAidences 
of election, I considered that the old officers would haA^e held over. 

Q. The police jury, you say, that held over Avere Kepublicans !—A. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. The district judge was a Bepublican !—A. Yes, sir. He Avas elected 
tAAm years ago. 

Q. And the district attorney!—A. The district attorney pro tern, is a i 
Democrat. f 

Q. The clerk is a Kepublican!—A. Yes, sir; all the officers are Ee- 
publicans with the exception of flA^e police jurors ai)X)ointed by GoA’^ernor i 
Nicholls. * j 

Q. Their commissions expired with the general election !—A. Yes, sir. . 






Msh.j TESTIMONY OF MINOS T. GORDA. 397 

Q. With out regard to the election of their successors, by limitation of 
law f—A. Yes, sir. 

So it Avould have left you with a Republican police jury!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. So that if there was a motive for it at all, it was a motive that could 
prompt only that one man, Wilson!—A. I cannot see any motive to 
prompt him 5 it was surprising to me. 

Q. Had anything been said about a prosecution being instituted 
against Wilson for his endeavor falsely to obtain possession of the re¬ 
turns !—A. I understood from the district attorney that he was going 
to investigate the atfair. 

Q. Y^ou understood that before the assault was made on the clerk !— 
A. ^fo, sir; he told me after the assault was made that he was going to 
investigate. 

Q. Before the assault was made on the clerk in his house had any¬ 
thing been said with reference to prosecuting AVilson!—A. I had heard 
nothing of the kind. The district attorney does not reside in our town; 
lie resides in the parish of Iberia j he did not come down to Franklin 
until after the shooting of the clerk. It was then that he told me he 
was going to investigate the whole matter. 

Q. You said something about Yewman’s telling you that he was able 
to recognize.the man who attempted to kill him!—A. His wife told me, 
not the next morning, but the morning afterwards, because she was not 
in a condition the next morning to tell anybody anything, and nobody 
was allowed to go near her; but the day after this reporter from isew 
Orleans and Mr. Merchant had been to see her, I went in afterwards and 
asked her by myself if she could identify any of the parties. She said 
no, they were all disguised with black masks on their faces, and she 
didiiT know any of them. I did not meet Newman until a few days ago, 
when I came up to Morgan City in connection with the mandamus case, 
and then I interrogated him, and he said he could not identify any of 
the parties. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AA'hat do you mean by saying she was in no condition to say any- 
tliing to anybody !—A. Slie was in the family-way. 

Q. Suffering from excitemelit !—A. Yes, sirj she was very much ex¬ 
cited over the affair. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Has tlie district attorney informed you that he would investigate 
the whole matter!—A. He told me Avhen he was in Franklin that he 
intended to investigate the affair. 

Q. Has any grand jury sat in Saint Mary’s Parish since this occur¬ 
rence !—A. No, sir j we hold our court in March. 

Q. How many terms of court do you have each year !— A. Two terms 
a year, in March and October. 

Q. There has been no opportunity to present the case to the grand 
jury since that occurrence !—A. No, sir, none. 

Q. Of how many members did the police jury of Saint Mary’s Parish 
consist prior to the last election !—xA. Ten, sir; two from each Avard. 

Q. AYhat Avere their politics!—A. Five Avere Republicans and ffve 
were Democrats. 

Q. By AAiioni Avere the Democratic members appointed !—xA. By Gov¬ 
ernor Nicliolls. 

Q. xVnd the Republican members !~-A. They Avere elected by the 
people. 


398 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[St. Mary’s 


Q. I do not know wlietlier yon arc a lawyer, but I would like to ask 
a legal question—whether the term of ohice of the five i)olice jurors a])- 
pointed by the governor did not ex])ire ])y limitation A. I nnderstand 
from the act that gave the governor the right to appoint them that their 
term of office expired at the general election. 

Q. Do you nnderstand tliat if there were no election of police jurors 
the governor has a right to appoint others ?—A. My understanding ot 
the law is that in elective offices in this State, where there has been no 
election, the old officers hold over until a new election is lield. 

Q. Hoav many police jurors Avas your parish authorized to elect at the 
last election ?—A. Five, sir ; one from each Avard. 

Q. Do you understand that heieafter the police jury Avill consist of 
only tiAC members—A. Yes, sir; of 11 a e members only. 

Q. You do not understand, tlien, that the governor has the right to 
appoint police jurors hereafter ?—A. That A\^as only for the time being, 
as 1 understand the law. 

Q. You Avere asked if there Avas any i^arol eAudence to show aa Iio had 
been elected to the different offices in your parish, and if your courts 
would not induct those Avho were elected into the offices. NoA\y Avlien 
does your court sit at a\ Inch that contest could be made and tried ?—A. 
The court sets in March and October. 

Would the contest liaA^e to be made in that parish ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that it could not be brought before the court for trial until next 
March?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is there any piwision in your State by Avliich it might be contin¬ 
ued—put off until the next term—if the necessary Avitnesses Avere ab¬ 
sent ?—A. I understand that in a contest of election an appeal to the 
supreme court can be taken Avhen the salary of the office is OA^er $500 a 
year. 

Q. At Avhat time after the next session of your court does the supreme 
court sit ?—A. The next session of our court is in Marcli; the supreme 
court Avill sit next June. I understand that under a late laAV election 
matters liaAX to be determined lilce any suit. 

The CiiAiUAiAN. And lawyers sometimes liaA^e a lAeculiar way of not 
trA ing a case when they don’t Avant to try it. 

The Witness. I belieA^e the hiAV of this State, hoAve\w, gives election 
trials a jueference. 

Q. But might it not be continued until the terms for aaTiIcIi these men 
Avere elected had expired?—A. Yes, sir; I think it might. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. You speak of the legal jurisdiction of the court by aaTucIi that con¬ 
test could be originated. In fact, Avas not the question made here in 
the city of New Orleans and determined ? Did not Judge Monroe, in 
NeAx Orleans, try a mandamus case instituted by Judge Mentz against 
the secretary of state, to compel him to promulgate the returns of that 
parish?—A. Yes, sir; and it aatis done. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. That is a different case entirely. Notwithstanding the action of 
the secretary of state, is not the case still open for a contest in the par¬ 
ish, if any person chooses to contest it?—A. Under the Iuaa^, aa ithin thirty 
days after the promulgation of the returns, suits can be instituted against 
the i)arties. 













Parish. ] 


TESTIMONY OF H. MOSES. 


399 


IT. MOSES. 

]S"eay Orleans, January 13,1879. 

H. Moses sworn and exainined. 

By Mr. Oakland : 

Question. Wiiat is your residence!—Answer. Waterproof, Tensas 
Pari si i, La. 

Q. Uow long have you been there ?—A. I have been there nearly ten 
years. 

Q. What is your occupation !—xV. jMerchant and i)lauter. 

Q. You have heard the testimony of Mr. Wise just given f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State, in your own way, all you know about the matter you have 
heard referred to in his testimony.—xV. On the morning of the 13th I 
had heard that there had been trouble the night before at the Pairfax 
house. I did not know anything about it until the next morning when 
some white people came to the house and asked me if I had heard the 
news of the night previous, and I told them I had not. They then gave 
me an account of it. From that time on all of us in town became uneasy 
from the threatenings of the colored people and their coming and passing 
through our town making threats that they would burn and plunder our 
town and kill our white men in the parish. Then some of them said 
tliat when General Grant came to this country he saved the Avomen and 
the children, but they Avere going to do all sorts of mischief and not saA^e 
them. We x>repared ourselves then to protect the toAAUi as well as Ave 
could, although there A\ais only a handftd of us there, and things became 
more alarming at every hour until assistance came to us. The first as¬ 
sistance Ave received Avas from Saint Joseph, a sheriff’s posse that came 
down on Tuesday. I think if they had not come then our town Avould 
have been in ashes. AYe AAwe patient and tried to quiet the negroes as 
much as Ave could, and gave them an assurance in AYriting sent out to 
their clubs as evidence of the fact that we, the people in town, liad noth¬ 
ing to do Avith the Fairfax affair, and signed our names to it, and assured 
that club that Ave Avould protect them if they Avould not molest the town; 
that had its effect, and Ave were not molested. AYe had nothing to do 
AA ith that Fairfax affaire Our interests Avere mutual and AAe had lived 
together in harmony; and, in fact, Ave had always prided ourselves on 
the peace and harmony in our parish. 

By Air. Bailey : 

Q. AA^hen did you send that assurance to the negroes!—A. On Alon- 
day after tlie Sunday on Avliich the excitement and commotion began, 
and on Atonday aa^c sent the petition to the different colored clubs. 

Q. AA^hat Avere those clubs ?—A. They were political organizations. 

Q. IIoAV many of them Avere in that Aucinity !—A. On almost every 
plantation some leaders and some clubs. 

(^. Did the negroes begin to gather at AAmterproof as early as Sun¬ 
day!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many on that day !—x\. They were passing through that day— 
they assembled near Bass’s lane, and great numbers passed through the 
town Sunday, but more on Alonday. 

Q. Were they armed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many passed through on Sunday and Alonday, according to 
the best of your knoAAiedge !—A. Probably one thousand. They passed 
through all night; they passed in great numbers. 

Q. From Avhat parishes did they gather!—A. There AA^ere some tbere 


400 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[St. if ary’a 


from Concordia Parish coming np, and from the neighboring parishes, 
but the most I saw Avere from Concordia. 

Q. You say as they passed through they threatened the lives and 
X)roperty of the people ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. On Avhat days ?—A. Sunday and IVIonday. 

Q. Ah)n saw more there on Monday than on Sunday?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. AVliere were they gathering—you say in the iieighborhood of Fair- 
tax’s place; is that the gathering at Bass’s lane f—A. ATes, sir. 

Q. What caused that gathering of negroes in Bass’s lane to disperse ? 
—A. I think the sheriff coming down from Saint doseph caused theni 
to disperse. They heard at the same time that parties from Mississip]>i 
were crossing, Avhicli, however, was not so. It seems they had i^ickets 
everyAvhere who informed them in time, and as soon as the sheriff’s 
posse arrived there Avas a rider came doAvn there to notify the negroes 
to leaA^e, and that the AAhite men were coming, and told them to leave. 

Q. Hoav many Avere in tOAvn there ?—A. About 200. 

Q. AYhere did tliat rider come from ?—A. From aboA^e the riA^er; from 
Saint Joseidi, probably. 

Q. Did he come before or after the engagement at Bass’s lane ?— 
A. During the engagement. 

And AA'hen they got that information from AA^ateii^roof they dis¬ 
persed?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. How many Avliite men Avere in the toAvn of AA"aterf)roof ?—A. I do 
not knoAV ; there must haA^e been 20 i)robably. 

Q. You Avere all armed ?—A. Yes, sir; Ave armed ourselves. The first 
time I was out Avas on Sunday night, Avhen Ave heard that the colored 
people had gatliered about town. 

Q. Did you go out on picket?—A. Yes, sir. 

(/. You say you Avere in great fear for the safety of your liA^es and 
families ?—A. Yes, sir; I Avould haA^e sold at 50 cents if I had been as¬ 
sured that I could ha\"e carried my family safely aAvay. 

Q. I understood you to say that they threatened the Avomen and chil¬ 
dren also; you said something about General Grant; I didn’t (luite un¬ 
derstand you.—A. They sai(l they Avould outrage the AAmmen and chil¬ 
dren; that General Grant when he came to this country saA^ed the 
Avomen and children, but they Avould not save any one. 

By ]\rr. Cameron : 

Q. Of AAdiich political party are you a member ?—A. Well, sir, I A’oted 
the Democratic ticket, and if the Bepublican ticket had a better man on 
it than the Democratic ticket, I Aa)ted for that man. 

Q. Do you consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican ?—A. More 
of a Democrat; in fact, a Democrat, I might say. 

Q. Hoav long have you been a Democrat?—A. As soon as I could 
Amte I AU)ted the Democratic ticket. We had some men on the Repub¬ 
lican ticket that I Avould Amte for as quick as I Avould a Democrat. 

Q. Have you always recognized yourself as a Democrat since you 
could AU)te?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You still recognize yourself as a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you reside previous to going to Waterproof?—A. I 
came to this country in May, 18(39, and stahl a few months in Kew York, 
and in September, 18(39, I came to Waterproof. 

Q. You came from Germany ?— A. YYs. 

Q. When did you become a Am ter ?—A. I think in 1874. 

Q. Had there been any trouble between the AAidtes and blacks in Ten¬ 
sas Parish before the affair at Fairfax’s ?—A. Never. There Avas always 


TLSTIMONY OF H. MOSES. 


Parisb.] 


401 


sorpe excitement before elections, but nothing* like this. We always 
quieted ourselves and lived in peace and harmony together. 

Q. When did you first ascertain that those men had gone to Fairfax’s 
housed—A. On Sunday morning, when my employer came to my house 
and informed me of it. 

Q. Did he inform you how many men had been killed or wounded ?— 
A. He just told me what he had heard. 

Q. Did you see any man that went to Fairfax’s house A. ¥ 0 , sir; I 
was at home that night. 

Q. When did you first learn that any men had gone ?—A. On Sunday 
morning. 

Q. How far did you reside from Fairfax’s house?-—A. About one- 
fourth of a mile, or a little more. 

Q. Did you hear the firing ?-~A. ^N'o, sir ; I did not. 

Q. Did the colored people have a convention called to be held on Mon¬ 
day, after the affair at Fairfax’s house ?—A. I heard there was to be a 
convention on the day following ; yes, sir. 

' Q. Where did you hear it was to be held !—A, I first learned that it 
was to be at a certain place; then I heard that he was quarantined, and 
they w’^ent to Sundown and held it there. 

Q. How far is Sundown from Waterproof ?—A. Seven to ten miles. 

Q,. It is back in the country, or up the river ?—A. It is first up the 
country, and then back. 

Q. When did you first learn that the colored i)eople were first assem¬ 
bling in Waterproof?—A. All during Sunday and Monday. 

Q. Well, first, I mean ?—A. First, on Sunday. 

Q. Now, how many colored people did you say assembled in Water¬ 
proof on Sunday ?—A. Well, they were passing through more than as¬ 
sembling there ; they wanted to go to Bass’s lane. 

Q. You do not know that ?—A. No, sir; I supposed they were going 
there. 

Q. Did you talk with any of those colored people ?—A. No, sir; I did 
not. 

Q. Did you hear anj^ threats on Sunday ?—A. Y^es, sir; I heard some. 

Q. Who made them ?—A. Colored people. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. I do not knoAv. 

Q. Can you give the name of a single colored person whom you saw 
ill Waterproof, except the residents of the town ?—A. I suppose I could; 
I do not exactly remember now. 

Q. You have stated that great numbers passed through. Now, can 
you give the name of one?—A. No, sir; I do not know that I can^ 

Q. Is it usual for the colored people to come to the town of Water¬ 
proof on Sunday to do their trading?—A. No, sir; Ave keep closed on 
Sunday. 

Q. Early on Monday did you observe that the colored people were 
coming in in unusual numbers ?—A. I was out Sunday night all night 
on duty to guard the town, and they AA’^ere going through from Sunday 
morning until Monday, and iieA^er ceased to go through. 

Q. Hoav many assembled in the to\Am on Monday ?—A. There were 
probably 150 to 200. They did not stay there all the time; they Avere 
going and coming. 

Q. When did they first serve notice on you that they intended to burn 
the town?—A. I suppose it must have been on Monday. 

Q. When did they first notify you of that ?—A. They didn’t notify 
me individually. I heard the threats. 

Q. They didn’t serve any notice on you ?—A. No, sir. 

26 T 


402 


LOUISIANA IN 1S78. 


[St. Mary’s 


Q. Give tlie names of any of those persons Avho made threats ?—A. I 
cminot [ 2 :ive them. 

Q. Wliom did yon hear make these or similar threats on Monday'?— 
A. I cannot tell. 

Q. As near as yon can fix them'?—A. I do not know—twenty-five or 
fifty or one hundred. I heard it continually^ all day. They became con- 
tinually more insulting every hour when they saw we didn’t do anything. 

Q. You cannot give the names of any persons who made a single one 
of those threats 1 —A. I might name Tom Mason^ jr.^ who made a threat 
in my store that they would burn my store. 

Q. Where does he reside!—A. He resides on a plantation of iny 
brother’s. 

Q. When did the iiegToes make their first attack on the town of Wa¬ 
terproof!—A. I do not know that they made an attack—-they made 
their threats there. 

Q. Plow many white men did they kill in Waterproof !—A. ^N^one, that 
I know of. 

Q. How many Avoraen did they outrage, and how many children did 
they kill!—A. None, that I know of. 

Q. Do you know how many they killed !—A. None, that I know of. 

C^. I>id you hear that they killed any white men in the parish!—A. I 
only heard that Captain IVck Avas killed. 

Q. That was on Saturday night !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he a resident of the parish !—A. No, sir; I think he is a resi- 
<lent of Catahoula Parish. 

Q. Hoav near did he reside to your house!—A. Probably fifteen miles : 
J do not know exactly. 

Q. What time in the day or night, according to your recollection, did 
Peck pay that Ausit to P'airfax!—1 luMird that it Avas about nine or 
ten o’clock at night. 

Q. He AA^ent there at night, did he !—A. So 1 heard. 

Did you hear for Avhat beneA olent purpose he AA^ent there!—A. I 
heard seAXwal times that the negroes Avere arming theinselAXS, and said 
they Avere going to make an attack on the Avhite i)eople, and he heard 
tliat Faiifax Avas Avith the colored people in their attacks, and thought 
he AA^anted to see him for the purpose of asking him to resign, or not 
take any hand in it. 

Q. Was that the rumor, or did you not hear this: that the negroes 
Avanted to break the quarantine, and that he and that Captain Peck and 
Jiis armed band Avent there for the inirpose of trying to prevent them!— 
A. No, sir; I neAxr heard that. 

Q. From AA^hom did you hear that the negroes in the Aucinity of Fair¬ 
fax’s residence had risen up in rebellion and were going to kill off the 
Avhites !—A. Well, they AAxre not killing off; I simply heard that they 
Avere to do it. 

Q. Did they rise up there !—A. Out there they didn’t; they armed 
' themselvxs coming in. 

Q. Did you see any of them coming in until after the attack on Fair¬ 
fax’s house !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see any armed white men in the parish during the polit¬ 
ical canAxiss!—A. Not until after this affair at l^airfax’s. 

Q. Hoav soon after that did you see the first!—A. It was probably on 
Tuesday afternoon, after the Saint Joseph i)osse had been here, some 
more came to our rescue. 

Q. You had not been attacked then by the negroes !—A. No, sir; Ave 
had not been attacked there in Waterproof. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. MOSES. 


403 


Q. The negroes threatened on Sunday and no assistance came to 5*011 
until Tiiesda5*—is tliat rigid t—A. Yes,"sir. 

Q. Then they had until Tuesda5^ to slaughter you, and outrage the 
women and kill the children, and bum the town, and didn’t do it.— A. 
They didn’t do it. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q, In regard to this man Fairfax, do 5*011 agree with Mr. Wise that he 
was a nian of good character, and quiet ?—A. I never had a great deal 
to do with liiin; sometimes I heard that he was a Avhite-man hater, but 
1 do not know an5*thing of the man—I didn’t know anything against 
him, but I never had much dealing with him. 

(^. Are there any negro-haters up there?—A. I do not know] proba- 
bl5* tlie.v are in proi)ortion. 

Q. Was he living a peaceable, orderh", quiet life there, so far as 5*011 
know ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the house belong to him ?—A. I do not know whether it be¬ 
longed to hhn or not. 

Q. Has he an5* property in that neighborhood ?—A. Grain, and a horse 
and bugg5*, I believe. 

Q. Has he some land ?—A. Ko, sir; not that I am aware of. 

Q. Kow, on Sunday morning, did 5 on hear that the house of this or- 
derl5*, peaceable, and quiet man, so far as 5*011 kqew him, had been vis¬ 
ited by Captain Peck alone?—A. Ko, sir5 he was there with others with 
him. 

Q. Did 5*ou hear how man5^ were Avith him ?—A. I do not exactl5* re¬ 
member] I ma5* liaA^e heaid ] fifteen or tAvent5*. I would not be certain 
about it. 

Q. Did the5^ have their Bibles along, or guns ?—A. Well, the rumor 
said the5^ were guns. 

Q. You heard that Peck had got killed ?—A. Yes, sir] I heard so. 

Q. Did 5*011 hear that an5*bod5* else was killed?—A. I heard that of 
the colored men one or tAvo were Avounded at Fairfax’s house. In fact, 
I heard that one of them has since died. 

Q. Were there not three wounded, of which one died and two li\*ed ?— 
A. I heard that Kenned5" was Avoiinded, and I haA*e not heard of any 
others besides Singleton who died. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Was Fleming Branch hurt ?—A. I do not knoAV Avliether he was 
Avqunded or not. 

Q. Did not the rumor first get out among the black peoi)le that num¬ 
bers Avere killed ?—A. Kot that I heard of. 

By Mr. Kirkaa'OOD : 

Q. But, somehow, when the5^ heard of this missionar5* Ausit of Peck to 
the Fairfax’s house, the negroes didn’t ai)preciate it as much as they 
might haA*e done ?—A. I do not knoAV ] they seemed to be jubilant about 
Peck. 

Q. That Avas, that when a man came upon that errand they thought 
it Avas well to have him killed?—A. I do not knoAV. 

Q. Do you not know now that they were excited because of what they 
conceived to be an attack upon Fairfax’s house and family ?—A. It might 
have been the case so far as the cause of the excitement is concerned. 

Q. You never heard that that attack of Peck was under any color of 
law ] it was wholl5* a voluntar5^ moA*ement on his part, Avas it not ?—A. 
I suppose so. I do not know what brought him there or what induced 


404 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[St. Mary's 


him to only wliat I have already stated, that he went to see Fairfax 
and ask him not to take part in any demonstration. 

Q. And he took fifty armed men with him to emphasize liis request ?— 
A. I do not know. 

Q. Have you people of Waterproof who are so mucli in danger and so 
much alarmed in consequence of this disturbance ever taken any steps 
to arrest these men who made the attack upon Fairfax’s house coming 
in from an adjoining parish?—A. No, sir; but we have assured Fairfax 
that we had nothing to do with it, and we sup])osed tlie authorities in 
the upper part of the parish would look after that. 

Q. Well, it is in your immediate province to see that men shall not 
come in from an adjoining parish and visit in a missionary way a i)eace- 
able citizen ?—A. I thiidv we have been more alarmed in consequence 
of the uprising of these negroes. 

Q. Yes; but if tliis attack of Peck’s was the cause of the excitement 
among the blacks, is not the punishment to begin there?—A. 1 suppose 
we should have taken some steps. 

Q. You have not done so?—A. No, sir; and I do not know that that 
was the cause of the uprising of them. 

Q. How near is Bass’s lane to Fairfax’s house ?—A. Fairfax’s house is 
on Bass’s field; probably about half a mile. 

Q. And the negroes were numerous at Bass’s liouse ?—A. Numbers 
of them brouglit their families there. 

Q. Is Fairfax’s family there ?—A. I am told they are. 

Q. Were they alarmed too for some reason or other —A. I do not 
know; 1 suppose they were. 

Q. So that there seemed to be an alarm among the colored people as 
well as the wliite ])eoi)le ?—A. I do not know that they were alarmed; 
1 believe we were. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. When you found yourself in a defenseless condition with those 
great numbers of black men around you, did you take any steps to 
secure any assistance ?—A. I think messengers were sent to Saint Jo¬ 
seph and in the neigliborhood to come to our assistance. 

Q. Do you know that telegrams were sent over to Natchez, for in¬ 
stance ?—A. Yes. I have been told so by the parties who sent them. 

Q. You were really, then, in great alarm for the lives of yourselves and 
families?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For the burning and destruction of your property also?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You armed yourselves ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had you been armed before that ?—A. Never before that. 

Q. But wlien you witnessed the demonstrations of these black people 
there, and their assembling in such great numbers, you immediately 
took steps to defend yourselves and property ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You wanted to secure to yourselves safety ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. And did all you could to secure to yourselves safety ?--A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Has there been any meeting of the grand Jury up there since this 
occurrence?—A. No, sir; there has been no court. 

Q. There has been no court that had Jurisdiction to indict these peo¬ 
ple?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You said a wliile ago that you gave assurance to Fairfax of his 
safety. When was that?—A. It was on Sunday we sent up two mes¬ 
sengers to see him and assure him that we were innocent of what had 


TESTIMONY OF H. MOSES. 405 

been done to him the night before, and we guaranteed all the protection 
in our power. 

Q.-Was he at home then?—A. Yes, sir—well, he was not seen then, 
but we sent some messengers after him, and we sent some the following 
day, to which he replied that as long as he was with his forces nothing 
should be done to the people of Waterproof, but that after he left he 
would not be responsible. 

Q. When did he leave t. —A. On IMonday after the convention. 

Q. Where did he go ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Oo you know where he is now ?—A. Ko, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did Baker’s company come there ?—A. I think on Tuesday 
morning. 

Q. Where from ?—A. From Natchez. 

Q. How many men did they have ?—A. I think one hundred. 

Q. Hid those men themselves come u}) in the town?—A. They did not 
want to go up town, as we assured them then that we didn’t have any 
need of their services. 

Q. When was that ?—A. Sunday morning. They came up and we 
treated them as kindly as we could. 

Q. Hid they come up to town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long did they remain ?—A. Until evening. 

Q. How were they armed?—A. They had guns. 

Q. A coui^le of field-pieces, were they ?—A. I think they had one, but 
it never left the steamer. 

Q. Hid they not have two ?—A. I did not see but one, anyway. 

Q. AYhat time did they get there Sunday morning ?—A. At, probably, 
ten o’clock. 

Q. You assured them that there was no necessity for their coming, 
and they could go home?—A. We didn’t tell them that. There was no 
necessity for it. We didn’t tell them that; we told them there was no 
necessity for them, and Baker returned home Avhen he found everything 
was quiet. 

(^. Hid he go any fiirther than Waterproof?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What time did the colored j^eople assemble at Bass’s lane?—A. I 
think it was on Tuesday about dinner time, between 12 and 1 o’clock, 
earlier or later. 

Q. How many men came down from Wateri)roof ?—A. Probably forty 
or fifty—the sheriff’s posse. 

Q. You knew, then, on Wednesday this dangerous uprising was 
over—A. Yes, sir j that they were scattered, as soon as more assist¬ 
ance came Tuesday evening, and we told the Natchez people that we 
could dispense with their services. 

Q. Where did the assistance come from on Tuesday evening ?—A. 
From the adjoining i)arishes. 

Q. What parish ?—A. Some from Catahoula. 

Q. How many ?—A. I do not know. I heard they were from other 
parishes. 

Q. What other parishes ?—A. From Ouachita. 

» Q. What other?—A. I do not know, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. How many in all?—A. There was probably 100 to 200. They 
came off and on, and didn’t keep any exact account. 


406 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[St. Mary’s 


By the Chairman : 

Q. Where were they on Wednesday?—A. Most of them were in 
town. 

Q. How long did they remain in town ?—A. They didn’t remain but 
a few hours. 

Q. I did not mean Baker’s men, but the other men.—A. They didn’t 
stay but a short time. They left on Tuesday. 

Q. Where did they go ?—A. In different directions. 

Q. Where !—A. Probably home. 

Q. Do you know tliey went home!—A. Well, some of them went to 
(latahoula, in that direction, and some of them to Saint Joseph. I sup- 
l)Ose they went home. 

Q. You say yon Avere alarmed there. Is there not a rifle-club in 
Wateri>roof!—A. There was a year or two ago, but Ave had no use 
for it. 

Q. There are some rifles !—A. Yes; there are some fcAA" Winchester 
rifles. 

Q. IIoAV many ?—A. I don’t thiidv we could gather more than six or 
eight that night. 

By Mr. Kirkaa'OOD : 

Q. Did they liaA e any double-barreled shot-guns !—A. Some. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you know any of these men who made threats !—A. Yes, sir; 
some of them I kneAA\ 

Q. HaA^e any of them been arrested for disorderly conduct!—A. I 
think not—they liaA^e promised us that they will not do so again. 

Q. IlaA^e they promised you that they AAdll permit tAA enty or thirty 
armed men to come in from the adjoining parish and take them, and not 
do anything in self-defense!—A. Yo, sirj they liaA e not done that. 

By Mr. Kirkaa OOD: 

Q. IlaA^e you any promise that they Avill allow that missionary work 
to continue, such as Captain Peck tried!—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. I understood you to say there had been no grand jury since this 
affair in your toAAui!—xV. Xo, sir. 

Q. And for that reason this man could not be prosecuted!—xA. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Was not a Ararrant taken out for Pairffix!—xV. I do not know. 

Q. Did you not hear so I —xV. I may have heard so 5 I do not exactly 
remember it. 

Q. Don’t you remember that there was a Avarrant taken out for Fair¬ 
fax immediately afterAA ards !—xV. I do not knoAV; I may liaA^e heard so. 
I am informed by the county judge that there Avas one taken out. 

Q. But you didn’t know if there Avas any taken out by those mission¬ 
aries !—^A. Xo, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Did you hear the names of any of those missionaries!—xA. Xo, 
sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you hear of any one inquiring for the names !—A. I did not. 

Q. Did you not hear Judge Cordill say he Avas trying to ascertain the 
names of those men AAdio came with Peck and went to Fairfax’s house, 


TESTIMONY OF H. MOSES. 407 

for the purpose of having them prosecuted ?—^A. I do not know whether 
I did or not. 

Q. Did you?—A. I do not think I ever did. 

Q. Do you know this man Miller, who was accused of having fired Mr. 
Wise’s gin?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was he when he was seized and killed?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Was he not on your plantation?—A. My brother’s. 

Q. You heard he was ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear that he was killed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he arrested on a warrant before he was killed j didn’t Judge 
Cordill issue a warrant for his arrest?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then did the judge go along to see that the penalty was in¬ 
flicted?—A. The judge didn’t go along. 

Q. Who killed him?—A. I do not know. 

Q. AYhere was he killed?—A. I do not know. 

Q. AYell, according to the best information you have?—A. I heard lie 
was killed near Lake Saint Peter. 

Q. How far is that from AVateriuoof ?—A. That is some seven or eight 
miles. 

Q. Did you hear that he had been tried and sentenced to death by 
any legall^^-constituted body or that he was killed by a mob?—A. I do 
not know that it was a mob that killed; I do not know that it was a 
legally or illegally constituted body. 

Q. Had he been notified before he was killed?—A. There was a war¬ 
rant 'out for him; at least he was arrested. 

Q. How long after he was arrested before he was killed?—A. I do not 
know. 

Q. Was he tried before any court?—A. I do not know; I heard that 
he was killed on his waj^ to Saint Joseph—that is, that he was arrested 
and the officer or whoever had him in charge was taking him to Saint 
Joseph, and then on his way he was killed. 

Q. Did you learn what officer had hiip in charge?—A. The sherifl', 
Kegister, went there to arrest him, I heard. 

Q. Did you hear that he did arrest him?—A. Yes, and while Eegistir 
was carrying him to Saint Joseph, the parish town, he was killed. 

Q. In which way was he killed, to the best of your knowledge?—A. 
I heard that he was hung. 


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POINTS COUPEE PARISH. 


SIXTH CONGHESSIONAL DISTHICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 












POIXTE COUPEE PARISH STATISTICS. 


POI’ULATIOX. 


Colored (by United States censns of 1870). 9,229 

White (by United States censns of 1870)... 3,752 

Colored majority in 1870. 5, 477 

(''olored (by State censns of 1875). 10,188 

White (by State census of 1875)... 3,971 

Colored majority in 1875.. 6,217 


REGISTKATIOX. 


(•olored (by registration of 1874). 2,318 

White (by registration of 1874). 729 

Colored registered majority in 1874. 1, 589 

Entitled to vote, by census of 1875: 

Colored (see tables I and II). 2, 461 

White (see tables I and II). 817 

Colored majority in 1875. 1,644 

Colored (by registration of 18f8).. 1,954 

AVhite (by registration of 1878). 816 

Colored registered majority in 1878). 1,138 


PKOMULGATKD VOTE IX 1878. 


For treasurer. Democratic candidate. 1,071 

For treasurer, Opposition candidate. 1,092 

For Congress, Democratic candidate > x-t xiixi i x i 

For Cnuoress! Opposition cnnrti.late ^ nnlicated; both about equal. 

For State senator, Democratic candidate. 662 

For State senator, Independent candidate. 1,512 

For State representative. Democratic candidate... 1, 051 

For State representative, Kepublican candidate. 1, lKi 







































POINTE COUPEE. 


RANBALL McGOWAN. 

New Orleans, La., January 11,1879. 

Randall McGowan (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon live?—Answer. In the i^arish of Pointe 
Conpee. 

Q. Where is that ?—A. About 2o0 miles, as near as I can get at it, up 
the river. 

Q. How long have yon lived there *?—A. I was bred and born there. 

Q. What have yon been doing there ?—A. Farming. 

Q. Were yon there during the last campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon take any part in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What side?—A. On the Republican side, as I always have been 
doing since the war. 

Q. Were yon running for any office ?—A. No, sir; not at that time. 

Q. Have yon held any office ?—A. I have held the office of police- 
juror six years, and I was elected tA\ ice as constable. 

Q. Y^on are not holding any office this year?—A. No, sirj not at 
present. 

Q. What Avas the character of the campaign up there?—A. The char¬ 
acter of the camiiaign up there, according to my judgment, was this: 
It seemed that the Avhite people had so much prejudice against Repub¬ 
licans up there that Ave could not organize at all. 

Q. AVhy ?—A. Because Ave Avould not dare to do it. There was threats 
that if there Avas any organization of the leaders that part of the jiarish 
would be strung up. 

Q. By whom Avas this said ?—A. I know they told me that personally. 

Q. Who told you that ?—A. AYilliain B. Archer Avas one of them avIio 
told me. 

Q. A AAdiite man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat Avere his politics ?—A. He was a young doctor in the back 
country, and his father v^as a candidate for the house of representatives 
of the State-house. 

Q. What did he say ?—A. He told me that at New Texas Landing. 
I Avent there to get some proAusions that we had ordered from a merchant, 
and he met me, knowing I had been a leader in the parish for the last 
eiglit or ten years, and Milton Jones, Frank Murdock, Lcau Allen, and 
others. Levi Allen started to go down to the court-house to attend to 
some business he had at the court-house, though I don’t know A\diat it 
Avas, and when he got back it seems that he had been there to confer 
with the present parish committee. 

Q. Republican or Democratic ?—A. Republican. On the 14th of Au¬ 
gust there was an armed body of men came to my house. Before they 
got to my house, perhaps a mile away, I heard some firing done. I 
had been down with the fiever about three weeks, and my Avife said. 



412 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coupee 


^‘Willianij I Lear some firing,” and I asked her who it was, and she 
said she thought j)rohably it was the bulldozers we had heard talk 
of, and she told me I had better go out. I said I never had done any 
harm, and never had stolen anytliing, and my character Avas unblem¬ 
ished. She said, ‘‘Well, I hear some hollering, anyway.” I had been 
sitting on the gallery, and I pulled oft my clothes and went to bed, 
but in about ten minutes there Avas twenty-fi\"e or thirty men came 
to my house, and they surrounded my house; in about five seconds it 
seemed to me they had surrounded the house. They did not burst the 
door open, but the^^ rapped at the door with such tremendous force that 
they skeered me and my Avife too. I x)eeped out a crack in the door, and 
1 saw them all coming; all liad arms. I ran out of the house and got into 
my garden. I had been sick a good Avhile and I Avas A^ery Aveak, and 
they called to my Avife to open the door. She said she would suffer death 
rather than open the door; that she Avould not open it until she got her 
clothes on. She got her clothes on and opened the door, and that same 
William B. Archer came in tlie house. They struck a light and they 
hunted around for me and could not find me. They had the garden sur¬ 
rounded, and Jim McGuinn heard the weeds moAuug where I was, and 
said, “ Come out of there, come out of there, God damn you, or I will shoot 
you.” Then my Avife came out and said, “ Mr. IVIoore, my husband is not 
ill here”; and he said, “ The God damned Eepublican son of a bitch, wliere 
is he?” 1 ausAvered behind my house in the garden, and Mr. McGuinn 
said, “Here he is, Ben; here he is.” (He aa as talking to Ben Moore.) 
I went out before the crowd and then ]\Ir. Moore hauled off* and struck 
me and knocked me doAAui, and as he raised up to shoot me O. Y. Lacoor 
struck up his arm, and said, “O, Ben, don’t murder that man before 
his AAife.” I said, “What haAe I done?” And he said, “You and 
Levi Avent doAvn to the court-house the other day to get permission 
to organize your God damned clubs here”; and I said, “I haven’t done 
any such thing as that.” I said, “Here is a Avhite man that I have 
often worked for, and you may ask him if I ha\"e been off* from my 
family for the last three Aveeks.” I said, “ I haven’t meddled Avitli 
Iiolitics at all.” He said, “ God damn you, I haA^e heard of you.” He 
said, “Wasn’t you going to organize a club to-night at the church ?’ 
I replied, “E^o, sir.” He said, “Well, Ave heard of it, and God damn 
you, Ave are going to put you through to-night.” Then he struck me 
again, and knocked me doAvn. When he did that, I begged him not to 
shoot, and this same Lacoor said, “Don’t hurt this young man; he is a 
good young man, and has worked for us.” I said, “Mr. Moore, if you 
are going to murder me, take me OA^er the bayou on the iiublic road 
and hang me or kill me, or whatever you are going to do, but don’t 
do it before my wife, please.” I begged them so, and he said, “ Y^ou 
haven’t any choice what you Avant done, and we Avill do as we God damn 
please.” They took me about four, and a half miles on the road, and 
Avhen Ave got there the colored people had all disbanded from there. AVe 
came back then to a man’s house, who Avas the next leading man of 
the Eepublican iiarty, called Frank Murdock. These men went into 
Ids house, but he could not be found, and they took his wife and tied 
her up by the thumbs, but she sereamed and yelled so they finally 
loosed her. They tied her by the thumbs to make her tell where he was, 
but they could not make her tell. They kept her tied by her thumbs a 
considerable time, but could not make her tell. She told me, hoAvever, 
the next day, that Frank was in the cotton-fields hid. They next 
went to Levi Wells’ house. They took him and put him uxAon a small 
levee. I Avas about ten feet from the levee, and seven or eight men took 


Pariali.} 


TESTIMONY OF RANDALL m’gOWAN. 


413 


him and whipped him, and they vsaid, ‘‘You God damned Kepuhlican son 
of a bitch, what have you been down to the court-house for, getting in¬ 
formation from Judge Ubre how to organize clubs '? We want you to 
understand that this country is a white man’s country and we want you 
to understand that there is not a Eepublican vote going into tlie ballot- 
box this year; if there is, we will break your God damned necks.^ They 
next went to Mr. Foley Powers, and they could not lind him. It was 
about 150 yards from Allen’s house, and they took his wife and dragged 
her around the house and put pot-hooks into the wvaist of her dress and 
dragged her around, and she would not tell where he was. She said he 
was gone off—bluffed them off, and said he was gone to see his sweet¬ 
heart, or something of that kind. They could not find him. The next 
man was Levi Sherman, a minister. They were just coming from church. 
They had dismissed very late that night, and he saw our crowd coming 
and broke and run. They said “Halt, halt”j and he, being frightened^ 
run. They shot him three times—once in his foot and twice in his hii>. 
By this time they were so llustrated that they did not see him when he 
fell, and another crowd of women and men come, and, instead of going 
after Levi Sherman, tliey went after those men who were running. They 
thought they had killed Sherman. He had got over the fence, and 
about two o’clock in the morning he got up and went to an old man’s 
house named Abrams. They paraded around that night. These men 
were raiding, whii)ping\ and scaring the women and men. They come back 
and found this man in AVilliam Abrams’ house. They asked Mr. Abrams 
Avho was in there, and he said no one but his himily and himself; and 
they went in there and searched his house and they found this old man 
Abrams. Some of them took out their ram-rods and jabbed him, even, 
into his privates, in the Hanks of the man, and they said, “You God 
damned son of a bitch, you told us a lie, and we intend to give you a 
whipi>ing.” They took him out and gave him about 200 lashes, and then 
they made ui> their minds to go home; and some of them said, “Yo, 
we will not go home, but we will rouse up Mr. Laobequi, and we will 
liave something to drink ”; and they got him up and had something to 
drink, and then they said, “Yow, liandall, you must come before us.” 
O. V. Archer, and Mr. Lacoor, and another young man with whom I used 

to go to school and play with, said to me- 

Q. What was that young man’s name ^—A. Alfred Morgan was the 
young man I used to go to school with. They said, “ IS^ow we are going 
to turn you loose”; and Jim McGuinn said, “If you turn him loose he 
will make you see hell.” And he told them the truth, for I intend to go 
to the courts for justice. I told them, “ No; you can turn me loose if you 
like.” They had the ropes and everything to hang me, and the only 
reason my neck was not broken that night was because there was another 
man they wanted to catch, named Levi Oliver, a young inan Avho had 
made an affidavit against one of the AVishams, and for the further reason 
that my wife had seen their faces and could identify those men. If it 
were not for those reasons I believe I would have been a dead man to¬ 
day. They turned me loose under these circumstances, and they said, 
“ Now, on Saturday you bring every colored man —yon can control those 
men.” “ Yes.” I said I could. They said, “Noav you bring those men 
to Eugene Ubre on Saturday, and we will enroll their names on the 
Democratic rolls, that you all may vote the Democratic ticket.” I studied 
a moment, and then said yes, I would do so; and upon that pledge they 
turned me loose. Tjiis was about four o’clock. I then got home, and I 
found my wife and children all crazy, believing I was dead. They heard 
them say they were going to kill me; and if it was not for those men 



414 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Points Coup6e 


Avlio lielpod we I Avould liave been killed. Moore wanted to blow my 
brains out, and tried to do it, in fact, afterwards in a committee 5 but it 
lias always apimared as if God helped me at tlie critical time. I told 
them 1 would hell) them. This was Wednesday. And Thursday morn¬ 
ing-, at ten o’clock, there Avas such an excitement everywhere that 
there was not a lick of work done, to my knoAvledge. They were run* 
niug to see me, and I said, ‘‘ I can’t stay here; lamgoingaAvay.” I did 
not say, however, that I Avas going to the courts about it. I went about 
d.) miles through the Avoods the contrary Avay. J then went and saAV the 
ilistrict judge, Thomas H. Hughs. Myself and Trank Murdock, Mr. Ho¬ 
ley, llic'iiard Smith, and Mr, Bowley, all arrived there at the same time. 
Hftghs said, “ Well, I am glad to see you ; 1 heard you had some diffi¬ 
culty up there.” I said, Yes, sir.” lie said, What Avas the cause of it ? 
Y"ou are peaceable men and quiet men.” I said, I can’t tell.” He said, 
‘‘ I Avill Avrite to Governor Nicholls to see if men can’t live up there in 
peace.” 

Q. AYere you raising a crop up there A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How much cotton did you haA c!—A. Thirty-fiA^e acres. 

Q. Hoav much corn f*—A. TAventy acres of com. I had been sick two or 
three Aveeks, and had just got up around, and my wife and children were 
ready to go to picking cotton in two days more, and I had just ordered 
some baskets. He asked me if I Avas going to lose that, and I said, Yes.” 
<.)ur district judge, knowing Avhat kind of a man I Avas, gaA^e me employ- 
ment—-Avood-choppiug—and I chopped for lum until these men could be 
brought before court. While 1 was there you could see first one and 
then another coming to find aa here I Avas staying at. They thought I 
Avas at a certain place near False EIa er. There Avas a colored man and 
a colored Avoman staying in a house together, and they thought I Avas 
there, and they came in there and Avanted to knoAV if I Avas there. 
The colored people told them ‘‘ No,” and they broke into the house and 
searched. This AAms on the parish attorney’s place, Mr. L. B. Claybourn. 
Tliere was a white AAmman Avho Avas on the place, and they asked her 
if I Avas there, and she said “No,” and they took her out and Avhii)i)ed 
her pretty near to death, and broke tliree of her fingers, to find Avhere 
1 Avas. 8 he could not tell, of course, for I didn’t know the AVoman 
myself. I staid there at Judge Hughs’, and he said, “ AA'hat preju- 
Judices haA^e you all against Kandall H’ They said that A\dien Baii- 
dall Avas there the negroes Avill always listen to him, and they Avill 
just carry the elections, and Ave Avant such niggers as him and Levi 
Allen out of the Avay. The judge told me about this, and he said, “My 
boy, I like you, and I want you to get along the best way you can. 
Y"ou hiiA^e done a great deal for me in political matters, and I don’t want 
to see you .hurt.” I said, “All right; I luwe purchased some land up 
there, and I can’t live on it.” I saiil I heard the bulldozers were trying 
to get here before I haA^e them arrested. Sure enough, when the war¬ 
rant Avas put out for these twenty-fiA’-e men, before the sherifi;* could 
get there and notify them.there was about two hundred and fifty came 
to the court-house—the court room could not hold them. They called 
me before the court and I gaA^e my testimony, and the parish judge put 
them under $100 bond each to appear before the district court. They 
did so. Some of them, I don’t think the most of them, appeared. The 
rest went off. Consequently Mr. William Archer spoke to me the same 
night and said, “Ho you suppose the sherifi* can arrest all these meiif” 
I said, “No; do you take me for a foolF’ 1 said to him, “The court 
can’t arrest all these men.” He said, “No, damn it; they hadn’t better 
try.” They Avere all armed Avith shot-guns and pistols. I don’t know 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF RANDALL m’gOWAN. 


415 


Avhether they were sixteen-sliooters or not; but the}" were iu the shape 
of them. 1 know a young man by the name of Frank Boynton 5 he was 
tlie one that guarded me; he was a kind of corporal in the crowd I was 
ill. He said, Will you tell on iisF’ I said, will not tell on you.” I 
said, “Do you suppose I am going before a court and tell them I know 
you all*?” And he said, “Don’t you do it.” He said, “It is just as inn 
possible for you to tell who took you out that night as it is to tell who 
hung those five men.” I said I didn’t know anything about the live 
men; but I did know one of them. I was working for a man by the 
name of W. 11. Lewis, and he was afraid of these men. He told me one 
day that he was going back in the woods, and if any men come for him 
not to tell them. I said “all right.” The next day I saw Mr. Johnson, 
and I saw Mr. Labret, and I saw Mr. Sanchey and the whole colony of 
the La Fourche men going out to the liver. The next morniug Mr. Lewis 
said there was five men hung. I asked him what for, and he said 
Thomas Williams, a leader in the fourth ward, was about to organize 
his club; that it was about time for us to go into the campaign, and 
those boys apiieared that night. The colored jieople there held their 
meetings at any time; but generally at night. There was a rumor that 
William B. Archer was shot at, ami he said the men that were at that 
meeting were the men that shot at him; and they said they were going 
to hunt that section of the country until they found who did shoot at 
him. And they went round and picked up some men at Legendre’s 
plantation, the only men he had. He took five of them men and give 
them up to the crowd, and they took them to Fisher’s Landing, about 
six hundred yards from Ellsworth’s, and hung them. Tliey said the,\ 
did these things to scare negroes so that they might carry the election. 

Q. When were these men hung A. The 1st of June or latter part 
of May. 

Q. You said they took your case into court. Yow, what about that ?— 
A. They took my case into the district court, and in having it there—I 
didn’t think it was right—they had some bulldozers on the grand jury, 
and did not find any true bill. 

Q. They were discharged f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you go then ?-“A. I come down here. I will tell you 
my reason for it. * They had come to my house about three times hand 
running looking for me. After they discharged them, they suid the in¬ 
tention was to kill me anyhow. There was a man by the name of Yil- 
liar, and he said, “Eandall, the men that were arrested are around, and 
they are going to have some men you can’t identify, and the best thing 
yoii can do is to get away.” His name Axas Charlie Yilliar. I said, 
“If you men wants to fight, I would rather fight a man in the law;” 
and I said, “ If I am called, I am ready at any moment.” He said, 
“Don’t you stay in this parish; if you do, you are a dead man.” I Avanted 
him to tell me how he knew these things, and he told me he knew it 
from some of his Avhite men. He said one of them Avas Albert Wisham. 
He said, “You Aveut up there to carry tickets to the ballot-box.” “Yes,” 
I said; “I did.” He said, “Who did you meetF’ I said, “I met Lewis, 
for one”; and he said, “What did he tell youF’ and I said, “Nothing”; 
and he said my best plan was not to go to the polls, and if there Avas a 
Eepublican vote there that day I Avould be a dead man. I said I ventured 
to go about two hundred yards from the polls, but I was satisfied that the 
colored men did not vote. There was only two in our ward that voted 
the Democratic ticket, and the reason of that was that they Avere under 
the influence of whisky. He asked me what pay I got, and I said I got 
the pay of seven men behind me. Though I had a good horse, they 


416 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Poiute Couple 


run me away from the polls. He issued tickets on the road as they 
came along, and as hist as they got to the polls they would ineet white 
men there AVho would AValk up to them and give them Demo cratic instead, 
and make them vote them. Mr. Blackman told me—he said, “Randall, 
if you go up there you will he a dead man unless you vote the Demo‘ 
cratic ticket to-day.” I said I was going anyhow. And he said, “ Well, 
you know if you go up there you will he killed.” Then Luke Allen there 
came up to me and said, “It is impossihle for us Eepuhlican people to 
vote at all.” I said, “ Why ?” And he said, “Because we can’t vote the 
Eepuhlican ticket; and if we can’t vote the right ticket we don’t want to 
vote at all.” I told him, “That is rigid.” He said he was going home. 
Then Mr. Laohequi was standing on the levee, and the men as they met 
him would turn back, because tliey had heard it rumored that if they 
didn’t vote the Democratic ticket they could not vote at all. He told 
them if they didn’t vote to-day and vote the Democratic ticket they could 
not live there. This Laohequi said that. Mr. Pier Johnson, a cousin of 
mine, then said, “Eandall, you get on your horse and leave as quick as 
possible.” And I concluded to do it. As I got out two miles I saw them 
coming in a group. And I ran that horse of mine hfteen miles to the 
courtdiouse for fear of my life. I met Mr. J. B. Marchand, and he said, 
“How is the election'?” I told him that the men were not allowed to 
vote the Eepuhlican ticket up there. He was running for sheriff^ He 
said, “Well, I he damned, if those men can’t control that box I don’t 
know what we can do.” “Well,” I said, “the white men have arms and 
they make the colored people vote just the way thej^ want them to, and 
they told them if they didn’t vote they would not he allowed to live there. 
They intend to shoot you.” There Avas a young man there named Eufus 
Miles, a very small man, hut he talked very big, anddie said before he 
would vote the Democratic ticket he would die, and he didn’t go at all. 
Laohequi told him if he didn’t go and A^ote one ticket he should die. He 
did not go at all 5 and about a AA'eek after that they Avent down there and 
killed him. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Hoav do you know they were killed ?—A. I saw him after he Avas 
dead. 

Q. A week after that ?—-A. Yes, sir ; a week after the election. 

Q. You didn’t leaA-e, then, right aAvay after the election ?—A. ^lo, sir j 
not just then; I didn’t leave until about a week before Christmas. 

Q. Where did you stay all this time—did you go back to your place ? 
—A. Ko, sir; I haA^e not been back there since the 14th of August. 

Q. What became of your crop ?--A. I left it in the field—I don’t 
knoAv. 

By Mr. Kirkaa'ood : 

Q. Did you oaaui land there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How much,?—A. Seventy-four acres. 

Q. IlaA^e you paid for it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you a family ?—A. Yes, sir ; Avife and children. 

Q. Did you leaA^e them there'?—A. Yes, sir. I tell you the truth, I 
left them in the road. It got so hot I had to leave them. I tried to 
bring my family, but I couldn’t. 

By the Chairman : 

> Q. WhyAvasit so hot ?—A. Well, after the election I thought they 
Avould leaA^e me alone, but it Avas just as hot after the election as before. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF RANDALL m’gOWAN. 


417 


My wife was with me at a i)lantation the agent of which was Mr. John¬ 
son. I was cutting cane. There was a young white man there who 
said, Kandall, I understood some men came here the other day and 
asked if you were working here; and, of course, no one would tell on 
you that you were here; hut,’^ he said, “ You had better leave.” I said, 
“ Well, I don’t like to, but if you will i^ay me my money I will go.” I 
just had enough to come to Kew Orleans, and 1 have been here ever 
since. Before that, when we wanted to take off a cane croi) at a i)lace, 
and 1 wanted to get any job of work, I got on Mr. Lario’s plantation. I 
staid there until they came after me. They went three times after me at 
this place; but I got away every time. My little boy saw them each 
time. They inquired for me every place I went. 

Q. You came down here about a week before Christmas; you did not 
see these five men hung ?—A. No, sir; I didn’t see them hung myself. 

Q. Where did you get your information?—A. From William Archer. 

Q. Is he a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he one that hung them ?—A. Yes, sir; I believe he is.' He was 
in the crowd. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How old a man is William Archer ?—A. He is a man of about 26 
or 27 years of age. 

Q. Is he running for any office up there?—A. No, sir ; his father was 
running for State legislator. 

Q. Is he there now ?—A. I don’t know. In fact the only man we had 
on our whole ticket beat Archer; that is what I heard ; I can’t tell that 
for a fact, because I have been running so much I haven’t learned. 

Q. There was Archer, Morgan, qnd McGuinn that had charge of you 
that night ?—A. Morgan was not in the crowd. There was Archer, 
Kichard Mabias, jr., Benjamin Moore, Arthur Lacoor, Alphonse Lacoor, 
and another Lacoor—there were three Lacoors—Mr. Foster (captain of 
the crowd), Frank Burton, William Hess, and young Atkinson. 

Q. There were ten of them ?—A. Yes, sir; there was over ten; but I 
know these personally. They have eat and drank coffee at my house 
too often for me not to know them. 

Q. How far was it from your house to Frank Murdock\s ?—A. About 
three miles and a quarter. 

Q. How far was it from there to Levi Allen’s ?—A. About 300 yards 
from jMurdock’s. 

Q. Hoav far from there to the grocery where you got something to 
drink ?—A. About four miles. 

Q. Wliat time was it wlien you got the liquor to drink at the grocery ? 
—A. About two o’clock; they had been fooling me all around through 
the woods tliat night hunting for Levi Oliver, and if they had found 
him I would ha^'e been a dead man. 

Q. You say A'rclier told you about the hanging of these five men ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been summoned as a witness before the Lnited States 
court here ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Since you got here ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Who iiad you summoned ?—A. It must have been some of the 
leaders here ; my name was called, and that is all I know. 

Q. Have you talked a gveat deal of this matter since you came here ? 
—A. No, sir; I liave talked a good deal about it with my colored 
friends. 

27 T 


418 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup6e 


Q. Have you talked with this gentleman, Mr. Horn, about it!—A. 
Ko, sir ; I don’t know Hahn. 

Q. Have you put this in writing at all through any person ?—A. 
'No, sir. 

Q. You have not l)een before the grand jury ?—A. I haven’t been 
there yet. 

Q. Ho you know how many of these men failed to come up on their 
bond in what is called the parish court *?—A. I could not tell you. 

Q. Ho you know how many did come ?—A. No, sir, I could not 
tell you, because the day I went to the court I did not see any 
of them. I can tell you now that in our parish the people they 
got so skeered that the colored men are afraid to set down in the 
court-room, and the reason of it is this, that if I was to-day to be tried 
for a crime, and my crime was so great that I was to be idaced in jail, 
.and I was put in jail, I might just as well be placed in hell; and my 
reason for so saying is this: I have seen men taken out—well, I saw a 
young man taken out of jail and shot and cut to pieces down there two 
weeks before I left. You could not hardly find a whole bone in his body. 
He was in jail for trial when he was taken out by this mob. If I was to 
be put in jail for trial I would ask the judge to take me to jail in New 
Orleans. I would be willing to sit before the judge, but not to go to 
jail. They just went there and demanded the keys of the jailer, and took 
the man out and killed him and cut him to pieces. 

Q. Hid Judge Hughes olfer to protect you ?—A. Y^es, sir; he spoke 
on my side, and called a public meeting to that effect, about the peoi)le 
running the laborers oft from their lands. It seems that when I run 
from the upiier part of the i)arish to come down to the lower part, it 
.spread all over our parish. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AVhat spread in j our parish !—A. This bulldozing of people. You 
dare not tell a white man that his eyes are black without l)eing whipped 
for it there. They whipped a woman there one night on Sam McCaulay’s 
plantation. Five or six men went out there and whii)ped her pretty 
near to death, because she had said something about their doings. 

Q. Since the election ^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did the women do about it?—A. Well, they said if they 
were whipped they would not stand such a thing if they were men. 

Q. Where does Judge Hughes live ?—A. He lives on False Biver, 
about seventeen miles from the Court-House. 

Q. Is the country very thickly settled where he lives?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. How near is the next plantation or farm to you?—A. No distancej 
one fence just divides the two plantations. 

Q. How near is the next one ?—A. It is the same thing. 

Q. How many hands are there on the place that you worked ?—A. 
Seven, I think. ‘ * 

, Q. Was it the Morgans that you belonged to once?—A. Y^es, sir; I 
nsetl to belong to the Morgans. 

Q. Had you, up to that time, got along peaceably with the white peo¬ 
ple in your parish ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You had had no personal troubles with them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. No misunderstanding ?—A. No, sir; politics. 

Q. Where was the district court, that you spoke of, held ?—A. In 
Pointe Cou])ee, at the court-house. 

Q. Who did you say you understood was elected to the legislature ?— 
A. Mr. Gashandaque. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLAIBORNE GAMMON. 


419 


Q. Was he a EepiiblicanA. No, sir; a Democrat. 

Q. Is that a Eepiiblican parish *?—A. They have always had from fif¬ 
teen to sixteen hundred majority in that parish. 

Q. Do you know whether this man you say is elected is here ?—A. I 
think he must be here; I can’t tell. 


CLAIBOENE CAMMON. 

New Orleans, La., January 11, 1879. 

Claiborne Gammon (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the parish of Pointe 
Coupee. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. Twelve years last year. 

Q. What are you doing up there ?—A. Farming. 

Q. How long have you been away from there ?—A. Well, about three 
or four weeks. 

Q. At what point in the parish did you live?—A. Above Fisher’s 
Landing. 

Q. What is it you are doing up there?—A. Cropping and farming 
corn, potatoes, and cotton. 

Q. For yourself?—A. Yes, sir; I rent a piece up there. 

Q. How much ?—A. Fifty acres, me and two more men together—I, 
and John Ellsworth, and- 

Q. Were you there during the last summer?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in the political campaign ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You are not a iiolitician?—A. No, sir; I could not be anyhow. 
They would hot let me. 

Q. What interference was there that you know of your own knowledge ? 
—A. The first time the bulldozers bad a meeting there—every Saturday— 
at New Texas Landing, and would not allow any colored men to meet 
with them; and went on that way for about two months. Finally, one 
Saturday evening, I was coming from Fisher’s Landing, and Mr. Morgan 
overtook me; he lives right above my house. He said, ‘Wou were not 
at the meeting to-day.” I said, No, sir; they didn’t let us.” He said. 

Well, we are getting ourselves armed and organized all right, and you 
can come to the meeting; you must all join with us.” He said, “There 
is no more Eepublicanism here.” Well, none of us ever went. He said, 
“We are going to break Mr. Williams up from having colored meetings.” 
Once or twice a week they would go around riding on their horses, and 
if they caught a man out after 10 o’clock, he would have to give an ac¬ 
count of himself or get whijiped. Any way we had a meeting the last 
of June, or the last of May. It was at Mr. Slaughter’s place, on Satur¬ 
day night.^ 

Q. Were you tliere?—A. Yes, sir. On Tuesday morning, about 9 
o’clock, or between 9 and 10, I saw about twenty or thirty, may be forty, 
white men coming up from New Texas. Every one had a rifle—they 
had Winchester rifles or shot-guns — all going up the road. Mr. 
Lecour lives above my house, and they were going up there. They 
staid there till about 1 or 2 or 3 o’clock, and the man li\dng near me 
got a Winchester rifle and went out. It was about 2 o’clock, and they 
came back, and I saw about one hundred and fifty white men coming 





420 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup6e 


down the levee. I was plowing right by the road. After a while I saw 
five colored men having their hands bound close by their sides. I did 
not notice at the time that they were tied, but I looked again and I saw 
they Avere tied and had a rope aronnd their neck. Mr. Lecoiir pulled 
down the bars and came up and said, Clay, I want to hire yonr horse 
to-morrow to carry my wife doAA n to town.” I said he could not have it. 
They and the five colored men stopped right before me, and Captain 
Lejeune was right before me; and when they got within fifty yards of 
me, I heard them say ‘^Charge!” and they charged, and each man 
gathered np one of the fiA^e black men and pnt them on their horses, 
and they took them right over the leA^ee. I said to Mr. Leconr, ^AVhat 
are they going to do with those men ? ” and he said, I don’t know.” Then 
I heard the men cussing and swearing, and I said, Maybe they are get¬ 
ting whipped ! ” and he said, Ko.” I asked him what they had done. He 
said, don’t knoAV, bnti heard that these men shot at William Archer 
on Sunday night.” Said I, Did all these men shoot at Archer and not 
hit him^” He said, “Yes.” He said they neA^er made any aftidavits 
before him, and he had nothing to do with it. He jumped right on his 
horse and went right through the field. My wife was right close to the 
fence, and I sat right down by the fence, and she said, “ What are they 
going to do with those men?” I said, “They are whipping them, I 
reckon.” She said, “ No, they ain’t, for they liaA^e not hollered yet.” 
We sat there, and I saw some white men come down, and then the 
others all come over the levee, and started back. I heard Ben Harold- 
son say to another man, “ Well, that is fiA^e sure.” In about half an hour 
I went up on the leA^ee, and I saw those fiA^e men hanging just that way, 
Avith their arms tied to their sides. The men hung there till the next 
day. At 8 o’clock Mr. Lejuue came down there with the fathers of two 
of those boys, and these three other men and myself went OA^er there and 
took them down. We wanted to liaA^ethem buried in the church-yard, 
but Lejune said, “No, sir; we will bury them right here, now; there’s 
excitement enough now; if you take them away, there Avill be a heap more 
excitement.” We dug a hole large enough tor them, and put them in. 
That was about the last of June or the first of May. AVe neA^er heard a 
AAwd said about it. The next day it was like as if it had never been 
done; the colored people dare not si)eak of it. 

Q. Why?—A. AVe were afraid they AYould do the same thing to us. 
And then Albert Alorgan came to me and said, “ I want you all to go to 
the election.” I was afraid then, and I told him I would not vote; that 
if I did, I wanted to Amte the Republican ticket. He said, “No, sir; 
no Republican ticket shall be voted at this poll.” He said, “ If the negro 
goes doAvn and votes the Republican ticket, we shall Republican his 
hide for him.” On the morning of the election. Air. Alorgan asked me if 
I was going to the election. I said, “ ^r. Alorgan, I don’t want to go 
up there unless I can vote as I Avant.” He said, “ Every negro Avho 
A^ants to stay in this neighborhood shall not do so unless he Amtes our 
-ticket.” He said, “ Olay, we rule this neighborhood.” AVell, I didn’t 
go there. 

Q. Why did you not go ?—A. Because he told me if I AAxnt I could 
not Amte anything else but the Democratic ticket. 

Q. AVhy didn’t you Amte the Democratic ticket ?—A. Because I did 
not consider I was doing light to do it. I was not a Democrat. Next 
morning he came and said, “ Olay, did you go to the election yester¬ 
day ?” “ No, sir,” I said. He said, “ AA"hy didn’t vou?” I said, ‘"h was 
sick.” I lied. He said, “’Lije, did you go?” and ’Lije said, “No; I had 
too much Avork.” Alorgan said, “ Hell! Every one of you niggers that 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLAIBORNE GAMMON. 


421 


didn’t go to that poll, you prepare yourselves, for we will fix you all 
right.” I was in debt then about $170, and had some horses. I owed 
it to Mr. Slaughter. I had owed him for three years, and was paying 
him it gradually. He sent a justice of the peace there to seize my 
horses. After he seized my horses, he gave them back and said, You 
keep these horses and work them, but you understand thev are my 
horses ” j and the minute he found out I did vote, he came there and 
took every horse I got off the place. He took them off' one day, and 
the next day 1 left, because I knew that after they had my horses they 
would take me next. I was paying him some every year. 

Q. What became of the rest of j^our crop —A. O. V. Lecour got that. 

Q. Why, did you rent from him —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you not get anything ?—A. i7o, sir. 

Q. Hid you not get your cotton crop this year ?—A. No, sir j I did not 
get anything. I just got the seed. I didn’t make any settlement with 
anybody. 

Q. You have a family up there ?—A. Yes, sir j they live here now. 
They came down last week. 

Q. You moved away then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When are you going back ^—A. I do not expect to go back there 
any more. 

Q. You don’t think that is a good place, to live in!—A. I don’t think 
so; I know it. 

Q. Who was the man that said these colored men had shot at William 
Archer ? Hid he say they hit him !—A. No, sir; only shot at him. The 
justice of the peace told me that himself. I knew a couple of men there 
that before that went into a house at 11 o’clock at night where Thomas 
Mitchell lived, and took him over the levee, and tied him up, and gave 
him 300 lashes, and, after his lashes, shipped him on a boat and left his 
family behind. 

Q. What was he doing !—A. He was working up there. 

Q. What had he done !—A. Well, he and a white man had a fuss one 
day, and this white man, while they were quarreling, struck Thomas, 
and a man asked him about it, and he said, “ That God damned son of 
a bitch struck me.” Two or three said they were going to murdqr him. 
They never said anything till about 11 o’clock, and then they came out 
and fixed him. 

Q. Where is Thomas !—A. I don’t know, sir, where he is. 

Q. He has not come back !—A. No, sir; he had not when I came 
away. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Hid you see them take Thomas Mitchell over there and whip him 
300 lashes !—A. No, sir; I lieard it. 

Q. How did you learn it!—A. These white men told me themselves. 

Q. How many of them told you !—A. Albert Morgan told me himself, 
and Mr. Beard, and Mr. Giblo, and Charley Archer told me about it. 
When they did any meanness they told me what they had done. They 
.said: We have been ruled long enough by you scalawags, and we are 
going to rule this country now ourselves.” 

Q. Have you been a witness about this matter in the United States 
court here !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you been summoned as a witness !—A. Yes, sir; right here 
to-day. 

Q. I don’t mean here, but before the United States court!—A. Yes, 
.sir. ^ 


422 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup6e 


Q. I did not understand you what time this was they took Thomas 
Mitchell over there and whipped him.—A. That was away last April, I 
believe. 

Q. Last April ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This other matter about the hanging of the five colored men ?— 
A. That was the latter part of May or June. 


ANDREW PAINE. 

New Orleans, La., January 11, 1870. 

Andrew Paine (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In New Orleans. 

Q. How long have you lived here—A. Since July. 

Q. Where did you reside prior to that time ?—A. In the parish of 
Pointe Coupee. 

Q. How long have you resided in that parish ?—A. I was brought 
there from Virginia in 1856. 

Q. And resided there, how long!—A. Until 1802; then I joined the 
United States Army, was mustered out, and went back there again. 

Q. You can state whether or not you saw any armed bodies of white 
men riding through the parish before you left last summer!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Tell us when you saw them; how many there were; and, if you 
can, give the names of any of them.—A. About the beginning of last 
year, or perhaps a little later, jiarties went around there trying to get 
up a band of regulators. 

Q. Who went around doing that!—A. The white men, and tliey in¬ 
vited the colored men to join them, too. They said it was for the good 
of all; but I did not believe in colored people joining them. Mr. George 
Brown it was that went around to get it up; Mr. James A. Morgan, 
William B. Archer, William Pekeag, and William Hess were the others 
who helped him. 

Q. Did those parties invite you to join the regulators!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they say to you !—A. They told me it was to stop cot¬ 
ton stealing, and stop all disorder in the parish, and regulate the i)arish ^ 
and it was for the welfare of every one. 

Q. What reply did you make to that!—A. I told them I thought we 
had been i>raying for the law for the last ten years, and we had the law 
now, and I thought all such disorder should go into the hands of the 
law, and the law should take its course. 

Q. Why did you leave the parish!—A. I have been cropping and 
planting there since the war, and I always rent my land from Mr. Cot¬ 
ton, at Fisher’s Landing, and supplied my own teams and utensils. 
About last July I thought everything was in good order, but the hogs 
ran in on me and spoiled most of it—everybody there turning their 
hogs loose. I didn’t know what to do. I went to Mr. Cotton about it. 
He said, “ Notify the people who own the animals, and then after that 
shoot every hog in your fields.” After about ten days I shot two hogs 
that were destroying my produce. I shot them dead and left them there. 
They belonged to Mr. Foster, who was one of this regulating crowd. 
He sent down one of his hands and said the sow belonged to liim. He 



Parish. 1 


TESTIMONY OF ANDREW PAINE. 


423 


came doAvn and wanted to know if I, a damned nigger,” had taken it 
npon myself to shoot his hogs. I said, ^^Yes, 1 shot two”: and he said, 
^You took it on yourself.” I said, No, it was on the advice of Mr. 
Cotton.” He said, By God, we intend to put you in your place and 
put you through. You damned niggers have been here long enough, 
and if you look at a hog we intend to put you through.” Well, I didn’t 
open my mouth after that, I saw they had so much power ; and I went 
to Mr. Cotton and told him the consequences of his advice to shoot tlie 
hogs. He said the law was to shoot them. I said, Mr. Cotton, it is 
no use for you to tell me about the law ; you know the law does not pro¬ 
tect me. Now, you tell me to report these men. You know if I do I 
can’t live here.” He said, “ Report these men if they attempt any vio¬ 
lence.” I said, “ If I was blind I could not see that; but I am not blind ^ 
I do see that that is not the right thing.” I said, You don’t know 
what to do”; and he admitted he did not know what to do. This man 
whose hogs I shot passed by my house everyday with his gun, and went 
to the grocery, and I didn’t know the meaning of it. My friends ad¬ 
vised me to leave there, and to leave the countrj^, for he had said he was 
going to shoot me the first time he met me. I thought it was best for 
me to get out. I had no law to protect me, and being .threatened, T had 
to come away. 

Q. AYhat occurred as you were leaving ?—A. I did not want anybody to 
know I was going away, and I rode my mule away. The Thursday before 
that there was a Democratic caucus to be held at a store, and everybody 
crossing the river wns to come over free that day. I started that same 
day and went over free. On my way I met Mr. Anderson, a cock-eyed 
man. Everybody knows him; and I met him and another man, and he 
said, ‘AVhere you fromP I said, From Fisher’s Landing.” He said, 
^^Did the bulldozers run you out?” I said, ^^No.” He said, ^AYliere 
are you going ?” I said, To False River, to Mr. Pritcher’s.” He asked 
me if I had a pass or paper, and I said, ‘^No, sir.” He* said, ^‘Tlien, 
what are you doing out from yovir place without a pass ?” I said, I 
generally rent my own land.” He said, “ What you got in your carpet¬ 
bag ?” I told him nothing but a few clothes ; and he said, I mean to 
see 5 I can’t allow you fellows to prowl about here without any papers on 
the eve of a campaign. We intend that the niggers shall go with us, or 
you shall not go at all j and any we catch going around here without 
papers, we will treat them to a rope.” He said, “ That is my business 
now. I am a bulldozer, and I want you to know it.” He says, “ Do 
know me?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “What is my name?” I said, 
“ Mr. Anderson.” He said, “ That is not my name. I live 50 miles from 
here in East Feliciana. You must not say you know me.” 

Q. Y^ou did know him ?—A. O, yes, sir; everybody knows him there, 
too. ]Vrr. Jones, there, and all of us know him. 

Q. He is a leading Democrat?—A. Of course he is; he is a leading 
bulldozer. He told me that the white people intended to rule this par¬ 
ish, and he mentioned old Jones, and said that even old Jones was going. 
He said, “ He will never dare to put his foot on this ground again.” 

Q. Who is Jones ?—A. He is from the parish of Pointe Coupee. Olem- 
inora, who was a candidate for secretary of state, he said would never 
appear again. 

Q. Did he examine your carpet-bag to see what you had?—A. Y"evS, 
sir. 

Q. Wliat did he do ?—A. He opened my papers and found nothing 
but a pension-certificate and my discharge-paper. Then he says, “I 


424 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup6e 


hope I liave not insulted yoiit” I said, “No, sir.” He says, “I treated 
you like a gentleman, didn’t I ? ” I said, “ O, yes.” I acknowledged it. 

Q. You had some little doubt about it, though ?—A. But I didn’t tell 
him so. 

Q. What property, if any, did you leave in Pointe Coupee ?—A. I left 
a wagon, one horse, and my whole crop—25 acres of cotton and 10 acres 
of corn—one cow and a calf, plows, harvesters, &c. 

Q. Did you leave anybody there to take care of it ?—A. Well, I left 
my son, but he wms too small to take care of it, and they took every¬ 
thing, crop and all. They took the cow and calf from him. My wife 
had some cattle, and two days before I left tried to sell them, but 
could not. It was finally shipi)ed here, and was pretty nearly famished 
wdien it got here. 

Q. You stated that one of these men who met you asked you if you had 
a pass.—A. Yes, sir; the colored men are required to have a pass in that 
l^arisb. He said he intended for them to have it, and that they should 
not prowl around without a pass. I don’t know what they did in this 
last campaign, I was so sick. 

Q. Did you see any of those colored men who were hung or shot in 
the parish'?—A..I saw the five who were hung on the 4th of June. I 
saw' them on the 5th of June, hanging. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Are you a native of Pointe Coupee Parish?—A. No, sir. 

Q. On the 10th or 11th July you had been invited by several of these 
gentlemen to join this “ society,” as they called it there'?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. What w as that f—A. They told me the purpose of the band, and 
said it wms to stop hog-stealing and cotton-stealing and cattle-stealing, 
4&C., and regulate the parish generally, and that it w^as good for us all. 

Q. Y^ou did not join?—A. No, sir; I refused to join. I said, “You 
know^ you have all been i^raying for the law to have powder for the last 
ten years. You said the Eadicals had it, and now^ you have got the law, 
and you ought to use it.” Tliey alw ays allow^ed me to speak to them 
freely. 

Q. Do you know whether any colored person joined that society?—A. 
No, sir ; I do not. 

Q. Did you ever hear that they joined it?—A. No, sir. I did hear 
rumors once that such and such a one had joined it; but I never saw 
them riding in the crowed with them, like I saw^ the white men, at night. 
One day they passed in such gangs from 9 to 10 o’clock that I saw gangs 
of two, three, four, and five riding along all the time. 

Q. The hogs got in your field so that you could not keep them out?—- 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Cotton w'as a friend of yours ?—A. Y'^es, sir; he w as a friend of 
mine. 

Q. In that matter, so far as he could be?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He told you the law was with you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It w as Foster who claimed that you killed one of his hogs.—A. Y'es, 
sir. He is one of the bulldozers, and he is a neighbor of Mr. Cotton. 

Q. Did he say he was a bulldozer and a regulator?—A. I don’t know 
w^hat he called himself, but he ahvaj s carried his Winchester rifle when 
they turned out. 

Q. Were you certain you recognized Mr. Anderson ?—A. O, yes; to 
be SHo’. Everybody know s IMr. Anderson. 

Q. You know^ him by his eye ?—A. Y^es, sir; he is a peculiar and con¬ 
spicuous man. 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF GATIEN DE CUIR. 425 

Q. He was not the only cockeyed man up in that parish A. No, sir j 

but he was Mr. Anderson. 

Q. He was a conspicuous man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With what did you get away from ui) there?—A. With a mule. 

Q. You have not been back there since?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hid you come directly here?— A. I came to Saint James and took 
the cars. I then left my mule and came on the cars here. On Saturday 
evening I arrived here. 

Q. Have you been a witness before the United States grand jury?— 
A. No, sir 5 I have never been a witness in anything in any court since 
I have been a man. 

Q. You have not been a politician up there in the parish ?—A. No, 
sir. I was allowed to s])eak freely to everybody. I was playing straight- 
hang-down-your-head-level” [laughter], and got along well j but when 
they began to threaten I became skert, and thought I was not getting 
along well then. 


GATIEN DE CUIK. 

New Orleans, La., January 14, 1879. 

Gatien He Cuir sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Pointe Coupee Parish. 

Q. Do you hold any public position ?—A. I am the representative from 
my parish in the lower house. State of Louisiana. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. I was born there, and so 
was my father, my grandfather, and my great grandfather. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last political campaign in your parish ? 
If so, describe to the committee the condition of affairs during the elec¬ 
tion.—A. During the last campaign I was sheriff. Of course I took an 
active part in the election j as returning-officer, I made returns to the 
secretary of state. Before the election I canvassed the parish myself 
for my party. 

Q. What was the result of the election ?—A. We elected the Repub¬ 
lican ticket, except the sheriff’ and five members of the other party to 
be police jurors. 

Q. How did that make the political complexion of the police jury?— 
A. The five members of the police jury who held over were Republicans, 
and we elected three Republicans and two who ran independent; but I 
suppose they were Democrats; in fact, I know they were Democrats, 
but they were elected as independent on the Republican ticket. They 
ran on both tickets. Excuse me if I can’t speak so that you can under¬ 
stand me. I am a creole and cannot express myself in English good; 
it is not my language. 

Q. What is your language?—A. French. 

Q. Was there any disturbance in your parish about the time of the 
election ? If so, state what it was.—A. There was none that I know of. 
We had some disturbance some six months before the election, and 
again a little while before the election we had some. We had a quar¬ 
antine in a part of the parish—in the upper part—and I could not get 
there to canvass that part of the parish on that account. I heard that 
there was some people killed up there. 

Q. Were those who were killed Democrats or Republicans ?—A. Some 



426 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup6e 


Democrats were killed and some Eepnblicans. I understood that some 
people were whipped. 

Q. Colored people ?—A. Yes, sir; and a case came before the court. 
The parties who whipped them were arrested, but the grand jury did 
not find any bill against them, on account of the witnesses being ab¬ 
sent, I suppose. 

Q. Where were 5 ou told they were whipped ?—A. In their houses } in 
the places where they lived. 

Q. Hoav many did you hear were whipped ?—A. Three or four. 

Q. By whom were they whipped?—A. I arrested thirteen men ac 
cused of the offense. I was sheriff before the election, and had been 
for two years. 

Q. Were these men you arrested white men ?—A. Yes, sir 5 all white 
men. 

Q. Do you know the men who were whipped f —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. One of them was Levi Allen; I can’t call 
the names of the others. 

Q. For what reason were they whipped ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

. Q. Did you understand ?—A. I had my i 3 ersonal opinion about it. 

Q. Did you understand, from general report, that they were whipped 
for any particular reason ?—A. Different reasons were given ; some peo¬ 
ple said that they were bad people in the community. Some people 
said they were creating disturbance in politics. One of these cases 
came before court, and that day I was absent. The court was held by 
some of my deputies, and I never took notice of the testimony of the 
witnesses in the case. 

Q. You say the grand jury did not have the witnesses; do you know 
what became of them?—A. I see some of them here in town. 

Q. Whom have you seen in town?—A. Eandall McGowan is one of 
them. 

Q. Who else did you see?—A. I saw nobody but him. 

Q. Any other cases of whipping or violence that have come under 
your observation?—A. No, sir; I will explain that I live 30 miles from 
where these things happened. 

Q. Where do j^ou reside?—A. At False Elver, in the lower part of the 
parish. 

Q. Where do they reside?—A. In the upper part of the parish. 

Q. What is the vote of that parish?—A. About 2,200 votes, or nearly 
that; I don’t recollect exactly. 

Q. What is it usually?—A. It has been at the last election, I think, 
3,700 or 3,500. I mean when I was elected sheriff’ in 1870. 

Q. What proportion of that vote is colored?—A. There are about 
seven or eight hundred whites; all the rest are colored. The vote this 
year is about 2 , 200 . 

Q. How is that vote as between Eepublicans and Democrats ?--A. I 
was elected with 62 votes majority. 

Q. On which ticket did you run?—A. I ran on the Eepublican ticket. 
Some of the candidates in my district were elected on larger majori¬ 
ties. Senator Norwood, who was elected, ran ahead of his ticket, and 
got 850 majority. He was a Conservative Democrat. He ran as inde¬ 
pendent. The Democratic sheriff was elected by 175 majority, but he 
ran against Conservative Democrat; we had a fusion ticket. 

Q. Were there any white people on it?—A. They were all white, ex¬ 
cept myself. 

Q. You said you heard that some men had been killed in the upper 


Parish., TESTIMONY OF GATIEN DE CUIR. 427 

end of your parish ?—A. I heard that five men were hung, and I am 
satisfied that they were hnng. 

Q. How far did this happen from yon ?—A. I live twelve miles from 
the court-house, and they were himg about thirty miles from my home. 
I heard of two white men killed, besides these five that were hung. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. I do not know 3 they were strangers 5 I think 
they were Germans or Irish. 

Q. By whom Tvere they killed % —A. One of them was reported to have 
been killed by a colored man who was acting as constable in the third 
ward. He was brought to the court, and the grand jury found a bill of 
murder against the constable that killed him. The people in that part 
of the parish say that the constable had a right to kill him because he 
was a prisoner and tried to run away 3 but they indicted the constable, 
and since that he has made his escape. 

Q. Was the constable a colored man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who killed the other white man ?—A. I do not know. There were 
two men who were partners. One report is that the man that was killed 
was killed by his partner. Both were white men—the man that was 
killed and his partner. 

Q. The case where the white man killed the white man has not been 
before the grand jury ?—A. Hot to my knowledge. 

Q. These that you have mentioned are the only cases of \uolence that 
you know of !—A. I have heard of some others. Then there was a case 
in my parish—a man was taken from the jail at night and killed. 

Q. Was he a colored man or white!—A. He was colored. 

Q. Was he taken out and killed by colored men or white men !—A. 
I do not know; they were masked. I was not there 3 it was late in the 
night, about eleven o’clock 3 the jailer could not tell whether they were 
white or colored. 

Q. State to the committee more fully how that occurred.—A. The men 
who came were armed with Winchester rifles and took a man from the 
jail and took him back into the yard and shot him. He had killed a 
white man a few days before 3 at least, that was the charge against him. 

Q. That didn’t grow out of any particular excitement, then!—A. 
Ho, sir. 

Q. Hid you hear of colored people being whipped or driven away ?— 
A. Yes, sir. I heard that there was a good deal of whipping in the 
upper end of the parish, and I was told that a great many of the col¬ 
ored people had left. 

Q. How many men had left!—A. A great many. I thought, some¬ 
times, that all of them would leave. I sometimes saw twenty all at 
once come to the court-house and tell me that they were about to leave. 

Q. What complaint did they make!—A. They complained of being 
whipped and beaten. 

Q. Have you any idea how many left uj) there!—A. I say wliat some 
white planters. Democrats, told me, that the colored men were leaving 
the country. They complained of it greatly. 

Q. Did they give any reason !—A. They said it was on account of ill 
treatment on the part of the planters up there. 

Q. Have you any idea what that ill treatment consisted in !—A. Some¬ 
times they were whipped, sometimes beaten 3 sometimes without reason, 
sometimes with reason, if there is any reason for whipping fellow-crea¬ 
tures. 

Q. About what time were they leaving the most!—A. Just about 
election time 3 a little before and after. 


428 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[Point© Coup6© 


Q. Is that in the neighborhood where Eaiidall McGowan lives ?—A. 
Yes, sir; his exact neighborhood. 

Q. What became of these people that would come to the court-house, 
sometimes twenty at a time'?—A. I do not know. I know that some of 
them staid there. Some of them are working in the neighborhood 
now, in the lower part of the parish, and around there. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Yon spoke of five men having been killed on one occasion ; when 
ivas that ?—A. It was in the summer; it might have been in June or 
July, I do not recollect it exactly. I never had any official transaction 
with that thing j they were hung in the daytime. 

Q. Are these the same five persons spoken of by Mr. McGowan and 
the witness who preceded him ?—A. I suppose so. 

Q. Had not young Mr. Archer been hred on a few days before that 
hanging ?—A. Yes, sir; he told me he was, himself. 

Q. Were not these men hanged because they were supposed to be the 
assassins that attempted to kill Mr. Archer ?—A. That is what they say. 

Q. And they were hung for that reason “?—A. Yes, sir; so I under¬ 
stood. Some other people supposed other things, but I had nothing to 
suppose about it. They gave a reason that a few nights previous they 
had shot Dr. Archer, the son of old Dr. Archer, who ran against me for 
the house of representatives. 

Q. You say these matters were brought before the grand jury?—A. 
Yo, sir; the hanging of these men was never brought before the grand 
jury. Governor Nicholls, I saw, had given instructions to the district 
attorney to investigate the matter, but it never came before the court. 

Q. Was the whii)i)ing of these men ever brought before the grand 
jury?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But indictments were never found, because the witnesses were not 
present?—A. Yes, sir; I supposed that was the reason. I understood it 
to be, but I have no right to know, for the grand jury is a secret organ¬ 
ization. 

Q. Mr. McGowan is the person at whose instance this matter was laid 
before the grand jury ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You understood tliat the whole affair fell to the ground because 
there were no witnesses, did you not ?—A. That is my understanding. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The witnesses had run off, had they ?—A. Some of them ; some of 
them are in the parish yet. 

Q. You say it was claimed that these men had shot at Dr. Archer 1— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you say that other people supposed the contrary ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was it that other people supposed ?—A. Well, some said it 
was from politics. These five men who were hung had never been in 
politics; one of them was only about eighteen years old. Republicans 
of course will say they were killed for politics. Democrats will say they 
were killed for other reasons. 

Q. They were killed by Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it known what men were engaged in the hanging of those five 
men ?—A. I suppose it was known, but it never was investigated. I do 
not know that any of those who were engaged in it will deny it. It was 
all done regularly. They appointed a jury of twelve men ; gave a law¬ 
yer to the accused, and a lawyer for the prosecution. The case was 
pleaded as if in court, and all was regularly done. That is, they had a 
lawyer on each side and a jury of twelve men who found the man guilty. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF GATIER DE CUIR. 


42 ^ 


Q. Where were they tried, in the woods!—A. l!^'o, sir; on the public 
road beside of the levee. They were hung in a little woods. There 
w^as some trees near there. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were the jury colored men or white men?—A. White men. 

Q. All white men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was the lawyer a white man or a colored man?—A. A white man. 

Q. Was there any colored man connected with the atfair, except the 
prisoners?—A. sir. 

Q. Who selected this lawyer to defend them?—A. I never knew; I 
supposed the colored men did themselves. 

I Q. Do yon know whether they did or not?—A. I do not; I only know 
that a lawyer was assigned them and that the jury was regularly im¬ 
paneled. I heard this from parties who were there at the time. 

Q. Is that the way in which juries are generally impaneled ?—A. No, 
sir. 

I Q. Is this the only instance where this sort of thing has occurred?— 

I A. No, sir; it has happened before the war, and in the North States. 

Q. Yon do not claim that it was done according to law?—A. No, sir; 
but sometimes we have certain laws which were called lynch law, where 
certain circumstances give a right for men to take another man and kill 
him. 

Q. That is the way, you understand, that this was done—by lynch 
law?—A. Yes, sir; by lynch law. 

Q. Was the trial had at the place where the men were hung?—A. 
Yes, sir; on the spot. 

Q. Did they have a judge, according to your information?—A. No, 
sir; they had no judge. The jury reported, and the men were hung. 
Some of the jurymen left the spot before they was hung, because they 
were opposed to it. They thought these men should have been sent to 
the jury to be regularly tried. 

Q. The jury were not unanimous, then ?—A. No, sir. I suppose they 
agreed after that. There were about forty or fifty of these men. Out 
of that number a jury was formed, but some of those that Avere there 
left the place before the men were hung. 

Q. Some of them had the idea that the men ought to be sent to be 
tried before a regular court ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do they ever hang white men in your parish in that way ?—A. 
They have killed some, but have hung none that I know of. 

Q. You don’t have these regular trials in the case of white men?—A. 
I never kneAV of any, though one man was sentenced to be hung by the 
regular court. 

Q. I Avas speaking of regular trials?—A. No, sir; I neA^er kneAV of 
any. 

Q. This manner of proceeding, then, does not apply to white men ?— 
A. I don’t knoAV. I am not certain as to that, but they neA^er ha ax done 
it that I knoAV of. They may do it yet. 

Mr. Kirkwood. There is no knowing Avhat they may do; that is so. 








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NEW ORLEANS PARISH. 


CLEMENT L. WALKEE. 

New Orleans, January 15, 1879. 

Clement L. Walker sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Yon reside in New Orleans?—Answer. Yes, sir; I have 
been residing in New Orleans for the last ten or eleven years consecu¬ 
tively. 

Q. You are a native of this State !—A. Yes, sir; a native of the par¬ 
ish of Tensas. 

Q. What is your occupation?—A. Attorney-at-law. I have been 
practicing for the last ten years. 

Q. Were you engaged in any way, either in a civil or military sense, 
in the late civil war ?—A. Yes, sir; I was in the war for three years, a 
]neniber of the Twenty-third Arkansas, and afterwards of the Confeder¬ 
ate engineer trooj^s. 

I Q. With what political party have you acted lieretofore ?—A. I hav(‘ 
always voted with the Democratic Conservative party, and have always 
taken an active part with them. In the last compaign I was one of tin* 
regidar opponents of the Eadical Democratic ticket. 

Q. I understand that during the last campaign a number of citizens 
j here, among them Mr. Walker, organized a citizens’ association ?—A. I 
I was a member of the executive committee of twelve gentlemen who or 
I ganized and directed the citizens’ Conservative association, in opposition 
to the regular Democratic party. 

Q. What was the origin of the association ?—A. The reasons which 
induced myself and the other gentlemen in composing that movement 
were on account of the unsatisfactory condition of local politics ])revailing 
in New Orleans and the manner in which the interests of the people had 
been conducted by t he Democratic party, which we regarded as being 
unsatisfactory and altogether unlikely to lead to a result which would 
be satisfactory to the peoi)le or to their interests. We considered that 
the Democratic party had fallen into the hands of men who were using 
it and dmecting it to their own ends fora few profitable local offices, and 
so arranging the election machinery as to deprive the i)eoi)leof a fair ex¬ 
pression of the popular will. It Avas a reform movement, and it was con¬ 
sidered necessary at the time to organize the association. The admin¬ 
istration of the city for some years liad been in the hands of the Demo¬ 
cratic party themseh^es for the last three campaigns. 

Q. It was against a continuance of that that your movements wen* 
directed ?—A. Not so much that as against the moA^ements Avhich were 
made by the political men in that party, in order to place the control of 
civil affairs and the administration of the local election in the liands of 
a feAv men who were not really identified AAuth the interests of the city ; 
in other words, it was in o^iposition to a ring. 

28 T 




434 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[jSTew Orleans 


Q. Was your organization a success ?—A. That can be best ascer¬ 
tained from an examination of tbe books on the 5tli of November. What 
the true vote was, no one will ever tell. There were sixty candidates in 
the held and twelve or fourteen general candidates, who were voted for 
all over the city. There were three principal tickets in the field, the 
Democratic Conservative, the Citizens^ Conservative, and the ISTational 
ticket. The Democratic Conservative ticket was returned by an aver¬ 
age of about 13,500 to 14,000 votes, and the candidates of the Citizens’ 
Conservative Association and National party, respectively, would give 
an average of about from 0,500 to 8,000 votes. I do not suppose these 
returns are indicative of the true results of the election. 

Q. Will you tell us why you say that; what reason was there that the 
declared results were not the true results?—A. In the first place, the 
election is to some extent based upon the registration; and trom the 
information I have been able to acquire in every way the registry of 
the parish of Orleans is some four or five thousand at A^ariance with the 
result. 

Q. That is, it is larger than the trueAmte?—A. Yes, sir; possibly 
more than that; that is my information. I am satisfied that there Avas 
a great many fraudulent registrations and a large number of fraudulent 
certificates issued, but of course the exact number it is impossible to 
tell. 

Q. Aside from that is there any other matter that Avould affect the 
result?—A. Well, the election was conducted in a grossly irregular 
manner. In the first i)lace, the appointment of commissioners Avas en¬ 
tirely in the interests of the regular parry. The interests of the other 
party were to a great extent ignored, and Avliere they were acrmi’ded 
representation, it Avas merely a pretense of representation to affect to 
comply Avitli the law. The registrar of voters of the parish of Orleans 
refused to accede to any request for representation by either of the 
other parties. At the same time he subsequently made or pretended to 
make appointments, yet they were appointments in AA^hich the other 
party had no voice in the selection. 

Q. And would liaA^e had no Amice if asked? —A. No, sir; they were 
untamiliar Avith the duties, and Avere chosen from that class of men Avho 
on acicouiit of their peculiar deAmtion to one calling in life that made 
them unfamiliar Avith the wny of conducting an election, and on account 
of their being in an advanced stage of life and haAing physical ])eculiar- 
ities they Avere i)revented from doing justice to tlie duties they assumed. 

Q. Are you able to say at how many precincts any Republicans Avere 
accorded rei)resentation on the board of commissioners ?—A. I could not 
say. I might go OAmr the lists and they Avill furnish some data. 

Q. Well, in a majority of cases how Avas it ?—A. Where they liad a 
representation, and AAdiere there Avas a representation, it was so inefficient 
that it didn’t amount to much. 

Q. Do you knoAv that the Citizens’ Association applied to the regis¬ 
trar personally?—A. Yes, sir; W. A. Bailey, Charles Gf. Johnson, and 
myself AAmre a committee of three AAdio applied to him for representation, 
and he stated the only party he recognized as being a party in his Anew 
was the Democratic party; that the Republican party had no ticket in 
the field as a party, and he didn’t consider it entitled" to any considera¬ 
tion at all, and that he didn’t recognized the National party or Citizens’ 
Conservative party. He said that he would give represei'itation to the 
opponents of the reguhir Democratic ConservatiAm ticket, but that he 
Avould make his oaaui selections, and that he would decline to listen to 
any suggestions or names of our selection. 


ParisTi.l 


TESTIMONY OP CLEMENT L. WALKER. 


435 


Q. Was there anything* connected with the connt of tlie vote that, in 
yon judgment, rendered the declaration of tlie result nnreliahle ?—A. 
Yes, sir 5 I judge from the class of men that were selected for that work 
that, as a general thing, it was not a gnarantee that there would be an 
accurate or just determination. There was at least a majority of the 
election officers in the interest of the Democratic Conservative party, 
who were known to be selected as active workers in that x)arty. The 
election was entirely one-sided, and the law was openly defied in that 
most of the polls in the city would permit of no comi)liances with the law 
for a public count. In a great many instances the i)olling-places were 
almost entirely selected in rooms or booths that were very small, that 
would not permit of any large number of persons witnessing the connt 
at the close of the polls, the law providing that the connt shall be made 
in the presence of many citizens. The commissioners at most of the polls 
closed the doors and refused admittance. Second, the connt of tlie polls 
was in most instances made up in secret, and by a few men, who were 
•iletermined to elect the Democratic Conservative ticket at all hazards. 

Q. Was there anything there tending to show mismanagement at the 
l>olling-places. 1 understand some gentleman who was a candidate upon 
the Citizens’ Association ticket has contested ?—A. There are several 
contested suits now pending of candidates on the Citizens’ Conserva¬ 
tive ticket. 

Q. Will you state to the committee that you are satisfied that it was 
not done right ?—A. lam satisfied that the statements of votes at many 
polls was incorrect and made up purposely to give the candidates of 
the Democratic Conservative ticket a majority, and I have got informa¬ 
tion that in the making up of the returns and count of the ballots, they 
counted, in some instances, the votes given for the Citizens’ Conservative 
ticket for the Democratic Candidates, and the statement of votes made 
up accordingly contrary to the truth of the polling. I have reliable 
information, also, that in one instance or more the ballots which were 
cast there were changed and others substituted for them. 

Q. That was at one precinct ?—A. Y^es, sir; and I believe from credible 
information that it has been practiced at more than one polling-place. 

Q. Have yon been able thus far to arrive at any calculation in your 
own mind as to what a true count would have shown to be the result of 
the election ?—A. I think a true count might not altogether evidence 
the result at New Orleans, because I think, on account of the fraudulent 
registration, and on account of the franduleut certificates issued, certify¬ 
ing to fictitious persons, that even if the true ballot was arrived at, as 
actually cast, it would be ecpially impossible to go beyond that and say 
what number of legal votes were cast. 

Q. Did your Citizens’ Association comprise a portion of the business 
men of your city ?—A. l^es, sir; I believe its principal su])port Avas from 
the business portion of the commnnity, from the mercantile portion. 

Q. Merchants, manufacturers, &c.?—A. YYs, sir; and a great many 
laboring men. 

Q. What proportion of the merchants of your city do you supimse 
favor your organization ?—A. I think at least half, or probably more. 

Q. The contests of Avhich yon have spoken are yet undetermined ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the leaders of the Citizens’ Association!—A. The exec- 
utiA^e committee Avas composed of Lionel C. Levy, chairman; F. Dolhorde, 
C. F. Buck, Jules Aldige, W.Bu Lyman, Jacob Hassinger, Frank Boder, 
Henry Tremonlit, William C. Baymond, William A. Bell, J. K. Small, 
James Buckn-er. 


486 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[New Orleans 


By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Were you a candidate on that Citizens’ ticket?—^A. Ko, sir. The 
gentlemen composing this association^ wlien they went into tlie move¬ 
ment, agreed that they Avoiild not nominate any of its members for office, 
nor Avmnld they alloAV any member to accept any office outside. It Avas 
composed of twelve or thirteen members and the auxiliai^^ number of 
three members from each AAmrd. They AA^ere well-known men in New 
Orleans, and, I belicA^e, identified with the Democratic ConserAmtiA^e 
party, and, like myself, had been strong opponents of Eadicalism in this 
city. Many of them had labored to OA^erturn the Eadical government 
here. 

Q. Did this organization liaA^e any reference whateA^er to the election 
of members of Congress ?—A. No, sir; it Avas organized for local pur¬ 
poses only, and they placed upon their ticket the Democratic nominee for 
treasurer and Congress, because they didn’t propose to organize a xmliti- 
cal party opposed to the Democratic Conservath^e party. It was merely 
for the puri)ose of effecting a reform in local politics, to obtain an able 
and efficient city council, to get representation in the national assembly, 
and i)roper persons in otiier local offices. Some of the professional and 
laboring men and manutacturers participated in the business and move¬ 
ments of that organization, and some did not. Some belieA^ed that the 
affairs of the city as managed were in proper hands, I supiAOse. 

Q. There was a contest betAveen the Democratic ConservatiA^e party 
and the Citizens’ ConserA^ative Association; is not that the A\diole of it ?— 
A. Well, this movement liad no reference to the then existing city ad¬ 
ministration. It Avas accepted by a large city Amte. 

Q. It had reference, then, to the candidates ?—A. To the probable 
candidates of the Democracy, AAdio AAmuld be entirely unacceptable to 
the people and their interests. 

Q. To the pro/M/ffe candidates ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In other words, some of you Avanted to get control of the city and 
some others Avanted to retain the control of it; Avas not that the AAdiole 
of it ?—A. No, sir; I cannot say that is a correct statement of the situ¬ 
ation. Our past experience in primary elections showed us pretty clearly 
that the machinery of the party had passed entirely into the control of 
political men AAffiose sole puipose Avas to obtain lucratiAX offices, Avithout 
regard to the fitness of men for those positions. We considered that the 
Democratic Conservative party and its organization had been captured 
by a band of men whose administration would be xery disastrous to the 
city. 

Q. But has not been proAxn to be ?—A. No, sirj but it aa^s perfectly 
patent that it would be. I Avill admit there was a great diversity of opin¬ 
ion upon that. 

Q. And some expressed your belief?—A. YYs, sir; there Avere men of 
the higliest virtues, public and private, who belonged to the regular 
Democratic party. My most esteemed friends are among the Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Q. Were you defeated at the ballot-box?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Noav, you think you were defeated by illegal votes?—A. Yes, sir; 
to a considerable extent. 

Q. To AAdiat extent?—A. Well, I say it is imxiossible to tell Avithout a 
thorough iiiA’cstigatiou, and that migiit not be conclusive in determin¬ 
ing the true Amte. 

Q. That investigation you have not made ?—A. It is in progress in one 
or tAvo ciAul suits. 

Q. You say you had information that ballots were substituted for the 


Parish.! TESTIMONY OF CLEMENT L. WALKER 437 

Democratic candidates after those ballots had actually been cast for the 
Citizens’ Conservative party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From w horn have jmu that information ?—A. I have from credible 
witnesses a great many statements as to the illegalities on the part of 
the worl^ers of the regular party and of the commissioners of election. 

Q. But those statements are not, I understand, by the regular swoni 
returns made by the officers bound by and under the law, and charged 
with the duty of conducting these elections.—A. Of course. 

Q. Plave you information that is official or that is not official ?—A. It 
is the statement of parties who observed the conduct of the election and 
participated in it. Of course the statement of votes and returns are 
made by the duly qualihed officers ot the law. 

Q. Do you mean to say that the men who were charged with the duty 
of conducting elections were themselves corrupt in some instances ?—A. 
In many instances. In some, I cannot say. 

Q. How many ? Can you give us the names of the person and place 
where this thing w^as done ?—A. I can place before you the statement 
of a large number of i^arties; some liave been reduced to writing, some 
have not. This tiling is matter of general notoriety; I can say that it 
has become matter of public history. 

Q. Do you mean as a fact of liistory or as a matter of common notori¬ 
ety?—A. Of fact. 

Q. Information to all men?—A. Yes, sir; T believe to all jiolitical 
men. So much so that it has been the subject of a great deal of discus¬ 
sion, and even prominent gentlemen of the Democratic party have, in 
conversation, urged that this matter should not be discussed or agitated 
for the sake of the Democratic Conservative party, and desired that there 
should be no contest, and that we sliould not make public the doings of 
our own party and people. 

Q. I understood you to say that you had information that the votes 
which were cast for the Citizens’ ticket were couuted for the Democratic 
ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say this counting took place in a small room?—A. Yes, sir. 
They were all located in a small room, Avhich would not coniply with the 
law, which was that tliey should be free and open to all citizens. 

Q. AYere citizens refused the rooms except for want of space ?—A. 
Yes; freciuently. 

Q. Do you know that to be true ?—A. I know it from parties who 
came from the imlls and had applied for admission and were retused. 

Q. On what ground ?—A. Because they did not want them in there. 
In some instances the law was placed before the commissioners, and tliey 
refused to comply with it. They proposed to count the vote among 
themselves and do as they saw lit. 

Q. You tliink, also, there were a great many illegal voters?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Illegally registered, or what we call ^Y^epeaters” ?—A. Kepeaters, 
and others voting on false certificates. 

Q. They were admitted to vote by judges bound under the law?—A. 

Yes, sir. . 

Q. You speak of some actions having been made in the courts to de- 
termiiie the validity of these elections. Are you employed in these 
cases?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By whom were you employed—by the parties or by the associa¬ 
tion ?—A. I was employed by the candidates. There is no suit pending 
instituted by the committee itself. 


438 


LOTTISIANA IN 1878. 


[JJ’ew Orlean® 


Q. How many actions are tliere of that kind ?—A. I think five or six, 

Q. How many are pending—-A. One contested election case, I think^ 
besides five or six actions; probably two or three suits on the part of 
persons who were not condidates on the Citizens’ Conservative ticket, in 
which I am not engaged. One of them, I think^ is Mr. Koach against Mr, 
Markey. 

Q. Was Mr. Eoach a candidate on any ticket —A. Yes, sirj I think 
on the National ticket. 

Q. What ticket was the National; what idea or principle did it rep¬ 
resent ?—^A. I believe it represented the substance of the voting element 
of the Eepnblican x^arty. 

Q. Hid they call themselves the National Greenback party I—A. Yo, 
sir; I don’t think that name was used. 

Q. Was it a movement at all in sympathy with the “Ben Butler’^ 
movement *?—A. I did not look upon it as having any substantial con¬ 
nection with the “Ben Butler” movement. I don’t know that it has 
any well-defined financial policy. 

Q. Are not the sniiporters of that ticket men we call “Green- 
backers”?—A. ISTo, sir; I don’t think they have any defined ideas upon 
the STd)ject, most of them. 

Q. Yon think it was made up of Eepnblican voters?—A.. Yes, sir^ 
almost exclusively ; some few exceptions, of course. 

Q. This gentleman, Eoacli, was a member of the National party ?—A, 
1 believe he was a candidate on the National ticket. We had some 60 
candidates here altogether on the full ticket, and with three principal 
tickets in the field, and then one or two minor tickets, such as the 
Tebeault tickefc, the Workingman’s ticket, and it gave rise to a multi¬ 
plicity of candidates. I cannot recall all of them; but it seems to me 
he was on the Yatioual ticket. 

Q. Was it in contemplation by the Citizens’ party to make you city 
attorney in the event of success ? Was it in your contemplation to as¬ 
pire to that office in the event of success?—A. It was not ;> I caii consci¬ 
entiously say that I did not have any contemx^lation of obtaining any 
office whatsoever. I am perfectly well aware that a great many of my 
[icquaintances and former political friends supi;)osed of course I had some 
object in view for my own advancement; but I can safely say that I had 
none; nor do I believe that any member of the (iommittee had any per¬ 
sonal advancement in view, so far as office is concerned. 

I understood you to say that the vote for the Democratic ticket 
was about 13,000 or 15,000?—A. Well, from 13,000 to 14,000. That was 
according to the returns; but I don’t accept the returns as correct. 

Q. How large was the vote for the National ticket ?—A. The candi¬ 
dates on these tickets difiered in their estimate, but the commissioners 
divided the balance of the vote between tlie two. 

Q. You don’t think the vote was actually cast, then?—A. As I said 
before, it was impossible to tell what the true vote Avas, as exactly cast, 
or what it should have been if properly and justly balloted. I think 
the candidates on the ConservatiA^e ticket must haA’^e had from 6,500 to 
8,000 votes apiece according to the returns, and the two parties Avere re¬ 
turned about equal. The returns Avill sIioav; they were published here 
in the newspapers. 

Q. They gave about as many votes to the tAvo as the Democrats re- 
ceiAed, or Avere supposed to haA^e received?—A. Yes, sir; in some in¬ 
stances. There was one candidate aaTio was on both the tickets, the 
National and the ConserAmtiA^e ticket. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLEMENT L. WALKER. 


439 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How did lie fare?—A. He Avas counted out also. That was Bar¬ 
ney Kennedy, candidate for criminal sheriff. 

By Mr. Bailey: 

Q. l>y Avhat vote ?—A. I think by a little over 2,000 Amtes. 

Q. Yon say he was counted out. Somebody intended to surprise 
your ])eoi)le, I snpiiose?—A. Yes, sir; of course I know nothing of any 
A^ote balloted that day. I excejit my oavh Amte. 1 only Ausited one poll, 
and that Avas for the purpose of depositing my oavii Amte, in the third 
Avard. I Avas at the headquarters of the ConserAmtiA^e Association, act¬ 
ing as manager and director during the day. But Avhat I have stated 
here in my testimony is from credible information receiA^ed. 

Q. That is, you are the attorney to test some of these elections; and 
as attorney you haA^e gathered some information?—A. I have been at¬ 
torney, and (hen, besides, being manager and director for that party, 
haAdng an interest in it as a citizen and director of the moA^ement. 1 
had been actiA^ely engaged here in xn'eAuous (jamxiaigns, working Avith 
the ConservatiA^e Democratic party. I have ahvays taken an active in¬ 
terest. In the last tAvo campaigns I haA^e aAmided being a candidate, 
jstating I Avould not accept, and Avould not do so under any circum¬ 
stances; and in this matter I have onl^^ the interests of the citizens and 
the Avelfare of the city in a icAV. I have taken an actB^e part in this 
moA^ement, as I liaA^e taken an equallj^ actwe part, in both a political 
and military sense, in behalf of the Democratic OonserAmtive iiarty. 

Q. Are you regularly employed and paid a fee in these cases ?—:A. I 
apxiear both for the xnirpose of seeing justice done and as an attorney. 

Q. I don’t Avish to ask you any x)articulars, but 1 Avant to ask you, are 
you to be paid as attorney ?—A. Yes, sir, I suxipose I am; but I luwe 
stated to my clients that the matter of my remuneration is a matter of 
A^ery little concern. I Avill state that I ha\"e no definite arrangement 
AAuth them, and have not been x^aid by them. I don’t know as I shall 
exact any remuneration. 

Q. Y^ou say that some of your members Avere ax^x^ointed as commis¬ 
sioners, but you did not like them ?—A. They AA^ere there to Avitness the 
count but in a A-ery feAV instances. I do not know the exact number; 
but a very small x^ercentage of them were outside of the Democratic 
party. 

Q. Was there not the axipointment for commissioner at the x^olls of 
some one person belonging to the oxix^osition to the Democratic xiarty ?— 
A. I belieA^e that was xiretended to be done. 

Q. W^as it not done?—A. Ko, sir; not substantially. As I liaA^e 
stated, Avhere there Avas rexiresentation accorded, it was not sufficient to 
rexiresent us. There Avere some apxiointed, for instance—it had that axi- 
X)earance—Avhom Ave considered they had made so for the x^^iiTOse of 
dexnlAdng us of Tlieir Avork on election-day. That was the effect, and 
they must ha\"e knoA\m it. The idea seemed to be that they Avould make 
this thing of ox)X>osition to the Democracy so offensive and onerous as 
to preAmnt any rex)resentation of it in future. In other words, it Avas 
rexiorted on the streets that they proposed to make these gentlemen Avho 
took any interest against them in xiolitics sick of it. 

Q. Please exxilain how the ax)X)ointment of a member of your commit¬ 
tee, or a x)erson Avho belonged to your association, to be commissioner of 
registration Avouhl imxiose upon him a burden too great to bear.—A. 
Well, in some instances they did not haA^e the physical capacity or 
poAver of endurance to sit from 7 o’clock on Tuesday morning to Thurs- 


440 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Js'e-w Orleans 


day morning', forty-eiglit hours of one continuous labor, in the reception 
of two thousand ballots. This constant labor takes active yoiuig men 
wlio are familiar with pretty nearly everybody in their respective pre¬ 
cincts, and who are familiar Avith that kind of Avork. Many of these 
persons it was knoAvn ought not to be selected for this kind of work 
any more than you select a baker to unload a steamer at a leA^ee. 

Q. Their objection Avas not that they AA-ere gentlemen'? —A. O, no, sir; 
some of them AA^ere gentlemen of A^ery eminent character, Avhose personal 
attention or connection Avith any business, political or othei’Avise, would 
be a guarantee of its being faithfully discharged, jirovided they AA^ere 
l)hysically able and competent to fultill the duties. 

Q. That was the character of the men appointed to represent your 
party ?—A. In a A^ery feAA^ instances, only sufficient to make it an ap¬ 
parent according of representation. In other Avords, it AA^as manifestly 
a semblance of the folio AA'iiig of the laAv, but not a compliance Avith the 

hlAV. 

Q. Tliat is your judgment—A. My oaaui, and that of men A^ery AA^ell- 
informed. These men AAxre of high character and associations, some 
tcAV of them. 

Q. How many, sir?—A. If I had the list here I could say about hoAv 
many. I could not state from recollection; but out of four huudred 
there AA^ere A^ery feAv, because there Avxre only forty-fiA^e members in our 
(‘ommittee. 

Q. Hoav many A^otiug places ?—A. One hundred. 

Q. Hoav many given to each ?—A. Three cominissiouers and one clerk. 
That made 412 precinct officers. 

Q. Noav, hoAV many persons were appointed belonging to your party 
to offices of election on that day ?—A. Well, I could not state accurately. 

Q. Did they not appoint one person from your party, or the National 
party, at each of the polls ?—A. I cannot say. 

Q. Did any of the ])ei sons a])poiuted from your party refuse to sei'A^e ?— 
A. Some few of them. 

Q. Why did they refuse ? —A. Because in some instances they Avere 
not adapted to the Avork, and i)robably in some other instances they did 
not clioose to serA-e. AVe selected men Avho Avere both willing and com¬ 
petent to seiwe. We Avould not ourseh^es haAX a])i)oiuted any one aa4io 
Avould not be AAilling to go through that amount of Avork. 

Q. Is there not a law that gives the right of selection to you ?—A. 
Yes, sir; section 13 of act 58 of the hiAvs of 1877 of this State, approved 
April 11, 1877. It is as folloAvs : 

8ec. 13. Be it farther enacted, etc., That the election at each ])olliiio-p]ace shall he 
presided over by three commissioners of election, to be assisted by a clerk of election, 
residents and qiialitied voters for twelve mouths next preceding'their election of the 
precinct in which they are to act. The commissioners and clerk for each precinct shall 
be ai)pointed by the police juries of the several parishes, except the parish of Orleans, 
and shall be selected from opposing political parties, providedj^^hcre be a sufficient 
numb(‘,r of each political party resident in the several precincts com])etent to hll said 
offices. The said commissioners and clerk shall be appointed at least lift.een days i)rior 
f() an election, and the said appointments shall be published at once in the proceedings 
of the police jury. The commissioners and clerk shall, before entering upon the dis¬ 
charge of their duties, take the oath prc'scrihed by article one hundred of the constitu¬ 
tion, the oath to be administered by the sheriff or his deputy, or by any other officer 
fpialified by law to administer oaths; and if no such officer be present, the commis¬ 
sioners shall administer the oath to each other. 

Tluit section Avas aclA^erted to by myself in the oface of the registrar of 
A'oters, and Mr. Landry’s attention Avas called to it. He called my atten¬ 
tion to section 15. 

Q. Bead that, too, please. 


Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLEMENT L. WALKER. 


441 


Witness reads: 

Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, etc., That tlie coininissiouer.s and clerks of election in 
the parish of Orleans shall he appoint«‘d hy the officer in char<>;e of the general regis¬ 
tration of the city of New Orleans ten days before the time for holding the election, 
and their ap])ointment shall he pnhlislual at h*ast six days before the election. They 
shall have been residents twelve mouths next preceding their appointment of the 
ward and precinct wherein they are a])])ointed, if practicable, and always residents 
and (pialified voters of the ward for which they are a])pointed. In the event ()f the 
failure of the officer in charge of the general registration of the city of New Orleans to 
appoint them, the mayor of the said city shall ap])oint the said commissioners and 
clerks, and shall give public notice of the same. It shall be the duty of tlie officers 
making the ai)pointment to transmit a copy of the list to the civil .sheritf of the parish 
of Orleans, who shall notify the said commissioners and clerks of their ap])ointment at 
the expense of the city. Should any one of the commissioners of election a])pointed 
as aforesaid fail to attend within an liour of the time fixed for the opening of the polls, 
or, if being present, refuse to act, those present shall a])point the other commissioner or 
commissioners. If none of said commissioners or clerks attend, it shall be the duty of 
the officer in charge of the gemu’al registration, or, as the case may be, the mayor, to 
to sn})ply their places. The commissioners and clerks shall, before entering n])on the 
ilischarge of their duties, take the oath ])rescribed by article one hundred of the con¬ 
stitution, administered by the civil sheritf or his deputy, or l)y any other ofticer au¬ 
thorized })y law to administer oaths, and if no such officer be lu’esent, the commis¬ 
sioners shall administer the oath to each other. 

He called my attention to the fact that it did not contain tluit excep¬ 
tion wliicli is stated in section 13, which says they shall be ai)pointed 
by the police jury of the several parishes, except of the parish of Or¬ 
leans, and shall tie selected by the op])onents of the political i)arties. 
He called my attention to section 15, that the words ^Ofom oi)posing’ 
political parties” are not contained in it. I told him I thought the only 
reasonable construction of the law was that the phrase ‘Hxxcept the par¬ 
ish of Orleans,” which is one that occurs only in all our legislation for 
parish officers, or officers in the performance of duties in any of the par¬ 
ishes—that that exception (pialihed the phrase in regard to police jurors, 
because there were no police jurors in Orleans. 1 said that my own 
opinion was that the intent of the law, and its decided construction was 
(and there should be no reasonable doubt about it) that all commission¬ 
ers of election of the State of Louisiana should be selected from dilfereut 
political i)arties, ‘‘except in the parish of New Orleans,” referring to the 
manner of being appointed by police jurors. 

Q. And not to their (pialification ?—A. Yes, sir 5 IVIr. Landry did not 
recognize any party as existing here except his own, the Democratic 
party, and though he might make selections or give representation at 
the i)olls to the opposition to the Democracy, at the same time he would 
not accept the list of nominations by us. 

Q. Where is the provision that gives you the right to select ? I asked 
you if you thought the law gives your party the right ?—A. The law 
does not express that, but I think it is in accordance Avith the principles 
of e(iuity and good x)ractice in such matters. 

Q. AViiere is it ?—A. I do not pretend to say that the opposing party 
shall select; but I Avouhl like to state, in this immediate connection, 
that a fcAV duAbS after the publication of the list of 400 election officers, 
IMessrs. SIuiaa'*, D. Lafitte, AY. A. Bell, and one or two other gentlemen 
Avhose names I cannot recollect, called upon the governor and remon¬ 
strated Avith him. against Landry’s action 5 and the governor said 
he Avould send for Landry, and said he had no poAver to intervene 
directly in this matter himself, or to make selections. He said that Lan¬ 
dry Avas duly qualihed, an officer of the State, and till he had done 
so'mething Avhich was a violation of the law, for aaT iich he could be 
arraigned or impeached, he, the gwernor, did not have the authority 


442 


LOUISIANA IN 187^. 


[New Orleans 


to direct him as to the details, as to how he slioidd carry out the 
duties of his office, any more than the sheriff or constable in some 
other position. The governor and myself had a discussion in regard 
to this matter of the election of commissioners from opposing po¬ 
litical parties,” and the governor expressed a good deal of doubt but 
that the legislature in framing that section 15 did not contemiilate this 
very thing, and that they contemplated, in the Parish of Orleans, the 
placing the matter in the hands of the administration of the dominant 
party. He said that legislators sometimes do those things, and that 
they were looked upon as regular practice in legislation, for the benefit 
of the dominant party. I told him I did not recognize that kind of 
])olitical legislation in favor of any party at all. I thought the word 
Democratic, National, or Kepublican Avas not in the laAvs of the State. 
I did not think any legislature Avas authorized in presuming that a laAv 
should make a discrimination in fiiA^or of any party, no matter A\ hat the 
political emergency AAms; that such might be organized for commerce, 
but certainly not for the laAv-making poAver of the State. I told him my 
0 [)inion, eA^en in spite of the doubts he had suggested on the subject; 
and ]ny opinion was Auwy decided that the intention of the laAv was that 
even in the Parish of Orleans the commissioners should be selected from 
the oi)posing lAolitical lAarties. 

Q. Hoav many opposing political parties were there in the field at that 
time?—A. In the Parish of Orleans there AAmre three parties, the Dem¬ 
ocratic Con servati Am party, the National party,-and the Citizens’ Con- 
ser\mtive Association, AAdiicli did not x)resume to be a political party. So 
far as the camx)aign A\ms conceiaied, the casting of Amtes, the nomination 
of candidates, it Avas a party for the time being after they put a ticket 
in the field; but AAm didn’t propose to organize a political party in a na¬ 
tional sense, but only for the i)uiposes of that election. 

(v^. Hoav many tickets AAmre in the field ?—A. Those three, the Tebault 
ticket, the Laborers’ Union ticket, and probably one. or Iaa'o other minor 
tickets. There were three distinct tickets. In some instances they had 
the names of the Democratic or National candidates on them. 

Q. They took in some instances the candidates of the other parties ?— 
A. In very feAv; there A\ms the Fleming ticket. 

(,y. Were not those parties in the same sense that you were ?—A. That 
AA’as a matter of construction. 

Q. They had an organization, I understand. They were in the field 
to support their ends just as the Citizens’ Association Avas in the field in 
looking to ulterior ends—the same as the National party; but still they- 
had an organization and they desired to control in some degree the gov¬ 
ernment of the State ?—A. Well, yes, sff, to an infinitesimal extent they 
AA'ere—just as any two men may go into a field AAuthout a meaning. 

Q. You mean allopaths agaiixst homeopaths: they took a tenth part 
of nothing, and you took it all ?—A. We took what Ave AAmre entitled to 
justly and i)roperly. 

il. Tell us AAdiat negotiations AAmre entered upon betAveen your Citizens’ 
Association and the Pepublican leaders or the Eepublican association, 
Avith tlie vieAv to union of your forces and the overthroAV of the Democ¬ 
racy ?—A. Our committee took the ground that they Avere acting inde¬ 
pendently ; that they had no party ])urpose or objects in Anew; that they 
AArnre not there for the purpose of making alliances Avith any party; that 
they Avere organized more for the purpose of putting an efficient and re¬ 
liable set of nominees before the x^eoxde for their suffrage. We received 
continual iiropositions from the people of eA^ery organization in the city 
outside of the Democratic ConservatiA^e part>^ The committee took a 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLEMENT L. WALKER. 


443 


very independent position about it, and listened to every proposition 
that was made to them, and appointed a committee of conference which 
was very frequently in session holding conferences with depntations 
from various bodies. They were all listened to ])olitely and respectfully. 
There was no combination entered into with any party. 

Q. Did you not have any conference in the cnstom-honse here with 
some persons representing one of those i)arties'?—A. Members of the 
committee occasionally had interviews with members of every political 
organization in the towji, and also with parties in the ciistoni-hoiise. I, 
myself, with Mr. Bell, on one occasion had an interview—well, on two 
or three occasions—with Mr. James Lewis, of the Eepnblican parish 
committee; also, one or two interviews with Col. Jack Wharton. At 
one of those interviews Mr. Johnson was present. They were unofficial; 
they were simply an exchange of views of individuals, and I explained 
to those gentlemen what the object of our movement was. In vi(‘w of 
the fact that there would be no Bepnblican ticket in the field, they man¬ 
ifested a very strong approval of the objects of oiir association, and also 
of our candidates. As to any negotiations, I can safely say that there 
were none. We never sent any committee to the custom house, never ; 
in fact, we made it a rule to receive commnnications and committees of 
conference, and listened to everybody. We had comnmnications from 
every quarter of the city suggesting the names of candidates and sag • 
gesting different policies. Well, we invited them from every party. Our 
movement was organized irrespectivt‘- of all. 

Q. Anything to beat the Democrats:; was not that what it all meant ?— 
A. Anything that was proper and just, which would place a ticket in 
the field and carry it through successfully composed of better nomina¬ 
tions. 

Q. Well, the Democratic ticket had not been nominated when your 
organization was effected ?—A. Xo, sir; but it was pretty well apparent 
that it would not be satisfactory. 

Q. Why and how was it api)arent ?—A. On account of the condition 
of onr local politicians here and the individuals who control local party 
machinery—the parish committee, or ward committees. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The men who had the handle in their hands ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. In other words, I suppose yon mean the organizations Avere ac¬ 
complished how—through the action of the people 

The Witness. The organization of onr committee '? 

Mr. Bailey. Yes, sir; the Democratic Conservative committee. 

A. The organization of the Democratic parish committee and the 
Avard politics was made by means of primary elections. I have been 
myself for three or four campaigns past an active participant in i)ri- 
niary elections, and, as one individual in company with a great many 
gentlemen here, had come to the conclusion that Ave could not effect— 
especially in Anew of the disorganized condition of the town, on account 
of the yelloAV fever, and, at the same time, on account of tbe general 
condition of affairs existing, and also in vieAv of the fact of the unsatis¬ 
factory AA'ay in which the primaries had been conducted and organized— 
that it Avonld be impossible to effect any good result through the ordi¬ 
nary i)rimary elections and parish organizations. I think the primaries 
are utter failures. 

Q. Are not all the people iiiAfited to them'?—A. Yes, sir ; but stdl 
they are conducted in such a way as to deter men from participating. 


444 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xew Orleans 


Q. How are they conducted—hiilldozed!—A. Well, by the interfer¬ 
ence by which they are generally conducted. 

Q. But still the power is with the Democracy to organize itself into 
a party and to conduct its own elections, is it not ?—A. If it sees fit. 

Q. if a large number of citizens propose to dispense with that method, 
because it permits unjust interference, they are just as competent to 
meet together to nominate a set of men, and appeal to the popular opinion 
for their support, as a national party ?—A. Yes, sir; that is the same 
position we occui)y. 

Q. I understood you to say that you were beaten at the polls in the 
primary elections, and you undertook to assert the right of American 
citizens to apiieal to the jieople for your rights and establish a party 
yourselves '?—A. No, sir; the committee made no contest in the prima¬ 
ries at all, and I advised, myself, against it, because I had a great deal 
of ex])erience in iirimary elections here. I went into them because I 
Avas forced to operate that way in order to OAwthrow Eadical Eepub- 
licanism here, and in 187G I had seen so much of the uselessness of pri¬ 
mary elections, Avhich are conducted without the restraining of any law, 
that I wanted no more to do Avith them. There is no penalty for fraud¬ 
ulent registration or repeating there; secondly, you can exercise no 
poAver OA^er it; there is no punitory i)OAver over it, and consequently it 
is impossible here to haA^e a fair primary election. 

Q. What did you substitute for them ?—A. We substituted a commit¬ 
tee—self-constituted some of these gentlemen call it, and I haA^e no 
objection to the term—which Avould meet together and receive commu¬ 
nications from the citizens and select popular men, and at the same time 
more efficient officers, Au:>te for them ourseh^es and haA^e our friends Amte 
for them, and I believ^e they Avere acceptable to the citizens to the extent 
of some 10,000 or more \mtes in the last election. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Of hoAv many did your executiA^e committee consist ?—A. Of tweh^e; 
occasionally there Avere less, on account of absence or A^acancy. 

Q. I understood you to say that the vote by the Citizens’ and the Na¬ 
tional Amte Avas about the same as that giA^en to the regular Democratic 
ticket, or Avas it greater or less?—A. Well, the returns show that in 
most instances, that is, at a rough conclusion, there Avas about 25,000 
Amtes polled, or claimed by the commissioners to haA^e been polled—be¬ 
tween 28,000 and 20,000. The returns show, on an aA^erage, 14,000. 
You may say half of that Amte was divided betAAxen the National and 
Citizens’ Conservative tickets. 

Q. Now, there Avas one candidate that was on both the Citizens’ and 
National tickets ?—A. Yes, sir ; that Avas the candidate for criminal 
sheriffi 

Q. 1 understood you that he Avas beaten by some 2,000?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The (piestion Avas asked you as to AAiiether you had not visited the 
custom-house to talk AA^ith some one in regard to the election.—A. Yes, 
sir; I Avas here about four times during the campaign. I had a couple 
of intervieAVS with James Lewis, and one or two Avitli Col. Jack Whar¬ 
ton. My intervieAVS AAuth Col. Jack Wharton were in regard to the ap¬ 
pointment of United States marshals and the proper sux)erAusion of the 
United States election, and that induced a general discussion about the 
general purposes and conduct of the election; and also the same Avith 
Mr. LeAvis. My first object in calling upon Bell and Mr. LeAvis was to 
ascertain if there Avas going to be a Eepublican ticket in the field, and 
what opposition that Avould be likely to meet with, besides the National 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF CLEMENT L WALKER. 


445 


party and tlie ticket already in contemplation. Mr. Lewis assured me 
there was going to be no Eepnblican ticket in the held, because he 
thought it was useless, and as this movement seemed one in the right 
direction, and would tend to the satisfaction of the community more 
generally than any j^arty that he was connected with, he was glad to 
see it and hep’tily approved of it, inasmuch as it was useless to put the 
Eepublican ticket in the held. I told him I thought it Avas useless, be¬ 
cause it could only result in the possible AAuthdraAval of support from 
our ticket. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You Avere asked about the other tickets in the held; were they 
I represented on the election boards any more than you were ?—A. I can- 
|i not say. I don’t think—according to the best of my obserA^ation of the 
J list of names of some 400, I consider, and in fact 1 "belicA^e, that the list 
i was made up entirely in the interest of the Democratic ConservatiA^e 
j party; and that there were a few representatives accorded to tlie Citi- 
f zens’ Association merely that they might ostensibly comi^ly AAith the law, 
i but really to defeat it. 

: Q. How could the appointment of these men affect the result !—A. It 

AAmuld affect the result by their permitting i)arties to Amte in the interest 
i of the Democratic party avIio had no interest or right to do so, and con- 
niA^e at irregularities on their part, and decide in favor of Democratic 
I candidates Avhen there Avas a doubt about the A^ote; and, Avhere i)arties 
Avere so disposed, to put into their hands the opi)ortunity for the com¬ 
mission of frauds. 

Q. HaA'C you a pretty general knoAAdedge and acquaintance Avith the 
character of the men avIio Avere appointed! — A. I am acquainted with 
some of them. A great many others 1 knoAv their names, but may not be 
ac(iuainted aa ith the men. 

Q. Did they, as a general thing, seem to haA^e any peculiar fitness for 
the places to Avhich tliey were a])pointed ?—A. I looked upon the selec¬ 
tion as A^ery injudiciously made, and altogether such as Avould be unsat¬ 
isfactory to the people to guarantee a fair result. 

Q. You said something about the places in which the elections aa ere 
held; did they appear to be selected with especial reference to the con- 
A^enience of the people !—A. They appeared to be selected Avith especial 
referance to obtaining such small places as to make it exceedingly in¬ 
convenient for the witnessing of the i)ublic count as the hiAv coiitem- 
, plates. In almost all instances they Avere in small rooms and little 
places. They were selected AAdiere it AA^ould be incoiiAxnient to haA^e but 
a feAv people in the room. They Avould afford room enough to admit a 
feAV Democrats without leaAung any for the public. I belicA^e the select¬ 
ing of balloting places Avas A^ery unfair. I don’t believe it Avas the desire 
or intention to select places where there could be a public and fair in¬ 
spection of the count. That Avas the case always, and the policy AAuth 
the Kepublican party in their attemiit to control the election here, and 
the practice has now been followed by the Domocratic ConserAmative man¬ 
agers. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. So that your effort at reform in turning out the Eadicals and getting 
in the Democrats liaAX produced no apt results !—A. Yo, sir; in fact I look 
upon the condition of affairs here AAith a good deal of disappoiiitment 
since the Democratic administration began. I belieA^e, lioAA^eA^er, that 
the Eepnblican administration would have made things far Avorse than 




446 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[New Orleans 


they are at present. Tt is due entirely to political causes, but the Dem¬ 
ocratic legislation has disappointed the people to a considerable extent. 
I look ni^on the condition of the State, of course, as having been bene¬ 
fited by the change, but I am disappointed that there has not been 
more of a change, and nobody worked harder to overthrow Radicalism 
than myself. 


D. A. BELL. 

Xew Orleans, La., January^ 1879. 

D. A. Bell (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside f—Answer. Here. 

Q. How long have you resided here f—A. Forty years. 

Q. Of what State are you a native ?—A. Of Kentucky—of Louisville. 

il. Have you taken any part heretofore in political matters in this 
State i —A. I liave never taken an aedive part in politics. I was a mem¬ 
ber of the convention that sat here two years ago. I was temporary 
chairman of a political party. 

Q. The Democratic iiarty ‘I —A. I liave always been a member of the 
Democratic party since the war. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last political campaign?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. You may state wliat part you took.—A. I Avas one of a number 
of citizens or merchants here who saAv or deemed it necessary at that 
partimilar moment to organize ourselves with tlie view of interfering to 
imrify the ballot-box. We met on several occasions and discussed the 
advisability of this movement, and Ave became of the unanimous opinion 
that it AA-as absolutel}' necessary as Democrats, believing that there AAms 
a ring in this city of men who AA^ere not honest in their political opin¬ 
ions and actions, and aa'c thought that by interfering and organizing the 
merchants of Ncav Orleans; and aa^c named the organization the Citizens^ 
ConserA'atiA^e Association, thinking aa'c could draw to it the best elements 
of the Democracy here, and also hoping b}^ our platform, in Avhich Ave 
expressed our aucaa^s, to bring to our support the colored element and 
all elements, irrespective of politics. 1 can hardly call it a political 
])arty, for aa^c hoped to bring to our folds all elements that would oppose 
that Democracy. 

Our moA^ement Avas unsuccessful. I Avas chairman of the conference 
committee, and Ave had frequent intervieAvs Avith large bodies of colored 
men, said to be Republi(5ans, in which they expressed their apimoval 
and their desire to go Avith us. They AA'anted some representation upon 
our ticket, and we gaA^e them some. 

Q. State to the committee Avhy you and your friends, the merchants 
that i)articipated in this movement, thought it was necessary to organ¬ 
ize.—A. Because, in my experience as a citizen of the sixth AAnrd, it was 
brought to my knoAvledge that that Avard and other Avards in the city 
had been run by Avard bummers, and I Avas desirous myself to go to the 
couA^ention that sat in YeAA' Orleans that nominated Governor Kicholls, 
but I was beaten at the polls. 1 Avas a member of the club in the sixth 
ward, Avhich was a A^ery influential one, and 1 asked for representation, 
and Avas denied it. 

Q. What kind of a club ?—A. It Avas a Democratic club. In our pri¬ 
maries I saAA'^ there AA^as no use, according to the AAmy things were con- 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF I). A BELL. 


447 


ducted tlierCj of trying. I went to Baton Konge. Tlien T determined 
when I returned to organize a Tilden club. ]\ry father was president of 
it and I was vice-president. Our efforts were successful, for at the ap¬ 
proaching election which took place to elect delegates to the parish 
convention I was selected as delegate. I went to the convention, and 
was elected temporary chairman ; and I saw enough there to satisfy me 
of the necessity of this movement. For that reason I asked the assist¬ 
ance of these gentlemen in organizing this movement. 

Q. After you thought the control of affairs was likely to get in the 
hands of men under the color of Democracy you wanted a change ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the result of your movement; how did you get along ?— 
A. Our deliberations Av^ere all taken here during the epidemic. We did 
not meet with that hearty support that we anticipated from the commu¬ 
nity, because many of them were away and our means were limited. It 
was only among ourseh^es that we were enabled to put our ticket in the 
field. We asked for representation at the polls; that is, to IniA^e some 
of us appointed as commissioners. But they did not recognize us as a 
political party, but they said they Avould give us as much as the other 
^‘factions,” as they called them. There were many gentlemen ap])ointed 
Avho were old men, and we, objecting, asked them if they would a])point 
substitutes. But we could never get any satisfactory solution of the 
question, and dropped it. The election came on, and our ticket ran 
Axry Avell; but the impression among us Avas that there was a fraudu¬ 
lent count. We did not knoAA" it, and many of those parties are now 
contesting their seats. 

Q. Are you association men accumulating proof on that ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. In what shape are you accumulating it?—A. We doiiT seek evi¬ 
dence as an association, but aa^c throAv that in the hands of the parties 
AA'ho ran for office. 

Q. The contestants ?—A. Yes, sir. We have had no opportunity, nor 
have our club, as they are mostly merchants and Avorkiug people, and 
Ave liaAX given up fighting. 

Q. Can you state, in a general way, the methods that Avere adopted 
to defeat your organization, and to prevent you getting a fair vote ? — 
A. I could not, from my own knoAvledge, but only from hearsay. 

Q. AVell, from hearsay ?—A. The impression a\ ith our Conservative 
association Avas that there Avas a large number of fraudulent registi a- 
tion papers added, and that there AA'as a large number of colored and 
whites there AAdio, when they Avent to the polls, found their names 
stricken from the poll-lists. There Avere many such statements at our 
Citizens’ Conservative Association rooms, and atfida\Tts made as to the 
facts, which was all the proof Ave had. And it Avas our impression that 
there Avas not a fair count; but Ave did not knoAA', because under the hiAV 
they said only the commissioners Avere alloAved in the rooms. I did not 
remain at the polls that day; I was disgusted AAuth the manner things 
AA ere carried on. 

Q. You Inwe read Walker’s testimony as it appears in the city papers ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat do you say about that?—A. I think that is a correct state¬ 
ment of the facts, as far as I knoAA^ 

Q. Your information would coincide aa ith that ?—A. My impression is 
they are correct. I know nothing positiA’C of any frauds that day. 

Q. lIoAV did the cmiviction force itself upon your mind that you had 
been defrauded ?—A. Because there AA cre more votes cast than people 


448 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[New Orleans 


registered; tliere were a large number of persons wlio were registered 
that did not vote; also a large number entitled to vote who were not 
alloAved to vote. That was the impression generally. 

A. Did you get tha^t from complaints made by citizens generally?— 
A. Yes, sir; I heard many tell that in my hearing. 

Q. Was there any Kepnblican candidate in the city for treasurer?— 
A. I think not. 

Q. The candidates were Democratic and [National ?—A. Yes, sir. 

, Q. That is the only city officer yon elected, I believe?—A. Yes, sir; 
the treasurer. I saAv no intimidation at all at the polls. The only thing 
we had to complain of was that Ave thought that people AA^ere stricken 
oft* the rolls AA^ho Avere entitled to Amte. 

Q. You did not shoot anybody ?—A. No, sir; it Aras one of the most 
peaceable elections 1 ever suav in New Orleans. There was very little 
trouble on that day. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. You say you Avere under the impression that a large number of 
Amtes AA^ere counted in excess of the registration ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The total number of Amtes cast in that election was how many ?— 
A. Twenty-live thousand or 26,000; I think it was 13,000 or 14,000 for 
the Democratic ticket and about an equal number for the tAvm other 
tickets—^^that is, the National and the Citizens’.' 

Q. YMu say you had been a candidate for delegate to the Baton Eouge 
coiiA^ention Avliere Nicholls was nominated ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you defeated in the })rimary election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Because of that defeat Avere you led to establish your club ?—A. 
Yes, sir; the Tilden club. 

Q. And through the agency of that club yon Avere elected to the par¬ 
ish couA^ention ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You AA'ere not encouraged in your efforts to liaA^e yourself elected 
instead of others ?—A. No, sir; I Avas iieA^er a political aspirant of any 
kind AA^hatever. I never had any office at all. I am a property-holder 
here and 1 deemed it necessary to purify the ballot-box, and for that 
reason I started the club so to affect the Democratic convention that AA^e 
could influence tliem to put on good nominations. 

Q. You did not think the ticket was a good one?—^A. In some respects 
it AA'as, but not as a whole. We could not accept it as a Avliole. 

Q. Thereupon you gentlemen determined to run a ticket of your 
own?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You desired to have a better class of voters ?—A. The class that 
AA'as controlling politics I AA'anted out. 

Q. 1 see by this report that the total number of registered voters in 
New Orleans exceeds 29,000. The total number of votes cast was proA^en 
to be 26,000 or 27,000 or 28,000. Accepting this official report from the 
secretary of state as correct, I sniipose you must be mistaken?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You have not given this matter any particular attention ?—A. No, 
sir; none at all. 

Q. You don’t know anything about the elections, personally ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. They ax>pointed commissioners ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They AA^ere of the highest respectability ?—^A. Yes, sir; I Avas asked 
to be one of the commissioners, but declined. 

Q. Do you knoAV that others did ?—A. Yes, sir ; those that were on 


I’arish.] TESTIMONY OF D. A. BELL. 449 

our executive committee. Their duties were of such a character that 
they could not act. I sent in my resignation for that reason. 

Q. Do you know who was appointed in your place ?—A. I do not. 

Q. Do you know whether he belonged to your association or to some 
other f—A. I do not. 

Q. Do you know whether those persons who have been appointed in 
place of those who declined were regular Democrats ?—A. I don’t, sir. 

Q. Did they belong to the Citizens’ Association or to the Kepublican 
party f^A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. Your presence there would certainly have assured a fair count on 
the vote of that ward, would it not f —A. I am not certain that it would 5 
1 don’t know it. 

Q. You would have been a witness to anything that took place?—A. • 
I would, certainly. 

Q. This matter has been turned over chiefly to Walker, and you know 
little about it?—A. Yes, sir; since the association closed its labors. 

29 T 


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TENSAS AND NATCHITOCHES. 


SUPPLEMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


TAKEN BY COMMISSION. 







New Orleans, Saturday, January 18, 1879. 


In Committee: 

Senator Garland moved that the United States commissioner, G. W. Lane, shall 
take the testimony of the witnesses subpeenaed and not examined hy the committee 
for Natchitoches, Tensas, and Catahoula Parishes, and that Judge M. Marks represent 

the majority of the committee and-the minority; that the testimony so 

taken shall be transmitted to the chairman, and treated in all respects as that by the 
committee. That Messrs. Breda and Barron may be called by way of rebuttal, if nec¬ 
essary. 

Adoj)ted unanimously. 




TENSAS. 


MRS. AMY L. PECK. 

Mrs. Amy L. Peck sworn and examined. 

By Mr. ]\Iarks : 

Question. Mrs. Peck, where do you reside?—Answer. In Catahoula 
Parish. 

Q. Please state, madam, who is your husband, if yon have any, and 
all about it.—A. John G. Peck was my husband. 

Q. John G. Peck was your husband ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Proceed, madam; where is he—what has become of him ?—A. He 
was killed on the 12th October, 1878. 

Q. Where at—in what parish?—^A. In Tensas Parish, I think; I was 
at the point of death at the time, but I think it was in Tensas Parish. 

Q. What time did he'leave home to go to Tensas Parish?—A. Well, 
he left on Saturday morning, the 12th, I think—the same day that he 
was killed. 

Q. By himself or in company with whom ?—A. He was alone, sir. 

Q. At the time of leaving, did he inform yon where he was going and 
how long he would be gone ?—A. I was very low, and my baby was 
only three days old, and he told me he was going to lYnsas, to the store, 
and asked me if there was anything that I would wish; and I gave him 
a list of articles that I wished, and he told me that he would be back in 
the evening. 

Q. Where is that store situated that he started for?—A. At Curk’s 
Ferry. 

Q. How far from your idace of residence is that ?—A. About six or 
eight miles. 

Q. Is it in the parish of Catahoula?—A. Yes. Well, sir, it is adjoin¬ 
ing ; it is not far; it is in Catahoula Parish. 

Q. When was tlte next tiiiie that you saw him ?—A. Well, I didn’t 
see him any more after that. I told him “Good-bye” when he went to 
the store. If he had any intention of going further I didn’t know it. I 
was very sick at the time. I didn’t ask any questions at all. 

Q. When did you first hear of his death ?—A. I heard of his death 
the next morning at ten o’clock. 

Q. Whom did you hear it from ?—A. His death ? 

Q. Yes.—A. Well, I can’t exactly say. I believe it was one of my 
own sisters that told me. 

Q. Are you acquainted with Slieriff Eegister, of Tensas ?—A. Ko, sir; 
I am not. 

Q. Do you know him when you see him?—zl. Yo, sir; I merely heard 
his name mentioned and that is all. 

Q. Has he ever visited your place for the last two or three months 
prior to the election?—A. Yo, sir; not to my knowledge. We keep a 
ferry, and a great many strangers cross it. If he has been there, I don’t 
know it. 

Q. I see, madam, by the subpoena, that you have been ordered to 



454 


LOUISIANA IN 1873. 


[Tensas. 


bring certain papers, received by yonr husband from parties in Tensas 
in 1878, in yonr possession or under yonr control. Have you brought 
any of those papers?—A. JS^o, sir; there was none at all to bring. I 
have seen none since his death. There is none, to my knowledge. 

Q. Hid you look for the letters and papers ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yonr husband was a farmer, I suppose ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say yon looked for those papers ?—A. Yes, sir. I looked over 
his papers and could not find any of them. I don’t think he had any. 

Q. Hid yon make inquiries as to where he went that night ?—A. 'No, 
sir, I didn’t make any inquiries, for I told yon I was very ill at the time, 
and asked no questions at all. 

Q. Ho you know the place where he was killed?—A. Yo, sir; I don’t. 
After his death I was at the point of death myself for about three weeks, 
and 1 never questioned any more on the subject. 

Q. Hid they bring his bo.dy home ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time did they bring it ?—A. Well, I am not certain; I think 
it was on Sunday morning. 

Q. Then yon have no letters or papers in your possession belonging 
to jMr. Peck ?—A. Yo, sir; none at all. 

Q. Ho you know whether or not, madam, he had received an invita¬ 
tion from persons residing in Tensas Parish to come over to the par¬ 
ish on public or private business ?—A. Yo, sir; not to my knowledge. 
I was in wretched health and he never talked business to me; but he 
had no such invitation, to my knowledge. 

Q. What time on Saturday did he leave your house ?—A. About ten 
o’clock in the morning. 

Q. And the store that he said he was going to was six or eight miles 
away?—A. Yes, sir; six or eight miles. 

Q. Hid you make any inquiries about him that evening ?—A. Yo, sir; 
because I expected him, fullj^ exi)ected him home. 

Witness not cross-examined. 


WILLIAM COOLIHGE. 

William Coolidge sworn and examined. 

By Judge Maeks : 

Question. What is your name ?—Answer. William Coolidge is my 
name. 

Q. AVhere do you reside, and how long have you lived there ?—A. In 
Tensas; twenty-one years. 

Q. Relate Avhat took place there prior to the last election.—A. Well, 
sir, we went to the convention. I went on the 5th October to Saint 
Joseph, and found there was going to be some difficulty in our nomina¬ 
tions Avitb our leading white Republicans. Mr. Robert J. Walker and 
Solomon Shaffer, they accompanied me to Judge Cordill’s rooms, to 
try to get him to go and make a compromise with the Hemocrats. He 
told us that the time Avas noAv past, and that Ave had better go and see 
Mr. Saxy and Mr. Reves; and I said to him, Judge, Ave are going to 
appoint a committee to-morroAv, and Avouldn’t you accept an appoint¬ 
ment on the committee?” And he said that he had asked Mr. 
Walker as a friend not to call Ids name in the committee; that he 
would be there as a friend, but lie didn’t want to be on the com¬ 
mittee. Then Ave Avent to see Mr. Saxy. He told Robert Walker that 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM COOLIDGE. 


455- 


the men that we sent to the legislature were no more than bricL- 
bats; and that they were going to send men of their ow in there; andi 
that tliey were going to stand on their manhood at the depth of their 
l)Ockets. On Saturday, when the convention met, we appointed a com¬ 
mittee of live. They were William Coolidge, A. J. Bryant, Bobert J. 
Walker, A. Fairfax, and N. M. Neva!; and when they met, after being 
in session, Mr. Saxy made a motion that the chair should state to the 
(‘ommittee that had been appointed by the Kepublican party that they, 
would not appoint any committee to confer with them, and that they 
didn’t want to hear from them. They had got thus far without them,, 
and they could get further. Then we found that there was dissatis¬ 
faction in the Democratic party, and that caused a split; and wo 
went to Mr. Bland, and Mr. Douglas, and jMr. Warfield, and other 
gentlemen, and asked them would they accept of positions on our 
ticket; and they said, yes, they would. AVe didn’t have any white 
leaders, and that is why we went to Mr. Bland. We didn’t care to make 
a black ticket. Tlie Saturday following h^airfax writes to us to meet 
him at Aliller’s place for a convention; Charlie Buth told Bland on Sun¬ 
day morning that Peck was killed on Saturday night, but we didn’t be¬ 
lieve it, and went on down to Aliller’s place. Afterwards we heard that 
the rumor was a fact, and then we came back home. AVe went as far 
as Hard Bargain i)lace and then Ave went back home, and the next week 
following a crowd of bulldozers came up there on the Lake Saint Joseph, , 
as far as the bridge at James S. Douglas’ ])lace. Air. Bland told me 
that Air. Kinney, that was Avith the croAvd, had a Avarrant for my ar¬ 
rest, and Air. Bland told met hat him, and Air. Douglas, and Air. AVar- 
field, and other gentlemen entered a protest against my arrest, and. 
said that I had been (piiet and doing nothing to be arrested for. In^ 
the following week I Avent doAvn to Saint Joseph; went to see Judge 
Cordill to ask him AA hy I was arrested, and he told me that he heard 
that 1 was going to get up a squad of men and burn doAvn Air. 
Cohn’s house and his gin, but there aa as no more of it iioav. He said,, 
I AA ould like to liaA^e you all Avith us. SteAvarts has let down, and 
there is nobody kicking noAv but you felloAA s up there; and, by Cod,, 
them bulldozers have been here, and aa ill come again, and if you fellows, 
come with us aa e will protect you. They said they were coming back Sun¬ 
day week anyhow; but I told them we didn’t aa ant them any more, and 
they said they Avere coming back to see how this election Avas coming off.” 
These remarlLs were made to me, Blackburn, and AValker. I got tired anti 
called Blackburn out on the gallery. Judge Cordill came out and told uSy. 
‘^By God, you luwe not got anything to gain in this fight. This is a 
Avhite man’s fight, and I AA'ant you negroes to keep out of it. If you 
all advocate the Bland and Douglas ticket, you have nothing else 
up ill it but your corpses.” He said, “AMu have heard of the de¬ 
struction in AVaterproof. If you don’t belicA^e me, you haA^e all got 
your horses and buggies here, and you can go down and see for 
yourselves. The men are down there hanging up in the trees noAV.” 
I said, “Judge Cordill, I being coroner of the parish, is it not my 
duty to go doAvn there and take those bodies down and hold an 
inquest and bury them f” And he said, “ By God, you go down tliere 
fooling about your duties and you will come up missing.” He said, “ If 
you take my advice you will stay aAvay from there.” Colonel Beves and 
Mr. Cordill Avas after us to go with them, and they would protect us, 
but I had got tired of it, and Bobert J. AValker said to me and Black¬ 
burn, “ Here, boys, if they say anything more to you, tell them that 
Avhatever I do you all Avill agree to.” Then myself and Blackburn started 


456 


LOUISIANA. IN 1878. 


[Tensaa 


to go to Waterproof, aucl got down as far as Z. L. Wdiitney’s ])laee. We 
heard that some of those bulldozers were there, around about Camps 
Deadeiiiiig. Then we turned back and came back to Saint Joseph. 
Walker told us that Judge Cordill had just asked him if we had gone 
back to Waterproof, and he told liiin no, that we started, but come 
back. And Judge Cordill told him tliat if we had gone he would never 
see us any more. I went back and remained until the week before the 
election, and then I started out for AVaterproof again, and got down to 
AVateri)roof, and coming back, I came around there by Lake Saint Pe¬ 
ter, and came out there l)y Mrs. Andrews’, by the way of Whitney’s, and 
coming on around by Saint Joseph, a white man by name of Arnold told 
me when I Avent down to AVaterpioof lie met me on that evening on 
my Avay down there; that when he come back to Saint Joseph, about 
eleven o’clock tliat niglit, he received a warrant to arrest ine, and Black- 
l)urn, and K. E. Buckner. He said he started out next morning \evy 
early, and thought he would meet us ou the Avay coming back. When 
he came down there Bland Avas hitching up his horse, and he thought 
every minute to see me. He came back from AVaterproof u]) as far as 
Bass’s, on Lake Saint Peter road, and Av lien he got on that road he heard 
from other people that aa e aa ere gone along, and he said if he caught 
us there Ave would have gone up. He said that on the Alonday before 
the election, Avhen the meeting Avas held at AVetherley’s, he came up 
there to arrest me; he made sure he Avould catch me up there, and ar¬ 
rest m(‘ up there on Monday, but they could not find me on the day 
(Monday) that he had AAmrrantsfor my arrest. He asked me, didn’t I see 
him; but I told him, No.” He said, I Avas there Avhen you returned 
up there AA'ith all those men to the polls, but I Avould not arrest you; but 
I kncAv that you hadn’t done anything, and that it is all political Avork.” 

Q. AVhat position did you occupy ?—x\. I AA^as coroner of the parish. 

Q. Hoav long were you coroner ?—A. For two years. 

Q. AVere you ever notified officially or otherA\ise of the hanging of 
those four men in your parish ?—A. I don’t knoAv, judge, hoAV many 
AA ere hung; I only knoAV that Judge Cordill told nie that they Avere 
hanging (Ioaa n there in the trees. 

Q. Hoayii where !—A. DoAvn near AVaterproof. 

Q. Hid he call u])on you to go there and hold an im^uest?—A. No, 
vSir; he did not; but I asked him if it Avas my duty as coroner to go and 
take doAvn those men, and hold an inquest mer them, and bury them; 
and he said, If you do, if you go fooling there aa ith your duties, you 
will come up missing.” 

Q. Did you go then A. No, sir; I AA^ent as far as Captain AVatson’s 
place Avith the intention of hearing al)out those men. 

Q. Hoav far is that from Avhere those men were hanging ?— A. I don’t 
knoAv exactly, sir; those men were hanging about ten miles from AVater¬ 
proof. 

Q. You then got frightened and Avent back ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For the last six months prior to the election did you hold any in¬ 
quest on any men that Avere killed in that parish ?—A. No, sir ; notone. 

Q. And AAiiynot?—A. AAYll, lAvas afraid to interfere aa ith them down 
in that ])art of the parish, and Avould not hold an inquest for $1,000 a 
liead. There Avas a Avarraut issued for my arrest on my return from 
AVaterproof for riding across from Airs. AndrcAA^s’ to Dr. AVetherley’s 
on a priA ate plantation road. The warrant was for trespass. 

Q. AVho arrested you ?—A. Deputy sheriff named AVinters. 

Q. AAJien did he arrest jmu ?—A. The week before GovernoivNicholls 
visited the parish. AA^hen GoATvnor Nicliolls came up there I Avent 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM COOLIDGE. 


457 


down to town for the purpose of serving papers on tlie sheriff; on the 
same day I was arrested again by Deputy Sheriff Winters. Judge 
Cordell was in Buckingham’s in company with (f overnor Mcholls; I told 
Winters to go in and ask Judge Cordell to make out a Irond. Judge 
Cordell sent me word out, and told Winters to let me go along, as he 
would not take any notice of my case. 

Q. What position did Judge Cordell occupy in your x>arish ?—A. He 
was parish judge. 

Q. He was the one that told you if you were to go to perform your 
duties as coroner you would turn up missing ^ —A. He told me this: 

You all have your horses and buggies here, and if you don’t believe 
me, go down and see for yourselves.” But I said, Judge Cordell, my 
duty as coroner is to go and take those men down, and hold an inquest 
over them and bury them.” And lie said, By God, go down there 
fooling with your duties and you will come up missing. You take my 
advice, and don’t go there.” 

Q. You positively state that you never held an inquest over any one 
killed during the political troubles f—A. IS^o, sir; 1 was afraid to do so. 

Q. You are afraid for that reason ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Were you present at any political meeting in the parish of Tensas? 
—A. I was at the first meeting that the Democrats had. I was iiresent 
there. 

Q. Who were the orators; who made the siieeches ?—A. Colonel 
Beves-- 

Q. Did you hear him make any allusion to any Eepublican leaders, as 
to what would become of them, or anything of that kind, in case they 
took jiart in politics ?—A. He said that this was the only ticket that 
will be, and shall be, elected, if they had to carry it through fire, and 
anything that comes in its way. 

Q. How did he say it would be; by ballots or bullets ?—A. He didn’t 
say. He only said that it would be. 

Q. Did he make any threats against any of the colored leaders, such 
as Bryant ?—A. Bo, sir; he didn’t make any threats in my hearing. 

Q. Were you a candidate for office at the last election ?—A. Yes, sir; 
for coroner. 

Q. Were you elected?—A. Bo, sir; I withdrew from the ticket. 

Q. Why did you withdraw ?—A. Because 1 didn’t feel it very safe to 
run on the ticket. 

Q. Why didn’t you feel it safe ?—A. There was so much bulldozing, 
and I was afraid to have my name on the roll as one to be killed. There 

as such a threatening about the leaders, and I was looked upon as one 
of the leaders of the parish. 1 had to sleep away from home in cotton 
liouses and gins. 

Q. Why did you do that ?—A. Because they were after me to arrest 
me; and they were making such threats that I just kept out of the way. 

Q. Have you been arrested since ?—A. Yes, sir; the week before Gov¬ 
ernor Bicholls came up. 

Q. What was the charge?—A. Trespass; for riding through the 
X^lantation road. I went down to serve j^apers on the sheriff, and when 
I was down there I was arrested again by the deputy sheriff. Judge 
Cordell would not take any notice of my arrest for that. 

Q. That was your trial and acquittal?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was the last of it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was this release of yours made after the election?-—xi. Yes, sir; 
the same day that Governor Bicholls visited the parish of Tensas. 

Q. For the x)urpose of investigating the troubles there ?—A. Yes, sir. 



458 


LOUISIANA IN ISTS. 


[Teiisas 


Q. Did you speak to Governor Nicliolls while he was up there?—A, 
Yes, sir; I spoke to him. 

Q. Did he ask you anything !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you tell him that you were coroner of that parish?—A. No^ 
sir; I did not. 

Q. AVhat w as the general feeling among the colored people as to going 
to the polls on the day of election and voting as they thought proper?— 
A. Well, sir, it wms a pretty had feeling. The bulldozers had been on 
the lake, but didn’t cross over, and I got a crowd of two hiuidred men 
and marched them op to the polls. Some colored men remained in the 
held hoeing, and w ould not come to vote, because they had heard of 
armed men at the polls that didn’t belong in the parish. 

Q. What w ard w as that in ?—A. The first w ard. At the school-house, 
on the Holly Wood Track. 

Q. What ticket did those two liundred men vote ?—A. The Bland ticket. 

Q. How Avere the returns from that i)oll ?—A. I belicA^e Ave got about 
thirty. 

Q. AVas that the true report?—xl. No, sir. If we didn’t have three 
hundred Amtes at that poll I w ould agree to be hung. 

Q. You say you Avould agree t > be hung if you didn’t haA^e three hun¬ 
dred Amtes there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat sort of box AA^as that ?—A. I don’t knoAV, sir. I only saAV the 
top of it. I didn’t pay any attention to it. 

Q. AYho Avere the commissioners there?—A. Haw kins was one, and 
Cohn, and I forget the other man’s name. In fact, he was a man I 
didn’t know. 

Q. AA'ere they Democrats or Republicans?—A. All Democrats. 

Q. After the polls closed, w^as any one permitted to see the count ?— 
A. To my knoAA ledge, sir. I didn’t remain. After those men that I 
took OA"er A'oted, I Avent home. 

Q. Did you leaA^e anybody to watch the count?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. 
Douglas Avas there; and they objected to count the votes at that place. 

Q. AYliere did they count it?—A. Down at Saint Joseph. 

Q. Is that a strong Republican Avard ?—A. Well, I don’t think you 
could get three Democratic Amtes of colored men in the whole Avard. 

Q. Well, they carried that Avard in the last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you neA^er, in your official capacity as coroner, receiA^e any 
notice of the deaths of those four men that you spoke of being hung?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. When these four men Avere hung, Avas the new\s generally circu¬ 
lated through the parish, and for what ])urpose Avas it circulated, if so ?— 
A. No, sir; I only heard for Avhat one man a\ as hung. They said he 
was hung for burning doAvn a cotton-gin, but I didn’t hear that that w^as 
AA hat the others aa ere hung for. 

Q. Did you never hear wiiy or make any inquiries AAdiy those men 
AA^ere hung ?—A. Yes; but 1 neAcr could find out. 

Q. Noav, Avhat aa as the general impression among the (jolored people 
as to AA hy those four men Avere hung ?—xV. For political aTcavs. 

Q. For i)oliti(?al views ?—A. They thought that those men w^ere some 
of the leaders of the Republicans, and they Avere hung on that account. 
It seems as if the names of every man that A\ as a leader or a president 
of a club Av as called out among the bulldozers. I knoAv the names of the 
leaders np our Avay Avas called out. 

Q. Was that done for the purpose of getting rid of their oaa n Amte or 
of intimidating the Alters of the other ticket ?-^A. It was to intimidate 
the voters of the other ticket. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM COOLIDGE. 


459 


Q. Did you so understand Judge Cordell when he reidied to your in¬ 
quiry about your duty as coroner, as to tell you if ever you got down 
there you will find yourself missing! Did you consider that as sort of 
a threat A. Yes, sir; I think it was. 

Q. It was made in that sort of a way!—A. Yes, sir. 

How many men a\ ere killed in the parish of Tensas ?—A. I heard 
the rumor there was forty. I heard, as a rumor, there Avere forty. 

Q. Have you made your report to the legislature of this State ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Have you kept the book that is required to be kept by the coroner, 
of the number of inquests held bv him!—A. No, sir. It is at the clerk’s 
I office. 

I Q. How long was this Avarrant that you spoke of, that Avas held OA'^er 

; you, subjecting you to arrest at any time the sheriff* saAv fit to execute 

it, hoAv long Avas it hanging over you!—A. AVell, I think it Avas tAA O 
weeks, sir. 

I Q. Before the election !—A. That AA as after tlie election, 

i Q. When was this Avarrant first made out against you for trespass— 

this grand crime of trespass !—A. Just before the election. 

Q. Hoav long before !—A. A week before the election. 

Q. Who was the officer ifiaced in charge of that warrant to execute 

it !—A. Mr. Winters. 

Q. Hoav far did he liA-e from your house !—A. He li\ ed at Saint Jo¬ 
se] )h and I lived at Elk Ridge. 

Q. How far is that from Saint Joseph !—A. That is twenty-one miles 
from Saint Joseph. 

Q. Hoav did you know that the warrant AA^as out!—A. The first time 
I knew it Avas out, Winters came up there and arrested me. 

Q. Hoav long had the Avarrant been out!—A. About a week. 

Q. Came up to arrest you!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did he arrest you!—A. He arrested me on the road coming 
from home; but after he arrested me I escaped from him. 

Q. Were you afraid of standing trial !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why !—A. I Avas coming along up the road aa ith him and met 
another gentleman, and he told me that he thought he Avas gone long 
ago. Winters ansAvered and told him yes,” and he said tliat Ruth 
would be tired waiting for him. WYll, I didn’t care much to go. I went 
on up to the quarters to attempt to get a mule, and went in one door and 
went out at the other, but MTuters didn’t knoAv anything about it. 
I didn’t care to being AAuth the sheriff* that had somebody AA^aiting for 
him on the road. 

Q. You were not afraid of the charge !—A. No, sir j I Avas not afraid 
of the (charge. 

Q. Hoav did you slip him ?—A. He Avas riding about tA\^o miles in the 
woods with me to look for my horse, and Ave came back to the quarters 
and I Avent in to one of the houses and made W^iiiters belicA^e I was 
going to borroAv a mule, and I Avent in one door and out another, and I 
didn’t see him any more until I Avent to Saint Jose])h. 

Q. AVhat made you go to Saint Jo. when you heard GoA’-ernor Nicholls 
Avas there !—A. Because I had i)apers to serve on the sheriff, and that 
is the day Governor Nicholls came there. 

Q. Who Avas file lawyer that gaA^e you the papers to serve!—xl. Mi\ 
LcAvis. 

Q. Did he promise you ])rotectiou !—A. No, sir. 

Q. That Avas after tlie election !—A. Yes, sir. 



460 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. The thing’ was all over then?—A. Yes, sir j and 1 had somebody 
to go my bond. 

By Mr. Mellen : 

Q. You live twenty-one miles from Saint Joseph ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In the upper ])art of the parish ?—A. Yot exactly the upper part 
*of the parish, but within nine miles of the upper part of the parish. 

Q. How far are you from Waterproof ?—A. I doif t know exactly; I 
don’t know how far it is from Waterproof to Saint Joseph. 

Q. Are there many white people in that part of the parish ?—A. Yes, 
sir; right smart of them. 

Q. Many colored people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which is there the most of ?—A. Colored people. 

Q. About how many colored people to one white person ?—A. Well. 
I reckon there is nearly ten to one. 

Q. You went to the election, you say, with two hundred colored people ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had to get up that crowd in order to protect yourselves ?—A. 
ilo, sir; we got up the crowd in order to i)ut down the excitement and 
get the men to go to the polls. They were afraid, because they heard 
that eight or nine armed men were at the polls, and them men were 
strangers in the parish. 

Q. Were you armed when you went to the polls ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Were you or any of those two hundred men armed ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. About how many white men were in that Avard ?—A. I don’t know; 
I don’t think there is more than ten or hfteen that Amte in that ward. 

Q. Was there any bulldozing in that part of the parish ?—A. Yes, sir; 
a man Avas killed about fifteen miles away, on Hewell’s Kidge. 

Q. Did you hold any inquest on that man ?—A. No, sir; it was after 
my arrest, and I was afraid to hold an inquest. 

Q. Was it after your arrest for trespass ?—A. No, sir; after my arrest 
before that. 

Q. What were you arrested for then ?—A. I don’t knoAV; that is what 
I am trying to find out. 

Q. Did the killing of those men fifteen miles from your place occur 
before your arrest or afterAvard ?—A. It Avas after my first arrest. 

Q. That di^ln’t keep you from holding an inquest on him, did it ?—A. 
Yes, sir; because I Avas afraid to go ui) on the lake. I was afraid those 
men might catch me. 

Q. Who Avere those men I—A. I don’t knoAv, sir. 

Q. Was this man that was killed fifteen miles from you a leading Ke- 
publican ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. Were those men, Lee, Stafford, PostleAA haite, and Williams, Eepub- 
lican leaders ? Was any of them president of a club ?—A. I don’t 
knoAA^ 

Q. Then Avhich leader was killed ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. You are yourself aliA^e, and you are a leader ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which leader was killed ?—A. I don’t know, sir; but I know that 
there Avas Avarrants for the arrest of some of them, for Neil, Blackburn, 
and Walker. 

Q. HoAvloiig liaA^e you kiioAvn Judge Reves—Colonel ReA es?—A. I 
liaA^e known him nine or ten years. 

Q. Have you eA cr heard him speak?—A. No, sir; never before that 
Ray. 

Q. Is that the first time you ever heard him speak ?—A. I liaA^e heard 
Iiim speak at the bar. 


Parish,] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM COOLIDGE. 


461 


Q. A\lieii lie sjieaks at tlie bar, does ‘lie speak in a quiet, coiiA ersa* 
tional tone, or does lie speak in an excited, forcible manner ?—A. He 
speaks very loud. 

Q. He is rather vehement ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has a reputation for being blood-thirsty, or of a nice, quiet gentle¬ 
man!—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. But you have known him ten years; what do you hear said of 
him!—A. Well, I have heard him spoken of as a good lawyer. 

Q. Did you ever hear of him killing anybody!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Shooting anybody!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is he not considered as being a nice, Christian gentleman!—A. I 
don’t know about his Christianity. 

Q. You have never heard him being accused as a vicious, cruel, bad 
man!—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you see Judge Cordell last !—A. I saw him this morn¬ 
ing, and shook hands with him. 

Q. Y"ou say that after being arrested by Winters you went to Saint 
Joseph of your own accord!—A. Yes, sir; I went there for the purpose 
of serving papers on the sheriff. 

Q. You were not afraid to go!—A. I was not afraid to go then. I 
had some one to go my bond, and the election was over; but I was ar¬ 
rested when I got there by Winters. 

Q. And taken before the judge!—A. No, sir; I was arrested by 
Winters, and I told him that I was ready to give bond, and he went in 
to the judge and come back again and told me that the judge would 
not take any notice of my case. 

Q. When you had the conversation with the judge about going to 
Waterproof, he told you not to go, and said, “If you do not Avish to 
take my adAuce, go doAvn and see for yourselves” !—A. He told me that 
those men had been killed at Waterproof, and that they were hanging 
up in the trees, and if we didn’t belicA^e it, we had our horses and bug¬ 
gies there, to go and see for ourseHes. And I said, “ Judge, my being 
coroner isn’t my duty to go down there and take those men doAvn and 
hold an inquest, and bury them!” And he said, “By God, you go 
there fooling with your duties and you will come up missing.” 

Q. Didn’t he say, “ If you don’t belicA^e me go down and see for your¬ 
selves”!—A. Yes, sir; and he told me his advice was not to go doAvn 
there. 

Q. But did you go doAvn!—A. No, sir ; I only went a little over half 
way, and some colored people told me that some of those men are hung‘ 
in Camps Deadening. 

Q. And you found Judge Cordell’s adAuce to be good then!—A. Yes, 
sir; and I came back. 

Q. Do you think that Judge Cordell Avas gmng you friendly advice!— 
A. I didn’t think so then, but I found out afterwards it Avas good advice. 

Q. After you went back to Saint Joseph, how long was it until you 
started for Waterproof again!—A. About a week. 

Q. What time AA^as it that you started the first time and heard that 
those men aa ere killed in Camps Deadening!—A. That AA^as on a Thurs¬ 
day. 

Q. Of what month !—A. I don’t remember. 

Q. Was it the Thursday of the excitement at Waterproof; the Thurs¬ 
day that the gin was burned !—A. On Thursday, the week after; the 
folloAving week. 

Q. Nearly two Aveeks after!—A. Yes, sir. 


462 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. How long before the election was it ?—A. early two weeks before 

the election. 

(>). When did yon withdraw froin the ticket!—A. I withdrew from 
the ticket at the time of the bidldozing. 

Q. What time was it that yon called the bulldozing ?—A. About two 
weeks before the election. 

Q. It was before the Waterproof troid)le ?—A. It was some time after 
the Waterproof trouble. 

Q. Yon were nominated after the Waterproof trouble ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIoAv long did yon remain a candidate ?—A. l^ot more than two 
or three days. 

Q. AVho was pnt in your place ?—A. Dr. Percy. 

Q. Did he stay on the ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He was not elected ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. But he was voted for ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon don’t look like a very scary man f—A. No, sir; I am not scary. 

Q. What made yon so badly frightened that yon withdrew from the 
ticket?—A. Well, the other men Avere so scared about me that it made 
me feared to rnn on the ticket. 

Q. Yon withdrew from the ticket because soniel)ody else thought yon 
wonld be hurt, and not that yon Avere afraid yourself ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Yon were afraid that Adolence wonld be used toAATird yon ?—A. Yes, 
sir. I Avas expecting that CA ery day. 

Q. Was that yonr reason for taking yonr name off the ticket ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I took my name oft, so that they mightn’t be so rapid after 
me as being marked oft, ready to be killed. 

Q. Who is this man Arnold ?—A. I don’t know much about him. 

Q. He came to 3 on and gave 3^011 notice that there were warrants out 
for 3 onr arrest, or Avas it that he told AValker ?—A. No, sir. Arnold 
come to me on the same da 3 ^ that GoA^ernor Nicholls come up, and said 
to me, “ Coolidge, yon remember aa hen yon were going doAxn to AYater- 
proof and I AA^as coming np ? I got np that night at ten o’clock and 
receiA ed a aa arrant to arrest 3 "on, and li. E. Bnckner, and Blackburn, 
and I thought to see 3 T)n at Saint Jo the next morning. AYhen Bland 
Avas hitching np I Avas looking around for 3 T>n all but conld not see 3 'on, 
and I come back to Bass’s aiul took the Saint Peter road and rode veiy 
hard. I heard of 3 "on there, and tried to catch 3 ^ 011 , and if aa^o had caught 
3 "on then 3^011 wonld IniAe gone np.” Then he said, “On the da 3 ^ the 
meeting aatis at AVetherly’s aa ^ had a aa arrant for yon then, and come 
out to look for yon that da 3 ', but yon aa as not there, and if AA'e had caught 
3^011 that da 3 ' 3011 AAonld have gone np.” Then he said he had the 
same AA^arrant the da 3 ^ of election, and told me AA hen I marched np with 
1113 ^ 200 men he had the same AAarrant for 1113 ^ arrest, bnt he aa onld not 
do it, because he kncAA^ it aa as all for political aa ork, and I had done 
nothing. 

Q. Did he arrest yon ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is he a Democrat or a llepnbli(‘an ?—A. I don’t knoAv AA'hat he is. 

He Avonld serve the AA arrant on 3^011 ?—A. He Avonld, bnt he could 
not catch me. 

Q. Hoav come he to talk to 3 011 then ?—A. He told me this after it 
AATis all OA'er; the day that Governor Nicholls came np. 

Q. I nnderstand 3 on to sa 3 " that 3 mn aa ere scared nj) in the upper part 
of the parish, AAiien these Avarrants AA’ere ont for 3 ^ 011 ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
knew that the Avarrants AA ere ont for me Avlien first the bnlldozers come 
np there. 

Q. IIoAA' did yon knoAv it ? Who told yon ?—A. Mr. Bland. 


/ 


Paiisb.] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM COOLIDGE. 463 


Q. That is new. Wliy, you didn’t say that before?—A. AVell, sir; T 
told you that the first time, that the Avarrant Avas out for me, that Kin¬ 
ney had it; and tliat lUand, Douglas, Warfield, and other gentlemen 
entered a protest against it, and said that I hadn’t done anything, and 
the next time 1 heard of it that there aa as a Avarrant for my arrest, I 
heard that Arnold had it, and the next time Winters had it; but 1 
didn’t hear of Winters haA ing a Avarrant until the day Governor Kicholls 
came up there. That Avas at Saint Jo, the time I Avent to Waterproof 
Avith Buckner and Blackburn, lie said he had a Avarrant to arrest us, 
but couldn’t find us, and said if he could Inwe caught us Ave Avould Inwe 
Avent u]). The next Avarrant aa iis to arrest me for trespass for coming 
up a idantation road across from Mrs. AudrcAVS to Dr. Wetherly’s, and 
that Avarrant Ylr. Winters had. 

Q. Arnold didn’t tell you AAdiat his Avarrant Avas fi.)r ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Didn’t Bland tell you Avliat his warrant was for ?—A. No, sir; only 
it AA as for my arrest. 


By Mr. Marks : 

Q. You stattnl that the men that Avere hung were not leaders in the 
Kepublican party, as far as you knoAv ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know Avhether or not they were charged Avith having a 
hand in the roAV at the store—the row at WTiterproof ?—A. No, sir; I 
only heard AA hat one man AA^as hung for; they said because he burnt 
the gin. 

(^. Did you hear the reason Avhy the others had been hung?—A. No, 
sir. 

(^. MYre you ever charged Avith hav ing a hand in the same roAV' ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. AVere you (charged Avith being on the road armed ? —A. No, sir. 

Q. Then you have heard no reason Avhy those men Avere hung?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. You stated that to your knoAvledge you kiiCAv no leaders of the Be- 
publican i)arty that Avere shot, or hung, or killed?—A. No, sir; not to 
my knoAvledge. 

Q. AYill you ])lease state the names of some of the leaders that haAA‘ 
been diWen aAA ay from the i)arish ?—A. Noah L. Neil, Boss Stewart, 
William Blackburn, George Boane, Ned Dodson, and AVilliam Anderson. 

Q. Those were the men that had to run otf?—A. Yes, sir; they had 
to run aAvay, in the upper ])art of the ])arish, and stay out at night in 
the woods and cotton-houses. 

Q. AVhat eftect had that on the other men in the different wards that 
remained in the ])arish ?—xV. Well, it kept them all scary. 

Q. Did that keep them from organizing and making speeches?—A. 


Yes, sir. 

Q. How many leaders are there in the parish of Tensas that the i)eo- 
])le looked to for advice in political matters ?—A. There is none iioav ; 
and we luiA^e to slip around to tell each other Avhat to do. 

Then those that riui off* take good care not to organize in clubs ?— 
x\. A es, sir. 


By Mr. MellExX : 

(^. You are one of the leaders yourself?—A. Yes, sir. 

(}. lIoAV do yoii knoAv those men you spoke of Avere run off*?— A. Be¬ 
cause sometimes I Avas Avith them. They liA^e fiA-e or six miles from me, 
and sometimes I meet them in the Avoods, and they tell me they Avere 
run off'. 

Q. IIOAV do you knoAV that any of them Avere run off*?— xV. There is a 


464 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


V 


[Tensas 


man there, Neil (pointing’ to him), that I know was run oft, because I 
found him in the Avoods myself. 

Q. How do you know that ?—A. Because he told me, and I can swear 
to it; I believe him. 

Q. Do you know why he was run oft ?—A. He Avas getting out of the 
AA ay of the bulldozers. 

By Mr. JMarks : 

Q. Has he eA^er been back to the parish since ?—A. Who, sir ? 

Q. The man that you spoke of?—A. Yes, sir. 

By ]Mr. Mellen : 

Q. AVhen did he get back ?—A. I don’t knoAv; but he used to sleep in 
the cotton-houses. 

By Mr. Marks : 

Q. Where did you stay AAiien you aa ere uaa ay from home ?—A. I staid 
around in the cotton-houses and other places that I thought they AA^ould 
not be likely to find me in. I neA^er stopped long in one idace. 


WINNIE TULLE R. 

Winnie Miller sAA orn by the commissioner and examined. 

By Mr. Marks : 

Question. TIadam, what’s A’our name ?—AnsAA’er. My name is Winnie 
Miller. 

Q. Where do you reside and how long liaA^e you liA^ed there ?—A. I 
liA^e up at Waterproof, on Tlorse’s plantation. 

Q. In Avhat parish ?—A. I live in Tensas Parish. 

Q. Hoaa" long have you lived there ?—A. I luiA^e been living there the 
last nine years. 

Q. Y^ou liaA e been living there nine years ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Were you there during the last election ?—A. 

Q. Go on and relate to us all that you knoAV about it; what you knoAv 
about it.—A. AVell, there’s a ^^giii” burned down on Tuesday or Wednes¬ 
day morning. Mr. Cordill and Mr. Register came there and arrested 
my husband, and they took him aAA ay that eA^ening and brought him 
doAvn to Waterproof, and then they brought him back through the SAvamp 
right by the plantation. That eA^ening they carried him back by Tlr. 
Young’s plantation, and the next morning he Avas found hung, and I and 
his mother AA^ent up and had him eut doAvn and buried right up there. That 
is all that I know about it. Mr. Morris and Air. Wise took all the proi)- 
erty and everything from me, and Avouldn’t leave me anything. All the 
coAvs—and the cows was his motlier’s coavs— they took them. 

Q. Proceed, madam.—A. Air. Register told his uncle (my husband’s 
uncle) that he Avould show iiini Dick Aliller a liA^e man. 

(}. AYas he a live man?—A. No, sir; he Avasn’t. 

Where is he noAV?—A. AVe found him the next morning, hung; 
cut him doAAUi, and buried him. 

Q. AA^ere you present and did you recognize him as your husband 
AAiien he Avas cut doAvn ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. You recognized liim as the man taken charge of by Air. Register 
and Judge Cordell ?—A. A"es, sir. 



I^ansb.] TESTIMONY OF WINNIE MILLER. 4G5 

Q. Who else was present besides Mr. Eegister and Judge Cordell ?— 
A. There was no oiie else. 

Q. What time did they take him away!—A. They brought him to 
town about nine o’clock on Wednesday, and brought him back again in 
the evening and carried him back in the swamj). 

Q. You saw them when they went by !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that the way to the court-house of your parish!—A. Ko, sir; 
on the river on the Avay to St. Joe, and they carried him back through 
the swamps. 

Q. About what time of the day was it AA-hen you saw them going 
back through the SAAmmp !—A. It Avas about eight o’clock. 

Q. In the daytime !—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. When Avas the first information yon got of the hanging of your 
husband !—^A. It Avas on the Thursday morning. 

Q. AVas that the next day!—A. Yes; he Avas hung on Wednesday 
eA’eniiig. 

Q. You went up there to Avhere he Avas hung !—A. Y^es, sir. I Avent 
up there Thursday, just as quick as Ave could get a box made, a coffin, 
and we had him cut doAvn and buried him. 

Q. Were you present Avhen Mr. Cordell and Mr. Eegister arrested 
him!—A. No, sir, I was not present; he was uia there at the gins Avhen 
they arrested him ; he Avms up there helping them to saA^e the cotton. 

Q. You stated something about Mr. Eegister pledging his word that 
your husband was a live man; whom did he i)ledge that AAord to!— 
A. He told Harris Hyman, his uncle. 

Q. The uncle of your husband!—A. Yes, sir; he told him that he 
would shoAv him Dick Miller, a liA^e man. 

Q. When did he make that assertion to him !—A. It was on Wednes¬ 
day eA^ening. 

Q. Did he have your husband in charge then !—A. Yes, sir, he had 
him in his charge before that. 

Q. About how many men were AAuth Mr. Cordell and Mr. Eegister at 
that time!—A. According to my judgment, about forty. 

Q. Were they white or colored!—A. All white. 

Q. Were they armed!—A. I did not notice the arms. 

Q. Do you knoAV of any one else being hung up there!—A. I knoAV 
of some being hung; but I Avas not present when tlu*y AA^ere hung, but 
I heard of them. 

Q. Heard it; from Avhom did you hear it! 

(Counsel for the Democracy objected to this eAudence, but withdrew 
the objection as the committee had already received eAudence of that 
character.) 

A. I heard it from the people up there. 

Q. Do you know anything of any one having been whipped up 
there !—A. Yes; there was one gentleman that I heard Avas Avhipped uir 
there. 

Q. What is his name !—A. Eobert Buckner. 

Q. Who told you so !—A. He told me himself; and then I heard of 
oilier parties getting AAdiipped. 

Q. Who Avere the other parties!—A. I heard that Sol Buckler got 
Avhipped. 

Q. Did you hear of anybody else getting Avhipped !—A. Nobody else,, 
I believe. 

Q. Did they say who whipped him!—A. No, sir; I didn’t hear. 

(^. Did they say what they had been whipped for!—A. No, sir; I 
didn’t hear Avhat they Avas Avhipped for. 

30 T 


466 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


TTensag 


Q. What was the effect, if any, on the colore:! people of yonr parish, 
in regard to the hanging of yonr linsband ; were they frightened '?—A. 
The colored i)eople ? 

Q. Yes.—A. Yes, sir; they were very much frightend. 

Q. How long had your husband been living on that same place?—A. 
He had been living there about nine years. 

Q. About nine years ?—A. Yes. sir j I and him went on the same 
place about the same time. 

Q. Was he a good man—a hard-working man?—A. Y^es, sirj a good, 
hard-working man. 

Q. Have, you any children ?—A. Yes, sir; I have one child. 

Q. Had your husband ever been arrested, or charged with any 
crime?—A. No, sir; that was the first time in his life. 

Q. And he was arrested on Wednesday by Judge Cordell, and Eeg- 
ister, the sheriff, and a posse of some forty men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And, instead of being taken to the court-house, Im was taken back 
to the swamx>, and next morning you found him hanging there ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You cut him down, and buried him ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Who went with you to cut him down?—A. Mr. Barney, the gen¬ 
tleman of the plantation, went with us; the colored people were afraid 
to go. They would not go without some white gentleman went with 
us, and Mr. Barney went with us. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Mellen : 

Q. Was the ^‘giii” on that plantation burned?—A. Y^'es, sir. 

Q. On what day of the week was it burned ?—A. It was burned on 
Tuesday. 

Q. Was that the day before your husband was arrested ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who burned,the gin?—A. I don’t know, sir, exactly. 

Q. Who was accused of burning it?—A. Him and John McBeath. 

Q. Was that the reason he was arrested?—A. Yes, sh; on that ac¬ 
count. 

Q. Ho you know how much cotton was burned with that gin ?—A. No, 
sir; I never heard. 

Q. Ho you know how it came to be burned ?—A. No, sir; I don’t 
know. 

Q. What reason was it that made them burn it ?—A. I don’t know, 
sir; I don’t know the cause, but I know my husband was in his house 
when they burned it—he was in my bed ; he was never out of the house 
that day. 

Q. Was it burned in the day or night time ?—A. It was burned in the 
day. 

Q. What sort of a looking man is Mr. Eegister ?—A. Mr. Eegister? 

Q. Yes.—A. Well, he is a spare-made gentleman, very tall, with a slim 
face and a black moustache. 

Q. What color is his hair ?—A. I never noticed his hair. 

Q. What is his complexion?—A. Well, he ain’t clear bright; he is 
more of your complexion. 

Q. Wiiat sort of a man is Judge Cordell?—A. He is about the same 
build as Mr. Eegister, but not quite so tall, and he has red ‘‘Burnside” 
Avhiskers. 

Q. He has red “Burnside” whiskers?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Eed whiskers ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Parish.] TESTIMONY OF WINNIE MILLER. 467 

Q. About bis complexion—is be fairer or darker tban Mr. Eegister ?— 
A. He is fairer tban Re^rister. 

Q. How far Avere you from the gin AA’ben those men arrested your bus- 
band f—A. Well, I believe 1 Avas about 100 yards, I tbiiik, from the gin; 
not much more. 

Q. Was be arrested in the daytime or nighttime?—A. They arrested 
liim in the morning. 

Q. Did you stay where you were, or did you go up there when they 
arrested him ?—A. When the news come to me I Avent up there and they 
had brought him to Wateri)roof. 

Q. You didn’t know Avhen they arrested him ?—A. I seen Mr. Regis¬ 
ter, for I talked Avi!^h him on the road after they arrested him. 

Q. Hoav long was it after they arrested liim till you saAV him again?— 
A. They brought him to toAAui, and I didn’t see him again till about 
t\Am o’clock. 

Q. Where was he then?—A. He was coming along in the SAvamj). 

Q. Hoav did you knoAV that they went to Waterproof ?—A. The people 
told me so, and then they brought me back to Morse’s. 

Q. You only know that they took him to toAvii because some one told 
you so?—A. No, sir; I seen them going that Avay. 

Q. You didn’t go and find him in toAAUi ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see your husband AA-hen he was carried off the place?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav near Avere you to him at the time ?—A. I was just in sight of 
him. 

Q. Well, about Iioav far aAA^ay?—A. Well, I reckon about one-quarter 
of a mile. 

Q. Was that as near as you were to any of those men when they were 
arresting your husband?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see Mr. Register then?—A. No, sir; I didn’t see him 
AA'hen they Avere carrying him aAvay; I saw Mr. Register afterAvards. 

Q. You say that it Av^as about 2 o’clock you saAv Mr. Register?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. What Avas the first time that you saAV those men that arrrested 
your husband ? Where aa ere those men the first time you saw them ?— 
A. I saAV Mr. Register in the road. 

Q. That Avas about 2 o’clock in the day?—A. No; I saw him in the 
morning. 

Q. Was that before or after your husband aa ^s arrested?—A. He had 
done arrested him at the “gin,” and they Avas gone down to arrest John 
M. Beath. 

Q. What became of the other men ? When did you see them ?—A. I 
didn’t see them at all in the eA^ening. 

Q. When did you see Judge Cordell?—A. I seen him in the eAwng 
when he come Avitli Register. 

Q. How far off* from your place did they hang your husband ?—A. On 
the next plantation. 

Q. Who first told you that he was hung ?—A. The old gentleman named 
Harry Hill. He saw him, and the first reason that he saAV him was that 
he had tAA^o boys out hunting, and AA^hen them men fired off* a gun Avhen 
they hung him, he went up there to see, because he Avas afraid that it 
Avas his children Avas getting shot. 

Q. Did you see anything more of this gang of white men after they 
Avent bv your place that afternoon ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Mhis there a good deal of excitement there the day that the gin was 
burned ?—A. Yes, sir. 




468 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


ITcmsaai 


Q. AMiat about tlie gin being burned; wasn^t there iiincli excitement 
about the gin being burned ; wliat was the matter ?—A. Well^ the white 
folks was tiring like death and the children were running away from 
home. 

Q. On that plantation ?—A. On the lane between the two plantations. 

Q. What lane is thatj what is it called?—A. It’s the lane between 
Ilowman’s and Bass’s plantations. 

Q. That is what they call Bass’s lane ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did there happen to be any bring there that day ?—I don’t 
know, sir. 

Q. How far was that filing from the plantation-house; was it anywhere 
close to the gin ?—A. It was about a mile away from the gin, I believe. 

C^. Were there any men that belonged to that plantation engaged in 
firing 5 was any of them, colored or white, engaged in firing ?—A. Tliere 
was a good many colored gentlemen there, but I don’t know who done 
the firing. 

Q. AYhat time did this squad of men come up there ?— A. They came 
that morning. 

Q. Hid they take their guns up there?—A. I don’t know. 

(}. What time did they come back ?—A. They came back about sun¬ 
down. 

(^. What time of day was the gin burned?—^A. About 12 o’clock, I 
think. 

Q. Hid your husband go with those men in the morning ?—A. My 
husband went out to the gin to he\\) them put out the cotton that was 
burning. 

Q. I want to know, did he go up the lane where the firing was taking 
place?—^A. ISTo, sir. 

Q. Where was he, then ?—A. He was at home in bed. 

Q. What time of day was that?—A. About 9 o’clock. 

Q. And the gin was burned when ?—^A. The gin was burned on Tues¬ 
day. 

Q. After the gin was burned, where did he go?—A. He didn’t go no¬ 
where. 

Q. He staid on the place ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What became of this man John McTear or McBeath —iV. I don’t 
know, sir. 

Q. Where is he now ?—^A. I don’t know, sir. 


RE-EXAMINED BY MU. MARKS. 

Q. How long have you known Judge Cordell and Mr. Eegister?—A. 
I reckon I’ve been knowing Mr. Eegister for about two years. 

Q. Would you know him now if you saw him ? 

Q. Ho you say he is a man with red beard ?—A. No, sir; not Mr. 
Eegister; he has a little black moustache. Judge Cordell has red 
- Avhiskers. 

• Q. You are sure you know Mr. Eegister?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you seen him since you came here to torni ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you seen Judge Cordell since you came to town ?—A. No, 
sir. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF ELIZA HILL. 


469 


ELIZA HILL. 

Eliza Hill sworn and examined. / 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. I live on Mr. Kemp’s idace. 

Q. In what parish f—A. In Tensas Parish. 

Q. How Jong have you lived there —A. I have lived there eight 
years. 

Q. Go on and state what you know about the whipx)ing, killing, hang- 
:! ing, and everything that you know in connection with the troubles in 
, Tensas Parish.—A. I know that they killed my husband; that is all I 
* know about it. 

Q. What was yoiu' husband’s name ?—A. Monday Hill. 

Q. When and where did they kill him?—A. Well, they took him 
right oif from the plantation, and took him on toward town. 

Q. What day was that I —A. That was on Saturday. 

Q. Ho you remember what month it was ?—A. Yes, sir: on the 19th 
of October. 

Q. Who took him away ?—A. Well, I can’t tell you the names of the 
men that took him away, but they was white men, and I did not take 
notice of them because they scared me so bad; but I don’t know any 
more only that they was white men. 

Q. Where did they take him from?—A. Well, they took him right 
from his potato-patch, below the quarters. 

Q. Was he at work at the time ?—A. Yes, sir; he was gathering his 
potiitoes; he done dug them and he was hauling them up to his house. 
They ha(l been u}) to quarters, they said, inquiring for him, and he was 
not there, and they came down to the potato-patch just when he was 
coming out with the second load of potatoes; and they said to him. 

Here; you are the very man we are looking for.” 

Q. Who said that ?—A. A white man. 

Q. How many were there ?—A. About a dozen. My husband said to 
me, ^Hjo on and get your potatoes and carry them home.” That’s all 
my husband said to me. I didn’t know any of the men. 

Where did they take your husband to ?—A. They took him out¬ 
side of Mr. Haye’s held—outside Mr. Carrigan’s place by the bayou, and 
hung him. 

Q. How do you know they hung him ?—A. Well, I know they hung 
him, because after he was hung they went and got a wagon and brought 
him home to the graveyard. Tommy Kemp was the man that went 
with me to get him; the colored men was so afraid to go by themselves. 

Q. Who went with you ?—A. Tommy Kemi) and W estly Emmanuel 
and Sam Johnson, and they took him home. 

Q. And what had your husband done ?—A. Well, sir, if he done any¬ 
thing, I don’t know anymore than you, except that they said that he 
passed by Mr. Oarrigan’s place with a pistol in his hands, and he fright¬ 
ened Mrs. Carrigan pretty bad. They knbw Monday Hill very well, and 
they said when they saw his name in Waterproof that they would not 
trouble him, but they done hung him all the same. 

Q. Hid you know of anybody else that got hung or shot?—A. Ko, 
sir; not to say that I know, but I heard of a great many that got hung 
and got shot; but I didn’t see my husband after he got hung and 
brought to the graveyard. 

C^. How old was your husband ?—A. He was an old gentleman; he 
was about sixty years old. 




470 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. How long liatl he been in the parish !—A. He was on that place 
about eight years, and he was living in the parish of Tensas ever since 
the surrender. 

Q. What was he doing there for a living ?—A. He was blacksmithing 
and fanning. 

Q. Was he a hard-working man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

How long have you been married ?—A. Eight years. 

(^. Had your husband ever been in jail ?—A. So, sir. 

Q. Has he ever been arrested ?—A. Yo. sir. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Mellen : 

(^. How far were you from the i)otato-patch Avhen those men came to 
where he was f—A. I Avas only a little Avay from him—I was helping him 
to load the potatoes. 

Q. You heard Avhat they vsaid to him Avhen they arrested him ; did you 
hear them accuse him of anything ?—A. Yo, sir; I didn’t hear them, and 
1 didn’t hear him ask what he done. I a\ as frightened, and I know he was 
frightened. 

Q. What was it you said about him liaAing a jiistol f—A. I heard after 
they killed him that that was Avhat they killed him for j that he come 
behind Mr. Camgan’s AAuth a i)istol and that it frightened the old lady 
A^ery much. 

Q. Had he been up about Waterproof Avdien the riots occurred there, 
about a week or ten days before that f—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Where was he Avhen those riots took place ?—A. He was at home. 

Q. Ho you knoAv where he was when the Moss gin Avas burned ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was he ?—x\. He was at home then. 

Q. Where do you say he Avas then ?—A. He AA^as at home. 

You don’t know A\Tiat heAvas hung for?—A. Yo, sir. 


HEYEIETTA WILLIAMS. 

Henrietta Williams sworn by United States Commissioner Lane, 
and examined by Judge Marks. 

Question. Where do you liA^e ?—Answer. I Ih^e in Tensas Parish. 

Q. Hoav long have you lived there ? — A. I just AA^ent there last AA^eek. 

(^. AVhere did you Ha e last ?—A. I liA^ed on Mr. Wise’s plantation. 

Q. Hoav long haA^e you IIa ed there ?—A. Seven years. 

(^. Are you a married woman f—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Where is your husband ?—A. My husband Avas hung. 

Q. Who hung him ?—A. I don’t knoAV who hung him, but Mr. Tom¬ 
my Kemp and two other men come there and they carried him off, and 
he Avas hung about three miles from there. 

Q. What time of the day did this occur !—A. It was on a Sunday 
after breakfast. 

Do you remember Avhat day of the month it was ?—A. No, sir; I 
do not. 

Q. Do you remember when we had the last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

How long before that or after that—was it before or after the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. It was after the election. 

Q. About hoAv many weeks was it ?—A. About two weeks, I should 
think. 



a^arish.! ^ TESTIMONY OF HENRIETTA WILLIAMS. 471 

i 

Q. Two weeks before or after ?—A. It was two weeks before^ I tliiiik. 

Q. What day was it "I—A. On a Sunday. 

Q. What time of the day was it ?—A. It was about breakhist time. 

Q. l)o yon know what they hunj;^ him for?—A. Ho, sir; I don’t know. 

Q* Do you know what they charged him with doing?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Were yon there when they arrested him?—A. Yes, sir. He was 
coming from Harry Jackson’s house, and they surrounded him before he 
got home. 

Q. How far was he from home at the time ?—A. About fifteen yards. 

Q. You saw him yourself?—A. Yes, sir. 

Were tliey armed?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. What were they armed with ?—A. All three of them had a gun 
apiece, and they had bayonets besides. 

Q. You saw them when they arrested him ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Where did they take him to ?—A. They took him below Mr. Car- 
rigan’s, at Green’s Bayou. 

Q. Was that towards the river or the swamp?—A. They took him 
towards the swamp. 

Q. Was that towards or away from the court-house ?—^A. It was away 
from the court-house. 

Q. How do you know that they hung him ?—A. Because Mr. Tommy 
Kemp come and got the wagon to fetch him in. I didn’t see him myself, 
but the Avonian who got the sheets to put him in saw him. 

Q. How long after he was arrested was it until you got the news that 
he was hung?—A. Well, Mr. Tommy Kemp come there about an hour 
and a half after he was taken away and told me. 

Q. Who is Mr. Kemp ?—A. Mr. Tommy Kemp. 

Q. Was he owner of the place that you lived on?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Was he one of the men that arrested your husband?—A. Yes, sir, 
he was the man that called him out, and that brought him back again. 

Q. Y"ou say that he was the man that arrested yonr husband, and was 
the man that brought his body back to you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who went with him ?—A. Westly Emanuel and Sandy Humphreys. 

Q. Are they colored or white men ?—A. They are white men. 

Q. You staid on the plantation—you and your husband?—A. Ho, sir; 
he staid on the next plantation, the adjoining plantation to where I was. 

Q. Who is Tommy Kemp; is he an officer?—A. Well, I don’t know, 
but that gentleman there can tell you. 

Q. What sort of a looking man is he ?—A. He is about like that young 
gentleman over there, only he has got a florid face. 

Q. Was there anybody else hung on tliat place that you know of ?— 
A. Ho, sir. 

Q. You say that your husband hadn’t done anything ?—A. Ho, sir ; 
he hadn’t done anything at all that I knoAV of. 

Q. You don’t know whether the man that arrested him had any paper 
or warrant to arrest him ?—A. Ho, sir; they hadn’t any paper; tliey just 
took him up soul and body and tied his hands behind him and carried 
him off. 

Q. Didn’t he have a chance to tell you what he was arrested for ?—A. 
Ho, sir. 

Q. Didn’t they give him any chanee to tell you good-by”?—A. Ho,, 
sir. 

Q. And the next thing yon heard, just before sundown, was that he 
was hung?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far from your place was he hung ?—A. About three miles. 

Q. Then Mr. Tommy Kemp, one of the men that arrested him, brought 
his body back?—A. Yes, sir. 


472 


LOUISIANA IN J873. 


[Tensas 


CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Mr. Meller : 

Q. How old a man is Mr. Tommy Kemp ?—A. Well^ sir, I don’t know 
how old a mail he is. 

Q. Is he a young man, an old man, or a middle-aged man ?—A. He is 
a young man. 

Q. Hoes he wear whiskers, or beard, or anything else!—A. Ko, sir; 
he has no wliiskers, only a small mustache. 

Q. Is he a large or small man !—A. He is a small-built man. 

Q. Have you known him long!—A. I have been knowing him ever 
since I was small. 

Q. Ho you know him well !—A. Yes, sir; I know him well. 

Q. Ho you know him well !—A. I knoAV him well. 

Q. Who was with him at that time !—A. There was two other white 
men. I don’t know who they were. 

Q. What did they tell your husband that they arrested him for !— A. 
I don’t know, sir ; they didn’t tell me anything. 

Q. Have you heard what he was arrested for !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or what he was hung for !—A. No, sir. 

Q. You never heard before or since why they hung him !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Ho you know when Mr. Morsey’s gin was burned !—A. No, sir; 
heard talk about it that it was burned. 

Q. Was your husband arrested before or after that gin was burned !— 
A. He was arrested afterwards. 

Q. Ho you know when those riots took place about Waterproof !—^A. 
No, sir; I don’t know anything about it, but I heard talk about it. 

Q. How far do you live from Wateri)roof!—A. I live about two miles 
back from Waterproof. 

Q. How far from ]\Ir. Morsey’s place do you live !—A. I live about 
four miles from there. 

Q. That place is about two miles from Waterproof, isn’t it!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Where you lived then was on the road going down towards Con¬ 
cordia Parish, or on the road !—A. I live on the road towards Saint Joe. 

Q. Was there any tight that day that you know of!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t know of any tight taking place about there !—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. You never heard of any !—A. No, sir. 

Q. You never heard of any trouble between the white people and the 
black peoi>le !—A. Yes, sir; I heard that there was on Sunday a week 
before that. 

Q. Hid you hear of anybody being shot!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was anybody from your place down where the tight took place!— 
A. No, sir; not that I knowed of; I lived about a quarter of a mile from 
the quarters. 

Q. How far was your husband from you when he was arrested!—A. 
About fifteen yards. 

Q. What did they all say to him when they arrested him!—A. They 
(didn’t say nothing. Tommy Kent said to him, ‘‘Is that you!” and tlie 
other men said, “Have you got him!” and he said, “Yes, 1 have got the 
^rand rascal.” 

Q. What time of day did that happen!—A. That was about breakfast 
time—about plantation breakfast time. 

Q. Was there any other colored men with him at the time!—A. No, 
sir. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF SOLOMON BUTLER. 


473 


SOLOMOI^ BUTLEE. 

Solomon Butler sworn for tlie majority. Direct examination. 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Where do yon live^ sir ?—Answer. I live on the Aqnasco 
plantation, in Tensas Barisli. 

Q. How long have yon lived there ?—A. I have been living there ever 
since the war. 

Q. Well, sir, go on and state what you know about the troubles that 
occurred daring the last political campaign in that X)arish, if there 
were any.—A. Well, sir, I Avas at my house on Saturday evening about 
an hour of sun, as nigh as can come of it. 

Q. About what time Avas that that yon are si)eaking— Avliat month; 
do you remember the month ?—A. 1 don’t remember the month; I ncA^er 
took any acicount of the month. 

Was it before or after the election?—A. It was before the election. 

Q. Hoav long before the election are you s])eaking of?—A. I never 
took any account of it. 

Q. Well, as near as yon can come at it—a week, two weeks, or a 
month ? —A. I think about two AA^eeks, or something like that. 

Q. Noav, go on.—A. Well, there Avas four gentlemen came to my house 
on Saturday CAening, and as they AA-ere coming in the gate I got a sort 
of frightened. When I saAV them coming uj) they AA^as coming up in 
front of my house. I Avent and grabbed my hat, and tried to get oft' the 
back AAMy. Two of them got doAvn from their horses and come up to me, 
and cursed me, and asked me ‘AVho is here?” and I said, “There is no 
one in here”; and they asked me, “Where is that Avounded man?” and I 
said he is not here. Taa o of the gentlemen come into the house, and 
one of them looked about and thrcAA’ the “kiver” oft' of my bed, and he 
looked in and he didn’t see nothing. Then he AAcnt into the back room 
and called to me for a light, and AAdien I AA^ent to him AAuth a light he 
told me to shine it on the bed. After shining it on the bed, he said, 
“Take oft' them things, old man; take them things oft' the bed.” He 
looked on the bed after I done that, and said, “That Avill do.” I put 
doAvn the light, and he said, “FoIIoav me,” and after I got outside the 
door he said, “Don’t run,” and I said “Xo.” They got on their 
horses, and x^ut me in front of the tAA o men—there Avas two behind 
me and in front, and they said, “Old man, now shoAv us where’s that 
AAmunded man; shoAV us the Avounded man and your life is in¬ 
sured”; and I said, “All right.” They said, “Koav take doAvn that 
road, and run, God damn you.” Tliey run the horse right up 
on my heels; and AA'lien aa^o got to the house Avhere the Avounded man 
Avas they said, “Old man, burst ox)en that door”; and I said, “It’s no 
use; Ave will go in the back door.” They said, “Damn you, old man, 
burst the door ox)en.” I bursted the door open, and there Avas tAA^o other 
men in the house that come there to x)ick cotton; and they said to me, 
AA'hen they shoAA^ed me one man, “ Old man, isn’t that the aa ounded man 
there ?” and the last man that came in said, “Yes, that’s the AA^ounded 
man”; and he Avent up to him and shot him; and the one man that come 
in first, that’s doing the shooting, “put fiA^e in him”; and he shot him 
five times. They said to these two colored men, “ Snatch him out of 
the bed; put him on the floor”; and then they took a knife and cut his 
throat. After that they come to me and said, “ Old man, you are a good 
man, and yon stay home and attend to your business and nobody will 
trouble you”; and they said, “ Old man, we came one hundred and ten 


474 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


miles to do this very thing, and you colored people are the cause of it”; 
and they said, “Old man, if we ever come back again you had better 
take to tlie bush”; and I said, “Very well, gentlemen; it* you does come 
back I will take to the bush, sure.” 

Q. How many men composed that party?—A. Four men—only four. 

Q. Were they all white men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What were they armed with ?—A. Pistols and guns. 

Q. Had you ever seen any of those men before ?—A. No, sir; I never 
saw them before. 

Q. Have you ever seen them since ?—A. No, sir; 1 never seen them 
since, and never lieard of any of them since. 

Q. You say that they were mounted?—A. Y^es, sir; all of them 
mounted. 

Q. Who A^^as this wounded man that you speak of ?—A. His name was 
Jim Stafford. 

Q. Hoav did you knoAv he was wounded?—A. Well, he was shot at 
Mr. Wren’s store on Monday night. I was at home, and don’t know 
nothing about it; but the imople told me, and they wanted me to 
go out late at night and help them to haul that man home. When they 
brought him home I gn^e him some aa ater; and I aa ouldn’t go back to 
him any more. 

Q. Ho you know how long he was AA^ounded?—A. He was A^^ounded 
at Wren’s store on Thursday night. 

Q. When Av^as he killed ?—A. He was killed on Saturday eA^ening. 

Q. How AA'as he aa ounded; Avas he in such a ftx that he couldn’t run ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After they had shot that man, Avhat did you think they intended 
to do Avith you?—A. I thought they AA^ould haA^e killed me. They took 
my oath that I AA^ould behaA^e myself. 

Q. Ho you know how they knew AAhere the wounded man was?—A. 
I don’t know how they knoAved it. They asked me aa here the wounded 
man Avas, and I told them. 

Q. Hid they knoAv his name?—A. No, sir; they just asked for the 
wounded man, that’s all. 

Q. Hoav do you knoAV that that was the man they Avanted ?—A. They 
said they wanted the aa ounded man ; and I told thein. 

Q. Was that the only wounded man there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav old a man was he ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Had he a family ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was his Avife and family?—A. Eight in the house at the 
time. 

Q. You say he had children ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where A\we they ?—A. All of them “kivered” up in bed. 

Q. While this A\^as going on ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they frightened to death ?—A. Yes, sir; they didn’t grunt. 
I didn’t knoAv that they AAhere there until this man thro wed the “kiver” 
off*. 

Q. Hoav many children were there ?—A. There Avas three or four little 
children. 

Q. As soon as they saw the man one of them said, “ GiAX it to him ” ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Well, how was it?—A. They asked me three or four times is this 
the wounded man, and the last gentleman that come in to do the shoot¬ 
ing asked me, and then the first gentleman that came in asked me if 
this is the w^ounded man. And then the first gentleman told this man to 
give it to him. 

Q. How many times did they shoot him ?—A. Five times. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF SOLOMON BUTLER. 


475 


Q. How close was the man that did the shooting —A. He was just a 
little ways, a few spaces, and Jim’s shirt and coat was on fire, and they 
told these two'colored men to put out the fire, and I told them to 
get water and put it out. 

Q. Did the men say anything when they started to shoot him?—A. I 
don’t know, but I understood him to say, during the time that they were 
asking me, “Yes, I am wounded.” 

Q. Did he e\'er speak after the first shot !—A. No, sir. 

Q. After shooting him five times, you say that they cut his throat!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they cut his throat with !—A. They cut it with a pocket- 
knife. 

Q. How do you know that!—A. I seen the gentleman take it out of 
his pocket and open it. 

Q. How did they doit!—A. They done it this way. [Witness illus¬ 
trated the mode of killing by thrusting his finger at his throat and draw¬ 
ing it across.] They done it so—sawing it so. The other one said you 
don’t know how to do it; just “sowje” it in and then cut down the side 
of his neck. And he said, “God damn it, blood for blood! That’s what 
I want.” 

Q. What did you do then !—A. I done nothing. They told me that 
I was a good man, and go and attend to my business and behave myself 
and nobody would trouble me. They said they come one hundred and 
ten miles to do it, and that the colored people were getting outside their 
business. 

Q. Is this tlie first time that you testified about this thing!—A. YYs, 
sir; in court it is, or anywheres else. 

Q. Are you going back to the parish of Tensas!—A. Y^es, sir; I ex- 
l)ect to go back there if I live. 

Q. Have you your family there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is this the only case of killing that you have heard of or that you 
know about!—A. I have heard of others; I don’t know of any. I heard 
of a man named Louis Postlewaite being killed. 

Q. Who else!—A. I heard of a man in Concordia Parish by the name 
of Charles Curd, and another by the name of Dock Bovay. 

Q. Did you know the man that you saw shot and his throat cut!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How long did you knoAV him!—A. For seven or eight years. 

Q. What were his habits and character!—A. Well, his character and 
habits I don’t understand. 

Q. Was he considered a good man or a bad man! Was he a hard¬ 
working man!—A. Yes; he was a hard-working man; I know that much 
about liiin. 

Q. Did you ever know him to do anything wrong!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did "you hear how he was Avounded first!—A. No, sir; no more 
than the inen called him out of the store and talked with him or some¬ 
thing and shot him. 

Q. Did you hear Avhat they shot him about!—A. No, sir; I didn’t 
hear what it was about. 

Q. Were they Avhite men or colored men that wounded him at that 
store!—A. It was white men as I understood about it. 

Q. He was AVOunded on Thursday!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And killed on Saturday !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are positiA’e as to the days!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you don’t knoAV that he had done anything !—A. No, sir. 

Q. The only thing that these men that came to your house Avanted to 
kuoAV was Avhere was the AAmunded man !—A. That’s all, sir. 


476 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. And when they saw him they put him through j that is, they 
killed him !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliat was the general feeling among the colored people as to voting 
the Republican ticket at the last election; were they frightened, or 
not ?—A. I don’t know, only about myself. 

Q. AYell, how did you feeH—A. Well, sir, I just felt that I had to 
vote some ticket, and the first ticket that I got hold of I voted it. 

Q. AYho handed it to you“^—A. A man named Doyle Davis. 

Why did you think you had to vote ?—A. Well, I thought it was 
my duty to vote, as I was registered. 

Q. Did anybody tell you who to vote for ?—A. He said to split the 
difference between him and Boler AVashington. 

Q. Do you know what ticket he was on ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You paid very little attention to the election ?—A. A^ery little, sir. 

Q. Did you attend any public meetings !—A. No, sir. 

Q. AVhy not?—A. Just because I didn’t care to attejid them. 

Q. AA'ere you afraid?—A. No, sir; I wasn’t afraid. 

Q. If you were to see any of those four men who got you to show 
them where the wounded man was lying, could you recognize them ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. If you knew their names, would you tell them ?—A. Y^es, sir, if I 
knew their names, but I don’t. 

Q. Has any one from them come to you and instructed you not to give 
them away,” not to tell us their names ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How did you know those things that you say occurred in the 
house where the wounded man was; Avas it dark or was there a light 
there ?—A. It was about a half an hour or an hour by sun. 

Q. Then it was in the day-time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYlien you were breaking in the door, Avas there anything said to 
you from the inside ?—A. No, sir; not until the door come open. There 
Avas tAvo colored men in there that this Avoman got for comx)any, and they 
come to the door and cried ‘Hnnocent, innocent, gentlemen!” 

Q. Did they run off ?—A. No, sir; they staid in there until it was 
all oA-er. 

Q. And saAV all this going on there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat has become of them now?—A. I don’t knoAv, sir; they are 
about u}) there soiucaa heres. 

Q. Do you knoAA' their names?—A. No, sir; they were strangers about 
there, just came doAAm to the cotton-picking. 

Q. They were strangers?—A. Yes, sir; I did know their names, but I 
forget. 

By Mr. Mellen : 

Q. On Avhat plantation AA^ere you living at that time ?—A. On the 
Aquasco jAlantation. 

Q. AA'hom does that belong to?—A. To Mrs. Thornhill, but Mrs. 
Moulton is running it now. 

Q. Hoav far is that from Wateri)roof ?—A. About ten miles. 

Q. Is it in Tensas or Concordia Parish ?—A. It’s in Tensas. 

Q. Where is Wren’s store?—A. It’s at the mouth of the bayou. 

Q. How far is it from this plantation?—A. I reckon it’s about half a 
mile, as nigh as I can come to it. 

Q. This man had been AAOunded at that store on Thursday night?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you at the store that night ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear anything of the trouble that happened that night?— 
A. No, sir; only that he Avas wounded. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF SOLOMON BUTLER. 


477 


Q. Did aiiytliing else happen tliat ni^lit at the store?—A. N'o, sir. 

Q. You spoke a wliile ago of Louis Postlewaite avIio was killed; was 
he killed at that time—at the store?—A. He was shot at the store up in 
the road. 

(^. Did you hear Avho brought on the trouble that caused the death of 
those men?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you hear that this wounded man got Louis Postlewaite in 
trouble?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Didn’t you hear this man make threats about killing or shooting or 
burning?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Did yoti hear PostleAvaite say such things?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What was this wounded man’s name?—A. Jim Stafford. 

AVhat were his habits ?—A. I don’t know. I never saw him drunk. 

i}. Was he a quarrelsome man ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Was he a high-tempered or a peaceable and quiet man?—A. Well, 
about high-tempered, I don’t knoAV nothing about that. lie talked 
pretty ])lain and straight along on a person when he talked about them. 

Q. What do you mean?—A. Well, he would tell a person that he 
didn’t like that he didn’t like him, and so on. 

Q. Did he use bad language?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. Was he an honest man ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Was he a popular man with tlie hands on the place—did they like 
him?—A. Some did and some didn’t. 

(^. What sort of a man did they consider him to be ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. What sort of a man did you consider him to be ?—A. I considered 
him to be a pretty fine man. 

Q. Why didn’t the others consider him to be a fine man?—A. I don’t 
know what they considered. 

Q. Do you know Morse’s gin was burned ?—A. I heard of it. 

Q. Was this man killed before or after the gin was burned?—A. I 
don’t know. 

Q. Do you know when the troubles at Waterproof occurred ?—A. I 
heard talk of them. 

Q. Was this before or after the troubles at Waterproof?—A. After, 
I think. 

Q. Were you in those troubles in Waterproof ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did this man go there?—A. No, sirj I and him was in the woods 
hauling poles at the time. 

Q. You are certain about that?—A. Yes, sir; I and him were in the 
woods hauling poles at the time. 

Q. How did you know where the wounded man was the night those 
four men came to your house?—A. Because I knew Avhere his house 
was. 

Q. How did you know that he was Avounded ?—A. Because I Avas 
told. 

Q. Who told you ?—A. Some of the parties about there. 

Q. Who were'tlie parties that told you?—A. There is a man here now 
that told me, I think; but there is a man up there that told me, named 
Charles Johnson. 

Q. Wasn’t that trouble at Wren’s store talked about a good deal on 
the place?—A. No, sir; I staid in the quarters by myself, and I didn’t 
hear it. 

Q. How far did this man live from yon ?—A. About tAAm hundred yards 
or more. 

Q. Who was the Democratic candidate for sheriff—wasn’t it Bowler 
Washington ?—A. I think so. 





478 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


IloBERT Buckner, called and sworn for tlie majority. 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. I live in Tensas Parish. 

Q. How long have yon lived there ?—A. Since 1869. 

Q. Are yon a man of family !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number of children have yon ?—A. I liavx got three. 

Q. Is yonr wife living ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, sir, now go on and state what yon know in regard to the 
troubles which occurred in yonr parish.—A. Well, in October, tlie 17th 
day, I went out into the woods after breakfast to cut some poles and a 
little Avood, and I got the i)oles togetlier and some Avood cut; then after 
I got it cut I undertook to carry my Avagon out to it, but my double- 
tree was broken, and I had to go back to the house to get anotlier pair. 
I Avent back to the house and got my double trees and put my single¬ 
trees to them, and just as I got back on the top of the leA^ee to go into 
the Avoods after my wagon, I see a lot of Avhite men coming, and 1 heard 
one say, “ Yonder is one of them”; his name I don’t know. I stopped 
immediately, and I didn’t know A\diat it meant. There VA^as another man 
by the name of SteA^e Began ; he called me to come for a damned son of a 
bitch, and told me to moAX in a hurry, old man, or I’ll blow yonr brains 
out.” He told me not to moA^e, old man, or I’ll blow yonr brains out; yon 
ought to be killed anyhow.” I said that I didn’t mean any harm; and he said. 
Don’t give me any insolence,” and he Aventolf and searched my house; 
after a Avhile the iieAvs come to fetch me over, and Mr. Murphy said, 
‘‘Trot off, old man,” and 1 run off* before him to the troop of men that 
AAms on the road. They run a mule up against me, and I halted, and he 
said, “Go on, sir; no matter if the mule kills you or not,” and he struck 
me AA ith a gun on the head. He took me up to my house, and he said, 
“ Old man, I heard that you are an official of the church, and you are a 
friend of Fairfax”; and I said that I kneAA' Elder Fairfax. We both be¬ 
long to one church; and he said, “Where is he?” and I said I didn’t 
knoAV. I said I didn’t see him since the last Sunday in September, and 
he asked me if I hadn’t been to church or Waterproof since. I said I 
Avas there the second Sunday in October. I Avent that Sunday, but I 
heard there Avas no church, and I only AA Ciit as far as McAllister’s. He 
said, “Old man, I heard you knoAv AAhere Elder Fairfax is, and that you 
have got him harbored.” I said, “Captain, you asked me for the truth, 
and that’s a thing that I like to tell”; and I said, “Captain, I don’t 
knoAA^” He said, “Damn you, take your britches doAvn, old man, Ave 
will liaA^e better talk than that.” And he said, “Pull them doAAui lower 
and get your shirt higher—and pull yonr shirt higher.” And then he 
said to one of those^—those gang boys—“ Let into him.” He said, “ Let’s 
put this line on him”; and the captain said, “No, that’s too severe.” 
And tliey Avanted to give me the buckle; and the captain said, “No.” 
They beat me until 1 felt numb; and then they asked me where Elder 
Fairfax is. 1 said “I don’t knoAv Avhere he is”; and then they let me 
get my hat where Mr. Murphy knocked it off; and they carried me down 
to Yznagna’s BaA'eiiAA ood place. In the evening Ave started away from 
them, and when Ave got to Mr. Wren’s store, and they halted, and soon 
after they marched out Louis PostleAAmite and other colored men. 

Q. How many did they hsive there ?—A. They had three from Hall’s 
place and three from Yznaga’s place, and then they got me. They got 
this man Postlewaite out in the ranks, and he broke ranks so quiek some 
of them hallooed out, “ Shoot that nigger.” Then Louis Postlewaite fell, 
and another man named Tarby. Hoav I know he Avas shot, he hallooed 


l*ari8h.J TESTIMONY OF ROBERT BUCKNER. 479 

and said he hadn’t done nothing. Then they marched ns down to the 
gin, and camped all that night. 

Q. How long liave yon been living in that parish ?—A. I was living 
in Tensas Parish ever since 18(51. 

Q. How many men were in the gang that arrested you '?—A. I can’t 
remember. 

Q. About how many; 100 or 50 ?—A. About 100. 

Q. AVere they white men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many of them did you know—of the colored men !—A. I only 
knowed two. 

Q. How many of the white men did yon know ?—A. I knowed Steve 
Regan and Mr. Murphy. 

Q. Hoav long had you known them ?—A. Mr. Mnrphy, I knew him 
since he Avas a boy, and Mr. Regan, I knoAv him since year before last, 
Avhen he AA^as overseer on Yznaga’s place. 

Q. Who Avas the ca])tain j who appeared to be the leader ?—A. Cap¬ 
tain Oak. 

Q. That is, whatever he said was done ^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid tliey Avhip any other man in yonr presence f—A. Rot that I 
know of. I heard talk of it, but I don’t knoAv anything about it. 

Q. You say that they had seA^enof you altogether ?—A. Yes, sir 5 and 
when Ave got to BroAvn’s place there Avas another man ; that made eight. 

Q. During the night, Avere yon so that you could talk together?—A. 
Yes, sir ; we were around one tire. 

Q. AYere you alloAA^ed to talk ?—A. Ro, sirj I don’t belieA e that we 
were alloAved, but we talked anyhoAV. 

Q. AVhen they whipped you, hoAV many blows did they giA^e you?— 
A. I can’t tell you, sir. 

Q. It Avent beyond counting ?—A. Yes, sir; they beat me worse than 
any beating all the days of my life. In slaAwy times nobody conld find 
above three or four marks on me. 

Q. How many marks could they find now ?—A. I can’t say, but they 
burst the skin all over. 

Q. AYere your trousers bloody ?—A. Yes, sir; they beat me so that 
I couldn’t sit doA\m. 

Q. For hoAV long ?—A. For four days I couldn’t sit doAvn on a hard 
seat, and I had to grease myself. 

Q. You state that PostleAvaite Avas shot the same night ?—A. Y^es, sir; 
and Jim Tar by. 

Q. AYlio is Tarl)y—don’t you mean Stafford ?—A. AYs; some call 
him Tarby and some Stafford. 

Q. AYas he killed ?—A. Y^es, sir; so I learned. 

Q. They Avere shot for breaking the ranks ?—A. Y"es, sir; Jim Staf¬ 
ford was killed, and after I never saw him any more. 

Q. Do you knoAv what became of those other colored men that were 
with you ?—A. Three of them I seen hung up when I Avas marching. 

Q. Hoav long did they keep you ?—A. They took me on Thursday a 
little before dinner and kept me till Friday evening. 

Q. Did they keep you marching all the time ?—A. On Thursday they 
kept me marching all the time, but on Friday I had a mule that one of 
the gentlemen rid ont there to be hung. 

Q. Were you present Avhen they AA^ere hung?—A. Ro, sir. 

Q. Wliere Avere you ?—A. I was at camp, but I saAV them. 

Q. AYhat were their names?—A. Wash Ellis, Pete Young, and 
Hyam AYilson. These was the three that was in the croAvd AAdth me, 
that was hung. I seen another hung in the crowd at Marshall’s. 


480 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Q. old mao, you were with those people for twenty-four hours— 

that is, all night on Thursday, and on Friday until they released you !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You heard them talk among themselves ?—A. Yes, sir; they talked 
secret from me, but I could hear something they said. 

Q. Did you hear any of them say why they hung those colored peo¬ 
ple ?—A. Yes, sir; I heard them say something about it. 

Q. Well, what was the reason they gave?—A. They said the colored 
folks wouldn’t behave themselves, and their bad behavior caused one 
white man to be killed, and one white man was worth more than one 
hundred colored men. 

Q. AYas that the only reason they gave ?—A. They said that they 
wanted to kill some to make the others belisj^ve. 

Q. Did they say that these men had done anything else to deserve 
killing besides this ? Did they say that they CA^er killed anybody; that 
they ever robbed anybody '?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you know any of those men that were hung, old man ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How long had you knoAvn any of them?—A. AAAsh Ellis, I knowed 
him since 1809. 

Q. What kind of man was he ?—A. A big strong man. 

Q. AA^as he a good man or bad man ?—A. Well, he was a sinful man; 
a man that cursed and drunk whisky. 

Q. You are a strict member of the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you consider men that drink whisky and curse are bad men ?— 
A. Yes, sir; very bad men. 

Q. Did you ever knoAV him to be guilty of robbing or murdering any¬ 
body?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then the only reason why you say he was a bad man is because he 
used curse words and drank Avhisky?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you never knew him to be accused of any crime ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. And ydu have known him Iioav long?—A. Ever since 1809. 

Q. AYho Avas the other man that you knew ?—A. Hyam AYilson. 

Q. Hoav long have you known him?—A. Since 1808. 

Q. What kind of a man was lie ?—A. He A\^as a sinful man. 

Q. Did you hear any reports about him killing or stealing ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. What did those men do for a Ihing ?—A. They made crops. 

Q. Had they, families ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they provide for their families ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they take care of their children and their wives?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You never heard them accused of any crimes ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What other man did you know that was,killed?—A. Louis Postle- 
waite. 

Q. HoAvold was he ?—A. He Avas an “ageable” man. He had grand¬ 
children. 

Q. What sort of a man Avas he?—A. He was a clcAwly man. 

Q. Was he a member of the church ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then he Avas a Avicked man, according to your idea?—A. I say he 
was a cleverly man. A man can be clcA^erly without being a member of 
the church. 

Q. How long have you been in Ncav Orleans ?—xi. I got in town late 
Monday, and this is Wednesday. 

Q. HaA^e you seen any of the men since you have been here that you 
saw in Tensas Parish ?—A. I only see the man that brought me down. 

Q. Did you have any talk Avith anybody up in the iiarish, after you 


TESTIMONY OF NOEL N. NEELY. 481 

knew you were coining down, about tliese matters?—A. Yes, sir; I had 
some talk witli l^en. Yarmau. 

l>y Mr. Mellen : 

Q. \"ou say that Avheu you got toAYilliam r>rown’s place they arrested 
two more men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There Avere six of you before that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now that made eight—Avere there any of those eight men hung ?— 
A. Yes, sir; three out of that croAvd. 

Q. When were they hung ?—A. They Avas hung on Thursday night. 
Before day on Friday morning they Avere carried aAvay from camp and 
I did not see them until they were hung. 

Q. On Tliursday night they were all around the same fire with you?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time of night Avere these three men taken away from the 
croAvd?—A. I can’t say, but just before day. 

Q. The other men that was hung Avasn’t in that croAvd?—A. They shot 
the other men; they shot Louis Postlewaite on Thursday at Wren’s store. 

Q. What time of day was it AAlien you got to Wren’s store?—A. About 
an hour after dark. 

Q. Was that Thursday or Friday ?—A. On Thursday. 

Did you see the shooting of Louis PostleAAmite ?—A. Yes, sir; 1 
saw it. 

Q. How far were you from him Avhen he was shot ?—A. I was about 
tAveuty feet from him. 

Q. Was there any row there at the time?—A. No, sir; Louis run out 
of the croAvd—they took him Avith the balance of the ijrisoners—and he 
run, and Jim Stafford run, too, and they shot him and shot Louis. 

Q. Who Avas Captain Oaks?—A. He was the captain, and he got shot 
by his own men. 

( 4 . Where did he live?—A. I don’t know. I didn’t know him. 

Q. Did you ever see him before?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Would youknoAvhim again if you saw him?—A. Yes, sir; I might. 


NOEL N. NEELY. 

Saturday, January 25, 1879. 

Noel N. Neely sworn for the majority. 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. What parish do you reside in?—Answer. The parish of 
Tensas. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. All my life. 

il. Were you present in that parish during the last campaign ?—A. I 

was, sir. . 

Q. Go on and state what you know about what occurred during that 
time.—A. Before the campaign, and before commencing any canvass, 
I had a talk with Mr. Saxey. He said to me, “ Hello, Neely, I hear you 
are a candidate for member of the house.” I said, “ Suppose I am, will 
you Amte for me ?” He said, No, I will not”; and 1 asked then if he 
Avould AU)te for any colored man, and he said that he would not, for the 
reason that they were not competent. Then I told him I Avas not a can¬ 
didate. I told him our plan was to run certain men. I mentioned the 
man’s name that I thought Avould be a good man to run, and he said, 

31 T 



482 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


If yon mil your candidates, and tliey arc elected, they will not take 
their seats.” I asked him what did he mean, and he said, ‘‘By God, 
we have got the connting machine, and yon niggers shall control the 
jiarish no longer.” I didn’t see anybody killed in the parish, during the 
canvass, but 1 heard of a good deal of killing. 

Q. Bid yon see anybody dead that had been hnng?—A. I did not. I 
saw armeii bodies of men riding through the parish during the last ot 
October and the first of ]N^ovember. 

On the 5th of October the Bepnblican convention met in the town of 
Saint Joseph, and there were some threats made in regard to holding 
onr convention. They informed the leaders of onr convention, IMr. Bry- 
and and several others, that if they went into that convention and nom¬ 
inated a ticket that their heads would be shot off. To guard against 
this difficulty Ave adjourned onr convention to the following Monday, or 
following Monday Aveek. AA^e appointed a committee of conference to 
meet with another committee of Democrats. AA^e met and the Demo¬ 
crats had their coiiA’cntion on the same day. Mr. T. C. Sachse, who was 
secretary of the Democratic convention, arose and made a motimi that 
they di(i not jiropose to appoint a committee to meet the Bepnblican 
committee. He said that they had got this far AAlthont assistance and 
they Avonld go further. The chairman of the coiiA^ention, Colonel Kevts, 
he Avaited on ns, and told ns tliat they didn’t propose to appoint a com¬ 
mittee to confer Avith ns. At that time there AAms no fuss in the parish, 
except that raised by the friends of the Democrats against ns holding 
onr convention. V^ e made eA ery effort then to put up a fusion ticket, a 
ticket that Avould suit both ])arties, and suit tlie AAdiole peoi)le. This 
offer was refused. On the same day in the afternoon, after the adjourn¬ 
ment of the Democratic coiiA^ention, a committee appointed bj"- the 
Democrats, or by the executive committee, I suppose, consisting of T. 
C. Sachse as chairman, and Colonel Goldman and Capt. T. Q. Sluntz, 
waited upon me at the residence of J. Boss SteAAnrt, and told meihat 
they Avere a])pointed to AAnit on me and the other leading Bepnblicans 
to inform ns that the course we had been pursuing for the last few AA^eeks 
Avas in opposition to their Avishes, and that aa e had better stop and not 
make any more speeches in the parish; and that any action on onr part 
against the ticket nominated that day by the Democratic coiiA^ention, 
they would regard it as a declaration of Avar, and that they Avould come 
u]) missing. 

Q. Go on.—A. That Avas on Alonday, and on the following Saturday, 
I think, Ave heard of an attempt to kill Mr. Fairfax; and also we heard 
of the quarantine of the toAvn of Saint Joseph from the country. AVe 
then made no attempt to hold onr coiiA^ention, but the following Alonday 
it was appointed, on Mr. Fairfax’s order, to proceed to the Aliller place, 
in the swamps, Avhere there Avas no quarantines, to hold onr coiiA^ention 
at this afternoon. There Avas a posse of twenty-fiA'e men pursuing my 
arrest, and Air. Coolidge and Air. AA^'alker, and scA^eral others. They did 
not arrest me. I kei)t out of the Avay till all the danger Avas OAxr. I 
didn’t see any bulldozing. 

Q. AAHiere were yon; Avhere did yon keep out of the way"? —A. I kept 
out of their Avay all the time. 

Q. AFliere did you keep out of the Avay; in the Avoods!—A. In the 
woods part of the time, and part of the time in people’s houses, Avhere 
they could not get me. 

Q. Have you been back to the parish since?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been arrested?—A. No, sir. 


^ansli.l TESTIMONY OF NOEL N. NEELY. 483 

Q. Have tlie officers wlio were going to ari*est you seen yon since ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the warrant for; what did the warrants for your arrest 
charge you with?—A. 1 don’t know, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether there was a warrant for your arrest or not !— 
A. No, sir. I don’t know nothing more than that they were after me. 

Q. Do you know whether a man went to your house to arrest you or 
not!—A. No, sir; I do not. They arrested Mr. Blackburn, and I was 
told they w anted to arrest me. He told me so. 

Q. He told you they w^anted to arrest you, and it was then you got 
out of the way!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is everything (luiet in the parish now !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What w^as the feeling of the colored'})eople as to voting on the day 
of tlie election!—A. It was very bad. They thought that if they voted 
the Republican ticket they would be killed. In fact there w^ere threats 
of that kind made. 

Q. Did you hear any of those threats made yourself!—A. No, sir; I 
did not. I received a message from Judge Cordell to come in and make 
myself satisfied that I wu)uld not be interfered wuth. 

Q. That was after the election !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you do so; did you come in !—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. Were you interfered w itli!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you had any talk with ,Tudge Cordell since jwi have been in 
the city!—A. Very little, sir. I had some talk with him about persons 
living on his place. 

Q. Are there a good many colored people leaving the parish !—A. No, 
sir; I don’t know of any, with the excei)tion of them that are here that 
ran ofi'from Waterproof. 

Cross-examined by Mr. Aroni : 

Q. In what part of the imrish are you living !—A. In the upper part 
of the parish. 

Q. On wdiose i)lace !—A. On the Adams place; I rent that idace. 

Q. That is the old Adams place, next to Mrs. place!—A, No, 

sir; not next, but it is in that section. 

Q. How long have you been living there!—A. I have been living 
there for five years. 

Q. From Avhom do you rent!—x\. I rent from Milton Adams. 

Q. Did you raise a crop there last year !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you a family !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After you left there, did your family remain !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did anybody interfere with your family !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did they interfere with your crop !—A. No, sir; nobody interfered 
w ith my croi). 

Q. Where did you have that first conversation with Mr. Saxey!^—A. 
At his store. 

Q. Where is his store!—A. At Saint Joseph. 

Q. For what purpose did you go dowm there !—A. I am a member ot 
the school-board, and I went there on official business. 

Q. You said that threats were made. Did you hear them ! Were 
they made in your presence !— A. No, sir. I oidy said what Mr. Saxey 
tohi me; but I didn’t hear any myself. I heard that they wanted to 
arrest Walker and Noel Neely, that is, myself. They said that these 
w ere the sons of bitches they wmnted. 

Q. Did you hear that yourself!—A. No, sir; but I heard it froiu 
others. 


4S4 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


[J5'atchitoch<*.H 


Q. You stated that Air. Fairfax sent orders for you all to meet in the 
woods on tlie Aliller i)lace.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did you receive that order f—A. I received a letter from hiin. 

Q. You stated that some twenty-tive men, or some number of men, 
came along^, and you named some parties that you recognized. How far 
were they from you wiien you recognized them, the first day they came 
up on the lakes after you 1 —A. I was not far from them. I was near 
where they jiassed by, but I dodged them, and they didn’t see me. 

(^. Hut you recognized some of them ?—A. Yes, sir ; 1 recognized Air. 
Kinney. He was the deputy slieriff, and I recognized him. 

Q. AVhen did you receive that message from Judge Cordell, that you 
might return to the parish ; was it before or after the election ?—A. It 
was after the election, sir. 

Q. From whom did you get that?—A. I got it from two individuals 
that Judge Cordell sent directly to me. 

Q. How soon after the election did you get that message?—A. I sup¬ 
pose about a week. 

Q. Did he know where you were ? AYiis it known where you were 
before the election ?—A. He didn’t know ; but I disguised myself that 
day. 

Q. Did you ever hold any office, justice of the peace, or member of 
the school-board ?—A. Yes, sir; I was justice of the peace for four years. 

Q. Up in that district above there ?—A. Yes, sir. 


NATCHITOCHES. 


M. J. OUJ^NINGHAM. 


At. J. Cunningham sworn on behalf of the minority and examined. 

By Air. Jonas : 

Question. Where do you reside. Air. Cunningham?—Answer. I reside 
in the jiarish of Katchitoches. 

Q. Are you a member of the legislature from the parish of Katchi- 
toches?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you reside in that parish during the last year?—A. Yes, sjr. 

Q. You have read the evidence, as published, that was taken before 
this comnuttee in regard to the affairs and occurrences in that parish 
during the month of September, and throughout the last political cam¬ 
paign ?—A. Yes, sir; I have looked over it and have heard a good deal 
about it. 

Q. Were you in Katchitoches during that whole period?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your name has been connected, I believe, in some respects with 
the events of that period by the testimony of the witnesses before this 
committee?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVill you please, in your own way, give a statement, as fiir as you 
can remember, of the events and incidents which took place during that 
time, and in which you are said to have figured?—A. Well, sir, the 
general tenor of the testimony before this committee on the Eepubiican 
side indicates, or, at least, is intended to show, that there was a conspir- 




Parisb.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


485 


lU'.y on the part of the Democrats to break up a Eepiiblican meeting 
for i)olitical effect; and, as some of those witnesses stated, because there 
were live hnndred Avliite men from the hill portions of the parish 
co-operating- with them to elect their ticket. I say that all such 
statements as that are absolutely false, as I never heard in my life, 
and I would have if it Avere true, of the liill men doing- anything- of the 
kind, and I not only never heard of it but it is not so, and it is a 
misrepresentation of the intentions and inclinations of that part of 
onr peot)le. There wris one liiaii from the hills Avho proposed to 
aid Avith them, as he w anted to get the nomination for vsheriff at their 
meeting on the 2Ist of September, and he Avas the only AAiiite man that 
had any idea of co-operating- with them; his name is Bates,-and his 
defection from the Democratic ])arty w as OAving to a misunderstanding 
Avith the local leaders in his Avard. Our action towmrds that meeting of 
the 21st of September Avas entirely free from all ])olitical bias and con¬ 
siderations. We had called a parish nominating coiiA’^ention for the 21st 
of September several Aveeks beforehand, in time to liaA^e delegates elected 
from the seA^eral Avards in the parish to the couA^ention to assemble on 
the 21st of September. It Avas i)nblicly known through the i^apers; it 
Avas Avell known to all parties. On the 14th of September w^e had the 
mass meeting, at Avhich speeches Avere made by Mr. Elam, member or 
Congress, and Mr. Williams, candidate for the State senate; and on the 
night of the 14th of Septend)er Ave AAm^e informed that the llepublicans 
had called a mass meeting- for the 21st, the same day of our nominating 
coiiA'ention. We AA ere surprised to lind a disposition manifested by the 
Bepublican leaders such as Avas manifested to us. AVe heard reports of 
the temi)er of their leaders at^ that meeting on the 14th, AAdien they called 
this mass meeting for the 21st, and Ave heard reports during the w^eek 
Avhich certainly Avere sufilicient to arouse apxArehension on our i)art that 
they meditated mischief to us. It Avas reported to me on the 14th of 
September, in the evening, that Judge Breda had stated at their meet¬ 
ing that they Avould carry that parish or haA^e blood, and that Blunt 
made his speech at the same time in Avhich he adA^ocated holding the 
meeting on the 21st of Sei)tember, the day of our convention. We heard 
at the same time that Judge Breda did not approA e of the ])lan of call¬ 
ing the mass meeting for the 21st, but that Blunt Avould luwe the 
meeting on that day, and he said he didn’t care Avhat the result Avould 
be or Avhat the issue Avould be, and he instructed every man present to 
t(41 all their people to come to their meeting on the 21st and come pre- 
])ared. It Avas represented to me that he Avas exceedingly Auolent and 
l)roug-ht his fist doAAui on the table, and that the temper of the meeting 
Avas very threatening. We Avere informed by a young man, a clerk of 

Air.-, that a negro Avoman stated on Saturday, the 14th, during 

the day, that there AAms to be a difiiculty at the meeting on the 21st. 
AVe Avere informed by some gentlemen that Baby had made some 
threats of harm to the peoi)le and said that we Avoidd get our heads 
knocked oil*. We heard from various sources that this meeting- of the 
Bei)ublicans on the 21st Avas called for the purpose of intimidating 
and aftecting our convention. I Avas informed that a colored man, a 
]>reacher in one of Blunt’s churches, said that the arrang-ement AAms to 
haA^e the principal meeting in a field beloAV toAvn in AA^ard 1 or Avard 9. 
and that the meeting in Natchitoches AAms to be composed of the most 
desperate negroes in the j)arish or of Avards 1 and 9, and that Blunt 
asserted that he AAmuld bulldoze the convention with that meeting, and 
if any trouble followed he Avould bum (low n the town. During the 
]u-ogress of the day we heard a great many reports as to Avhat they 



486 


L0UISI4NA IN 1878 


[Natchitoches 


were and I can conscientionsly state that there was a serious 

apprehension on the part of the people in the town that tlie meeting* 
was called for the purpose of interfering with the convention and bring¬ 
ing on a fight. I will say, further in ore, that these reports were brought 
to ns at a time when we Avere interfering with nobody, and had never 
thought of doing so, and we didn’t intend at any time to run a bull¬ 
dozing cami)aigu, and had formed no conspiracy to interfere Avitli any 
])arty. The first intimation of any danger that we had came from the 
sour(‘e I have named. Our coin'ention met on the 21st of September, 
and so many reports came up, that the i)eople were considerably excited 
and under serious apprehension of trouble. The convention determined 
to take a recess, and a recess was taken to some hour in the evening. 
Afterwards some man moved that we shoidd go down to their meeting, 
instead of Avaiting for them to come uj), and disperse the mob. After 
this I was elected captain of the croAvd. The evidence of the Eepub- 
lican AA itnesses tends to sIioav that there AA^as an organization i)rior to 
this; in fact, an organized army, AAhich Mr. Blunt says nobody could 
face outside of the United States Army. Instead of that being the 
truth, there Avas no organization at all, and there Avas no plan as to 
Avhat we should do, and we acted only as a croAvd, and such organi¬ 
zation as we had was effected after I had been made captain, and 1 don’t 
think that there was a semblance of organization kept up before that. 
1 think OA^er one half, and possibly three-quarters, of the people were 
unarmed, (lentlemen came to the couA^ention from the country Avithout 
arms, and there was a great many in toAvn that had no arms. Of course 
many had a suridus of arms, and some had none. Some of the members of 
the convention and some of the gentlemen A\ent off and armed theni- 
selA^es and returned. But, of course, nobody was arined at the coiiA^en- 
tion. When tliis moA^ement aa us made I requested eA^erybody to go and 
get arms, and some did so, but a large i)roportion were Avithout arms. 
1 will say, further, that the only intention of the moA-ement Avas to go 
down there and disperse the mob, and if there Avas to be a difficulty, to 
haA^e it down there, instead of in town, Avhere tlie women and children 
and the principal buildings were. The crowd went down there, and Avhen 
1 got down the meeting Avas disi^ersed, but there Avere seA^eral croAvds of 
]iegroes gathered in knots, and I must say that I neA^er saAv a more defiant 
si)irit manifested by them in my life. We showed e\*ery disposition to 
restore and preserAm. quiet. Nobody was hurt. All of our people were 
appealed to not to hurt anybody, although it Avas commonly reported to 
me by numerous persons that the negroes had made serious threats as to 
Avhat they Avould do, and I heard fifty rei)orts of negroes threatening to 
come back and burn the town, and there may be some liere also who heard 
it. 1 am not certain, but I rather think that I heard it myself, but these 
things AA^ere re])orted to me by those acting with me, and I saAv the spirit 
manifested by the negroes meant mischief. I simply advised them to go 
to their homes, and told them that we Avere not going to interfere with or 
hurt any one ; all that we asked Avas that the peace should be ])reserved, 
and even then they refused to go. We Avould argue with them and try 
to prevail on them to go, and Avliile some Avould be iiudined to reason, 
others Avould not. I Avas afraid that, be(*ause of those threats, that I 
Avould be unable to restrain them from doing harm, and 1 had to show 
them that it Avould do us harm to bring on a conflict of that sort, and I 
(‘ontinued my efforts to get them to disperse. Up to that time there had 
been no intention to arrest Mr. Blunt or any one else, but I Avas of 
opinion that it Avas my duty to arrest Blunt, be(‘ause I thought that 
it was the best means i)ossible to insure the peace of the town. I 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


487 


tliou^lit if Ave liad Mr. Blunt that the negroes, out of consideration 
for liim, could he restrained from making an attack on us. And I 
believed if Ave had him in our power they AAmuldn’t make the attack, 
and for that reason, and that reason only, I thought he should be 
arrested, and it was for that reason alone that any one Avent to Mr. 
Blunt’s house to arrest him. I belieA^e that there a\ as a party Avent to 
liOAAUs’s house, but I account for that in this Avay, that LcAvis’s house 
Avas near wdiere the Rei)ublican meeting Avas held, and there certaiidy 
Avas no plan at that time to do anything Avith these men. The croAvd 
sent for me to go to Blunt’s house, and when I Avent there I found the 
party that went to arrest him, and they reported to me that Blunt Avas 
in there and had thirteen armed men in the house with him. They 
asked me if he should be arrested or not, and my OAvn o])inion Avas that 
he should be arrested f but a gentleman on the sideA\ alk got up and ap¬ 
pealed to the croAvd, stating that Ave Avere sent to disperse that mob and 
nothing else, and he Avas oi)posed to doing anything more; and, as a 
matter of course, Avhen theie Avas hesitation on the ])art of the croAvd, I 
determined not to do anything more then, but 1 resolved to call in con¬ 
sultation a number of gentlemen, to take into consideration the situa¬ 
tion and decide Avhat should be done. That Avasn’t as the AAutnesses 
have stated; but a number of gentlemen called together by me—I mean 
gentlemen AAhose judgment could be trusted in that emergency—and I 
requested them to meet me at the court-house; and in that Avay I got 
them together, but I don’t remember Avho they Avere. I stated to them 
the situation down toAvn and asked them to consider Avhat should be 
done. The position seemed to be generally taken by the party that it 
Avould be ruinous to us to allow Blunt, AAith a garrison of thirteen armed 
men, to remain in his house, or anyAvliere else, after the threats from hun¬ 
dreds of negroes AA ho had left toAvn that they Avere coming to burn the toAvn 
and take us, and self-preserAmtion recpiired tliat he should be arrested. 
Of course Ave desired to do so Avith as little trouble or harm as i)ossiblc, 
and tAvo gentlemen in whom he had confidence Avere delegated to go 
to Blunt and state to him that aA'O couldn’t i)ermit him to remain in that 
position and to call upon him to come out and surrender, assuring him 
that we wouldn’t hurt him if he AAmuld conq)ly Avith our Avishes. It Avas 
not the intention at that time to make Mr. Blunt leave the i)arish, and 
no one proposed to make him leave or to require any pledges from him 
AvhateA^er. And in that conference there Avasn’t a Avord said about the 
])olitical advantages to be gained; and if my recollection serves me 
right, there Avasn’t a Avord said about politics at all. Blunt wasn’t spoken 
of as a Rei)ublican nor did Ave regard ourseh es as Democrats, but we 
considered the situation as graA e—our peace Avas threatened; yet our 
only desire Avas to make measures to protect the peace of the toAv n, and 
his arrest was determined on for that reason alone. Well, they Avent 
down there and Blunt couldn’t be persuaded to come out, but the 
party Avent in and arrested him. There has been a great deal of exag¬ 
geration in Blunt’s testimony and that of other Avitnesses in connection 
Avith this arrest. If my recollection is right, he and his Avife SAvore 
that I was in that house, and that I parleyed with them, and that 
tliore Avere two hundred and fifty men in there. All that is untrue ; I 
AA'asn’t in the house at all. I Avas on my horse in front of the house, 
and didn’t dismount. There AA’^ere oidy six men that AA^ent in the 
liouse, and it was an absolute physical impossibility for Mr. Blunt to 
have heard or seen the facts that he SAvore to as having occurred at that 
time. As I understand, he states himself that he Avas in the garret. 
He entered the garret by a trap door Avhich ascends from the second 


488 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatchitoches 


story into tlie garret, and tbe means of reacliing wliieli had been re¬ 
moved, and the bed withdrawn from its place and rolled under the 
“ trap door.” He says that he saw a great many things through wliat 
he calls a “blind” Avindow. AVell, it is a two-story house, with an attic 
and gallery upstairs and downstaii’s; the roof comes down to the top 
of the gallery; that is to say, the gallery goes up to the eaves or lower 
end of the roof of the house, and there is no possible place there for a 
window of any kind; and I certainly, and ever}^ one that was taking 
any part in tlie atfair, was in front oi* the house, and it was impossible 
for him to have seen, and I think it was impossible for him to have 
heard, anything that took ])lace in front of the house. It is absurd for 
him to say that the men marched u}) and down in military style; they 
did not. There was a little organization of thirty or forty men kept in 
line in case of difficulty. Mrs. Blunt says that I went into the house 
and presented a xhstol to her head and forced her out violently. Blunt 
swears it, and of course he must SAvear from hearsay. I didn’t do 
anything of the kind. I didn’t present a ])istol to her head or force her 
out, and nobody else did; but as far as I knoAV she was treated not 
only without Aiolence, but AAuth respect. ^lo disrespect was CA^er shoAvn 
to her A\ hatCA er. When the party tirst aa ent into the house they brought 
out the people that A\ere doAvustairs. 1 don’t know hoAv many there 
N\ere, but a number of colored people, men and women. I don’t remem¬ 
ber Avho they Avere, only that Mrs. Blunt Avas one of them. There Avas 
another aa oman—1 don’t knoAV her name, but I know her when I see 
her—she came ui^ into the party after they AA^ere brought out—the party 
in durance. Mrs. Blunt and this other woman that came up Avere so 
Aiolent, bitter, and defiant, that I didn’t consider it safe for them to 
remain there. For instance, Mrs. Blunt AAmuld say, “ Shoot me, shoot 
me, shoot me; kill him, kill him, kill him ”; but she wouldn’t afford 
any facilities to find him. She seemed anxious that we should kill her 
or her husband, as she AA^anted api)arently to be an angel or a martyr. 
This other AAmman Avas “ taking on ” terriblj" about her “ brother ” Blunt, 
and as there Avas a considerable croAvd of negroes present, and as many 
AAdiite Iversons, I AA^as fearful that their manner might aggraAmfe and 
excite our people to some Aiolence, or that they might AA^ork upon the 
feelings of those negroes and excite them to Aiolence, and, as a matter 
of precaution, I ordered them to be taken to the jail office. They have 
stated that L ordered them to jail. I did nothing of the kind. I sent 
them up there merely to get these two AA^omen out of the Avay—the 
AAUAinen and the men; and as soon as Blunt AAms arrested I ordered them 
back. All this talk al)out a Amte having been taken as to aa iiether Ave would 
hurt him or not is m(‘re fancy, and the promise A\iiich he says he exacted 
b(ibr(‘ he would surrender is mere fancy too. It AA^as represented to me that 
Mr. Blunt Avas found praying, and begged the gentlemen for “God Al¬ 
mighty sake to spare him,” and if they aa ouldn’t harm him he said heAAmuld 
h^aA'e the parish at once, and never return to giA'e the people any trouble 
again. That Avas positively the first time that anything Avas said about 
his leaAing the parish. The gentleman that brought him out of the 
house stood in the gateAAaiy and said to the croAvd, “ Gentlemen, I have 
promised this man that he shall not be hurt, and I hope that you Avill 
respect my promise.” I said to them, as these gentlemen can atford to 
make the promise we can afford to keep it. Blunt shoAA^ed the most 
abject, pitiful coAvardice I ever suay, and reached out his hand to me and 
asked me not to allow anybody to hurt him. We AA^ent up to the court¬ 
house and met his fiamily on the AAUiy ba(*k home. We kept him under 
guard. All this talk of Blunt’s about our high regard and appreciation 


P^irish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M J. CUNNINGHAM. 


489 


lor liiin is without foundation, at least as far as I am concerned. He 
said tliat I told him that the people had nothing against him except 
his i)olitical inttnence. I said nothing to him about his political inhn- 
euce. His political influence "wasn’t referred to in my hearing. The 
people have a great deal against Blunt. AAliile, as he says, 1 have had 
no personal trouble with him nor with any of the balance of them, yet 
as a citizen 1 have a great deal against Blunt. He hates a white man 
Avorse than any one I know^, and no AAiiite man can get along A\ith him 
unless by cringing to him, and he rules his party with an ‘‘iron rod’^; 
he sustains his party by having the very wmrst men that he can get 
about him. He stated that his character Avas the highest, and that the 
])eople held him in good esteem, and that a great many Avhite people 
scratched his opponent and voted for him. I don’t believe it, and I 
think that the Avhite man that did so Avould be regarded as a monstros- 
ity, unless he aa as a member of his party and Amted for him as a party 
measure. I don’t believe anything of the kind aa as eAW done in the 
l)arish. Blunt has made a good many incendiary remarks about A\diite 
men to the colored people. He appeals to their passions and race i)rej- 
mlices, and to their past condition, in CA^ery Avay that a man could to 
stir up bad feeling. Now, Blunt has been a member of the legislature 
for some time, and according to his oavii account he has prospered. I 
believe Avhat pro])erty he has is in the name of another person named 
Eachel Williams, the -woman Avith aa horn he formerly lived. I believe' 
he was not married to her. I believe he transferred it in order to shield 
it from a judgment Avhi(ih I had against him for the city, as his liability 
as surety on Bedmond’s bond. 

Q. Wlio was Kedmond f—A. He Avas formerly city tax-collector. 

Q. What party did he belong to?—A. To the Eepublican party; he 
Avas a negro. SeA^eral years ago Blunt marched a body of armed men 
through toAvn, and Ave regarded that act as intended to intimidate us— 
the Democratic party or Avhites. But Eaby’s excuse for that AA^as, AAiieii 
the question (‘.ame up bet\A"een us, that it w as the inteution to bulldoze 
the negroes of the other AAing of their party. There aa as a kind of split 
between them ; Mr. BarroAv, Mr. Eobinson, and the Bredas, and otliers, 
AA’-ere in one A\dng of the party, and Blunt, Eaby, and others, in the other 
Aviug. When the Eepublican party did that, w e thought it was an at¬ 
tempt to bulldoze us, and AA^e didn’t like it much. Mr. Blunt has been, 
as I say, a member of the legislature, and has prospered pretty w^ell; 
and, among other things, w^as president of the school board and con¬ 
trolled the public school aftairs in the parish. Then he AAms employed 
as a teacher at a salary of one hundred dollars per montli, and 
he employed a colored girl at tliirty dollars per month to teach in 
his place. He afterAvard denied the thirty-dollar part of it, and 
(jlaimed that he paid her flfty dollars; but that makes no difference 
in the i)rinciple. I think he had no right, as a school director, fo 
make a contract to tOach, especially as he didn’t teach the school 
himself, but hired a substitute, as I understand it, to teach at thirty 
dollars a month. I liaA^e heard a great many threats that Blunt has 
made. He threatened to burn the town in a speech he made in 
Oampti in 1874. I Inu^e heard a great many threats to burn the toAvn, 
and Ave luwe been really and honestly apprehensive that it Avould be 
done. One of these AAatnesses, Thomas Boullt, Avas heard to say that 
tiie toAvn Avould be in ashes the next day; that, I think, Avas in 1874. 
We regarded several of these AAutnesses, avIio Avere Eepublican leaders, 
as dangerous men—that is, dangerous to the peace and safety of the 
community. 1 huA^e had a good deal of association Avith some of them; 


490 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatchitoches 


for instance, the two Bredas, and I know when they were members of 
our party no men I ever saw wanted to do more harm than they did. 
^^o two men that I ever saw in my life ever wanted to do more harm 
toward the Eepublicans. I have been appealed to by the two Bredas, 
and by their father, to kill the leading Eepublicans; and if they would do 
these things when they were on our side, I think that they would do the 
same now they are on the other, and for that reason I consider my ai^- 
prehensions were well founded. I have here an affidavit made by a man 
who was present at this meeting of Eepublicans at Breda’s office on the 
night of the 14th of Se])tember. 

Well, Mr. Charles Miller and Mr. W. P. Brazeale gave us information 
aiS to what took place at the Eepublican meeting at Mr. Breda’s office, 
as to the language used by Mr. Breda and Mr. Blunt, and what took 
X)lace at that meeting. He informed us that this meeting had called a 
mass-meeting for the 21st of September, and that Judge Breda had 
used the exi)ression that they were going to carry this i)arish; that they 
would carry the jmrish if blood had to be shed, and Blunt said that 
they were going to carry the i)arish at all hazards. 

Q. (By Judge AIauks.) What are the names of those two parties, Mr. 
Cunningham?—A. Charles P. Miller and W. P. Brazeale. 

Q. Are any of these parties here x)resent ?—A. Yes, sir j Brazeale is 
here. 

By Mr. Jonas ; 

Q. Did Miller substantiate that statement by his oath ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Go on.—A. Purthermore, Mr. William Pharis, a young man, living 
in the parish of Yatchitoches, five miles below town, on Cane Eiver, 
states that he was on his way to Yatchitoches on Saturday, the 21st of 
September 5 that he was sent to give information to the people in town 
that the negroes all along the road and river were excited and enraged; 
that the road was full of armed negroes cursing and swearing, and all 
going in the direction of town; that he took the back road and got to 
the Genty Lane coming into town. He came the back way into town 
until he struck the main road at the lane—the main road, which was the 
river road—and he found the road full of negroes, armed with guns, all 
going in the direction of town. 

When he came to Mr. Levi’s field he found about 150 armed negroes 
in line of battle^—in double ranks. Some were mounted and others were 
on foot. He was stopi>ed by tlie crowd, and a gun with a bayonet on it 
was presented at him. He was told that if he attempted to move hand 
or foot they would run the bayonet through his breast. Many negroes 
wanted to kill him, but others desired to wait and ascertain who he was 
before harming him. He claimed he was an innocent man, and through 
the influence of the more moderate negroes his life was saved. He says 
he never saw such infuriated men. They were shouting and yelling, 
and trying to form lines to move on the town. They openly said that 
they would have the town of Yatchitoches before the next morning, and 
not only the Democratic leaders, but that they would have their heads 
as well. They told him to go home, and that the next white man that 
they found they would kill him, and they sent him back again with two 
negroes. I don’t claim for these affidavits or the statements contained 
in them anything more than any other hearsay testimony. 

Q. What sort of a man is Mr. Pharis j what is his reputation ?—A. 
His character is very good. 

Q. Is he an intelligent man?—A. Yes, sir; he is a young man of fine 
intelligence. 


TESTIMONY OF M J CUNNINGHAM. 491 

Q. Wliat is liis occupation !—A. He is a farmer. I know liis father 
and family very well. 

Q. Is lie a man of truth and veracity?—A. Yes, sir; I regard him as 
such. Air. Zacharie, wlio is a gentleman of trutli and veracity, reported 
pretty much the same thing as to the organization of the negroes in the 
road. Of course the details as to the principles which affect him indi¬ 
vidually is left out, of course, in Air. Zacharie’s statement. But the negroes 
were organized to attack and burn the tOAcn and kill the Avhite ])eople, 
and Air. Zacharie stated that he left his house and went to a negro cabin 
for safety. 

Q. Wlio is Air. Zacharie ?—A. He is a gentleman living three or four 
miles below the town. 

Q. Is he a man of truth and veracity ?—A. Yes, sir; he has that rep¬ 
utation in the community. 

Q. Were tliose reiAorts brought to you. Air. Cunningham?—A. Yes, 
sir; a great many reports Avere brought to us. Air. Tannard stated to 
us tliat early in the year he saw the Auolent character that Blunt and 
other leaders wanted to give the camiAaign, and he couldn’t approA^e of 
it, and he AAuthdrew from the party. He is clerk of the court. 

Q. Is he a Republican officeholder?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Did he take part with the citizens on the 21st of September?—A. 
Yes, sir; he did, in guarding the tOAvn. Blunt stated in his testimony 
that Baby wasn’t there at the organization of the meeting; that I de¬ 
tained him. Tliat’s not so. Eaby Avas liaAdng a settlement with me that 
day of the judgment that I have spoken of—of the suit of the city 
against Redmond’s sureties. He called on me and said that he hadn’t 
that little balance yet. I said to him tliat it made no difference. He 
wasn’t in my office two minutes. Raby stated to me afterwards that the 
reason tliat he didn’t go to that meeting was that he kneAV that Blunt 
and Ernest Breda were going to make trouble, and that he didn’t blame 
us at all for making these men leave the community; that they AA^ere bad 
men and for making trouble. Afterwards that evening a party of ne¬ 
groes did attack the toAvn. As I stated, I Avas put in charge of.the 
defenses of the toAAm, and I made sundry arrangements to have the 
tOAvn protected. 

Q. Had you any official appointment ?—A. Yes, sir; as chief of police. 

By Judge AIarks : 

Q. Have you that appointment with you ?—A. NTo, sir. Air. Blunt 
says that that appointment Avas made after his arrest by proclamation. 
That is not the fact. The mayor asked me to accept the position 
before the disturbance began. He came to me and stated, I think, 
before even the organization of the convention—it was certainly soon 
after the meeting—he came and said that the apprehension of danger 
AA’^as so serious that he AAushed me to act as chiet of police; I accepted, 
and ordered guards to go to the places where I thought they might be 
needed, and among others was at a station that Are call the “Dirt Bridge,” 
at the loAver end of town, and the point that the negroes Avould strike 
coming up the river. At the time the negroes got there, only four men 
had gained the post, and before the attack was ma^o la^groes 

had managed to get by, and one got over the fence of this bridge. 
When the guard halted him, he refused to comply, and as the guard 
had only a pistol he let him alone. When the attack aa^s made, the 
guard says that “150 to 200 men actually came to the bridge.” These 
young men heard the noise on the road and one of tlmai rode 'h)wn to 
see Avhat it was, and found a great crowd of armed negroes. He spoke 


492 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


f Natchitoches 


to tliem ill a friendly way and asked them not to to town, and they 
said that they would. He said that if they would, when they came to 
the bridge they ivould be halted, and they said, if so, we will answer 
with a shot. When they came to the bridge they were halted, and they 
answered it with a volley. The guard fired fourteen shots, and the 
negroes fired sixteen. hTobodj^ was killed, and only three or four negroes 
wounded; at least, I didn’t see any of them. The negroes stamiieded, 
and I attribute the saving of the town to the cowardice of these negroes, 
and to the exaggerated idea they had of our organizations, which idea 
I got from Blunt, and I am really glad that they had that idea, other¬ 
wise it would have been very serious for the town and people. 

i'tow, Blunt states that we required him to leave the jiarish, the State, 
and the United States, and never to have anything more to do with politics, 
and to tell the negroes as he went not to have anything to do with it. There 
never was such a requirement made of him. On the contrary, it was rep¬ 
resented to me by the gentleman who njade the arrest that Blunt pro¬ 
posed, if we Avouldn’t hurt him, that he would leave the i)arish and 
never return to it, and never give us any more trouble as long as he 
lived. He (Blunt) stated that he begged for two or three days to ar¬ 
range his business. He certainly never asked me, and I don’t think he 
asked anybody else. I stated before that Ave had called in consultation 
certain gentlemen. We authorized one of them to say to Blunt that we 
Avould let him have his own time to arrange his affairs, and he could 
leave the parish by such route as he wished, and he could haA^e any pro¬ 
tection on the passage he desired. He reported to us that Blunt wanted 
to leave the parish tliat night. 

Q. Who was the gentleman, the bearer of these dispatches!—A. 
Well, Judge Marks, I am Avilling to giA^e the name of any gentleman 
where a question of fact is raised, if I knoA\^ the party is AAilling that I 
should ; but as I don’t know that, and the gentleman might have some 
apprehension that trouble would folio av the disclosure, I prefer not to 
give the name. I am quite prepared to accept AvhateA^er responsibility 
attaches to my own acts, but I don’t choose to place any upon another. 

Q. I shall insist on haAung the name on the cross-examination.—A. I 
Avill say this, that Blunt has already mentioned his name. 

By Mr. Jonas : 

Q. Go on, Mr. Cunningham.—A. This gentleman stated to us that 
Blunt preferred to leaA^e that night; he Avas anxious to go before morn¬ 
ing, and he would go alone, and didn’t want any comi)any. We told 
him ‘‘All right; take him out of the lines beyond our guards and let him 
go, but give him such time at home as he wishes to see his family.” As 
to AA’^hat time Avas given him, I don’t knoAV, only that this gentleman 
who had charge of him had instructions to give him such time as he 
wished. He Avent away, and I didn’t hear anything more of Blunt until 
a gentleman came up and told me that he met him in the parish of 
Eapides. Blunt has said a good many things about being Avaylaid by 
bands of armed men to kill him. I don’t believe that it Avas the dispo¬ 
sition of our people to do anything but respect the ])romise of safety 
given him, and I know that one man—Allen Wheeler—that he stated 
had a band ol armed men after him to kill him, Avas in town sick at the 
time. He called no other names of parties that I can remember; if he 
did I would account for their Avhereabouts if I kneAv it. It has been 
stated by Blunt and other AAutnesses that Baby had not been heard of 
since he left there, and that a body was found on the Sabine road Avhich 
was supposed to be his. I never heard of that body being found at all 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


493 


until T lioard the witnesses state it on the stand. While I have not 
been coinmniiicated with by Kaby, I am informed that another gentle¬ 
man has, and that Eaby’s wife, who was very uneasy about him, came 
to a gentleman in town and stated that she iiad heard from Eaby, and 
heard that he was safe; and I understand that Mr. Caspari had received 
a letter from him. 

Q. Have you seen the letter A. N'o, sir; I have not. Anyhow, he 
is either in the parish of Eapides, or in the lower i)art of our parish. It 
has been stated that we looked for Breda, and other Eepublican leaders, 
on Saturday, to arrest them. Such is not the fact, to my knowledge. 
I consider the account by Mr. Breda of this meeting as rather fanciful, 
and this party, if they interrupted him at all, did it without any orders 
to do so. It was not in the plan. If it was, I would rather think that 
if they wanted to arrest him they would liax^e done so. I was told that 
they met him, but I don’t know. 1 paid no attention to him. I know 
positively there was no plan to arrest them at that time, no detei’mina- 
tion made to arrest them until the next day after this attack had been 
made on the town. The town was in a state of great excitement; I had 
been up all night, and I believe everybody else had, and the next morn¬ 
ing I got the gentlemen together again with a view to advise with them 
on the situation. About the same gentlemen that we had the day be¬ 
fore, and I think some others that had come in during the night on ac¬ 
count of the troubles, met in consultation. The crowd had got larger, and 
it wasn’t determined to arrest these men nor to interfere with them until 
the next day, in any way. In that conference I swear positively there was 
no allusion to politics, and no allusion or reference to the political effects 
that this might have; but it was determined to arrest Eaby, Lewis, 
Barron, and the two Bredas, and several others whose names I don’t 
know, bat who were leaders in this disturbance. There was some differ¬ 
ence of opinion as to what should be done to any one; some saying that 
nothing more should be done than was necessary to protect ourselves 
from such occurrences as that. Nothing was said about politics in the 
consultation. I was intrusted with carrying out the plan; and it was 
understood that I should do it in my way, and be as mild about it as 
practicable. I stated that I would not disturb anybody’s ffimily. Barron 
lives right by me; and I think very highly of his wife, and I wouldn’t 
disturb her under any circumstances. There was no inclination to dis¬ 
turb any of the ladies. There was a good deal of talk in Breda’s testi¬ 
mony about it, but there was nothing of the kind done. I sent word to 
them what the determination was by their uncle, Mr. Dranguet; and I 
sent word to Mr. Barron by his brother-in-law. If anybody told Mr. 
Breda that we required him to leave there on account of his politics, 
they misrepresented me; as such was not the fact, and I never heard it 
until it was stated here the other day. Of course I wasn’t present at the 
conversation between them and the mayor, their uncle. If there was 
any political reason assigned for making these men leave town, it was 
doiie without authority of the people. Eaby sent for me to come and 
see him, and he surrendered to me, promising to comply with the 
requirements of the peojde; and I told him as far as I was concerned 
that I would do anything that I could to make it easy as possible 
for him, because I didn’t regard Eaby as bad a man as some of the 
others. He is as strong a Eepublican as any of them; but I don’t re¬ 
gard him as a man calculated to get into a disturbance of that kind, 
as I would Blunt, or Lewis, or Ernest Breda. While on this subject 
of politics, I would say that Mr. Barron in his testimony said that I 
assigned as a reason for requiring him to leave the parish that he was 


494 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


a political leader—^biit since giving Ids testimony lie lias said that I 
didn’t say so, hut that he thought so. However, as it has been given to 
the world in that way I deny it in toto. There was Mr. Bonllt, who Avas 
more of a liepublican leader than any of these men and whose fandly was 
more obnoxious to the people than anybody in the parisli excejit Blunt, 
and we didn’t reii.uire him to leaA^e. He took no part in the row ami 
fJudge Simmons didn’t take any part in the roAv, and in tliese tlmigs we 
didn’t assign political inlluence as a reason for our action. We heard 
numerous reports of negroes being assembled in armed bodies, and seA^- 
eral gentlemen came uj) and re])orted them. 1 sent out scouting parties 
to find out AAliat AAms going on, and scAm^al small bodies of negroes 
were reported, and one large body of three hundred negroes down on 
Cane Kh er. That Avas next day, Sunday. My instructions AA ere, and 
1 think the policy pursued by everybody Avas, to aiipeal to the negroes 
and get them to kee}) (juiet; to assure them that nobody Avould liarm 
them. No one Avas killed that 1 know of and no one a\ as AA ounded ex¬ 
cept these three or four negroes in the attack upon the toAvn, and Ave 
used our best judgment and discretion to restoi'e quiet over the parish, and 
did it as moderately and conservatively as it AA^as possible. Housby, 
Avho stated that he AAas called upon by some gentlemen—by a comniit- 
Tee AAdu) claimed that they Avere authorized by the Democratic Cential 
Committee to read to him a document ordering him to leave the parish, 
and assigned, as he says, as a reason that he had been sjieaking to negroes 
and making political speeches and interfering Avith j>oiitics. I saw that 
document and it didn’t contain such exi>ressions as that. 

By Judge Marks: 

Q. Who has the document noAv?—A, Well, I don’t know aaJio has it. 
I saw it in Natchitoches. They m iy have it for all I knoAv; I haven’t 
got it. The document simply recited the fact that the negroes Avere in 
an excited condition and further disturbance Avas Amry imminent, and 
stated that they had been informed that he AAms induiging incendiary 
talk and exciting the negroes. It requested him not to do so. It didn’t 
make any reference to political speeches or speeches of any other kind. 
It referred to talking and conversation and didn’t refer to political rights 
at all. And the only thing like a threat Avhich Avas in it—which Avas 
really no threat at all—Avas something to the effect that if he kept uj) 
this talk and got up an excitement among the negroes that they would 
]iot be responsible for the consequences. There AAnis no order for him to 
leave the parish or distuib him in any way beyond that. They said that 
Mr. Hornsby stated that he Avould leaA^'e the parisli voluntarily, and re- 
(piested that these same men should accompany him out of the parish, 
and he fixed a day to leave, Init on the day fixed he didn’t go. After- 
AAmrds he got into a difficulty Avith a man named Hernandez, who stated 
that Hornsby had tried to kill him AAnth a pistol and caught him by the 
collar. An affidavit Avas made against him, and Hornsby ran aAvay. I 
believe that of the appointments of Governor Nicholls up there that of 
Hornsby did more harm than anybody else. Hornsby says that he was 
appointed by Democratic influence, but I don’t knoAv of any but one 
Democrat that had anything to do Avitli having him appointed. Horns¬ 
by is a man of very Ioav character. He Avas a. member of the police 
jury when Blunt had complete control of affairs, and they carried on 
their system of spoliation there. Blunt had the Averse men appointed 
always. In referring to this I regret that I should have to mention the 
name of a man who is dead. I dislike to do so, especially as I have no 
unkind feelings toward Dr. Bonllt; but he comes in incidentally, and 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J CUNNINGHAM. 


495 


therefore T must speak of him. Blunt had such men as he appointed to 
otlice. Dr. Boiillt was tax-collector and could do anything just as he 
pleased with the police jury. His son was assistant treasurer and trans¬ 
acted all the business of the treasurer, and of course he would make all 
settlements witli the collector. 

(i^. What amount of taxes did they levy in those days, Mr. Cunning- 
liam?—A. Well, it got up to 79J mills. State and parish; besides the 
notice, two bits (25 cents), the penalties and interest that are common to 
all taxes. 

Q. That is nearly 8 per cent. ?—A. Yes, sir; that was the rate in 1873, 
and it was growing higher from year to year, and was never so high be¬ 
fore. The taxes then were 79 J mills. They just ruled the police jury 
any way they wanted. There was a system of si)oliation carried on, and 
in one j ear Dr. Boullt was deputy sheriff and tax-collector. He 
managed both offices, and during that time I think there was $21,000 
parish paper issued to the sheriff; $21,000 issued to paupers, $8,000 
issued for an emigration bureau, and no endgrants were obtained. There 
wei'c $0,000 issued for some bridges on some little common country roads, 
and tliere Avas $5,000 issued for making a map not Avorth more than from 
tAvo to five hundred dollars, and I remember that there Avas $1,800 
issued for a bridge, and all tliis Avas fraudulent paper. . 

Q. In AA'hat year AA^as all this“?—A. Well, it Avas during a series of 
years AAdnch culminated in 1874. 

Q. Which culminated in 1874?—A. Yes, sir; AA’heii the taxes got so 
burdensome that the people couldn’t stand it. Tlie system adopted 
by Dr. Boullt was—for instancje, the books AAmuld show that a certain 
amount of money Avas issued to him, but he couldn’t tell AAdiat it Avas 
issued for. I had him on the stand and he couldn’t tell. He would 
keep the money paid in for taxes. 

Q. What money ?—A. Keep the good paper and pay in fraudulent 
paper in settling Avith the treasurer. He put a good deal of this fraudu¬ 
lent paper into judgments. I liaA^e seen pauper Avarrauts as high as $250, 
$180, and several as high as $125. I kneAv one family that got as high 
as $05 a month, $10 a month for each of six persons and $5 a month for 
another. The paper AAris issued for them by Mr. Bossier, clerk of the 
court, Avho Avas secretary of the police jury. 1 regret to have to mention 
him because he is dead. He would carry that paper to Dr. Boullt, and 
Dr. Boullt wouh]. buy it. Blunt Avas president of the school board and 
Myers Avas treasurer, and Myers Avas indicted for embezzling $30,000 and 
other small amounts. Dr. Boullt was indicted also, but it AA^as pretty 
hard to have anything done in those cases in those days. Blunt was 
the senator, and the people regarded him as responsible for the character 
of the officials in the parish, and to say that Ave regarded him as a man 
of good character is simply i)reposterous. These men AAU)uld issue paper 
AAdthout any foundation for it, and aa o found their books so mutilated 
that we couldn’t tell anything they had done. From one book a Avhole 
set of stubs ” Avas gone. During the time that they were in office you 
couldn’t get to see tiieir books. Myers Avouldn’t let anybody see the 
books of the school board, and, of course, Avhen the investigation came 
nobody could tell how school matters Avere managed. 

Q. i)id he never submit them to the grand jury?—A. He claimed 
that under the law the grand jury liad nothing to do Avith it. He iieA^er 
submitted the books to the grand jury. Mr. Breda knows about that 
matter, and Mr. Breda and Myers Avwe in opposite Avings of their party, 
and I think that he and Mr. Bobison AAmnted to bring it before the grand 


496 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


jury, but IVIyers, whose duty it was to draw the jury, would only draw 
it wlieii it suited him. 

Q. But the judge appoints the foreman ?—A. Yes, sir; but whenever 
Alyers didn’t wish to draw the jury he wotdd get on a steamboat and 
go out of the Blunt knows that I told him that the people 

blamed him for having any such men, but lie iiersistently continued 
them there. Of course lie didn’t care how much the people were robbed. 
I have no disposition to be unjust or even hard uxion these men, but 
they have been very ungenerous to us and very unfaithful in every¬ 
thing, and, of course, 1 think it but justice to tell these things. Here 
is an indictment against Redmond for embezzling that city money. 
(Witness exhibited indictments.) 

Q. Who is Redmond—did he figure in the last election ?—A. IN'o, sir. 

Q. Was he a parish officer ?—A. Ko, sir; he was a city officer, and just 
got into office through Blunt and his friends. I know all about the 
bond that he gave. 

Q. 1 understood you in your testimony in chief to say something about 
a settlement by the sureties on this bond; did I understand you cor¬ 
rectly, jMr. Cunningham?—A^ No, sir. 

Q. Is all that bond settled up now?—A. No, sir; there is a small bal¬ 
ance still due upon the judgment. 

Q. This information was filed in 1875 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the sureties on that bond ?—A. The sureties were Blunt, 
Ruby, Louis (or Lewis), Boullt, and Bossier. 

Q. And they have settled the deficiency?—A. No, sir. The*amount 
of the bond was $3,000, and the amount of the defalcation is $4,300. 
Of course the sureties are only liable for the amount of the bond. 

Q. But the matter, as far as the bondsmen are concerned, has been 
settled, ami no execution could now issue against them?—A. No, sir; 
the sureties have settled nearly all of the judgment, but there is a small 
balance due, and it was about that small balance that Ruby spoke to 
me on the day of the meeting, on the 21st of September. 

Q. If 1 remember Mr. Breda’s testimony correctly, he stated on the stand 
that the negroes all looked to him as their friend and protector to a 
great extent.—A. Well, 1 don’t know anything about that, but here is an 
indictment against him for embezzling $300 that was intrusted to him 
by a negro. While he, Breda, was parish judge he took this money and 
let the negro off without bond, and he kept and spent the money. lie 
was indicted for it afterwards, but he got out of it. 

Q. What is the date of that indictment ?—A. Eighteen hundred and 
sevenfy-six. 

Q. Which Mr. Breda was it?—A. IMr. J. E. Breda—Judge Breda. In 
addition to the bodies of armed negroes that 1 mentioned before, there 
was quite a disturbance just after this affair—;iust after this Natchitoches 
affair, and growing out of it.—up in what is known as the Broadwell 
neighborhood. The statements of parties—the statements of negroes 
show that there was a conspiracy among the negroes in that neighbor¬ 
hood to burn gin-houses and kill the leading citizmis. And here is some 
testimony on that point, taken before the examining magistrate, if you 
will admit it. 

Q. Testimony taken showing those facts ?—A. Yes, sir; as the 
negroes stated, there were a great number of negroes armed, and they 
were going to burn gin-houses and kill certain white citizens looked 
upon as leading Democrats, and their determination on a certain occa¬ 
sion to take their stand on their own and kill them as they passed by. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMOJNY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


497 


Q. Are not such threats coniraoii threats among the negroes in Natchi¬ 
toches, to burn the town ?—A. Yes, sir; this is not the first time. 

Q. Were those threats made during the month of September last!—A. 
A es, sir, tliey were; and it was reported to us, and believed by many, that 
fifteen hundred negroes were assembled to take the toAvn. That these 
negroes from the Broadwell country came down, under the guidance of 
Mr. lH*eda, for the purpose of attacking the town. It was reported at 
one time that Mr. Barron Avas in this croAA cl, and, as I told him, 1 feared 
he was in it. One of the prominent characters in the Broadwell dis¬ 
turbance AAms a brother-in-laAV of BlunUs, named Miles JMartin, and here 
is an indictment against him for assaulting and stabbing a negro some 
years ago. 

Q. Was he tried for that?—A. Yes, sir; he aa as tried and coinicted 
and sent to the iienitentiary, but pardoned by Kellogg in the usual 
Avay. 

Q. What year AA^as that in?—A. The information was filed in 1875. 

Q. Does Judgment show that he aa as coindcted ?—A. Yes, sir; 1 think 
it shoAvs that he AAms tried in 1875. Yes, in December, 1875, he was 
tried. Another man that was prominent in stirring ui) what we call the 
Broadwell riot was said to be a man named Van Duzen. Here is an 
indictment against him for larceny. 

Q. Was he tried ?—A. Yes, sir, and convicted ; but he got a neAv trial 
and got out on bond. 

Q. Was he tried since ?—A. No, sir; he Avent off, but has (mine back 
once in a while and skijAped his bonds again. 

Q. When was the offense committed?—A. Well, sir, I find this infor¬ 
mation was filed in 1876; but I remember the facts. The original infor¬ 
mation Avas filed against him in 1875, as well as against Judge Myers. 
The informations against Myers and Van Duzen were stolen out of the 
record in the clerk’s office. It is generally considered that Van Duzen 
and another party Aviio is not a thousand miles from here did the steal¬ 
ing. But they were reindicted in 1876, and here is the indictment I 
refer to against Myers, for embezzling school money. I also find an 
indictment against a nephew of Blunt for forgery. My recollection is 
that he is now a fugitive from justice. 

Q. Are those documents from which you read authenticated by cer¬ 
tificate of the proper officers ?—A. Yes, sir. I have here a statement of 
the assessment and taxation of the parish for the years 18()1,1868,1869, 
1870, 1871, 1872, and 1873, which I shall read, in order that you may see 
how the finances of the parish Avere managed before and after we came 
under Kadical rule. 

Hocuaiext B. 

Natchitoches, La., Junuary 11, 1879. 

The following i.s tlie as.s«*ssnieiit and taxation of Natcliitoclies for tlie years named: 


Years. 

y ablation of 
projierty. 

Parish tax rates. 

Parish tax amount. 

1861. 

|8,085,187 00 
Rolls lost. 

2,930,905 00 
2.601,330 50 
1,664,002 00 
1,329,610 00 
1,274,540 00 

If mills. 

115,475 32 (Dem.) 
32,210 14 (Rep.) 
46,894 48 (Rep.) 
54,902 11 (Rep.) 
51,590 60 (Rep.) 
55, 487 90 

82,207 83 

1868 . 

16 mills. 

1869. 

16 mills. 

1870 ... 

20 mills. 

1871. 

30 mill’s. 

1872 . 

45 mills. 

1 ri7a .. .... 

64f mills. 




32 T 
























498 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatcliitoches 


Here a resolution a\ as produced, and Republicans made to resign, in¬ 
cluding Mr. J. R. Hornsby, then a member of what is known as the ring 
police jury. The spoliation became intolerable. Tax under Republican 
rule was thereafter held to the maximum of the law, 14J mills, and the 
expenses incurred can never be known, from the fact that the treasurer 
kept no books, and the amounts were paid in warrants, the stub book 
of which they destroyed. We know that after absorbing the taxes a 
debt has been left, which the democrats have registered since coming 
into ])Ower, as follows: 


Judgments on parusli paper... $64,583 81 

Floating parisli paper. 24,561 04 


89,094 85 

It will be seen from this that in six years nearly, if not quite, $500,000 
was taken from the tax-payers of this parish for purposes alone. 

This does not include a single cent of what they paid to the State. In 
1873 the aggregate State and parish taxes amounted to 70J mills on the 
dollar. 

The first tax IcA^y for parish ])urposes, by the Democrats, was made 
February, 1878, 7J mills, which is fully adequate for all purposes. The 
gross amount of taxes assessed was $12,000. 

I'or 1879 the gross amount reported necessary is as folloAA^s, taken from 
the official journal: 

ESTIMATE PARISH EXPENSES. 

Natchitoches, October 21, 1878. 

To the Hon. President and Menibers of the Police Jury of the parish of Natchitoches: 

Gentlemen : I liave the honor to suhinit for yonr consideration the following esti¬ 
mate of the amount requ 'ired for the payment of the expenses of this parish for the 
year 1879, viz: 

SherilFs salary per annttrti, except maintaining prisoners in jail, conveying 
prisoners to penitentiary; expenses in pursuing criminals outside of the par¬ 
ish ; conveying prisoners from another State under requisition; executing 


prisoners condemned to death; and the collection of forfeited bonds.$2, 000 

Clerk district court, salary per annum. 300 

Clerk police jury, salary i)er annum.. 300 

President police jury, salary per annum.■.. 200 

Parish attorney, salary per annum. 300 

Parish constable, salary per annum. 150 

Parish treasur<‘r, salary per annum. 300 

Magistrates and constable fees. 300 

Pay and mileage of members of police jury. 700 

Pay of jurors. 1,500 

Pay of Avitnesses . gOO 

Paupers. 500 

Jail expenses for maintaining prisoners. 800 

Contingent and general expenses. 3, 550 


Very respectfully. 


11, 700 


A. E. LEMEE, 
Parish Treasurer. 


During all these days of plunder, a\ hen Blunt was a representative or 
senator; Raby, a representative; Breda, a district attorney or parish 
judge; Barron, member and president of the police jury or sheriff; A. 
Breda, coroner; LcAvis, their speaker; Hornsby, member of the police 
jury, and not one of them ever by word, act, or deed aided the citizen 
or attempted to relieve him. On the contrary, they stood by and defended 
the robbers. 

The total amount judgments obtained, $104,063.28. 




















Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


41)9 


Q. Can yon give ns any idea of the assessment since 1874,1875, and 
1876?—A. Xo, sir; I cannot. I conld give the rate, but I can’t under¬ 
take to remember the amount of the assessment. 

Q. How did you get your ligures and facts that you have just stated 
here?—A. Well, they were given to me as taken from tlie rolls and books 
of the parish, and I know them to be substantially correct, because I liave 
examined into all these things myself. I did not take these figures from 
the rolls recently, but I have been interested in suits and representing 
the people of the parish, in which I made very thorough investigation 
into the affairs of the parish, and 1 expect that I am as well acquainted 
with the affairs of the parish during these years as anybody else. And 
I have recently looked over the transcript of the suit which we brought 
against Dr. Boidlt, in which these matters were brought under review, 
when we sued him for the balance due on settlements. I made the ex¬ 
amination very thoroughly when I made the fight to rid the people of 
taxation, and while I did not take these figures from the rolls myself, I 
am familiar with the affairs of the parish and know them to be substan¬ 
tially correct. I have filed these documents from which I have read in 
court, and therefore know them to be substantially correct. I cannot ac¬ 
count for one statement there, that the rate of taxation in 1873 was 64^ mills, 
but my recollection is that it was 79J mills; it was then a half mill un¬ 
der eight per cent. During the time, as I say, that Blunt and Myers 
and their friends ran the public schools, we couldn’t find out a great 
deal about the particulars, but there was general dissatisfaction with 
tlie manner in which they were conducted. There are no statistics 
as to what number of schools were kept up, but I know that they were 
few and very irregular, and gave general dissatisfaction. There was 
one big school kept up in Natchitoches, Blunt’s school, a colored school, 
with regularity, but with that exception I don’t think any of them were. 
I have a statement from the present school board as to the public schools 
—as to the present condition of the public schools—from which I shall 
read or make a statement. I will say that the present school board 
reports that the number of public schools in the parish, from the time 
they were taken charge of by the Democratic board, is: “Total white 
schools opened and continued for three months or more, 36; total colored 
schools open and continued for three months or more, 24.” So that the 
total number of schools in the parish is 60, the average daily attendance 
is 900, and the number of enrolled scholars 1,500. The secretary of the 
board makes this as an estimate only. The report to Mr. Lusher, State 
superintendent of education, will show the details exactly. A num¬ 
ber of colored schools are taught by white teachers, but the mass of 
instructors have been colored teachers. In wards where whites are more 
numerous than colored, white schools are kept up for a certain time and 
then discontinued and colored schools opened, so as to allow an equal 
benefit to both white and colored children. We have no mode of telling 
how public schools Avere conducted during Eepublican rule, as the books, 
vouchers, papers, &c., Avere abstracted, or rather were never turned OA^er 
to the Democratic board by their Eepublican predecessors, for Avhich 
Clime their treasurer, H. C. Myers, is now under indictment; and charges 
are also pending against him for funds due the schools, amounting to a 
large sum. The board has endeavored to procure schools in all parts of 
the parish for the colored people, recognizing the importance of educat¬ 
ing them as quick as possible, that tliey may become useful and good 
citizens. No competent colored scliool-teacher has been denied a cer¬ 
tificate, nor has any locality been denied a school. From the present 
Ir.^asurer of the chool board I have learned that the total amount of 


500 


LOUISIANA. IN 1878. 


[Natcliitoclics 


scliool funds apportioned and paid out, according to voncliers on file in 
Ids office, has been $8,333.44; to wldte schools $5,174.94, and to colored 
schools $3,158.50. This memoranda he certifies as showing the amount 
of disbursements of public school funds since he has been treasurer. 
While there has been more money paid out for wldte than colored 
schools, and while there are more Avhite schools, the colored schools are 
larger, because they are in the most populous wards of the parish, and 
have a larger attendance, for the reason that they are accessible to more 
children than those in the white wards, where the population is more 
scattering. I have ascertained from the assessor and registrar of the 
parish, the present registrar, that the assessment of property in the 
parish for 1877 is $1,212,340, and the tax on the same is 13 mills, amount¬ 
ing to $15,700.42; and that the assessment for 1878 is $1,332,900, and the 
State tax 13 mills, amounting to $17,327.70; and the parish tax of 1877, 
$992.55. The parish tax of 1878 is not yet levied. The registration of 
the parish shows 1,830 whites and 1,903 colored persons registered, 
being a total of 3,793 and a colored majority of J33. 

The report of the grand jury, December term of 1878, shows that the 
condition of the parish at that time was quiet, peaceful, and j^rosperous, 
and the people were generally contented and hopeful, and that there is 
a very material decrease in the amount of crime—such crimes as larcenies, 
murders, and other high crimes—from what came under the observation 
of former grand juries under the liei)ublican rule. 

Some of the witnesses for the majority have stated that it was a com¬ 
mon thing for white men to kill negroes, with a view of intimidating 

them. I deny that In toto; and tlie Idsfcory of the parish and the facts 
not only don’t justify, but belie such statement. That charge has been 
made. It is the customary bloodshed charge, and is entirely false. 
When General Sheridan was here and made his noted report—I think 
in the spring of 1875—of the number of murders that had been com¬ 
mitted in Louisiana, he stated that a very large number of murders had 
been committed in Katchitoches Parish, as reported by Judge Myers. I 
was then district attorney, and I called n])on General Sheridan’s adjutant- 
general for the particulars upon which he based that charge, in order 
that I might i)rosecute the parties. He declined to give them to me 

then, but promised to send them as soon as his work was completed. 
Colonel Bnrke, who was onr sheriff, made an investigation and compiled 
a record of the murders in the parish, and as we all had a hand in it I 
regard it as snbstantially correct, and, if you will permit me, shall read 
the facts it contains. 

Q. That was made by Colonel Burke, principally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is Colonel Burke living ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. How long has he been dead ?—A. He lias been dead since 1878. 

Q. Mr. Cunningliam, I see the document from which you desire to 
read is an extract from the ]S'atchitoch(*s Vindicator, purporting to be a 
statement of murders committed in the iiarish. Do you believe that to 
be substantially correct ?—A. Yes, sir; it is certified by the clerk. 

This is a list of the murders committed in the parish sin(*e 18()G, and 
whicli is compiled from the dockets by Sheriff’ Burke. All the crimes 
which have been committed have been promiitly laid before.the courts, 
which were always radical. And as no reason can be assigned for not 
punishing the criminals save their own inertness, radical jiidges and 
negro jurors are the cause of crime. 

1860 . 

S. B. Newinaii. Win. Kiiiiliall, Lawson KiniTiall, all white (Boiillt’s o;an<'), killed 
negro Ursain Tenace ' 


^'arLsh.] TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNING tl AM. 501 

James Wasliino-ton, Edmond Odam, Rose Caldwell (all colored Radicals), killed 
John Caldwell, colored Radical. 

Toser Chapman, colored Radical, killed colored child two years old. 

Thomas Freeman, white, killed John Blackburn, colored. 

William Fisher, colored Radical, killed his own child. 

1867. 

H. E. Adcock, white. Democrat, killed A. J. Fletcher, white. Democrat. 

Jacob Green, white, Democrjit, killed J. W. Loe, white. Democrat. 

Henry George, colored. Radical, killed Rul)e Cary, colored, Radical. 

R. S. Jones, J. 8. Jones, and R. B. Jones (all white Radicals), killed C. W. Stauffer, 
white. Radical. 

1868. 

E. Labuzin, white, killed Thomas Pierson, colored. 

Unknown parties killed Alfred Hason, colored. 

J. W. Little, Radical dejmty sheriff, killed Harris Cole, in attempting to arrest. 
Colored Radicals killed Adam Cornaham, white Democrat, in the night. 

Ninna Tauzin, white boy, killed Ben Metoyer, colored boy, accidentally. 

1869. 

.1. F. Baird, white. Democrat, killed J. T. Walters, white. Democrat. 

John Justice, white. Democrat, killed George Snoddy, white. Democrat. 

Irene Fisher, colored woman, killed Liddie White, colored woman. 

Israel She^ipard, Reuben Braxton, Robert Braxton, all colored Radicals, killed Wil¬ 
liam Jones, colored. 

Andy Bosley, colored, Radical, killed Tip Gilliam, white. Democrat. 

William Walsh, Henry Fagan, colored Radicals, killed Jacob Mains, white. Democrat. 
Charles Holmes, Frank Holmes, Berton Holmes, colored. Radicals, killed Tom Chap- 
mam, colored. Democrat. 

Nat Garner, white, Dtanocrat, killed Dyer, white. Democrat. 

1871. 

J. J. Woods, white. Democrat, killed Desmond, white. Democrat. 

P. E. Roach, white. Radical, killed Martin Hawkins, colored. Radical. 

Nelson Green, colored. Radical, killed Seaburn Martin, colored. Radical. 

1872. 

A. Michealson, white. Democrat, killed James Jilks, white. Democrat. 

Negroes assassinated Aloiia Jones, white. Democrat. 

Negroes assassinated A. J. Hale, white. Democrat. 

Martin Drind, colored. Radical, killed Rufus Ellis, colored. Radical. 

1873. 

King Kennedy, Alexander Kennedy, colored. Radicals, killed Walker Sweet, colored^ 
Ra<lical. 

Jeff. Langino, white. Democrat, killed Lanodiere, white. Democrat. 

Randall King, colored. Radical, killed Alexander Young, colored. Radical. 

Charles Trichel, white, killed Sam Jones, Cfdored. 

James Goodrich, colored, killed Joe Burns, colored. 

1874. 

Leon Vaunier, colored. Radical, killed M. P. Blackstone, white. Radical. 

James Collier, deimty sheriff', killed Sapp, colored, in trying to arrest him. 

Henry Redmond, colored, Radicalj. killed Charles Brumby, colored. Democrat. 

J. T. Clark, white, killed George Washing, colored. 

James Brooks, colored, killed Janies Gingham, colored. 

Charles Bell, killed by unknown parties, and, although impiest was held. Radical 
coroner refused to return. 

Amos Wright, colored. Radical, kilhal Jules Joffrion, colored. Democrat. 

Anthony Thomas, Jack Strong, colored, killed Seniore Richard, colored. Radical. 

W. A. Dill, white. Radical, kilhal Fitzgerald, white. Democrat. 

Negre Wallet, white, killed John Jackson, Indian. 


502 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatcliitoclies 


1875 TO 1878. 

AVilliam Heury, colored, killed child and shot wife. 

William Beasley, colored, killed child and shot wife. 

James T. King, white. Democrat, killed Ned Estes, Repuhlican. 

Allen Presley, colored. Republican, killed-, colored. Republican. 

Parker Salter, colored. Democrat, killed H. Smith, colored, Repnhlican. 

Samuel Hynes, white. Democrat, killed W. Siillivant, white, Democrat. 

Jack Edwards, colored. Republican, killed negro, Republican. 

S. C. Donovan, white. Democrat, killed negro, Republican. 

AVillie Wigfall, colored. Republican, killed negro, Republican. 

Green Cumberlander killeil negro. Republican. 

J. A. Keevers, white. Democrat, killed Z. AVashburn, white. Democrat. 

Paul Lloyd, colored. Republican, killed negro. Republican. 

Sarah Rachel, colored, killed Eave’s (white) child. 

The document from which I have read is regularly certified aud signed 
by the deputy clerk of the district court. 

H. L. Brigs, a brother-in-law of Judge Breda and Dr. Breda, two of 
the Avdtnesses for the majority here, married their sister in 1870, and lived 
Avith the family until about the middle of October, 1878. He stated that 
he acted Avith the Eepublican party from the time he married to the 
time of leaving the family of Dr. Breda. That he was at the Eepublican 
meeting on the 14th of September, in Natchitoches, and that it Avas well 
known to all the Eepublicans that Saturday, the 21st of September, Avas 
the time, and Natchitoches the place for holding the Democratic parish 
nominating convention. He further states that J. Ernest Breda and he 
opposed the holding of their meeting on the same day of the Democratic 
convention, but that Euford Blunt insisted upon holding it that day, and 
told the colored men that they must have the manhood to come out pre- 
l)ared to that meeting j and if a conflict did come, let it come. 

On the 21st of Sei>tember, at the Eepublican meeting, there were 
negroes from different portions of the parish and that was not dis¬ 
turbed and they Avent through their regular business. He says that 
he was at the election at Natchitoches on the 5th of NoA^ember, during 
the entire day, and that no disturbance whateA^er took x)lace, and that the 
colored voters voted the Democratic ticket of their oAvn accord without 
coercion on the part of any one; and tliat he iieA^er witnessed more good 
feeling and friendshii) between blacks and wliites tlian on that day; and 
that since the election he has heard negroes say that they felt satisfied 
and more identified Avith the white people of the country than they ever 
did before; and that they did not regret having a oted the Democratic 
ticket, and intended to do it hereafter. Judge Breda, Avhen on the 
stand before this committee, stated from hearsay, in his testimony, that 
the judiciary—I sux)pose he meant the judge—Avas engaged in this roAV. 
He also stated that he saw the judge near his house. On that I desire 
to say, in justice to Judge Pearson, that lie aa as not. His house is near 
Breda’s, and he aa as at home, and had no connection Avitli it than to stand 
guard after the attack had been made on the toAA n, Avhen eA^erybody ap¬ 
prehended that an attack AAmuld be made. There aa as some reference 
in the testimony of A. P. Breda that some fear aa as entertained that the 
family would be interrupted, and some promises gh en that they would 
not be. There Avas nothing that required any sucE ijromises, as nobody 
anticipated interrupting any family. In his testimony he refers to the 
only iiolitical speech that he made, in aa Inch he denounced the murder 
of a negro named Anderson Douglas, aud stated that it Avas done against 
the Eepublican iiarty. The facts don’t justify that conclusion. Ander¬ 
son Douglas AA as a notorious horse-thief and burglar, who Avas in jail. I 
think that it Avas either iMr. Barron or Mr. Boultt—I don’t knoAV AAhich 



Pai'ish.J 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGH4M. 


503 


was deputy sheriff—they had gone to search for goods tliat were stoleh 
from a store, and left him in the jail. He escaped. He was one of the 
worst men we ever had in that parish. He was said to have been killed 
by disguised men. That certainly had no connection with politics at all 

Q. At Avhat time of the year did tliat occur?—A. I don’t remember. 
It was thought by some persons that he was killed by Ids confederates 
for fear he would turn State’s evidence; my recollection is that he wasn’t 
killed during the political campaign. I am sure that his relations to the 
parties would not justify the imj)utation that his death had any political 
significance whatever. I believe that Breda also stated that the mem¬ 
bers ot the Knights of the AVhite Oamelia took an oath not to permit 
a colored man to exercise tlie right of suffrage. This is not true. They 
only took an oath to give the preference to white men, and as far as I 
know, in our parish, they never committed any ^dolence. But I know 
that both the Bredas when members of that organization wanted it to 
commit violence and urged the other men to do it. He says the organi¬ 
zation was kept np until the White League was organized. That is also 
untrue, because the “AA^hite Oamelia” has not been in existence since 
1808. 

(^. That is that you know of ?—A. A^es, sir; if it had been in existence, 
T am sure I would have known it. Breda states that he knows the mem¬ 
bers of the ^^298”—who the members are and where they meet. I will 
say this, that the 298 never drill, and the only thing that he could con¬ 
strue into a drill, is the initiation in which there is some noise and a great 
deal of fun. 

Q. They set the candidate uimn a cake of ice!—A. AA^e don’t have 
any ice up there, but we have a great deal of fun. There is no harm in 
it, and he is entirely mistaken about any drill; there is no drill; it is not 
a military organization at all. 

Air. Barron, in his testimony, stated that they had a Kepublican majority 
of two to one in the parish. The result of no election that I can remem¬ 
ber has ever shown such ratio between the parties. In 1872 the Demo¬ 
crats carried the iiarish, and in 1874 the Republicans carried it by twenty- 
six majority, and in 1876 they carried it by a little over three hundred 
majority. I am giving actual results, not returning-board figures, for I 
am not undertaking to follow Wells and Anderson in their meanderings. 
It seemed to me that Air. Barron acted very ungenerously in stating that 
when I went down that I was a candidate for the legislature; I was not. 
True, I was nominated that day, but not till late, and I tliink it was 
ungenerous on their part to say so, as my nomination could not infiuence 
my action in the least. Another thing. Air. Barron said that 1 promised 
that I would get permission from the committee to allow him to return 
to the parish. He didn’t need it. The last interview that I had with 
him I told him to get out of town and keep qniet for awhile. I and the 
whole commnnity have tried to be as kind to him as possible. 

I desire to state one other little circumstance in connection with Judge 
Pearson. In Lewis’s testimony he says that he wrote a note to Jndge 
Pearson asking him what he should do. The judge sent the note to me, 
and my re(‘ollection is that I sent word to Lewis that 1 had nothing to 
do with him, or if he anticipated any trouble, as he begged ])iteously not 
to be hurt, I think I sent him word to keep out of the way, or give him¬ 
self up Avith Blunt; at any rate nobody Avoirld hurt him. 

Q. Did you tell your messenger to say that that message (.*ame from 
you and not from Judge Pearson !—A. I did not. I didn’t think it was 
necessary. 

Q. He sent this note to Judge Pearson, and the answer came from you 


504 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatchitoclies 


and led liiiii to believe that it came from Judge Peai\son ?—A. He miglit 
liave tlioiiglit so, but the judge had nothing to do Avith it. 

In Hornsby’s testimony he states that the original warrant AAms issued 
for him long before he left the parish. The fact Avas that the affidavit 
Avas made against him, as he correctly states, before he left the parish, 
before a justice of the peace, and subsequently the grand jury, which met 
in Hecember, indicted him upon this charge of attempting to kill Her¬ 
nandez. This prosecution had no connection with the politics of the 
l)arish 5 Hernandez is a man avIio takes no part in politics. 

Blunt states that I ordered him to surrender aa hen the party first went 
to his house. I didn’t do anything of the kind. I wasn’t AAuth the party 
when they first went there. He saAV everything according to his own 
story from a place Avhere he could actually see nothing. 1 wasn’t 
there at all until I was sent for, and Avhen I went there I found a party 
at his house. I Avas there but a feAV moments, and if anybody ordered 
him to surrender I didn’t know it. My understanding is that no order 
was given until I came the second time, Avhen aa e sent to him to come 
out. 

Q. If I remember your testimony, you sent Avord to him, and you were 
there, and you sent aa ord to him to come out A. Yes, sir; I came 
back to his house, and I think all his talk about the conduct of the men 
is without foundation and fact. I aa asn’t in the house, but I Avas in front 
of the house. Yot more than six men went into the house, and nobody 
was mistreated. 

Q. Your testimon>^ goes on to show that you ueA^er entered the house— 
you go on and state that you were on your horse, and made tAvo trips; 
that is, that you Avent there first and Avent back afterward. And now is 
it within your knoAA ledge that any misconduct occurred I —A. I say that 
betw een the time that I went aAvay from there the first time and the 
time I came back, nobody went into the house. 

Q. How^ do you knoAv that f — A. Because the house aa as closed, and I 
am sure nobody entered it. The house had no appearance of having been 
interfered w ith aa hen I came back, and none aa ent in there except Avhen I 
was i)resent. 

Q. From aa here you AA^u-e standing on your horse—and, if I remember 

your testimony corrc^ctly, you stated that you neA er dismounted- 

A. No, sir. 

Q. You couldn’t see or hear eA^erything going on in the house ?—A. 
No, sir; neither could he see or hear eAxrythiug that Avas going on outside 
the house. I profess to kuoAv xevy little of Avhat was going on in the 
house, but I don’t believe that any intention to misbehave Avas mani¬ 
fested iu the house, and 1 don’t belieA^e the party that w ent in there did 
anything l)eyond wiiat Avas necessary to get him out. He says that 
Avhile he was up in the garret I wms in the house and made inquiries 
about the means of getting up into the garret. I did no such thing. I 
Avasn’t in the house, and don’t to this day knoAv AAhat means were 
adopted to get up through this tra])-door. I don’t know^ AAdiat was said 
in there by particular individuals, but I certainly used none, and AAmsn’t 
in the house at all. As I said before, I never heard of this requirement 
that he should leave the parish. State, and United States until I saAv it 
publislied as coming from himself. That Avas a little better terms than 
I thought he AAould give. I never heard of him leaving the parish. 
State, or United States; AA^e didn’t Avant to inflict him upon any other 
coiumunity, but Ave don’t care where he goes. I believe 1 have aUeady 
said he Avasn’t refused tAVO or three days’ delay. It has been represented 
to the committee that he applied to me for this delav, and that I, in a 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


505 


very di(*Tat()riiil iiiaiiiier, refused to grant it. Such is not the ease, and 
it is in contradiction of what we agreed and were willing to give him. I 
am sure there was no such conversation occurred between ns. 

He refers in his testimony to the circumstance of my calling on him 
to send some one to disperse the negro mob, and he says that I said 1 
had nothing against him but his political inhuence. I didn’t tell him 
anything of the kind. We were hearing these reports from down the 
river, and I think the negroes at that time already had attacked the 
guard. My motive was to protect the town. I think I advised him to 
send somebody down to tell those negroes to disi)erse. Nobody was 
going to hurt liim or them, but if they had come into that town some¬ 
body was going to be hurt; and I felt fully justified in doing it. I be¬ 
lieve his wife went down ; he told his wife to go. I don’t think I sug¬ 
gested it even. He told his wife to get Mrs. Parish to go with her. In 
the mean time the attack was made. If those persons that he referred 
to as having talked to exacted any ]>romises from him to leave the 
town it was entirely out of my knowledge and contrary to what I 
intended and what I think. On the contrary, I tried to manage 
and tried to keep everything as (piiet and as xiractical as in^ssible. 
He was in the sheriff’s ohice, and Avhen anybody would pass he 
would bellow out to them, and ap])eail to them and everybody that he 
could catch hold of to help him. I had to assure him that nobody was 
going to hurt him. He stated that nine men came to his house night 
before this, disguised, and that they intended to kill him. He states 
that the ‘‘iibS’s” were disguised. I can state that the ‘‘298’s”—well, 
now, if there have been any of the members of the “298’s” upon the 
streets disguised 1 don’t know it, and I don’t believe it. There was no 
orders for any such thing, and I never heard of any such thing. I don’t 
believe it Avas done, and those persons that he refers to I have no idea 
that any outsider ever saw one. He brings the mayor, Mr. Dranguet, 
in, by stating that he came up and approA^ed of CA^erything that we did, 
and that the mayor also ap]>ealed to me in his behalf for a delay, and 
that I ill a A^ery diidatorial manner said that we Avould liaA^e no more of 
that. 1 luiA^e no recolleclion of anything of the kind. I have no recol¬ 
lection of it. I don’t believe that I would be so disrespectful if he had 
applied to im\ I don’t remember any such circumstances taking place. 

Q. AA>11, there is a good deal—a great many misstatements in his tes¬ 
timony ?—A. But they are minor details ; it is not worth while noticing 
them. He states that his AAufe and family were afraid of being niur- 
<lered. I am sure nobody had any idea of hurting them ; they Avere not 
in any danger AAdiateA^er. And all this talk about what he. Blunt, would 
liave done if he had been alone AAitli those numerous weapons, shows 
him to be a Indly, and corroborates the evidence Ave IniAm prcAdously had 
of his dangerous intentions. A good many things appear in his testi¬ 
mony as to orders that I gaA^e, details made and things of that kind. 
The general direction of everything aa ^s in 1113 ^ charge, and I did no more 
than Avhat was necessary to carry out this iilan, and I think I did things 
quietlA’ and respe(*dabl,y, and in such a manner as AAmuld tend to preseiwe 
the p(‘ace. Mrs. Blunt in her testimony states that she saAv different 
squads of armed men iq) to the election. This excitement in Natchito- 
clies continued tvAm or three days, and during that time, of course, 
there AA^ere armed men there, but Avhen the danger of trouble Avas 
oA^er they dispersed to their iiomes, and if there Avere any others 
tliere I didn’t know it. I think she must be mistaken. After that 
disturbance Avas alhiyed there AA^ere no more armed men, and I don’t 
think she AAms insulted at all as she claims to have been on the streets. 


506 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatcliitoclies 


She says that she heard of colored people being arrested by them. The 
only colored people arrested by citizens were those arrested at that time 
and who were the leaders of this mob engaged in the Jtroadwell riot. 
They were arrested as a matter of precaution and safety, but were sub¬ 
sequently released. She stated that one called “ Captain’^ Cunningham 
presented a pistol at her head. I never saw her before that day in my 
life. At any rate I am not ‘‘ Captain” Cunningham, and did not present 
a pistol at her or at anybody else. I wasn’t in the house. In addition 
to my testimony on this subject 1 will say that at the election everything 
Avas peaceful and quiet, and I never saw anyl)ody more enthusiastic over 
a ticket than many of the negroes were OA^er ours in l!^^atchitodies that 
day. They Amted that ticket freely and Avithout coercion. 1 believe 
that OA^er four hundred negroes Amted the ticket that day in Xatchitoches. 
I know that e\wy negro that I spoke to about it seemed anxious to vote. 
I told them to a ote as they ])leased, and if they desired to Amte the Ke- 
publican ticket to do so. Of course I Avasn’t Avorking for that party and 
Avasn’t trying to get in their tickets. 1 don’t know of any negro A otiug 
the Democratic ticket except of his own free Avill and accord 

Q. Were any Republican tickets voted ?—A. There were some “ Boultt ” 
tickets Amted. There was no Republican ticket out, and except that Boultt 
Avas a Republican there Avas no other Republican candidate—he was 
A'oted for. But the Republicans as a party had no tickets in the field. 
Boultt, I understood, was opposed to Wells, who was the Republican 
candidate for Congress in the district, and didn’t encourage the vote as 
to Wells. Now as to Gardener, who I understood was the Republican 
candidate for treasurer, I knew nothing about him. The yellow feA^er 
was raging and I neA er heard of Gardener as a candidate for treasurer 
until after the election, when we were counting the Amtes. I didn’t hear 
of him, owing to the fact that we got very little iieAvs from the outside 
during the quarantine. The first that I knew of him as a candidate was 
after the election, when we aa ere counting the Amtes. 


New Orleans, La., Thursday, January 2;i, 1879. 

M. J. Cunningham cross-examined. 

By Judge M. Marks : 

Question. Hoav long have you liA^ed, Mr. Cunningham, in the parish 
of Natchitoches ?—Answer. I haA e liA^ed in Natchitoches since 1801, or 
rather since 1860, Avith the exception of fifteen or sixteen months that I 
lived in New Orleans. 

Q. What is your occupation?—A. I am a hiAvyer. 

Q. Of Avhat State are you a native ?—A. I am a natiA e of Louisiana. 

Q. Did you occupy any ])osition during last year, 1878, any ofticial 
position in the parish of Natchitoches ?—A. No, sir, Avith the exception 
of my temporary appointment as chief of police; 1 occaipied no other 
official position. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, you stated in your examination-in-chief as to the 
condition of affairs in the parish of Nat(‘hitoches, and in doing so you 
spoke from your personal knowledge and observation, did you not ?—A. 
As to the condition of what affairs, judge ? As to the attitude and 
peaceful disposition of the iieople at large, 1 know of my own knowledge 
and from general reports from various parts of the iiarish hoAv things 
stood. 



Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM 


507 


Q. You stated, if I aiu not mistaken, Mr. Ciinningliam, that there 
was no regular organization existing in the parish of Natchitoches ?— 
A. I don’t know; I don’t think I said that. I said no attack was made 
upon this Republican meeting or upon those Republican leaders, as they 
claim, by any organization, by any Democratic organization. 

Q. How many Democratic clubs were organized in the parish of 
Natchitoches in the last camx)aign?—A. I don’t know how many. 

Q. Was there any organization existing in the parish of Natchitoches 
during the last campaign, with the exception of the regular ])olitical 
Democratic clubs; if so, what were they?—^A. Well, sir, do you mean 
to confine your inquiry to political organizations ? 

Q. No, sir.—A. Well, there are some churches and Masonic lodges and 
other societies ; for instance. The 298. 

Q. That is what I want, the dilferent organizations; that is exactly 
what I want.—A. Well, we have the Masonic organization, and others 
about like any other community has. 

Q. Were there any other i)olitical organizations outside of the regular 
political Democratic clubs ?—^A. Well, I don’t know. There is no polit¬ 
ical organization there, unless The 298 might be called one, and I don’t 
consider that a political organization at all. 

Q. It might be termed one?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many members comprise that organization?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Were you a member of it?—A. I was, sir. 

Q. How was the order arranged, into clubs?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or societies?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or numbers, such as one, two, or three lodges ?—A. From my in¬ 
formation anybody in any neighborhood that wanted to organize a lodge 
of The 298 could get permission to do so. 

Q. There was a grand council of the order, was there not ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. There was a council; I never heard it called the grand council. 

Q. That council resided in Natchitoches ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you a member of that council ?—A. Yes, sir. I was a mem¬ 
ber of that council in the town of Natchitoches. 

Q. What do you call that, a conclave or a council ?—A. Yes, sir; we 
call it a council. 

Q. In any ward of your parish where any one was desirous of organ¬ 
izing a conclave, could he get authority to do so from your council ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I don’t know of any power in our conclave to grant such an 
authority, but I could get the authority. I know only of two lodges 
in our parish, one in the town of Natchitoches and one in Oampti. 

Q. Of how many members Avas the conclaA^e composed that you be¬ 
longed to ?—A. I don’t knoAV. 

Q. Were you an officer in that organization, Mr. Cunningham ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Of AA^hat rank ?—A. I was the grand commander. 

Q. Do you know the name of the grand commander of the other or¬ 
ganization that you spoke of ?—A. No, sir; I don’t know. I am not cer¬ 
tain. 

Q. You don’t knoAV the number that comprised that organization ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAV AA^hether or not the grand coniDiander of that other 
organization receiA^ed his instructions from you as to the moA^ements of 
the order ?—A. I never gave him an order as to his moA^ements in my 
life, and Avhatever orders he may have had, I don’t knoAV of them. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, Avere there any colored men in the parish of 


508 


LOUISIANA IN ]878. 


[Natchitoclies 


Katcliitoclies, of your certain knoAvledge, that helonged to this organi¬ 
zation styled “The 298”? —A. No, sir; none that I kno\y of. 

Q. AVere tliey intended to be used as a i)olitical lever in the last cam¬ 
paign or not ?—A. Well, sir, we had no objection to being used as a po¬ 
litical lever. * 

(^. Was it niiderstood upon what side of the contest yon Avere to be 
used, the Kepnbli(*an or Democratic side ?—A. That we were to be used 
on? 

Q. Yes, used.—A. It was not understood that they Avere to be used 
on any side. If people chose to attach any political im])ortance to the 
organization, and chose to regard it as anything of a formidable organ¬ 
ization, we had no objection. 

Q. Was there any one of that organization that had any objection to 
be so considered?—A. I don’t knoAV that there were any. 

(^. Mr. Cunningham, as the leader of the organization of “The 208” 
in that iiarish, did you niion any occasion use that organization, as a 
body, for the protection of the toAvn of Natchitoches, for the purpose of 
dispersing mobs, or anything of that kind?—A. No, sir; I ncA^er did. 

Q. Ncaw did ?—A. No, sir; I never did; I used the whole crowd just 
as they haiiiAened to be there. Noav so far as that organization is con¬ 
cerned, I never belonged to it until since I returned from Ncav Orleans 
to Natchitoches. I haven’t belonged to it a ery long. But somebody 
must haA^e a A^ery exaggerated idea about its imiAortance. And besides 
that, I was sick too for a solid month after this ditiiculty, and I had been 
sick in bed a month before it; and while I had a great deal to do Avith 
the campaign and attended numerous meetings, every meeting after I 
was well enough to go out—but we had nothing to do as an organization 
Avith politics. It is not a very dangerous organization, and Ave will in¬ 
itiate you, judge, if you like. Blunt was in his house with thirteen 
armed negroes, and the people Avanted to know from me if he should be 
arrested or not. 

Q. Well, sir, what did you say?—A. My impression was that he 
should be arrested, but on account of tlie suggestions of some gentle¬ 
men, I took time to consider Avhether he should be or not, and I called 
some gentlemen together on that point for consultation. 

Q. How many gentlemen did you call?—A. Six, eight, or ten. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. I think Colonel Levy was one, Mr. Boss, Mr. 
Poney, and I rather think Mr. Hathhorn. I don’t remember distinctly; 
I am not sure, but I think that Mr. Cosgrove Avas there, and I think 
Major Bussell. AVe had several conferences, and I may have the one 
conference mixed Avith the other. 

Q. Be kind enough, if you please, to give me the gist of AAdiat occurred 
in that conference that you just referred to.—A. AAYll, I stated to them 
the situation and desired to knoAV A\ hat to do. I desired for them to 
decide AA'hat should be done by the people, what was right to be done; 
a good many expressed their feelings and sentiments, and it was con¬ 
cluded. I don’t know if there Avas any difference of opinion among 
them, that aa e should not let Blunt stay in toAvn with thirteen armed 
negroes in his house, threatening the peace and quietness of the citizens. 

Q. Had he made any threats in your presence ?—A. I had not seen 
him. 

Q. AAYll, Avhat course was adopted by the conference?—A. The course 
was to send two gentlemen to him in whom aa^c thought he had confi¬ 
dence, and ask him to surrender. 

Q. Who Avere they ?—A. Mr. Jones and Judge Jackman. 

Q. A^ ell, then AAiiat next?—xV. To try to get him to come out; and if 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 509 

lie would not do it, to say that they would take him out. They were 
authorized to say that if he came out no one should hurt him. 

(^. AVhat do you mean by saying that if he came out he should not be 
hurt?—A. Well, these gentlemen were authorized to assure him of that. 
Some one wanted me to go, but I refused, for the reason that Blunt had 
never appreciated any kindness of mine, and I did not want to be in any 
situation where I would have to give him any assurance whatever; and 
furthermore, in our former troubles I had to give assurances to Blunt, 
and went to his house one night at the time we were trying to get those 
officials in the parish to resign, in 1874, when threats were made that 
there would not be a house left in the parish; I went to Blunt’s house 
and assured him that there was no disposition on the part of the people 
to trouble him; that all they wanted was just to get rid of this taxation; 
they wanted Dr. Boullt to resign ; and if he did not arouse the negroes, 
he, Blunt, would not be troubled. We have always had confidence in 
the fact that Blunt could arouse the negroes easier than any other leader 
could. I had as friendly a conversation with him then as I am having 
Avith you noAv, and yet he went before a Bepublican committee and swore 
that I Avanted to kill him at that time. On one occasion he was gather¬ 
ing a crowd of negroes on Old Eiver, and there was considerable excite¬ 
ment. When he came back, Judge Pearson and myself sent for him and 
liad as friendly a talk with him as A\"e are liaAfing now, yet before the 
Congressional committee he said that we sent for him to kill him. As 
far as that is concerned, I neA^er tried to kill anybody in my life, and my 
nature, conscience, and judgment are against it; and Mr. Blunt knoAvs 
that fact as well as anybody. 

Q. Tlien you refused to go into the house as one of the parties to ask 
him to surrender ?—A. Yes, sir, I refused to go to the house. 

Q. After you had decided that he should be arrested did you get any 
Avarrants to arrest him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you charge him with any crime !—A. This is a case tliat is 
not met by any warrant or legal proceeding. It was a riot, a general 
roAA', and had to be met by extra measures. 

Q. That is what I want to get at.—A. As a matter of course, Ave had 
cliarged him with being the instigator of the trouble. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, will you be kind enough to explain to me what 
the trouble was'? Blunt was in his house, and it was only reported that 
he was there with those thirteen armed men; had he made any demon¬ 
stration on the highway ?—A. I told you, sir, that numerous negroes 
had made demonstrations, and that AA^e considered Blunt the leader, 
and for that reason arrested him. 

Q. Well, as far as Blunt was iudiAndually concerned, u]) to that time 
he had done nothing, only what rumor reported?—A. 1 think he had 
got up the whole disturbance. 

Q. Now, what was the disturbance at that time at Blunt’s house?—A. 
You ought to know that Ave didn’t confine ourselves to the disturbance 
at Blunt’s house. 

Q. I AAmnt to confine it there. What was done at Blunt’s house?—A. 
We had reason to suppose, from Mr. Blunt’s haA ing thirteen armed men 
in his house, that that Avas a nucleus to co-ojierate with those armed men 
whenever tliey came back from the country, and that they would do Avhat 
they said, burn the toAvm. We regarded the whole situation as mena¬ 
cing, tlireatening, and dangerous. We considered that to arrest Blunt 
was the easiest and only means of protecting the town, in which a good 
many would be killed if the fight Acas not preA^ented, and Ave were de- 


510 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoclies 


termined tliat our people slioiild not be killed, and if we bad to figiit to 
have it on his own ground. 

Q. Then Mr. Blunt was arrested !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men were in his house ?—A. I didn’t count them. A 
good many got out the back way, but I don’t know how many. Several 
men were brought but of the house when our party got down there. 

Q. AVhat was done with them? Were they kept under guard ?—A. 
Yes, sir, until after his arrest, and then released. 

Q. How many were there altogether ?—A. Eight, ten, or twelve. 

Q. Were they armed at the time of his arrest ?—A. Yo, sir. I don’t 
know if they were armed at the time of the arrest. 

Q. How many of the guns did you find in Blunt’s house ?—^A. I don’t 
know how many guns were there. There were some reported to be 
found, several guns and pistols, and I think one Winchester rifle. 

Q. How many persons were living in the house of Blunt at that time! 
—A. 1 don’t know of anybody. 

Q. Except himself!—A. I don’t know of anj^body living there at all. 
I know nothing about his domestic arrangements. 

Q. Where were those guns found; were they ready for use that you 
know of! If they were, state if you saw them !—A. I did not see them. 

Q. You did not see them !—A. No, sir. 

Q. You only heard that several guns and one Winchester rifle and 
several pistols were found in the house!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You don’t know how many men were taken out of the house !—A. 
No, sir. The truth of the business is that I was in very great pain at 
the time. I was sufitering very much and was very sick, and didn’t do 
anything except what was necessary to carry out the orders of the people. 
I was in a condition of indifterentism. 

Q. Pardon this question, Mr. Cunningham: In speaking of the people— 
you used the term so generally—do you include in that term the Repub¬ 
lican i^ortion of the population, the colored portion, or do you mean 
simx)ly the white people ?—A. No, sir. Some colored i)eople co-operated 
with us. 

Q. Well, those that co-operated with you you termed the people !— 
A. Yes, sir. Of course I would not go and ask advice of Blunt and his 
mob* I don’t care for their wishes at all. I considered it a matter 
above i)arty that the peace and security and welfare of the community 
should be looked after, and I acted in the affair with that view only. 

Q. Well, sir, wdien you got Blunt, what did you do with him!—A. 
We carried him to the court-house, and kept him under guard. 

Q. Did you keep uj) your organization!—A. We kept up the vigil¬ 
ance. 

Q. And sent out scouting jiarties!—A. That night w^e didn’t. We 
were preparing for a defense. There were parties that went out to this 
l)lace where the fight took place at the Dirt Bridge. 

Q. Who fired the first shot at the Dirt Bridge!—A. The negroes, so 
the guard reported. 

Q. Who was the guard!—A. The guards were T. B. Porter, P. E. 
Porter, B. B. Brazeale, andS. E. Critens, and when the party came u^), 
they halted them and were answered w ith a volley. 

Q. How many negroes did they report as coming vm armed!—A. Prom 
150 to 200. 

Q. How close were they when they halted them!—A. The bridge is 
a dike across the river about 80 yards long, and the men w ere on the 
bridge. 


TESTIMONY OF M. .T. CUNNINGHAM. 511 

Q. And the guard was on the end of the bridge toward the town ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far were they apart, from the best information that you can 
gather?—A. I don’t know. 

Q, It was at night time?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. The command was given to halt by the guard; by whom was it 
given ?—A. 1 don’t know who gave the command. 

Q. And the return was a shot?—A. Yes, sir; a volley. 

Q. Howmany shots were fired ?—A. Thirty shots. They fired sixteen 
iind the guard fourteen. 

Q. How did they count the number of shots fired in a volley ?—A. I 
don’t know. 

Q. Hoav could they tell the exact number of shots fired against them ?— 
A. I don’t know. I didn’t consider it a matter of importance. 

Q. How many of the guards were killed!—A. There was none killed. 

Q. How many of the negroes were killed!—A. None killed; only three 
or four wounded that I know of, and only one that I can call to mind, 
named Estis. 

Q. Is he alive?—A. Y"es, sir. He was wounded in the breast. It 
ain’t a bad place. 

Q. Hoav many from the guards Avere wounded !—A. None. 

Q. Did those negroes OA^erj^oAver the guard too and come to town!— 
A. No, sii; they did not. The negroes stampeded and ran, and the toAvn 
was saA'ed. 

Q. Did they make any attempt to capture the guard!—A. I don’t 
knoAV the details. My impression is that after the fire they ran, and 
strewed the road for miles with saddle-sacks, saddle-blankets, &c. 

Q. That AA as when !—A. That Avas on the 21st of September. 

Q. That Avas the only actual volley that was fired during the cam¬ 
paign ?—A. That is the only one I knoAV of. 

Q. Do you know anything of the death of one E. D. Lewing !—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Was there any attempt on the part of the Eepublicans, when they 
learned of the capture of Blunt, to retake him !—A. They didn’t attack 
the house he was in for the purpose of taking him. 

Q. Did they make any demonstration !—A. I think there was a good 
many demonstrations to retake Blunt, or something else of that kind. 

Please state what they were.—A. I have stated them. The attack 
on the town, for instance. 

Q. At the bridge ?—A. Y"es, sir; and the assembling of the negroes 
generally. 

Q. Do you know whether they Avere aware of the capture of Blunt!— 
A. I don’t know it. I didn’t talk with any of them after this trouble on 
that night. As I say, the next morning it was determined to arrest 
other parties, and I suppose 12 or 15 were arrested. 

Q. Who were they !—A. I don’t remember who they Avere. I remem¬ 
ber a negro named Green, and Wiley Brown. 

Q. In your examination-in-chief yesterday you made the statement 
that a certain number of colored men, presumed leaders of the Kepubli- 
<jan party, and you enumerated them by name and stated Avhat they 
had been charged Avith having committed; were any of those negroes 
included in tliat number that you decided to arrest; and if so, who were 
they! You understand the question!—A. I don’t remember that I 
gaA'e you any such list yesterday. I didn’t confine myself yesterday to 
speaking of colored men. I spoke of Dr. Boullt, Judge Myers. The 


512 


LOUISIANA IN ISTS. 


[Xatcliitoclies 


only colored men 1 said anytliing about at any time was Miles Martin 
ami another by the name of Atkinson, I think. 

Q. I am not alluding to that listj but, if you remember, you said in 
your testimony, here is so-and-so; he is a nephew of Mr. Blunt and he is 
charged with so-and-so; and then, you went on and gave another name; 
he is a relative of so-and-so, and he is charged with such-and-such; au(l 
then you said that these were Bepublican leaders in the parish of 
Xachitoches; now, I want to know if any of those men were amongst 
the number that you determined to arrest ?—A. I don’t think 1 said 
that. 

(^. Were the leaders—those parties that you went on to read indict¬ 
ments and informations against, were they leadtu*s of the Bepublican 
party in the last campaign I —A. 1 read one indictment against Judge 
Breda, and 1 regard him as a leader; one against iVliles Martin, I re¬ 
gard him as a leader also; and one against Judge Myers, but he was 
not there during the last campaign. 1 simply introduced these, not to 
show how things are now, but merely to show that we did not and could 
not in view of that regard Blunt as a man of high character. I have 
produced them to show the character of the men that he sustained in 
office. Mr. Breda stated in his testimony that the colored people looked 
to them as protectors; and what I have shown with reference to them 
is with a view to inove that they are not leaders of a very high char¬ 
acter. 

Q. Why was not 31r. Breda tried for that offense?—A. He was tried. 

Q. What was the result of the trial ?•—A. He was acquitted on the 
ground that he had returned the money. 

Q. When was the indictment against him found?—A. I think it Avas 
in 187(). My recollection is that it was in June, 1876—the 12th of June. 

Q. You say he was tried and acquitted; Avas he tried before a jury?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On AA hat groimds was he accpiitted ?—^A. You mean, Avhat prompted 
the jury to acquit him ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. They considered that, as he had refunded the money, 
he AA^as not guilty of an offense. 

Q. What Avas the defense ? — A. It Avas a legal one. He argued that, 
as he had paid it back, it aa as not a crime. 

(i. Was that indictment found during the time that the offices of dis¬ 
trict judge and district attorney Avere being administered by the Demo¬ 
crats?—A. Yes, sir. Judge Breda Avas i)arish judge at the time that 
lie took this money. The judge and district attorney Avere Democrats 
at that time; I Avas district attorney myself. 

Q. Was or AA as not the money paid back to this person before the in¬ 
dictment was found ?—A. The money, according to my recollection, and 
I think it is distinct and correct, Avas paid back betAveen the finding of 
the grand jury and the finding of the indictment in court. My recol¬ 
lection is that when Judge Breda found that the grand jury was iiiA^es- 
tigating this matter, he paid the money. 

Q. Then the matter was settled before the indictment was brought into 
court; of course an indictment is not such until it is brought into court ?— 
A. No, sir; the information Avas filed in court. 

Q. Are not the proceedings of the grand jury secret ? Is not an oath 
administered to each AAutness that he shall keep the proceedings, as far 
as he is concerned, secret ?—A. It should be. 

Q. Were you district attorney at that time?—A. No, sir; I Avas not. 
I had ceased to be then. 

Q. M as a resolution introduced and passed in your coua ention as to 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. .1. CUNNlNGHAxM. 


h i O 


\v]i;it sliould be done in ix\i^ard to dispersing’ tlie He]>ublican meeting ?— 
A. Xo, sir; none tiiat 1 know of. 

Upon whose motion was it tliat the convention took a n^vessf—A. 
Well, sir, 1 Avonld not like to state positively on whose motion. Soim- 
member of the convention moved to take a recess and it Avas doiuh 

Q. Was there any cause for doing it f—A. Certaiidy. 

What was the cause f—A. That they a])prehended trouble. 

Q. AVas not it specitied when the convention sliould assembled—A. I 
think some one moved to take a recess until some hour in the evening, 
but I don’t remember who it was. 

Q. You say that the cause was assigned; what was that caiise ?—A. 
Tliey apiirehended an interference with the convention by that mob of 
negroes, as a great many reports had come up during the day. The 
people were under serious a])prehension and the state of the public mind 
was such as to interfere with the business of the c.onvention, and siime 
member of the convention moved to take a recess until some sjiecitied 
hour in the evening. 

Q. In the evening of the same day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there anything jiassed in that convention or introduced in that 
convention showing what the members thereof should do during tin* 
recess ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AYas there anything said immediately after the adjournment by 
yourselves or any one else as to where you should go to ?—A. There was, 

Q. AYho was it, and what was it ?—A. I don’t know hardly, but soim* 
man made a proposition that we should go down and disperse that mob. 

Q. AVas that motion agreed to?—A. Yes, sir; you understand that 
was not ail act of the coiiveution, and the peoiile acted then not as mem¬ 
bers ot the conA^ention, but as a croAvd. 

Q. That is, both members of the convention and outsiders acted to¬ 
gether?—A. As far as 1 kiiOAv, this movement Avasnot conlined to mem¬ 
bers of the coiiAmntion, nor do I think that all the members of the con¬ 
vention Avere in it. 

(^. Did your coiiA^ention assemble at night again ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Did it make its nominations ?—A. Yes, sir it assembled and Avas 
in session Avhen the report came that this attack had been made at tin* 
Dirt Bridge, and a motion wiis made to take a recess until a late hour 
of the evening. A permanent organization Avas had, and some nomina¬ 
tions AA^ere made at that time. It aa^is tlien agreed to adjourn again. When 
this report came I got up and announced that I disliked to intiufei’e AA’itli 
the proceedings of the couA'ention, but the report of th(‘ situation in the 
loAYer end of tOAVu^AAais so grave and serious that 1 felt constrained to ask 
them to adjourn the coiiA'cntion, as everybody wanted to be there. J asked 
them to adjourn the convention until <piiet could be restored. Then* 
Avais a disposition to go on, but the chair announced to the convention 
that the toAvn had actually been fired ipion, that the guard at Dirt 
Bridge had actually been shot at, and that this Avas no time to go on Avith 
nominations. It aa^is then determined by the coiiAumtion to take a rec(‘ss. 
and a recess AA^as taken. 

Q. The recess Avas taken until Avlien ?—A. Until some late hour that 
night. 

Q. Did you proceed to the Dirt Bridge ?—A. AY\s; I AAent. 

Q. In comiiany with aaTioiu ?—A. I don’t knoAA\ 

Q. With hoAV niaiiy ])ersons ?—A. I Aurtually Avent alone. I got on my 
horse and AAumt doAvn to ascertain the situation. 

Q. What did you do then, AAdien you got there ?—A. I found some 
men Avho AA’cre there when the attack AAms inade, and some AAiio had got 

33 T 


514 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Natchitoches 


there since. There was a good deal of confusion and some organization. 
I found some of our people there, fifteen or twenty, and some had gone 
below the bridge to reconnoiter. 

Q. Did you find any armed negroes there?—A. ^o, sir; they liad 
stamjieded. 1 went down to ascertain the actual situation, with the 
view to make arrangements for the public defense. 

Q. Were those four men that had done the shooting and been shot 
at at their posts when you got there ?—A. Those four men didifit all 
remain there. After they Jiad exhausted their fire, three of them 
were left there, and one went ui) to town to give the information and I 
suppose to renew their ammunitioii. My recollection is that when 1 got 
tliere there was only one of the foui’ that was there when the attack was 
made, and that he told me how it had occurred; we heard so many re- 
jiorts. When the man came up there, he told me that their command 
to halt was made with a voll(‘y. 1 was not actually informed of what 
occurred until 1 had got down to the bridge. 

Q. Who was it gave you your information at the bridge ?—A. I don’t 
remember who. There were several persons present, but it was one of 
those four young men, and I gave directions for the guard to remain 
there. 

Q. AMu knew the four men that were there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are they old or young men ?—A. They are young men. 

Q. IIow old is the oldest ?—A. I don’t suiipose any of them is over 
t"^enty-five years. 

Q. Was any of them in the late war ?—A. JS^o, sir. 

Q. Was any of them under fire before that occasion?—A. I think not. 

Q. Was there not one or two of them young boys between the ages 
of fifteen and eighteen ? What age Avas the youngest ?—A. 1 should 
think that the youngest was the brother of that young, man there (a 
witness present), Mr. Brasil, and was between twenty-one and twenty- 
two years. 

Q. And the oldest ?—A. I should think that he was somewhere in 
then eighborhood of twenty-five years. 

Q. When you arrived at the Dirt Bridge, you found nothing in the 
shape of armed opposition ?—A. No, sir; but I was not the first to go 
after this trouble. 

Q. AVas there any more fire?—A. No, sir. 

Q. On neither side?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you send any scouting parties out on the road during the 
night ?—A. No, sir; Avhen I got down there there Avere some gentlemen 
there that had been below the Dirt Bridge to reconnoiter a few hundred 
yards, and my recollection is that they didn’t get far enough to see if 
there Avas anything in the immediate Aucinity. 

Q. Was there any armed mob, that you know of, in the immediate 
vicinity at that time?—A. I don’t remember; but I think all that Avere 
reported to me then Avere several miles aAvay; but they had assembled 
and come there. 

Q. To come to the Dirt Bridge?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was only the report?—A. Yes, sir; but I don’t suppose that 
they Avould deny it at all. 

Q. Well, sir, did you proceed to toAvn? Did you go back to the con- 
A^ention after that?—A. Yes, sir; and there Avas a motion made in the 
convention to adjourn it for a week or two weeks. That motion was 
opposed, and it was decided to go on and finish the nominations, and I 
expressed my views to the members. My opinion Avas that the conven¬ 
tion should finish its business that night. 


I’nriah.] 


TESTIMONY OF M J. CUNNINGHAM, 


515 


Q. And you did proceed, and finished iti—A. Yes, sir. 

The convention continin^.d its labors and made nominations at a 
late hour that night!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And adjourned!—A. Yes, sir; <u\i(mvned sine die. 

Q,. Did the members all go home then!—A. Some went, and some 
staid until the trouble was over. 

Q. Did you lujar of any member of that convention being interf(;red 
with on his way home that night!—A. 1 did not hear of it, but I do not 
F know of any member of the <M)n vent ion that went home that night. 1 
did not inquire nor care how they went home. 

Q. Did you hear, Mr. Chinningham, how many members of the 
'. convention remained in town that night!—A. The only gentleman that 
I know that did not stay in town was a gentleman from ward number 

il 

Q. Did you of anyone being interfered with that night!—A. I <lid 
not hear that there was; but I have no idea that any member of the 
c.onvention would have ventured in the direction where these negroes 
il were assembled. 

Q. Was Dlunt already in your charge at that tiu«3!—A. Yes, sir. 

I-. Q. Was he under guard!—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. You stated, just before the adjournment, that a certain number of 
men were decided upon to arrest!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVere they leaders in the llepublican ])arty!—A. Yes, sir; they 
t w(‘re considered so. Some of them were and some were not, but they 
were arrested as leaders of this mob. Several negroes of no political 
f importance whatever were arrested, simply because they were leaders 
in this attack upon town. 

f j\Ir. Cunningham, one question, if you ])lease. Thei'e were four 

^ men at the Dirt Bridge, who halted some two hundred men coming up 
M armed to the town; they halted them at about twenty yards distant, 
H and the answer was the volley, which was tired ui)on those four men. 
‘9 How was it that any of that mob was recognized by any one of those 
a four men ! INlark you, it was said before that it was night when the 
^ attack occurred.—A. In the lirst place, 1 didn’t fix the number at two 
hundred and fifty, and I didn’t say any one was recognized by the guard. 

• ^ly understanding was that they were not recognized by the guard. 

Q. Then the guard didn’t recognize any one!—A. No; so far as 1 
know. 

Q. \Yas that the only attacking ])arty at the town of Natchitoches !— 
A. The only actual attack, that I know of, was that. 

(h Then you say tliat certain men, (diarged with Iniving been instru¬ 
mental in that attack, were arrested afterwards !-^A. Well, they were 
seen by parties down the river, and they were heard by parties down 
the river, and several parties were seen riding around among this mob, 
and one of them, I remember, was heard singing a war-song. 

(^. Heard singing a war-song!—A. Yes, sir; but I didn’t get that in¬ 
formation from the guard. 

Q. Y^ou didn’t get your information from the guard!— A. No, sir; wc 
did not. 

Q. Then every man that was arrested, charged with being instrument¬ 
al in organizing and bringirig on this body of men to charge the town, 
was arrested on information of other parties than the guard at the 
bridge !—A. I don’t say that the guard were instrumental in having 
any one arrested. It is possible that the guard may have heard the 
voices or the names of some one, but I don’t recall the information upon 
which we acted, precisely. 



516 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Was there any trouble on Sunday in the town of Natchitoches ?— 
A. There was a good deal of excitement there, and the city was nervous 
with api)rehension at the situation. We heard a great many reports on 
Sunday, but there was no actual attack made ux)on the town. 

Q. Did you have jiarties reconnoitering and couriers out?—A. The 
peojile Avere coming in constantly during that day, and I think that 
three rec.onnoitering parties Avent out to ascertain the situation. 

Q. What Avas tlieir re|)ort?—A. One of them, as I told you, rei)orted 
that they found three hundred armed negroes doAcn on Cain Kiver. 

Q. At the time Blunt Avas arrested, you stated in your examination-in- 
cJiief that you deemed it necessary to send to the office of the jail the 
wife of Blunt and anotlier Avoman; am 1 correct in that statement?—A. 
Yes, sir; I sent them to the office. 

Q. Why did you think it necessary? — A. 1 sent all the men and avo- 
men that we brought out of Blunt’s house, and one Avoman that was not 
in the house, to the jail office. I deemed it necessary, in order to preA^ent 
any undue excitement amongst the peojAle; as I said, Blunt’s AAufe and 
this other Avoman, Avhose name I don’t knoAv, Avere A^ery Auolent and ex¬ 
cited, and manifesting a turbulent spirit, and I deemed it exi>edient, for 
fear that they might proAmlvC our peo})le to do some Aiolent act, that 
tliey should be brought to the office of the jail. 

Q. AVho do you mean by the })eople ?—A. The croAcd I Avas AAith. 

Q. Were they excited ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they distressed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you actually feared for the safety of those men and Avomen?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that is the reason you sent them to the office of the jail?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you care for their safety ? —A. Y'es, sir; I care for the safety 
of eA^erybody, and 1 AA^anted to preserve tlie peace and safety of the 
toAvn, and to do so by peaceful means, and not get beyond it. Just the 
same as I deemed it necessary to look after Blunt, I took charge of those 
people; I didn’t kno\A^ Avhere Blunt Avas, yet I deemed it necessary to 
look for him; I thought he Avas out of tOAvn organizing things to come 
in and attack us; I aaus A^ery glad to find liim AAdiere we did. 

Q. W"hy did you deem it necessary that the wife of Blunt, and the 
woman found in the house, and the AAmman that got mixed up in the 
(u'OAvd, should be sent in charge of a guard to the office of the jail? 
Were they armed?—A. I told you four or ftA^e times that I deemed it 
necessary to send them there on account of impending trouble. 

Q. Hoaa^ many negroes Avere present at Blunt’s? — A. Fifteen or 
tAventy. 

Q. Would they IniA^e left there if they had the opportunity?—A 
Who? 

Q. Those negroes ?—A. Well, I went to them four or fiA^e times and 
asked them to leave. 

Q. Did they leave as soon as you went to them?—A. No, sir; some 
of them Avould refuse. 

Q. AVhat objection did some of them liaA^e to leaAung?—A. The objec¬ 
tion of some of them to leaving was that they didn’t care to go; they 
were simjAly stubborn. 

Q. Were any of them frightened ?—A. No, sir; none that I saw. 

Q. Had any of them an opportunity of going away without encounter¬ 
ing a stray shot?—A. Yes, sir; plenty. I didn’t knoAv any of those 
negrcrs who came there. 

Q. Were those negroes toAvn people?—A. Some of them, I suppose. 


Palish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


517 


were from the town, and some were from the country, but 1 could not 
for my life tell you who they were. I remember the name of one negro. 
I went and asked him to go away, but he didn’t make any reply at all, 
but when I insisted upon it he left. 

Q. He leftf—A. Yes, sir; there were several negroes in that crowd, 
and 1 went to them myself and urged them to go away. 1 went to those 
the most prominent. 

Q. Hid yon arrest any of them f—A. Yo, sii*, I did not, and gave no 
orders to arrest any; nobody was sent to the office of the jail except 
those that had been in the house. 

Q. Why didn’t you arrest any others; were they not dangerous?—A. 
1 don’t know. It didn’t make any difference to me if they were danger 
ous or not. 

Q. You were not afraid of them; that is, your party that assembled 
at Blunt’s house was not afraid of them?—A. I don’t know; I am afraid 
of any danger that I meet; but I manage to face it when it is my duty 
to meet it. 

Q. When I spoke in the plural number, Mr. Cunningham, I spoke so 
because you in your testimony warrant it, as you api)ear in the position 
of a leader of your i)arty.—A. We certainly feared that those negroes 
were there to make trouble, and we felt assured tliat they would bring 
it on. 

Q. Then why didn’t you arrest them?—A. Because we didn’t have 
accommodations for all. We didn’t want to arrest the whole com¬ 
munity. 

Q. You simply arrested the most dangerous men?—A. Yes, sir; what 
we considered so. 

Q. And as a rule those dangerous men were leaders of the Kepublican 
party?—A. ISTo, sir. We arrested the men in Blunt’s house and those 
that we thought or knew to be engaged in the attack upon town, but 
were otherwise in no sense leaders of the Republican party. 

Q. How many police-jury wards are there in the parish of Yatehi- 
toches?—A. Ten. 

Q. Were there any police-jury boards in the parish of Yatchitoches 
from which there were not one, two, or more persons arrested?—A. 1 
don’t think so, sir. I don’t think that there were men arrested from all 
the wards. So far as I know, every one that was arrested lived in ward 
1) or ward 1, but in making the arrest we didn’t consider where they 
lived. 

Q. What effect, if any, did it liave ui)on the (mlored voters of Natchi¬ 
toches when it was generally known that Blunt had left the parish, and 
that Breda had left the parish, and Lewis and Raby had gone, and one 
or two others, not to return until after the election, if ever ?—A. I don’t 
think anything resulted from it, except that it resulted to our political 
advantage. The negroes, when relieved of the pressure that was brought 
to bear upon them by those men, especially by Blunt, felt free to vote 
the Democratic ticket, as they were not then socially ostracized for 
doing so. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, isn’t it a fact within your knowledge that after 
the departure of these men no attempt was made to organize the Repub¬ 
lican i)arty in the parish of Natchitoches ?—A. There was no attempt 
made. 1 can’t say that there was none; but I don’t know of any. 

Q. Was there any Republican ticket in the held in the last campaign 
in that parish ?—A. There was a Republican candidate. There was 
Boultt running for sheriff; he was a Republican. 

Q. Was he elected ?—A. He was not. 


518 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


I Natch itochos 


Q. How many votes did he get?—A. lie got 82. 

Q. How many votes were east?—A. There were 2,800. His opponent 
got 2,682 votes, another Independent got a few votes, and Boullt got 82. 

Q. Then there was, virtually, but one ticket in the field?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has it been customary in Natchitoches Parish to have but one 
ticket in the field?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you ever Iuia e any conversation with Mr. Millei' and Mr. Brazeale 
to tind out the exact position tliat they occuxiied to the office of Mr. 
Breda, on the night of the 14th Se])tember, Avhen tliey said they heard 
wliat occurred therein ?—A. I never took the trouble to inquire. ]\Iy 
impression is that they were in the yard back of the church, the ground 
lielonging to the Catholic church, and my imjiression is that they heard 
and saw everything from that yard from over the fence. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, yesterday, in your examiuation-in-chief, you were 
permitted to read from certain affidavits and statements and were per¬ 
mitted to give such as hearsay evidence. Will you be kind enough to 
tell me when those statements were made; whether since the election 
or before ?—A. I never noticed the date of them, but 1 presunuM the 
affidavits were recently made. 

Q. Then you give them as statements, the knowledge of which came 
to you before these affidavits were made ?—A. So far as I know, yes. 
There are many things in those affidavits which influenced our action, 
and the rcjiorts I read before, during the time these things were coming 
on. 

Q. You stated, Mr. Cunningham, from the statistical report, the con¬ 
dition of the schools since the administration of them by the Democratic 
party ; that there were more schools in operation than before ?—A. I do 
not remember how many 1 stated. The statement of it I made to you 
uj)on that subject was from written statistics furnished by the officials 
of the school board. 

Q. Do you know how long those schools are oiien during the year ?— 
A. No, sir; 1 do not know how long these schools, in any ])articular lo¬ 
cality, are opened. 

Q. Can you give me the statistics of the })arish of Natchitoches of 
187() as to the white and colored ?—A. No, sir. The law did not require 
the supervisor of registration, as he was then denominated, to keep his 
book so as to show the number of whites and colored, and the only evi¬ 
dence that we had as to the respective number of whites and blacks sliould 
be kept on the book, so that no man could go and see in a moment, if he 
wished to know how many whites and blacks there were. 

(^. What was the white and colored registration in 1878 ?—A. The 
whites were 1,830, and the colored 1,063. That is a ditference of 133 
colored majority. 

Q. Who is your register?—A. J. P. Johnson. 

Is he a Democrat or Eepublican ?—A. He is a Demo(U'at. 

Q. When did he first commence registration ?—x\. Under this law the 
register himself commences when he makes the assessment, early in the 
year. AVhen he travels over the i)arish, he registers any one that wishes 
to be registered. 

Q. Does he keep his office open in the court-house 60 days, as re- 
<piired by law?—A. The law does not require it. He keeps his office in 
the court-house a specified time, and Avent to certain places in the parish 
at different times, according to notice regularly given. 

Q. How is your police jury composed; is the majority Democratic or 
Eepublican?—A. TJie majority is Democratic now. 

CjJ. Have you ever changed the police-jury wards ?—A. Under the act 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


bVj 


of 1877 tlie police-jnry wards of the parish have been reorganized. The 
legislature of 1877 passed an act providing for the di\ision of the parish 
into ten ])oliee-jury wards, and for the election of police jurors by the 
electors, and the governor was authorized to fill vac.ancies within Ids 
discretion in any parish not to exceed five members of the police juiy. 
Tlie parish of Natchitoches, as formerly constituted, had thirteen wards. 
Wards one and thirteen, according to my recollection, were put in the 
Red River Parish when that parish was erected, and that left eleven wards 
in the parish of Natchitoches, numbering from two to twelve, and under 
a new law of 1877 thepolice jury redistricted the wards and renumbered 
them. For instaiice, there had always been odd numbers. The town of 
Natchitoches, which formerly was ward twelve, for instance, became 
ward one. 

(i^. Did they also change the number of justice of the peace wards; if 
so, were they differently numbered from the ])()lice-jury wards?—A. 8o 
far as my knowledge goes, they did not change them. There are prob¬ 
ably two wards in the parish, outside the Natchitoches ward, in which 
there are two justices of the peace. An additional justice of the peace 
ward was created in ward four by special act of the legislature. 1 am not 
informed as to the manner of the creation of the justice of the peace 
wards. In ward two, which is a very long ward, being thirty miles long, 
there are not more than 400 registered voters. In case of ward four, aii 
additional justice of the peace was created by spexdal act of the legisla¬ 
ture, but I doift knoAv why it was done. 

Q. Do you know of your own personal knowledge as to whether or not 
any Republican had been charged with being a leader of that mob that 
made an attack on town, or made threats of violence against citizens, as 
having been charged before a court of justice upon the affidavit of a 
responsible party?—A. The negroes that I referred to as being con¬ 
cerned in the trouble at BroadwelFs Avere legally charged upon affidavits, 
and they certainly were not arrested as Republicans. 

Q. Leaving out the politics, AA^as anybody arrested by a process of law 
for burning the town or threatening to do it?—A. No, sir j none that I 
knoAv of. 

Q. Is there any charge no\\^ pending in the town or parish of Natclii- 
toches against any one for threatening to burn that toAv n ?—A. No, sir. 
Do you knoAV of any law under which a man could be charged for making 
a threat ? 

Q. Yes, sir—A. I do not. 

Q. Then the parties arrested by you were arrested, according to you, 
for liaAing committed no crime at all?—A. No, sir. The party was 
arrested for entering into a conspiracy to commit a crime. The oidy 
threat that I knoAv of that Avould authorize a legal proceeding Avmuld be 
a threat made against a niaiFs life. But there are many cases which 
Avould justify a man or a community in arresting persons as a means of 
self-protection. It is not a crime under the laAvs of Louisiana for a man 
to call anotlur a “ damn liar,” and yet under the usages of society he 
AAmuld be justifiable in knocking a man down. There is a theory in laAv 
that no Avords justify a blow, but that is merely theoretical. 

Q. There is one (piestion that occurs to my mind. The testimony 
given to this committee by Blunt, the Bredas, and other Republicans, 
Avas listened to by you with i)articular attention, at least a part of it?— 
A. Yes; I heard a part of it. 

Q. And got the other from a manuscri]>t that you can rely upon?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, in your te.itimony-in-chief yesterday, after reciting that fact. 


520 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natco^itoches 


yon seemed to put in what might be termed a general denial, as far as the 
main facts of their testimony are concerned. You then showed by affi¬ 
davits oi* rather b}^ hearsay testimony that various charges had been 
preferred against ceitain of those individuals. 1 want to ask you now 
as to whether that Avas done for the purpose of attacking their veracity 
as Avitnesses or not?— A. You must understand that I had nothing to 
<^lo Avith the making ui) of these affidavits or the copies or informa¬ 
tions or other ])aper from which my hearsay testimony has been deri\^ed 
but I am totally uninformed as to the intention of the parties that got 
them up; but my idea in introducing them Avas for no other purpose 
than to give hearsay testimony and to shoAV themotiA^es which promi)ted 
our action. In the testimony of these Avitnesses some of them allege 
tliat they never Avere charged Avith any crime, and that no charges were 
ever brought against their character; and my object in quoting from 
these documents Avas to giA^e such ca idence as Avoiild sliow that there 
had been charges made against them and indictments and informations 
against many of these i)arties, and against others than Avitnesses. The 
idea Avas to show, at least they Avere introduced in connection Avith my 
testimony to the effect tiiat tlie i)eople of Natchitoches had serious 
cause of complaint against them. Blunt said that 1 and others had 
nothing against him but his political opinions and position, and that 1 
told him so, and that I told him that I and others had nothing against 
his character but the cliaracter of the people that he kept in political 
office. My object has been in quoting from these documents to show 
that all such statements as these are untrue. 

Q. Hoav did he keep those parties in office?—A. He kept them in 
office by means of the i)atronage of senator. He Avas the Bepublican 
senator from the district, and as such had almost entire control of the 
patronage. If a police jury Avas to be appointed he controlled it, and 
controlled all other appointments besides. 

Q. Had any of those appointments been of men that had occupied 
positions under Democratic rule ?—A. I don’t remember any; but you 
must know that I was api)ointed by Governor Kellogg while Blunt Avas 
senator. 

Q. That Avas a good appointment, Avas it not, Mr. Cunningham ?—A. 
I considered it so. I considered it as one of the best appointments that 
Governor Kellogg ever luade. 

Q. That was a good one for Blunt, Avasii’t it ?—A. He had nothing to 
do Avith it, Avhatever; he Avould not have had it if he could have helped 
it. All that he did Avas to have it called u]) the next session of the leg¬ 
islature and have it rejected by the senate. I was elected tAAuce to the 
office, in 1874 and in 187(1. I Avas elected, and Avhen they undertook to 
beat me out of the position to Avhich I Avas duly elected 1 Avas determined 
then not to stand it, and knowing my rights,"to maintain them. They 
ai)pointed me just the Avay that a girl Avho is importuned by a man some¬ 
times marries him, to get rid of him. So they appointed’ me to get rid 
of me and let me take the office for that reason. Only 1 consider that 
we have no government iiidess Ave respect the result of an election, and 
I Avas undoubtedly elected; but the Bepublican party has violated eA^ery 
principle of rei)ublican government, and I was determined to use all 
means to get possession of the office to Avhich the people had elected me. 
Hie judge Avho Avas elected at the time Avas not alloAved to take his place, 
and another one was apjiointed. I don’t, and didn’t, give them any 
credit for giving me an appointment to an office to which 1 was entitled 
by right of election. 

Q. Who Avas the cause of your not being conlirmed by the senate ?— 


parish.] testimony of M J. CUNNINGHAM 521 

A. Governor Kellogg told me that it was the senators from my district 
that (jansed my defeat. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. Blunt and Twitehell. Blunt told me that 1 
Avould not be contirmed, but Twitehell told me that I will not vote to 
confirm you, but I shall do nothing to have you rejected. I don’t want 
to have you in there, but 1 will i)romise you not to do anything to have 
you rejected.” Blunt did not act witli me in that manner as frankly as 
Twitciiell. When the legislature met next, I was busy with the duties 
of my office, but 1 Avrote to Governor Kellogg to urge him not to grant 
pardons to certain individuals; and in that letter 1 stated to him inci¬ 
dentally that I was busy with the duties of my office and I didn’t Avish 
him to take any action in that matter of mine until I could come to the 
city. When I came doAvn here I found that my name had been sent in 
and rejected. I saAv the gOA crnor, and his excuse Avas that he aa as in¬ 
duced by the senators from my district, upon the assurances that I would 
be contirmed, to send it in. Koaa , 1 make this statement but I don’t 
vouch for the truth of it; but I know very well that none of them 
Avanted me in the office. 

Q. That fact you are aiA are of ?—A. Yes, sir. During the time that 1 
Avas in office Judge flyers and Mr. TAAutchell had both been indicted for 
embezzlement, and 1 presume that they preferred to have some other 
man to |)rosecute them in the place of me. 

Q. AYho was appointed then?—A. Judge Tucker Avas appointed. 

Q. Is he a Democrat or liepublican?—A. He is a Democrat. 

Q. Has he ever been a liepublican? — A. Tso, sir; uca^u*. Several 
names were spoken of for the position, but they didn’t care to assume 
the attitude of displeasing me, and of taking a i)lace to Avhich they 
kiiCAA' I AAns entitled. It Acas not right, and besides it Avas rather dis¬ 
agreeable. 

Q. Did you think there Avas any danger on the part of the colored 
people of Katchitoches rising, unless some one arouses them or makes 
incendiary siieeches to them, as a class? —A. I think that the colored 
I)eoi>le, as a (dass, are iieacetul; but they have strong race prejudices, 
as all other people have, and this inejudice, Avhen aroused, combined 
Avith ignorance, makes them dangerous; but I think that unless some 
bad or designing man should arouse them, there is no danger of them 
rising and resorting to any turbulence or Auolence themseh es. We all 
knoAA^ that in a (iommunity AAdiere the races are mixed, that imless the 
best counsels prevail, there must be some danger of collision at all 
times, and it is because Ave knoAA’^ that, that our iieople haA^e ahvays 
used their best endeavors to prevent any outbreaking on tlie part of 
the negroes, and from making incendiary speeches to them. 

Q. Who do you think, in the parish of Natchitoches, most likely to 
be guilty of arousing their If hard for me to say 

Avho 1 considered guilty; but 1 considered Blunt, knoAving his pre- 
judices against the AAdiites AA^ere so strong, that he AA'as the most danger¬ 
ous man. 1 thought that lie vA ould arouse their prejudices if it was his 
interest to do so. 

Q. Was Blunt a candidate for any office at the last election?—A. 1 
don’t knoAA^ The Ite])ublican party did not make any nominations. 

Q. If he had been nominated, and no trouble had occuiTcd, Avhat 
chance had lie for the election?—A. I don’t think he would have 
had any. 

Q. Were the colored peoiile not in a majority?—A. They liaA^e a 
registered majority. 

Q. Were the colored peoiJe opposed to him?—A. A great many were. 


522 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Besides, the registered colored majority in the parish is so very small 
that we woidd have little difficulty iu overcoming it 5 and for many years 
several colored men have voted with us, and no wliite people, except 
those who have an offic.e in view, vote the Kepublican ticket in our 
jiarish. 

Q. Aren’t there two classes of white people in your parish, what is 
called “the hill men” in the parish, and the men in the river localities?— 
A. There is. 

Q. Isn’t there a sort of feeling of op[)osition or jealousy between the 
man that makes half a bale of cotton in the hills to the man that makes 
a larger crop on the river ?—A. There is a little jealousy, but not to 
amount to anything, such as the country people feel against the city 
people. 

Q. Was there not a sort of feeling among the hill people, or rather 
the Democratic part of the white peo})le, in favor of doing something 
for the purpose of bi'eaking from the rulers of the Democratic party?— 
A. Not the least. There are no rulers in the Democratic party. The 
peo])le in the hills would scorn to think of rulers, and are as much rulers 
as anybody else. As far as 1 know, I don’t belie^^e that there is any 
such feeling in the hill i)ortion of the parish of Natchitoches, and Tfeel 
satisfied tliat they would scorn the charge did they know it. 

Q. In your anxiety to maintain the peace and order of tlie i)arish of 
Natchitoches did you, or any one for you, inform the colored people that 
they might proceed with their ward meetings and have their speeches, 
and organize their clubs, as they wished, without molestation?—A. I 
didn’t inform them anything of the kind. 

Q. But were they told that they might proceed ?—A. They were not 
told so; at least f didn’t tell them. It is not my business to organize 
the Ee])ublican party, nor to control its organization; I am a Democrat, 
and work for the success of my party alone. 

Q. Wasn’t it generally understood that Natchitoches should go Demo¬ 
cratic?—A. It is understood that in every campaign that we shall (?arry 
the parish Democratic if we can possibly do so. 

Q. You never go in to lose?—A. No, not if we can help it; and I be¬ 
lieve that is the way with all of the other parties. If I undertake to do 
anything I want to succeed if possible. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, you hav(‘ no doubt attended a number of meet- 
ii gs in which Mr. Blunt made speeches; did you ever hear Mr. Blinit 
11 ake a s[)eech on the stump in your parish ?—A. I think 1 have. 

Q. How did you regard it, in the way of incendiarism ?—A. Well, 
sir, I consider all his speeches are incendiary, as far as I have heard 
tl em. I think they were calculated to arouse and keep alive race 
piejudices. I never heard him speak without making a race appeal, 
ard has oftentimes accused our peo])le unnecessarily of trying to de¬ 
prive the colored people of their rights. Where a supervisor of regis¬ 
tration, and until lately all the su])erffisors were Eepublicans, had made 
an informality in preparing the registration of some one, and therefore 
be challenged by our people. Blunt would get angry, and say “ You are 
trying to deprive this poor colored man of his right to vote,” although 
it was something purely accidental, such as a wrong number on the cer¬ 
tificate of registration. As to his spee(dies he always makes incendiary 
ones. 

Q. Did you hear him make any such speeches during the campaign 
of 1878?—A. I did not. 

Q. Had he made any speeches in the campaign of 1878?—A. The only 
one was on the night of the 14th Septeinbei-. 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


52J 


Q. Wasn’t that reported as a private meetiii.£>‘ in J5reda’s office; it was 
not a inass-meetiitg—A. I presumed tlmt it was a meeting? of their ex- 
exaitive committee. 

(i^. Did you make any effort to ^et Mrs. Blunt to tell you the where¬ 
abouts other husbandf—A. I did not. 

Q. Did any one in your presence attempt to ^et from Mrs. Blunt in- 
loimation as to Avhere her husband Avas liidin^'?—?^ot in my hear- 
ing". It was repoi't(‘d to me that Mrs. Blunt, along with her husband 
was in the house j but she asserted from beginning to end that he w^as 
not in the house. I don’t know of any one saving anything of the kind 
to her. • . 

Q. \ on stated in your examination-in-chief yesterday, if 1 remember 
correetly, that there was no such motive in the arrest of Blunt as to 
make him lea^m the parish. Am 1 correct or not!—A. I stated that at 
, the time his arrest w'^as determined on, it was not included in the plan to 
■ make him leave the parish, nor did I know the intention of any gentle- 
, man who Avas a i)arty to the determination to arrest him. It w-as not 
i our original intention to do any such thing—no part of our plan. There 
j Avas no determination arrived at beyond getting him out of that house, 

I and no one aa^is authorized to say anything to him beyond giving him 
assurances that he would not be hurt. That matter aa as not discussed, 

; and the first information that f had about Mr. B>lunt’s leaving the parish 
I Avas that he Avanted to leaA^e himself, and promised if Ave Avould let him 
go that he would not return to give us any trouble again. 

Q. Is it not a fact that he Avas retained in custody until he consented 
I to leave the parish 1—A. ^to, sir ; he Avas not. So far as I knoAV and 
[ heard, the proposition to leave came from himself after his arrest, and 
he manifested a desire to go as soon as possible. 

Q. Did you hear any one object to his leaving the parish !—A. Ko, 
sir; the people I associated witli would not object to him leaving at any 
I time. 

I Q. Was not it a fact that they Avere all glad that he had come to that 
i conclusion Was not it a thought that, as a fact, it Avas to the adA^an- 
i tage of the jjarish that he should leave !— A. Yes, sir. 

I Q. When he proposed to leaA^e and ncA^er return, Avas it accepted by 
I you gentlemen 'I —A. Yes, sir. When he was brought out the gentlemen 
who brought him out appealed to us to respect his promise that Blunt 
should not be hurt. Noay, you must understand that at the time the 
I)arty undertook to make the arrest there Avas no understanding that 
any assurances Avould be given to Blunt, only the assurance based upon 
the condition that he would surrendei*, and the (piestion as to what sliould 
be done if Ave arrested him by force Avas not discussed, and, so far I 
j know of, was not thought of. 

I Q. The first thing that the gentleman did wixen he came out in vieAv 
to you Avith Blunt in custody Avas to say to you that he had promised 
Blunt that he should not be hurt?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who Avas that gentleman ?—A. I don’t know exactly Avhathe said, 
but he informed us of his pledge of immunity, and called upon the croAvd 
to respect it. I am inclined to think that he said that Blunt had prom¬ 
ised to leave the i)arish and neAmr return, and I have given him jxromises 
that he shall not be hurt. 

Q. In your examination-in-c^hief you said that Blunt manifested the 
most abject coAvardice after his arrest?— A. No, sir; when I saw him. 

Q. Didn’t you think that he had good grounds for feeling unpleas¬ 
ant under the excitement that Avas going on outside ?—A. I don’t know, 
but I didn’t regard it as a A^ery pleasant situation to be in, but I simply 




524 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


speak of it because in bis testimony be spoke of wbat beys^oubl do, and 
assumed tbe attitude of a bully, as be bad always done in tbe x)arisb. 
Up to that time be was a. bully'. When be was arrested be acted like 
any other bully, like a coward. 

Q. His courage came down !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you ever made any political speeches, Mr. Cunningbam 1 —A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. In tbe parish of Natchitoches ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you ever say to white men, as white men, to stand together 
and act in harmony ?—A. Yes; I think I have. 

Q. Do you consider that, from a colored standpoint, as incendiary 
toward the colored people?—A. No, sir; I did not consider it as incen¬ 
diary. I take a different view of it altogetlier. I consider the white 
people are bound to stand together, because if they do not the govern¬ 
ment will pass into the hands of the very worst class of people. And 
we have been op])ressed a good deal, and unless we stand together we 
cannot possibly improve our condition, or I would not, under any cir¬ 
cumstances, help my people in trouble. On the other hand, I don’t 
think it necessary for the colored people to combine together against 
the whites, as no good (^an come of it. Their objects are, I supi)ose, to 
be conserved and secured by acting with us. The whole trouble is on 
account of the color line, which the colored people make themselves. 
On this, the white i)eople divided, and some of them undertook to lead 
the negroes. How are you going to avert the present troubles ? It can’t 
be done in any other way; but the time evidently is not arrived yet, 
and will not arrive until we are left free to control and adjust our own 
affairs. 

Q. There are no bayonets here now, Mr. Cunningham, and no Federal 
interferences. The government has been in the hands of the white 
people almost two years.—A. No interferences ? What is this investi¬ 
gation here ? And what was the meaning of tlm occasion taken by the 
United States in 1874 in sending troops into Natchitoches? What does 
this prosecution in the Federal courts mean, and what does the presence 
of the United States district attorney in this committee room, listening 
to every word of my evidence, mean ? 1 consider that the Federal Gov¬ 

ernment is intimidating me, and striving to intimidate the whole i)eople; 
and I regard this investigation now being curried in the shadow of the 
Federal courts, where prosecutions against a great many of our i)eople 
are pending, as nothing else than intimidation of Democratic, witnesses 
and the encroachments of Republican witnesses to testify as they i)lease 
in order to manufacture political capital. I consider myself of Louisiana; 
entitled to all the rights that the citizen of any other State can claim; 
and I have, too, the right to adopt some means of securing and protect¬ 
ing my rights as any citizen in any of the other States does, and as long 
as I have a head to think and an arm to strike, I cannot and shall not 
be deterred from protecting my rights and in defending my people be¬ 
fore the country under all circumstances whatsoever. In the mean time 
I will say that 1 have no intention in the world, nor do I believe that 
my people have an.^ intention to interfere with or to abridge the rights, 
political or otherwise, of the colored people, and if the Federal Govern¬ 
ment will not interfere with us, I think that the people will soon be 
divided up on some other than the present issues and color line. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, do you consider the testimony of the Bredas 
and Blunt to having to leave their homes on account of fear of their 
lives true or not; do you consider their fears well founded ?—A. I think 
at that time there was danger of those men being hurt. If they had 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. OUNNINGHAM. 


525 


canglit them when they Avent down to disperse that mob, had tliey done 
so, they might haA^e been hurt. Tbit so far as I am concerned, I aaoII say 
tiiat 1 AA^oiild not liaA’^e permitted them and no leader of our })arty Avould 
liaA'e adA^ocated it. 

Q. At the time Dr. Boullt was being x)rosecuted for liaviiig attemx)te<l 
forgery, and liaAdiig fraudulent Av^arrants about ux)on the market, avIio 
Avere the attorneys that reiiresented him f —A. There AvereseAwal attor¬ 
neys representing Dr. IToultt in the suits he had in that parish. 

Q. Who Avas his legal adviser?—A. Judge Chapman, Mr. EeA^y, Mr. 
Morris, and Mr. Dranguet. Jack and I^earson were the attorneys 
against him. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, during all this excitement, during all these 
troubles in Natchitoches Parish, AAiiere AA^ere the officers—AAdiere Avas the 
judiciary and executiA^e officers, the sheriff ?—A. TIica" Avere all there in 
the parish or thereabouts. 

Q. During this little fracas or misunderstanding did they make any 
efforts in the way of getting of a posse, and Avere any AATirrants of arrest 
issued? —A. No warrants of arrest Avere issued until tlie subsequent 
riot at BroadAAdl had broken out. The sheriff came to me, lioAveA-er, 
and said if I needed any deputies to serve Avarrants he Avould supjffy 
me Avith them. 

Q. Did Judge I^earson on one occasion ride at the head of a scouting 
party ?—A. No, sir. The only thing that Judge Pearson did Avas sim^ffy 
to stand guard one night—to stand guard at one of the j)osts. 

Q. Did he stand guard as district judge or sim})ly as a citizen?—A. 
He stood just as any other citizen. We considered neither rank nor 
position at that time. 

Q. That Avas all wiped out then?—A. Yes, sir; for a time it Avas. 

Q. You stated in your examination-in-chief that you consulted the 
committee as to whether IVIr. Itarron should remain in the parish or 
not ?—A. I stated that this committee, if you so term it—it was not a 
committee, but a certain number of gentlemen met together to take into 
consideration the surroundings, and the question of requiring Mr. Bar¬ 
ron to leaA^e was then discussed. 

Q. With Avhat result?—A. The result was that he was required to 
leave, but we didn’t see Mr. Barron for some time after, and Avhen he 
came home the excitement was OA^er. I Avas still A’^ery sick. 1 am not 
trying to get out of any responsibility that may attach to my actions, 
but I will say that I Avas willing for him to stay there, and I told him 
to go doAAui and see the other gentlemen about it. I didn’t see him again 
for some time afterwards. In the mean time this BroadAvell trouble oc¬ 
curred, and I thought he was in it, and I told him so Avhen he came back. 
When he did come, 1 got the committee together, but I Avas still too 
sick to go out of my house. You must understand that I was chairman 
of the Democratic central committee, and they desired my advice. There 
Avere tAvo or three meetings of the committee held at my house f at one 
of these meetings, the question Avas discussed as to Avhat should be done 
Avith Mr. Barron. That committee had no poAver to order him aAvay, but 
it Avas agreed that I should tell Mr. Barron to keej) quiet and keep out 
of the Avay for aAvhile. They didn’t go quite so far as I would have 
liked to haA^e had them go. 1 have more resi)ect for Mr. Barron than 
for any one of the others, because I think he has more grit and charac*- 
ter than any of them. 

Q. Well, Avill he do anything that he undertakes to do?—A. Yes, sir; 
but he is not a dangerous man. 




526 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[l^fatcliitoches 


Q. T)o you think he could come there to the parish safely now ?—A. 
Yes ; I think it would be safe. 

(^. How about Blunt % —A. If I thought so, I would not give Blunt 
any assurances of it. 

Q. Well, what about the Bredas?—A. I don’t care to give him any 
information. I might think it safe or I might think it not. I may think 
they might go baclv there and not be interfered with, but I am not going 
into any obligations to have them protected. They have mistreated me 
and the whole community. 1 don’t intend to liurt them, and I don’t know 
of any other man that intends to do it, but if anybody wants to do it 1 
am not going to interfere, that is certain. 

Q. WeU, how about that old man, Hornsby j is he considered to be a 
very dangerous man ?—A. During the excitement he was talking witli 
the negroes, and it was rei)orted that he was exciting them to the best 
of his ability, but lie is a very low character and not of much weight; 
he is a miserable sot and lives with a negro wife in a wretched hovel, 
and as far as I know of his career it is bad. He killed a man before he 
came to Natchitoches Parish in the place where he had been living as 
overseer, in the jiarish of Terre Bonne. 

Q. Was there any charge against him in the parish of Natchitoches 
except that fuss he liad with a man called Hernandez—any such charge as 
robbery, burglary, arson, or any crime of that sort ?—A. I don’t think 
he has been charged in that way. He is looked upon as a man that 
would do any mean thing, such as take a bribe as })olice juror. 


Friday, January 24, 1879. 

M. J. CuNNmaHAM (cross-examination continued). 

By eludge Marks : 

Question. Mr. Cunningham, in your testimony-in-chief yesterday you 
carried us back into the years 1871, 1872, and 1873, and, among other 
things, you stated that the tax of the parish of Natchitoches had been 
so exorbitant that the people would stand it no longer, and that as a 
consequence the police jury resigned.—Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Will you be kind enough to state by what method the result was 
brought about ?—A. Well, sir, we asked them to resign. A mass.-meet- 
ing of the people was held, and they asked them to resign. 

Q. How was that done f—A. That was done at the mass-meeting. We 
passed resolutions demamling their resignations and called upon them 
to resign, and they complied. 

Q. Have you a (;opy ot those resolutions with you, Mr. Cunningham ?— 
xY No, sir; 1 have not. 

Q. Can you give us the substance of those resolutions that you passed 
asking them to resign A. 1 don’t think I could give them. * It’s a long 
time since, and it would not be easy to remember them. 1 did not Avrite 
them or dictate them or pay any attention to them particularly. We 
held several mass-meetings where I presume Ave passed resolutions, at 
Avhich we demanded their resignations, and pronounced them all, Avith 
one exception, to be corrui)t. 

(^. Did you ask the resignation of all but one A. A^es, sir. 

Q. And that one was Avhom 'l —A. Mr. Barron. 

Q. Is he the same Barron you spoke of in A^our examination-in-chief 
yesterday^—A. Yes, sir. 




TESTIMONY OF M, J. CUNNINGHAM 527 

Q. Who was Dr. Boullt ?—A. At that time he was the tax-collector of 
the parish. 

Q. Was he tax-collector!—A. Yes, sir; in 1873 and 1874. For sev¬ 
eral years precediu^,^ 1874 he was tax-collector. 

Q. Was he a native of Natchitoclies Parish ?—A. No; he was, I thiidv, 
a native of Maryland. 

Q. Plow lono' had he been residinjjj in the parish of Natchitoches A. 
I don’t know; he was an old citizen there long before I was. 

Q. Had he raised a family there ?—A. Do yon want me to tell you 
about his family ? Well, he raised a colored family. He kept a negro 
woman and raised a family. 

Q. How many suits by ])rivate ])arties were brought against the i)o- 
lice jury of the parish of Natchitoches in the years 1873, ’74, ’75, ’70, and 
I ’77, as near as you can remember ?—A. Well, I haven’t the remotest 
, idea how many suits were brought against the parish of Natchitoches 
from the time that system of obtaining judgment was begun; but you 
<*arry it up too far, judge. 1 don’t thiidv any were brought after 1874. 

Q. Well, up to 1874, how many were brought ?—A. I would hate to 
make an estimate; but a large number. There were judgments ux> there 
for one hundred and sixty odd tliousand-dollars. 

Q. Who were the claimants, as a general rule ?—A. Well, sir, 1 don’t 
think I could class anybody as a claimant as a general rule. There were a 
great manj^ claimants. A great many plaintiffs in these suits in a dif¬ 
ferent sense. 

Q. Who was district judge and district attorhey-general from 1872 to 
1870?—A. Do you mean after the election of 1872 ? 

Q. Yes.—A. In the election of 1872 Judge Lee was elected as judge 
and I was elected district attorney, but we were counted out by the re¬ 
turning-board, and Judge Osborne was counted in as judge, and Eobin- 
son was apiminted as district attorney. Eobinson died, and Kellogg 
appointed Judge Breda as district attorney early in 1873. We finally 
submitted to that arrangement with Osborne as judge and Breder as 
district attorney. In P^ebruary, 1874, I think it was, the legislature 
; passed an act creating a new district and putting our parish (we were 
formerly in the ninth district) in the seventeenth district, and Judge 
Myers was appointed judge of the district, and a gentleman named Pick¬ 
ens as district attorney, Judge Osborne and Breda remaining judge 
and district attorney in the ninth district. So the actual judge from 
, early in 1873 till some time in 1874 was Judge Osborne, and the actual 
attorney for the district for the same time was Judge Breda. From 
that time Judge Myers and Judge Pickens were judge and district at¬ 
torney up to the election of 1874. 

Q. Up to the election of 1874?—A. Yes, sir; they were up to the 
election of 1874. This act creating the seventeenth district ]_)rovided 
that the judge and the district attorney were to serve until the election 
of 1874, when the judge and district attorney were to be elected. The 
general election forjudges and district attorneys and other State officers 
would not take place until 1876. eludge Jackman was elected judge in 
’74, and I was then elected district attorney; but we had to go through the 
returning-board mill again, and we were counted in once, and the certifi¬ 
cate of election granted; but they finally did not return us. We had 
no opponents in the election. The Eepublicans were standing, in tlieir 
objedion to us, upon the legal proposition that the legislature had no 
right to fix the election at that time, and that the governor had no right 
to issue commissions; but it was contested it was ptirfectly legal to have 
finally suppressed the certificates. Then Judge Jackman was appointed 






528 


LOUISIi\NA IN 1878. 


(Natchitoches 


district judge, and I was appointed district attorney in 1875, I think, 
and I served until March, 187(). We were ap])ointed—at least 1 was, i: 
and I think *Iudge Jackman was—after the adjournment of the senate, 
and, as a (;onsequence, were not conlirmed the following session. Judge 
Kellogg sent my name into the senate, and 1 was not conlirmed, and 
he appointed Judge Biger in my i)lace, and from tiiat time Judge Jack- 
man acted as judge and Biger as district attorney. We liad a variety , 
of officers during those four years. 

Q. During those four years was the office of district judge and the j 
office of district attorney in the liands of Rei)ul)licans or Democrats?— 

A. Part of the time in the hands of Republicans and part of the time j 
in the hands of Democrats. ! 

Q. What portion of that time were they in the hands of the Republi¬ 
cans ?—A. Well, something over two years. 

Q. They were in the hands of Rei)ublicans that long?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is, speaking from what year?—A. That is from 1872 to 1876. 
They were in the hamls of Rei)ublicans u}) to Ajjril, 1875. 

Q. P>oth the offices of district judge and district attorney?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Do you know the amount of indebtedness of the parish of Natchi¬ 
toches in the year 1868, when the first Republican organization took 
place in that iiarish 'f —A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any debt that you know of?—A. Yes, sir; some. 

Q. Do you know about how mucli ?—A. Well, I could not possibly 
state how much. I am but a poor man at statistics. I know that there i 
were some debts. Previous to that time judgment had been rendered ;| 
ill favor of—for several thousand dollars—for scrip issued during the 
war. During the war the parish issued an amount of curiency. A suit 
was brought, and the suimeme (iourt decided that the issuing was null 
and void. 

Q. That was simply issuing l)ills of indebtedness ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But that didn’t touch the legal indebtedness of the parish?—A. 

No, sir; but there was a court-house built just before the war, and some 
debt was on that account. I think that that debt was created for build¬ 
ing a court-house, but that is all that I know of at the time. 

Q. Do you know whether or not any indebtedness was created by the 
Democratic police jury of the parisli of Natchitoches from 18()4 to 
1868?—A. No, sir; I don’t knoAV of any. They had some repairs made 
tothe jail, in which they incurred several hundred dollars of debt,.i)rob- 
ably as much as $2,000 of debt, but that I don’t remember exactly; but 
1 remember I brought suit upon the balance due to the contractors, and 
that is the only way 1 remember the year. 

Q. Was not the financial condition of the parish of Natchitoches in 
1868 rather poor? Was not the parish of Natchitoches in a somewhat 
bad condition ?—A. Without being posted as to the condition, my impres¬ 
sion is that the financial condition of the parish at tliat time was not 
good. 

Q. It was not good?—A. No, sir; but 1 have never heard any charge 
of fraud being made at that time. I know that the expenses incurred 
by the police jury exceeded the revenues up to the year 1868. I know 
that there was some indebtedness not paid, but I don’t think 1 have 
heard of any charge against the ])olice jury of maladministration up to 
that time. ' i 

Q. When did you get back to the parish of Natchitoches, Mr. Cun¬ 
ningham?—A. After I came here to the city? 

Q. Yes.—A. I went back there in 1878. 








Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


529 


Q. Ill 1878?—A. Yes, sir. In March, 1878. 

Q. Yon remained here some sixteen months ?—A. Yes, sir. I arrived 
here on the 1st of December, 1870, leaving? Natcliitoches in the latter 
part of NTovember, and I think I arrived in Natchitoches on the 20th of 
March, 1878, but in the mean time I think I liad gone back two or three 
times on imsmess. I attended the courts there—the different terms of 
the district courts. 


Q. Mr. Cunningham, yon stated in yonr examination-in-chief that the 
Old}" official position that yon held during the last campaign Avas that of 
chief of police ?—A. Yes, sir; and that for a day or so. As I said, I was 
appointed chief of police that day, only for that day. Well, it lasted a 
day or two during the disturbance. 

Q. Were yon commissioned; was there a commission issued to yon in 
Avriting, or A’erbally; w^as there a A^erbal commission given yon by the 
mayor for yon to take charge of the defense, or Avas there simply a re¬ 
quest made of yon to act ?—A. He gaA^e me no Avritten commission. He 
asked me if I Avonld act, but I think that he appointed me in the regular 


Avay. 

Q. If yon were stopped on the road or in any portion of the town 
making an arrest by Aurtne of yonr position, had you anything to show 
by Avdiat authority yon acted ! —A. No, sir. 

I Q. Yon had not f—A. No, sir. 

(^. In yonr capacity as cliief of police of the toAvn of Nab'Iiitoches, 
did yon deem it incumbent upon yon to scour the surrounding country 
with scouts?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did yon, at the head of an armed body of men, go outside the 
! town of Natchitoches for the purpose of dispersing crowds of colored 
i men that had assembled ?—A. No, sir. 

Q: Did yon, in any manner AvhateA^er, attempt to execute any arrest 
issued by any courts or municipal authorities of the toAAui or i)arish of 
Natchitoches ?—A. There Avas no necessity. I didn’t have any Avarrants. 
I don’t knoAv that any Avrits of arrest a\ ere ewer issued by the municipal 
authorities. 

Q. But the mayor of the toAAm is ex officio justice of the peace ?—A. 
A city marshal does not need any writs to make an arrest. 

Q. But tlie city marshal can only make the arrest of a party caught 
in the act of committing an offense, or Avho is directly charged by some 
one with liaAung done so. You Avill bear me out as a laAvyer ?—A. Yes, 


sir. 


Q. Mr. Cunningham, when was the notice first issued calling a Dem¬ 
ocratic coiiA'cntion to assemble on the 21st September, in the toAvn of 
Natchitoches?—A. I don’t remember the exact date, but it Avas in the 
latter part of the month of August. 

Q. In the latter part of August?—A. Yes, sir; that is my recollec¬ 
tion. It Avas ■seA'eral Aveeks before the assembling of the conA^ention. 
We allowed plenty of time for the election of delegates in the several 
AA^ards of the parish. 

Q. How Avas the notice of that purpose made public? —A. We pub¬ 
lished it in the organ, and probably we sent notice to the Amrions Avards. 

Q. What was the official organ of the Democratic party in the toAvn 
of Natchitoches?—A. The Vindicator. 

Q. Was that paper recognized as such ?—A. Yes, sir; it was the only 
paper up there, and Ave considered it the Democratic paper. 

Q. Were the doctrines incnlcated by the Vindicator generally taken 
by Democrats as those of the Democratic party?—A. Well, sir, I think 
eA^ery man considers for himself. I don’t knoAv that eA’ery man in the 


34 T 




530 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Democratic party approved of all that was in the Yindicator, yet I don’t 
know of any serions disapjreement betAveen the Democratic party and 
the Yindicator. Now, as to any given article, some persons Avonld ap- | 
proA’e and some Avonld disa])proA'e, just as in the case of any other xtaper. 

Q. In your examination-in-chief yon stated, if I remember correctlj^, 
that there AAms no regular organization in the parish, as far as the Dem¬ 
ocratic party was concerned, for any specific purpose ? If I am not 
correct yon aa ill please correct me. — A. I don’t remember that statement, 
judge. In what connection do you bring it ? 

Q. In your examination-in-chief, I understood you to say that there ; 
was no such thing as any regular organization of any political parties. j 
That is to say, you AA^ere not organized as Democratic clubs.—A. Well, 
of course we had an organization in the parish, and the organization 
Avas to carry the election. What I meant to say yesterday was that 
there Avas no organized attack made upon this llepublican meeting or 
upon Blunt’s house. 

Q. What I AAish to get at is this: whetlier there was an understand¬ 
ing or organization existing in the Democratic ranks in the parish of 
Natchitoches AAdiereby any indiAudual in speaking Avould speak for tlie 
party, or AAdiether there Avas a head and tail to it. That is Avhat I want 
to get at.—A. The Democratic iiarty—I consider that no one man had 
l>OA\"er to speak tor the Democratic party. As a matter of course AA^e 
had men in our organization, placed in certain positions, Avho had a cer¬ 
tain amount of authority, and the Democratic party is composed of the i 
most intelligent citizens, but they are not bound by the peculiar views 
of any indiAddual. 

Q. Then if there was no one duly authorized to speak for the Demo¬ 
cratic party in the parish of Natchitoches, could not things have been 
done and said by individual mendAers of the Democratic party without 
your knoAA ledge or the knoAvledge of any leader of the Democratic party 
of that parish!—A. I don’t think any important movements Avould have 
been made in the Democratic party of that parish without my knoAAdedge. 

Q. Then there Avas a concert of action between the leaders in tlte mat¬ 
ter of conducting tlie camiAaign !—A. As a matter of course there was 
a concert of action. 

Q. And nothing was done except it Avas done adAusedly!—A. As far 
as the conduct of the camiAaign is concerned we tried to conduct it 
wisely. 

Q. What I want to get at is this : AYas anything and everything ap¬ 
pertaining to the AA'elfare of the Democratic party done after consulta¬ 
tion betAveen the various leaders !—A. I don’t know about that. Unless 
I knoAv what you are trying to get at I am not able to ansAver. There 
may have been things done by indiAuduals that the Democrats Avould 
not be responsible for, but no general answer could be given to that 
question. 

Q. During the excitement in the parish of Natchitoches were there 
any armed men from any neighboring parish there !—A. There Avas a 
feAv armed men from Bed BiA^er. 

Q. Al)out liOAv many !—A. I don’t know as to the number, but when the 
attack was made on the town, on Saturday eA^ening, the 21st Septem¬ 
ber, A\ e sent dispatches to Oampti and to Coushatta, which is on Bed 
Biver, the tAAm points AAdiich are accessible by telegraph to Natchitoches. 
We sent there, and assistance came to us from tliose points. 

Q. About how many men came !—A. I don’t knoAV altogether, but I 
think twenty-four men came from Bed BiA^er. 

Q. These were from another parish !—A. Yes, sir. 





Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


531 


Q. ITow many came from Campti ?—A. Well, that night about ten 
came clown, and got there before daylight. l>iit Campti, you will under¬ 
stand, is in our parish. 

Q. How many men within the first twenty-four hours of this excitement, 
after it was made known that the town of Natchitoches was about to be 
attacked by a mob of negroes—how many men assembled in Natchito¬ 
ches from the surrounding country?—A. Well, sir, some were in the 
town, and Avent home to get their guns, and come back again, and others 
that were not there came in afterward. I can’t say how many, but 
about tA\"o hundred altogether. 

Q. Two hundred men living in the various i^arts of the ward ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How long did they remain there ?—A. They remained no regular 
time; some remained a longer time, and some a shorter time. 

Q. Under Avhose command Avere they ?—A. There was no regular 
organization, but I had charge of them. 

Q. You were commander of the forces. When they came in, did 
thej^ report to you ?—A. I don’t knoAV that they reportecl to me, but they 
Avere all considered under my hand. 

Q, IIoAV many of those that lived in the country, and went home for 
their guns, and brought their neighbors with them, brought their fam¬ 
ilies into tOAVii ?—A. None, I think, sir. 

Q. Hoav many of them Avere planters ?—A. They were all connected 
with the farming interest. Of course there Avere some merchants troni a 
town like Campti. 

Q. Was there a good deal of excitement at the time ?—A. Yes, sir, a 
good deal of excitement. 

j Q. Was not it generally reported that the negroes were rising u]) for 
; the purpose of destroying everything?—A. What do you mean by de- 
1 stroying every thing ? 

I Q" I mean "robbing, burning, and killing.—A. It was reported that 
they Avere risen for the purpose of taking the toAvn. I didn’t knoAV Avhat 
they intended to do. 

Q. Then you had none but armed men in the parish of Natchitoches; 
about hoAv many had you ?—A. I am not posted as to the exact number. 
I don’t know how many had arms; a good many could not get arms in 
toAvn. The gentlemen who came to the convention and who were in town 
without arms, and not prepared for any difficulty, some Avent home and 
got arms and some did not. Everybody that could get arms, guns or 
pistols, had them. 

Q. What Avas the first in1;imation that you gentlemen had as to the 
negroes taking the tOAvn of Natchitoches ?—A. The first information was 
the report. The first information of trouble Avas the report brought to 
us on the evening of the 14th September from this meeting in Judge 
Breda’s office. 

Q. Will you be kind enough to giA^e the name of the party from whom 
youreceiA cd your information?—A. I gave it yesterday; the parties Avere 
Mr. Brazil and Mr. Miller. 

Q. What was their exact language; what did they say that they had 
lieard?—A. Ho you A\ish me to give the Avhole of it? 

Q. The first intimation that you had was from the information that 
you received from those two gentlemen on the 14th Sei^tember ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Noav, then, what was the report ? State the substance.—A. Ho you 
mean the whole report or simply the threats to which we attached im- 
l^ortance ? 





532 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Just the threats.—A. Well, they reported to ns the proceedings, 
so far as they eoidd hear them, of what took place in this case and the 
spirit manifested. They rei)orted to us that lUunt was very violent in 
his manner and gesticulation, and when told they should not hold their 
meeting that day, as it would he likely to invite an issue and would make 
trouble, he said he didn’t care if it did make an issue, and he wanted that, 
lie said that we would not have more than a humlred or one hundred 
dred and hfty men in the town, and that he would have tliree or four 
hundred, and he told the people there to come to his meeting on Satur¬ 
day and to come jnepared, and bringing his fist down on the table with 
great violence, said, ‘‘If we caiuiot carry the parish one way, that we 
would carry it another.” And Judge Breda said if they could not carry 
the i)arish they Avould have blood. These facts were reported to us soon 
after tliey occurred. 

Q. They occurred on the night of the 14th, and were reported to you 
soon after ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were rei)orted to you by those two gentlemen, one of whom 
is here"?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. And they told you that they were present at this meeting, wherein 
information was obtained, or, did they tell you how they obtained their 
knowledge ?—A. They told me that they were not in the liouse where the 
meeting was held. The meeting was held on the back gallery of Judge 
Breda’s oftice. Judge Breda’s oftice is in a house that was a residence. 
But 1 don’t Icnow the situation of those gentlemen. I don’t know where 
they were, so they could see and hear. 

Q. Who are tliose tAvo gentlemen ? Are they natives ?—A. Mr. Brazil 
is a native of the parish of Ishitchitoches, and Mr. Miller is a German. 

Q. How old is Mr. Brazil!—xl. He is about eighteen. 

Q. Hoes he live in the town of Natchitoches !—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. How old a man is Mr. Miller !—A. He is thirty years or more. 

Q. Does he live in the town of Natchitoches !—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Does he own any property there!—A. He has no property himself, 
sir, but his children have an interest in some property by their mother, 
who is dead. 

Q. Then, if I understand you correctly, was the cause of the alarm on 
the 21st of September!—A. It was the first cause and the first intima¬ 
tion. 

Q. To Avhom did those gentlemen communicate this news !—A. I don’t 
know who all they told, but they communicated it to me for one. 

Q. Did you take occasion to communicate it to anybody else!—A. 1 
think that when they told me tliat Mr. Cosgrove was present, that Sen¬ 
ator Williams, Congressman Elam, and others came at the time this 
news was brought. 

Q. What steps, if any, did you take to protect and guard against this 
threatened demonstration!—A. There were none. No demonstration 
had been made yet, and no steps Avere taken. 

Q. After this news reached you was any consultation had as to what 
should be done in case this plan Avas carried out!—A. There was a great 
deal of talk, but no preparation AAms made. 

Q. Was there any word sent to various parties as toAvhat might occur 
on the 21st of September on the assembling of the Democratic.coiiA^en- 
tion !—A. 1 don’t know of any aa ord having been sent, but it Avas gen¬ 
erally" talked of over the lAarish. 

Q. It AA"as generally spread over the parish !—A. I don’t knoAv how far 
it Avas spread over the parish, but it was talked over very generally, and 






TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 533 

as to any means being taken to spread it over the parish. I don’t know, 
or, at least, don’t call any to mind. 

Q. Was there any preparation, to your knowledge, made by any Ee- 
piiblicans in any ward of the parish of ISTatchitoches prior to the 21st of 
September, as regarding this mass-meeting, in the way of organization, 
in the way of obtaining guns and pist(51s and ammunition; was there 
anything visible; was there anything reported that looked like a united 
effort to come in equip])ed for battle, i^rior to September 21, 1878 ?—A. 
I am not posted about it. 

Q. On the 21st September, 1878, the Democratic convention did meet?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did it run ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many comi^rised that convention ?—A. There were sixty-two 
or sixty-three there. 

Q. Delegates?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time and place was this convention called to order?—A. 
About 12 o’clock, at the court-house. 

Q. About how many gentlemen, as spectators, as near as you can re¬ 
member, were there ?—A. There were a good many. I don’t know how 
many. 

Q. As near as you can come at it, Mr. Gumming, how many ?—A. 
There might have been—in making this estimate, I will Si^ that 
I paid no attention to the number particularly. I never noticed the 
croAvd with a view to making an estimate. I don’t know. I have no 
recollection of the crowd, or how dense it was. 

Q. Were there one hundred?—A. Seventy-five or a hundred. 

Q. As near as you can remember ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I believe you stated that the convention was called to order at 12 
o’clock, at the court-house?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long was the convention in session?—A. It was not in ses¬ 
sion long. 

Q. How long?—A. Well, I don’t know; they didn’t begin to make 
nominations; they hadn’t begun to make nominations. 

Q. Had there been a permanent or a temporary organization of the con¬ 
vention made ?—A. A temporary organization was effected. I was chair¬ 
man of the parish Democratic central committee, and I called a tempo¬ 
rary chairman to the chair. 

Q. Who was he ?—A. My recollection is that it was Mr. Eoss. 

Q. Wlio was secretary ?—A. That I don’t know. I think I named him, 
but I have forgotten who he was. Mr. Eoss was permanent chairman, 
and I think he was temporary also. 

Q. How long was the convention in session altogether ? It was called 
at 12 o’clock. IIow long did it sit ?—A. Do you mean before the first 
recess. 

Q. Yes.—A. Well, I don’t recollect how long; but my recollection is 
that it was in session over half an hour, an hour probably. 

Q. What was the adjournment for; and Avhat were the gentlemen 
doing during the recess ?—A. The convention adjourned on account of 
this trouble that was anticipated. 

Q. What trouble?—A. The trouble from this Eepublican meeting. 

Q. Was there anj^ Eepublican meeting nigh the court house to justify 
the convention ?—A. The Eepublican meeting was in the lower end of 
toAvn. 

Q. How far away from the court-house ?—A. Possibly half a mile. 

Q. How did you know that the Eepublican meeting was there ?—A. 
It had been called for some place in town a week before, and we kneAv 





534 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Xatchitoches 


that it was in session from the various sources of information that we 
had. We knew it from people that came up. I don’t know who brought 
them, but a good many rei)orts came in. 

Q. Was there anything done by the Kepublican mass-meeting, which 
assembled a\ ithin half a mile from where the Democratic convention 
was sitting, in any ways to injure or disturb the Democratic conven¬ 
tion?—A. IS^o attack had been made, sir. 

Q. Was the noise of tlie public speakers disturbing or interfering with 
the proceedings of the convention ?—A. Of course, we could not hear 
the noise they made. 

Q. Well, sir, what did your convention do during the recess ; that is, 
it was no longer a convention after that recess !—A. The convention did 
nothing. 

Q. AVTiat did the members do ?—A. I went down to where this meet¬ 
ing was reported to be held. 

Q. In company with whom ?—There were a good many i^ersons. 

Q. About how many?—A. Well, I don’t knoAVj about a hundred. 

Q. Were any of them armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, sir, proceed. You Avent down to where the Kepublican meet¬ 
ing Avas being held ?—A. Yes, sir; AAiiere it Avas reported as being held. 

Q. Did you find them there in meeting ?—A. When 1 got to the house 
there Avas no meeting in session, but I found a good many negroes there. 

Q. About hoAV many did you find there ?—A. Hoav many negroes did 
I see ? 

Q. Yes; at the spot Avhere the report had been that a mass-meeting 
of the Kepublicans Avas being held.—A. Well, I don’t knoAV hoAV many 
I saAV. I didn’t go to the house for some time. I stopped. There A\"as 
negroes about in knots, a good many standing on their horses AA-here the 
meeting AAms held, and some above it and some beloAV it, toAvards the 
bridge, the dike across Old Kiver. 

Q. Did you find any organized body of Kepublicans, armed and 
equii)ped, at the place Avhere the reports said the meeting was to be, 
Avhere a demonstration of Kepublicans AA^ould be had ?—A. I don’t knoAV' 
as to their organizations. I saw them in bodies. 

Q. What do you call bodies—about Iioav many ?—A. Why, I suiAi^ose 
that I must haA'e seen one hundred or tAvo hundred negroes. 

Q. In large or small squads ?—A. In both. 

Q. Some of them as high as how many ?—A. Some of them thirty or 
forty, I think. 

Q. Some as low as AAiiat? How nhiny would be the maximum and 
hoAv many Avould be the minimum?—A. Thirty or forty the maximum 
and one the minimum. 

Q. Well, that is not a crowd.—A. ilo, sir. 

Q. During your lArogress from the court-house towards the place that 
reports said that a Kepublican demonstration Avas to take place, did you 
meet AAith any violence and abnsi\"e language, or anything to show that 
there Avas any trouble breAving ?—A. I certainly met AAith no abuse, but 
I Avas convinced that there Avas trouble breAAung. I saAV evidences of it. 

Q. What AA as this evidence ?—A. I regarded the attitude and behavior 
of the negroes at that time as very threatening, defiant, and dangerous. 

Q. In AA hat AAmy ? What was their outside bearing ?—A. A good many 
of them looked very determined and A^ery much infuriated, and as I said 
yesterday, a great many persons came to me and said that a good many 
negroes located in such and such lAositions said that they Av^ere coming 
back to burn the toAvn. We Avent about and talked to them, quietly 
talked to them, and told them to go home, that we didn’t aa ant to hurt 







I’amh] TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 535 

tliem, that we didn’t want to hurt anybody, and they could go home 
quietly. It was pretty hard to get some of them to go. 

Q. But as a general rule they did go home ?—A. Yes, sir, as a general 
rule they manifested no disposition to go; but after awhile they did, 
stating that they would come back again. Some of tliem shouted, 
“You damned sons of bitches, we’ll come back and burn this town.” 

Q. Do you think it is possible for a Rei)ublican meeting and a Demo¬ 
cratic convention to be held in the town of Yatchitoches on the same 
day without any disturbance being had ?—A. I don’t think it is imx)OS- 
sibk*. I thiuk it singular that they should have called their meeting on 
the same day as our convention was fixed. 

Q. What was tlie general feeling of the two parties towards each 
other ui) to the 14th of September ?—A. No feeling whatever had been 
manifested nj) to that time. 

Q. AVhat was the general feeling from that time until the 21st ?—A. 
There was considerable feverish excitement and apprehension of trouble. 
We heard of a good many reports, and a good deal of talk about what 
the negroes were threatening to do. 

Q. Is this the first time that a conflict has occurred between the Ke- 
publicans and Democrats in your x^arish—that in the last campaign?— 
A. I don’t consider that there has been any conflict even this time; but 
there were axq^rehensions of trouble in 1874, when the deputy marshal, 
Stockton, brought a comx)any of troox:)s to bulldoze our ])eople. There 
was a large Eex^mblican meeting, and a negro undertook to kill a Avhite 
man, and there was some excitement about it. It was with difficulty 
that the peox>le could be restrained from killing him. This took xdace 
at the court-house building, and they x)nrsued him to Saint John’s street, 
Avhen he went into a little shox^—a little shoe-shop—and the mayor ap- 
])eared and stox)ped the peo])le on the street. There was then a disxm- 
sition shown on the x^art of the negroes to do violence. 

Q. Did they commit any dex)redation—kill anybody or burn any 
houses—at that time ?—A. They burned no houses, but I consider what 
they did was a depredation. They were very violent and demonstrative 
in their language. These troops with Stockton were brought in from 
just outside the edge of town to preserve the (juiet of the i)lace. The 
(piiet was restored without them. There was one negro arrested by the 
city police at that time. 

Q. In the last campaign of 1878 what was the general feeling towards 
the Bepublicans on the x^art of the Democrats after this trouble had 
occurred ?—A. After this convention of 21st of September there was not 
a great deal of feeling one way or the other. The Kex)ublicans made no 
fight. 

Q. Were thej^ outnumbered ?—A. They didn’t put any ticket in the 
field, and only one Rex)nblican ran. Mr. Boullt was the only liepublican 
that ran for an office. 

Q. Then after the 21st of September, after the dempustration in the 
town of Natchitoches, that ended the whole matter, did it ?—A. How do 
you mean? 

Q. It ended it, as there being no contest between the two parties in 
the parish of Notchitoches ?—A. I don’t know that ended it, but I think— 
1 x)resume that the trouble that arose had something to do with it. I 
don’t know but what they might have had a ticket in the field but tor 
that event. 

Q. You think but that for that trouble on the 21st of September, there 
would have been a Bepublican ticket in tlie field ?—A. 1 know nothing 
to the contrary. 






536 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. What day was Mr. Blunt arrested ?—A. He was arrested on the 
21st of September. 

Q. How long did yon keep up the vigilance!—A. Well, we kept it up 
till Monday. 

Q. What day was tlie 21st!—A. The 21st was on a Saturday. 

Q. It was kept up, then, on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. During those two days and a half, were scouting parties sent out 
from town in Yatchitoches Parish!—A. Two or three scouting parties 
Avere sent out. 

Q. How many comprised each party !—A. About four or five, I think, 
one was comi)rised of; one was comprised of fifteen or tAventy. That 
was the only one of any consequence, and that Avas conii^rised of fifteen 
or tAventy men. 

Q. Did they make any report when they came back!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they find any opposition or meet with any attack on the roads 
Avhich they traveled !—A. Yes, sir; the large party came back and re¬ 
ported ha ving meet three hundred armed men—negroes—in a body. 

Q. Were they attacked by the negroes !—A. I^o, sir; they didn’t gHe 
them any opportunity to attack, but as soon as they suw them they came 
back and reported. 

Q. Did anybody attemi)t to disperse these three hundred negroes !— 
A. Well, a party was sent down afterward to disperse them, but they 
had already dispersed before the party arrived. 

Q. They had dispersed then !—A. Yes, sir; Avhen the party got there 
it AAms night, and they ascertained that the negroes had been i)revailed 
upon to disperse and go home. We used eAwy effort to restore quiet. 
We heard of a great inany armed bands of negroes in many places, and 
it Avas the general policy of the citizens to urge upon them to disband 
and go home; such were the instructions of the i^arty that was sent 
down to disperse that mob of three hundred. 

Q. But that mob had already dispersed before the arrival of your 
party !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, haA^e yon a general knowledge of the events that 
transpired in the parish!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you name one, tAvo, or three instances of Auolence perpetrated 
i)y any number of Eei)ublicans upon any Democrats in your parish dur¬ 
ing the entire campaign ! Mark you, I am not speaking of indiAudual 
attack. If Blunt or John Smith had a personal difficulty, I don’t mean 
that. What I Avant to knoAV is this: if there was any organization of 
twenty or twenty-fiA^e men, or any number of Kepublicans, haAdng taken 
a man, arrested, Avhipi)ed him, or knocked him doAAUi, or did him an}^ 
kind of violence !—A. I told you of one instance, in the case of Mr. 
Bharis. 

(^. Did they arrest Mr. Pharis !—A. Yes, sir; they arrested him and 
kept him in durance for a AAdiile. 

Q. For how long !—A. I really don’t knoAC. 

Q. Did they harm him in any Avay, take anything from him !—A. I 
don’t know. 

C^. Do you knoAv of any other instance !—A. Of either arresting or 
hurting anybody ! 

Q. Yes.—A. They shot at a man across the iWer, but his name I 
don’t remember. I know who he is, though, 

Q. They shot from one side of the river to the other !—A. Yes, sir; 
but Cain Fiver is a A^ery small riA^er. 

Q. How wide is it!—A. I don’t know, but it is a small rHer. 









Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 


537 


Q. How many were there at the time ?—A. It was a number of this 
band of some four or five hundred. The same that stopped young Pear¬ 
son on the road. 

Q. AYell, what did they do to him'?—A. Well, they arrested him, and 
he Avas alarmed and hollered out that he was a brother of Coley Pearson, 
Avlio Avas a Republican. He did this in order to save himself. 

Q. AYas that at night time ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AYas that after the excitement had commenced, after the pot had 
begun boiling"?—A. A^es, sir; and another thing. Judge PearsonAA^asin 
toAvn and his family was out in the country in the piney Avoods, as they 
Avere apprehensHe of the yelloAv fcA^er. The judge AA^as in toAvn that day, 
and as he could not go back home according to his expectation, he sent 
a young man out in his buggy to his house, to his family, and the negroes 
came very near killing him, and threatened him and made various threats 
against A^arious people to him. 

Q. Was that after the 21st?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say Judge Pearson Avas going out of town ?—^A. No, sir; Judge 
Pearson had sent a young man out in his buggy to AAdiere his family was 
staying in the piney Avoods. Then, after the 21st September, it was 
reported to me that a croAvd of armed negroes had met one or tAVO young 
men in the direction of Saint Maurice and insulted them, and made 
threats against the Avhite people generally. Several of these occurrences 
Avere reported to me. 

Q. Ho you know of any actual Auolence in the shape of bloodshed or 
wounding having been done or perpetrated by any Republican upon any 
Democrat during the entire campaign of 1878 ?—A. At this moment I 
don’t recall to mind any on the part of Democrat to Rej)ublican or Re¬ 
publican to Democrat. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, hoAv long haA^e you known Mr. Blunt?—A. I 
think I liaA^e known him since 18G5. 

Q. You have known him since 18G5?—A. AYs, sir; I think I haA^e. 

Q. Is he a property-holder in the parish of Natchito(*hes ?—A. I think 
he is a property-holder in the parish, and I so regard him, although I 
knoAv his property in the parish is in another name. 

Q. By special request, Air. Cunningham, I will give you an opportu¬ 
nity of correcting your statements made yesterday with reference to Air. 
Blunt’s not having been married to the woman to whom his property AA^as 
transferred, as I know that you Avould not Avillfully do him an injustice. 
Here is a certificate of the marriage. It is the only marriage-form that 
was kiiOAvn to the colored people of the State of Louisiana at the time it 
was performed. 

{¥ote. —Certificate of marriage by the agent of the Freedmen’s Bu¬ 
reau shoAvn to Avitness.) 

A. I did not know of this. It is the first intimation of the kind I 
have had. I knew that he could not have transferred his property to 
his Avife, but could only transfer, and that according to laAV, her para- 
])hernalia and dotal property. And the act of sale says that the trans¬ 
fer in this case is made for so much cash. I know nothing of Blunt’s 
private allairs. I had this claim against Blunt for his lial)ility on a 
bond, and I saw that this property Avas transferred to Racliel AYilliams, 
and 1 AA^as told that she was his Avife. I then made inquiry as to the 
fact, but could not discover any record of his marriage, and I heard that 
he had been liAung Avith this AA Oman and that he had abandoned his 
wife after the Avar. 

Q. You are satisfied now that this is correct, Air. Cunningham ?—A. 




538 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


I see tliat this is only a certificate of marriage performed by the Freed- 
men’s Bureau. 

Q. Do you know whether or not a white minister of the clturch of your 
I)arish married Blunt to this same i)arty in open church ?—A. I never 
knew anything of the kind ; I know nothing in the world about it. I 
never inquirecl whether he was married until it became a matter of busi¬ 
ness to me to incpiire. I sux)posed of course that the act of sale was 
illegal, because she was his wife, but on making inquiry I was informed 
she was not his wife, but I could not find any evidence of the fact. 

Q. Do you know of any judgment bond against Mr. Blunt in the 
I)arish of Natchitoches —A. I don’t know of any. 

Q. Do you know of any debts that he has failed to pay ?—A. No, sir; 
this is the only business of his that I know anything about. 

Q. That is about the judgment on a bond of a man who became a de¬ 
faulter, and which judgment has nearly been settled!—A. Yes, sir j I 
think Mr. Blunt has an imx)erfect title to another i)ieoe of x^roperty that 
is not included in the act of sale to his wife. I brought suit against 
him in order to hold his x^roxmrty subject to the judgment on this bond. 

Q. Did you look ux^ his x^TOX^erty then !—A. Yes, sir; but I brought 
suit against him and Bachel Williams to declare this sale to her a simu¬ 
lation, with a view of holding it ux^ in satisfaction of the judgment 
against him in the suit of the city. 

Q. The amount due on that bond of Eedmond’s is very little!—A. 
Yes, sir; this judgment was x^aid by the various sureties. Blunt has 
X)aid me ‘more money than anybody else, and he claims others shoidd 
Xmy uxi some of it. I think he undertook to x^ay Lewis’s x^^^iT of if? 
Lewis had no money, and Lewis claims that he lent the money to Dr. 
Boiiltt to ])ay his part. 

Q. Has he a judgment against Dr. Boullt for the amount loaned him 
to x)ay his x^art of that bond !—A. Yes, sir; I think he has. I think lie 
sued Dr. Boullt and got a judgment for the amount. I believe the 
amount of his judgment is four hundred dollars. 

Q. Mr. Cunningham, has Mr. Breda any x>roperty in the town of 
Natchitoches !—A. I don’t know Avhether he has or not. My imx^res- 
sion is that the x^roperty belongs to his Avife, and it lias always been my 
imxoression that Breda has no x^rox)erty, but his wife has an interest in 
some prox^erty. 

Q. He certainly has some interest in the town of Natchitoches !—A. 
Yes; he Aims raised there, and his father owns the x>rox>erty that he liA^es 
in. 

Q. That property is in the toAvn of Natchitoches, is it not!—A. No, 
sir; not exactly. It is on the edge of toAAm. 

Q. Noav, sir, do you knoAv whether or not the destruction of the town 
of Natchitoches Avould x^ecuniarily injure both Breda and Blunt!—A. 
Yes, sir; I think the destruction of the town would certainly injure both 
of them. • 

Q. Pecuniarily injure them !—A. Yes, sir. If the x>i‘ox)erty in which 
they had interest were destroyed, it would injure them. 

Q. Is not some of Mr. Breda’s x>roperty in the center of the town !— 
A. Yes, sir; my impression is that the heirs of Henry Hertzoff* are inter¬ 
ested in tAvo or three pieces of x^roperty in the center of the toAvn, but 
I am not particularly acquainted AAfith the facts. 

Q. I am not going into the title of property. W’^liat I want to bring 
out is whether these men who are said to be the leaders of a mob, hav¬ 
ing for its object the destruction of the toAAUi of Natchitoches, had per¬ 
sonal interest in that town !—A. Y^es, sir. They had a personal interest 







TESTIMONY OF M. J. CUNNINGHAM. 539 

in the property that they were interested in, as a matter of course. It 
was their interest to save it from being injured. 

Q. Now, sir, the entire action of this democratic convention and oi 
the men coming into town and of going on to the place where the 
Eepublican meeting was said to liave been lield, wassail taken upon the 
simple statement and report made of a meeting wliich was said to have 
taken place of a few Eepiiblicans on the back gallery of Judge Breda’s 
on the 14th of September ?—A. Not altogether, sir. 

Q. Well, what else contributed to it ?—A. Well, we had numerous 
reports that the negroes intended to destroy the town. I think that I de¬ 
tailed them in my examination-in-chief yesterday. 

Q. Please give me an instance, or name any party that brought any 
information that led you to that act.—A. I heard a good many, but I 
can’t give the names of the parties, but Mr. Genius reported some threats 
made by Baby against our people. A clerk at McCook’s reported a 
conversation of some negro women which, indicated that there would 
be some trouble that day. But we hadn’t even heard of their meeting 
at that time. It was reported to me also that some one, I didn’t know 
his name, had heard a negro preacher say that Blunt had said he was 
going .to bulldoze that convention or bui n up the town. 

Q. AA’^as he a candidate before that convention ?—A. No, sir. Our 
convention hadn’t met, and oiu* convention was a Democratic convention. 

Q. He was not a candidate before that convention ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then the report siinjily stated that some one had said that Blunt 
had said he was going to bulldoze that Democratic convention or burn 
the town ?—A. I didn’t say where he said it. It was reported during 
the week that Blunt had said so, however. 

Q. Do you know who brought that report!—A. No, sir; I do not. 

Q. AVhat was the general feeling among the white peoide of the par¬ 
ish of Natchitoches prior to the 14th September, 1878, as to the negroes 
rising and committing depredations, such as burning, killing, and rob¬ 
bing ?—A. I never heard it mentioned. 

Q. AVas there any fear on the part of the whites that such would be 
done ?—A. I never heard of any. 

Q. AAhis there any, prior to that, in the years 1876 and 1877 ? AAhas 
there ever any thought that the negroes, as a class, were dangerous and 
might rise up, as a class, and destroy anybody f—A. There have been 
apprehensions frequently. The last I remember before this in 1878, 
wp>s in 1876, Avhen a great many gentlemen were really and honestly 
apprehensive that the negroes were coming in to take the town, and I 
know such was the fact, that they were so apprehensive, in consequence 
of threats having been made. These reports have occurred several 
times. In 1874 there had been many reports from time to time, but I 
haven’t heard of any since 1876, until just before the last election. 

Q. Now, sir, let lis come to the arrest of Blunt. You stated that you 
were not in the party that went to Blunt’s house ?—A. No, sir j I was 
not with the i)arty when it went there. I was sent for afterwards by 
the party. 

Q. How many were there at the house ?—A. I don’t know exactly how 
many when I got there. 

Q. About how many were there when yoii arrived?—A. A good 
many. 

Q. Did not I understand you yesterday to say that you had between 
thirty and forty men in line in front of tlie house ?—A. Yes, sir. That 
was when I went back the second time. AYlien I got there the second 
time I found between thirty and forty men in hne there. 




540 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Ifatchitoches 


Q. Tlie first time you went, you were sent for!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. flow fur is it to Blunt’s Louse from the court-house"?—A. I was not 
at the court-house at the time. I was at the house where the Bepubli- 
can meetiug was held. 

Q. And you got»news there that they wanted you at Blunt’s house?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. \Yere you under the impression that Blunt wanted you ?—A. I^o, 
sir. 

Q. Were you under the imi)ression that Blunt did not want you ?—A. 
I formed no imimession j but 1 am Avilling to take it that Blunt did not 
want me. 

Q. How many persons were there when you arrived that time ?—A. 
A good many; I don’t know how many. 

Q. What was you told when you got there ?—A. I was told that. 


JOHY P. HAETMAY. 

John P. Hartman sworn for the minority. 

By Mr. Cunningham : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Yatchitoches. 

Q. Have you occupied any official position during the year 1878 in 
the parish?—A. Yes, sir; I was deputy sheriff there. 

Q. Have you been over the ])arish so as to become acquainted and 
familiar with its affairs?—A. Yes, sir. Por last three or four years 
I have occupied that position, and I have rode over the parish a good 
deal. 

Q. Were you there on tlie 21st September last?—A. I was, sir. 

(^. Did you make any effort in your official capacity to disperse this 
crowd of negroes that had assembled there during that day?—A. Yes, 
sir; about five o’clock in the evening of the 21st September I was called 
upon by some gentlemen to go to the lower end of town and request 
the crowd of negroes there to disperse and go home. I went down 
there, and got nearly to the second bridge, which is out of the limits of 
the town, and I met several colored men there, and I told them that I 
Avould like for them to go home, and that I was requested to come down 
there as an officer and ask them, and request them to disperse and go 
home. They said that they were there, and were doing no harm, but 
they did not disperse just then. 

Q. You didn’t go down any fiirther?—A. Yo, sir; I felt a little un¬ 
easy about going any farther; I didn’t care about going. 

Q. What part did you take in the campaign last year? On which 
side of the campaign were you?—A. I advocated the election of Mr. 
Boultt for sheriff. 

Q. You did that in opposition to the regular Democratic ticket?_A. 

Yes, sir; and I canvassed the parish in his interest. 

Q. What did you find to be the disposition of the colored people in 
your canvass of the parish toward the Democratic ticket?—A. I noticed 
a disi)osition manifested along in the summer on the part of the colored 
l>eople to be lukewarm in politics, and 1 talked to them about it, and 
they said that they didn’t care to meddle with politics any longer, and 
that they didn’t think that they had derived much benefit from the Ee- 
l)ublican ])arty, and they didn’t know whether they would vote the 
ticket or not. 







Parish.] 


TESNIMONY OF JOHN P. HARTMAN. 


541 


Q. Well, subsequently to that, how did you find them as the election 
approached?—A. Well, they told me after the 21st, all those that I 
spoke to about voting the ticket that I was advocating, that if they 
voted at all they Avould vote the straight Democratic ticket. 

Q. Where were you on election day ?—A. I was in the town of Natchi¬ 
toches. 

Q. What disposition did you find among the negroes that day toward 
supx)orting Mr. l^oullt for sheriff?—A. I didn’t find much disposition on 
their i)art to sux^i^ort him. They told me, most of them, in fact nearly 
all of them, that they had come there to vote the Democratic ticket, and 
I told Mr. Boidtt so; I told him tliat they were going to vote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket, and it was useless to work any longer; and he thought 
so too. 

Q. Didn’t he abandon the contest on the morning of the election ?— 
A. Yes, sir; he gave it up. He saw that he had no chance. 

Q. Was not that due entirely to the disi)osition of the negroes to vote 
the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. I Avent to them and told them 
that there was no danger at all in voting our ticket, and that I would go 
Avith them to the polls myself, and protect them, but they told me that 
they were not uneasy, and they had come to Amte the Democratic ticket 
and AAmuld do it. 

Q. Did they do so of their oavii accord? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAV of any trouble that occurred, groAving out of this 
difficulty on the 21st of September, betAveen the AAdiites and blacks or 
Democrats and Kepublicans?—A. I have heard of a great many rumors, 
but that is all. ■ 

Q. I mean do you knoAV of any intimidation ?—A. Growing out of 
that ? 

(^. Yes.—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any intimidation of colored or Republican a oters at the 
election, that you know of?—A. No, sir. 

Q. So ffir as you know of, the election was fair ?—A. Yes, sir, 

Q. Do you knoAv anything about the 298’s ?— A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you a member of that ?—A. I am, sir. 

Q. Were your relations to that organization affected by your operating 
against the Democratic ticket ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you ever know that organization to be used for political pur¬ 
poses ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. HaA'eyou been in the habit of attending its meetings ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I attend the meetings regularly when I am there. I can’t say reg¬ 
ularly, either. I Avas there at every meeting when I Avas in toAvn. Some¬ 
times my official duties called me out of town, and ot course I didn’t go 
then. 

Q. Is that organization, the 298, a military organization ?—A. Not 
that I knoAV of. 

Q. Did you ever see any evidence of a military organization about it ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Is it an armed organization ?—A. No, sir. 

(^, A merely social and benevolent society ?—A. Yes, sir j social and 
beneAmlent. That is all. 


CROSS-EXAMINED. 

By Judge Marks: 

Q. IIoAV long haA-e you resided in the parish of Natchitoches?—A. I 
was born and raised there j but I left the parisli in 1807 and returned in 
1874. 




542 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Katcliitoclies 


Q. Wliat were yon when you first returned to the parish in 1874 ?— 
A. I was a farmer. 

Q. How long were yon em]4loyed as deputy sheriff jirior to the last 
election ?—A. I think I was in the office between three and four years, 
under Mr. Barron and Mr. Boullt. 

Q. You stated that you operated against the Democratic ticket in the 
last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any Eejmblican ticket in the parish of Natchitoches in 
the last election*?—A. IMr. Boullt was recognized as a Eepublican. He 
was running on a Conservative Eepublican ticket; but that is all. 

Q. Do you say that there was a Eepublican ticket in the field —A. 
No, sir ; Imt there was a ti(;ket with Mr. Boullt’s name on it. 

Q. Well, he did not constitute the Eepublican i^arty of the parish of 
Natchitoches'?—A. No, sir; I can’t say that he did. 

Q. Was there any organization of the Eepublican party of the parish 
of Natchitoches after the 21st September of the last campaign!—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Did you find any prevailing through the different portions of the 
])aiish—any Eei)ublican organizations ! Did you hear of anj^ after the 
21st September, Mr. Hartmau ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then what you term as operating agaijist the Democratic ticket 
was simj^ly you made for an individual—they were made for your em¬ 
ployer, the sheriff of the parish, who was running as an independent 
candidate for that office, against the Democratic nominee!—A. I Avas 
operating for the only ticket in the field against the Democratic ticket; 
for the only nominee for that office of sheriff against the Democratic 
nominee, but if there had been a full Eepubhcan ticket in the field I 
Avould have operated just the same. 

Q. As far as you are individually concerned you Avould have sup¬ 
ported it *?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But the only difference between the regular Democratic ticket and 
the ticket you supported Avas, that they had different candidates for 
the office of sheriff!—A. Yes, sir; and Mr. Bullard, an independent 
candidate for constable, was on our ticket. 

Q. But the balance of the names AA^ere the same as those on the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket!—A. You mean on the ticket I supported! 

Q. Yes.—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hoav many names were different on that ticket from the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket!—A. I think there Avas some names for local offices, of 
friends of his on the hills, and I think the Eepublican candidate for treas¬ 
urer Avas on ticket, but tlie majority of the places Avere blanks. 

Q. Then the ticket on AAdiich Mr. Boullt ran had no other names on it 
but Ids OAA ii and that candidate for constable ! I am speaking of paro¬ 
chial affairs.—A. There were some other names for parochial offices. 
Some of the tickets, I think, had the Democratic candidate for treas¬ 
urer on as Avell, but the tickets Avere not long. 

Q. Did it have the Democratic candidate for Congress on!—A. I 
think not. I think that was blank. 

Q. Did it haA^e any one else on!—A. I said I think it had the Demo¬ 
cratic candidate for treasurer on some of the tickets and some had the 
Eepublican, but I am satisfied that Wells’s name, Eepublican candidate 
for Congress, Avas not on the ticket, because he and Mr. Boullt are per¬ 
sonal enemies. 

Q. You stated in your examination-iu-chief that there was a disposi¬ 
tion shown on the part of the colored peo^de to vote the Democratic 
ticket; Avasn’t it generally understood by them that by doing so it Avould 







TESTIMONY OF JOHN P. HARTMAN. 543 

assure them protection?—A. I can’t say what their motiyes Avere: I 
only state Avhat they told me. 

Q. Did yon find it so ?—A. I cannot say. 

Q. Did yon find such a feeling manifested ?—A. AYliich feeling ? 

Q. Thatthey had no other ticket to vote; and that as they had no other 
ticket to vote, they might as AA^ell go the AAdiole hog; and as there was 
only one difference between the regular Democratic ticket and Mr. 
Bonllt’s, a difference of one man, that by voting the Democratic ticket 
it would give them protection, and tend to a better feeling between them 
and the Democratic party and the members thereof ?—A. Well, as to 
that I can’t say. 

Q. Did yon see any evidence of such a feeling manifested ?—A. ]^o, 
sir. They told me prior to the 21st of September that if they Amted at 
all they AAmidd Amte the Democratic ticket; that they had been injured 
in a great measure by politics and got nothing good of it. 

Q. They told yon that they had deriA^ed no good from politics ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Study awhile before answering this question: Can yon remember 
about how many Republicans made that statement to yon ?—A. Well, I 
can’t possibly say how many, because I liaA^e rode over the parish, and 
I knoAv tAA o-thirds of the people in the parish, and I Inwe talked to tliem 
about politics a good deal. I have talked to too many of them to re¬ 
member hoAV many eA^er told me that. 

Q. Were yon eA^er identified openly AAuth the Republican party in the 
last campaign?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were yon identified AAith the Democratic party? Were yon looked 
upon by the colored people as belonging to the Democratic party?— 
A. No, sir. Some, liOAA^eAW, of them recognized me as a Democrat. It 
seemed that Avay; but the most of them recognized me as a Republican, 
from the fact that I Avas working for Republican officers; and the Demo¬ 
crats told me they recognized me as a Republican and classed me with 
them. 

Q. Was it generally known to the colored people that yon Avere a 
member of the 298 ?—A. I don’t know; some persons kneAV it, because 
sometimes I AAmre the badge, and sometimes I didn’t. 

Q. Yon stated that in your official capacity as deputy sheriff, that yon 
went down to Avhere that croAvd Avas, on the 21st September, at the sug¬ 
gestion of some citizens, to disperse a mob of negroes. Now, about hoA\^ 
many negroes Avere there when you arrived?—A. Well, maybe about ten 
or tAveh'e. 

Q. Were they armed?—A. Yes, sir; one or tAVO had guns. 

(^. One or tAvo?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they making any demonstration?—A. They were standing 
there talking, and I thought they Avere the advance-guard, and I thought 
there Avas a croAvd below. 

Q. Hoav did you knoAV that there was a crowd below?—A. Because it 
AA as rumored so. 

(^. Then it is simply because it was so rumored that you think so?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were those ten or twelve men standing peaceably and quiet there ?— 
A. They Avere not making any demonstration that I could see. 

Q. When you ordered them to disperse, AAdiat was their ansAver?—A. 
One of them said that he didn’t have anything to do AAdth it; and they 
didn’t moA^e aAvay; and I told you that I didn’t care to go beloAV, as it 
might be dangerous. I sim])ly asked them to disperse and go aAvay. 

Q. But they didn’t go?—A." Well, I AA^ent back to toAvn; I don’t know. 






544 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


N. P. BRAZEALE. 


N. P. Brazeale sworn for the minority and examined. 

By Mr. Cunningham: 

Question. Where do you reside, Mr. Brazeale!—Answer. In Natchi¬ 
toches Parisli. 

Q. Were you raised there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you witness a meetino’, this Repuhlican meeting which was 
held at Judge Breda’s office, in the parish of Nachitoches, on the night 
of the 14th of Se])tember last!—A. I did. 

Q. Will you tffil us what occurred there, as far as you heard or saw, 
at that meeting!—A. About 7 o’clock, on tlie night of the 14th of Sep¬ 
tember, myself and Mr. Miller went around to Judge Breda’s office, 
knowing that there was to be a meeting of the prominent Republicans 
there. I got in the back yard of the church, up against the fence wliich 
Avas .adjoining the gallery, on whi(4i the Republicans were holding their 
meeting at Judge Breda’s. Mr. Miller got in tlie stable. Mr. Breda 
called the meeting to order, and he told them that it Avas for the pur- 
l)ose of organizing aa hat Avould be called the Republican Mother Club 
of Natchito(4ies Parish. Mr. Breda remarked that they Avould carry 
that parish for the Republicans or haA^e blood. They appointed Raby 
as chairman on the organization of ward clubs. After that Blunt 
spoke, and called for a mass-meeting to be held on the 21st. There Avas 
an objection made l)y Mr. Breda and Mr. Boultt and some other members. 
But Blunt still insisted ux)on haA’ing that meeting called for the 21st. 
Breda insisted on him not having it that day, but to haA^e it on Wednes¬ 
day the 18th, or Monday the 23d. Blunt insisted, and Breda said, 

Don’t haA"e it then, but haA^e it on the 23d.” Blunt said, “ We Avill liaA^e 
it on .that day or not at all.” And he told all the members to instruct 
all the Rei)ublicans they saAA^ to come into town that day, and to come 
at 10 o’clock, prepared to tight for their rights. 

Q. Did he say anything about the respective number of the two party 
meetings to be lield that day!—A. Yes, sir; he did. He said the Dem¬ 
ocratic con Addition Avill not IniA^e more than one hundred or one hundred 
and fifty men there, and Ave can have three or four hundred men in toAvn. 

Q. Was his manner Adolent or demonstrative! —A. Yes, sir; his man¬ 
ner Avas Auolent, and in the speech that he made he was A^ery Auolent. 
He just began his speech and talked a little, and 1 thought that 1 would 
be (liscoA^ered; so I left. 

Q. Were you in the toAvn of Natchitoches on the 21st of September!— 
A. Yes, sir; 1 Avas there. 

Q. Was Congressman Elam there on the 21st!—A. No, sir; I didn’t 
see him. 

Q. When did you see him there!—A. He Avas there on the 14th of Sep¬ 
tember—he made a speech in Natchitoches on the 14th. 

Q. You don’t thiiik he Avas in toAvn on the 21st!—A. I don’t think so. 

Q. Do you know positiA^ely Avhetlier he aams or not! —A. I don’t think 
so —I don’t think he Avas; I didn’t see him, or hear anybody say he Avas 
there. 

Q. Do you belong to the 298’s!—A. Yes, sir; lam a member of the 
298. 

Q. Is that a political organization or not!—A. No, sir; I wouldn’t con¬ 
sider it such. 

Q. Do you regard it as a military organization!—A. No, sir. 




Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF N. P. BRAZEALE. 


545 


Q. Is it an armed body?—A. 'No, sir; not to my knowledge. 

Q. Do yon know all about it, and attend its meetings regularly !—A. 
Yes, sir; I attend the meetings regularly. 

Q. It’s a secret social and benevolent organization!—A. Yes, sir; 
purely social and benevolent. 

Q. AVe don’t want you to tell any of the secrets of the association; 
but it’s of a secret character!—A. Yes, sir. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. How old are you, Mr. Brazeale!—A. I am a little over 18 years—I 
was 18 last October. 

Q. How long have you been a member of the 293 !—A. I joined in the 
first part of October last. 

Q. The first part of October last!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far do you live from Judge Breda’s office!—A. Ilivm way up 
in the upper end of town—a (piarter of a mile from there, I suppose. 

Q. What brought you to the grave yard that night that the meeting 
was held !—A. I wasn’t in the grave yard. I was in the church yard. 

Q. In the church yard !—A. Yes, sir; they had service at the Catholic 
church that night and I was up there. 

Q. AVas that service conducted close to the fence!—A. No, sir; it was 
in the church. I was inside the fence when I saw the meeting. 

Q. How did you get from the church close up to the fence !—A. After 
service I took a walk out of the church, and I saw all the Eepublicans 
around the office, and I thought there was going to be a meeting. 

Q. How many did you see about there!—A. I can’t say how many, 
but a good many. 

Q. About how many !—A. About fifteen or twenty. 

Q. Name some of them.—A. The two Bredas were there. 

Q. Don’t they live there !—A. No, sir; it was at their office; they 
don’t live there. 

Q. Is it unusual to see the Bredas there at their office at that time in 
the evening !—A. Yes, sir; I think so. 

Q. Who were the others you saw !—A. Barron, Blunt, Lewis, Baby, 
and there was another colored man that I don’t know. 

Q. Altogether you saw about fifteen or twenty, you think!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. AVill you be kind enough to take a sheet of paper and give me an 
idea of Breda’s office and the gallery where they were sitting !—A. I 
can’t tell you where they were sitting; they had a dim light. 

Q. AVere they inside the office !—A. No, sir; they were on the back 
gallery with a small table. 

Q. ilow many chairs had they!—A. I can’t say; I saw only two or 
til rGG 

Q. Were they all sitting or standing!—A. Some were sitting and 
some were standing. Thomas Boultt was secretary of the meeting; he 
is here in the house now. 

Q. He was the secretary!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYho was president!—A. Baby was elected president. On the 
table where the secretary was sitting at they had half a candle and a 
box sitting sideways by it to throw the light on the secretary’s book. 

(i. Air. Brazeale, how far is that fence of the church from this back 
gallery of Breda’s office !—A. Aliout as far as from here to that wall- 
say about 15 feet. 

35 T 



546 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Mr. Brazeale^ what sort of a fence is that?—A. It’s an old plank 
fence. 

Q. How high is it?—A. Well, it’s jnst a little higher than my head. 

Q. A little higher than your head ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon get on top of the fence in order to see what was being 
done on the gallery?—A. No, sir; I saw through the cracks—they are 
wider than my hand. 

Q. Were those cracks wide enough to crawl through?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Did you at any time get on top of that fence ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Was there any undergrowth between that fence and the back part 
of Mr. Breda’s office?—A. No, sir. 

Q. No brush whatever ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. It’s i)erfectly clear?—A. Yes, sir; perfectly clear. 

Q. Then I understand you that from where you were standing, a dis¬ 
tance of ten or fifteen feet from the gallery, looking through a crack in 
the fence, you could see everything or nearly everything tliat occurred 
on the back gallery of Mr. Breda’s office, where only half a candle was burn¬ 
ing on a box to tlirow the light on the secretary’s table; was that box 
between you and the light, or was it on the other side of the light?—A. 
It was on the other side of the light, and I could see everything. 

Q. You could see just as well as you can here or not ?—A. Yes; nearly 
as well; it was a bright moonlight night. 

Q. Then it was the moon that helped you see and not this candle ? 
Were you seen by any one at that fence ?—A. No, sir; no one but myself 
and Mr. Miller knew anything about it. 

Q. You say that Blunt was violent; was anybody tr;ving to whip 
him?—A. No, sir; there was only an argument between him and Mr. 
Breda. 

Q. What do you mean by violent; did he make any threats against any 
of the members there ?—A. No, sir ; he made gestures. 

Q. He was forcible in his argument ?—zV. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you remember the exact words that were used by Blunt on 
that occasion ?—x\. I think I liave told you his exact words. 

Q. Those are his exact words, were they ?—A. As near as I can re¬ 
member. 

Q. Was that all tliat he said?—A. Y^s, sir; all I heard him say about 
calling a mass meeting. 

Q. bid you hear liim or any one else at that meeting make any threats 
about burning the town of Natchitoches or about killing any one par¬ 
ticularly?—A. No, sir; I heard no threats of that kind. 

Q. Did you stay there until the meeting adjourned, or did you leave 
before ?—A. I left before the meeting adjourned. 

Q. Well, sir, after having made your'discovery, what did you do ?— 
A. I went lip town and communicated it to some gentlemen. I don’t 
remember exactly who they were, but I. think Mr. Cunningham was one. 
I don’t remember all of them. 

Q. Well, sir, what did you tell them?—A. I told them what passed 
at the meeting. 

Q. Mr. Brazeale, did you tell them exactly what you told us here ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. You are positive that every man that you spoke to in regard to 
what you had seen and heard you gave him the exact words as you are 
giving them here ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are iiositive about that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And nothing more?—A. Nothing further, sir. 



^’arisb.] TESTIMONY OF N. P. BRAZEALE. 547 

Q. What is your occupation, Mr. Brazeale ?—A. I am learning the 
X)rinting trade, sir. 

Q. In what office ?—A. In the People’s Vindicator. 

Q. Natchitoches?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you been working there ?—A. Over a year. 

Q. How did you come to be with JVIr. Miller; did you ask him to go 
with you that evening ?—A. I asked him to go with me, but he wasn’t 
Avith me when I found out that there was to be a meeting. 

Q. Where Avas he then ?—A. He was up town on Saint Dennis street. 

Q. And you went after him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you didn’t go direct from the church, as you first told us ?— 
A. I didn’t say that I Avent direct from the church; I said that I saw 
the members of the Kepublican party around Breda’s Avhen I came out 
of church. 

Q. Then you Avent off and got Mr. Miller and came back again !—^A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you went behind that fence and heard what you liaAm related 
here ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you left there, Mr. Brazeale, Avere you perfectly satisfied 
that they had determined upon holding a meeting on the 21st of Sep¬ 
tember?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know AAdiether they had reconsidered the determination or 
not to hold that meeting on the 21st after you left?—A. No, sir; I come 
back again in about five minutes after, and they Avere all gone. 

Q. AVho sent you back ?—xl. No one; I went on my OAvn account. 

Q. Did 3 U)u tell any one in the mean time ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You didn’t tell anyone ?—A. No one. 

(^. Did you participate in any armed body of men in the toAvn of 
Natchitoches on the 21st of September?—A. On the 21st of September 
I AA ent Avith an armed body to disperse a body of negroes on “ Dirt 
Bridge.” 

Q. What body of men did you operate A\ith, Mr. Brazeale ?—xV. I AA^ent 
Avith tlie men that were under Mr. Cunningham’s orders. 

Q. You were raised in the town of Natchitoches?—A. No, sir; I Avas 
raised out in the country. 

Q. But you liaAm been liAung there for some time?—A. I haA^e been 
living there between three and four years. 

Q. You are pretty well acquainted with everybody in the toAA n of Natch¬ 
itoches and in tiie parish?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you name any member of your organization—the “298”—that 
were not out, on the 21st of September, in the armed body of men that 
started out to disperse the negro mob that had assembled beloAv toAvn 
that day?—A. No, sir; I can’t, because I don’t know; eAwythiiig was . 
so Amry excited. 

Q. You cannot? Suppose you were to think; don’t you think you 
could recall the names of the men that belonged to your organization; 
you know eA^ery member that belongs to it, don’t you?—A. No, sir; I 
don’t know them all. 

Q. You stated that you attended every meeting of the “208”?—A. 
Yes, sir; but some of the members haA^en’t attended since I joined. 

Q. But those that luiA^e attended—the members that attended every 
meeting—do you know one of those that Avasn’t out on the 21st A\dth gun 
or rifle, armed and equipped ?—xV. No; I can’t say; there might be some, 
but I don’t knoAV. 

You can’t name one?—A. No, sir; I can’t name one. 





548 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. Is everything quiet tliere now?—A. Yes, sir; everything was quiet 
when I left. 

By Air. Cunningham : 

Q. You don’t know that all the ineinhers of the ^^298” were there or 
not?—A. No, sir; I don’t. 

Q. There was no effort made to find out whether there was no absen¬ 
tees?—A. No, sir. 

Q. There was 298 there?—A. No, sir; they didn’t go as 298; they 
went as the people. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. Were you present when Blunt was captured?—A. Yes, sir; I got 
there just wlien he was brought out of the house. 

Q. There were no guns brought out?—A. I didn’t see any. 

Q. Were you one of the guards over him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Where were you ?—A. I was on guard on Bayou Bourbeaux 
bridge. 


G. W. AlOSES. 

G. AIoses sworn by the minority. 

By Air. Cunningham : 

Question. AVhere do you reside. Air. AIoses ?—Answer. In New Or¬ 
leans. 

Q. Were you in Natchitoches last summer and fall?—A. Yes, sir; I 
was there. 

Q. AVere you there on the 21st of September?—A. Yes, sir; I was 
there. 

Q. A witness before this committee. Air. Blunt, has stated that you 
were in the i)arty that made an attack ui)on the meeting, and went to 
his house with a guu ?—A. I was not there with a gun. 

Q. AVere you in the party that took proceedings that day?—A. No, 
sir; I used to pass there going to dinner; I didn’t remain there two 
minutes; I was rather sick ; I was with Air. Caspari at the time; Air. 
Caspari and I were together. 

Q. AVas Air. Elam, member of Congress, in Natchitoches on the 21st 
of September?—A. No, sir; I am well acquainted with him, and 1 know 
he was not there. 

Q. He resides in Alansfield, does he not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you a member of the 298 ?—A. I am, sir; I joined while I was 
up there last summer. 

Q. What is the character of that organization ?—A. It is a secret or¬ 
ganization, and has nothing to do Avith politics; it is in no way connected 
Avith politics AAdiatCA^er, and there are no armed men or anything of the 
kind in it. 

Q. Is it a military organization ?—A. No, sir; merely social and bene\'- 
olent; that is all. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. IlaA^e you a constitution and by-laAvs ?—A. I belicA'C so. 

Q. Are they printed ?—A. I don’t know. I think so. 

Q. Can’t you furnish this committee Avith a copy ?—A. I merely joined 
while I was uj) there. 





Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM A. STRONG. 


549 


Q. Is it incorporated by act of legislature, or under the general incor¬ 
poration acts of this State —A. I don’t know. 

Q. You are not an officer ?—A. Yes; I acted as an officer during* the 
time I was up there. 

Q. You acted as an officer ?—A. Yes, sir j I assisted in the initiation 
of new members. 


WILLIAM A. STKONG. 

William A. Strong sworn by the minority. 

By Mr. Cunningham : 

Q. You are secretary of state, Mr. Strong % —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where do you reside f—A. Here, sir. I claim my residence and 
domicile in Winn Parish at Saint Maurice. 

Q. Is it near l!latchitochesf—A. Yes, sir; ten miles from town. 

Q. AYere you in Natchitoches on the 21st of September last'?—A. I 
was, sir. 

Q. Did you hear any threat or rumor of trouble on that day?—A. Yes, 
sir; I heard from'my cook, or rather nurse, that a courier had been sent 
from town to the negroes in Saint Maurice and in the neighborhood to 
tell them to come down that day prepared to light for their rights; that 
they were going to have a meeting there for that purpose. 

Q. That was before you went to town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You went to town on your own business ?—A. I went at the in¬ 
stance of a friend that was arrested or liable to be, and I went to assist 
him in his trouble. 

Q. State what you saw there.—A. On arriving in town, the first place I 
went to was to the magistrate’s office to see about the bond. The mag¬ 
istrate said that the constable had the warrants, and to call again. The 
district judge was in town. I went to his office, and was told that he 
was at home. I went then to Judge Pearson’s liouse. On my way down 
to Judge Pearson’s residence, which is in the lower portion of town, I 
passed some fifteen or twenty white men in the lower edge of town, and 
I saw a crowd of negroes ahead of me. I passed through the white men 
and through the negroes. AA^hen I got in front of Judge Pearson’s house 
I dismounted. Iliad been in the habit of hitching my horse to his fence, 
and seeing such a crowd, and having heard very boisterous threats, I con¬ 
cluded to put my mule inside, and just as I was hitching my mule Air. 
Barron came along, and as he came up, I said: How do you do, Virgil ? ” 
I and he had been very intimate. AA^e used to go to school together. I 
heard a great many negroes, who were on horseback, saying that they 
were going to have brother Blunt, and would come back that night and 
have him or burn the town. Barron said, ‘AVhat in the world will I 
do?” I said, If you have any influence over those negroes, tell them 
to attend to their business, and none of them will be hurt.” I reiuained 
an liouriii Judge Pearson’s and then went to town, and a man re(iuested 
me to remain in town and I did so. 

Q. At the time those threats were made had Blunt been arrested ?— 
A. I don’t think he had, because when I came back I passed the crowd 
that had arrested Blunt coming from his house. 

Q. Do you know of any attempt to arrest Blunt before that?—A. No, 
sir. In the morning I paid no attention to what this negro woman had 
told me, until I got to town and saw those negroes and heard those 
threats. 




550 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


Q. You say that your nurse told you that couriers had come to tell the I 
iiep’o men to come prepared to light for their rights—A. Yes, sir. 

Whom did she say had sent these couriers f—A. Brother Blunt. 

Q. You say that you carried your mule into Judge Pearson’s yard 
because of the crowd —A. Yes, sir. : 

Q. Crowd of what ?—A. Crowd of negroes. 

Q. Where were those negroes ?—A. Bight in front of his house, in the 
lane; in front of the fence. 

Q. What was the attitude of tliose negroes; was it violent ?—A. Yes; 
so much so that I did not feel safe in securing my mule in the usual 
idace, but I carried my mule inside the fence. 

Q. Did the negroes seem to be disi^ersing, or gathering together that 
time'?—A. While Barron and I were standing together they seemed to 
be coming ui) toward the end of the town; but when they saw those 
white men coming they began to go back again. 

Q. They were going toward town?—A. Yes, sir; as I was going back. 

Q. And they went back in consequence of that crowd of white men ?— 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see anything of the sheriff while you were there ?—A. I 
staid at his house that night. 

Q. Did he say anything about this meeting—after they arrested Blunt ?— 

A. I didn’t hear him or any of the parties that arrested him. I didn’t 
go into the matter at all. Every place was crowded, and I met him on 
the street and he invited me to come to his house. I think Mr. Hart¬ 
well was present. He said that he had attended the Bepublican meet¬ 
ing on the 14th and had fought against holding the meeting on that day, 
the 21st 5 and as an evidence of his coui’se didn’t go to the meeting, but 
was in town the entire day. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. Mr. Strong, you were not a resident of the parish of Natchitoches 
at that time ?—A. I was spending the summer there. 

Q. Spending the summer ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that your first visit to the town of Natchitoches?—A. No, 
sir; my second. ' 

Q. Were you molested in anywise by that mob?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any of them tnht you were personally acquainted with ? 

—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They did not molest you ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You heard some of them say that they intended to have their 
brother Blunt ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long were you from the time you left the town of Natchitoches 
for Judge Pearson’s house, before you returned ?—A. Something like an 
hour or two. 

Q. When you got back you found that Blunt had been arrested ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You don’t know whether he had been arrested at the time those 
parties said that they wanted Brother Blunt or blood ?—A. I don’t know, , 
but my imi)ression is that he was not. 

Q. You stated something in regard to the mule; were you afraid that ! 
there would be any difficulty as far as the mule was concerned, that he i 
might be stolen ?—A. I thought there might be some shooting, and I 
would lose a valuable mule; that is why I hitched inside the fence; | 
otherwise I would not have taken my mule into a gentleman’s yard. , 

Q. The first crowd that you met on the road going to Judge Pear- I 
son’s were white men?—A. I didn’t meet them, but passed them on the j 
way. 






Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. LEVY. 


551 


Q. They were going in the same direction as yon?—A. Yes,'sir. 

Q. Going towards Blunt’s house !—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Coming from it ?—A. Yo, sir. They were about opposite Mr. 

I^lunt’s house is on Second street, and they were on 

Jeuerson street. 

Q. They didn’t molest you?—A. Ko, sir. 

()i. And atterward you met a crowd of colored men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many did you meet?—A. One hundred and fifty or two hun¬ 
dred. 

Q. flow many of them were armed?—A. I didn’t see any of them 
armed. 

By Mr. Cunningham: 

Q. You didn’t see Blunt arrested or didn’t know when he was ar¬ 
rested ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You know that he was arrested ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You know as a matter of public notoriety that it was after you left 
Judge Pearson’s house?—A. It was after I went back to town. 

Q. Wlien was that?—A. That was ’long in the evening. 

Q. What time of the day was it that you went down town and saw 
this crowd of negroes ?—xV. It was between twelve and two o’clock j some¬ 
where about there, I think. 

By Judge Marks; 

Q. Ho you know only of these facts from hearsay? You don’t know 
anything of your own knowledge ?—A. Except what I have stated. 

Q. I mean as to the arrest of Blunt ?—A. Only from hearsay. 

By Mr. Cunningham : 

Q. Was Congressman Elam in Natchitoches that day?—A. No, sir; 
he was not there that day. He was there on the Saturday before. 


WILLIAM M. LEVY. 

William M. Levy, sworn for the minority, examined. 

By Mr. Cunningham : 

' Question. Colonel, you reside in Natchitoches ?—Answer. Yes, sir; I 
live in the parish of Natchitoches. 

Q. Were you in Natchitoches on the 21st September last ?—A. I was, 

I sir, in the town. 

I (i. A witness before this committee, Mr. Blunt, has stated that you 
were x>i‘csent armed with a pistol when his house was searched, and 
when, as he states, an attack was made upon his house, and that you 
! made use of certain expressions, telling the crowd “ to go in and take 
him, God damn him.” Now, colonel, is that true or not?—A. To use 
the mildest expression that I can apply to these statements of the wit¬ 
ness, in regard to my being present or participated in the search for him 
or his arrest, they are utterly without foundation in fact or truth. On 
the 21st of September, I was a member from the ward in which I resided, 
or rather a delegate from the ward in which I resided, to the parochial 
nominating convention. I attended that convention. VYhen the recess 
of tlmt convention was taken, I withdrew from tlie house where it Avas 
going on, with all the other members of the convention, and all the 
spectators. I didn’t join the i)arty Avhich proceeded to the place at 






552 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


wliicli tli6 Republican meeting Avas held. I did see the crowd which 
went to that Republican meeting. About an hour after the adjourn¬ 
ment of the convention, in company with two or three gentlemen of 
my acquaintance, I walked in that direction, feeling a lively interest 
as a citizen as to what was going on, and having some apprehension, 
from the reports in circulation, that some disturbance or collision 
might take place. At that time, as now, I labored under a very 
serious infirmity, and much more so then, for I Avas (luite lame. I 
walked down to the neighborhood of Judge Pearson’s house. I saw 
upon the streets not a dozen persons. I walked OA^er to the quarantine 
station, the house formerly belonging to Lewis, where this meeting was 
held, and took a chair and entered into conversation Avith some of my 
acquaintances, as to the adjournment of tlie meeting, and what occurred. 
I remained there, resting myself, for fifteen or tAventy minutes in 
company Avith Mr. Chapman, Avho Avalked doAvii the street Avith me, 
and Mr. William Payne, and I think Mr. MattheAV Hertzog. We re¬ 
turned after I had rested, Avalking leisurely up the street. In the mean 
time, before leuAung, I saw a large crowd returning from the Dirt Bridge, 
which was below the i)lace where this meeting had been held. I had 
been informed that they had gone below town for the purpose of dis¬ 
persing the meeting. I returned, and Avhen I reached Mr. Phillips’s 
house, one square aboA^e Judge Pearson’s residence, I OAwtook Judge 
Pearson and Avalked up-town Avith him, and stopped at the house of Mr. 
Lecount and remained there from half to three-quarters of an hour, in 
conversation with him and members of the family. I then continued 
my walk uj) Front street, and AA^ent to my office and remained there 
perhaps a quarter or half an hour, and came again doAvn the street, 
Avhere I met at the corner of one of the cross-street's intersecting Front 
street, my friend, Mr. Cunningham, Avho stated to me that he desired a 
council of citizens, and Avanted to deliberate AAuth them as to the course 
to be pursued in regard to the arrest of certain i)ersons Avho had been 
prominent in that meeting, and requested me to enter into a consulta¬ 
tion Avith him and other gentlemen. 

Q. At that particular time didn’t the request for consultation only re¬ 
fer to Blunt?—A. To Blunt alone. I Avill state that my recollection— 
I am very Avell satisfied that Blunt liad not been arrested at that time— 
is that it was with reference to Blunt. I told Mr. Cunningham that I 
Avould accede to his request and attend the consultation. An early hour 
was named for the consultation. In the mean time a number of reports 
Avere in circulation that threats had been made by many colored people 
who had been at that meeting, Avhen they Avent aAvay, that they Avould 
return and burn the toAvn. I had left my home, my i)lantation on 
which I resided, in the morning, that plantation being at a distance of 
a mile and a half or tAvo miles from the court-house, and leaAdng my wife 
on the plantation. My plantation house is a little oft* the road, but on 
the main road leading doAA n to Cain River, the direction in which I 
understood that the negroes, Avhen the meeting had broken up, had re¬ 
tired. A number of my friends, gentlemen and lady friends, advised 
that I should send for my wife and bring her to tOAvi'i, as those difficul¬ 
ties might occur, and if a collision took place, it Avas better for her to 
be in tOAvn than alone on the plantation. I had ridden to toAvn in my 
buggy and Avent to the stable for the purpose of getting the buggy and 
going back for my Avife and bringing her up town. My horses, hoAV- 
ever, or one of them at least, had been taken out of the livery stable 
without my consent. I therefore found it impossible to have my buggy 
hitched up at that time, and being desirous of having my AAufe at toAvn, 







Parish. 1 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. LEVY. 


553 


and at the' same time to remain myself to comply with my promise to 
meet those gentlemen, I got Mr. Hudson to drive my buggy down to my 
wife as soon as my horse came back. Mr. Hudson done so. In the 
mean time the hour fixed for this conference had passed, and I didn’t 
attend it. About dark I heard for the first time that Blunt had been 
arrested. I didn’t see him, either before or after he was arrested, and 
I was not in the immediate neighborhood of his house. I was not 
nearer his house than a point opposite on a parallel road out on Front 
street. When wailking quietly down that street is the first I heard it 
mentioned. I didn’t see him while under arrest nor when he was taken 
away, and had no communication with him, and I see him now, or saw 
him the day before yesterday, for the first time for several days preced¬ 
ing the 21st of September, when I passed him on a street of Natchitoches. 

So far as Lewis’s statement is concerned, I have only to state that I 
; have no recollection of having seen Lewis since I saw him in the city of 
New Orleans, I think, in 1877. If I saw him at that time since, it has 
made no impression on my mind, and I have no recollection of him. He 
was absent during the summer of 1878 for a considerable length of time, 
under the operations of the quarantine regulations of our i^arish. Upon 
his return to town, when those restrictions were removed, I have no 
recollection of having seen him. I didn’t know, until listening to the 
testimony yesterday or the day before, where he resided; I knew his 
former residence, which is now occupied by Mr. Melkin, and I under¬ 
stand from his testimony, and from its recital by gentlemen who have- 
been upon the stand, that on that day I was in the house of his father- 
in-law, Charles Leroy. I did not know where Charles Leroy lived; I 
didn’t know the party in search of him or looking for him; I had on 
that day no w'eapon, pistol or other kind, on my person, and I made no 
such remarks as w^ere attributed to me; and it would have been imi^os- 
sible as I was not present, and it is a notorious fact to every gentleman 
in that parish and who is a resident of the town, that I ivas not in the 
neighborhood of Blunt’s house and never used the language attributed 
to me. I was not of the ])arty that went in search of him, and my 
action was just as I have described it. I didn’t know that Blunt had 
been arrested until dark or a little after dark, and when informed of it 
was told that the arrest liad taken place about an hour previous. 1 
didn’t attend the last session of the convention that night as I joined 
my wife wlio was in town, and I went to bed about ten o’clock, for the 
I reason that I was not in good health. In the morning, when I Avalked 
i down towm, I was told that Blunt had been sent out of town at his own 
i request. 

Q. AVere you present at the conference next morning?—A. Yes, sir j 
I was present next morning, Sunday. 

Q. At whicli conference it was discussed what should be done ?—A. 
Yes, sir ; and I have no hesitation in telling what transpired there. I 
was called upon, as I stated, by Mr. Cunningham to join the conference 
to deliberate as to the proper steps to be pursued. There was great ex¬ 
citement existing, and the question arose and was discussed as to what 
would be the proper course to be pursued as to certain parties, most of 
I whom are now present, except Baby. A full and fair discussion was 
had on the subject. Differences of opinion were expressed, and finally, 
I think, we agreed with unanimity. I think it was decided that those 
persons named should be notified that the peace and quiet of the com¬ 
munity required that they should leave the parish. After this I am sure 
tliere was not a proposition made that looked to their permanent exile, 
of IVIr. Breeder, Mr. Barron, and Lewis, and Baby, and Blunt, and that 




554 


LOUISIANA IN 1378 


[Xatchitoches 


tlie peace and quiet of tlie community would be best preserved by their 
leaving. I am also free and frank to confess that in the excitement of 
the public mind, the majority of the gentlemen present thought that that 
was the best means of preserving the peace and iireserving this people 
from violences. It was suggested that Mr. Drangiiet, the nephew of 
Mr. Breeda sliould call upon those gentlemen at their houses and com¬ 
municate to them that such was the desire of that i)ortion of the commu¬ 
nity that took the matter in hand. What Mr. Drangnet said I don’t 
know 5 but in reading Mr. Breeda’s statement and Mr. Dranguet’s 
statements, T find some material difierence between them. I think that 
is about all that I know in regard to the matter. 

Q. In this consultation was there any reference to political advantages 
to be gained by adopting this course or that course ?—A. No, sir j none. 

Q. Was not that done with a view to the restoration of the peacje and 
quiet of the town?—A. Yes, sir, certainly; nothing else, and that the 
peace and quiet of the community demanded it, and this movement had 
no other object. 

Q. Was not the consultation called for the purpose of considering 
what should be done, not with reference to particular individuals, but 
with reference to the general situation?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wasn’t it suggested to take action against some other parties than 
those who were prominent in leading the attack ni)on the town?—A. No 
action was taken that morning that I remember. There was some con¬ 
versation about some men, as having been leaders of armed bodies of 
negroes. 

Q. And the policy was adopted as to those leaders?—A. Yes, sir; 
that i)olicy was discussed and agreed ni)on. 

Q. Wasn’t it the object of the committee—didn’t the gentlemen who 
were in that conference seem to be animated by a desire to preserve 
peace and prevent violence on their side?—A. I so understood their 
action, and it was directed to that end. 

Q. Wasn’t it so understood?—A. That was the motive that promi^ted 
me to accept the invitation. The gentlemen in that conference seemed 
disposed to control all the people of the town generally and prevent 
anything like violence or bloodshed, and not to promote it. 

Q. Don’t you think that it had that effect?—A. I do. Persons were 
coming into town from various directions, and, as anybody knows, ex¬ 
cited, perhaps, by stiimdants. These would be easily urged to the com¬ 
mission of violence which would require sober, kindly, and good coun¬ 
sel to prevent. 

Q. Was Congressman Elam in town that day?—A. Mr. Elam was not 
that day. Mr. Elam was in town on the previous Saturday, the 14th, 
and not in Natchitoches on the 21st. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. What time of day was it that you first got into the town of Natch¬ 
itoches as a delegate to that convention ?—A. I think, sir, about ten 
o’clock, after my breakfast. 

Q. On yonr arrival in town as a delegate, did you find nothing extra¬ 
ordinarily existing, such as any excitement or any unusual number of 
people in the town of Natchitoches, or anything of that kind?—A. 
When I reached the town of Natchitoches—as I stated to you, my 
residence is a mile and a half or two miles below the court-iiouse oia 
Cain Eiyer; I came up alone. There is a colored man who usually dur- 
ing my ill health is in the habit of driving me up town. I didn’t know 
of anything unusual till I reached the center of the town, where I found 




Parish] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. LEVY. 555 

a large number of delegates wbo liad preceded me, and found that kind 
of excitement that always prevails on occasions of that sort. 

Q. Was there any excitement 5 was there any contest or controversy 
between iudividnal members as to nominations!—A. Yes, sir 5 there 
was one office was a very hard contest for, that is, for tlie office of 
sheriff; and shortly after my arrival in town, being a delegate from ward 
one, the town ward, about eleven o’clock we had a meeting about how 
the vote of onr delegation should be cast, and we remained in consulta¬ 
tion until about the time the convention met. The convention was 
called to order by Mr. Cunningham, who was chairman of the Demo¬ 
cratic central committee. 

Q. Colonel Levy, please be kind enough to tell me who introduced 
the resolution in your convention asking for an adjournment of that con¬ 
vention !—A. You desire to know if I know the name of the gentle¬ 
man ! 

Q. Yes; do you remember !—A. Yes, sir; I do know the name of the 
gentleman that introduced the resolution. 

By Mr. Cunningham : 

Q. Was it a resolution or a verbal motion!—A. It was a motion put 
by word of mouth. A motion was made for a recess- 

Cross-examination resumed: 

Q. How did he word it!—A. My recollection of the wording of the 
resolution—and I think I remember it distinctly—I didn’t at first under¬ 
stand why the convention should take a recess immediately after a recess 
was taken—the motion was simply a motion that the convention should 
now take a recess. I don’t remember whether it was two, three, or four. 
That motion Avas put and carried by acclamation. 

Q. Was there any debate upon it!—A. Yo, sir. After it was carried 
a statement was made by the gentleman that made the motion that there 
was a mob violence and disturbance in the lower portion of tlie town, 
and he proposed and deemed it necessary that the citizens should repair 
to that place and disperse the crowd. That is about the language, or 
the substance of it, at all eAmnts. 

Q. You didn’t go along !—A. No, sir. 

Q. But remained in town Ausiting your friends !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Avas finally persuaded to send and get your Avife in town !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time did she arriA^e in town, colonel!—A. She arriA^ed about 
sundown. 

Q. You remained with your family, then, that eA^ening !—A. No, sir; 
I came up town and attended the adjourned meeting of the coiiA^ention. 

Q. What was the second adjournment for!—A. At the second meet¬ 
ing—the meeting after the first recess—the coiiA^ention proceeded to the 
nomination of candidates. Tavo candidates for representatives were 
nominated—Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Boss. After numerous ballots, 
the nomination for sheriff was effected. The nomination for parish judge 
Avas then in order. One ballot—an unsuccessful one—was taken for the 
nomination of that office, when Mr. Cunningham remarked that informa¬ 
tion had just reached him that an armed body of negroes had approached 
the town, had fired upon the guard at Dirt Bridge, and that they had 
made this attack upon the outposts, and that a recess should be taken 
at once. A recess Avas taken, and upon that motion, I think, the hour 
of 11 o’clock was fixed for its reassemblage. At the second acljournment 
I went away. I didn’t see the last meeting of the convention. Some 





55G 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natcliitoches 


gentlemen came down to the house, and wanted me to go back, in order 
that I might do something in the interest of my friends who were can¬ 
didates before the convention; but I was asleep, and they allowed me 
to continue sleeping. 

Q. Were yon not disturbed during the night?—A. No, sir. I slept 
remarkabl^^ sound, and didn’t wake up till broad daylight. 

Q. Yon stated in your examination-in-chief that the nearest point that 
yon were to Blunt’s house was on Front street, in the opposite direction?— 
A. No, sir; onr streets are not exactly parallel with each other. This 
Front street runs along the river, and the second street toward the 
swamx) is the one where Blunt’s residence is ; so, as I didn’t go off Front 
street, I am sure that the nearest point on an air-line, if you were to 
strike an air-line from Mr. Blunt’s house to Front street, the distance 
between Blunt’s house and the point I have described on Front street is 
the de|>tli of the square, perhaps from two to three hundred yards. 

Q. Was there a body, or the rear of any body, of armed men resting 
upon that Front street ?—A. I saw none. I saw, frequently, men armed, 
one or two together, but whether they were going to Mr. Blunt’s house, 
or coming from it, I have no means of knowing. I heard that a large 
crowd of men were at his house, but I have no means of knowing my¬ 
self. I saw a crowd as they came back, seventy-five to a hundred of 
them. I supi)ose one-quarter were armed with guns, and some with pis¬ 
tols, and some had sticks in their hands. They were not uniformed or 
armed with guns and pistols. 

Q. Colonel Levy, how long have you been a resident of Natchitoches 
Parish ?—A. Twenty-five years. 

Q. During that time have you occui)ied various public positions ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you ever at any time represent your district in Congress ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You are generally looked upon as one of the leading men in your 
section?—A. Yes, sir. You compliment me. I have had some political 
prominence and some professional prominence, through the kindness of 
my friends. 

Q. Did you ever give any advice on the 21st of September in regard 
to this movement, other than on that occasion, at the conference called 
by Mr. Cunningham?—A. I did not. I will state that I was not a mem¬ 
ber of the executive committee, and in fact I haven’t been for some time 
active in politics. 

Q. The only advice that you gave was at that one conference ?—A. 
Yes, sir; and in which advice there was concurrence by all the gentle¬ 
men present. 

Q. During the conference of you gentlemen, was there a list of names 
mentioned?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any member of that conference who charged directly 
that any of these men who were named had committed any offense 
against the laws of the State?—A. I have no recollection of any dis¬ 
tinct accusation of crime being made against them, other than this 
offensive position assumed by this crowd, of whom these gentlemen 
were reported to be the leaders. 

Q. Then they were only reported to be leaders in all the transactions 
of which the citizens complained. Am I correct?—A. You are not. In 
that conference it was charged that they had congregated this mob with 
a view of destroying the peace. 

Q. You stated that you went down by yourself?—A. No, sir; with 
my friend Judge Jack and another gentleman. 






TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. LEVY. 557 

Q. IIow long before his arrest did you go down there?—A. About an 
hour. 

Q. Had aTiy one preceded you?—A. Yes, sir; a crowd of armed men 
preceded me. I walked down leisurely. 

Q. When you got down there did you find any signs of any trouble 
or disturbauee?—A. Yo, sir; except persons who Av^eiit there through 
curiosity. As I stated before, I found a few persons lounging around 
the gallery; at tlie quarantine station I saAv a fcAv persons who were not 
connected Avith the main body, AA^ho had gone doAvn to the Dirt Bridge, 
and alterAAmrds I suaa^ this body of men going on to the house; I didn’t 
see them go there, but I have reason to believe that they halted at his 
house. 

Q. I AA^ant to know if the arrest of Blunt was after the conference to 
which you were invited?—A. The arrest of Blunt aa^us after the confer¬ 
ence, Avhich conference Avas on Sunday morning; it Avas after that con¬ 
ference that he Avas arrested. 

Q. How long did you remain in toA\n? —A. Until Monday morning. 

Q. Did you return then ?—A. Yes, sir; I returned to my i)hintation. 

Q. WTis there any more disturbance after that ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Everything Avas serene and quiet? — A. Yes, sir; as far as I could 
see. On my plantation I aa ent among the hands and found my employes 
much excited and agitated, but it soon quieted down and they aa ent to 
cotton-picking again. 

Q. Hoav long haA^e you knoAvn Mr. Blunt, colonel ?—A. Well, sir, I 
think I have known Mr. Blunt, personally, since the summer of 18G5. 
He came to the parish after the war; I think in 18G5. 1 think I knew 

him then. 

Q. HaA^e you ever known him charged with any crime or offense ?— 
A. No, sir; he has been charged AA'ith no crime or offense of a criminal 
character. 

Q. Has he always borne himself as a good citizen ?—A. I think in all 
Blunt’s business transactions, sir, he is all correct. IneAm heard anything 
against liim. As you are aA\mre, for several years I Avas in AVashington, 
and going eA^ery summer after that to Virginia; therefore, I didn’t hear 
much of IBunt, and it may be, therefore, that I don’t Iuioav that he is a 
criminal. I liaA e never heard of any criminal proceedings against Blunt; 
and I repeat, as far as his business character is concerned, 1 liaA^e noth¬ 
ing against him. He is very stubborn, and exceedingly obnoxious to 
one portion of our people. He is regarded as a man giving bad advice 
to the colored people, over whom he can exert great influence. I knoAv 
nothing of him except as a business man. He is a debt-paying man, 
and a man that meets his obligations. 

(^,. Do you know. Colonel LeA^y, of a man Avho Avas killed and found 
dead in the rear of your i)lace; a colored man ?—A. I do not, sir. I in¬ 
vestigated that matter since it was reported to me. It A\ as reported to 
me very shortly after the disturbance of the 21st of September, near to 
my place, that there had been found on the road the body of a colored 
man. 1 coiiA'^ersed with my negroes, and many of aa horn are personal 
friends of Blunt. This finding of the body I could not trace to any re¬ 
sponsible source. I inquired from other hands Avithout any result, on 
my place and in the neighborhood, but I could not find that such aa as 
the case. 





558 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[I^atchitoclies 


A. P. BUCKmGHAM. 

Saturday, January 25, 1879. 

A. P. P»ucKiNGiiAM sworn. 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Wliere do you reside, Mr. Buckingham ?—Answer. I reside 
in Saint Jo. 

Q. Hoav long have you been living there ?—A. Four or five years. 

Q. Were you there during the last campaign!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, sir, go on and state, in your own way, all that you know that 
occurred there during the last cami^aigu.—A. 1 don’t know nothing of 
what occurred there. I keep a hotel there, and I always attend to my 
business. 1 heard a good deal of talk, and some remarks made about 
threats, but I don’t know nothing of it myself. 

Q. Who summoned you here f—A. Colonel Warfield. 

Q. Have you got your subpcena with you!—A. Yo, sir; he didn’t 
give it to me. He read it to me, and said that I was to be here; that is 
all. 

Q. Did you come here along with him !—A. l:7o, sir. 

Cross-examination by Mr. Aroni : 

Q. How many people are leaving Saint Joseph!—A. I don’t know 
how many, but a good many. 

Q. Did anybody leave there during the last election !—A. I can’t tell 
you; there was a good deal of excitement, but 1 can’t tell you whether 
they left or staid. 

Q. Did anybody interfere with you or with your friends !—A. ilo, sir; 
I had no difficulty whatever. 

Q. Was there any difficulty in Saint Joseph that yon know!—A. NTo, 
sir; I never heard any. 

Q. Has all been quiet there since the election !—A. Yes, sir; every¬ 
thing has been quiet since. 


Monday, January 27^ 1879. 

T. J. Boullt called and sworn for the majorit 3 \ 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Judge Boultt, where were you on the 14th September, 1878! 
—Answer. During the day do you mean ! 

Q. Both day and night.—A. Well, during the day I was around at 
Judge Breda’s office. 

Q. Well, where were you that evening!—A. Well, in the evening I 
went around to the office, after supper. 

Q. Whom did you meet there !—A. Well, sir, there was a meeting 
there of Republicans. 

Q. About how many !—A. Well, there must have been about twenty- 
two or twenty-three, or may be less. 

Q. Who was president of that meeting !—A. Mr. Raby was president. 

Q. Who was secretary !—A. John G. Lewis was secretary. When I 
came there—I didn’t get there when tlie meeting opened; I got there 
some time after the meeting was opened—when I came in the room 
Raby was acting as president and John G. Lewis as secretary. 





Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. BOULLT. 


559 


Q. How long did the meeting last ?—A. Well, I think the meeting 
lasted until nine o’clock or halt* past nine o’clock. 

Q. Was there any thing transpli'ed before you got there ?—A. Nothing 
in particular that 1 know of. 

Q. Were you present when a resolution was passed calling a mass- 
meeting ?—A. There was no mass-meeting called. 

Q. What was the meeting for ?—A. It was the meeting of “ The Mother 
Club,” to reorganize “ The Mother Club.” 

Q. That was the meeting that met upon that night, the 14th!—A. 
Yes, sir. It Avas just a meeting of a feAv Kepublicans and some of the 
executive committee—ijust met to reorganize the executive committee, 
and to transact other business. 

Q. Were you present when a resolution was introduced and passed, 
calling for a meeting on the 21st!—A. Yes, sirj I belieA^e I was there. 
I am certain I was there. 

Q. Who introduced that motion!—A. I am not certain who intro¬ 
duced it; I can’t say. 

Q. Ho you remember Mr. Blunt speaking on that resolution !—A. I 
don’t remember him saying anything about it. 

Q. Was there any Auolence or threats made!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You were present from the time you got there until the meeting 
broke up !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you present when Mr. Brazil testified here the other day !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear his testimony!—A. Not all. 

Q. AVhat portion of it did you hear !—A. I heard him say that he 
acted as secretary of the meeting, which is not so. Lewis is the regular 
secretary. 

Q. Hid you hear that portion relating to Blunt!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Well, he testified that Blunt, in a very threatening manner, said 
that the meeting should be held on the 21st, and for eAwybody to come 
armed and i)repared to fight for their rights. Did you hear any such 
statement made !—A. No, sirj there Avas no such statement made when 
I was there. 

Q. If such a statament had been made in the meeting would you have 
heard it!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. No such statement could have been made without your hearing 
it!—A. No, sir. 

Cross-examined by Mr. Jonas : 

Q. Hoav long had the meeting been in session before you arrived !— 
A. Well, I can’t say, sir; I don’t knoAv; I can’t say, positively. 

Q. You don’t know Avhat took place before you got there !—A. I don’t 
think anything particular took place before I got there. 

Q. You don’t know Avhether any speeches AA^ere made before you 
arrived or not !—A. No, sir. 

By Judge Marks : 

Q. What time in the evening did you get there!—A. I think I got 
there betAveen half past seA^en or eight o’clock. 

Q. Was Blunt there Avhen you got there !—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Were the Breders there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had they organized!—A. No, sir. . ^ . x 

Q. You Avere there at the organization of the meeting!—A. I was 
there just AA’hen they had organized. 




560 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Natchitoches 


J. E. EKED A. 

Monday^ January 27, 1879. 

J. E. Breda recalled for majority. 

By Judg’e Marks : 

Question. Were you present when Mr. Brazil testified here'?—An¬ 
swer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear his testimony ?—A. Every word of it, sir. 

Q. What do you know in regard to that portion of it relating to your¬ 
self?—A. I know that it is untrue from the very fact that the office 
in which we held our meeting, which is my personal property, had in 
it at that time the evidence of indebtedness, belonging to myself and 
family, of over ten thousand (| 10,000) dollars ; and that place is situated 
in tlie most dangerous portion of the town, if a fire broke out. If such 
should be the case it could hardly, by any possibility, escape destruc¬ 
tion. 

Q. What about the threatening manner of Mr. Blunt, and the organ¬ 
ization; of president and secretary'?—A. In the first place, no organiza¬ 
tion took place that night. Mr. Henry Baby was president of the club 
of our ward—the first Avard. We had a rather informal meeting and 
discussed amongst ourseh^es as to the bestAvay of organizing clubs, and 
whether it was an opportune thing then on account of the condition of 
the crops. Baby called the meeting to order, and John G. Lewis, the 
regular se(a*etary, acted as secretary of that meeting. After a consul¬ 
tation we decided on the organization of our club, and we set Saturday 
for the meeting, as we agreed tfiat Saturday Avas the best day for it, be- 
(*ause it is a day on whicli there is A^ery little A\wk done on a plantation. 
Yot a single jar oc^curred; every one agreed to haA^e it. I Avas requested 
b 3 " Baby, as we had receiA^ed a communication from the State central 
executive committee in New Orleans asking the names of our local com¬ 
mittee, to i)repare them and send them, as the State central committee 
had desired to communic.ate Avith us. I Avill state to you that there is 
no table, and never has been one, on the gallery, and there is no mov¬ 
able table in the office. 

Q. Hoav a\ as the candle placed ?—A. The candle was placed, and Lewis 
sat on an enq)ty half-barrel and read the minutes and AAU’ote on his knee. 
There are eight chairs belonging to the office and one long bench, u])on 
AAhich probably five persons could take a seat, and there must have 
been tAveiity ])ersons ])resent. Blunt addressed the meeting, and he said 
that he hoped that they Avould tell eA^ery one in the Avard and that all 
Avoiild be i)resent at the meeting on Saturday next. 

Q. Was there any thing said about arniing themselves?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there anything about the Democratic convention ?—A. No, 
sir, not a Avord. 

Q. Is Mr. Baby here ?—A. I have neA^er heard anything of him since 
he left the parish. 

Q. Was he president of the club ?—A. Yes, sir. 


JANE MILLEB. 

Jane Miller sworn for the majority. 

DIRECT EXAMINATION. 

By Judge Marks : 

Question. Where do you li\^e ?—Answer. I liA^e on Bura’s plantation. 
Q. In what parish ?—A. I live in Louisiana. 



Parisli.] 


TESTIMONY OF JANE MILLER. 


661 


Q. Do you know in wliat parish ?—A. I^o, sir. 

Q. Would you know it if you Avere to hear it called ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it Concordia !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is it Yermillion'?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is it Tensas f—A. I knows the place is named Myrtle Grove where 
I stay. 

Q. Wliere is that ?—A. In Louisiana. 

Q. That’s the State—what’s the parish ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. How long have you lived there —A. TAvelve years. 

Q. Were you there during the last campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tell all you know about it.—A. They came in my house. 

Q. Who came in your house ?—A. Two gentlemen came to my house 
and bursted my door open. They knocked at my door and I didn’t get 
up j they bursted the door open and came in. There was a young man 
in there that heard them, and they said they wanted him, and to get 
him they came to the house. When he heard them he got up and 
jumped out of the A\indow, and wiien he lit on the ground they shot 
him. 

Q. What was his name ?—A. Charles Bethel. 

Q. Did they kill him ?—A. Yes, sir; they shot him and then cut his 
throat three times. They asked him before they cut his throat what’s 
his name, and he said, “Charlie Bethel,” and they said, “ You are the 
buck that we want.” 

Q. Who was it shot him —A. The man that came from behind the 
house. 

Q. How many men were there ?—A. There was four in the house. 

Q. Were they white men'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were they?—A. Fred Clifton and Willie Davidson was two 
of them. They searched in the bed and took the kiver all off onto the 
floor. 

Q. Is that all that you know?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time of night did that occur ?—A. About two hours of night; 
very early in the night. After they all went out of the house some one 
called me to the door. 

Q. When did this young man come to your house ?—A. He came after 
night. He said he wanted to warm himself, and he said, “ If any per¬ 
son comes and knocks at the door, wake me up; ” and I said, “ Charlie, 
is there any persons wants to come for you?” He said “No,” and I 
told him, “ If there is you had better go home.” 

Q. How do you know that they shot him ?—A. They had a lamp out 
of doors, and I leaned from the window and saw them. 

Q. After he was shot, was he still alive ?—A. Yes, sir; he told them 
what his name was. He said, “ My name is Cliarlie Bethel,” and they 
said, “ You are the very buck that wc are sent here for,” and he said 
that he was scary when they asked what he run for. 

Q. Did they leave him there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he buried there ?—A. Yes, sir; he was buried by the colored 
people and Mr. Han McClay. He came down there after breakfast. 

Q. Is he a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. I never laid down that night 
after he was shot, and all the colored women came and talked to me 
about it, and hallooed and cried j and his mother was living near there 
and she came too. 

Q. His mother was living close by ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far from you?—A. One room from me. His mother came to 
me and said: “Sister Miller, who is that they are after?” and I said, 
Charlie; and she said, “Have they carried him away?” and I threw up 
3G T 



562 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Natcliitoclies Parish.] 


tlie window and I said, There, yonder, lies Charlie, near the ditch, by 
the side of the wagon.^^ 

Q. What did she do then —A. She hallooed, and her sisters com¬ 
menced coming out. 

Q. Do yon know anything about the Fairfax trouble ?—^A. No, sir 5 I 
belong to the place, but I didn^t see it. 

Q. Did you see Judge Cordill there?—^A. Yes, sir 5 I saw him on 
Saturday evening when I was going down town, a half an hour by sun. 
I just live half a mile from Waterproof, and I met them coming up. 






Tf 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 


POPULATION AND ELECTION TABLES. 


ELEOTIOlSr OF 1878. 










I. Census of 1870 and 1875, by races; registration of 1874 ; entitled to vote iier 
. State census of 1875^ compiled from official returns by William G. Brown. 

II. Similar table by tbe secretary of state ..... 

III. Official statement of registered voters for 1878...*. 

IV. Official promulgation of vote for State treasurer.... 

V. Official promulgation of vote for Congressmen. 

VI. Official promulgation of vote for State senators. 

VII. Official promulgation of vote for State representatives... 



5(58 j 

570 ^ 

571 

572 7 
575 I 
578 











STATE STATISTICS. 


Table L] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS 


565 


CO X 
Cw ^ 

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COOt>>Cil>»XOCOOXX:0 71XOOTt'OCOOi'^71^lOOC5Xr-«071iO 

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a Parish of Lnvcoln created in 1873 from portions of Claiborne, Union, Jackson, and Bienville. 
b Parish of lied River created in 1871 from portions of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Do Soto, and Natchitoches. 
c I’arish of Vernon created in 1871 from poi tions of Calcasieu, Rapides, and Sabine. 
d Parish of Welkster created in 1871 from portions of Bienville, Bossier, and Claiborne. 

e Sixteenth and seventeenth wards, fojnieriy city of Carrollton, annexed to New Orleans in 1874 from Jefferson Paiish. 






























































































Table I.—Contiuvied. 


566 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


m 

p-i 

oaco 

cs 

-'S 

P CO 

> p 




•^C'lfCt--OT-H<^'^lOrHCOOrHOOL'^^OiM*^Oi-HCOOO(XO 

C^OO<Mr-iOCCr-iT-HOCOOC^CCrH'?iHC^OI:^COCO(MOOt>00 

CO'CC* CO t-T r-T r-Tr-Tr-T r-T TjTCvq*t-T^4 rH rH CO C<rin' t-TiH 


o o 

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c 


•poj[op3 


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ooco:oo'^ot^oc5aot'-T-«oooocQTHuoc<Joot-ooo 
Oi-«.C<l-!tiOr-(X(Mt>UOOC50l>THT-iOl:^(C3 00X(M r-ICSr-l 


l> lO 
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t- 


CO 01 (M CQ <C3 tH 


ca r-l CO rH CO 




L0C0Ol>U0i0 03rJ^Xi-i01*^fHOC0OXl0 01^OTHC0X'^ 
XOlO^'^lr-OOXOlOOOOlOOCOrHOODOOlOlCOX 
01C5XXOTtXXCOCO«^0000 0-lt^X'«J<T^iiOOC^l005 

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C^OOO'^H^lCCC50>Or-lrHOOXiCCOlOlOrHXtHXOL'^t> 

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of r-T r-T of of r-T ofr-Tof of CO'^i-T 




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01X’^t0CDI>‘X05OrH01XrfL0CDl> 

-A. -- - ^ ^ ^ ^ 


[Table 1. 


a Parish of Lincoln created in 1873 from portions of Claiborne, Union, Jacbson, and Piemdlle. 
b Parish of Red River created in 1871 from portions of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Do Soto, and Natchitoches. 
c Parish of Vernon created in 1871 from portions of Calcasieu, Rapides, and Sabine. 
d Parish of Webster created in 1871 from portions of Bienville, Bossier, and Claiborne. 
































































































Table I—Continued* 


Table I.] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS 


567 


Entitled to vote, as per cen¬ 
sus of 1875. 

*I^lox 

soMcst-'^Mc^ieoosmooincfTiff^efSirat^ 

rH»-OrHTj<-.J(05vOC<100COt~Of-l'MCOOD 

OOr-lfOrHI01ftt--C^OfflfO«DrHlCffO?OlO 

w irf"of CO cf CO CO i--r r-T c<r 

44, 392 

'pojoioo 

t-iooft(Ma50ocoTH*ooat>-ioooiooc~ 

C0'^(MlOO3T-(0C{M(MOCIt^lO0piOC<)t>,-| 

l005C^t>-C0OOC0C01>t--lC'»i(MC0'^ca 

cf r-T (ci" T-t 

15, 485 


OSt^OJCOMCO-^OCOOeOCOCO-^lOOKOO 

<M002C!5(Mt~t^OOOOOO.Hr-(UOC35r-(t:^ 

C<IOflOCOlMOOOCOOOlCiHCO(MOa05CO 

cC co” os' i-T cL fh' cLr-T of cC (rC in' 

28, 907 

Eegistration of 1874. 

'moj^ 

OlO)F*<T*llf5Fj(t>-O^OJCOCOOOr-ICttCOF*lr-l 

CDrHC5'^TjH-Ft<lOOOOOlOCOfflC2030DOO® 

i-HOrHOOt-CDlOFttCO'^-^CDr-llOrHWCO 

CO'FjTcd'ofcOOf'^Ofofco'cOrH'r-r cf 

Oi 

C5 

rH 

ZO 

•poJoio3 

C0Fj<r-IC0-^C0OC0'+t>-00-^C0r-l-.#t0l0 
Oi—IOqOVC50lOCOOJt>-i-HOt-COiHOOft 

oicocooioo-^ojcoooocoincoociFtico 

iH r-i iH rH c4 r-i r-T 

18,135 


05 tH CO CO r-t 5D r-l 50 lO CD 00 Fit 00 0« o; 00 ® 
050l>-FitlOCOOF*tClI>-r-(OT-ICDCOOJrH 
rHt-*Ot'r-ICOrHlOOlOFiHOCO(NOSr-ICO 

ofofco'r-rofiH'ofr-tiH'ofoi'r-r 

28, 064 

State census of 1875. 

'I^IOX 

00 th TtH 00 05 op CO rjH r>» o cc CO i> m i> CO 

0300a5C5OOC0'^0-"100THOOJMC0iOTt< 

C<IOOl0Or>'l005l>05050505C<lfH00l0 

co't^o^arotD'r-rrH'aT’^ario't^'^orarc^'oT 

rHrHOl r^i—lCQ iHr-liH 

203, 439 

•OSOUtt^Q 
PUC UBipUI 

* 'OOCO • • 'r»I 

^ CO • • III 

II III 



rH 

l> 

'poropo 

ot>wa5 0ooci>c^coi>^«OLOorHcoco ■ 
CO CO O C5 LO CO l>* lO 00 CO 05 COO, 

0QL0C0C000u0G005C0CQa5C0t>-00Ot>*00 

c4'CO*CO*"lO CO'cT t-T c4'CO*oi'r-Tr-T TfTr-T 

67, 647 


THC000G005C0t>05i-iC^^rH(05r-(t^O05t- " 
CirHi—(05 03 t— lTtH00'^Ot^rHl>'00C0O05 
05i0'^00T-l0i;0C5C0t^05OrHC0iO?-HC0 

cT CO lo ccT 00*' o of o oT tcT CO* r-T ^ in' rn' 

rH t*M fH 

145, 721 

United States census of 1870. 

•I«lox 

00O1CO^iOl>00Tf<Tt(t>rH’»:^'^00O5 

CO-^Tt^'OlOOOpiCiCiiOOOOCiCOr-i 

C0Or-l0505C0T#<0J05rHC0a0t0’^00 

coooiSc^t^T-PaO'^'MsT^^^iHiO 

tH 03 tH rH tH rH ^ rW W. 



191, 418 

•989UItJ3 
pUB UBipUJ 

1 iCOCOCO *00 * <00 * • ■* 

j I 1 rH II 1 1 j 1 



05 

CO 

'p8J0p3 

C5CO^Jii000C5rHL0O3COC0O5i—I^OCO 
C0030aC0l>C0t:^'MlOC0C5C0I>-rHi--l 
(Mi00300tCC^l:^iHi003Tt<Oi0i0O 

c4'co''od'cOiO'cOl^^ofrH'co'cfT-rr-r CO 



50, 456 


C^O5'i!^CO'^00C5O»(C3C0G0lO)C0O3O3 

COi-irHOOCSI^OajfM’^T-iOOCOOlOlO 

THi 0050 COO:OrHTha 5 r-ll>OC 5 (X> 

rA'^^Oi of OCf o' OCf Iff of CO 0 ^ of 

tH rH rH r^ rH rH rH rH 


1 

140 , 923 

City of blew Orleans. 

■— -—--- 

"Wards. 

iiiitiiiiiiiiii 

«>iiii<i<iiiiii 
• •fiiiiii<ij«<« 

iiiiiiii^ii^ii^ 

l•l•l 4 ll**IIJ••< 

I<J*JII<*>I 4 I*I 

f••*il•i•*•*ldl 4 * 

ll|l«IJ«l<| 4 « 4 * 

|IJlllJ<lll*(j 4 

I|I|J>I 44 *<**<II< 

|I|I 4 I«*.I|'II <4 

IJ 4 I<* 4 I<|I||<I< 

l 4 J|llil 4 l* 4 t|l 

Ijl|ll 4 l«|l|l|l 

lllll«J|lllt<JI 

If|j|*l 4 l| 4 |<l|* 

fj|il*(| 4 |<l| 4 ** 

I 4 III«|I|I*|I>I 

* A. 

i«iii 4 ii|ii) rH ^ . *»• 

1 i 1 I • 1 * 1 1 Iw * ^ rP fP 
1 I 1 • I * • 1 

= 1 ^^ jjl^ft;-dl|||gi 

ft 

-(-= 

a 

OJ 

"3 

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D 

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Total. 


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„ ^ i X- X-iDrrx Entitled to Yotc, as per State 

United States census of 1870, State census of 18/o. Kegistration ot 1874. census of 1875. 


LOUISIANA IN ItsTi 


[Table II, 


F) f) 8 


'UloX 

XlOTt*COlOOX^3•-4r-*XlOSJ'^7t:^(^^'^e^lt^^'H'>^^3t-^-‘OCSl^^«>t~Mt^^-l^5'^^XXOXC2 

C5l'-C:>'d<X35COO-^iOfOOCO'-t<OMe-l:~XMCOi—l'M«50T^«OiOtS®'rt<-+'?aCSCOt>-OrtO 
>!l<rH^JinrOOC5':tHOOTtit'-OC'Ot~C<IL'-?')i-lO'MXiHr-(Of-)t~OOXCOOC!50CJT-4«DC£! 

CO CO M rH rH* d O d rH CO d oi CO d CO d rH r-i d CO d rH d ’tJV rH i—l CO d'-^ CO’^ CO** C0~ rjT rH rH 

■pojoioo 

Odi—(l,'3'5tt®O!MO;0'HOlCOCim-^OC'5*nC<IOi—IC!^(^^'^3^<^C30??C'^^^1C^^lfi(^^>-(lC^I3;^ 
ooxo'MxxroMioi>-'HXC5McoTt<s^«f5XrHiooe5X!M'-HC;c>»t^tcoxcOwin-^;-; 
Tj<03®CiO®r-lX?!5Tjl OXflNOO«OI'l(Mt^-^-^fOCOMXC3fOOC'3CJC50i-('>*lcg,^lf5rHX 

(N'l-Tr-rccri-r caco' <n i-Ts^Ti-rcac^r i-Tm -r-T cf ca*>--rcd'ri'io*'c<rs4'c<rr-* 


xroroXi-i'^Xi-ix-ioi^is-»i*(MXt~oc'i'i<»^oo«-^xt^ec:ot^oi;3i;3r;t^ot^>oici5<* 
<35e~r-(x^oiraco'MOicoo5i-CiOi—ixcomct-^'i'ioc^t^'—ic^ici'toot^xj'iooi—i-^t^o 
0(M»infOOt:^®t>mTOOi-i-^I<)OOU5«OOC^XkCt:~(Nr-OiOX'^XC'lCSOJXXin'5t‘X 

i-t i-l i-T i-l »-r tH r-t »-i rH rH rH irH rH i-H r-t rH 00 r-t 

(M 

•P-IOX 

trtOrH-H<t^tDiO'<^'XrrfOOOlO«C:OI<im-H*S3Xf^50r4<OOiOC500C0 1-OOC3tr©t:^r<i) 
mXrHrrC'lS^lr^trrHrHWf0t~0'Il0»HtiOrHC5Xr*>S'Jt^X'03©Hj<r005X^-H*C3XH)<!M©C0 
Orj< 0 '^?Q(M 600 rl<OCOuOll^-IOlOOtrOtrXmrHI>.t>XtrX«COCOXwOrH;OOH»<I<lC»a 

edc5cd'-<^'rHrHO.'rHj*rHrH CvlrHCaOasl’ffi'CJ CICO r-T rHCOrH (M'r-icSSdOMOOfOrHrH. 

*p3.I0|03 

COrHOttlCMPJOm—lt^eiOO;X?DrHrHOrHC0 5'JrfirHOt~CO<Dtr->OrHfO©lffOX05 1.'5X 

trlM(Mr--r'rj,ij5iOrt*OrX<X00 1CCO©'Mt~Ht'«'H>l^(MfO(Mt'OiftCC(MXHt<COr-JrHXrHrH. 

OXinXXHt't>©«vjH*( OXOC!50X«C^Hlifr:cClM(Mt~.t-Xlt^rHrrcq'T5XrH©c;300J5C: 
C<r tH' rH* ci" I-T C<r IM* rH* of r-4 r-T rt r-t of rH* r-T of i-Tof r-T X'r-T of of 


C-0':fmfOt>-COt:^t-(lrtMTt<OJOr-HOX-5tl-<i<TilS^X'«i»iar-l0005t~-<MOi^»Ot>-t-COeOI>. 


•aaidxii 


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0>Ot~'M-tXe50>h-:Oi—IOir-(OJCOC5M>0'Mt~t^O.-IC3COi-(Oe5COOXmOiMqClO'M'^X 
lOOlOOt^OMMOCCf-l-^ X.O rJ<«<|T*(.-(XCO-^O^t^OO'^«XOMCOCO'<*><30'—ItOO-^ 


•UlOi 


MJ’eo'in'o'io'cicrrro^ iri'c^Tco’cT'# r-Tni" ei'c't irt'ic’s^Tid Ti‘QQ’'i*'i-tt^od’-»i^-^M'r-rf<3'rc‘r-rTirod't-rtC 

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cc 




l^’H*OOTtkOiOiH#*CCO^OtOOI>‘010C500t^OJt>‘Ot-«‘ 

lCO'lC500rHCDCDt^t-*‘CCOrH-HH'MOC^T*<‘H<Olf:>OCOCDl>* 


i-tCCC<lt^lOOOJ^OT*<i-iOCOOC>-H«COOm*^a5<MI>^l>‘ 

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rHGQt^Tj<0*H<l'--Oi»0(M^-HGOOif^iCC5i—I'-trHrHt^rhO 

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tOl>-rHrH005»OCOTHOC50rHOOrH?DCOCOOOi—lOCOCi 
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liOOlCOCOOt^rHrHiOdOiOCOdt^ 

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gp ^ X 


i?4 


o 

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r-4'-tr-ir-ir-4r-4T-tT-ir-4r-l,<Mia?^71C^:aKlS^(tic4ct5tf3CQC<5fdrOCQCQe<^C^ 




























































































































Sabittft., 4,592, 1,847 i 17, 6,456, 4,335, 1,475. 21, 5,831 i 692 i 227 . 919 , 804 , 270, 1,140 


Table II.] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS, 


569 


'til0,-l^5»r-.OOO«0S<l-^OT-(00©OMO 

1—.T—tC5C0OS^lC0rHTj<(Mlf5t>f0CT5S'100t^C5O 
*-, r-ri-rr-i'-»li'c<ft>r(^f.,^,_5',_4'.,jrco'c4'r-r r-Tr-T 

143, 967 

44, 392 

188, 359 

^»C5aot^,rHccoaic^rHiO(Motot~tcnoco 
CJ lO 50 S5 © r-( ,-HO M CO 00 ca r-tOJiH 

t-T (M* r-T fO r-T CO 

88, 707 

15, 485 

104,192 

^00.-l?,1-l<^.-IC0O00iO'M-f55,-ie000^1ft 

OCC01l-0S5OCMO©C0^050COC^(MC00Dr^ 

QO?3COCOO©0©e<.t:~00'4.Tt,iOOt~iOaiOQ 

i-T tjT th" i-T i-T T-i 

55, 260 

28, 907 

84,167 

OOO^'MC^'MO^C-^O^t-JOCO^iOOQOCO 

T-HOt^c:>cot^t>i?>o>ooi--n:-'M^o:oo^ 

CiC5:Oi-l»-»C5CiOOiO?OOlCi-ICCrHCOOt>-t-« 

I-T r-T i-T ir:r I-T co"th" r-T co co i-h i-T t-T 

121,405 
46,199 

167, 604 

t^OC^OTH'^COCO^COOiXOrOCO^^lOOOQC 

<M--i-io:oooco^^oiotocoiooi^:)coci 

C40'^OCOC^OOC5lO:0<Or-iOOO(M rHCQ 

i-T (M* i-T csf CO" rH 

72, 646 
18,135 

90, 781 

C^10eOlOTH005t^O'*^»OCOfOOOrr?OOOQ 
05 lO O 'M CO O O O O r-( OV CO »-4 OC 

OCt^:^COt-‘Of-l0500COCOCOrHOOl:^lOOOCD 

iH" rHT-T 

48, 759 
20, 064 

76, 823 

i-fcoori^osoOi-^-t^ooiocoocDooi^^oaOic-io 
CC ^ CO C^l O lO CO lO 05 kO O (TJ 

COr^COOrHOOOCOC'10S^llO’^i-HCO<NI>‘iniCO 

Tj^'co CO O 00 OO C-TccTt-T CO IC CQ CO rfco 05 

653, 600 
203, 439 

1, 512 856, 039 

W 'iH 'COkO—J^cococqcoco 'iHCO • 
c^i •t>>ooacocococ^ o* • 

• • 0^ » * • 


1, 441 
71 

kOTj^'MC5*HCOr-»lOCOT^COOOOt^i-»<MCr&Ot- 
t-Tj^C^t^05C5:005t-O05OC0C0k0i-»0C000i 
'^<MOk005i-»t--»0 05C0i-(i-l05C0k0Tr05(M05 

i-rC<fkOC0CCiOO5iC^C<lC0l^t-^^i-l 1005 

rH r-4 i—1. r-» 

C^l 

C5 lO 

CO 

450, 611 

»rtSRi>.ooc^iooinoioot^(Mr-.,in'i*o©a) 

«S5iM'^':hCC05©C^OC0rH05C5'^'^'C0'^in 

C005C0O©CD1-^S5^^^t^O■^^H':t‘T-.00t~lr5C0 

,»irr-rr-rco’cocoo'^ocoTj.THC~t-^vdroc4'^-^ 

(M 

259,195 
145, 721 

1 404,916 

«OCOt^CO?'1K.COOOC£>0035r-liOXi 'O 

»o 1.0 t» n lO o ifs o 00 C'f 1-1 lO oo oj • co 

itiUOOO-iJir-lt^lOCOOOiOOS'^-'C'OiO iCO 
o'co tjTiO o'O'lO'05 cfiot^of of r-T ijr 1 co“ 

rH (M rH ,-t ^ • 

o 

535, 497 
191, 418 

726, 915 

ft t I * < • » < 

ft » » CO CO O O • * r-4 Oif • T—1 » • 

ft * » CO Oi kO * • 05 I * » 

T--4 

1-1 C5 

O CO 

CO 

OfO 

,^T-,0,-lt^'i*l0500l>-.05^t^t'~'i^ -CO 

00 C5 05 05 00 O O O CO rH 05 O 1-1 CO O -05 

r-T I-T C»^ 05 CO'^rHiAC5C<IC^T-!CO-^T-r • 

• iH r-f J 

606 

313, 754 
50, 456 

313, 210 

CJOC-05 1.0l0 5050COi-(-it*OOi-jO 1,;^ 

05 'ft © © 1-1 CO O »-i CO O 00 T-* CQ -05 

lO O 00 UO CO t>-t-05 -ijl 05 O CO-il -CO 

TjTr-T cfco'(of^''^-^co''^i-.”'co'f-fco' 1 cf 

tjT 

221,142 
140, 923 

362, 065 


state . 



• ill ^ ^ 

H g g * Ki • I j, 
g =i £.a.=i rt 5 £ 3.^ 


a? 


i 




i 

bD 


s 


,=i 

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r=t 

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O 





































































570 


LOUISIANA IN ISrS, 


[Table III. 


Table III. 

Statement of refistered voters of the State of Louisiana, aGcorcling to the returns made hij the 
assessors of the several parishes of the State and the registrar of voters for the parish of 
Orleans, in the gear 1878. 


Names of parishes. 


Ascension... 

Assumption. 

Avoyelles. 

Baton Rouge, East. 

Baton Rouge, West. 

Bienville. 

Bossier*. 

Caddo . 

Calcasieu. 

Caldwell. 

Cameron.... 

Carroll, East. 

Carroll, West. 

Catahoula. 

Claibonie. 

Concordia. 

l)e Soto. 

Eelici<4na, East. 

Feliciana, AYest. 

Franklin. 

Grant. 

Iberia. 

Iberville. 

Jackson . 

Jellerson. 

Lafayette. 

Lafourche. 

Lincoln. 

Livingston. 

Madison. 

IMorehouse. 

Natchitoches. 

Orleans, first ward. 

second ward. 

third ward. 

fourth wai’d. 

fifth ward. 

sixth ward.. 

seventh ward. 

eighth ward. 

ninth ward. 

tenth ward. 

eleventh ward. 

twelfth ward. 

thirteenth ward... 
fourteenth ward... 

fifteenth ward. 

sixteenth ward.... 
seventeenth ward. 

Ouachita. 

1‘laquemines. 

Point Coupee. 

Rapides. 

Red River. 

Richland. 

Sabine. 

Saint Bernard. 

Saint Charles. 

Saint Helena.. 

Saint Janies. 

Saint John the Baptist. 

Saint Landry. 

Saint Martin. 

Saint Mary. 

Saint Tammany. 

Tensas.1. 

Terre Bonne. 

Tangipahoa. 

Union. 


Total number of 
registered voters. 

Number of native 

born 

Number of foreign 

born. 

Number of white 

voters. 

Number of colored 

voters. 

Number of white 

voters who write 

their names. 

Number of white 

voters who make 

their marks. 

Number of colored 

voters who write 

their names. 

Number of colored 

voters who make 

their marks. 

2,472 

2, 426 

46 

740 

1,232 

575 

165 

238 

1, 494 

3,131 

771 

67 

1,478 

1, 653 

838 

640 

179 

1, 474 

3, 309 

3, 221 

88 

1,679 

1, 630 

1,164 

515 

155 

1,475 

3,199 

3, 006 

193 

1, 203 

1, 996 

1, 076 

127 

380 

1, 516 

975 

949 

26 

353 

622 

302 

51 

76 

546 

1, 410 

1, 403 

7 

908 

502 

871 

37 

28 

474 

5, 478 

5,160 

318 

1, 476 

3, 732 

1, 655 

91 

276 

3, 456 

1,674 

1, 619 

52 

1, 374 

300 

951 

423 

21 

279 

952 

947 

5 

512 

440 

475 

37 

45 

395 

404 

31 


343 

121 

208 

135 

6 

55 

1, 984 

1, 953 

31 

179 

1, 805 

175 

4 

210 

1, 774 

604 

599 

5 

335 

269 

270 

65 

29 

240 

1, 662 

1, 641 

21 

997 

665 

834 

163 

48 

617 

2, 352 

1, 428 

13 

1, 441 

911 

1, 420 

21 


890 

2, 031 

2, 900 

31 

294 

2, 637 

286 

8 

187 

2, 450 

1,502 


31 

1, 0,34 

468 

967 

67 

22 

446 

1, 748 

1, 672 

76 

743 

1, 005 

732 

11 

44 

961 

1, 980 

1, 937 

43 

440 

1,540 

422 

18 

113 

1, 427 

1, 044 

1,011 

33 

568 

476 

473 

96 

46 

430 

1, 030 

438 

502 

560 

470 

448 

112 

40 

430 

2, 956 

1, 302 

89 

1, 391 

1, 565 

938 

408 

197 

1, 368 

2, 358 

2, 322 

36 

386 

1, 972 

362 

24 

140 

1, 832 

502 

499 

3 

345 

157 

329 

16 

6 

151 

1, 949 

1, 763 

186 

567 

1, 382 

463 

104 

175 

1, 207 

1, 930 

1, 873 

57 

1,120 

510 

672 

448 

44 

766 

3,173 

3, 046 

127 

1, 824 

1,349 

982 

842 

138 

1, 211 

1,643 

1, 636 

7 

1, 089 

554 

926 

163 

42 

512 

947 

913 

34 

791 

156 

628 

163 

18 

138 

2, 577 

2, 553 

24 

238 

2, 339 

238 


288 

2, 051 

1, 983 

1, 9.53 

30 

646 

1. 337 

583 

63 

42 

1, 295 

3, 793 

3, 680 

113 

1, 830 

1, 963 

1, 212 

618 

242 

1, 721 

2, 523 

1, 867 

656 

1, 984 

589 

1, 736 

248 

150 

389 

2, 955 

2,145 

310 

2, 916 

786 

1, 940 

229 

185 

601 

5, 429 

4, 003 

1, 426 

3, 781 

1,648 

3, 271 

510 

436 

1,648 

2, 272 

1, 711 

561 

1, 657 

615 

1, 573 

84 

234 

381 

3, 323 

2, 4.53 

870 

2, 338 

985 

2,105 

233 

4.59 

526 

2, 026 

1, 624 

402 

1, 483 

543 

1, 300 

183 

2.56 

287 

3, 519 

2, 894 

625 

1, 997 

1, .522 

1, 824 

173 

674 

848 

1,814 

1,161 

653 

1,498 

316 

1, 304 

194 

106 

210 

2, 451 

1, 582 

869 

1, 873 

578 

1, 680 

193 

98 

480 

2, 874 

1, 996 

887 

2, 236 

638 

2, 064 

172 

206 

432 

2, 880 

2, 083 

797 

2,128 

752 

1, 997 

131 

234 

518 

1, 3.59 

1, 078 

281 

1, 066 

293 

1, 007 

59 

55 

238 

967 

885 

82 

550 

417 

494 

56 

115 

302 

519 

396 

123 

280 

239 

255 

25 

49 

190 

1, 9.50 

1, 584 

366i 

932 

1, 018 

797 

135 

169 

849 

627 

521 

106 

214 

413 

196 

18 

115 

298 

667 

949 

173 

374 

293 

339 

35 

66 

997 

3, 012 

2,919 

93 

893 

2,119 

805 

88 

179 

1, 940 

2, 285 

730 

130 

860 

1, 425 

734 

126 

202 

1, 223 

2,770 

2, 699 

71 

816 

1, 954 

701 

115 

307 

1, 647 

3, 627 

3, 482 

145 

1, 775 

1, 852 

1, 593 

182 

124 

1, 728 

2, 770 

2, 699 

71 

816 

1, 954 

701 

115 

307 

1, 647 

1, 245 

616 

27 

643 

1, 232 

574 

69 

70 

532 

1, 047 

1, 037 

10 

829 

218 

634 

195 

15 

203 

921 

883 

88 

396 

.525 

216 

180 

40 

485 

1, 332 

1, 315 

17 

197 

1,135 

172 

25 

185 

950 

1, 238 

1, 216 

22 

641 

597 

577 

64 

197 

500 

2, 444 

2, 417 

27 

570 

1, 874 

440 

130 

101 

1, 773 

1, 885 

1, 855 

30 

618 

1, 267 

487 

131 

142 

1,125 

6, 965 

6,914 

51 

3, 681 

3, 284 

2,114 

1, 567 

227 

3, 059 

2, 303 

2, 267 

36 

1, 099 

1, 204 

693 

406 

84 

1,120 

2, 960 

2, 850 

110 

786 

2,174 

667 

109 

293 

1, 891 

1,176 

1, 081 

95 

682 

494 

533 

149 

30 

364 

3, 249 

3, 209 

40 

318 

2, 931 

310 

8 

467 

2, 464 

3, 138 

3, 042 

96 

1, 361 

1. 777 

762 

599 

184 

1, 593 

1, 456 

1, 384 

72 

932 

524 

797 

134 

62 

463 

2, 201 

2,175 

26 

1,483 

718 

1, 288 

195 

55 

668 


* The parish of Bossier has sent in no returns. 

























































































Table lY.] 


.LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS, 


571 


Statement of registered voters of the State of Louisiana, ^c. —Contiiiuecl. 


Names of parishes. 

Total number of 

registered voters. 

Number of native 

bom. 

Number of foreign 

born. 

Number of white 

voters. 

Number of colored 

voters. 

Number of white 

voters who write 

their names. 

Number of white 

voters who make 

their marks. 

Number of colored 

voters who wiite 

their names. 

Number of colored 

voters who make 

their marks. 

Y ermilliou. 

1, 241 

1, 206 

35 

968 

273 

492 

476 

23 

250 

Yerium. 

723 

719 

4 

668 

55 





^Va shill sitou. 

77!) 

777 

2 

587 

192 

415 

172 

27 

165 

AYebster. 

1, 631 

1, 580 

51 

760 

871 

723 

37 

26 

845 

Y iuu. 

892 

887 

5 

771 

121 

595 

176 

11 

110 

Total... 

155,103 

133, 543 

13, 276 

77, 341 

78,123 

62, 883 

13, 936 

10, 390 

68, 300 


State of Louisiana, Office of the Secretary of State: 

I, tlie uiulersigned, secretary of state of tlie State of Louisiana, do liereliy certify 
that the above is a true extract of the statement of voters returned by the assessors of 
the State of Louisiana, and of the registrar of voters of the city of New Orleans, of the 
registered voters of the State, in accordance with section 3 of act No. 101, of the gen¬ 
eral assembly of this State, approved April 30, 1877. 

Given under my signature and the seal of the State of Louisiana, at the city of New 
Orleans, this 14th day of January, A. D. 1879. 

[seal.] WILL A. STRONG, 

Secretary of State. 


Table IV. 


Parishes. 

E. A. Burke, D. 

J. S. Gardner, N. 

'o 

t-S 

pp 

6 

p4 

-t-r 

.2 

u 

1 

AY. B. Merchant, R. 

p4 

V 

G. T. Beauregard, D. 

p4 

P 

1-5 

P 

CC 

1-5 

Joseph AY. Allen. 

J. B. Elam, D. 

1 

P 

a;> 

1-5 

Moncure, D. 

bb 

•s 

1 

Ascension. 

1, 010 
986 
1, 821 
1, 264 
274 
1, 025 
1, 398 
1, 862 
1, 371 
794 
335 
120 
497 
852 
1,522 
1, 067 
1, 038 
991 

1, 801 
957 
471 
1,012 
487 
468 
386 

1, 274 

1, 013 

1, 347 
533 
167 

1,110 
2,816 
2,844 

485 
1, 036 
1, 069 
1, 283 
81 















Assumj)tion. 















Avoyelles. 















Baton Rouge, East... 
Baton Rouge, AYest.. 
Bienville. 











































Bossier. 

44 















Caddo. 















Calcasieu. 
















Caldwell. 







5 









Cameron. 















tJarroll, East .. 

1,133 








1 







CaTToll W^est . 














(!atalionla,_ 

380 

105 















Ulai1>OT’ue . 















fhoieordia,_ _ 




133 











T)(* Sotf* 















Eolieiann East . 














1 

.... 

EpI i Cl a u a, AVee t_ 















1 

388 

1, 355 
91 















Ti f, 















JKon'ii 















ll>pfville 


2 

1 


























1,118 

1,177 
671 
12 
175 

2, 001 






























Ttr^ 











































1 

.... 





























Netehitoebes . 
















Ouachita. 

2 


.... 

















































































































































572 


LOUISIANA IN 1878, 


[Table V. 


Table IV—Continued. 


Parishes. 

fi 

o 

d 

W 

<i 

© 

d 

n 

u 

ci 

O 

CO 

p4 

o' 

o 

to 

d 

rd 

© 

ci 

Ant. Dubuclet, R. 

W. B. Merchant, R. 

David Young, R. 

G. T. Beauregard, D. 

f-T 

d 

d 

d 

<i 

E. J. Ellis, D. 

© 

rd 

P 

CO 

d 

© 

O 

J. B. Elam, D. 

03 

d 

"o 

(h 

p4 

m 

Moncure, D. 

Scattering. 


19, 017 
792 

1, 071 

1, 870 
622 

1, 013 
908 
374 
255 
508 
439 
452 

3, 632 
915 
969 
787 

2, 802 
898 
712 

1, 835 
826 
618 
750 
575 
603 

9, 023 
1, 063 
1, 092 
1,124 














13 








































1 

.... 

1 








48 








2 

1 

3.53' 













































i49 
651 
1,040 
211 
2, 225 
1, 036 
1, 413 
182 
90 
1, 599 
407 
121 
224 








1 

10 

.... 

1 















Saint John Baptist... 








5 

10 

.... 

1 




1, 025 

372 



































































T'oTi'sinQi 















T'ArrA 















'Tfliirfipolinn, 





6 










TTninn 







• 







'SToi’niimmi 















V orn mi 















AVo.hator _ 

346 

105 















n .QN in crf.nn 















Wiiiii. 































Total. 

78,176 

35,164 jl, 025 j374 

1 

133 

54 

5 

6 

1 

20 1 

2 

1 

2 

13 


Office of Secretary of State, State of Louisiana: 

I, tlie undersigned, secretary of state of tlie State of Louisiana, do hereby certify 
that the above and foregoing is a true and correct list of the candidates voted for at 
the last election for the oflice of State treasurer, by parishes, with vote each candidate 
received, as shown by the official returns of the sheriffs of the different parishes now 
on tile in niy office. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my name and affixed the seal of the State of 
Louisiana, in the city of New Orleans, on this the 15th day of January, A. D. 1879. 

[SEAL.] WILL. A. STRONG, 

Secretary of State. 


Table V. 

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

R. L. Gibson, D. 

H. C. Castellauas, N. 

Scattering. 

Ptaquemines. 

949 

905 


Saint Bernard. 

237 

476 


Orleans, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 15th 
wards .. 

11, 233 

5, 732 

3 

Total. 

12, 419 

7,113 

3 


















































































































Table V.] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS 


573 


Table V—Continued. 


SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

t 

1 E. J. Ellis, D. 

s' 

"o 

Q 

S' 

,=1 

eS 

H 

N 

L. G. Brousard, R. 

E. A. Burke, D. 

Scattering. 

Orleans, 1st,2d, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th wards 
Jefferson. 

8, 630 
467 
258 
454 
454 

3, 553 
1, 049 
288 
1,036 
150 




1 




Saint Charles. 


10 

1 

1 


Saint John Baptist. 



Saint James . 

1, 468 



Total. 




10, 263 

6, 076 

1, 468 

10 

2 

1 



THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 


Iberville_ 

Ascension .. 
Assumption 
Lafourche .. 
Terrebonne. 
Saint Mary . 

Iberia. 

Saint Martin 
Lafayette..., 
Vermillion.. 

Cameron_ 

Calcasieu ... 

Total .. 


Jos. H. Acklen, D. 

Robert 0. Hebert, N. 

421 

1,174 

1,050 

388 

996 

1, 025 

1, 283 

1,165 

903 

1, 573 

413 

798 

887 

3 

923 

1, 037 

992 


802 


285 


1, 341 


10, 296 

6, 365 


TV. B. Merchant, R. 


185 


1 , 012 
1,447 
5 

684 

245 

47 

41 


2, 654 


FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

Jos. B. Elam. 

J. Madison TVells. 

J. C. TVise. 

Rapides . 

1, 862 

1, 042 

3 

Vomon ____..._______ 

650 

2 


Rnhino _...._____....__ 

909 

2 


'^^^^,t.ch^t.oehpa .. _.....___ 

2, 819 

0 


Grant _ _..______..._ 

485 

385 


Wimi ..... .... 

608 

00 


Tfiypt* ...*. 

677 



Dp. Soto . ______ 

1, 040 



Paddo ..............___ 

1, 815 

279 


Boa.<»ipr ..._... ___.......__....... 

L 401 

45 


Bipnvillfi .. .. ...._____ 

1 , 027 



TV phstp.r . .. . ...... 

li 128 

1 


Total. . .: —... 

14, 423 

1, 756 

3 































































































574 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Table V. 


FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parisbes. 

P 

fcC 

• rH 

o 

Ph 

hi 

fcc 

.9 

p-^ 

P 

H 

P 

.d 

fcD 

d 

o 

W 

w 

T. B. Gilbert. 

J. T. Lemley. 

A. AV. Fairfax. 


1, 037 

955 

112 





772 

34 





"RrATiVliTi .... 

944 

10 


1 



.. 

2, 795 

90 





IVI n (1 i son __________ 

' 173 

1, 962 





Riclilaiifl ________ 

1, 008 

8 





On n oil i la. ______... 

2, 841 

13 





.Taclcann ... _____ 

' 467 






T.inc.nln . 

1, 344 






XJnioii.....-. 

1, 809 

130 



2 

13 

ATorcli on so ..... 

ij 102 

19 





East Carroll . 

' 137 

1, 344 





AVo.st CaiToll ________ 

473 

55 





Claiborne. 

1, 515 

109 





Cataboiilai ....... 

' 834 

176 





Total. 

17, 251 

4, 905 

112 

1 

2 

13 


SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 


Saint Landry. 

Point Coupee. 

Avoyelles. 

East Feliciana_ 

West Feliciana- 

East Raton Rouge. 
"West Baton Rouge 

Saint Helena. 

Livingston. 

Tangipahoa. 

W ashington. 

Saint Tammany .... 

Total. 


E.AV. Robertson. 

AY. L. Larrimore. 

3,584 

2, 260 

1, 062 

1, 034 

1, 814 

1, 082 

994 

1 

1,706 

98 

1,148 

1,408 

275 

80 

593 

562 

625 

95 

827 

304 

581 

444 

768 

237 

13, 977 

7, 605 


Office of Secretary of State, 

State of Louisiana. 

I, the undersigned, secretary of state of the State of Louisiana, do hereby certify 
that the above and foregoing is a true and correct list of candidates for the House of 
Representatives in the Congress of the United States, with the votes each candidate 
received in the parishes of their respective districts, as sliown by the official returns 
of the sheritfs of the different parishes now on file in this office. 

In witness whereof I have hereto set my name and the official seal of the State of 
Louisiana, at the city of New Orleans, on this the 14th day of January, A. D. 1879. 

[SEAL.] WILL. A. STRONG, 

Secretary of State. 






































































Table VI.] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS 


575 


Table VI. 

riRST SENATOKIAL DISTKICT. 


Parishes and wards. 

Will Steven, D. 

'd' 

F-i 

ci 

rd 

o 

p4 

P 

H 

(£> 

o 

6 

H 

P. P. Carrol. 

Scattering. 

Orleans, 8th and 9th wards. 

1, 633 
217 
648 

799 
434 
1, 214 

609 

69 

1 

Saint Bernard. 

Plaquemines. 



1 

Total. 



2, 498 

2,'447 

609 

69 

2 



SECOE^D DISTRICT. 


Parishes and wards. 

P 

'o 

o 

o 

P 

o 

p 

d 

'A 

t3 

P 

Careleton Hunt, I. D. 

Orleans, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th wards, total. 

3,483 

2, 510 

2,250 



THIRD DISTRICT. 



EOHRTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes and wards. 

P^ 

g 

© 

M 

P 

P 

© 

O • 

Pi 

© 

A 

o 

xn 

w 

d 

William Arms. 

Charles Hill. 

Orleans, 2*1 and 15th wards, total____ 

1, 664 

1, 085 

677 

180 



EIFTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes and wards’. 

P 

eS 

® 

P 

i 

d 

J. H. Landwehr, C. 

James Frerch, C. 

J. E. Stafford. 

Or]ean■'> 10th wsrd _____........_ 

2,819 

999 

906 

32 





































































576 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Table VI. 


SIXTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes and wards. 

W. H. Merkel, D. 

J. M. Harding, D. 

O 

oT 

o 

in 

in 

k 

c? 

73 

o 

hH 

C. Knnmel, C. 

E. Williams, N. 

C. A. Schneider, I. 

M 

s' 

‘rS 

<1 

Scattering. 

Orleans, 11th, 12th, 13th, 
14th, 16th, and 17th wards. 

2, 695 

2,521 

2, 506 

1,840 

886 

395 

36 

15 

2 


EIGHTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

Pierre Landry, R. 

Z. B. Cohen, I. R. 

"A 

•+J 

"s 

in 

in 

Scattering. 


1, 781 
937 

97 

421 

80 

93 



4 

Total . 

2, 718 

518 

173 

4 



NINTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

Mayer Cahen, R. 

S. T. Grismore, D. 

Tprrpi Bonno ___________....... 

. 1,576 

1, 067 

1, 055 

911 

1, 279 

961 

... 


Total ... ....._...................._................. 

3, 798 

3,151 



TENTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 


Saint Mary 
V ermillion 
Cameron ... 
Calcasieu.. 


G. H. Wells, D. 


E. R. King, I. D. 


512 
495 
324 
1,177 


1,782 

550 

12 

156 


Total 


2, 508 2, 500 


ELEVENTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

0. Dalahousay, jr., R. 

C. H. Mouton, D. 

E. Mouton. 

Saint Martin..... 

926 

912 


Iberia. 

1, 435 

933 


La Fayette. 

711 

912 

3 

Total. 

3, 072 

2, 757 

3 



















































































Table VI.) 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 


577 


TWELFTH DISTRICT. 


Parish. 

T. S. Fontenot, D. 

Thomas C. Anderson, R. 

Saint Landrv. 

3, 494 

2, 354 

Total. 

3, 494 

2, 354 



T UIRT KENT H DI STRICT. 


Parishes. 

S. J. Norwood, D. 

Charles Parlance, 1. 

A. L. Boyer, R. 

J. T. Edwards, I). 

Avoyelles. 

1, 661 

142 

1,088 

1 

Point Conp6. 

662 

1, 512 


1 





Total . 

2, 323 

1,654 

1,088 

2 


SIXTEENTH DISTRICT. 


Parish. 

Andrew S. Herion, D. 

Alexander Smith. 

John McGrath. 

F.iij^t R.ono'e. 

1, 326 

777 

1 469 



Total. 

1,326 

777 

1 469 


NINETEENTH DISTRICT. 


I’ariahes. |Boling; Williams, D. 


Natehitochea 

Sabine. 

De Soto.. 

Red River ... 

Total.-. i • 5, 369 


TWENTY-FIRST DISTRICT. 


2, 817 
902 
1,025 
625 


Parishes. 

W. H. Scandland. 


1,403 - 


1,128 


1,017 


1, 516 


5, 064 


T W EN TY-T HIR1) DIST RIC T. 


Parishes. 

L. H. Bouden, I). 

*.T .... 

2,840 


1, 007 


779 


954 


448 


6, 028 




37 T 






























































































578 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Table VII. 


TWENTY-FOURTH UTSTRICT. 


. Parishe.s. 

J. F. Kelly, 1). 

B. F. Brian, I. 

('atahoula.... 

777 

379 

480 

1, 636 

467 

222 

411 

1,100 

Winn. . 

(Irant . 

Total. 



TWENTY-FIFTH DISTRICT. 


Parishes. 

J. A. Gla, R. 

i 

pi 

M 

C 

tL 

J. B. Stone, D. 

i 

1 

C. M. Tilford, I. D. 

J. Q. McDowell, I. D. 

I). L. Morgan, 1. D. 

East Carroll. 

1,132 

279 

56 

2 


1 

Madison... 

1, 993 

4 

170 


1 






Total. 

3,125 

283 

226 

2 

1 

1 


Office of Secretary of State, 

State of Louisiana. 

I, the undersioned, secretary of state of the State of I^onisiaiia, do hereby certify 
that the above and foregoing is a true and correct list of the candidates for tlie senatn 
of the State of Louisiana, and the votes received by each in their respective wards 
and parishes, as is shown by the official returns of the sheriffs in the different parishes 
now on file in this office. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set iny name and affixed the seal of the State of 
lionisiana, at the city of New Orleans, on tliisthe 14th dav of Jannary, A. D. 1878. 

[seal.] ‘will. A.'strong, 

Sect'etary of State. 


Table VIJ. 

OFFICIAI. RETURNS OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
Parish of Ascension. 

.1. L. Brent (D.). 

0. N. Lewis (R.).! - ^ .. 

W. P. Denham (N.). ' . 

Felix Reynand (I.).. 

F. Fobb (R.).. 

Scattering.. 


Parish of Assumption. 

Moses R. Hite (R.). 

E. F. X. Dngas (D.).' 

Walter Dickerson. 

Charles Dupaty. 

Parish of Aroydles. 

Ferdinand B. Coco (D.). 

Rezaire Dncate (R.). 

J. M. Edwards (R.).] [ *. 

M. L. Ryland (D.).[*'. 

Pierre Magloire (R.).. 


704 

494 

61 

98 

2 

1 


1,018 

999 

99,5 

1,020 


1,750 
1, 550 
1, 041 
885 
620 
































































Table vn.] LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 579 

Parish of East Baton Rouge. 

William J. Sharp (D.). \ 

Josiali I). Nettles (D.).. 1 ’ 156 

(xeorge D. Cooper (R.).^ . 1 ’ 023 

Daniel Morj^an (I.). ’957 

Henry Gentles (N.). 63 ;> 

Parish of iresf Baton Rouge. 

N. W. Pope(D.).•. 2H4 

Luke Billups . 4 f, 

Fra nk Delany. 22 

Parish of Bossier. 

.1. C. Vance (D.).> 1 I 55 

B. F. O’Neal (R.)..^’ 289 

Parish of BienviUe. 

T. J. Hightower (D.). 898 

Parish of Calcasieu. 

.lames P. Geary (D.). 424 

William Vincent. 403 

,1. C. Mumlay. 276 

H. P. Penniyer. 279 

Parish of Cameron. 

.James M. Welch (D.).. 1.50 

E. B. Gordon. Ill 

R. B. Harrison. 103 

Parish of Caldwell. 

R. D. Bridger (D.). 686 

R. G. Sirmon. 17 

Marco Wooton. 4 

Sam .Johnson. 4 

William Henry. 2 

John Smith. 1 

A. W. Faulkner. 1 

Tom Munson. L 

Parish of Caddo. 

J. C. Moucure (D.). S69 

J. J. Schumpert (D.). H12 

M. E. Elstner (R.). 348 

W. V. Metc.alf (R.)..-. 301 

I’arish of East Carroll. 

F. R. B.arthelemy (R.). 743 

T. J. Galbrith..*, .. 640 

W. B. Jones. 88 

W. B. Ilanners. 17 

B. Woodford... 

Cyp Pollock. 1 

Parish of fVest Carroll. 

Hiram R. Lott (D.). 344 

Simon Witkowski. E13 

Parish of Catahoula. 

N. B. Torrey (1).). 851 

R. F. SiiTimons. 383 

Jay Boyer. 44 











































580 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Table VU. 


Parish of Claiborne. 


J. H. Ha.y(D.). 1,16:$ 

VV. C. Mjirtiii (D.). 1,101 

J, H. Chappell (D.). 335 

E. F. Webb (D.). 327 


Parish of Concordia. 


George L. Walton (D.). 1,202 

David Young (R.). 1,009 


Parish of De Soto. 


li. F. Jenkins (D.). 1,034 

S. M. Potts (D.). 1,022 

Parish of East Feliciana. 

G. W, Mundav (D.). 990 

T. B. Lyons (b.). 972 

W. B. Porter. 1 


Parish of IFest Feliciana. 

R. H. Ryland (D.).. 

Sanuiel j. Powell (D.).. 

J. J. Barron. 

Scattering. 


1, 012 
783 
1 
1 


Parish of Franklin. 


H. M. Scott (D.). 397 

W. W. Campbell. 267 

A. F. Osborn. 209 

William F. Hall. 46 


Parish of Grant. 

James C. Neely, (D.).. 

C. H. Willett (R.)... 

John R. Gray. . 


495 

401 

4 


Parish of Iberia. 


P. A. Veazey.. 1,430 

John F. Wyche. 93 ;^ 


J. M. Carvillo (R.) . 
J. G. Davidson (R.) 

C. H. Dickerson_ 

Auguste Levert .... 

J. H. Schaucks. 

J. E. Bargas. 


Parish of Iberville. 


1,579 
1,579 
206 
171 
36 
11 


Parish of Jackson. 

H. L. Smith (DO. 

D. C. Goodwin. 


442 

4 


Parish of Jefferson. 

C. F. Brown (R.).. 

O. V. Wagner. 


1,078 

433 


Palish of La Fayette. 


H. I). Guidry (D.) 
C. De Baillion.... 
Eraste Mouton ... 


888 

775 

1 







































TableVII.] LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 581 

Parish of La Fourdu;. 

John G. Billien (D.). 1,210 

J. G. Perkins. *928 

Henry Grimes.. 1 104 

Thomas M. Frazer (R.). 150 

George Sinclair (D.). ’ no 

Joseph T. Bad (lax. 324 

Parish of Livingston. 

Joseph H. Allen (D.). 393 

Thomas G. Davidson (R.). 323 

Parish of Lincoln. 

J. M. Robison (D.). . 1,109 

G. H. Harvill. 245 

G. L. Gaskins.. 1 

Parish of Madison. 

William Murrell (R.) .. . 1,402 

Governor Hawkins (R.).•. ],472 

Isaac H. Crawford. 571 

W. W. Johnson. 555 

W. H. Harvy. 1.59 

G. J. Bradfield. 154 

Parish of Morehouse. 

J. D. Hammond (D.l. 903 

A. K. Watt . 1 

C. T. Dunn. 4 

Morris Downs.1. 1 

C. Newton .. 3 

William M. AVarbnrn. 1 

l*arish of Natchitoches. 

M. J. Cunningham (D.). 2,811 

W. C. Ross (D.). 2,808 

Parish of Orleans. 

First Representative District.—First Ward. 

M. Gordon, jr., (D.). 1,704 

J. Timony (C.). 284 

D. Holdrlth (N.) . 271 

Frank W. Heiss. 14 

Second Representative District.—Second Ward. 

T. Hasam, jr., (D.). 877 

J. L. Gnbernator (D.). 739 

J. D. Geddes (N.). 591 

M. D. Layaii (C.). 049 

J. A. Gilmore (C.). 593 

C. Brill (N.) . 573 

M. J. Larkin (W. & T.). 221 

P. Barron. 08 

P. C. Quinn. 16 

Scattering. 22 

Parish of Orleans. 

Third representative district.—Third ward. 

J.D.Hill(D.). 3,294 

F. W. McElroy (D.). 3,134 

M.J. Hard(D.). 2,^84 

C. H. Cripps (N.). 045 

J. R. Torres. 057 

J ohn Ro ^. 0.55 

S.P\Mo iroo (C.). 485 
















































582 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Table VII. 


8 . W. Moore (C.) 

Keopfer .. .. 

J. S. Kelly. 

P. Carter. 

C. Glover. 

E. Webster. 


197 

i;i8 

136 

129 

28 

23 


Fourth representative district, Fourth ward. 


Kicliard Weightman (D.). 687 

W.H. Morgan (N.). 439 

Judge D. 8 . Bryon (C.). 389 

C. W emzette.. 

8 . A. Gjilates. 31 


Fifth representative district, 


Fifth ward. 


A. Rabouin, jr. (D.). 1,346 

L. Ariiauld (D.). 1,044 

Jules L. Hote. 837 

L. M. Gex. 790 

L. Dupre. ^90 

George Merz, jr. 76 

Scattering . 1 


Sixth representative district. Sixth ward. 


W. A. Bieiiveuu (D.). 954 

L. Andre Burtlie (C.). 408 

E.M.Hunt.--.. 342 

Scattering. 4 


Seventh representative district. Seventh ward. 


Frank Manjuez (D.). 861 

Leon Hobzbalb (D.)..*. 763 

Prosper P. Albert. 745 

George H. Waters. 613 

Anstide Grandpre. 581 

Victor Gerodias . 389 

A. Dupuis. 351 

Ernest L. Forstall. 311 

Edward Meaiinier. 292 

Scattering. 46 


Eighth representative district. Eighth ward. 


John Reany (D.). 719 

Joseph Foerster. 331 

P. P. Swan. 181 

Scattering. 45 


Eleventh representative district. Eleventh ward. 


George W. Young (D.). 1 , 538 

Joseph D. Taylor (D.).,_ 1,255 

James L. Morrison. 484 

11. C. Nichols. 429 

John P. Smith (C.). 381 

Jolin Purcell. 109 

Francis Leibrook .. 79 

Otto Salt. 24 

Scattering. 1 


Twelfth representative district. Twelfth ward. 


S. F. Parmelee (D.). 513 

John Taylor. 370 

Joseph D. Kenton. 234 

G. Milbaum. 5 



















































Table VIL] LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 583 

Thirteenth representative district, Thirteenth and Fourteenth wards. 

E. L. Bower (D.). 544 

John H. Coker. 535 

J. A. Moran (N.). 85 

Scattering.. () 

Fourteenth representative district, Sixteenth and Seventeenth wards. 

K. Scratchley (D.). 593 

Henderson McCray. 401 

W. P. Green. 39 

G. Friend. ] 

Fifteenth representative district. Fifteenth ward. 

Win. McKee (D.). O 57 

Howard Wilson. ^7 

W. F. Loan (R.). 208 

Warren County. 206 

Parish of Ouachita. 

W. R. Renwick (D.). 2,847 

F. W. Barrington. 1 

Parish of Plaquemines. 

Henry C. Warmoth (R.).. 1 , 219 

Henry E. Gilmore (D.). 611 

Parish of Point Coupee. 

Gratien Decuir (R.). 1,113 

John G. Archer (D.). 1, 051 

F. M. Farrar. 1 

Parish of Rapides. 

James Jeffries (D.).. 1, 879 

J. C. AVise (D.). 1,869 

J. A. Calhoun (R.). 1,134 

W. J. De Lacy (R.). 980 

C. B. Yearger. 124 

W. R. Roberts. 2 

Parish of Red Rive)'. 

A. M. Davidson (D.). 608 

J. M. Brown (I.). 59 

B. J. Kenny (R.). 3 

Parish of Richlayid. 

M. J. Liddell (D.). 621 

A. B. Cooper (I.). 440 

Parish of Sabine. 

R. M. Armstrong (D.). 443 

W. W. McNeely (D.). ‘^91 

J. H. O. Athoney (D.). 1^0 

Parish of Saint Bernard. 

Albert Estopinal (N.). 492 

Lucien Merrero (1).). 

Parish of Saint Charles. 

Charles A. Bourgeons (R.). 1,104 






































584 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Table VII. 


Parinh of Sami Helena. 

.1. Muse Watson (N.). 

ChMi-les E. Lea (D.). 


608 

546 


Saint John Baptist. 

Henry Demas (R.). 

Dennis Burrel. 

Jn les Reine. 


Saint James. 

Lucien Como (R.). 

J. Dickerson (R.) . 

II. L. Tnrean. 


997 

414 

149 


912 

911 

111 


Saint Landmj. 


Yves Vidvine (D.). 3,525 

.1. Mssie Martin (D.) . 3,433 

•Mortin Canon (D.) . 3,428 

Iloiuer Dnrio (D.). 3,242 

C. Mayo (R.) . 2,^1 

liOnis Desmarais (R.). 2,395 

.1 nles Goodeax (R.). 2,222 

E. Anzenne (R.). 2,056 

L. L. Verret. 1^2 

E. Ganbert . i^3 


Saint Martin. 


Emile Detiseje (R.). 1,014 

Z. T. Eonnet (D.). 889 


Saint Mary. 

W. B. Smith (R.) . .. 

Euf^ene A. Landry.. 

.J. T. B. Labaure. 

liOnis Gravenberg .. 

Gerard T. Sanders.. 

W. C. Garry. 

S. P. Bell .1. 

A. B. lloskyns.. 

Henry J. Saunders. 

Jacques Lebman.. 


960 

799 

781 

525 

483 

483 

486 

2h 

5 

1 


Saint Tammany. 


Anatolo Cousin, sr. (D.). 413 

W. H. Toomer (D.). 317 

Francois Flot. 241 

J. H. Toomer. 1 

J. R. Toomer. 1 

Francois Cozzen. 1 


Tensas. 


C. C. Cordill(D.). 2,234 

A. F. Brown (D.). 2,278 

George Ralston. 610 

J. R. Weatberby. 607 

John Murdock. 1 


Terre Bonne. 


J. W. Board (R.). 1,606 

Risal Coleman. . 1 553 

Orelie Theriot (D.). ’ 905 

J. O. Duplantis (D.). 847 

B. H. Lewis. 1 

H. C. Sidney. 1 

Tobias Gibson . 1 


















































Table VII.] 


LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 


585 


Tangipahoa. 

II. C. Moony. 

T. J. Mixon (D.). 

J. 1). Ford. 

J. 15. Sanders. 

Scatterinjx... 


2:5.3 

,3:51 

:5()8 


Union. 


O. 15. Steele (D.). 1,159 

J. D. Hamilton (D.). . 7(55 

W. C. Andrews. 2 


Vermillion. 


R. P. O’Brien (D.). (540 

J. O. Lege (N.).. :599 


Per w 071. 


E. E. Smart (D.). 5527 

'I'lioinas Richardson (G.). :504 


Washington. 


Thomas J. Simmonds (D.) .. 444 

A. C. Bickam (R.). 224 


Webstet'. 


J. J. Carter (D.). 618 

G. W. Warren (I).). 502 


Winn. 


John M. Jones (D.) 


570 


Office of Secretary of State, 

State of Louisiana. 

I, the undersigned, secretary of state of the State of Ijouisiana, do herehy certify 
that the above and foregoing is a true and corre(;t list of the persons voted for for the 
office of representative in the general assembly of the State of Louisiana at the electi()n 
held on the .5th day of November, A. D. 1878, and the vote each person received, as 
shown by the official returns of the sheritfs of the parishes in which they were can¬ 
didates, now on file in this office. 

In witness whereof I have hereto set my name and the seal of the State of Louisiana, 
at the city of New Orleans, on this the 15th day of January, A. U. 1879. 

[SEAL.] WILL. A. STRONG, 

Secretary of State. 






















CADDO PARISH, 


FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


SUPPLEMENTARY EVIDENCE. 








Note. —The testituony of Messrs. Metcalf and Seay was accidentally mislaid, and 
not discovered until it was too late to incorporate it in the part devoted t.o Caddo 
Parish. 









CADDO PARISH. 


M. B. METCALF. 


Xew Orleans, La., January 10, 1879. 

M. B. Metcalf (white) sworn and examined, 
tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Caddo Parish. 

Q. How long have you resided (here ?—A. Thirty-two years. I was 
born there. 

Q. Were you a candidate last fall for any office in that parish ?—A 
Yes, sir; for the legislature. 

Q. Did }yii make a canvass of the district?—A. T did not. I was 
taken sick immediately on the opening of the campaign, and was unable 
to get out of my room until the day of election. 

Q. Did Mr. Eisner make a canvass ?—A. I believe not. 

Q. Were you at the polls on election-day ?—A. Yes, sir; 1 was present 
from 10 o’clock until 2.30 or 3 o’clock. 

Q. What was the condifion of the polls that day ?—A. AYell, on my 
arrival there I found a great many negroes standing around. The polls 
were crowded witli white men. No negroes had voted hardly; only two 
or three up to the time I got there. 

Q. What ward was this ?—A. Ward 1—Spring Bidge ward. 

Q. What was the trouble that they did not vote ?—A. They said when 
they attempted to go ui) they were pushed aside by the white men—four¬ 
teen or fifteen of whom stood there. 

Q. Did these men stay there all the time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many white men voted during that day ?—A. I suppose the 
register vote—ninety or one hundred. 

Q. How many boxes had they there ?—A. Three. 

Q. How was the Republican ticket ?—A. All on one piece of paper. 

Q. How was the Democratic ticket ?—A. In three different parts. 

Q. Had it been printed so or was it afterward made so ?—A. In some 
cases they had been printed soj the most I saw had been torn. 

Q. The parish, ward, and Congressional ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number of negroes voted there that you know about ?—A. 
Probably sixty or seventy negroes there, as I understood afterwards. 

Q. How many were there in attendance ?—A. 1 think there was about 
two hundred and fifty negroes. 

Q. You think there was about sixty voted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why did not the rest vote ?—A. Well, I advised the negroes to 
leave there, about 11 o’clock, and go home. They repeatedly came to 
me and said they had attemi)ted to vote and were pushed out and could 
not get to the boxes. 

Q. Any other reason ?—A. That was the reason. They feared diffi¬ 
culty, and many were restless and excited. I knew there would be 
trouble if they forced themselves iq) to vote. 




590 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Ca<l(io 


Q. Why would there be trouble —A. If they attempted to go up 
they would be knocked down and a fight commenced, and the colored 
I)eople, of course, would be the sufferers. 

Q. They went home!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon know how the vote was returned in the whole parish ?—A. 
1 think the Democrats were in 1,500 majority—2,100 votes polled. 

By Mr. Cameiion : 

Q. Who were the commissioners who held the election at Spring 
Ridge—Republicans or Democrats —A. Democrats. 

Q. All of them !—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. Was the clerk a Republican or Democrat?—A. He w^as a Demo¬ 
crat—if I know A\ ho the clerk was, as 1 think 1 do. 

By Mr. Gaeland : 

Q. Yon Avere a. candidate in that election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wliat did you run for ?—A. For the legislature. 

Q. Did Eisner solicit you to run ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did Bowman solicit you to run ?—A. He did not. 

Q. Have you ever looked over the record of the election up there ?— 
A. Yo, sir. 

Q. How do you know^ that your information as to the 1,500 majority 
was correct ?—A. From hearsay among the people. I am not positive 
at all. I have not been there myself. 

Q. Did you canvass the t)arish?—A. I did not. I never went out of 
my house; I Avas si(ik. 


JUDGE W. A. SEAY. 

Neav Orleans, La., January 11, 1879. 

Judge W. A. Seay (white) SAvorn and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you Ha^a?—A nsA\er. In Shixweport. 

Q. Hoav long liaA^e you lived there?—A. About 5 years; in that Con¬ 
gressional district for 18 years. 

Q. What is your business?—A. I am a member of the bar. 

Q. Do you jAractice in Shreveport?—A. Yes, sir; I practice now. 

Did you take any active pan, one Avay or the other, in tlie late polit¬ 
ical (jampaign ?—A. Not so acdiA^e outside as I liaA^e done in all the cam- 
]Aaigns for 20 years. I made a good many speeches in 1870 as Tilden 
elector. In this last campaign I Avrote all the editorials for the Demo¬ 
cratic “ Standard,” and did all I could for the Democrats that Avay. But 
I was not around town much. 

Q. Were you editor, or did you Just contribute these editorials?—A. 
I Avas the responsible editor. 

Q. Noav, you have heard read some articles from the Standard ?—A. 
Yes, sir; that is the first thing that called my attention to the committee 
this morning. 

Q. Now just state all about the facts of these editorials, and the ob¬ 
ject of them.—A. I have Avritten a great many editorials in my life, in 
a great many cam])aigns, and, of course, understood the business of a 
political editor in a bad cam])aign. I remember tlie article particularly, 
that Mr. Leonard refers to. I believe he has about statcnl the point of 
it Awy candidly, as it is given in tlie paper: 

Ill answer to a question as to why military companies were not organized by tlie 
whites, witness read an article from the Shreveport Evening Standard, stating that 


I'arLsh.] 


TESTIMONY OF JUDGE W. A. SEAY. 


591 


tlie people had formed them for the purpose of ])rotecting themselves against the 
ignorant horde Avhich followed tlie Republican leaders, a.iid whose worst passions had 
been aroused by the incendiary speeches made to them. The point of the article, 
however, which had led witness to read it, was a statement to the elfecd that the 
Democrats were determined to carry the election; that too much money and energy 
had been ex])ended on it to lose it. 

That is right. I have stated that the iriilitary coiiijtanies had l)eeri 
formed to meet any violeiiee, as far sis any miglit be attem])ted by the 
leaders of tlie opposite party, and lie stated exactly the point of the 
article when he said that the Democrats were detei'inined to carry the 
election; that too mnch money and energy had been expended on it to 
lose it. Of course his idea was that the Democrats were to carry it, if 
they had to resort to oiitrageons measures. That was not the meaning of 
the article, nor the intention of it. Mr. Leonard has been a ])olitician 
long enough to know—and I have served with him in the White Leagne, 
too—that a great deal of editorial matter is to be taken in a Pichwi(?kian 
sense; that a great deal is said by editors to stitfen up the energies in 
a political cam])aign. I have said worse things about Colonel Illand 
in the campaign since then. I have said things intinitely worse about 
(lovernor Wells when he Avas running as an anti-sntfrage man. There 
was no intention on my ])art to urge the party, in any editorial of the 
Standard during the whole of that time, to commit any violeiu'e upon a 
single Republican or a sihgle colored man Avithin the whole limits of the 
city. I do not belicA^e there aa as any intention on the ])art of the party 
leaders avIio Axere ser\ing with me to ex(*ite to any vsuch violence, because 
Ave thought Ave could carry the election Avithont resorting to any such 
measures. Speaking of the object of editorials, Leonard told me yester¬ 
day that he was pro])rieter of the Shreveport Times in 1(S74—and, by 
the Avay, I wrote the leading articles for that i)aper for seven months, 
though not at that time—that lie Avas the i)ro])rietor of it, and stated at 
one time, Avhen the campaign Avas A^ery fierce in 1<S74, Avhen Leonard Avas 
advocating the cause of the men Avith Avhom he is now seiwing, he gaA^e 
his o])inion that (iertain jiarties should be killed if elected. Me did not 
Avrite it, it is true, but he said before the committee that he indorsed 
every Avord of it. T do not lielieve he meant it. Rut he meant it for 
political thunder; he used it at a time Avhen the prospects of the party 
were gloomy. 1 cannot remember anything else that even smacks of 
“ incendiarism ” in the paper, unless something is brought out that I had 
not had my attention called to. 

Q. Are you confident that yon AAm.re associated Avith Leonard in the 
White League ?—A. I shall have to exjilain that. They call CATrybody— 
yieople outside of Louisiana Avho belong to the White Man’s iiarty or 
Democratic jiarty—members of tln^ White League. There is a military 
organization here ; we iieAW had any such thing in Caddo—that is, Ave 
had no organization called the White League. We had, in 1874, Avhat 
Avas called the White Man’s party. Leonard makes his boast that he 
ncAW had been a Democ'rat, but he insisted that his man should run on 
the Avliite man’s ticket. When the Democratic convention met, many 
old Democrats disliked to </\ve up their ticket, and addiul to it a Dem¬ 
ocratic-Con servatiA^e ticket, so as to meet theAvants of that element that 
had never been Demo(a‘ati(5, but Avas part of the Republican party. 1 
Avas Avith Leonard up there in everything that took])lace concerning the 
White League—but it a\ as not really the White r.eague. 

Q. What Avere the leading principles of the White Man’s i)arty at that 
tiirui LA. Well, that it Avas necessary for the {)rosperity of the State 
that white men, the owners of ])roperty, and those avIio ])ossessed intel¬ 
ligence, should rule it; that the State had been plundered so long by 


592 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


(Caddo 


these men, who belonj^ed to the other party, the great bulk of whose 
supporters were simply colored men, that it was necessary to set up a 
new party in opposition to them so as to make a color line, and have 
intelligence carry the State. I wrote the resolutions of the Shreveport 
meeting in 1874, whicli sounded the key-note of that campaign. A great 
many of them, of course, were glittering generalities. The two of them 
I remember particularly, which Leonard read and indorsed, were to the 
effect that the white people, in self-defense, should admit of no colored 
officers 5 and that so-called incendiary persons had committed no crime 
by defending themselves. He is now accusing us of doing the very 
thing which he did at this time. The ticket triumphed, as we thought. 
Leonard came into the AVheeler committee, and by means of personal 
influence managed to get up a compromise whi(*h gave us the legisla¬ 
ture, the result of which is before the public. I will state that Leon¬ 
ard’s course up there is exceedingly unpleasant and mortifying to us. I 
am personally friendly to him. I learned last night, on good authority, 
that I am responsible for his confirmation as IJnited States district 
attorney. He is very much liked j he was the i)et of the town, and he 
yet retains the personal esteem of a gieat many who cannot understand 
his political course. I don’t think there would have been any trouble 
up there but for Leonard’s taking an active part in that campaign. 
That is, I do not believe there would have been any such hostility be¬ 
tween the races, or that any such hostility would have been shown un¬ 
less he had led affairs at that time. 

Q. Now, so far as your information goes, in reference to the recent 
campaign, as well as the election, was it peaceable or otherwise in the 
parish of Caddo f—A. Yes, sir ; the campaign was measurably peacea¬ 
ble. It was peaceable in Shreveport, where I w as. I heard of no ijar- 
ticular disturbance in the country, except at Spring Kidge, of which 1 
liad no personal knowledge; but at Shreveport it was very quiet, and 
particularly quiet on election-day. Leonard, in his interview with the 
President, mentioned that there was nothing but colored men on the 
street for a certain time of the day. 1 cannot imagine what he meant, 
but the reason of that was that in the first place the polls were entirely 
surrounded by colored men, and that was because the whites stood back 
to give them a chance to vote. Tlien Leonard came u]) and advised 
them to go uj), and they took his advice. There was no disturbance at 
all. As for tlie others, the only two that I heard of were the affair at 
Caledonia and the one at Willis’s school-house. 

Q. You do not know anything about that?—A. No, sir; except that 
I know one of the commissioners who was afterwards shot; the Repub¬ 
lican (iandidate for sheriff'. 

Q. Do you know anything about the sheriff‘’s having made ballot 
boxes and having sent them out ?—A. No, sir; the first time 1 saw them 
was at the polls. 

Q. Something has been said in reference to the school aff'airs of your 
parish. Have you been connected with the school board in any vmy ? 
—A. Yes, sir; 1 was the first president of the school-board under the 
Nicholls administration. 1 had been superintendent of the school-board 
under Sherjiian’s successors. 1 knew as much about teaching as any 
man on the street, and gave hifii a good deal of trouble; but it was 
forced upon me. We hail at that time large funds, and I wanted to get 
possession of it for the benefit of both races. 

Q. Wliat has been the result of your efforts in that respect?—A. 
Well, we had a large amount, some $14,000, left over from the Republi¬ 
can board, and we had an opportunity to give ‘‘schools” to all who 


Parish.] 


TESTIMONY OF JUDGE W. A. SEAY. 


593 


wanted it. I listened patiently to all the colored men who came in to 
see about schools. They got the idea from what we said about schools 
in the campaign that every one of them could have “ schools.” I gave 
them more than they ever got before—9 montlis’ schools—and made no 
objection to their politics. I had two very accomplished teachers from 
Canada, one a lady and the other a gentleman, both colored. I believe 
they were, however, both Kepnblicans. In some places we had to take 
incompetent ones for the want of material, and I made a statement 
about it to the superintendent, which he characterized as fervidly elo¬ 
quent. Indeed, I think that was too complimentary; and I mentioned 
in that report that I had become very much discouraged because of the 
failure of getting such material as I wanted. I don’t think so much of 
educating them as when they were first enfranchised. The whole idea 
in our country is that they must first be educated, and that they cannot 
vote until they are first educated. I know there is no one in our 
country who wants to deprive them of their privilege of education. I 
was president of the board and had full management of it. 

Q. Did you have colored ofilcers in the town of Shreveport!—4. Have 
we any now ! 

Q. I mean as to the town; have you not a colored recorder !—A. O, 
yes. The recorder is a colored man. 

Q. Any others !—A. Well, Senator Harper, he is a colored man, and 
the recorder too. He got the nomination the last time. He has a great 
many friends there and everybody likes him. 

Q. Are you all intimate with him !—A. Yes, sir; we have to go into 
the recorder’s office every day. 

Mr. Kirkwood. He was elected as a Eepublican!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was Harper also !—A. The colored men, though they have been 
with the Republican party so much, are some of them very competent, 
and wherever we can get the material we take it. We had some four 
or five in our convention who made speeches and talked with the Demo- 
i crats, though I do not believe we had any on our ticket except for police 
j jurors. 

! ‘ Mr. Oa^ieron. Did you explain in your paper or otherwise that you 
did not at all mean what you said in that article, as you have stated to 
us !—A. Ko, sir; I took it for granted that everybody who reads what 
I write could understand it. 

Q. Have you stated that you did not mean what you said !—A. Ko, 
sir. I said I did not mean that we would carry the election by intimida¬ 
tion, tlireats, or anything of that kind. But we meant to carry it. 

Q. My recollection of what you stated was that you would carry it at 
all hazards!—A. Ko, sir. First, I stated I intended to give an impression 
tliat we wanted to stiffen the energies of our party. 

Q. What impression did you intend to produce upon the minds of 
these colored Republicans!—A. Nothing at all. They could read or 
not read it, as they wanted. I knew Leonard would see it. It was 
simplv political ammunition for our side. 

Q. You state that your party did not intend to countenance any vio¬ 
lence, because you were confident you could carry the election without 
it ?—A. Well, perhaps I did not mean that exactly. The converse of 
the proposition would be that if we could not carry the election without 
intimidation, therefore, we would carry it with intimidation. I didn’t 

mean that. . , „ ^ 

Q. Was your attention called to this matter of having three ballot- 
boxes at the polls before the day of election!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you examine the statute for the purpose of determining, as a 

38 T 



694 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo Parish. 


lawyer, whether legal elections could be held in that way !—A. IS^ot as 
a lawyer, because I was not consulted about it. It was talked about, 
and I looked at the statute cursorily, and I was satisfied that it could 
be done. As to the reason why and wherefore, I did not read it well 
enough to give a regular opinion about it. 

Q. As I understand it, the election-law now in force in this State was 
enacted in 1877 ?—A. I have not looked at the statute to recall the date, 
I believe it was, however. 

Q. Have three ballot-boxes been used at any election since the pas¬ 
sage of the present election-law prior to the election held in November 
last ?—A. I believe not, but I do not know. 

Q. Who furnished those boxes ? Where did they come from !—A. I 
do not know. 

Q. Hoes or does not the statute, as you remember, direct that boxes 
or a box shall be furnished by the sheriff to the commissioners of elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I do not know. I do not like to give a legal opinion without 
the best evidence of it. 

Q. Mr. Leonard stated (perhaps if you had noticed that it had not 
been necessary for you to have gone over it) that he had counseled vio¬ 
lence in 1874.—A. I have no doubt that he did. Tliat is the year when 
they had the white man’s party. 


DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 









I. 

THE TENSAS TROUBLES: THE DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNT AT 

THE TIME. 


CORRESrOXDENCE BETWEEX GOVERNOR XICHOLLS AND JUDGE CURDILL, OK TENSAS. 

The following is the official correspoiideiice between Governor Nicholls and the par¬ 
ish judge of Tensas with regard to the late troubles in Waterproof and Saint Jose})]), 
La.: 


[Copy of telegram.] 


Rodney, Miss., Ociohcr 13, 1878. 

To Gov. F. T. Nicholls : 

J. S. Peck was murdered last night by Fairfax, colored candidate for Congress. He 
(Fairfax) is trying to excite the negroes to violence. The sheriff has a warrant and 
is making search for him. 

C. C. CORDILL, 

Parish Judge, Saint Joseph, La. 


[Copy of telegram ] 


New Oeleans, October Ki, 1878. 

To C. C. CoRDILL, 

Parish Judge of Tensas Parish : 

Your dispatch of the 13th instant relative to the murder of Peck and fact of warrant 
for his murderer having been placed by yon in the hands of the sheriff has l)een re¬ 
ceived. Since then I have not heard from yon. Rumors reach me that riot and 
trouble have arisen in consequence of the attempt to execute warrant, and that large 
bodies of men, armed and assembling for an illegal purpose, are collecting in yonr 
parish, and that they have burned buildings and committed other outrages. I think 
it strange that such rejiorts should reach me, if this be so, from such sources when you 
are the proper person to notify me officially of such a condition of affairs. If the 
sheriff, in execution of writ of your court, has been illegally resisted and, in spite of 
exhausting the ordinary legal remedies in execution of the writ, there be need of ex¬ 
ecutive aid, let him make due return to you, and do you officially report to me specifi¬ 
cally all the facts of his return at once, giving also places of resistance, extent of sup¬ 
posed force, necessity to execute the law, and illegal force opposed, and I shall take 
.stejis at once to see that the law is executed. 


FRANCIS T. NICHOLLS, 

Governor. 


[Copy of communication received October 21.] 

j Saint Joseph, October 18, 1878. 

Dear Sir: Your telegram of the 16th instant received yesterday. I am surprised at 
your implied censure, and will give a succinct account of affairs in this parish. At 
ibwo o’clock Sunday morning, October 13, I was informed of the death of J. G. Peck, 
at the hands of Fairfax, near Waterproof, in this parish ; and also of the assembling 
of large bodies of armed negroes at that point. I immediately proceeded to the scene 
of disGirbance with three citizens for the purpose of restoring order. 

When I arrived there I found that J. G. Peck had been killed and three negroes had 
been wounded. I also found that the negroes were assembling in large armed bodies, 
threatening the lives and property of all white citizens. On my return to Saint Joseph 
the same night, I drove through about 400 negroes armed and occupying liotli sides 
of the road, and have been since reliably informed that they had orders from their 
leaders to kill me. 

On the day following I returned to Waterproof with one citizen, distributing copies 
of a printed proclamation ordering said armed bodies to disjierse and return to tlieir 
usual occupations, which when read were received with shouts of derision. I had 
given the sheriff on Sunday a warrant for the arrest of Fairfax. On my return to Saint 


598 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


Joseph, after distributing the proclamation, I was informed by the sheriff that he 
was unable to execute his warrant. 

On Tuesday, the 15th, I accompanied a posse of fifty men, summoned by the slierin. 
About two miles from Waterproof we were fired on by a body of armed negroes num¬ 
bering between 300 and 400. We returned the fire, killing and wounding eight, and 
dispersing the remainder. On the first fire of the negroes, a gin-house on a plantation 
about two miles from the scene of action was fired and destroyed by the negroes, and 
I have since learned that the firing of the gin was a signal for the assembling of the 
negroes at that point. 

Knowing the immense numerical superiority of the negroes in this parish, and that 
armed bodies had marched in from the upper portion of Concordia, nnd not having 
time to communicate with you, I obtained assistance from the adjoining parishes 
through Gen. J. Floyd King, commanding the militia in this district, to aid me in 
restoring order, in which I have been successful. My prompt action in the matter 
was necessitated by the fact that storehouses had been broken open by the negroes for 
the purpose of obtaining arms and ammunition, and that property to the amount of 
$25,000 or $30,000 had been destroyed. 

This deplorable state of affairs was brought about by the incendiary speeches of 
Fairfax and other negro leaders, who are alone responsible. 


Idease answer by return mail. 
Itespectfully, &c.. 


C. C. CORDILL, 

Parish Judge. 


Francis T. Nicholls, 

Governor of Louisiana. 


Governor Nicholls will depute one of his aids as special messenger this (Tuesday) 
morning to investigate the condition in Tensas Parish and in Concordia.—[New 
Orleans Democrat, October 22. ] 


II. 

THE TENSAS TROU15LES: THE REPUBLICAN ACCOUNT AT 

THE TIME. 


Waterproof, Tensas Parish, La., 

October 28, 1878. 

Editor New Orleans Observer : 

Sir: As a citizen of Waterproof, and one who closely observed what transpired dur¬ 
ing the late Tensas troubles, and as I am acquainted with the facts which led to and 
caused the troubles, I feel it due to the public, and possibly to Mr. Fairfax, who has been 
so grossly misrepresented by bitter partisans, to give a full and true statement of the 
facts relative to the affair. 

On the 5th ultimo the Republicans met in the town of Saint Joseph to hold their 
convention, and on assembling found no white men jiresent who would participate in 
the proceedings of the convention, or accept any place offered them on the Republican 
ticket. The leading colored men regarded the situation as an effort on the part of the 
Democrats to force them to nominate an out and out colored ticket, and thus have a 
pretext upon which to bulldoze them. To avoid, if possible, giving the Democrats 
any grounds for disturbance, the following resolution was offered by Mr. Fairfax and 
unanimously adopted: 

Whereas there is a disposition manifested on the part of the white citizens not to 
accept any place on the Republican ticket; and whereas it is the wish of the Rexmb- 
licaus to nominate a ticket that will be satisfactory to all parties ; and whereas this 
cannot be done without having some of the white men of the parish on the ticket; 
therefore be it 

Pesolved, That a committee of five be appointed on conference to confer with the 
Democrats with a view of making a ticket that will be satisfactory to all parties. 

The convention then adjourned to meet on Monday, the 14th. 

Mr. Fairfax, chairman of the committee on conference, then repaired to the office of 
Colonel Reeves and informed him that a committee on conference had been appointed 
by the Republicans to confer with the Democrats with the view of making a ticket 
satisfactory to all parties, and asked if such a committee would be accepted by the 
Democrats, and whether or no the Democrats would meet the Republican committee. 
The colonel said the committee would be accepted, and the Democrats would meet 



DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


599 


them, and fixed Monday, the 7th, the day the Democratic convention was to meet, as 
the day for the Republican committee to meet them. 

On Monday the committee met at Saint Joseph, the place appointed, the Democratic 
oxeentive committee, which made their nominations. The chairman, Colonel Reeves, 
stated that a committee on conference had been appointed by the Republicans to con¬ 
fer with a like committee of Democrats with the view stated above. Mr. T. C. Sachse 
moved that the chair be instructed to inform the Republicans that they (the Demo¬ 
crats) wanted no compromise. They then nominated a white ticket. 

Ihe chairman, Colonel Reev^es, then said in a speech, their ticket can, ninst, will, 
and shall be elected, cost what it tvill, though they should have to wade through fire to 
elect it. 

A committee was then appointed to wait on the leading colored tnenand say to them that any 
effort on their part to get uj) a ticket in opposition to the one just nom inated by them would be 
regarded as a declaration of war. 

Idle Republicans thmi returned to their homes, and while some of the colored leaders 
backed down, Mr. Fairfax still expressed a determination to hold the convention on 
th(* day for which they adjourned to meet. 

During the week Saint Joseph was strictly quarantined against all outside of the 
town. Mr. Fairfax, as soon as he learned that Saint Joseph was quarantined, instead 
of threatening to override the quarantine, as has been stated, wrote notices to the 
leading colored men, telling them that the town of Saint Joseph was quarantined, and 
we could not hold the convention there, but would have to select some other place, 
and another place was selected. 

About the middle of the same week a prominent citizen of Waterproof said to a 
friend of Mr. Fairfax that Fairfax was being so energetic around here that the first 
thing he knows he will be missing from here some night, and nobody will know how 
lie went; a body of men will come and take him away, and no one will know anything 
about it. On Saturday morning, the 15th, Mr. Fairfax and the gentleman who had 
made the above remarks met at the post-office, and Mr. Fairfax expressed his surpris(*- 
that he had made remarks in regard to his being missing some night. J lie gentleman 
said yes, he did make such remarks, but not as expressive of his sentiments, or that 
he approved of any such thing, or would have anything to do with anything of the 
kind, for he himself was opposed to bulldozing, but his remarks were only based on 
what he had learned. This gave Mr. Fairfax a key to the situation, and he thought 
he had better begin to look out for himself. Late in the afternoon a lady friend of Mr. 
Fairfax sent him word from back in the country that she had learned that a liody of 
men were coming to his house to take him away. 

Jlist about dark a young man who had been to Waterproof, and returning from 
there said, as he was standing near the station talking with another person, a white 
man and a citizen of Waterproof passed the guard at the quarantine station and said 
to him, “ There will be some men along here after awhile and you may not know them, 
ao you must just get out of the way and let them jiass.” A little later the news came 
to Mr. Fairfax that five men, all white, had just passed with guns going to Water¬ 
proof. This convinced Mr. Fairfax that there was some danger ahead, and he con¬ 
cluded at once that he had better either leave his house or get some of his friends to 
-stay with him. He called in some of his friends and talked the matter over, and they 
concluded to stay with him all night. They gathered a few old shot-guns and loaded 
them, and sat down and began to talk the matter over. 

About ten o’clock Mrs. Fairfax started to her room to go to bed, but stopped and sat 
down in the door. - Suddenly the rush of a squad of men was heard coming into the 
yard. Mrs. Fairfax, frightened nearly to death at the sight of the men and their 
guns, fell in the front door and said, “ There is a gang of men coming.” A lady who 
had been spending the summer with Mrs. Fairfax then ran to the door and hailed, 
“Who is that?” “ Who is that ?” No response. “ What do you want ?” “What do 
you want?” “We want Fairfax, the damn son of a bitch.” They were then on the 
gallery, and as the lady left the door they rushed in with her. The first man who en¬ 
tered the door caught sight of Mr. Fairfax as he was making his way to the kitchen 
door, and fired at him. The lady who went to the door was not more than two steps 
from him when he fired ,* firing then began inside and out. There were four women 
in the house who, frightened nearly to death, jumped and fell out of the window, aiul 
ried to the woods for safety ; they have not yet got over their fright. During the 
light Peck was killed, and three of the men in the house were wounded. Mr. Fairfax 
escaped unhurt. 

Now, there had been no attempt l>y the Republicans to hold meetings of any kiiul, 
outlier in Waterproof or Saint Joseph, after the towns were quarantined, but they were 
Jiiaking preparations to hold their convention in the country on Monday. 

The bulldozers, failing to accomplish their aim, which was to murder Mr. Fairfax, 
and thus prevent the holding of the convention on Monday, determined yet to carry 
out their fiendish purpose. 

On Sunday morning a warrant was issued for Mr. Fairfax’s arrest, and between 10 


600 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


and 11 o’clock an armed body of men, to tbe number of twenty-five or thirty, rode up 
to the clmrcli and demanded to know where was Fairfax. Some of the men were rec¬ 
ognized as the ones who attacked Mr. Fairfax’s house. This created the Avildest ex¬ 
citement among the congregation, Avho AA’^ere then assembling for Sabbath-school and 
church. Knowing nothing of the AA'arrant that had been issued, and belie\dng it to 
be a continuation of the attempt to murder Mr. Fairfax on Saturday night, men, wonieuy 
and cliildren ran for their homes in CA’cry direction, crying as they Avent, ‘‘They are 
after Mr. Fairfax again.” In the midst of this excitement the men got their guns and 
gathered about the church and Mr. Fairfax’s house. They thus sat Avith their arms 
all night. Not a man injured the person or ])roperty of any one. 

Mr. Fairfax AA'as not at the church Avhen the sheriff came, nor Avas he ever seen by 
the sheriff or any of his posse, therefore the sheriff could make no attempt to arrest a 
man AAdien he kneAA’nothing of his Avhereabouts; then there aa^ as no resistance made 
by the colored people to the .sheriff arresting a man whom he had not seen and did not 
knoAA" where to find. But neither Mr. Fairfax nor his friends kneAV until Monday, 
Avhile on their Avay to the convention, that the sheriff had a Avarrant for his arrest. 

Noav, on Momhiy, the day for the convention, the men Avho had Avitnessed the scenes 
of Saturday night and Sunday, felt it un.safe for them to attend the convention Avith- 
«)ut arms, so tliey carried them Avith them. The convention Avas held, the ticket 
made, and the men AA^ere told by Mr. Fairfax to return quietly to their homes, lay doAA ii 
their guns and go to their AA'ork, and see that no person or property aauis injured. 
They all returned home, and on passing through Waterproof they Avere as quiet as a 
funeral ])roce8sion, and no person or property Avas injured. 

Tuesday morning everything AA-as ([uiet until armed bodies of men began to cross 
the riA’er, and come doAAm the road from the AA'oods to Saint Jo.seph. This created 
another excitement, and afcAv colored men ran and got their guns; during this excite¬ 
ment a gin-house was fired. 

A colored man named Richard Miller aa us arrested by the sheriff and his State mili¬ 
tia posse ; late in the eA'ening they started, as they said, to take Miller to jail and, for 
some reason unknoAvn to the AA^riter, perhaps the sheriff knoAvs, they thought it best 
not to go the .straight public road from Waterproof to Saint .Joseph, but AA ent back in 
the sAvamp Avith the prisoner, and there the mob OA^erpoAvered the sheriff’s posse. State 
militia and all, and took poor Miller and hung him to the first conA^enient tree; and 
the next day he AA\as cut doAAui by the hands of his oaa'ii mother. 

The field then seemed to be giA^en up to the armed bodies who had come to make 
peace. They rode through the country intimidating the colored people by shooting 
over the heads of men in the fields, halting them in the roads, and making them pull 
off their hats; some thej^ arrested, some they AA^hipped, and at Mr. Wren’s store, .at 
Lygent Landing, three miles from AVaterproof, they rode upon two colored men, Louis 
Po.stlcAvaite and .James Stauffer, Avho liA^ed near the store, and were talking; they were 
both shot by these peacemakers. Louis Avas killed and the other badly Avounded.. 
They entered houses and took out guns, and thus they continued to make peace until 
nearly all cotton fields are (leserted, and the liands gone to the woods. 


III. 


TENSAS TROUBLES: 


GOA'ERNOR NICHOIA.S’S ACCOUNT. 


fExtiATot from the me.ssage of Governor Nicliolls.] 
GOA'EKNOn’.S .AIESSAGE. 


Gentlemen of the General Assemhly: 


Executive Depaktmext, 

Xew Orleans, January 6, 1879. 


The constitution im])oses upon me the duty of, from time to time, giving the gen¬ 
eral assembly information respecting the situation of the St.ate, and custom has desig¬ 
nated the commencement of your session as the period at Avhich that information is to- 
be giA'en. 

Since the adjournment of the last general assembly the people of a barge portion of 
the St.ate have been .smitten by the Ad.sitation of a life-destroying epidemic. That 
event has left such deep traces, and has darkened so many homes, that I deem it un- 
neces8.ary to refer particularly to it. One fact, however, stands out so brightly amidst 
the gloom created by and consequent upon the epidemic, and has impressed itself so. 
deeply upon the people of Louisiana that it is my pleasure and duty to refer to it offi- 



DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


601 


oially. I mean the spontaneous exhibition of sympathy, of Christian charity, and 
brotherhood which our distress evoked throughout our common country. While it 
took such tangible shape as to give great and necessary relief to many sutfering })eo- 
])le, and while its practical results were seen, felt, and recognized wherever the hand 
ot pestilence was laid, its moving cause furnishes besides a subject of congratulation, 
ot appreciation, by the people of the State generally, without regard to the mere 
([uestion of benetit received, as indicating that community of feeling binding together 
the people ot the Union, as pointing to the flow of a common spring of benevolence 
trom one end of the land to the other. The general condition of the people of the 
State, putting aside the sutfering engendered by the e])idemic, has improved during 
the year. Bountiful crops have blessed the State, and whilst the shrinkage of values^ 
has caused some anxiety and want of remuneration, this etfect has resulted from the 
return to a safer and more durable standard of values, which, operating ui)on all 
classes of property alike, brings about an adjustment calculated to give greater secu¬ 
rity and stability for the future. 

I have the pleasure of reporting to you that throughout almost the entire State the 
laws have been well observed, and that where violations of the same have taken place 
they have been generally punished. I regret, however, to say that in a few localities 
there hav'e occurred during the past year some of those acts of violence and lawless¬ 
ness which, in this State, as in other sections of the coniitry, occasionally happen, and 
which, while startling and distressing the mass of the people, are practically beyond 
the reach of the constituted authorities. These troubles and disturbances are not 
referable to any one cause. In some instances, the perpetration or alleged perpetration 
of a crime of heinous character, or the repetition of a series of petty misdemeanors 
diflicult of detection as to their perpetrators, seems to throw even good men into a 
kind of frenzy which, for the time being, sets judgment and reason at detiance ; in 
others, a belief that what is called the technicalities of the law may permit the esca})e of 
some one generally believed to l)e substantially guilty of crime, causes men to substitute 
tlieir own ideas of justice and methods of remedy for the machinery ju-ovided for the 
enforcement of right and punishment of wrong. So, want of confidence in the hon¬ 
esty or impartiality of judges, juries, and oflicials is sometimes made the basis of and 
attempted justification for those acts which in the United States have come to be 
known by the designation of “Lynch law.” From whatever causes springing, these 
acts are rarely punished in any portion of the Union. There are ordinarily so many 
persons concerned in them that those who are cognizant of the facts are either unwill¬ 
ing to speak, from 8ynii)athy with the acts, or afraid to speak, lest they should involve 
themselves in trouble. Evidence being the essential basis of all judicial proceedings, 
the want of it presents an insuperable obstacle to officers whose duty it is to seek out 
and punish law-breakers. Some months ago three men charged with crime, two of 
them with the murder of a white man, and one convicted of the killing of a colored 
man, were forcibly taken from the jail at Monroe and killed. The men so killed were 
colored men. The mob is supposed to have been made up either entirely or mostly of 
wliite men. 

Later, a man by the name of St. Martin, confined in the parish jail of Saint Charles 
Parish on a charge of murder of a colored man, was taken therefrom by a large num¬ 
ber of men and murdered. The mob in this instance were colored men, and the victim 
a white man. Both of these cases have received investigation from the grand 
juries of the respective parishes, and yet nothing has resulted from the investi¬ 
gation in either case. I have no reason to doubt the thorough sincerity in each case 
of the officers conducting these investigations. In one instance they were Republican, 
in the other Democratic officials. It can scarcely be believed that in these two affairs- 
there are not persons legally responsible for the crimes committed, who are cognizant 
of the same, and yet hold their peace when it is their duty to speak. I can lay no 
blame at the door of these officials. Even had they failed in their duty (which they 
did not), being constitutional officers, they could not have been suspended or removed 
by me; nor is there any power granted to any one, in any manner, to originate pro¬ 
ceedings and try persons in any other parishes than those in which the crimes havo 
been committed. The constitution expressly guarantees a trial by the jury of the par¬ 
ish in which a crime is committed, subject only to a change of venue when the caso 
has reached a certain point. Despite my great desire to see the supremacy of the law 
vindicated in all cases, an(j despite the fact that under the shadow of these great funda¬ 
mental princij»les the j)erpetrators of crime may sometimes escape detection and con- 
se(pient })unisliment, I should hesitate long to suggest any modification in them vest¬ 
ing in either the executive or any other department the power to initiate })roceedings 
or try the same, when so commenced, ontof the jurisdiction of the court of the parish, 
or district where the crimes may have been committed. Such i)ower vested in the 
executive or any other department would be as powerful for harm in bad hands as it 
would be for good in the hands of conscientious officers. 

I make these remarks for the pur})Ose of showing that good institutions and reme¬ 
dies and honest officials require tlie concurrence of other frmts to make them thoroughly 


€02 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


€'ffective. After all, the real effective instrument for pnttino- an end to acts of lawless¬ 
ness is the force of public opinion manifesting itself on all occasions in aid of the. 
sni)remacy of the law. AVhen, in the campaign of 1876, I i)roclaimed through the 
>State that in the event of my election as governor of this State I felt assured that 
l»eace and good order would follow, I did not do so relying in any manner upon the 
mere physical and legal iustrnmentalities which would be in my hands for that pur¬ 
pose, for I was well aware that these were extremely limited, confined almost entirely 
to reportino- to this body careless or delinquent officials, and abstaining from a judi¬ 
cious use of the pardoning power. My declaration was predicated upon the certainty 
that the election of the officers who were before the people would eliminate most ot 
the causes of bitterness and reproach then existing, and that the gradual operation 
of conservative infiueuce would ultimately lead to a complete good feeling between 
all classes and races, and cause the crystallization of public sentiment against all 
sjtecies of lawlessness. My deliberate judgment is not to force, or attempt to torce, 
these results by harsh proceedings, exce])t when they can be judiciously employed; 
for I foresee that a course of that character will defeat the very end and object I have 
in vieAV. 

The result of the softening influences of the last tAvo years is apparent to any one 
who knows the State ; and Avhilst here and there a few bad men, or a few foolish men, 
breed trouble, which all good men regret, and whilst the good men in some places 
have not taken the determined active stand against them that I had hoiied and ex¬ 
pected, I am satisfied that day by day and month by month we are surely moving 
forward to the condition of things which all good citizens are hopefully antici])ating. 

I would regard the retarding of these results by injudicious action, which some 
might deem wise and right, as a great calamity to the State. I say this under a full 
.sense of the responsibility which attaches to my position. It has so happened that 
some of these acts of lawlessness (whicli I condemn and regret) have been directed 
against colored men, and it is sometimes supposed that they have been so directed by 
reason of their being colored men. This is not true. The fact results from the cir¬ 
cumstance that the greater number of the infractions of the law are necessarily fouml 
in all communities among those classes who, from ignorance or idleness or thriftless¬ 
ness, fail to understand and appreciate their duties and obligations; and that in this 
State the mass of these classes is found among the colored ])eople. The fact of their 
being colored people is merely accidental and incidental. The same acts would take 
place under the same circumstances, Avithout regard to color. It is a notorious fact 
that for OA'er tAventy years there haAm existed in some^partsof Louisiana organizations 
known as ‘Sdgilance committees,” whose acts haAX stricken white men ofteuer than 
-colored men. It is said that some of the troubles in this State, Avithiu the last year, 
liaA^e had their origin in politics. I do not suppose that there is any State in the Union 
in which politics haA^e not been, more or less, the cause of difficulties. The passions and 
interests of men in every community liecome so much excited that, here and there, in 
every State, troubles take place on that account. Louisiana does not difter in this 
respect from her sister States. 

Troubles do not exist in Louisiana based on opposition to any man A'oting on account 
of his color. The exercise of that right in a manner different from that Avislied by other 
indiAdduals causes opposition here just as it does in Maine or Oregon. This sometimes 
results in personal difficulties, and AAdiene\"er matters reach that point there springs u}) 
here an element of danger not found in those States—not the cause of the difficulty, 
but resulting from it and from the fact of there being two different races in the State. 
A difficulty, originating in politics, which goes to the point of bloAA^s or bloodshed is 
apt to be participated in by others from that time forward, not on account of the poli¬ 
tics involved in it, but race-sympathy or race-fear. I found this, in my opinion 
(formed after a personal investigation), to have been the case in the recent disturbances 
in the x)arishes of Tensas and Concordia. The proximate cause of that trouble was 
the going at night of a party of men, numbering from tAventy to tAventy-five, to the 
house of one Fairfax, a colored political leader in Tensas Parish, Avhich act resulted in 
the killing of Peck (avIio seems to have been the leader of the ])arty) and the Avouud- 
ing, by Peck’s companions, of three colored men who Avere in Fairfax’s house, one of 
AA’liom afterward died. The Ausit of these men to Fairfax was utterly Avrong—in my 
0])inion, AAithout justification—and AA'hile attempted to be justified upon the ground 
that they went in the interest of peace, to expostulate agtiinst a proposed rumored 
attempt of the colored peojile to force the (luarantiue lines at the toAA'ii of Saint Joseph, 
I am satisfied that such Avas not the purpose, but that it had a political object. I do 
not think the purpose Avas to kill or harm Fairfax, but I do believe it Avas to influence 
his course and the local campaign in the parish. 

The killing of Peck and the Avounding of the colored men was, in my opinion, totally 
unexpected and attended by results Avhich none of the parties contemplated, and from 
which political considerations utterly disappeared. Just as soon as these men Avere 
killed and Avounded, reports of the same spread with astonishing rapiility through Ten¬ 
sas and Concordia, and instantly armed bodies of colored men, evidently organized 


DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


603 


prior thereto, moved from every direction to the scene of the occurrence. Whilst this 

‘^s taking place, the parish judge of Tensas, who had been informed of the circum¬ 
stances ot Peck’s death, issued a warrant for the arrest of Fairfax, who was charged 
with having killed him. Instead of either leaving the parish, if he believed himself 
about to be wronged, or at once surrendering to the authorities, who were pursuing 
the forms ot laAV, Fairfax remained with the large nnmber of men who had assembled, 
some ot whom were making the most horrible threats. These threats produced a feel¬ 
ing of terror and apprehension in the parish, and with the events which followed, in 
my opinion, politics had nothing to do. The situation will be understood when I say 
that Tensas is a i)arish of large territorial extent, with an exceedingly sparse white 
and very dense colored population, the proportion being nearly as ten to one in favor 
ot the latter, and that the bodies of armed colored men parading throngh the parish 
are variously estimated from 1,000 to 2,000 men, whilst the whites seemed to have 
been totally unprepared. The fears entertained by the latter of general bloodshed and 
inllage, I am satislied, were fully justified by appearances, and were beyond question 
thoroughly real. Their completely defenseless condition demonstrates at once the 
tolly and wrong of the original act which brought about the situation, and also the 
tact that it was unexpected. I cannot conceive that men could wantonly and delib¬ 
erately place the lives and property of their fellow-citizens in such peril as they were 
then in. Assistance was immediately called from neighboring parishes, and when it 
came it tound the people of Tensas, white and black, almost solidly arrayed against 
each other. 

It needed but a spark to ignite the train, and it was given by the firing of a body of 
colored men upon a party, under the parish judge, proceeding to put an end to "the 
armed demonstration. This fire was returned, and, from the best information I can 
receive, several persons were wounded, but not killed. The return fire caused the 
negroes to disperse. In the mean time a negro set fire to a gin in the neighborhood of 
Waterproof, containing seventy bales of cotton. It is asserted that this was a precon¬ 
certed signal for a general rally of the colored people. This man was afterward, by 
some persons unknown, found and killed. This, together with the killing of another 
negro, also by x)ersons unknown and for a cause unknown, were the only lives taken 
at that time that I have heard of. 

The strife thus recklessly originated in the parish of Tensas spread to the parish of 
Concordia. Large bodies of armed colored men from that pailsh hurried toward 
Tensas and manifested their presence in various parts of the parish. 

An armed body of white men, acting under a warrant for the arrest of Fairfax, who, 
it was supposed, had passed into Concordia, entered that parish for the purpose of the 
execution of the warrant, and whilst there some eight or nine colored men were 
killed. 

On the return of the men from the adjacent parishes, who had gone to the assist¬ 
ance of the whites, quiet was gradually restored and everything is now peaceable. 
The events of those few days will, I trust, serve as a lesson, out of which possibly good 
may nltimately come. It may teach those who lightly engage in acts tending to such 
terrible consequences to halt before again venturing in that direction, and it must 
necessarily result in arraying solidly against such persons those who have at In^art the 
well-being of the community. I do not know how far steps for the punishment of 
those persons who brought about this condition will be successful. Politically, the 
officers of the district in which Tensas is situated are Republican, the district judge 
and district attorney being of that party. I had intended going in ])erson to several 
other points where it is said violence has occurred. Circumstances over which I had 
no control have delayed and prevented me. 


IV. 

THE COXCOEDIA TEOUBLKS. 

AFFIDAVIT. 

Thk State of Louisiana, 

Parish of Concordia: 

Personally came and appeared before me, the undersigned authority, Joseph Lam¬ 
bert, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That on Saturday, the 19th instant, 
on the Patawamnt plantation, in the parish of Concordia, one Thos. J. Hoys, Stephen 
Reagan, Wade R. Young, Robt. McCulloch, Walter B. Meng, and divers other per¬ 
sons, whose names are unknown to deponent, did there and then, with force and arms, 
abuse, cruelly lieat, wound, and hang by the neck until he was dead, one Dickey 
Smith, a colored man, then and there l>eing in the iieace of the State. They did then 



604 


LOUISIANA IN ]878, 


and there further commit the crime of rape upon the person of one Clarissa ; and <lid 
steal and eaiTy away the best wearing clothes and the property of one Towns} Lee, 
and a silver watch from one Thos. Smith, and a large cloak, overcoat, and a gray 
liee-bitten horse from Anthony Payne, and a bay mare from one Anthony White, and 
a dark bay horse from Renl)en White, a ])air of double blankets from George White,, 
a light bay horse from Geo. Washington, sr., and a gold watch from Robt. W ilson, 
and did take from deponent $8 in United States currency. The said men did further, 
on the Vanclnse idantation, in said parish, abuse and beat one Sam-, by inflict¬ 

ing upon him seventy-five or eighty lashes with a whip, which deponent called a Inill- 
wiiip, and in addition to the first-mentioned i)ersons, one F. S. Shields was present, 
aiding and abetting in this whipping. They took a new saddle oft, the property of 
Silas Hoskins, on said Vanclnse plantation; the said Sam and Silas Hoskins then and 
rhere being in the peace of the State. I am informed, and verily believe, that one 
'rin>s. Hastings, one Douglas Hastings, and one Alfred Hastings were a(*cessories 
before the fact to the aforesaid crimes committed on the Patawamnt plantation here¬ 
inbefore mentioned. 

bis 

'Sijrned) JOSEPH LAMBERT. 

' * ^ mark. 

Swoi-ii to and subscribed bidbre me this twenty-second day of October, A. D. 1878. 

AVADE H. HOUGH, 

Jud(je Thirteenth Judicial Court. 

I certifv the foregoing to be ai trne coitv of the original affidavit, OctiOl)er 22, 1878. 

‘ AVADE H. HOUGH, 

Judge Thirteenth Judicial District Court. 


V. 

nURDEH OF THE “DAlfUBE” WITifESSES. 


WARRANT. 

The State of Louisiana, 

Parish of Caddo: 

The State of Louisiana 
versus 

Lot Clark. 

To IV. TV. Madison, constable, deputy sheriff, or any lawful officer of said parish, greeting: 

Whereas, J. R. Moss, A. B. Crowder, and W. J. Hutchinson, of the parish of Caddo 
and State of Louisiana, have this day made complaint, under oath, before me, Lewis E. 
Carter, a justice of the peace, fourth ward, parish of Caddo, that on or about the 5th 
day of November, 1878, one Lot Clark, in the parish aforesaid, did maliciously assault 
W. B. McNeal, Walter J. Crowder, A. B. Crowder, James Calhoun, and G. W. Nor¬ 
wood with force and arms, with intent to kill and murder the said McNeal, Walter J. 
and A. B. Crowder, James Calhoun, and G. W. Norwood: 

These are, therefore, to command you, in the name of the State of Louisiana, to forth¬ 
with arrest the said Lot Clark and take him before the jiarish or district judge of the 
parish of Caddo, to answer unto the said complaint, and to be further dealt with ac 
cording to law, and, if either of the said judges be not found, that you convey and de¬ 
liver the said Lot Clark into the custody of the keeper of the parish jail. 

Hereof fail not, and due return make of this writ. 

Given under my hand, officially, at my office in the city of Shreveport, in said parish 
and State, this 12th day of November, A. D. 1878, 

L. E. CARTER, 

Justice of the Peace, ith ward, Caddo Parish. 


State of Louisiana, 

Parish of Caddo. 


mittimus. 


To the keeper of the parish jail of Caddo: 

You are hereby commanded, in the name of the State of Louisiana, to receive Lot 
Clark, charged with assault, with force and arms, with intent to kill and murder W. 
B. McNeal, Walter J. Crowder, A. B. Crowder, James Calhoun, and G. W. Norwood, 




DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 605 

in your custody, and him safely keep, subject to the order of honorable the parish or 
district judge. 

Given under my hand, officiallv, at mv office in said parish, this 12th day of Novem¬ 
ber, 1878. 

LEWIS E. CARTER, 

Justice of the Peace, \th ward, Caddo Parish. 


Personally appeared before me, George W. Kendall, United States commissioner, 
Jeff Cole, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a constable, and, by 
authority of a warrant issued by L. E. Carter, justice of the peace, 4th ward, Caddo 
Parish, La., he arrested Lot Clark and William White and took them off the steamer 
Danube, said Lot Clark and William White being charged with maliciously assaulting 
W. B. McNeal, Walter J. Crowder, A. B. Crowder, James Calhoun, and G. W. Nor¬ 
wood, with force and arms, with intent to kill and murder the said McNeal, AValter J. 
and A. B. Crowder, James Calhoun, and G. W. Norwood. When he started to bring 
said prisoners to Shreveport, La., and at a point near Tone’s Bayou, in the woods, he 
was met by a body of men, masked, and without coats or shoes, all of whom were 
unknown to him, who told him to leave the road, which he did. He left the prison¬ 
ers, and does not know what become of them afterwards. 

bis 

JEFF -t- COLE. 

mark. 

Attest: 

J. H. Beaird. 

L. Templeman. 

Allan V. Wilson. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 20th dav of December, 1878. 

GEO. W. KENDALL, 

^ U. S. Commissioner. 


VI. 

THE XATCiriTOCUES TItOriiLES. 


U. S. MARSHALS. 

We understand that a United States marshal with a batch of affidavits and war¬ 
rants arrived on Wednesday evening, and not liking the looks of things hereabouts, 
called for a hack and departed before night. 

When the arrest of any citizen of this parish is attempted, under a law Avhich the 
Supreme Court x>i’onouuced unconstitutional, and which is null and void, we desire 
to state, in language of Governor Jackson, ot Missouri, to General Lyon, “They will 
liave a d—mned livelvtime doing it.” 

The sovereign people of these States are to make a stand somewhere, and at some 
time; this we conceive to be as favorable an opportunity as will probably ever occur. 
Our State is to be ruled in but two ways; either the peoi’LE must do it or the sword! 

We acknowledge that Mr. Hayes and his crowd of mercenaries and tyrants are xnir- 
sning a most insidious policy to destroy all civil liberty in this country, they are 
cloaking their efforts beneath the “forms of law.” We have warned our people 
a<'-ainst this from the very hour we first had the honor of rei)resenting their views. 
Let them beware of suciran effort. Charles I, Charles II, George III, and Napoleon 
Bonaparte are examples of those who built, or attempted to build, then' own greatness 
on their country’s ruin, through the “forms of law.” And let it be reinmnbered, that 
the oreat legal luminaries of those days. Coke, Blackstone, and Mansfield, sustained 
n-itirall their power the tyrants in their efforts to orerthrow jwpular liberty. We make the' 
assertion, that now, as a precedent has been furnished so marked and fiagrant as the 
nsur])ation of Hayes in the Presidential contest, all the danger to onr liberties as a 
peo]>le, lies in the stretch of the legal ])rerogatives. 

Beware, Americans, of the “forms of law!”—(People’s \ indicator, ISatchitoches 

Parish, Nov. 110, 1878.) 




606 


LOUISIANA IN 1878, 


VII. 

PLEDGES OF GOVEPXOK NICHOLLS. 

Executive Deeartmext, 

State of Louisiana, 

Xeiv OrleauH, April 18, lS77. 

Hon. Chas. 13. Lawrence, Hon. Waynt-: McVeaoii, Hon. .John M. Harlan, Hon 

Jos. R. Hawley, Hon. John C. Rrown: 

Gentlemen: I liave tlie honor to transmit herewith a copy of the Joint resolutions 
adapted hy the general assembly of the State of Louisiana. 

In so doing', I desire to say that they express not merely abstract ideas, bnt the con¬ 
victions of onr ))eople, which will be jiractically executed by them, throngh their 
re]>resentatives, their courts, .and their exeentive government. 

As the chief magistrate of the State, it will be not only my pleasure, bnt my bonnden 
dnty, to give every assistance in my power leading to th.at end. 

I am thoroughly s.atistied that any course of political action traced on a narrower 
line than the good of the Avhole peo^ile, regardless of color or condition, must inevitably 
lead to ruin and disaster. My views on this snl)ject were fully stated to the conven¬ 
tion by which I was nominated, and to the peo})le by which I was elected ; and e very 
day’s experience fortilies me in the belief that any i)olicy founded on these principles 
must necessarily result in the attainment of the ends for which all just governments 
are established. 

I have earnestly sought to obliterate the color-line in politics, and to consolidate the 
people on the basis of <“<jnal rights .and (‘ommou interests; ami it is a source of grati- 
fic.atioii to be able to say that this great object is about to be realized. I feel that 
I do bnt speak the sentiments of the people when I declare that their government 
will secure— 

1. A vigorous and efUcieiit enforceimait of the haws, soth.at'all persons and i)roperry 
will be fully and equ.ally protected ; and, should occasion re(iuire it, I will proceed in 
person where .any disord(*rs liiay menace the public ptaice, or the political rights of 
any citizen. 

2. The esLablishmeut of a system of imblic education, to be supported by equal and 
* uniform taxation iqum jU'opt'rty, so that all, without regar<l to race or color, may re¬ 
ceive eipial .advantages thereunder. 

J. The fostering of immigration, in order to Imsten the development of the great 
natural resources of the State. 

Having thus committed our government and peo})le to these great princi])les, I de¬ 
sire to add the most emphatic assurances that the withdrawal of the United States 
troops to their barracks, instead of causing any disturbance of the peace, or any ten¬ 
dency to riot or disorder, will be the source of profound gratitication to our pecqile, 
and will be accepted by them as the proof of the confidence of the President in their 
(‘-apacity for orderly self-government. 

Enjoying, under the Idessings of Divine Providence, the hap]>iness resulting from a 
government b,ased upon liberty and justice, the ])eo])le of Louisiana cannot fail to ap¬ 
preciate that their good fortune is largely due to the magnanimous policy so wisely 
inaugurated and so consistently maintained by the President of the United States. 

I have the honor to be, vour obedient servant, 

FRANCIS T. NICHOLES. 


VIII. 


I’J.EDGES OF TH]<: LOUISIANA 


LEGISLATUKE. 


JOINT RESOLUTION of the general assembly of the St.ate of Louisiana, indorsing the policy of the 
President, and pledging co-operation .and support of the same. 

Whereas the people of the State of Louisiana, .after years of suffering and mis¬ 
rule, have, with supreme s.atisfaction, seen the wise determination of President Hayes, 
as expressed in his inaugural, and already happily executed in South Carolina, to 
restore local self-government to the Southern States and peace and prosperity to the 
whole country, by the return to a rigid following of the wise principles of constitu¬ 
tional government: Therefore, 

Section 1. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Bepresentatives of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana in general assetnhly convened, That we cordially indorse the policy of the Presi- 



DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 607 

deiit, as eniiiieiated in liis inangnral, and we pledge onr liearty co-operation, aid, and 
sn))port in the execution thereof. 

8ec. 2. That the execution of the said policy in Louisiana will prove a source of 
inestimable blessings to onr people, lift up their burdened spirits, heal their wounded 
inosperity, renew their wasted fields, bring happiness to their homes, and give to the 
whole peoi)le, without distinction of race or color, a future of progress, as well moral 
as material. 

Sec. 3. That, as au earnest of our endeavors, we solemnly declare that it is and will 
be the purpose of the government of Louisiana, represented by Francis T. Nicholls a» 
its executive head— 

1. To accept in good faith the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States, in letter and spirit. 

2. The enforcement of the laws rigidly and impartially, to the end that violence 
and crime shall be suppressed and promptly punished, and that peace and order pre¬ 
vail, and that the humblest laborer upon the soil of Louisiana, throughout every par¬ 
ish in the State, of either color, shall receive full and equal protection of the laws in 
person, property, i)olitical rights and privileges. 

3. The promotion of the kindly relations between the white and colored citizens of 
the State upon the basis of justice and mutual confidence. 

4. The education of all classes of the people being essential to the preservation of 
free institutions, we do declare our solemn purpose to maintain a system of public 
schools by an equal and uniform taxation ux)on x)roperty, as i^rovided by the constitu¬ 
tion of the State, which shall secure the education of the white and colored citizens 
with equal advantages. 

5. Desirous of healing the dissensions that have disturbed the State for years past, 
and anxious that the citizens of all imlitical parties may be free from the feverish 
anxieties of imlitical strife, and join hands in honestly restoring the jirosperity of Lou¬ 
isiana, the Nicholls government will disconntenance any atteinjit at x)ersecution, from 
any quarter, of individuals for past i)olitical conduct. 

Sec. 4. That the governor be retpiested to forward a copy of these resolutions to the 
, President of the United States. 

LOUIS BUSH, 

Speaker of the House of Bepresentatives. 

LOUIS WILTZ, 

JAeutenant Governor and President of the Senate. 


Approved, April 20. 1877. 


FRANCIS T. NICHOLLS, 
Governor of the State of Louisiana. 


END OF volume I. 







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IISTDEXES. 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX OF TESTIMONY. 


INDEX OF WITNESSES. 


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SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


CADDO PARISH. 


LEONARD, ALBERT H.: 

Nativity and residence. 3 

United States district attorney since 1878. 3 

Served on tlie Confederate side during the war. 3 

No knowledge of the campaign except for Caddo Parish. 3 

Republicans conld carry the parish hy 1,500 to 2,000.3 

Republicans decide to run a ticket; trouble feared. 4 

Republican meeting at Boggy Bayou Bridge iuterrupted. 4 

Growing excitement among the Democrats. 5 

Character and tone of the Republican speeches. 6 

Republican meeting at Spring Ridge; rumors of expected trouble. 6,7 

Democrats gather in force and claim the meeting. 7, 8 

A joint discussion agreed to ; the terms. 8 

The witness interrupted. You are a damned liar,” &c. 8 

The house in an uproar. ^‘Kill the God damned Radicals,” &c. 9 

Meeting broken up by a tumult. Reimblicans threatened. 9,10 

Witness and others to bo killed at the Morgansport meeting. 10,11 

Morgansport meeting. “I believe I will plug that fellow now”.. 11 

Why there was no violence at Morgansport. 11 

Tone of the Democratic press. The election to be carried at all hazards.. 12 

How Democrats fixed the polling-places. Sixty miles to the polls. 12 

How the Democrats changed the law. They controlled the election. 13 

No attention paid to United States election laws. 13 

Military companies organized by the Democrats. 13,14 

United States supervisors not permitted to witness the elections. 14 

The election laws. How they were violated.. 14,15 

Republicans leave the polls without voting. 15,16 

The registration-list showed 2,068 colored to 263 w'hite voters. 16 

The election at Will’s School-House precinct... 17 

Twenty miles through the swamps to vote; armed Democrats steal the 

box. 17 

United States supervisors not permitted to perform their duties. 17,18 

The Caledonia affair; not known how many negroes were killed. 18,19 

Murders, outrages, and violence in other parishes. 19,20 

Law provides that not more than tivo ballot-boxes shall be used. 20 

Witness’s political record; cross-examination. 21,23 

HARPER, WILLIAM: 

Nativity and residence ; always been a Republican.. 24 

The tickets; one was mild Democratic, the other rank Democratic. 24 

Threats; the Republican meeting at Spring Ridge. 24 

“ You have got to stop” ; ‘^pistols and things were drawn”. 24,25 

Threatened with 500 lashes or death if he went to Morgansport. 25 

Why the Morgansport meeting was not broken up. 25 

Dare not go to the polls ; large Republican majority in Caddo. 25,26 

The Democrats had it all; negroes Republican ‘^nigh to a man”. 26 

Democrats advised him not to go to the polls. 26 

Democrats nominate a carjiet-bagger; why there was no Republican 

ticket. 27 

Recalled ; the Reams brothers; Isaac’s name on the dead list. 28 

The Reams “shoved out”; leave the parish and their imoperty. 28 

THORP, LAFAYETTE: 

Nativity and residence ; is a farmer. 29 

Voted the Radical ticket; was candidate for police juror. 29 

Ballot-box placed forty-five miles off; went to find it. 29 



















































612 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Caddo 


Page. 

THORP, LAFAYETTE—Continued. 

“ Blazed ” a trail to it; going to the polls; the warning . 29-31 

Followed hy the Democrats; Thorpe and Pickett to be killed. 32 

Watching the Democrats; then I sai<l, “Jee-sns!”. 32 

The fcriy-hoat removed; up the river to Will’s School-House. 32, 33 

The election at Will’s; witness threatened hy Democrats. 33, 34 

House raided by Democrats; more threats against his life. 34, 35 

How the hallot-box was stolen hy the Democrats. 35, 36 

Republicans take to the woods; it was 35 miles to the polls. 36 

How the Republicans at Will’s ])recinct were counted out. 36 

Why the Republicans wanted to carry the late election. 36 

Has left his home ; the ballot-box taken by armed men. 37, 38 

Names of Democrats who threatened the lives of Republicans... 38, 39 

On the steamer Danube; how the negroes were taken off by armed 

whites. .'. 40,41 

Republicans were not armed on election-day. 41 

Recalled; explains his‘‘compromise letter”. 42,43 


MOORE, VERNON: 

Nativity and residence ; is a farmer. 

The election in Caledonia precinct. Republicans not allowed to vote- 

Democrats armed at the x>olls. Republicans hunted down and shot. 

A colored man could not pass without a ticket. 

Bob Williams killed. Hogs and dogs gnawed at him. 

Saw Rick Wiggins killed. Andrew Benson wounded. 

John Williams killed. He was shot and cut to pieces. 

Democrats would be satisfied if they could kill six or seven men. 

On election day they would show Harper that 300 could outvote 3,300.... 

On the steamer Danube. The boat boarded by the whites. 

They got Lot Clark and Billy White. 

‘‘When we have got through with you the United States won’t have any 

use for you ”. 

Does not know what became of the men. They had families. 

BLACKMAN, CHARLES: 

Has resided in Caddo Parish ever since the snri'ender. 

Is a farmer. Was at Caledonia on election day. 

Saw the gentlemen commence shooting at the colored men. 

Lucas Wiggins killed. How the shooting commenced. 

The colored men did not fire. Witness feared trouble during the day_ 

“We have guns enough to carry this election, and I’ll be God damned if 

we don’t carry it”.. 

How witness got away. Green Abram killed. 

How men were taken from the steamer (Danube). 

Cross-examination. About the guns in Ream’s house. 

Does not know that any white men were shot. 

WILLIAMS, HENRY: 

Nativity, residence, and occupation. 

Distributed Republican tickets at Caledonia. 

How the Democrats managed the election. Leaves the polls. 

Heard the firing when he was a mile away. 

Is met by a band of armed Democrats. Life threatened. 

Violence and threats of the Democrats at the Spring Ridge meeting 

On the steamer Danube. Is warned to leave Shreveport. 

Is run out of his house by armed white men. 

Goes to Texas. Is well acquainted with the people of the parish_ 

Republicans more united than ever, and more anxious to vote. 

Rei)ublicau8 should have 1,800 majority. 


BROWN, MONROE: 

Residence, &.C. Was at Caledonia election day. 57 

Republicans told that their names were not on the list.. 57 

Shooting commenced. Bob Williams killed. 57 

Saw another man killed right at the store... 58 

Si Thomas killed at the Campa Bella place. 58 

On the steamer Danube. Saw the three men taken off. 58 

Knew two of the white men Avho boarded the boat. 58 


52 

52 

53 

53 

54 
54,55 

55 

55 

56 

57 
57 


47 

47 

47 

48 
48, 49 

49 

49.50 

50.51 
51 

51, 52 


43 
43,44 

44 
44 

44 
44-45 

45 
45 

45 
45, 46 

46 

46 

46 




















































I'arish.] SYNOPTICAL INDEX. ' 613 

Page. 

WILLIAMS, BEN: 

Residence, occupation, &c. 59 

Distributed tickets at Cawtliorn’s poll election day. 59 

Witness afraid to testify Avitliout protection. His reasons.59 

Tlie new policy of the Republicans, and reason for it. 59, 60 

Apprehended no trouble until the Monday before election. 60 

The election at Cawthorn’s; violence of the Democrats. 60,61 

Saw a row of guns in the store ; the Republicans leave the polls. 61 

On the steamer Danube; names the men who took Clark and White otf .. 62 

Cross-examination; Republican ticket composed of Southern men. 63 

TEMPLEMAN, LEROY (white Democrat): 

Residence, nativity, &c. 64 

Heard there were arms in Reams’ house. 64 

Reams states that he had them to protect his cotton. 64 

Whites go to get the arms; two come out wounded. 65 

Witness thinks the conflict In'ought on by the colored peojile. 65 

Left to report to the ladies; saw colored men with guns before election.. 65 

Saw arms among the whites after the firing commenced. 65 

Heard there were from eight to ten negroes killed. 66,67 

Did not hear of any white man being killed. 66 

The whites organized during the night for protection. 67 

Did not know any of the armed negroes he saw. 67 

Saw three dead negroes ; names of men who hunted negroes. 68, 69 

Saw the whites fire at the running blacks. 70 

Did not see a negro fire a gun or pistol. 70 

SHEPHERD, J. H. (white Democrat): 

Age, residence, nativity, and profession. 70-72 

The campaign quiet and peaceable. 71 

Knows four colored Democrats; heard drunken men make threats. 71 

School law and taxes; saw the men taken from the steamer Danube, &c.. 73-77 

Knew some of the whites ; sent one some whisky. 76,77 

The wards of the parish were changed in 1877 . 77 

SIMPSON, D. A. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &.c. 77,78 

Republican meeting at Spring Ridge was held “on Democrats’ day”. 78 

Lbisettling tenor of Republican speeches; Harper’s speech ungentlemanly. 78 

Mr. Leonard left the meeting; no ungentlemanly remark made to him... 78 

Peaceable election ; remembers five leading Democratic negroes. 79 

Did not threaten the negroes in any Avay. 79 

Democrats only advised with Republicans about the meeting. 80 

How Democrats reasoned with and converted Republicans. 81, 82 

NORWOOD, G. W. (white Democrat): 

Nativity, residence, &c.83-86 

Peaceable election at Caledonia; witness was the first man shot. 83 

Democratic history of the shooting ; witness was not armed. 84 

Went to Reams’ house ; looked under; saw the legs of 75 men; was then 

shot. 84 

General contradiction of Republican witnesses. 84, 85 

Witness states his imlitical creed.. .. 85 

Cross-examination ; only knows that he was shot. 86 

Reams’ house was 8 or 10 feet by 16 or 18 feet. 86 

AUGUSTIN, EMANUEL: 

Residence, nativity, &c. 87 

Was United States supervisor of election at Spring Ridge. 88 

Wanted to go inside the room and see the boxes .. 88 

Democratic conmiissioners said he could stay outside. 88 

Was at Spring Ridge meeting; Republicans interrupted . 88,89 

Harper driven from the stand. “Rip his belly open, God damn him”- 89 

The meeting most effectually broken up.. 90 

MONCURE, JOHN D. (white Democrat): 

Residence, profession, &c. 91 

Was actively engaged in the campaign. 91 


















































614 LOUISIANA IN J878. [Natchitoches 

Page. 

MONCURE, JOHN D.—Continued. 

Not a single disturbance came to his ohservation. 91 

The election at Shreveport perfectly quiet. 91 

No intimidation : no threats ; knew nothing about the ballot-boxes. 91 

Leonard’s speeches incendiary ; defines incendiary speeches. 92-94 

Never used three ballot-boxes before: does not know the law on the sub¬ 
ject.-. 94,95 

Regarding State election laws; knows nothing about them. 96, 97 

Police jurors ; their duties; Governor Nicholls appoints all Democrats- 97,98 

Comparative vote in Caddo Parish ; labor disorganized. 98, 99 

Twelve colored men killed at Caledonia. 100 

McNEAL, D. B. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &c.; was deputy sheriff. 101-103 

Attended the election at Caledonia:; describes the shooting. 102,103 

Was not armed; negroes fired first; saw “one nigger shot”. 103,103-105 

Never saw a more quiet election ; found about a dozen gnus. 103 

Went to Reams’ house alone ; summoned no posse. 103 

Four men followed after him; they were also unarmed.103,104-111 

Saw two or three guns among the whites when he got back. 10.5 

The guns left by the negroes “ were unfit for much use”. 106 

Made a report in the papers; stated that 20 negroes were killed.106-108-112 

Believes his report correct; how the country is settled. 106,107 

Squads of whites, armed and mounted, arrive from Riverdale, Red River 

Parish, De Soto, &c., under Captains Phillips and Thomas. 108,109 

Never saw but one box used at an election before. 110 

METCALF, M. B.: 

Residence, &c. 589 

Took no part in the campaign until the day of election. 589 

Reimblicans prevented from reaching the polls at Spring Ridge. 589, 590 

60 or 70 Republicans voted ; about 250 in attendance. 589 

The Democratic majority; all election officers were Democrats. 590 

SEAY, JUDGE W. A. (white Democrat): 

Residence, profession, &c.‘. 590 

Wrote all the editorials for the Standard during the last campaign. 590 

Had no intention to urge the party to commit violence. 591 

Principles of the White League or White Man’s party. 591, 592 

United States district attorney Leonard very much liked. 592 

The campaign measurably peaceful; parish school matters. 592, 593 

Did not mean intimidation ; only meant to carry the election. 593 


NATCHITOCHES PAEISH. 


BREDA, J. ERNEST: 

Age, residence, profession, &c. 115 

Proportion of white and colored population in Natchitoches. 115 

Served in the Confederate cavalry during tlie war. 115 

Took no part in the late campaign ; was driven away by a mob. 115,116 

Was warned by his uncle to leave within two hours. 116,’ 117 

Witness and his brother take to the woods. In the woods nearly a month. ’ 117 

Democrats threaten to hunt for them with hounds... 117 

Spirit of the Democratic press. “ Should have hung the whole crew”_ 117 

“T/m Bredas must not return.” A Democratic document they would not 

sign.. . 118,119 

Defines what Democrats call incendiarism. 119 

General line of Republican ^speeches. The parish Republican. 119,120 

Cross-examination: Parish politics; 30o whites to vote Republican ticket. 120,’ 121 

Saw 150 armed men in the mob. Names some of them. 122’ 123 

The Bredas are property-owners in Natchitoches. 123’ 124 

Recalled: Brazill’s testimony regarding witness untrue. *560 

No threats at the Breda meeting, &c. 550 

BREDA, A. P. : 

Residence, profession, age, &c. 124 

Was an assistant surgeon in Confederate cavalry. 124 125 

Tone of the Republican speeches in the meeting of September *21.!.* ’ 125 


















































Parisli.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


615 


BREDA, A. P.—Continued. 

The meeting adjourned. Republicans stopped by an armed mob. 125,126 

Republicans unarmed. No one thought of troiibie. 126 

Uncle came next day ; said we must leave in two hours. 126 

He came as a committee from 250 to 300 armed men. 126 

If we showed our faces we were certain to be shot down. 127 

How Anderson Douglass was murdered in 1876. My only speech. 127,128 

The “ assumptions’’ in the document were utterly false. 128 

Was coroner of the xtarish until driven out. 128 

Names of men in the first mob. Belonged to the White Camelias. 129,130 

BLOUNT, A. R. : 

Residence, age, &c. 131 

Was State senator when they “ gave the State away ”. 131 

The meeting of September 21st; warned that Democrats were coming to 

break it up... 132 

Goes home and arms himself; house surrounded by armed men. 132 

Ordered to surrender ; refuses; house entered by force.. 133 

Doors broken with an ax; finally surrenders; agrees to leave.. 133,134 

Family turned out of his house; is marched off to jail. 134,135 

Rumors that the negroes are assembling to rescue him. 135 

His wife goes to them and persuades them to disperse. 135,136 

Taken by an armed guard outside of town and told to leave. 136,137 

Is a Baptist minister in good standing, &c. 137 

Democrats told him that they had nothing against him but his politics.. 137 

Only two or three colored Democrats; the armed men disguised. 138 

Democrats stole all my arms and every piece of ammunition. 139 

Owns over .‘$7,000 of property; never had a charge made against him_ 139 

No fifty men can contend against the Democratic organization. 139,140 

Quarantine against yellow fever and Republicans. 140 

Cross-examination. • Names men who had him under guard. 140,141 

How he was taken out of town ; proportion of the party vote.. 142 

Republicans stay at home and attend to their work. 143 

Democrats sit in the shade and curse niggers because they won’t work.. 143 

• Democrats drew men from every surrounding parish. 143 

General tone of Democratic sentiment against the negro. 144,145 

General good character of the negroes as regards work. 146 

Owns more property than most of the men who drove him away. 140 

They came to our meeting with Winchester and repeating rifles. 146 

About thirty to forty men assembled to rescue me. 147 

Some had guns; some had pistols; one had an ax. 147 

BARRON, V. A.: 

Residence, nativity, occupation, &c... 147 

Served in the Confederate infantry during the war. 147 

Presided at the Republican meeting, September 21. 147 

Saw an armed coinjiany in line across the street; avoided it. 148 

Is ordered to leave the parish by the advisory committee. 148,149 

No reason for the order except that he was a Republican. 149,150 

Negroes showed no disposition to leave the Republican party. 150 

No personal difficulty originated the trouble. 152 

It is easy for Republicans to carry the parish in a fair election. 153 

The mayor said, “I advise you as a friend to go away”. 154 

LEWIS, JOHN G. : 

Residence, age, &c... 154 

Attended the meeting of September 21; warned to leave. 154,155 

Armed Democrats come to his house; the door kicked in. 155 

Escapes by hiding in the weeds; leaves the parish. 155,156 

Never knew but two colored Democrats in his parish -. 158 

BLOUNT, MRS. ALICE: 

Residence; Avife of Alfred Blount. 158 

House surrounded by 250 armed men. 159 

The doors forced; they came in and drove every person out. 159 

Captain Cunningham put a pistol to my head, &c .. 159 

Threatened to shoot my head off, &c. Was forced out violently. 159 

Went to squad of negroes and arhised them to go home. 159 

Blount brought home by two armed. Taken away. 159,160 

The Democrats were “ cursing and swearing”. 160 



























































61'6 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[ISTatchitoclies 


I*age. 

BLOUNT, MRS. ALICE—Coutinued. 

Heard threats. Saw threats against her husband in the papers. 160 

Heard the crowd say, ‘‘Bring him out dead or alive”. 161 

HORNSBY, J. R.: 

Residence, nativity, &c....- 161 

Was a Confederate soldier. Started to take part in the campaign. 161 

Waited upon by a committee and ordered to stop. 161 

Must not “speak to any nigger in regard to politics”. 161 

]\Iust sign such an agreement or leave the parish. 161 

How witness was indicted for assault with intent to murder. 162 

Left the parish. Has been sick. Is now in jail in the hosi^ital. 162 

His arrest illegal. How it was done. 163,164 

BOULLT, T. J.: 

Residence, occupation, &c. 165 

Was in Natchitoches at the Democratic convention, September 21. 165 

The convention adjourned to break up the Republican meeting. 165 

“ There they go now”. 166 

Recalled: Was at the Republican meeting in Judge Breda’s office, Sep¬ 
tember 14, 1878. 558 

Objects of the meeting. No threats made.. 558,551) 

CUNNINGHAM, M. J. (white Democrat): 

Residence. 484 

Has read the evidence about Natchitoches Parish. 484 

General contradiction of all “ Independent” witnesses. 434, 485 

We showed every disposition to preserve quiet, &c. 486 

Blount and his garrison of thirteen armed men. 486, 487 

Contradicts Blount. Why Mrs. Blount was taken to jail.-.487, 488, 491 

Blount showed the most abject, pitiful cowardice.,.. 488 

Blount hates white men. The woman with whom Bolunt lived. 489 

Blount’s had character and threats. 489 

Threats by other Independents. Crowds of armed negroes. 490 

Negroes organized to burn the town and kill the Avhite people. 491 

How the negroes attacked the town and were repulsed.491, 492, 514 

Nobody killed and only three or four negroes wounded. 492 

More contradiction of Blount’s testimony. 492 

Measures to arrest the Bredas and others and protect ourselves. 493 

General contradiction of the Independents’ testimony. 493, 494 

Peaceful nature of the Democratic proceedings. 493, 494 

No one killed. Three or four negroes wounded. 494 

Parish finances and high taxes..474,500,526,527, 528 

Conduct of parish officials. 495, 496 

Judge Breda’s indictment for embezzlement. 496, 512 

Negroes to burn gin-houses and kill leading citizens. 496, 497 

Democratic record of murders in the parish. 500, 502 

More contradiction of the Bredas. 502, 503 

General contradiction of Republican and Independent testimony. 503,506 

Cross-examination. Is a lawyer, &c. 506 

Was grand commander of the “298,” &c. 507 

No colored men belonged to this order. 507,508 

The trouble was Blount was in his home with 13 armed negroes. 508, 509 

We arrested Blount. The attack at Dirt Bridge. 507-511 

The attacks on the town to retake Blount. 511, 512 

The Democratic convention adjourns and goes down to disperse the mob 

(Republican convention). 512, 513 

Does not recollect the information upon which Republican leaders were 

arrested. 513-515 

General cross-examination. Colored men peaceable. 515-621 

All of Blount’s speeches incendiary. 522 

Witness considers that the United States is intimidating him. 524 

Character of Republicans and Independents. 525, 5‘26 

Certificate of Blount’s marriage shown. Knew nothing about it before.. 537, 538 

No judgments against Blount. Never failed to pay his debts. 538 

Continued cross-examination. 528-540 

HARTMAN, JOHN P. (white Democrat): 

Residence, &c. 

Is deputy sheriff.1. 540 


























































I’arisli.j SYNOPTICAL INDEX. ' 617 

Paore 

HARTMAN, JOHN P.—Continued. 

Was requested to go and disperse a negro crowd (convention). 540-543 

Negroes come to vote tlie Democratic ticket.. 541-543 

Is a member of the 298’s. It was a fair election. 541 

BREZEALE, N. P. j(wliite Democrat); 

Residence, age, &c... 544,545 

Witness and Miller go to watch the meeting at Breda’s. 544 

Going to carry the parish or have blood, &c. 544 

Is a member of the 298’s; it is a social organization. 544,545 

Cross-examination. 545-548 

MOSES, G. W. (white Democrat): 

Residence, tfcc. 548 

Contradicts Blount; was not at his house with a gun. 548 

Belongs to the 298’s; it is not a political society. 548 

STRONG, WILLIAM A. (white Democrat): 

Residence, &c... 549 

Was in Natchitoches September 21, 1878. 549 

Heard that the negroes were to gather and light. 549 

Threats by negroes; saw no armed negroes, &c. 550,551 

LEVY, WILLIAM M. (white Democrat): 

Residence, &o. 551 

Was not jnesent with a pistol at Blount’s arrest. 551 

Had no part in the arrest of Blount. 552, 553 

The conference; Breda, Barron, Lewis, Raby, and Blount to leave the 

parish. 553,554 

The only desire was to preserve j)eace. 554 

Did not go down to disperse the mob. 555 

Blount Avas arrested after the conference. 557 

Never heard anything against Blount. 557 

MILLER, JANE: 

Residence, &c.'. 560, 561 

Charles Bethel shot; his throat cut. 561 

‘‘You are the very buck Ave are sent here for”. 561 

TENSAS PAKISH. 

WARFIELD, ELISHA: 

Residence, nativity, &c.; was a Confederate; is a Democrat. 169 

Nominated a straight-out Democratic ticket; supported by Republicans. 169-173 

Intimidation by armed men ; one man murdered. 170 

Lost the election; the ballot-box stuffed. 170,171 

Independent ticket composed of the best men in the county. 171 

“ If they could not Aviu by A'oting, they could by counting ”. 171 

Hoav the vote Avas counted; counted out in other wards. 171 

The Waterproof affair caused the negroes to leave work. 172 

Parish politics ; finances in good coiulition. 173,174 

The attempted arrest of Republicans. No crime charged. 204,205 

AVhy the Independents refused to permit the arrests. 205 

Attempted intimidation. Independents arm. Barricades of cotton bales 205,206 
Captain Caun’s com])auy from Ouachita. No attack, and Avhy. 306 

FAIRFAX, ARTHUR: 

Residence, &c. I’'4 

The attac'k on his brother’s house; Fairfax runs. 174,175 

‘‘ There’s the damned son of a bitch I Avant”. 175 

TheAvhites commence shooting; Avitness escapes. 175 

The house badly riddled. Concealed for two weeks. 175 

SaAV sixty or scA'enty armed men afterAvard. 175,176 

ScA'^eral gangs of armed men ; 300 to 400 in all. 176 

Heard of men being shot and hung. 176 

The men Avere AAmlking Avhcu they came to the house. 177 

BRANCH, FLEMING: 

Residence, age, &c. 1^7,178 

Was at Fairfax’s Avhen the attack Avas made on his house. 178 


















































618 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 


Page. 

BEANCH, FLEMING—Continued. 

The whites open tire on Fairfax; Will Singleton shot. 1-^8 

Witness shot by Goldman, a white Democrat. 179 

Escapes; is wounded in the hack and arm.. 

Singleton lived six days. Will Kennedy wounded in eight j)laces. 179 

Captain Peck was shot by his own party. 179 

Not a shot tired from the house... 180 

Describes the house from a diagram. 180 

Captain Peck shot Will Singleton. 180 

Never heard any reason for the attack. 180 

Cross-examination by Senators Garland and Bailey.-. 181-184 

KENNEDY, DANIEL: 

Eesidence, age, politics, &c. 184 

AVas at Fairfax's when the attack was made .. 185 

Story of the attack; is shot and wounded in eight places. 185 

Had to stay in the woods. Thinks seventy or eighty men were killed in all. 185 

The killing commenced Tuesday, after the attack on Fairfax. 186 

Cross-examination. Charley Bethel, Monday Hill, Bob Williams, and 

Louis Postaway were killed. 185 

l.ADD, MES. ANNA: 

Eesidence, &c... 187 

Was visiting at Mr. Fairfax’s when his house was attacked. 187 

The gentleman run by me and commenced firing on Fairfax. 187 

Mrs. Fairfax, myself, and another lady ran out to the woods. 187 

Saw fifty armed white men the next Tuesday. 187 

Saw Billy Singleton Sunday; “he was right bad off”. 183 

EOSS, EEBECCA: 

Eesidence, &c. 188 

Knew Alfred Fairfax; was at his house when it was attacked. 188 

They came into the house and l)egan to shoot; I ran out. 188 

Heard white folks talk about colored people being killed. 189 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland... 189-190 

Saw Daniel Kennedy and AA'illie Singleton after they were shot. 190 

WALLACE, VIOLETTA: 

Eesidence, &c.. 191 

KneAv Alfred Fairfax; he is a minister; was at his house when it Avas 

attacked. 191 

The Avhite men fired at him and missed him... 191 

Saw AVillie Singleton after he was shot.. 191 

AVe heard the men Avere coming, but did not belieAm it. 191 

Saw armed white men riding through the parish. 192 

Monday Hill, Eobert AVilliams, Dick Miller, Mr. PostaAvay, Jim Stanford, 

and others were killed. 192 

They say they Avere killed by fhe bulldozers. 192 

I saAV Charlie Bethel; he w'as shot and his throat Avas cut. 192 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland. 193 

Did not see Fleming Branch until after he was shot the next day. 193 

BLAND, LUCIEN: 

Nativity, age, business, &c. 193.194 

Served in Confederate cavalry; aLvays a Democrat. ’ 194 

AVas Independent candidate for sheriff in Tensas Parish. 194 

Our ticket would have been elected if there had been a fair election .... 194 

Hoav armed men attended the meeting at AVeatherly’s. 194,195 

Threats, arrests, and general intimidation of Independent voters. 196’, 197 

How the Independent ticket Avas counted out at poll No. 1. 198 

Cross-examination by Senators Garland and Bailey. 198,199 

Threats against the Independents. The Independents’ card. ’ 2 OO 

Eecalled: The quarantine; it Avas used for political purposes. *201 

Threatened arrest of Eepnblicans. Notice not to arrest them. .. 201,202 

The Independents’card. Democratic papers would not publish it. 202-204 

McGILL, JAMES: 

NatiAuty, age, residence, business, &.c. 207 

Eelates his political creed and experience. 207 208 

Negroes excited by the attack on Fairfax. Some of them arm. 208’ 209 






















































Parisli.] SYNOPTICAL INDEX. ' 619 

^IcGILL, JAMES—Continuecl. ^ 

MJtness disperses them. They go to work next day. 209 

Slaughter arrested by sixty armed Avhites.. 209 

They seared him “ into tits.’’ He promises to vote the Democratic ticket 209 

The Fairfax matter caused the negroes to arm.. 209,210 

Recalled : Corrects some newspaper statements. 212 

Necessary evils. The armed while men were strangers. 212,21.3 

“You sliall vote the regular ticket, or you shall not go to the polls 213 

“ He may he eh'cted, hut he will never live to fill the office ” . 213,214 

"Witness causes Independents to he Avariied. 214 

How the “militia” came in after the Waterproof affair. 214 

“ Militia ” from Mississippi. J. Floyd King in command. 214,215 

He Avas the Democratic candidate for Congress. 215 

AVhen the negroes “saAV the dust” they would run away. 215 

J. Floyd King’s campaign in Tensas.1.215-218 

“ShoAV me a negro Avho Antes the Democratic ticket and I aauII sIioav you 

either a hyiiocrite or a fool ”. 21(1 

IrAuiig Avhiiiped hy King’s men. Why IrAung denies it. 217 

Captain Cann’s company from Ouachita coming. 217 

Douglass negotiates Avith J. Floyd King ; end of his campaign. 218 

Reinihlican meeting. Weatherly’s to he hroken up. 219 

“ Please keep Uncle Jim from going to that meeting”. 219 

“ Uncle Jim ” goes to Weatherly’s. AdA'ises the Independents to go homo 219,220 

The ladies said, “Hold a meeting, and if attacked, fight”. 220,221 

Meets the “ famous huggy hiigade.” All the men armed. 220 

No trouble at Weatherly’s. Preparing for election. 220, 221 

The Blands ahandon the campaign. The election..:. 222,223 

The Indei)endent ticket counted out. 223 

Cross-examination hy Senator Garland. 223 

General character of the Democratic candidates. 223,224 

The election Avas quiet. All are noAV friendly. 224 

Witness came to testify with great reluctance. 225 

Ex]dains Avhy he sent the letter to his son, &c. 225,226 

Threats against Fairfax and J. Ross Stewart. 226,227 

McGiiLL, J. D.: 

Residence, occupation, age, &,c. 210 

The Indei)endent ticket started. Bulldozing commenced. 210 

Republican meeting hroken up hy a “huggy brigade”. 211 

A negi’o Avhipped. Cordill’s threats. 211 

Hoav the Independents were counted out.211,212 

SaAV tAventy-six Independent tickets go in at one time. 212 

Only fourteen Independent tickets counted. 212 

Election officers all Democrats.... 212 

Recalled. Explains the quarantine. 227 

Why the planters generally faAmred the quarantine. 228 

The quarantine A'ery strict before the Republican conA^ention. 229 

The quarantine raised just before the Democratic couA'entiou. 229 

Cross-examination hy Senator Garland. 229 

WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON: 

Residence, natiAuty, &c. 230 

Rejmhlicans dare not hold a convention or put up a ticket. 231 

Makes tAVo speeches for the ludependents.231,232 

Life threatened hytlie Democrats. Hunted hy the huggy brigade.232,233 

Republicans take to the AAmods. “They AA'ere skeert almost to death”-233,234 

SMITH, DUNCAN C.: 

Residence, age, business, &c . 234 

Sustained the Bland (Index)endent) ticket. 2 J4 

Ihnnocrats refuse to couqmnnise on a ticket... ^ 234 

The Index)endent ticket nominated. The hunt for Fairfax .235,236 

Heard of some one being shot here, and there, and eA'ery\A'here. 236 

Charley Bethel shot. Throat cut afterward. 236 

Monday Hill and Robert Williams hung... 236 

William Hunter dragged to death AA'ith a rope around his neck. 236 

Dick Miller hung in the woods. His mother and Avife cut him down. 236 

SmallAvood droAvned. Little Charles Carroll killed. 236 

Starrer and Postehvaite shot and killed.236,237 



























































620 LOUISIANA IN 1878. [Tensas 

Page. 

SMITH, DUNCAN C.—Continned. 

Parish full of armed men. Couldn’t find woods and hushes enough to liide 

from them in.. 

Saw some armed negroes after Fairfax was attacked. 237 

WALKER, ROBERT J.: 

Residence, business, &c. 2^8 

Is a Republican. Was a member of the legislature. ^ 238 

Much excitement up to the time Fairfax was attacked... 238,239 

Why he advised Republicans in a card to vote the Democratic ticket.... 240,243 

RUTH, C. E.: 

Residence, nativity, age, politics, &c. 243 

Supported the Bland and Douglass ticket (Independent). 244 

Companies of armed men in the parish. 244 

Ashury Epps broke and run. He Avas shot. 244 

Perry Johnson knocked down with a gun. 244, 245 

Advised the i^eople at Dr. Weatherly’s to go home. 245 

Republicans worse alarmed than if an army was passing. 246 

Negroes have some pot-metal shot-guns. —.. 247 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland. 247 

How Jackson, a Republican, signed the Democratic roll. 248 

Men who signed that roll got ceidificates of x)rotection. 248,249 

RALSTON, COL. GEORGE: 

Residence, iiatiAuty, business, &c. . 250 

Is a Democrat; was on the Independent ticket.. 250 

Saw armed white men. Fairfax and parish politics. 251 

The whites were a regularly organized military com]5any. 252 

Not one negro in ten but oavus a pot-metal shot-gun. 252 

The attack on Fairfax had a bad etfect. Labor leaving the country_ 252 

Labor greatly needed in the parish. Republicans afraid to Amte. 254,255 

Defines “Carpet-bagger”. “We do not like scalawags ”. 256,257 

Expresses general dissatisfaction. 257,258 

ANDERSON, WILLIAM H.: 

Residence, business, politics, &c. 2.58,259 

Saw armed bodies of men in the parish. 259 

Meets an armed company; slips off his horse into the woods. 259 

Negroes all take to the Avoods ; no cotton j)icked for two weeks. 260 

Negroes join the Daylight club and get a protection. 260 

ROLLINS, WILLIAM D.: 

Residence, nativity, politics, &c. 261 

Was on the Independent ticket. 261 

Saw Captain McCann and 250 armed men .. 261,262 

The presence of armed men intimidated the negroes. 262 

A deputy sheriff with an armed posse at the polls. 262,263 

The ballot-box taken at Saint Joseph by armed men. 263 

No count before the box Avas taken ; Independent ticket acknoAvledged to 

be elected. 263 

Witness demanded a count j none was made. 263 

LOSCEY, J. R.: 

Residence, nativity, &c. 264 

Is a clerk in a store ; has no politics. 264 

Was one of the sheriff’s posse to go to Waterproof. 264 

The sheriff and Judge C. C. Cordill Avere along . 265 

Men from other parishes in the posse, &c. 265 

The posse had an advanced guard in front. 265,266 

Near Bass plantation guard said they had been fired on. 266 

Did not hear any shots. 266 267 

Company marched to the front and opened fire on negro quarters. 266 

SaAv a dozen negroes running. Saw tAvo negroes wounded.266,267,268 

No Avhite man hurt. Saw no guns among the negroes. 268, 269 

The Franklin Company Avas provided for by the citizens. 269 

Witness contradicts .Judge Cordill’s published statement that there were 

300 or 400 negroes at the Bass xdantation. 269 

Found three or four pistols in the lane. No gnus. 270 

Took no xiart in the iiolitical contest. 270 






















































ParisL.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


621 




WITSON, FRANK: 

Residence, business, &c. 270 

Supported the Bland (Independent) ticket. 270 

Democrats hunt for liim. Hides in the woods. 271 

Saw companies of armed men. Names of some of them. 271,272 

Finally left the parish. Dare not return. 272,278 

Is now doing the worst thing he ever did, “Telling the truth”. 273 

Saw a body of negroes; some had arms; sent them home. 273 

ROSS, SPENCER: 

Residence, occupation, &c. 274 

Armed men coming to break up the Republican i)arty.. 274 

Learned they were after him and left the parish. 274,275 

Returned to vote. Had to vote the Democratic ticket. 275 

GRIFFITH, WILLIAM H.: 

Residence, business, &c. 276 

Was justice of the peace and postmaster. 276 

Left the parish after the attack on Fairfax. 276,277 

Returned to the parish after election. Was told it was safe. 278 

Jolm Higgins hung by a mob, because he knew too much. 278 

Received warning from friends ; left the parish again. 278 

Dr. Andrews said Fairfax “ would be hung up some night”. 278,279 

Democratic account of the attack on Fairfax.. 279,280 

Republicans did not intend to force the quarantine. 280,281 

Cross-examination: Heard the guns at Fairfax’s. 281 

Names of men who told him they were coming for him. 281 

More Democratic accounts of the trouble at Waterproof. 288 

No colored men were out at all, as stated in the accounts.. 284 

jNEWELL, V. H. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &c. 284 

Is a member of a ride-club, “formed for s^iort and pleasure”. 284 

The election was iieaceable ; there was no violence to white or black_ 284 

Laborers prosperous ; no one left the x>iantatious. 285 

There was no disturbance ; is not a xjolitician. 285 

Cross-examination: Ride-club all Democrats. 285 

Saw armed negroes; they were going down to Waterproof. 285 

Their threats to kill and burn as they went. 285 

Saw the negroes after Peck was killed; they were in squads. 286 

Saw them all on the banks of Lake Saint Josei>h. 287 

Believe there was a Rexniblican convention held there that day. 287 

Circular “to the xjeoxde of Tensas Parish”.. 287 

’EEVES, L. D. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occuxmtion, &c. 287 

Is chairman of parish Democratic executive committee. 287 

Witness gives his oi)inion of parish politics. 288,289 

Captain Peck’s exiiedition to Fairfax’s; Peck shot down. 289 

Unfortunately some colored peoi)le were wounded, “and iierhajis one after¬ 
ward died, as I have been informed”. 289 

From that time it became a nice issue... 289 

Tlie sheriff called in a x) 0 S 8 e of a considerable number. 289 

A scene of slaughter like San Domingo prevented. 289 

Thinks Judge Cordill issued a xiroclamatiou.. 290 

The election quiet and peaceable; no one interferred with. 290 

How Cordill and Register joined the Democratic party. 290,291 

Some colored men nominated for constables. 291 

Republican offers of a comi^romise ticket declined. 291,292 

Rumors about what the Rex)ublicaus would do. 293 

Tlie Fairfax affair; Peck lived 25 miles from Wateiqiroof. 293,294 

Why witness thinks Peck came on a peace mission. 294 

He had no special interest in Waterproof or Tensas. 294 

“I understood he brought 20 or 25 men”. 294 

Witness was sick and only knows by common report..295,296 

Only knows by rumor about 200 or 800 armed negroes at Bassi’s Lane- 296 

Witness wns sick in l)ed and continued to hear only by rumor. 297 

Saw some armed bodies that had come from other ])arishes. 297 

The great distances traveled by these companies, and the number of each. 298,299 
Witness finally hears that five men Avere killed. 299,300 


























































622 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Tensas 
Pajre. 

EEEVES, L. D.—Coutiuiied. 

Did not hear that any white man was kilhal. 300 

Cotton-gin was burned after the atfair at Bass’s Lane. 300 

Governor Nicholls’s message made part of the record. 300 

Governor Nicholls on Louisiana outrages. 300-303 

The visit of these men to Fairfax was utterly wrong—“Governor Nicholls’s 

message”. 302 

AVitness unprepared to say that governor’s opinion is not correct. 303 

No Republican organization authorized ; Cordill and Register to act. 304 

The Democratic convention refused to receive propositions from the Re¬ 
publican convention. 304 

A warrant was issued for Fairfax, because of Peck’s death. 305 

No warrant over issued for the whites because of the negroes killed. 305 

Record of Cordill and Register. 306 

WATSON, T. J. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &c.-.. 307 

AVas commissioner of election at Saint Joseph. 307 

Three Democratic commissioners; no Republican. 307 

Only one ticket in the field until late election day. 307 

After Captain Peck’s death saw 400 to 500 negroes.307-311. 312 

Sheriff Register went down with a posse of eight or ten men. 308 

AVent down to Bass’s Lane; was one of Ihe advanced guard. 308 

Negroes fired fifty or one hundred shots at the guard.308, 309, 310-314 

AVe had orders not to fire; raised a white flag. 308 

The boys charged them; they fled. . 303 

“.They had old shot-gnus; I knew they couldn’t hit us”. 308 

Cross-examination; all white Republicans joined the Democrats. 309 

There were 7 or 8; but only Cordill and Register joined. 309 

The advanced guard did not rush back when fired on. 309 

Saw at least a hundred negroes; witness fired in fhe air. 310 

Judge Cordill’s official report; he had fifty men. 310 

AA^as fired on ; returned the fire, killing and wounding 8. 310 

AA'itness thinks Judge Cordill mistaken.. 310 

Did not see any negroes in Bass’s Lane, it Avas so dusty. 312 

Cotton-gin fired Avhen the shooting comnienced at Bass’s. 313 

Negro Avoinen with sacks and bags to sack the toAvn. 313 

The companies from the parishes couK-i in. 314 

Ne\'er heard of Fairfax making a political speech. 316 

Does not know Avhether Cordill’s or Governor Nicholls’s account is correct.. 316 

The quarantine; no trouble about getting labor. 316, 317 

DISE, DAA'ID (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &c. 317 

The election was peaceable; the quarantine. 317 

Knows nothing about armed men going to Fairfax’s. 317, 318 

Know Griffith (W. H.), the postmaster; Avhy he left..... 318 

AAltness’s cotton-gin Avas burned; Avas afraid to go to it. 318, 319 

Saw 700 negroes; they had guns; some of them Avere mounted. 318 

AA'^itness never talks politics; kee])S ammunition. 319 

Negroes did not buy more ammunition than usual. 319 

Never prosecuted Miller and McDeer Avho burned the cotton-gin. 319 

Could not find them ; heard that Aliller Avas killed. 320 

The “big pile” of negroes that AA'ere going to sack the toAvn. 320 

Good character of Fairfax. 321 

SaAV the big crowd of negroes the day of the Repuhlican convention, &c. 322 

SIIAIFER, H. F.: 

Residence, occuj)ation, &.c. 32(5 

The campaign Avas peaceable Avith exception of AAbatequ-oof riots.! 326 

Describes the quarantine; commands the Quarantine GuaiAls. 326, 327 

Republicans threaten to break the lines and hold a com-ention. 327^ 328 

A large armed body come ; about tAventy ; arms not efficient. 328^329 

The armed Avliite men collected, they said, to defend theniselA^es. 33o| 331 

Recalled: AATiy and hoAV delegates Avere permitted to pass quarantine to 

attend Democratic coiiA'ention. 303 

Documents relating to the quarantine in Tensas Parish. 323, 325 

BRYANT, SENATOR A. J.: 

Residence, &,c. 33*2 

AATiy Republicans made no nominations .. 332,333 

























































SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 623 

BRYANT, SENATOR A. J.—Continued. 

Democrats to carry tlie election by any means; threats. 333 

The Republican convention held in the road. 333 

Took no part in the campaign. A man shot. 334 

ITow witness promised to vote the Democratic ticket. 334 

A'^oted the Democratic ticket. Life threatened by a Democratic committee. 334, 33.5 

The committee was armed and had a rope. 335 

Cross-examination. 335, 336 

THOMAS, ABRAM: 

Residence, nativity, &c. 336, 337 

Never saw such trouble before in any campaign. 337 

Was fired on near the Bass plantation; escaped. 337 

Charley Bethel shot; ‘‘Cut his God damned throat”. 337 

“Please, gentlemen, don’t cut my throat”. They cut his throat. 338 

“It was the dreadfullest sight I ever saw in my life”. 338 

“I have been away ever since”. 338 

Cross-examination: “Ho was half an hour there, breathing hard, before 
he died”. 338, 339 

DEWING, CHARLES: 

Residence, &c. 339 

Was United States supervisor (of election). 339 

AYeut to the polls early. “They refused to let me in where the boxes 

were”. 339 

“They said I could stand outside”. 340 

How the Democrats made the count. 340 

“SaAV two dead men at Caledonia next day”.. 340 

“They were pretty badly eaten up by hogs and dogs”. 340 

The dead man in the river with two bullet-holes through him. 340 

STEAA^ART, J. ROSS: 

RevSidence, official position, &c..... 341 

Informed that Ludeling (Republican) was to be killed. 341 

Threats against witness. “Some morning you will want to wake up and 

can’t”. 341,342 

Negotiations with the Democrats. “AVe want no compromise”. 342 

Tlie Democratic convention; secret session. 342, 343 

“AA’^e will elect this ticket if we have to go through fire to do it”. 343 

Threats. “They didn’t notify Fairfax as Mr. Bryant said in his testimony 

yesterday,” &c. 343 

Sachse’s telegram; Stewart and Fairfax have drawn the color line. 344 

The Independent ticket. The quarantine ..•. 344 

AVituess attacked and beaten. The “mission of peace”. 344 

“I want to clear up a point about Register’s men being down to AA’'ater- 

proof so early”. 345 

Captain Peck’s intentions in coming to Fairfax’s. 345 

Judge Cordill: “Any man who gets in my way has got to fight”. 345 

Cordill’s methods of controlling negroes.. 345,346 

How witness’s wife becomes a spy ; witness escapes. 346 

No quarantine against the whites. 346, 347 

The great number of armed whites. Men from Mississippi. 347 

The killing occurred after the Republicans had come from the convention. 347 
Dick Miller, Bob AATlliams, Monday Hill, Dick Smith, and John Higgins 

were hung.-.- 347,348 

Lewis Postelwaithe, James Starrer, AA’'illiam Hunter, Billy Singleton, Hi¬ 
ram AATlson, AVash Ellis, and Asbnry Epps were shot. 347,348 

Commodore Smallwood was drowned. 347, 348 

Daniel Kennedy and Fleming Branch were wounded. 348 

How a white man got a whipping. 348, 349 

Cross-examination. 349-351 

MOSES, H. (white Democrat): 

Residence, occupation, &c. 399 

Has heard the testimony of Mr. AVest; state of unrest after the affair at 

Fairfax’s. j^99 

Armed negroes—one thousand—passing on Sunday and Monday. 399 

Their threats; they would outrage women and children. 400 

Never was any trouble before the affair at Fairfax’s. 400,401 

Heard there was to be a Republican convention on Alonday. 401 

Did not know any of the negroes who were marching. 401 





















































C24 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Concordia 


Page. 

MOSES, H.—Continued. 

Cannot tell who made threats,* no attack was made. 401, 402 

White men from Saint Joseph came to our rescue Tuesday... 402 

Fairfax was leading a peaceful, orderly, quiet life. 403 

The excitement among the negroes might have arisen from the attack on 

Fairfax. 403 

Comi)anies from Natchez (Miss.), Catahoula, Ouachita. 404,405 

Heard that Miller was hung... 406, 407 

PECK, MRS. AMY L.: 

Residence, &c... .1 . 453 

, Husband was killed October 12, 1878, in Tensas Parish. 453 

He left to go to the store at Cook’s Ferry.. 453 

He left no jiapers, &c... 453, 454 

COOLIDGE, WILLIAM: 

Residence, &c .. 454 

Parish politics ; Judge Cordill’s threats. 455, 457 

Witness’s experience, 4 fe.c.; was coroner.,. 455, 456 

Colonel Rivis’s threats, &c. 457 

Was arrested for trespass; tried and acquitted.•__ 457 

Two hundred men voted Bland ticket; thirty votes returned. 458 

The men were hung for political views..•._ 458 

Cross-examination. 460-464 

MILLER, WINNIE: 

Residence, &c. 464 

Found her husband hung ; cut him down and buried him.464, 465, 466 

Saw him in charge of Register and Cordill... 464, 465 

Robert Buckner and Sol. Buckler whipped. 465 

Husband was accused of burning the cotton-gin. 466 

He was in his house when the gin was burned... 466 

Cross-examination. 466-468 

HILL, ELIZA: 

Residence, &c. 469 

How and why her husband (Monday Hill) was hung... 469,470 

WILLIAMS, HENRIETTA: 

Residence, &c. 470 

How and why her husband was hung. 470-472 

BUTLER, SOLOMON: 

Residence, &c.‘. 473 

How Jim Stafford was found shot and his throat cut... 473-475 

Cross-examination. 476 ^ 477 

BUCKNER, ROBERT: 

Residence, &.c .1 . 478 

Witness tells how he was whipped. 478, 479 

Postelwaite and Tarby shot.•. 473 ’ 479 

Three men hung. Why they were hung. 479 ’ 480 

Cross examination. ’ 431 

NEELY,, JOEL N.: 

Residence, &c. 43 ]^ 

Parish politics; the quarantine... 481 432 

Witness was to be arrested; keeps out of the way. 482^ 483 


CONCORDIA PARISH. 

KEENALL, ELIJAH: 

Residence, business, &.c.... 

Is coroner of the parish; seven persons killed there. 

Held inquests on the bodies of six; five hung; one shot. 

They were Doc. Smith, John Robinson, Charley Carroll, Peter Young, 

Wash. Hillis, and Hyams Wilson, all colored.. 

Account of the murders. Commodore Smallwood drowned. 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland. 


355 

355 

355 


355 
355-357 
357,358 
















































Parish.] SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 625 

WASHINGTON, GEORGE: 

Residence, age, &c. 358 

Saw a body of armed and mounted men on Davis’s Island. 358,359 

They take five or six horses; witness’s horse taken. They have got him 

yet”. 358,359 

They hang Doc. Smith ; his arm i)roken ; could hear the bones crackle... 359 

Cross-examination by Senator Bailey. 360 

JOHNSON, THOMAS A.: 

Residence, nativity, &c. 360, 361 

Voted at Frogmore precinct. About fifty men could not vote. 361 

Theywere told they were not registered. The ballot-boxes taken by armed 

and masked men. 361 

Republicans had a majority in that precinct. 361 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland. 361, 362 

RANDOLPH, M. T.: 

Residence, &c . 362 

Was at Frogmore on election day. The ballot-boxes taken by armed and 
masked men. 362 

.JOHNSON, CHARLES W.: 

Residence, Arc. 363 

Armed men ride through the parish. Colored men frightened. 363 

About fiftv Republicans prevented from voting. They had been regis¬ 
tered. ..r. 363,364 

The Republicans counted out in the parish. 364 

Cross-examination by Senator Garland... 365, 366 

LINCOLN, CHARLES: 

Residence, &c. .366 

About forty people could not vote at Vidalia. 366,367 

YOUNG, DAVID: 

Residence, Ac. 368 

Was candidate for the legislature. Says he was elected. 368 

Republicans beaten by registration and by count. 369, 370 

I have lost all confidence in the ability of the administration to protect 

the lives of my people down here”. 371 

Cross-examination by Senators Garland and Bailey. 372-375 

Vv'ALTON, GEORGE L. (white Democrat) : • 

Residence, Ac. 375 

Candidate for the legislature. Was elected. 375,376 

No persons were prevented from vuting. 376 

Heard about the ballot-box being broken up at Frogmore. 376 

Seven or eight blacks to one white in the parish. 377 

How voters are registered and poll-lists kept. 377, 378 

SAINT MARY’S PARISH. 

NEWMAN, G. R. M.: 

Residence, Ac. 331 

Is parish clerk; supported the Herbert Republican ticket. ^381 

Many Republicans could not register on account of quarantine. 381 

Sheriff warns witness that his office is to be raided by Democrats. 381 

Witness’s office entered and poll-books destroyed. 381, 382 

Recorder’s office entered, poll-lists and taliy-sheets destroyed. 382 

Witness’s house entered; is assaulted by armed men. 382 

One man was shot; leaves the parish. 382, 383 

Result of the election. Why frauds were committed. 383, 384 

Cross-examination; more about the assault and shooting.384, 385, 386 

CRAIGHEAD, EDWIN: 

Residence, Ac. 387 

Is connected with the New Orleans Times; examined into the alleged 

outrages. 387 

The sheriff’s (recorder’s) office was forced and the returns taken. 387 

The night assault and attempt to murder Newman. 387, 388 

One of the attacking sipiad fatally wounded by his own party. 388 

Cross-examination: lias been stating his own conclusions. 388,389 

40 T 










































626 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Pointe Coup^o 


Page. 

MERCHANT, W. B. : 

Residence, &c. 

Is attorney of the third judicial district of the State. 390 

Went to Saint Mary’s to investigate the alleged outrages. 390 

The attack on Newman; rifle shot through the head of his hed. 390 

Young Tom Wilson killed hy own party. The evidence. 390, 391 

Wilson’s family do not care to have it investigated. 391 

The election returns were destroyed. 391 

GORDA, MINOS T. : 

Residence, &c. 392 

Was captain of artillery in the Confederate service.*- 392 

Has been sheriff six years. Was re-elected at last election. 392 

Rlaced the election returns in the recorder’s safe.‘ 392 

The clerk’s and recorder’s offices forced. Returns destroyed. 392, 393 

How returns were finally made. The attack on Newman.... 393, 394 

Newman fired at while in hed. Ball jmssed between him and his wife— 394 

Tom Wilson mortally wounded. Not known how he was wounded. 394, 395 

Uross-examination: Everybody knew the Republican ticket was elected. 395 
There Avere rumors during- the day that the returns were to be taken- 395 


POINTE COUPfiE PAEISH. 


McGOWAN, RANDALL: 

Residence, occupation, &c. Isa Republican. 411 

Republicans to be hung up if they organized. 411 

House surrounded by armed men. Witness surrenders. 411,412 

Twice knocked down. “ O, Ben : don’t murder that man before his wife ”. 412 

Frank Murdock’s wife tied up by the thumbs; she would not tell where 

her husband was. 412 

Levi Wells taken out and Avhipped. Paley Power’s.wife dragged around 412, 413 

LeA'i Sherman, a minister, shot AA'hile coming from church. 413 

They ‘ jab ” old man Abrams, eA en in his ju’iAates, Avith their ramrods . 413 

Witness is finally turned loose. Promised to bring colored men to be put 

on the Democrat rolls. 413, 414 

Witness leaves home. The search for him... 414 

Louisiana courts. FiA'e men hung, to scare the negroes. 414, 415 

Witness’s case in court. Some of the bulldozers on the grand jury. They 

did not find a bill. 415 

Witness Avarned to leave the parish. The election. 415) 

How negroes A oted the Democratic ticket. 416 

Rufus Mills killed because he would not A'ote the Democratic ticket. 416 

Owns 74 acres of land. It is paid for. Left his croj) in the field. 416 

Cross-examination: Names of some of the bulldozers. 417 

Might just as Avell be ifiaced in hell as in jail. 418 

SaAV a man taken out of jail and shot aTid cut to pieces. 418 

A Avoman whipped nearly to death. 418 

Ahvays got along peaceably Avith Avhite people. 418 

GAMMON, CLAIBORNE: 

Residence, occupation, &,c.; is not a politician. 419 

General bulldozing. Five men hung; buried in one hole. 419,420 

“ It Avas as if it had never been ” ; “ colored }>eoi)le dare not speak of it 420 

Colored men compelled to vote the Democratic ticket or not A'ote at all.. 420, 421 
Thomas Mitchell taken out and given three hundred lashes. 421 

PAINE, ANDREW: 

Residence, &,c. 422 

Had to leave the parish. Saw the five men that were hung. 422-424 

Cross-examination: 1 was playing “straight-hang-doAvn-your-head- 
level,” and got along Avell... 424 ^ 405 

DE CUIR, GATIEN: 

Residence, &c.; is representative in the legislature. 425 

Was sheriff during the last campaign. 425 

Heard that some })arties Avere whipped ; one Avas LcaT Allen. 426 

Randall McGoAvau is one of them; he is here in town. 426 










































I’arish.] SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 627 

Paco. 

DE CUIR, GATIEN—Continued. 

Ain satisfied five men were hun<; ; two white men killed. 426,427 

One had been arrested; was killed while trying to escape. 427 

“A man was taken from the jail at night and killed”. 427 

“ Heard that there was a good deal of whipping in the upper end of the 

parish”. 427 

AViiy and how the five men Avere arrested and hung. 428, 429 

XEW OELEANS PAEISH. 

WALKER, CLEMENT L.: 

Residence, nativity, &c.; was a member of the Confederate engineer 

corps. 433 

Was a member of the executive committee of the Citizens’ Association ... 433 

Why the Citizens’ Association was formed. 433 

The election in New Orleans. How managed by the Democrats. 434,435 

The count in most instances was made in secret. 435 

Ballots changed and others substituted. Fraudulent registration. 435 

One-half or more of the business men supported the Citizens’ Association. 435 

Was not a candidate. The association formed for local purposes. 436 

Character of the organization, and why it was formed. 436 

Votes cast for the association candidates counted for the Democrats. 437 

Repeaters. Impossible to tell what the true vote Avas... 437,438 

One candidate on both tickets was counted out, also, by 2,000 Amtes.. .438,439, 444 

Democrats going to make those opposed to them sick of it. 439 

Citizens not alloAved representatives at the jaoIIs.438, 440, 445 

LaAv pro Andes that commissioners shall be apiAoiiited from each party.... 440, 441 

Action of the Democrats under this laAV... 441, 442 

Small rooms used for polling-places so as to prevent witnessing the count. 445 
The Democratic administration a good deal of a disappointment. 445, 446 

BELL, M. A.: 

Residence, iiatiAuty, &c. 446 

AlAvays been a Democrat since the war. 446 

Why the Independent moA'emeut Avas started. 446,447 

It is our impression that there Avas not a fiiir count. 447 

Thinks Mr. Walker’s testimony a correct statement of the facts. 447 

Thinks a large number of A'otes Avere counted in excess of registration... 448 

• 

LOUISIANA STATE STATISTICS. 

TABLE NUMBER ONE : 

Census of 1870 and 1875 by races; registration of 1874; entitled to vote 
per State census of 1875—by Wm. G. Brown.565, 566, .567 

TABLE NUMBER TWO: 

Similar table by the secretary of sta te. 568,569 

TABLE NUMBER THREE: 

Official statement of registered Alters for 1878 . 570,571 

TABLE NUMBER FOUR: 

Official A'ote for state treasurer. 571,572 

TABLE NUMBER FIVE: 

Official vote for Congressmen.572,573,574 

TABLE NUMBER SIX: 

Official vote for State senators. 575-578 


TABLE NUMBER SEVEN: 

Official vote for State representatives 


578-585 































628 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


DOCUMENTAEY EVIDENCE. 

Pago* 

TENSAS TROUBLES: 

Democratic account; correspondence between Governor Nicliolls and 

Judge Cordill. 597,598 

The Republican account at the time. 598^)00 

Governor Nicholls’s account. 600-603 

CONCORDIA TROUBLES: 

Joseph Lambert’s affidavit... 603, 604 

MURDER OF THE ‘‘DANUBE” WITNESSES: 

The warrant.. 604 

Jeff Cole’s affidavit that Clark and White were taken from him by armed 
men, &c. 605 

NATCHITOCHES TROUBLES: 

Extracts from the Democratic press. 605 

PLEDGES: 

Governor Nicholls’s pledges..•. 606- 

The leg]vslatlire’s pledges. 606, 607 











INDEX OF WITNESSES. 


Augustin, Einanucl, Caddo. 

Anderson, Williana H., Tensas. 

Barron, V. A., Natchitoclies. 

Bell, D. A., New Orleans. 

Blackman, Charles, Caddo. 

Bland, Lucien, Tensas... 

Blount, A. R., Natchitoches. 

Blount, Mrs. Alice, Natchitoches.: 

Boult, T. J., Natchitoches. 

Boult, T. J., Natchitoches (recalled). 

Branch, Fleming, Tensas... 

Brazeale, N. P., Natchitoches. 

Breda, A. P., Natchitoches. 

Breda, J. E., Natchitoches. 

Breda, J. E., Natchitoches (recalled). 

Brown, Monroe, Caddo. 

Bryant, A. J., Tensas.. 

Buckingham, A. P., Natchitoches. 

Buckner, Robert, Tensas. 

Butler, *8olomon, Tensas. 

Camnion, Claiborne, Pointe Couple. 

Coolidge, AVilliam, Tensas. 

Craighead, Irwin, Saint Mary’s. 

Cunningham, M. J., Natchitoches... 

De Cuir, Gatien, Pointe Couple. 

Dewing, Charles, Tensas. 

Dise, David, Tensas. 

Fairfax, Arthur, Tensas. 

Gorda, Minos T., Saint Mary’s). 

Griffith, William H., Tensas. 

Harper, William, C-addo. 

Hartman, John P., Natchitoches. 

Hill, Eliza, Tensas. 

Hornsby, J. R., Natchitoches. 

Johnson, Charles W., Concordia. 

Johnson, Thomas A., Concordia. 

Kennedy, Daniel, Tensas. 

Kemall, Elijah, Concordia. 

Ladd, Mrs. Anna, Tensas... 

Leonard, Albert H., Caddo. 

Levy, William A., Natchitoches. 

Lewis, John G., Natchitoches. 

Lincoln, Charles, Concordia. 

Loscey, J. R., Tensas. 

McGill, James, Tensas.. 

McGill, James, Tensas (recalled). 

McGill, J. D., Tensas. 

McGill, J. D., Tensas (recalled)... 

McGowan, Randall, Pointe Couple. 

McNeal, D. B., Caddo. 

Merchant, W. B., Saint Mary’s. 

Metcalf, M. B., Caddo. 

Miller, Jane, Natchitoches. 

Miller, Winnie, Tensas. 

Moses, G. W., Natchitoches.. 

Moses, H., Saint Mary’s.. 

Moncure, John 1)., Caddo. 

Moore, Vernon, Caddo. 


Page. 

ST 

258 

147 

446 

47 

193 

131 

158 

165 

558 

177 

544 

124 

115 

560 

57 

332 

558 

478 

473 

419 

4.54 

387 

484 

425 

339 

317 

174 

392 

276 

24 

540- 

469 

161 

363 

360’ 

184 

355 

187 

3 

551 

154 

366 

264 

207 

212 

210 

227 

411 

101 

390 

589' 

560 

464 

548 

399 

91 

43- 





























































630 


INDEX OF WITNESSES. 


Neely, Noel, Tensas... 

Newell, Y. H., Teusas. 

Newman, G. R. M., St. Mary’s. 

Norwood, G.W., Caddo. 

Paine, Andrew, Pointe Conp 6 e.... 

Peck, Mrs. Amy L., Tensas. 

Ralston, George, Tensas. 

Randolph, M. T., Concordia. 

Reeves, L. D., Tensas. 

Rollins, William D., Tensas. 

Ross, Spencer, Tensas... 

Ross, Rebecca, Tensas. 

Ruth, C. E., Tensas. 

Seay, Judge W. A., Caddo. 

Shaifer, H. F., Tensas. 

Shaifer, H. F., Tensas (recalled)... 

Shepherd, J. H., Caddo. 

Simpson, D. A., Caddo. 

Smith, Duncan C., Tensas. 

Stewart, J. Ross, Tensas. 

Strong, William A., Natchitoches.. 

Templeman, Leroy, Caddo. 

Thomas, Abraham, Tensas. 

Thorp, Lafayette, Caddo. 

Walker, Clement L., New Orleans. 

Walker, Robert J., Tensas. 

Wallace, Violetta, Tensas. 

W'alton, G. L., Concordia. 

Warfield, Elisha, Tensas. 

Warfield, Elisha, Tensas (recalled) 
Washington, George, Concordia... 

W^atson, T. J., Teusas. 

Williams, Ben., Caddo. 

Williams, Henry, Caddo. 

Williams, Henrietta, Tensas. 

Williams, Washington, Tensas.... 

Witson, Frank, Tensas. 

Young, David, Concordia. 


Page. 

481 

284 

381 

83 

422 

453 

250 

362 

287 

261 

274 

188 

243 

590 

326 

322 

70 

77 

234 

341 

549 

64 

336 

29 

433 

238 

191 

375 

169 

204 

358 

307 

59 

52 

470 

230 

270 

368 


o 








































45th Congress, 
3d Session. 


SEKATE. 


( Keport 855, 
( Part 2. 


SOUTH CA-ROLUSTJ^ IlST 1878. 


REPORT 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE 


TO INQUIRE INTO 

ALLEGED FRAUDS AND VIOLENCE 

IN THE 

ELECTIONS OF 1878, 


WITH THE 


TESTIMONY AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


VOLUME II. 

SOUTH CAROLINA AND MISSISSIPPI. 


WASHI^TGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1879. 








THE SOUTH CAROLIi^A COMMITTEE. 


Senator H. M. TELLER, Chairman 
Senator ANGUS CAMERON 
Senator S. J. KIRKWOOD 
Senator JOSEPH E. MCDONALD 
Senator T. F. RANDOLPH 


JAMES REDPATH 
W. E. CREARY 
J. COYER 
JAS. L. McCREERY 


- Clerk. 

Scrgcant-at-Arms. 

Stenographers. 


Colorado. 
Wisconsin. 
Iowa. 
Indiana. 
New Jersey. 








CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 


rage. 

Title. I 

Members of South Carolina committee. II 

Report of the committee... See vol. I 

State at large. 3 

* Charleston County. 11 

Sumter County. 273 

Williamsburg County. 399 

Georgetown County. 487 

Orangeburg County. 493 

Richland County. 523 

Kershaw County. 583 

Barnwell County. 601 

Beaufort County. 631 

Colleton County. 641 

Hampton County. 687 

State of Mississippi, third Congressional district. 699 

State of Louisiana, Tensas Parish, supplementary. 763 

Index of testimony. 779 

Index of witnesses... f 805 


*The evidence of Mr. Brown, p. 118, should have preceded the tables, Yol. I, p. 565, Louisiana testi¬ 
mony. 




























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SOUTH CAROLINA. 


THE STATE AT LARGE. 


ELECTION" OE 1878. 




















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THE STATE AT LARHE. 


JOHN L. WEST. 

Washington, I). C., Fcbruan/ 7, 1870.. 

John L. ^^"EST ((‘olored) sworn and exaiiiiiied. 

Tlio Eiiatrman. I want to offer in evideiuie the Od section of tlie act 
of March 1878, relating to elections and the apixhntinent of commis¬ 
sioners in South Carolina, which reads as folloAvs: It shall be the duty 
of the governor, and he is hereby anthorized and em])owered, at least 
sixty days })rior to any sn(*h election, to appoint two boards of (‘ommis- 
sioners of election, consisting of three members each for each (*onnty* 
both j)olitical parties shall be represented. One shall be a])])ointed and 
designated as commissioners of election for i]iembers of Congr(‘ss and 
Presidential electoi*s; the other as ctmnnissioners of election for State 
and comity officers.” 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Columbia. 

Q. IIoAv long have you resided there?—A. Except with temporary 
absences, since October, 1870. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late ])olitical (‘am})aign ?—A. I was 
secretary of the llepublican State executive committee, in corresxmnd- 
eiK'e with each county of the State. 

Q. Did you make any a])])li(!ation in behalf of the Pejiublii'ans for an 
apiiointment of (*ommissioners of election in the various counties ? If so, 
state what you did, and the result of your application.—A. 1 did make 
such api)li(*ation. I>y direction of the liepublican State executive com¬ 
mittee, I corres])omied with the county Ke])ublican chairmen of eai'li 
(‘onnty in the State, requesting them to send to the State committee 
their choice as commissioners to reiiresent them at the election. On the 
4th day of September, I think that is the date, we had the list com- 
pletiHl, and I took it dowm to the exeiaitive office to present it to Cov- 
ernor Ilamiiton, thiough his ])rivate secretary. I was informed by his 
])rivate secretary that the governor was absent, I think, at Cash’s Val¬ 
ley. I was referred by him to (jemwal Kennedy, chairman of the Dem- 
ocratii; State executive committee. He said the a])i)ointments were dis¬ 
cretionary with General Kennedy. I asked, ‘‘Does not the law reijuire 
the governor to make these a])])ointments He reiieated that the mat¬ 
ter was h‘ft discretionary with General Kennedy. 

Q. Did you understand him to say that General Kennedy was to make 
the a])i)ointments, or was to reimmmend the appointments to the gov¬ 
ernor'?—A. lie said the appointments were discretionary with General 
Kennedy. I remember his exact words. Prior to seeing the si'cretary 
I had gone into the office of the secretary of state, and learned that dur¬ 
ing his absence they received and forwmrded Iris mail; and I learned 
from the secretary’s clerk that most of the commissions, if not all, had 
been made out for the (commissioners. He showed me the list. I saw 
the list of Keiiublicans. I remonstrated against those a|)i)ointments, 
stating that they were not representatives of our party. I told him that 
1 held the only list. He said he had no voice in the matter. Subse- 


4 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[State at 


<Hiently, on asking of the private secretary from wliat source these rec¬ 
ommendations came, I was told tliey came from the Democratic com¬ 
mittee. 

Q. Tlie recommendations as to wlio should be tlie lleiniblican com¬ 
missioners came from the Democratic executive committee ?—A. Yes, 
sir. Of tlie thirty-two recommended ljy the Republican executive com¬ 
mittee there were but six or seven appointed. The others were ap])oint(ul 
first because Jlamjdon had promised to aiipoint them before the list 
jiresented by us had been submitted. 

(j). ATiat was the character of the Republican commissioners a])])ointed, 
so far as you know'?—A. So far as I could learn from (*orrespondence 
with the chairmen of the different county committees, many were not Re- 
])nblicans at all—were Democrats; many who were not professed Demo¬ 
crats were under Democratic influence ; many who were acknowledged 
Rejiublicans Avere illiterate—in many instances unable to read or Avrite, 
and consequently entirely unht to represent any party in such it position. 
In two or three instances, at least, hoiia fide Iteiiublican commissioners 
tendered their resignations because at the meetings of the board of 
commissioners they Avere not uIIoaa ed any Aoice in nominating one man 
as manager at eacli precimd. While the hiAv does not in the letter so 
state, it Avas considered to be the s])irit of the hiAv that such should be 
doue. It had been the iiraidice liefore that, Avheu the Republicans AA'cre 
in ])OAver, to alloAV thed)emocrats one member at each box. This had 
been the jiractice for at least two or three elections before. So some of 
the Repulilicans tendered their resignations to the governor through the 
Republican State executiA'e committee. 1 knoAv this liec'ause I, as sec¬ 
retary, addressed their resignations to the gOA^ernor. The Republican 
commissioner of Richland County, in which the city of Columbia is 
situated, John AgreAV, refused to seiwe because the commissioners would 
not allow him to nominate one manager at each box. He considered 
himself as being left to be nothing but a figure-head, and therefore re¬ 
fused to serve. He tendered his resignation in person to GoA'ernor 
Hampton. 

Q. You learned these facts of the objection to these commissioners 
ivom corresiKuidence as secretary of the State executiAC committee?—A. 
Yes, sir; I will state that there came into the possession of the committee 
ju'otests from seA^eral counties as to the apiiointment made of commis¬ 
sioners as representatives of the Republican party, all of Avhich Avere in- 
tendeil to be embodied in one general protest and forAvarded to the gov- 
mmor. But they never Avere, because I, as reiireseiitatiA'e of the committee, 
learned directly from IMr. AgncAv himself the unfair way in aa IucIi he had 
been treated. From this and other circumstances Ave became thoroughly 
coiiAdnced that Ave could get no redress by any apiieal that Ave nught 
make, and, therefore, Ave refrained from iiresenting our protests. Never¬ 
theless they Avere forAvarded from seA^eral counties. 

(,). After the appointments Avere made !—A. Yes, sir; AA'hile the law 
said that appointments should be made sixty days prior to election, the 
goA'criior, had under the law the poAver to remove and rea])i)oint. In* 
fact it did occur iu one or tAvo iiistam^es, AAdiere parties had tendered 
their resignation, their places aa ere supiilied by other so-called Republi¬ 
cans. But they Avere Republicans of no better type than those Avhose 
places they took. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

(I How long have you been secretary of the Republiiain State execu¬ 
tive committee ?—A. I Avas appointed on the 7th of May last. 


Large. ] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN L. WEST. 


Had you any association witli that committee prior to tliat time,?— 
A. Tlie last ei^^iit years I have served with that committee in one way or 
the other, hut never before as secretary. 

(^. Have you been familiar with the practice of that committee for 
seven or ei^ht years ]mst?—A. I could not say of my own knowledj»e 
that I know much of the inner workings of the committee. My associa¬ 
tion with it has not been such that I could be thoroughly well informed 
as to its management. Sometimes I was a])pointed to take tickets to 
the different counties; sometimes 1 was the messenger of the committee 
for other purposes; but in this way I learned littie or nothing of the 
inner workings of the committee. 

Q. You do not know that under Eepublican administration in this 
State—under the administration of (tovernor Chamberlain and that of 
(lovernor iVloses—the State Democratic committee made a])plication for 
the ap])ointmeiit of commissioners to represent the Democratic party, 
under the laAv, and’that those governors did not make the ai>pointments 
as recommended by the State Democratic committee ?—A. Of my own 
knowledge I don’t know that. 

Q. Have you not heard so?'—A. To the contrary, I had heard that 
there had been representatives of eacli party a])])ointed. In the Creen 
campaign, 1 think it is, if my memory serves me aright, when (lovernor 
Moses was at the head of the government, there was a Kadi cal Ke]mb- 
lican party and a Creen party and a straight-out Democratic party. Kut 
the straight-out Democratic party made no nominations, but coalesced 
with the Creen Kepiiblicans. It was generally understood that Moses 
intended to appoint one commissioner to re])resent each party—one for 
the Kepublic.ans, one for tlie regular Democrats, and one for the fusiou- 
ists. 

Q. Did Covernor Mos(‘S or (lovernor (Uiamberlain fnlfdl the advice or 
request of the Democratic State committee in regard to the appointment 
of commissioners ?—A. I (!Ould not say as to tliat. I don’t know of my 
own knowledge. 

Q. For the past seven or eight years you have resided in Columbia, 
have you not?—A. For some of the time I resided in the u]>])er part of 
the Stat(L 

Q. Whereabout in the u])per part of tlie State?—A. In Chester; I 
have made my home between Columbia and (diester. 

Q. Yow, I wish you to refresh your memory before yoTi answer the 
question that I am about to ask you: You have spoken of the appoint¬ 
ment of commissioners by Covernor Ilamjiton, who were aiipointed as 
being nominal Kepublicans, yet Avho were not recognized as Kepublicans 
by the Kepublican State committee, and you have spoken of them as be¬ 
ing unfit because of their illiteracy, and for other reasons. Do yoii not 
know that under Covernor Chamberlain commissioners were ai)])ointed 
that were conspicuously unfit for the same reasons ? You have been 
for six or seven vears in the employment of the committee during the 
canvass, and you must have known, therefore, of the appointment of 
some of these commissoners, and of their characters!—A. No, sir; not 
of my own knowhidge. 1 believe in some instances there were men a])- 
])ointecl on the different boards who were illiterate; perhaps on an 
average one u])on each board; but insomuch as there were tliree com¬ 
missioners, two of whom were Kepublicans, I have reason to believe that 
at least one Ke])ublican on each board was a man of intelligence and 
character. Kut we had but one Kepublican this time. 

Q. You have s])oken of the governor’s secretary having said to you 
that the appointment of these commissioners had been relegat(*d to 


6 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[State at 


Genenil Keimedy. Are you not mistaken in saying’ tliat the secretary 
told you the appointment had been given to General Kennedy ?—A. I 
Avill repeat his exact words, verbatim, and add what my inference was, 
that you may see whether I drew a correct inference or not. When I 
subiintted the list of appointments which I did, I think about the 4th 
day of September, the clerk told me that the governor was absent. 1 
said, ‘‘Gould you not have the matter attended to?” It Avas a matter 
of considerable importance, for it Avas already nearly the time for the 
appointments to be made according to the laAV fixing the limit of sixty 
days. Some of onr county chairmen had been tardy in their response 
to the call made upon them for names to be sent in. The secretary said 
tlie governor AA^as absent at Cash’s Valley. I explained to him the 
necessity of immediate action, AA’hereupon the secretary said, “You 
must see General Kennedy; the appointments are discretionary AA'ith 
him.” Those Avere his exact Avoids. 

Q. Koav you had some knowledge of the hnv concerning these appoint¬ 
ments, and you knew that the ap])ointments were Avith the governor, 
did you not ?—A. Yes, sir; I asked that A^ery fpiestion of Mr. Manning, 
the gOAxrnor’s private secretary. 1 said, “ Does not thehiAV re(iuire the 
goA'crnor to api)ointr’ and he said, “The appointments are discretion¬ 
ary Avith General Kennedy.” On the next day, the oth of September— 

Q. Are you sure that he did not refer to the selection of the Demo¬ 
cratic members of the commission ?—A. I knoAv to the contrary, because 
it Avas in reference to the list of Eepublicans, Avhich I held in my hands 
and submitted to him, that tlie ansAA er was given. The conversation 
between him and me Avas distinctly in reference to the aiipointment of 
Ivcpublican commissioners. I had seen the recommendation of the list 
of Kepublicans aa hich the Ecpublican executiA^e committee had not recom¬ 
mended. Our coiwersation Avas in reference to these recommendations. 
I said, “ The State Eepublican execiitiA'e committee is the only channel 
through Avhich these recommendations should come.” There Avas no 
possibility of his mistaking my meaning, or of my mistaking his mean- 
ing. 

Q. The gOA^ernor never told you any sucli thing ? —A. Ko, sir. I Avent 
once or tAAuce to see him, but he Avas absent from the city, and I had to 
see his representative—his priA ate secretary. 

Q. Do you not laioAV that, Goa ernor Closes, in 1874, changed the whole 
board of commissioners ?—A. After they Avere first apjiointed '? 

(^. Yes, sir.— A. As my memory serA'es me, there Avere partial if not 
complete changes. 

Q* Do you knoAv Avhy tliose changes AA’erc made ?—A. Kot of niA’ oaa'U 
knoAvledge. 

Q. Do you not knoAv that they Avere made in ])ursuance and (*onsum- 
mation of a bargain Avith Governor Moses ?—xV. I have no personal 
knoAvledge. 

Q. You have spoken of the Avanf of Eepublic^anism of certain of 
the comipissioners appointed by the governor as Eepublicans. Koav, 
AA liat was your test ? How do you knoAv they were not Eepubli¬ 
cans ?—A. As 1 previously said, my information and the list furnished 
me came from correspondence Avitli the county Eepublican executive 
committees. Many of them were embodied in the protests Avhich they 
sent to us, asking us to see if Ave could not get changes made and haAX‘ 
the men appointed that they had recommended, saying such and such 
parties aa ho have been appointed are not Eepublicans; they Avere men 
Avho had in some instances voted with the Demoerats in the election of 
’76, and had proclaimed Democratic political tenets ever since; men who 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN L. WEST. 


Large.] 


7 


were under Democratic influence, or who were illiterate, as the case 
might he. 

Q. Do you not know that the members of some of the Eepublican exec¬ 
utive committees, some of the very men with whom you communicated, 
had themselves, in 1874, favored the Green movement?—A. I cannot 
bear in mind now, sir, a single county chairman- 

Q. I said members of any of the county committees.—A. The county 
executive committees were composed of the county chairman and the 
precinct chairmen. We, of the State executive committee, have but very 
little knowledge as to who the present chairmen are. 

Q. So that really the recommendations come from a single individual 
in each county ?—A. 17o, sir; not at all. We sent communications to the 
county chairman to call a meeting of the county executive committee, 
composed of the county chairman and the precinct chairmen, supposed 
to be representatives of their repective precincts. Their recommenda¬ 
tions were sent to the State executive committee as coming from the 
county executive committee, composed of the chamnan of the Ee]>ublican 
executive committee and the precinct chairmen, acting together. It is 
the recommendation not of one man, but of the entire county executive 
committee. 

Q. From whom did you get the recommendations as to Charleston 
County ?—A. We got it, I think, from the chairman of the Charleston 
County Eepublican executive committee, Mr. C. C. Bowen. 

Q. Do you feel pretty sure of that ?—A. I feel pretty sure, sir. I can 
tell by referring. I have the letter with me. 

Q. Did you not get that recommendation from Mr. Mackey ?—A. Xo, 
sir; we did not. 

Q. Who was the man that was recommended ?—A. Mr. Warren E. 
Marshall. 

Q. What relation does he hold with Mr. Mackey ?—A. He is clerk to 
the district attorney, and Mr. Mackey is assistant district attorney. 

Q. Are you sure you got the recommendation for him from Mr. 
Bowen ?—A. I am perfectly confident of it, sir. I have got the letter 
from Mr. Bowen, nominating Warren E. Marshall, with me here. I 
brought it on purpose that I might exhibit it to the committee if they 
desired. 




CHARLESTON COUNTY. 


SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 
















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CIIARI.ESTON COUNTY. 


JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 

WASiimaTON, D. C., Fehnmry 4, 1871). 

James B. Camebell (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. How long have yon resided in South Carolina ?—Answer. 
Since 1826. I went there when I was eighteen years old, I think. 

Q. Of what State are yon a native ?—A. Of Massachusetts. 

Q. What is your profession ?—A. I am a lawyer. 

Q. Have you been practicing your profession in South Carolina ?—A. 
1 was a teacher for four or hve years before being admitted to the bar. 
Then I went to Charleston, and was admitted in 1831 or 1832. 

Q. Yon have been in practice since ?—A. Yes, sir ; ever since. 

Q. With what political party have yon affiliated ?—A. My first vote 
was cast with the Union party in the nullification contest; then I voted 
with the Democratic party. From General Jackson’s down to this time 
1 have never affiliated with any other party. 

Q. Have yon held any ])nblic position in South Carolina ?—A. I have 
been a member of the legislature very often, and Senator-elect—or was 
in ’66 elected to the United States Senate. 

Q. By what political party were yon elected; by the Democratic 
party ?—A. I don’t know wliether yon could assume that. The State 
was all one party at that time. I Avas elected a Democrat, and was op¬ 
posed by Ex-Governor Manning. 

Q. Democrat also ?—A. Yes, sir; I think my vote Avas more than 
three to one over him. 

Q. Have yon taken any part in political matters recently ?—A. I was 
recently a member of the State senate to fill an nnexpired term. 

Q. When Acas that ?—A. I was elected in ’77. 

Q. From Avhat county aa ere yon elected ?—A. From Charleston 
County. 

Q. Of which branch of the legislature were you a member ?—A. Of 
the senate. 

Q. To fill an nnexpired term ?—A. Yes, sir; the nnexpired term of 
Mr. Gilliard. He Avas a Republican, and I think was induced to resign 
by some complications; I ne\"er understood Avhat. He has since gone to 
Liberia; he Avas a colored man. 

Q. Were yon a candidate in the recent election ?—A. I aa as. 

Q. Upon Avhat ticket were yon running, and in what Avay ?—A. I Avas 
running as an independent candidate ; as a Democrat. 

Q. Kow you may state AAhat induced you to run, and the circum¬ 
stances, if "you choose.—A. Well, sir, the inducement in 1877 grew 
-out of a circumstance Avhich may be of some interest. At the elec¬ 
tion of 1876 the Republicans elected their ticket by a majority, I 
think, of about six thousand—their legislatwe ticket. The members 



12 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187S. 


[ Charleaton 


of the house were all ejected in a body, upon the ground, as I always 
understood it, that the white people had been intimidated; that there 
had been an unfair election. After that, there being a very few re])re- 
sentative Kepnblican men, a movement was started among some Eepub- 
licans to run a ticket which should not be a party ticket. Well, it was 
a party of respectable and conservative men. The chairman of the com¬ 
mittee finally wrote to our committee offering to do that. 1 had a good 
deal to do with advising in connection Avitli some prominent men. Mr. 
Meninger was one of them; he approved of it and so did many of that 
sort of people. Mr. Bowen was chairman of the Bepublican commit¬ 
tee, and he prepared and wrote a letter to the Democratic (jommittee 
making that proj^osition, and he gave a list of fifty names of such as he 
meant, and he wound up by saying that he did not mean to confine it to 
that list, but any of that sort of people would do ; I think they were all 
Democrats. I had this pretty inucli at heart, because t thought it in¬ 
sured a good representation and a fusion of parties, and the obliteration 
of party lines, for really in Charleston the Kepublicans have not enough 
proper men to represent a party. 

AVell, that was rejected 5 it was never introduced and never went to 
the people. I was away at the time of the. election to fill the vacancies 
occasioned by the ejection of these members. I was in New York, and 
was indignant, because I thought itAvas meant to run the party by fraud 
and violence, inasmuch as they had rejected this offer to place them on 
their ticket. I think there is a majority of Bepublicans in Charleston 
County of iiot less than 5,000; there were 0,000 in the election of 1870. 
AYlien this Amcancy was created I alloAved my friends to put mein nomi¬ 
nation ; indeed I Avas a party to it, and avowed at that time I didn’t 
care whether the party put me in nomination or not; I didn’t care; I 
AA^as in AVashington attending the Supreme Court, and their coiiA^ention 
unanimously nominated me, and I seiwed a year in the senate. I liaA^e 
a copy of the letter that the Kepublicans Avrote to the Democrats. 

Q. You may produce it.—A. (Witness produced letter.) I was in 
AYashington at the time the Democratic coiiA^ention met here, last Sep¬ 
tember, I thinli it was, and I was not, properly speaking, before the 
(ionvention, and I determined not to be a candidate at all. Aly family, 
Avho were North, also understood that, and my friends understood it. I 
could not have been a candidate before the convention, because I AAmuld 
not accept the terms upon Avliich the nominations Avere made, which 
Avere that no one should recei\^e Republican Amtes. It seemed entirely 
AATong, because there was no doubt about the Republican majority; so 
I would not take the pledge. AYlien I got back I Avas reminded of the 
pledge I made in the senate, that I aa ould go before the ccmntry on the 
(iuestion of the law that aaui-s called the voting-precincts hiAV, wliich Avas 
passed in the legislature, and which I had opposed. 

Q. ITease explain that.—A. Well, the explanation was this: They re¬ 
duced the number of precincts so that the Alters (most of them poor 
and haAung to Avalk) AAmuld, in many instances, liaA^e to go twenty or 
forty miles to get to the polls. In my OAvn county there aaus a very fla¬ 
grant instance of that near Charleston, in one of the divisions of the 
county formerly known as Saint Andrew’s Parish, which consisted of 
mainland and James Island, that is opposite Charleston. There were 
six precincts in the parish. They reduced them to one. They left one 
voting precinct on James Island, at Dill’s Bluff’, Avhere tliere had been 
less Amtes taken than at any other of the precincts, showing that it AA^as 
not populated A^ery much, and could not be easily approached. AAYll, I 
denounced this in the senate wlien I discoAxred it (I discovered it acci- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 


13 


dentally), and they iininediately restored every one of the precincts on 
my motion, without any opposition. Nobody "said a word. A day or 
two afterwards the bill came back from the house with these amendments 
rejected, and then it appeared that it was a part of the machinery. Gen¬ 
eral Gary, representing the Democratic committee at Oharleston, appeared 
before the senate and announced that they desired to have the bill 
passed, whereupon they did pass it. I said I wonld go before the com- 
mnnity and denounce the fraud, and I did that. General Gary said he 
did it at the instance of the chairman of the Democratic coininittee of 
Charleston, a member of the bouse of rei)resentatives. 

Q. Was that Mr. lUiist t —^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear any discussion in the house on the bill ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv wliat reasons were given there for its sui)port?—A. 
1 knew what reasons were given in the senate, and Mr. Buist stated them 
to me in person, saying that if they would pass that bill and Governor 
Hampton would appoint men as commissioners that they would name, 
that they would carry Charleston County. Tliat was the reason. 

Q. Did this bill apply to other comities besides Charleston !—A. It 
applied to the lower country very much. I don’t know about the upiier 
country. It applied to Beaufort, and they made a fuss about it—the 
members from that region of country. It was, about the time that the 
vote was to be taken upon the bonded debt question. The Bepublicans 
had generally favored i^iaying the bonded debt, and these members from 
that region had, I understood from high authority, stated they would 
not vote ui)on the bonded debt question until the precincts were restored; 
and it was said there was some dissatisfaction among the members of 
the h ouse of the Beaufort region. I think the precincts were restored; 
but somehow or other, in the passage of the bill, in being ratified and 
engrossed, they were again left out. The Beaufort members had voted 
ui)on the bonded debt question satisfactorily, but I understood that the 
precinct bill was not the same as it was when it passed the house. 

Q. That refers to the Beaufort question ?—A. Yes, sir. I have a list 
of the precincts of the county here, and the vote that was taken in 1870. 

Q. You may give it. 

(The witness produced the following table:) 


Xumher of Bepuhlican votes cast in the election o/1878 in Charleston County. 


Precinct. 

1 

! Governor,!). 
H. Cham- 
healaiu. 

Presidential 
elector, C. 
C. Bowen. 

Kemarks. 

Ward 1— 




City Hall. 

300 

306 


Church street. 

237 

238 


Ward 2— 




Court-House. 

277 

277 


TTnion Star, E street. 

489 

489 


W ard 3— 




Market Hall. 

203 

208 


Palmetto, E street. 

218 

220 


Inspection and Washington streets. 

306 

311 


Ward 4— 




Comet engine-hoxise. 

313 

312 


Stonewall engine-house. 

385 

393 


Hope engine-house. 

478 

482 


Ward 5 — 




Eagle engine-house. 

430 

431 


United engine-house. 

363 

366 


W ard 6— 




Washington engine-house. 

609 

612 


Marion engine-house. 

193 

196 


Ice-house. 

291 

293 


























14 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[Chai'lcsiton: 


Xunihcr of RepuhVican rotes cast in the election of 187G in Charleston County —Continued. 


Precinct. 

Governor, D. ; 

H. Cham¬ 

berlain. 

i 

! 

Presidential 

Elector, C. 

C. Bowen. 

Remarks. 

Ward 7— 




A.shley eiigine-lionse. 

298 

299 


W ai d 8— 




Magara eiigine-bonse. 

774 

775 


James Island— 




Dill’s Bluff. 

23 

23 


Baptist Church. 

32.5 

325 


Cut Bridge. 

173 

173 


Wadmalaw— 




Camp Grounds. 

204 

204 


Euteriirise. 

280 

280 


John’s Island— 




Ruslilaml. 

58.5 

585 


Andell’s Store. 

162 

163 


Campbell’s Church. 

245 

245 


Edisto— 




Calvary Church. 

323 

323 


Kisiht’s Store. 

476 

475 


Saint John’s Berkeley — 




Strawberry Ferrv. 

360 

360 


Biggin Church. 

361 

364 


Black Oak. 

361 

361 


Calamus Pond. 

380 

380 


Pineopolis.. 

1 

1 


Goose Ci’cek— 




Four-Mile House. 

273 

273 


Whaley’s Church. 

582 

582 


Mount Holly. 

199 

199 


Summerville.. 

295 

297 


Wassaniasaw Chapel. 

40 

40 


Hickory Bend. 

188 

190 


Cross-Roads. 

68 

68 


Saint Andrews— 




Red To]) Church. 

310 

310 


Club House. 

344 

344 


Lamb’s Farm. 

41 

41 


Saint Thomas and Saint Dennis— 




New Hope Church. 

160 

160 


Ben I‘otte.r’s... 

4 

4 


Muster House. 

3.54 

350 

« 

Christ Church— 




Mount Pleasant. 

120 

121 


Four-Mile Church. 

4.54 

4.54 


Wa])petaw Church. 

313 

313 


Saint James Santee— 




Thirty-two-Mile House. 

129 

13^ 


Board Church. 

233 

234 


Dutart’s (Teek. 

65 

66 


Henderson’s Store. 

31 

31 

. 

Saint Stephen’s— 




De])ot. 

225 

224 


Pineville . 

148 

148 


Blackville . 

31 

31 


Total..*. 

1.5, 030 

15, 086 



Statk of Sorrii Carolina, 

(Jfficc of Secretary of State. 

I, R. M. Sims, secr<dav.v of state, do certify that tlie above returns of votes cast in 
!L?eneral election of 1870 for D. II. Chamberlain, for governor, and C. C. Bowen, as 
Presidential elector at large, all in Charleston County, are correc.t, as shown by copies 
of said returns now of record in this office. 

Witiie.ss my hand and the seal of the State, at Columl)ia, this 9th day of Amoist 
1878, and in the 103rl y(air of American Independence. ' ^ ’ 

‘ H. SIMS, 

Secretary of State. 


The Witness. Tlie last column in pencil-marks is my own, and gives 
the AT)te tor Ham])ton. 

if ITow is Dill’s Blutf with reference to the apjiroaches ?—A. It is cut 

































































County.] TESTIMONY OF JAMES B, CAMPBELL. 15 

off by Wappoo Cut^ a navigable stream^ and I think there is no ferry or 
bridge over it. 

Q. IJo you know whether the precincts Avere increased in some of 
those counties?—A. No, sir; I don’t. I never examined, except as to 
my own county, and what I told about Beaufort County came incident¬ 
ally to me. 

Q. XoAv, to come doAvn to your campaign of 1878, if you choose. —A. 
Well, I had returned from the North, and I found that it Avas made a 
point of honor upon me to be a candidate; and that is the AA'hole story 
of it. I was committed to do so, and my friends claimed I should be a 
candidate, and I announced myself as a candidate without waiting for 
any nomination. I had A^ery little to do Avith the campaign personally. 
I do not think I solicited a vote at all in any one instance, and I don’t 
recollect that I Avas put to a dollar’s expense. I did not have any sepa¬ 
rate tickets printed. I Avas nominated by the Eepnblican coiiA^ention by 
acclamation. I thiid^ they never informed me of it at all except through 
the papers, and I never accepted nor rejected it. I Avas seA^erely criti¬ 
cised by the Charleston NeAvs and Courier, and finally they got up a 
crowd of itinerant orators from the country to come down and abuse me, 
in which every one joined except Governor Hampton. He did not. 1 
remember A’ery Avell that they reminded me of a remarkable passage in 
Virgil, AAiiich i recollect reading AAdien a boy, about the descent of the 
Harpies. It was A^ery much such a sort of feast. The next daj^ I AATote 
a letter to the A^oters of the county, and it was published in the NeAvs a 
day or tAvo afterAA ards. 

Q. Is this the letter (letter produced) ? —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Ho you know anything about the election and the result, *kc. If 
so, you may state about it.—A. I have forgotten Avhat the result Avas. 

Q. Every fact is correctly stated here?— A. Yes, sir; I AA^ould like to 
liaA^e it in ev idence. 

(By consent of the committee, the folloAAung letter AA^as put in evidence:) 

# 

AIR. CAAIPRELL’S letter IX DEFENSE AND EXPLANATION OF HIS ATTITUDE AS A CAN¬ 
DIDATE FOR l{E-ELECTION TO THE STATE SENATE. 

To the Democratic Voters of Charleston Count if: 

Ten days ago I addressed yon to aniiomieo iny.selt‘ a candidate for re-election. I did 
so to r(‘deeni a ])ledge made on tlie door of tlie .senate. 

I liad promised, when the time should come, that I would take yonr judgment 
whether the enactment of the A'oting ]>recincts law is not, as I then charged, in da- 
grant violation of solemn pledges made by ns in 187(), and continned from that time 
till now; and, also, whether snch a law is or is not the ])ro]»er policy of onr party. 
The execntive committee of this county, without notice or consnltatioii with me, rep- 
re.sented by (General Gary, the senator from Edgefield, had asked the passage of that 
law in behalf of the Democracy of Charleston Comity. 

I had denied that yon would approve it. At the. date of my card I had jnst returned 
from a ])rOtracted a'bsenci*, was under the pressure of deferred professional engage¬ 
ments, had been (tefianthj reminded of my iiromise, and was thus suddenly constrained 
by self-respect, as well as deep i>olitical conviction, to accept instantly a position I 
had hoped to avoid. 

There was then no time to tell yon the reasons which moved me. 

Having lost the tirst and best opiiortnnity to open and state my case, I have waited 
till the onset of criticism, denunciation, threats, and abuse has wasted its fnry to tell 
yon calmly what I think and to vindicate the position I have taken. I shall do it nn- 
rnttled bv the frantic harangues and ravings of Thursday night. The onslaught of 
orators iiivitial for the s])ecial purpose, by Avhich the patronizing np-conntry would 
im]>r«*ss itself njion Charleston, doi's not disturb my serenityL 

Their imhn-ent and harmless threats will not frighUm her merchants. I conld have 
afforded to accept for mvs(df far more abuse and greater severity, if they would have 
done themselves, for the sake of the State, more Justice by less vulgarism. 

I shall not put the Jiftitu/ cap ni)on tlu^ deserving head. I am not the public execn- 
tioner. Ha', ing said this much, I now ri'spectfnlly submit my case. 


16 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


A year a;»’o I was put in nomination by my friends, in tlic old-fasliioned way, to till 
an nnexpired term in the State senate. 

I accpiiesced and accepted the nomination just as I was leaving tlie State on a pro- 
‘fessional engagement at Washington. During my absence the Democratic comity 
convention met and nnanimonsly ratified the nomination. This was done without 
one word or sign from me to induce it. 

No ])ledge was required of me to abide by its action. It was well understood and 
known that I would give none, and would act independent of the convention and 
committee in the matter of receiving votes from any quarter that might offer to sup¬ 
port me after I had lieen put in nomination. 

As to my opinions upon jniblic affairs generally, and especially as to the policy of 
the party with respect to tlie colored vote, they were also well known, and for that 
reason I suppose I was not asked to make any jdedges. They were open to be ex- 
pr<‘ssed to the convention, to its committee, or to individuals, high or low, tliat should 
ask. There never was a more pronounced independent candidate than I was when 
the convention adopted me. Its members knew it perfectly well. There could not be 
a representative more thoroughly indei>endent of the open dictation or the true in¬ 
wardness of the close corporation which at this day gov(*rns the Democracy with a 
political tyranny unsurpassed and never liefore attempted in this State. I was elected 
without opposition. During the last session of the legislature a bill came from the 
house reducing the number of voting ])recincts in this county. It came without any 
notice to me from its promoters. Daring its reading my attention was called to so 
much of it as applied to our county. 

The number of ]>recinct8 were reduced about one-third in the city and about two- 
thirds in the country, compelling the A’oter in some instances to make a round journey 
of even forty miles, others of twenty, twenty-five .ami thirty miles, .and in the greater 
number of cases from five, ten, and fifteen miles. Most of the voters are laboring 
men, poor, and without means of transport.atiou. 

In Saint Andrew’s Parish, consisting of .lames Island and the main territory, the 
poll on the main w.as abolished, and that on the island only retaine<l, with a navi¬ 
gable stream to cro.ss, and no bridge nor regnlarly-ke])t ferry. I called the attention of 
the senate to these omissions, .and moved their restoration. 

It Avas done, and the .amembnents made Avithont objection or a dissenting voice. 

Upon further iiiA^estigation I found that the time for kee[)ing the i)olls, com}>ared 
Avith the number of Aa)ters, ma<le it next to impossible to receive all the A otes, and 
quite e.a.sy for partisan managers to defeat the largest part of the Amtes. 

Thus the time alloAved is seven hundred andtAventy minutes. On John’s Island the 
number of A'oters is not less than one thons.and. There is noAV but one ]>recinct, tAvo 
li.aAnng been abolished. The time therefor alloAA^ed to each A oter for the required 
oath, statement of naine, residence, registr.ation, and for such ([uestions as any one or 
all of the managers may please to ask, is less than forty-fiAX seconds, less than three- 
qn.arters of .a minute. 

Is .any further explanation necessary ? For the honor of Ch.arleston I hope not. 
SubscAiuently the l)ill came back from the house Aviththe amendments disagreed to. 

Then it Avas th.at (General Gary appeared as the laqu'esentative of the Charleston 
Democracy, ai)i)ointed by the chairman of your exeeutiA^e committee. 

He announced that your chairman had instructed him to say th.at your committee 
AAushed the bill to pass Avithont the amendments, and had asked him to so inform the 
senate. 

I then denounced the measure as a barefaced A'iolation of the pledges made, and re¬ 
peated .again .and .again, not only to the colored peo[)le, but to the Avhole country. 

I Av.as not measured in the terms 1 used; they need not be repeated ; each one of yon, 
according to his value of fair play, justice, and good faith, Avill fancy wh.at I said. 
Wh.at do yon say to such legislation or the AAnsh for it ? I uoav s.ay it is disgraceful to 
the State .and a blot on its good name. ' ^ 

The senate Avent Avith General Gary and the committ(‘e. Then it AA'as th.at I ])ledged 
myself to ni.ake the ([uestion before you if the time should come, and askAvherher yon 
a])i)roAa) and stand on such legislation or reject it. It is aini))ly this and nothing else : 
Does the Democracy of Charleston mean to disregard and break its plighted faith 
made before the Avhole country ? 

Your conA'ention gave its judgment and made the time for trial Avhen it rejected me. 
Its judgment is now on appeal before' yon. 

It is not a contest between tAvo c.andidates. If it Avere, there Avonld be no contest, 
for I Avonld not be in it. The battle is over a ((uestion of morals and character; I 
represent one side, the committee and their nominee the other side. Yon art' to give 
judgment. It cannot be against me personally, for I have no ])ersonal wishes in it. 
:My Avishes .are for Avh.at I believe the ])olicy of the Democratic party of Charleston and 
of the State. I liaAX none other in this matter. 

My contlict is AAnth the committee, not Avith the i)arty. It is within the party and 
before it; not with thepc/AS’cnac/ of the committee, but with its policy. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 


17 


That there is a deep-seated and wide-spread dissatisfaetion with the administration 
ot oiir party, cannot be snccessfnlly denied. The fact is patent and well-known. The 
causes are not difficult to find nor to understand. 

Ihere are already two distinct and oi»posing political ideas perv’adina- the Democ¬ 
racy throughout the State. ^ 

Upon one idea rests the policy which those Avho teach it call aggressive polici/J’ 
It is typified by forcible intrusions into Republican meetings claiming ibo divide time, 
and by the disgraceful precincts law I have described. It had its initial and hisiorical 
illustiatiou in the massacre at Hamburg—the Glencoe of the iiineteeiitli century—the 
(lecus^ ant dolor ot South Carolina, as may suit the taste of those who may contemplate 
it. The glory of its paternity is disputed, and I do not venture to decide. Its zealous 
organ is a Georgia newspaper, which lately undertook to suppress Mr. Stephens, the 
gieatest living Georgian. The result of that adventure diminished the reach of its 
ambition. It now ])oises its wings to a humbler llioht. I am its nrosnective victim 
‘Gat all hazards.” We shall see. 

The other idea was promulgated by Governor Hampton throughout the campaign 
of 1876, and since then, in his utterances at Charleston in February, at Blackville dur¬ 
ing the summer, and but just now at Beaufort. The policy wllich rests upon that 
idea inay most properly be called Hamjyton’s policy. The real, but thus tVir concealed, 
eonilict is to be between these two ideas. 

The Democratic organization of Charleston County favors and endeavors to enforce 
the policy. It does enforce it upon its candidates. The substantial coii- 

servativ^e material of the Charleston Democracy adheres to the Hampton i)olicy. 

Another element, not less patriotic, but more impulsive, active, impatient, and rest¬ 
less adheres to the other policy. It is the i>ower which to-day governs Charleston. 

I arn for and stand to Hampton’s policy. I am uncompromising in my op})ositionto 
the other policy. That is my position. It is irreconcilable to the ])ractice and power 
of the aggressive policy.” That policy is founded in bad faith, and hopeless of good 
in this county. 

There is in Charleston County a numerical Radical majority of not less than from 
five to six thousand votes. No matter how much we may dislike to admit it, we can¬ 
not change the fact, for we have to deal with it as it is. This great majority contains 
but a limited number of persons who are by education or ability fit for or (pialified to 
be representative men. 

The consequence of such a state of things is that their votes have more than once 
Iteen ottered and pressed upon nominees of the Democratic convention. 

The power that rules us will not permit this. They expend money, give their time 
and labor; they call upon distinguished men from all parts of the State to come and 
aid them to persuade the colored voters to vote with them. When they offer to do so, 
their candidates are not allowed to receive their votes. Was there anything so absurd, 
if it cau be honest ? 

AVith a pretty fair knowledge of the political condition of Charleston County, I aver 
that but for the conduct of the executive committee, the Republican vote of this 
county would have been given heretofore, and would now be given to such Demncrats 
as stand by the Hampton j)olicy, which means merely the observance of good faith, 
fair play, justice, and the jirotection of the colored man in his acknowledged political 
and legal rights. 

The ruling spirits who govern us do not Avish, Avill not allow the colored vote. I 
will now tell you why at the time of my election I denied all allegiance to the organ¬ 
ization in power. 

At the election of 1876, the Radical nominations received about six thousand more 
votes than our nominees. 

The seventeen persons thus elected to the house, Avhere the upper country held un¬ 
disputed power, Avere ejected from their seats upon the pretext that the Avhite men of 
Charleston had been intimidated and thus a foir election prevented. 

It Avas a bitter, unmerited, and grieAmus insult to Charleston. But it was accepted. 
It might have been si)ared, and the purpose accomplished by expulsion or by allowing 
resignations. 

When a neAV election Avas to be held, the committee of the Radical party made a 
written proposition that neither i)arty should make party nominations, and that a full 
delegation, all orthodox Democrats, should be elected. Fifty names Avere submitted 
as specimens of what was meant, but with the careful declaration that they Avere 
meutioned not to limit the field of choice, but to illustrate Avhat sort of men Avas 
meant. I had encouraged with such influence as I could api)ly the making of this 
otfer. It Avas the opening of a half-way house, and the opportunity for a permaneii!^ 
solution of further contests in this county. The proposition Avas not accepted—nor as 
I hav^e understood was it treated to the ciAulity of an answer. It was strangled in the 
committee—was ne\"er submitted to the public for its opinion. This is history. 

I make no further comment, exce])t to say that men who being intrusted Avith the duty 
of lifting a minority into imwer and could reject such an opportunity have not thepolit- 

2 S C 


18 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[ Cliai'leston 


ical sagacity, to say no more of them, that ought to inspire confidence. From that time I 
have offered no allegiance to the machine that proposes to work the Democratic party 
of Charleston. Under its unspices and ])olicy there is no hope of making the county 
Democratic, because it will not allow its nominees to be supported by the majority. 

I am reproached because I will allow the vote of the majority to come to me. 

The great effort of tlie campaign of 1876 was to obtain these votes. It partially 
succeeded. Governor Hampton, more than any other man, has it. It is no rejiroach 
to him. He has the conffdence of the colored voter because he makes no ])romise that 
he does not intend to keep. He practices good faith and justice to the colored people, 
and they have faith in him. 

The Democratic committee of Charleston xuocured a law which is a fraud upon anj" 
])romise to give the colored voter a fair chance to vote. 

I opposed it, and for that reason he says he will vote for me ; and, being a candi¬ 
date, Avhy shall I not allow him ? 

I have not run after him, made speeches to him, and forced him to hear me, as the 
committee has done. 

In truth, the committee wishes the vote upon a different theory, if at all. They 
will not have it upon the easy terms of good faith to the negro. That’s their only 
trouble. I cannot help them in it nor out of it. Ephraim is joined to his idols. Let 
him alone. 

A few words of the visiting orators. There is no one but themselves better informed 
than I am on the true purpose of their visit, and why they were invited. It is true I 
am au obstacle in their way—the somewhat cause of their prospective bitter disap- 
])ointnient. But it is not against me that they rally so promi)tly and with such fran¬ 
tic zeal. They look further and higher. The next contest, if they can secure Charles¬ 
ton, will be with the Hampton policy, open and avowed, and with and against him as 
soon as they see their way. Earthworks may be too strong to be battered down. They 
may be undermined and destroyed. 

I consider myself fortunate, and I am happy and proud that I do stand in their way, 
and that I may possibly be the instrument to save Charleston from being unconsciously 
betrayed and surrendered to that political school or idea which they so harmoniously 
represent. It is the aggressive policy of the extreme men of the State. 

This policy and these men sober old Charleston will surely repudiate with no doubt¬ 
ful voice. 

Look at their names, consider their affinities, and where they come from. 

Omit the governor, and who and what else do they re})resent unless the untold pur- 
]>ose of those who brought them here ? I stand up against them and their policy. I 
am thankful for the accident which has placed me where I can do battle against it 
and for the good name of South Carolina. I rejoice that I may give my humble serv¬ 
ices to lift her from being longer the burden this canvass has begun to make her u]>on 
our hopes el.sewhere—to save her from the further reproach that she is aiding by her 
extreme men and measures to bring back to power ‘‘ the man on horseback.” I shsill be 
more than thankful that I have the tenacity and the courage of endurance that sus¬ 
tains me in the sacriffee I accept for the sake of such a cause. 

I am a candidate because it is a point of honor to give this battle. I could not 
avoid it and save self-respect. Those who deprecate my position must blame the bad 
faith which makes it necessary. I know it is a battle for the honor and integrity of 
the Democracy of this State. I leave the fools, who suppose 1 am seeking office, to 
their folly; they are not worth a word from me. No office could tempt auy man of 
sense, deliberately and voluntarily, to encounter, even for a time only, the obloipiy of 
the many good and true men which I expect to encounter. 

I look beyond the present, and I know that in the end—in the not very far future—I 
shall have their apiu'obation and thanks. I hope for a continuance of the censure and 
abuse of faithless and bad men. 

I am, I believe—/ know / a/a, acting in the best intere.sts of this city, of this State, 
of the whole country, and of the great party in which, for nearly half a century, I 
have served without one irregular vibration. " I cannot be driven irom it. Time will 
verify what I say. 

Repentant sinners are the precious material from which are compounded most ex¬ 
acting self-righteous saints. 

I can well afford to be uudi.smayed, even complacent, under the excommunication 
by that convention of political Magdalens which lately sat in judgment upon me. 

The gifted editor who, taking me as his text, with his great pen power, lately de¬ 
scribed the various pretenses and excuses by which bolters and independents habitu¬ 
ally justify their aberrations, did not fail to remember that only three years ago he 
and a number of our most respectable men bolted from our regular nomination. They 
went over to the Re])ublicans and joined them to put in power a Republican city ad¬ 
ministration. I could not do it. Did they become Republicans by what they did? I 
do not think he failed also to remember—but he did not say so—tl'iat I remained faith 
ful, and gave my steady support to the regular nominee, tlie late General AYagner. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 


19 


There is not in this State (nor in any other) whether of men of puhlic station or in 
private life, a political record more unassailable than my own. I have oiuitted many 
things I would say, hut my space is, I fear, more thau exhausted, as well as your pa¬ 
tience, and 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient seryaiit, 

JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 

Fkiday, November 1, 1878. 

The Witness. I took very little part in the election. I did not even 
go to the office because I wanted to avoid iniportiinities. I voted about 
midday, when it was pretty quiet. 

Q. Where was this f—A. It was at the Hofie Engine House poll. 
From there I went down to Meeting street at Dr. Panknim’s drug-store, 
and quietly sat down. I was in full view of the market-poll iilace 
from that point, and I placed myself in a chair wliere I could see the 
people going in and coming out. I suppose I was there fully an hour 
watching. At the rate they were voting then they could not have taken 
700 ballots in the day, because I saw every man that Avent up the steps. 
I saw some of my friends from other wards that went there. There was 
rarely three at any time going up and down the stefis. I took particular 
note of that at the time. I am enabled to remember it because 1 thought 
of it at the time. I have mentioned in my letter that it would require 
a certain amount of time to swear and take doAvn the names of the 
A^oters, and it would be difficult to take the number of voters in Saint 
AndrcAv’s Parish in the time alloAvedby laAv, Avhichwas tAA elve liours at 
one poll. From Avhat I saAV I do not belieA^e there AA^ere 1,000 proper 
Azotes polled at the market poll. 

Q. What Avas the return f—A. ISTearly 2,000. 

Q. Were you supported by any Democrats; if so, who AA^ere they t — 
A. Yes, sir; much more than I expected. The efforts to get Democrats 
who. had been nominated on the liepublican ticket to decline were 
A'ery strong. I did not calculate u])on more than 1,000 or 1,500 Azotes, 
but I probably got from 2,500 to 3,000. 

Q. Democratic votes ?—A. Y"es, sir; I think one of the Democratic 
papers recognized me as haAung got one-third of the DemocTatic votes; 
and I myself think I did, Avhich Avould be one-third of 8,000 in round 
numbers. 

Q. Hoav about the Eepublican A^ote?—A. ItAvasnot as large as usual, 
because there was one poll on Edisto Island, of 800 Azotes, that Avas not 
opened at all, and nearly all of those Avere Kepublican. There Axas one 
poll destroyed in Charleston, A\ffiere it was Avell understood the votes 
Avere mostly Kepublican, because during the day it turned out that the- 
Democratic A^oters had been adAUsed not to vote there, and the negroes 
had been referred to it as the place where they could A'ote freely. At 
the end of the day the box wa*s destroyed and never found. I tlmik the 
Republicans lost in that aa ay 1,500 or 1,600 A'Otes. And then the opera¬ 
tion of the precinct act brought their loss up to 3,000, which Avould 
reduce them to about 11,000. Their actual A^ote was about 14,000. 

Q. What did you suppose your competitoFs A^ote AA^as?— I don’t 
tliink he had 6,000 honest Azotes. 

Q. What was the character of these men who you say were induced 
to withdiw from the Kepublican ticket?—A. Mr. Meninger was one 
of them. The year previous, at the election of ’77, efforts had been made 
to induce 1dm to withdraw from their nomination, but he refused. Some¬ 
body published just before election that he Avould not be a candidate, so 
it Avas claimed that he had AvithdraAAU, but he did not himself AvithdraAA^ 
Mr. McOrady Avas also a candidate and AvithdreAV—not exactly that, but 


20 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


they published a card that they construed made liim withdraw. Mr. 
Iloimes was another candidate; and a Mr. Teal, a German, whom I don’t 
know iiersonally. Mr. Simmonds was another; I don’t think he with* 
drew. I think he told me that he would see them all sunk first. 

Q. These were all reputable gentlemen that were i)ut on ?—A. Yes, 
sir; they are respectable men. 

Q. Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. There was one member of the Demo¬ 
cratic nomination who, I think, was probably honestly elected. They 
counted him out about 1,000 more votes than the rest of their ticket, 
and I understand that his name was also put upon the Keiiublican 
ticket, and if they counted foi: him the same as they did for the others ^ 
he had probably about 2,500 votes more than the other Democratic 
nominees. I think the Republican ticket with that exception—that is, 
the legislative ticket—was elected honestly by some 2,000 to 2,500 ma¬ 
jority. My majority was very much larger in consequence of getting 
the Democratic vote. 

Q. I suppose you were not i^resent at any poll during the canvass ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I voted the Democratic ticket, with the exception of the 
Democrats nominated b}^ the Republicans. There were people also on 
the ticket that I never heard of before. I put on the five men that had 
been nominated by the Republicans, and I erased Mr. Siegling’s name 
and put my own in place of it. 

Q. Had you seen any of these tissue ballots before the election!—A. 
Yo, sir; never until after. At. my house, before election, I heard of 
them. I heard, I believe, of their being used at the polls, of people 
being solicited to take them and put them in their ballots, and used 
them in that way. That information was brought to me at my house. 

Q. Did you see anybody at the polls distributing them or taking 
them!—A. Yo, sir; 1 wish to say here that Orangeburg County and 
Clarendon County in the Congressional district I know nothing about. 
I just speak of Charleston County. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. What is the name of the gentleman on the Democratic ticket that 
you thought was honestly elected!—A. Charles H. Simon ton. 

Q. You think he was elected!—A. I think from his getting that amount 
that he was elected. 

Q. Why do you suppose that you got from 2,000 to 2,500 more than 
the remainder of the ticket!—A. 1 don’t know. I never made any cal¬ 
culation as to what votes they gave me. It tras pretty well understood 
that a large number of Republican votes by the operation of the law, 
by being drawn out where there was an excess, was lost to the party. 

Q. Yow, I ask you why you suppose you got this large vote more than 
was given to the other members of the Republican ticket, or the Dem¬ 
ocratic candidate for the legislature Avho went on that ticket !—A. I 
suppose it from the representations that were made to me by those that 
avowed they had voted for me, afterward. As to the others I don’t 
know. 

Q. You don’t pretend to say that there were 2,000 or 2,500 Democrats 
who told you either before or after the election that they voted for you!— 
A. Yo, sir; but I can name men that told me, who were my friends and 
voted for me. 

Q. What they told you as to what they had done was their own state¬ 
ment, and as to what others had done was hearsay, was it not!_A. All 

I have said is hearsay mostly. A great many told me so. 


Couuty.J TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. CAMPBELL. 21 

Q. All tliat told you so, and all that represented to them that they 
had so voted, would fall short of 2,500 —A. Yes, sir 5 I think so. 

Q. So there is a margin beyond that, that yon merely believe !—A. 
Yes, sir; believe upon the data that I gave yon. Now, Siegling was 
probably nominated because he liad a German name and is of German 
descent. To my surprise, a large number of Germans intimated to me— 
in fact, fifty Germans told me—that they had A^oted for me. I was much 
surprised at his Aveakness Avith his German friends. 

Q. Has not your experience made you belieA^e that a great many peo¬ 
ple Avould tell you that they Avould vote or have voted for you, and there 
is no great amount of credit to be placed on their Avord f—xA. That is 
undoubtedly so. Anybody Avdio has had experience in elections knoAA s 
that } but when you knoAV that a large body of citizens have got a favor¬ 
able opinion and liaA^e faAmrably expressed themseh^es toAvard you and 
given expressions of their personal good Avdll, as Avas the case Avith me 
and agreed Avith me in opinion, it is reasonable to suppose that there is 
some credit to be placed on their AAmrd. i^ow, 1 knoAV a great many citi¬ 
zens there AA^ho did their best for me, that Avould not Avork for the other 
nominees on the ticket. 

Mr. McDonald. I kneAv a gentleman in my State, Avho is now dead, 
Avho Avas a candidate for a county office, and Avent around with a book 
in his hand to get the names of the Amters that he thought Avould vote 
for him, and then put up his book. When the election Avas over, he did 
not get one-tenth of the A otes he had recorded. This man aa^s editor of 
a iieAA^spaper, and he came out in the i)aper the next day and said there 
Avere about 1,000 of the biggest liars there, that there ^veve in the country. 

Tlie Witness. A similar case occurred AAuth us. 

Q. Y"ou generally take all the certain ones and put all the doubtful 
ones against you ?—A. Well, take oft* about 10 per cent, of the certain. 
I think A^our experience and mine Avould be about the same. 

Q. YMu speak of BoAven. He was a prominent Eepublican of your 
county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, he did not take a very active part in the last election ?—A. 
I don’t tliink he did. I think he was disappointed in tlie Eepublican 
nomination for Congress and was lukeAvmrm. In fact, I liaA^e been in¬ 
clined to think that Simonton’s large Amte was giA^en to him bj^ BoAven. 
I don’t knoAV that fact. He voted for Mackey and supported him, but not 
Avith the same zeal he might otherwise haA^e done. 


[Letter referred to in Mr. Campbell’s testimony.] 

Hon. CiiAS. H. SiMONTOX, 

Chairman Democratic Committee, ^'C.: 

Dear Sir: Since “special elections” seem to Be the order of the day, I deem it my 
dntv to say a word in regard to the editorial in Saturday’s News and Courier, headed 
“ Special election”—“ Charleston’s o])portnnity.” I address you hecanse yon and your 
committee were dnrin^ tlie late ])olitical canvass made aware substantially ot the 
Aiews I am about to express, in respect to suitable representatives from Charleston, 
and also as to county officers. 

The ejection by the House of Eepresentatives of the whole delegation, elected to 
re])resent this county, creates a new juncture. ^ . 

It is one in my o[)inion when the welfare and interests of the commercial capital ot 
the State, the center of its wealtli and of taxation, are at stake, and should not be 
subjected to the dangers incident to the renewal of a political contest. Such opinions 
are not neAV to me. 1 mav’' now ex])ress them with the more treedom and jiropriety, 
because I am at the head as chairman of that county political organization Avhich has 
a clear, ascertained and not dou])tfnl majority ot tull live thousand voters. This tact 
alone should invito at least an inii)artial corsideration of my motives and purpose. 

Yon will not fail to remember also the effort I was ready, and begun to join yoii in 
making last smuiner to secure proper county officers and a suitable representation. 


22 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliaiieston 


Nor will you forget the had faith and treaeliery in yonr own fold, hy which the effort 
was defeated, nor when and how it was denounced and defeated. Except for a corrupt 
and treacherous newspaper Charleston would not now have such good cause to mourn 
that she is at the mercy of the hostile up-country. 

I exi)ect as usual to he misrepresented, hut on this occasion I do not intend to he 
misunderstood; and I say, I am now ready to aid in an effort to elect as representa¬ 
tives of this county men of already tried and recognized fitness, in character and in 
experience, in sagacity and in devotion to the inseparable interests of labor and capi¬ 
tal ; the very best that can he named, irrespective of party. 

That which Charleston now needs most, and it is daily becoming a more and more 
important necessity to have, is a sectional, a low-country party—in short, a Charleston 
2 >arfi/. Whoever does not see this is blind, indeed, or will not see. 

The disfrauchisement of this county is not a parliamentary judgment upon an elec¬ 
tion case. It is the cropping out of an old and deep-seated hostility to Charleston and 
the low country. The pretense upon which it rests has nothing to do with it except 
as a ]>retext for it. It is hostility to the colored race, and to that section where that 
race is most numerous, stimulated into extravagant exhibition by the sudden posses¬ 
sion of power in feeble hands, guided by young and ambitious demagogues who do not 
intend that Charleston shall be represented ; it does not suit their aspirations. Some 
of them, with more courage than wisdom, avow their intentions. They hope and 
cxi)ect that the Republican organization of this county, with its overwhelming majority, 
will exert its power and again return a Republican partisan delegation to be again 
<*jected by them. 

So far as I am concerned, that expectation will be disappointed, unless driven to it 
for self-protection. 

The movement is led and comes from the same quarter, and manifested itself in the 
first opportunity by excluding from the basis of representation in the constitution of 
lfi65 the whole colored population. From the same (piarter, also, came the infamous 
code for establishing slavery Tinder another name. The pur})oso was to weaken 
Charleston—the motive and sentiment, the hatred demagogism bears to conservatism. 
The motive and purpose, not changed, descends as an inheritance, and is now aided 
by an arrogant, treacherous, and notoriously venal newspaper with its brainless fol¬ 
lowers. The same 7iame leads off now that led in hostility to the colored man in 
18G5-’66. The omen does not fail. 

I have said I will not be misunderstood on this occasion, and I will tell you in un¬ 
mistakable words what I ivill do, and what I will not do. 

I will oppose earnestly and zealously, in my own party, any party nominations, un¬ 
less and until forced by your party. I will then su[)port them. I Avill suppifrt a selec¬ 
tion of candidates for representation—not the nominees, nor accepting the nomination 
from any party or political organization—such men as I have described aboA^e; and to 
show you Avhat I mean I Avill itemize. I will support such men as yourself, Mr. Meni- 
meuger. Governor Aiken, G. W. Williams—any of the Adgers, Pelzer, W. C. Bee, Theo. 
Jervey, Buist, Campbell, Pressley, Lord, GoA’ernor Magrath, De Loon, D. Lopez, Si- 
monds, Witte, Ficken, J. Smalls, Barnard O’Neal, Barnard Boyd, SAveegan, Wagner, 
MoAvry, E. Willis, C. Voigt, Nathans, Barclay, Eason, Patrick Morgan, Thomas Y. 
Simons, the McCradys and Smyths, General .lames Simons, Brady, Rutledge, Cala- 
han, .ludge Pringle, Gayer, CosgroA^e, W. B. Smith, Eberhardt, Porter, Do Saussure, 
II. Knee, Steinmeyer, S. Y. Tupi)er, Fogartie, AndroAvs, R. G. Chisolm, Alva Gag(‘ 
Riecke, and Frost. I mention these foAv names not to limit but to illustrate the 
selection. There should be a fair representation of the colored constituency, to be 
selected solely respective of character and ca])acity. Passing over what the Noavs and 
Courier says, that ‘Gmly those AAdio bore the heat and burden of the day, and Amted for 
Wade Hampton and W. D. Simpson last NoA'ember, can take any part in selecting 
candidates,” I Avill noAV tell you Avhat I AVill not do. I Avill not support the nominees 
of any political party if I can avoid it. If d cannot—if you insist on “a straight cam¬ 
paign,’’ and reject my suggestion—I shall support my OAvn party. I Avill not Amte for 
or support any unrepentant Democrat, Aiiio, folloAAung the lead of the Noavs and 
Courier, ostracized and defeated that consistent Democrat, honest man, and faithful 
serAuint, General Wagner, for the sake of a Re])ublican Aidio had money to pay for 
services, and for no better avoAved reason than that I Avas suspected of giAung a nega- 
tiA'e su])port to and might A'ote for General Wagner. 

Tlie treachery of that day i)reA"ented a tirst-rate city administration, just as a later 
treachery has produced the present isolation of Charleston. 

The Democrats of Charleston can again choose Avhether they Avill continue to folloAA' 
men Avho haA'^e betrayed and cheated, and Avho sold them as often as they have been 
trusted by them, or Avill look to the interest and Avelfare of Charleston and the region 
of country of Avhich it is the center, and of the labor and population upon Avhich it 
depends and which depend on it. 

Is there in Charleston a single intelligent property-holder who, if he Avere to speak 
out his inmost convictions, Avould dare trust his estate, if he could help it, to the leg- 


Comity.] . 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. WALLACE. 


23 


islatioii of the eomnmiiists he has heeu forced into placing in power over him in Co- 
lumhia? I don’t believe there is such an unrepentant idolater extant. 

You, sir, know it might have been otherwise, so far as the voice of Charleston could 
have averted it, except for the treachery of last summer. 

I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 

C. C. BOWEN, 

Chairman Bepallican Party, C. C. 

June 4, 1877. 


11. M. WALLACE. 

Washington, D. C., Fehruary 4, 1879. 

E. M. Wallace sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. In Charleston, South 
Carolina. 

Q. How long' have yon resided there ?—A. For nearly seven years. 

Q. Of what State are you a native ?—A. Of South Carolina. 

Q. What position, if any, do you hold f—A. The position of United 
States marshal for the district of South Carolina. 

Q. How long have you held that position ?—A. For nearly seven 
years. 

Q. As United States officer, did you have anything to do with the 
last election ?—A. I did. 

Q. In what capacity'?—A. In the campaign, after the nominations 
had been made in some of the counties; in fact not exactly after the 
nominations were made, but when the Eepublicans attempted to organ¬ 
ize in several counties of the State, early in the summer, complaints 
were made to me officially, from several counties, of efforts being made 
to prevent the Eepublicans from organizing. Applications were made 
to me by Eepublicans for the arrest of men who were interfering with 
their meetings, and preventing their organization. This occurred par¬ 
ticularly in tlie counties of Sumter and Williamsburg. 

Q. Before going farther let me ask you, were you in the late war in 
any capacity "?—A. I was in the late war j I was a private soldier in the 
rebel army. 

Q. Go on and state what occurred during the campaign.—A. Com¬ 
plaints were made from the county of Sumter that various offenses had 
been committed against parties desiring to organize Eepublican clubs. 
Affidavits were made by the United States'commissioner, and warrants 
were issued, which were sent to me for execution. I sent my deputy to the 
county and instructed other deputies who lived in that county to make 
the arrests. A number of men were arrested. Some had a hearing in 
Sumter, and were required to give bonds to appear at the next term of 
the United States court; others were arrested and brought to Charleston, 
and were there required to give bonds for their ax)pearance at the next 
term of court. In Williamsburg County, shortly afterward, similar com- 
'plaints w^ere made of the breaking ux> of Eepublican meetings and of 
A'iolence toward Eepubhcan leaders who attempted to organize the Ee- 
publican party in different sections of the county. Deputy marshals 
were’sent there to make arrest of the men against whom comjilaints had 
been made, and some were arrested and required to give bonds for their 
appearance at the United States court. Complaints came up from Clar¬ 
endon County also, and deputies were sent to make arrests of men 
against whom warrants had been issued for violation of the laws, and 



24 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


they were reciuired to give bonds for their appearance in court. From 
the county of Orangeburg came similar complaints, and also from Hamil¬ 
ton and Barnwell. No arrests were made in Clarendon or Hampton, and 
few arrests were made in Barnwell. I sent deputies to that county and 
had men arrested for violence toward Bepublican speakers. 

Q. Have those cases been disposed of yet by the court “?—A. Some of 
them were tried in the court; a large majority were continued till the 
next term of court, and some were tried at the circuit court at Columbia. 

Q. Were there any convictions ?—A. There have not been any convic¬ 
tions. The trials have resulted in mistrials in all cases. 

Q. If you have any knowledge regarding the election in the city and 
county of Charleston, state what you know regarding it.—A. Under 
the laws of the United States in reference to the appointment of supervi¬ 
sors and deputy marshals in cities of twenty thousand or more inhab¬ 
itants, I appointed a number of deputy marshals for each of the precincts 
in the city of Charleston. I was familiar, also, with the appointment of 
supervisors in each precinct. 

Q. State what came under your own observation, or what you learned 
from tlie official reports or the officers whom you appointed.—A. I also 
had officers who attended the election in these other counties—regular 
deputy marshals. They attended the elections in Barnwell and Orange¬ 
burg and Sumter and Williamsburg counties. I also appointed deputy 
marshals to act in the county of Clarendon, but by some means several 
letters Avhich I wrote to Clarendon Avere abstracted from the mails and 
were iieA^er heard from. Somebody a\ ho proposed that no correspondence 
should go from me or come to me, abstracted the letters. The letters 
that I Avrote to that county, and other letters that were Avritten to me 
from that county, were iieA^er heard of. There is no way of accounting 
for their absence, except that they Avere abstracted from the mails. 
Some of the deputy marshals in Sumter and Williamsburg and HaiTing- 
ton and Orangeburg and Barnwell counties made reports to me, and 
some of them did not. All who reported at all, reported more or less 
violence of law, and more or less fraud. All of them reported an ap- 
l)arent systematic opposition to their haAung any opportunity to observe 
the election, and an apparent disposition to refuse to recognize their 
authority. There seemed to be a general understanding from the reports 
of these deputy officers that the managers of the election- 

Q. Were the managers of the election Democrats in all these coun¬ 
ties ?—A. Yes, sir *, they Avere all Democrats, and they all refused to 
recognize the authority of the deputy marshals. The deputy marshals 
were in eA^ery case ordered to keep so far away from the polls that it 
AAns impossible for them to watch closely and see Avhat Avas going on. 
In a few cases the deputy officers persisted in the exercise of authority, 
and in Orangeburg two deputy marshals, Avho insisted on seeing the 
election, and again insisted on seeing the amount of votes, Avere arrested 
and committed to jail on the ground of attempting to interfere with the 
officers—the managers of election. In the comity of Williamsburg the 
deputies all made reports that fraud and violence had been the rule at 
all the iirecincts in the county during that day. Some of their reports 
were published in the National llepublican of this city. Others of them 
made affidavits in relation to fraud committed, and all Avho made affi¬ 
davits Avere arrested and put in jail on the charge of perjury, and one 
or two were put in jail on charge of libel in reporting fraud iii the elec¬ 
tions. 

Q. You haA^e these reports, I suppose ?—A. I have. 

Q. Go on and state anything further that may have come aaT thin your 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. WALLACE. 


25 


own knowledge, or liave been obtained from official reports.—A. I at¬ 
tended tlie election in Charleston personally. I had, previous to the 
election, appointed some four or five deputy marshals for each voting 
precinct, to preserve order and assist the other municipal and city offi¬ 
cers who might be there in preserving order; and that I might see they 
were discharging their duties properly, I had a carriage the entire day 
during the election, and occupied the day in going in that caniage from 
poll to poll. I did not even stop for dinner. I visited every poll in the 
city twice, and several of them three times, during the day. I watched 
the manner of conducting the election myself. I carefully inspected 
the manner in which my deputies were doing their duties. The first 
complaint that came to me was that the deputy marshals were not al¬ 
lowed to be near the polls ; the complaint came in from all the precincts— 
the identical complaint—that dei)uty marshals were refused the privilege 
of being near enough to the polls to inspect the manner of conducting the 
elections. The chief supervisor and myself occupied the same carriage; 
we visited all the different voting precincts. The deputy marshals an(l 
supervisors would report to us—that is, the deputy marshals would report 
to me and the supervisors would report to him. The deputy marshals re¬ 
ported to me that their authority was not recognized, nor were they allowed 
to be in a position to see what was going on. The Eepublican supervisors 
came to the chief supervisor and made the same report to him. Each 
Eepublican supervisor had been directed to employ a clerk to keep a 
poll-list for him. The managers at every precinct, without exception, 
refused to allow these clerks to enter the building or to keep a poll-list, 
and endeavored to prevent the supervisors themselves from keeping a 
poll-list, although the laAV required that they should do so. If they did 
l)ersist in keeping it, there were as many obstacles thrown in the way of 
keeping it as i)ossible. The deputy marshals and supervisors had been in¬ 
structed to Avatch carefully at the different precincts for frauds that were 
anticipated, for it had been reported to Eepublicans that preparations 
had been made to stuft’ the ballot-box with these tissue ballots, and we 
instructed the marshals and supervisors at every box to be carefully on 
the look-out. I inquired whether tissue ballots Avere being used or not, 
and I learned, so far as the supervisors and deputy marshals could say, 
that no tissue ballots had been seen at any box; I watched for them; I 
myself AA^ent into the room at each polling-i)lace and looked for them, 
but saw none exhibited publicly. None Avere voted that I could learn 
until late in the afternoon—three o’clock, or later—when one of the dep¬ 
uty marshals reported to me that he had his suspicions and was satisfied 
that they were being used in his precinct; he could not tell in what Avay 
they were being used, but he Avas satisfied that something Avas wrong. 
That Avas the only precinct from which a tissue ballot was reported to 
me during the entire day, although, as I have said before, the deputies 
w^ere not in a position to scrutinize closely, for in almost every instance 
they had been refused admission to the room Avhere the election Avas 
being held. They would quietly stand outside and observe Avhat was 
going on as well as they could. 

Q. Had you any conversation with any parties, Democrats, during the 
day about the use of these tissue ballots ?—A. I had not. 

Q. Did you have any conversation Avith any parties. Democrats, after¬ 
wards in reference to their being used ?—A. I had frequent conA ersa- 
tions in relation to the matter after the election. They regarded it 
generally as a huge Joke which they had perpetrated on the Eepubli¬ 
cans. They did not pretend to deny the fraud; they would laughingly 


26 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


say tliey had defeated us at our own game—that we had taught them 
how to commit frauds and ought not to complain. 

Q. They justified themselves because the Kepublicans had previously 
done the same thing ?—A. Yes, sir; no effort was made to deny it by 
any party that I talked with about it. They would laughingly say it 
was done in such a way that we never could find out how it was done. 

Q. Did you have any conversation during the day Avith reference to 
the manner in which the names were being written, or in which poll- 
lists were being changed by writing names upon the poll-list of per¬ 
sons Avho did not vote?—A. During the day, after dinner—after 
12 o’clock—a gentleman came to me whom I knew to be an active 
and prominent Democrat. He said to me then that he Avas a Demo¬ 
crat, but that he was a friend of Mr. Campbell. I had long knoAAii 
him to be a Democrat of the most straight-out sect. He had been 
very actiA^e, and had done all he could to break doAAm the Republican 
party, but he was in favor of honesty and fair dealing. He was also, 
as I have said, a friend of Mr. Campbell’s, and desired his election. 
^^And now,” said he to me, indignantly, they are stuffing the ballot- 
boxes all OAW toAvn.” A committee of men had been appointed at each 
precinct to take charge of the precinct ballot-box, and toA^ote 15 or 20 
little ballots inside of a large ballot; that they had each ticket prepared, 
and a man selected to put it into the box; that they knew how many 
tissue tickets Avere Amted by each of these men, and so how many were 
Amted b^ them in all; that in order to make the tally-list agree with 
the number of Amtes in the ballot-box, somebody outside was keei)ing a 
tally-list of fictitious names to correspond to the number of tissue ballots 
A'oted folded in larger ballots; and he urged me to take immediate steps 
to stop these frauds. 1 asked him hoAv he knew that such frauds were 
being perpetrated. He said a man at one of the precincts had explained 
it to him, and proposed to him that he should Amte a ticket with ten bal¬ 
lots in it. As fast as the tissue ballots AA^ere Amted, an equal number of 
names were written on the false tally-sheets; and when a sheet of paper 
was filled with names, they would secretly slip it to the clerk, who Avould 
slip the sheet under those which he was using for a poll-list. They had 
explained the whole modus operandi to him, and told him that there Avas 
no danger. He insisted that I should at once go and put a stoj) to these 
frauds. They would result in the defeat of Campbell, as well as the others, 
and he wanted it stopped. He told me also that a plan had been agreed 
upon to seize and destroy the poll-list at the Washington engine house. 
The reason of that was because it had been too closely scrutinized by 
the officers who went there to allow any of those tissue tickets to be put 
in. The result was that there Avould no doubt be a large Republican 
majority at that poll, and therefore the Democrats had determined to 
destroy it. 

Q. Was the box destroyed ?—A. It was destroyed. I at once Avent 
there and put the deputy marshal and Republican supervisor on their 
guard, telling them what was expected to be done. I told the Repub¬ 
lican supervisor to be certain to preserve his i)oll-list, as the parties 
intended to destroy the poll-list Avhich Avas kept by the Republican 
superAusor. Two or three poll-lists being kept by Republican supervisors 
were destroyed during the day. I staid until the poll closed and the 
room was cleared of all except a few men. Among those required to 
leaA^e the room Avas my deputy marshal. Outside a crowd Avas pressing 
around—a crowd of men Av^ho seemed to be intoxicated. I heard them 
saying, Keep quiet till the proper moment. Keep still, and Ave will all 
go together.” I did not know at that time Avhat they Avere talking about. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. WALLACE. 


27 


tliongli I expected tliey Avere meaning something not i)roper. xVboiit 
that time a detachment of the police, under a lieutenant of the x^olice, 
came up to the door. I asked the lieutenant if he Avas in charge of a 
squad. He said he AAms. He had Avith him a stjuad of 15 men. I said 
it AAms rumored that an effort aa ould be made to take that box and destroy 
ib He said that he had heard a similar rumor, and he had come AAuth 
15 men on puiq^ose to jAreAxnt it, and he A\muld guarantee that no party 
should interfere a\ ith that box, either Democrats or Kepublicans. He 
cleared the paA^ement, and forced the crowd to stand back in the street, 
off the paA-ement. I left him there, at about half-past six o’clock. After 
the polls had been closed for an hour, between half-i)ast scA^eii and eight, 
the box AA as reported to me to liaA e been destroyed. It AA'as also reported 
that the policemen did not raise their hands or say a Avord to ju’eveiit it. 

Q. Did you understand the policemen Arere there when the box Aras 
destroyed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And did not interfere"?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Were those policemen Democrats or Kepublicans !—A. All Demo¬ 
crats, Avith a Democratic officer. 

Q. Did you knoAV. any thing of the voting at the Palmetto engine- 
h5use and around there "?^—A. I aa as there twice during the day and 
spent some time there on each occasion. 

Q. State what you saw there.—A. The voting AAms going on in a quiet 
way when I first went there in the forenoon. The Acting, in fact, was 
quite sloAV j not as rapid as the other precincts. According to my ob- 
serA^ation, fcAver men Amted at the Palmetto engine-house and at the 
Market Hall precinct i^han any other of the precincts in the city; and 
my belief is that there were fcAA er a otes polled at these two Avards than 
at any other in the city. Market Hall ay as the smallest in the city, 
and Palmetto engine-house the next. 

Q. In fiict, you mean !— A. Yes, sir; in fact. Market Hall Avas the 
smallest, and the next smallest was the Palmetto engine-house—-judg¬ 
ing from the vote that I saAv at both times when I Avas there. 

Q. How fast were they Acting AAKen you Avere there'?— A. In the fore¬ 
noon I Avent to the iVlarket Hall, and there nobody was A^oting. As an 
eAudence that there Avas nothing doing, I will say that the managers ad¬ 
journed and went inside AAith me, and Ave all took a drink together. Yo- 
body Avas around wanting to Amte. I spent fifteen or tAventy minutes 
AAuth them at that time, and afterwards—it might be before, but I think 
afterwards—I Ausited the Palmetto engine-house and found everything 
going on smoothly there. There was a])parently no disturbance and no 
evidence of any fraud being committed. The supervisor was keeping 
his poll-list. I neglected to state in the proper place, that as I AAmuld 
visit each precinct, I Avould go to the Republican super\dsor and ask him 
if his poll-list agreed with that of the managers and clerk, and charged 
them to comjAare their poll-list frequentl3" Avith that of the clerk of the 
board of managers, to see whether they still agreed. Two or three of the 
Rei)ublican sui)ervisors were not keeping a poll-list. The Democratic 
superAusors objected, refusing to keep a i:)oll-list themseh^es, or to allow 
the Republican supervisor to do so, although required by laAV to keep 
a xAoll-list. 

Q. There was some trouble at the Palmetto engine-house, was there 
not"?—A. Yes, sir; shortly after three o’clock one of the deputy mar¬ 
shals from there and the Republican supervisor came rushing into the 
court-house, and reported that the Republican sui)ervisor had been as¬ 
saulted and beaten, and his poll-list seized and destroyed; and that the 
deputy marshal avIio had attempted to protect him was also beaten. 


28 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1378. 


[ Charleston 


According to the poll-lists—the Kepiiblican supervisors corresponding 
with that of the clerk—there were 915 names on the poll-list when the 
row occurred. That was the first question the chief supervisor asked 
him—Avhether their poll lists agreed. 

Q. At what time did you say this occurred ?—A. It was not later in 
the day than half past three o’clock. 

Q. Did you go up there ?—A. I immediately went up there, and re¬ 
mained there for about half an hour. 

Q. In what condition did you find things there ?—A. The excitement 
was great outside, but everything had become quieted down, except the 
excitement around outside of the iiolls. 

Q. How about the Amting ?—A. But A-ery little Asoting was going on; 
it Avas almost entirely suspended, and did not resume while I remained 
there. I saw only a lot of sailors, AV'^ho, I was satisfied at the time and 
am yet satisfied, were not residents of Charleston at all and were not 
rightly voting there. They were not being challenged at all. They Avere 
allowed to Amte without taking the customary oath. All were drunk, 
too, and from the men Avho conducted them up to the polls I Avas satis¬ 
fied that they were voting the Democratic ticket. I asked the managers 
why they A^oted them Avithout questioning them or compelling them to 
take the prescribed oath. Then one of the managers asked one of them. 

Where do you liA^e ? ” He swore he 1 Aed in Charleston. The manager 
asked him what ward. He wasn’t able to tell. He just SAvore he liA^ed 
in Charleston; and the whole batch of sailors went on Acting. 

Q. IIoAv many were there of them—A. Eight or ten. 

Q. Were they white men? —A. Yes 5 all AAdiite men. In fact, during 
that half an hour not many colored men Amted; ’they Avere afraid to go 
there on account of the riot that there had been. 

Q. Hoav long did you stay there?—A. About half an hour in the after¬ 
noon. 

Q. Did you return there again during the day ?—A. No, not at that 
precinct; I went to different precincts, guarding against those frauds. 

Q. Did they swear all the Alters at the Palmetto engine-house aa hile 
you Avere there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. One at a time? —A. Yes, sir, one at a time; and I can state here 
that I spent the entire day visiting the diiferent polling precincts, and 
I never saAv more than one man sworn at a time during the entire day; 
and I do not belieA"e that more than one at a time was SAvorn at any of 
the precincts. I haA^e seen it stated that a great many Avere SAvorn in 
groups. I am satisfied that there is no truth in that statement; it Avas 
a very rare thing to swear more than one man at a time. I might go 
back to the early part of the day, and say the first difficulties reported 
to me Avere that a great many men Avho lived outside the city limits Avere 
refused the right to vote. The supervisor and myself Avoiild go to the 
places from which these complaints came, and immediately made an 
eftbrtr—by talking to the supervisors of the different precincts, and urg¬ 
ing the right of the people to vote unless somebody could prove that they 
had voted before, or were not eligible to Amte for some reason—to secure 
for them an opportunity to vote. The managers insisted that these 
men ought not to Amte there. They said, They are repeaters. If they 
are entitled to vote, they must vote at their own precinct. They are 
evidently countrymen and should vote at their oavii country precinct.” 
But the superAusors insisted that the law entitled these men to vote at 
any precinct in the county. Still the managers said these men could 
not be allowed to vote at their precinct, because of the uncertainty as to 
whether or not they had A^oted before. The superAusor insisted that 


County.] TESTIMONY OF R. M. WALLACE. 29 

tliey ought to liave an opportunity to vote. Then they would refer ns 
to the county execntive committee. 

Q. The Democratic execntive committee?—A. Yes, sir* we insisted 
that they shonld refer the matter to the commissioners of election; but all 
the managers said, Eefer the matter to the county Democratic execu¬ 
tive committee.” They did not seem to recognize the commissioners of 
election authorized by law, and the authorities from wliom they got their 
appointments and from whom they got their instruction. They recog¬ 
nized only the Democratic county executive committee. After visiting 
a majority of the i)olling i^recincts, and endeavoring to induce the man¬ 
agers to allow these people to vote, the supervisor and myself visited the 
chairman of the Democratic executive cominmittee. We told him what 
we had come for; that there was a great wrong being done, and that he 
was the only jiarty who could correct the matter and give these men the 
privilege of voting. He acknowledged that they had the right to vote 
at any precinct in the city, and promised to send out a circular of in¬ 
structions to the boards of managers to that efiect. I did not know how 
it was that he was authorized to instruct them; still, he did start out 
a man with a circular, which he read to us, to that effect—that these 
men were entitled to vote uidess it could be shown that they had voted 
before. 

Q. Who was the chairman of the Democratic executive committee ?— 
A. Mr. Buist. Mr. Pointer, the chief supervisor, and myself sui^posed, 
after these instructions were given, that there would be no further diffi¬ 
culty on that score; but it made no change whatever in the management 
at the different precincts. The men were still refused permission to vote. 
They went from poll to poll all over the city begging to vote, but were 
refused the privilege. Finally the majority of them, those wdio caqne in 
from Saint Andrews’s Parish, and from between Charleston and the 
Twenty-two-mile House, and from the other side—the men who had been 
trying at different precincts to Amte—finally assembled at the court¬ 
house, on the piazza and in the yard, and crowuled the place to OA^erfiow- 
ing, until at last I gaA^e orders to shut the front gates. 

Q. How many of these men assembled there ?—A. I should say more 
than five hundred; and the place remained crowded the balance of the 
day. At every i)recinct where they would go they would be instructed 
to go before a trial justice and swear that they had not voted that day, 
and were entitled to A"ote. 

After hearing that order given frequently, I commenced to make in¬ 
quiries about the trial justices, and I made the discovery that eA^ery trial 
justice’s office in the city of Charleston Avas closed. There Avas not a 
trial justice to be found in the city. So, Avhile the managers on the one 
hand were sending men to the offices of the trial justices to proA e their 
right to A"ote, they Avell knew", on the other hand, that not a trial justice’s 
office was open in all the city of Charleston. 

Q. What w^ere the politics of the trial justices ?—A. They w ere all 
Democrats. During the day I wrote affidaAuts for a number of men; I 
grouped a number in one affidaA"it, and had them all SAVorn before a 
United States commissioner; and a number of these were allow ed to Amte. 
I AATote out affidaA"its I suppose for as many as 50 men. Those for Avliom 
I made out such affiduAuts were allowed to A"ote until nearly night; 
then the managers refused to receive them any more. 

Q. On Avhat ground?—A. They said that the men were repeaters, or 
might be repeaters, who had already A"oted. I noticed during the day 
tliat a number of men. Democrats, Avere allowed inside of the polling- 
place at eA"ery precinct, w"hile no Kepublicans Avere allowed to go in, not 


30 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


even tlie officers. If a man wlio was regarded as a clnillenger said, I 
challenge that man’s vote,” the challenger was not compelled to assign 
any reason, nor was the man allowed to make any explanation. If he 
refused to pass out and insisted on his right to vote, he was carried to 
the guard-house on the charge of disturbing the election. I saw a num¬ 
ber of men arrested on this ground. I saw a number of Kepublicans 
arrested because they were called upon by their friends to come up and 
vouch for their right to vote. They were arrested simply for coming 
up and vouching. They were ordered by the managers to be arrested 
and sent to the guard-house, and before night no colored Eepublican 
dare come up and vouch for another man being a Eepublican, lest he 
should be arrested and sent to the guard-house. During the day I went 
to the county commissioners of election and appealed to them to correct 
the misai^prehension which the managers seemed to have that they had 
a right to decide whether a man should vote, and they referred me to 
the county Democratic executive committee. The commissioners thought 
it wrong that their votes should be refused. They thought that a man 
ought to be allowed to vote in any precinct upon swearing that he had 
not voted at any other precinct that day; but they had not received any 
instructions from the Democratic executive committee. So that the 
Democratic executive committee, and not the officers api^ointed by law, 
was really conducting the election. 

Q. AVhat Avas the disposition of the colored people in regard to Acting; 
were they anxious to Amte 1 —A. I liaAX been intimately connected Avith 
the elections in the State of South Carolina since the reconstruction— 
1868—and I never saw the colored Eepublicans, and the Avhite Eepubli- 
cans too, for that matter, more united and more anxious to Vote than 
this election; and they neA er voted so solidly as they did at this elec¬ 
tion. 

Q. Which ticket were the colored people inclined to Amte !—A. Gen¬ 
erally, almost uiiiAWsally, the Eepublican ticket. There AA'as not one 
colored man in twenty, not one in a hundred, that voted the Democratic 
ticket as a matter of preference. A good many Amted the Democratic 
ticket through influences brought to bear upon tiiem, as they AA^ere afraid 
of losing their places because of threats of their employers, or some¬ 
thing of that sort. If the colored men were alloAved to "exercise their 
own will, not one colored man in a dozen Avould a ote the Democratic 
ticket. In South Carolina the colored people who vote the Democratic 
ticket are as a rule the AAmrst class of men among the colored people. 
They vote that ticket for selfish purposes only. Of course there are 
exceptions Avhere colored men Amte the Democratic ticket in order to 
obtain employment, or to keep in the employ of persons aa ho are Demo¬ 
crats. 

Q. Was any pressure brought upon them to induce them to vote the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. A constant pressure of that sort is brought to 
bear upon the colored men. The Democratic speakers referred to it 
constantly in making speeches, and the ncAvspapers referred to it con¬ 
stantly in their editorials. 

Q. In AA hat Avay did they refer to it?—A. Saying that colored men who 
refused to vote the Democratic ticket should not be given employment; 
that preference should always be given to colored men aaTio AAmuld vote the 
Democratic ticket; that men who Amted against the wishes and interests 
of their employers should not be given employment, or should be dismissed 
and their places filled by those who Avould Amte the Democratic ticket. 
From the general tenor of Democratic newspajAers and Democratic 
speakers, the Eepublicans were not, previous to the election, Amry san- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. WALLACE. 


31 


^nine of carrying tlie larger portion of the State. Tliey had heard it 
frequently said that the Democrats were determined to carry the elec¬ 
tion at all hazards. They knew that the Democrats had the machinery 
of the election in their own hands. As they said, the Itepiiblicans had 
taught them how to manage such things, and they intended to beat 
them at their own game. As a matter of policy, to prevent the fraud 
from appearing too glaring, it was thought that the Democrats would 
allow the E-epubli(;ans to carry at least some of the counties. 

Q. Did they carry any county ?—^A. They carried only one county in 
the State. 

Q. What was that ?—A. It was Beaufort. I have heard it said that 
the Republicans would not have carried that but for the fact that the 
tissue ballots failed to get there in time for the election. 

Q. Were there no tissue ballots there?—A. No, sir; none were re- 
l>orted. 

Q. Is there a large preponderance of colored people in that county ?— 
A. Yes, sir; nearly ten to one. 

Q. About how large a preponderance is there now since the change?— 
A. The Republican majority is larger than ever before. 

Q. When was the change made in that county" ?—^A. In 1878—a little 
over a year ago. 

Q. ^Wll you explain what the change was?—A. The northern half of 
Beaufort County, which contained the principal white population of the 
county, was cut off and formed into Hampton County, leaving the i)or- 
tion of the old county lying along the coast, where the majority of the 
colored people resided, to retain the name of Beaufort County. 

Q. Do you remember the number of white voters in that county in 
1870 ?—A. The vote in that county in 1876—that was before the change 
was made in the county—was 1,867 whites to 8,096 colored persons. 

Q. Do you know the vote for governor in Beaufort County in 1876?— 
A. The vote for Hampton was 2,!?74; for Chamberlain, 7,604. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You are a native of South Carolina?—A. I am. 

Q. How long have you been a voter in the State ?—^A. I never voted 
in any other State. I have been a voter in South Carolina for twenty 
years. 

Q. Have you always been attached to the party opposed to the Demo¬ 
crats?—A. I voted at but one election previous to the war, and then we 
had but one party in South Carolina. 

Q. Since the war, with which party have you acted ?—^A. With the Re¬ 
publican party since its organization in the State. 

Q. When was the Republican party organized in South Carolina ?— 
A. In 1867. 

Q. And continued in the ascendency until 1877, did it not ?—A. It 
did. 

Q. What office, if any, did you hold under that ppty during the time 
the Republican jiarty was in power ?—A. At the time the Republican 
party was organized in the State, I was deputy collector of internal 

revenue. « . , 

Q. What office have you held since then ?—A. Collector of internal 
revenue of the 3d district, and United States marshal for the State ot 
North Carolina. 

Q. During how many of these nine years that the Republican party 
has been in the ascendency have you been holding office ?—A.‘ The whole 
of them. 


32 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. And since the Democratic party has been in the ascendency, you 
have continued to hold office as a Republican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What offices have you held under the State authority, and what 
under Federal authority"?—A. I have held no offices under State au¬ 
thority. 

Q. The offices you have held have been Federal offices all the time f— 
A. They have. I have never been connected with State politics or State 
affairs, except as connected with United States politics. 

Q. What is the first office that you held !—A. Collector of the rev¬ 
enue. 

Q. How long were you collector ?—A. For two years, nearly. 

Q. And then you were appointed United States marshal!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And have held the office of United States marshal ever since your 
first api)ointment ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you been United States marshal ?—A. Since 1872. 

Q. On the day before the election did Colonel Rhett, the chief of police 
of the city of Charleston, submit to you certain general orders that he 
had i)repared to be issued for the gOA^erniug of police during election 
day ?—A. He did. 

Q. The same that has been incorporated in the testimony here ?—A. 
The same. 

Q. Did he ask you to make any suggestions, if you thought best, as 
to any additional orders !—A. He did. 

Q. Did you make any suggestions ?—A. I did not. I told him they 
were very satisfactory to me. 

Q. After the election was over, was there any comiffaint made that 
those orders had not been carried out?—A. ]Mo, sir. 

Q. You say that on the day of election a gentleman came to you and 
told you he had been informed that tissue tickets Avere being used, and 
how they were being used ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was that gentleman ?—A. At the time he gave me the infor¬ 
mation he gave it with the understanding that I would not use his name. 
He holds a position in that State and if his name were used it would be 
fatal to his political aspirations, or aspirations of any kind, for all 
future time. 

Q. You know nothing about the matter except what he told you ?— 
A. His statements were fully verified by the eA^ents afterwards. 

Q. So fiir as that particular fact is concerned, you know only Avdiat he 
told you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He stated to you what you have already said, and exhibited a ticket 
to you that had been exhibited to him ?—A. No, sir; he described the 
tissue tickets to me. 

Q. And said that some one had proposed to him to Amte ten of them?— 
A. I did not say that he showed me a ticket with ten tickets in it; I 
said he told me that they showed him a ticket with ten tickets folded in 
it, and wanted him to vote it. 

Q. Who was the man that told jmu this? 

The Witness desired to avoid giving the name. A discussion fol¬ 
lowed, in which the chairman declined to direct the witness to state the 
name, saying the evidence would, of course, be a great deal stronger if 
the witness Avould give the name, but it is not a matter of sufficient 
importance to insist upon. The Avitness explained that if the gentleman’s 
name wer^ given, he would be a political and social outcast in South 
Carolina. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M. WALLACE. 


33 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. He was supporting Judge Campbell ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Campbell ran iiidependently —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The Bepublicans had no other candidate except Campbell ?—A. 
jSTot for State senator. 

Q. And this gentleman was supporting him ?—A. He was; he said 
that wliile he did not care anything for the balance of the ticket, he 
wanted his friend Campbell to have a fair sliow. 

Q. Yon say yon learned there was a plan on foot for the purpose of 
destroying this ballot-box that was afterwards destroyed ?—A. 1 did. 

Q. When yon were in this crowd that yon spoke of, that were tallying 
to each other and saying, “ Let ns stay together,” and so on, did they 
know who yon were^—A. They did not. 

Q. Did they know 3*011 to be the marshal ?—A. The^^ did not. It was 
dark at the time. 

Q. Were they citizens of Charleston?—A. I presume so; I did not 
know any of the men, but I supposed from their appearance that they be¬ 
longed around there and were citizens of Charleston. 

Q. Yon were not present at the time the ballot-box was taken ?—A. 
I was not. 

Q. That was done a half or three-quarters of an hour after you left ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So 3*011 know nothing about it except as yon were told ?—A. As I 
was told b 3 * the deputy marshal and supervisor, and as corroborated 
b 3 * others. 

Q. Yon have no information except what they reported, and the ru¬ 
mors 3 *on heard in the city ?—A. That is all I know as to what occurred 
after I left there. I know that it was the general understanding that 
the box was destroyed. 

Q. Yon know nothing of the circumstances in connection with its be¬ 
ing destroyed, except b 3 * hearsay?—A. It was reported by the deputies. 

Q. Yon do not know that the police force was there when the box was 
taken, except by hearsa 3 '?—A. The 3 ^ Were reported to be there by the 
deputies. 

Q. Yon got the statement from the deputy marshal and supervisor of 
election ?—A. From them and from general rumor. 

Q. But 3 mnr principal information came from them?—A. Yes, sir; and 
not only from the Eepnblican supervisor, but from the Democratic su¬ 
pervisor. Both the Bcpnbican and the Democratic supervisor exi)laiued 
to me the mode of taking the box. 

Q. Who was the Kepnblican supervisor ?—A. Mr. Fife. 

Q. Who was the Democratic supervisor?—A. B. M. Alexander. Ho 
explained to me how the crowd forced their way into the engine-house, 
and the process of putting out the lights, &c. 

Q. What length of time do 3*011 think you were at any one of the polls 
that day ?—A. I staid at the Palmetto engine-house longer than at any 
other poll. That was at the time I was there in the afternoon. My 
visit to each poll where things were going on smoothly used not to ex¬ 
ceed fifteen minutes generally. 

Q. The Palmetto engine-house was where this disturbance was re¬ 
ported, was it ?—A. It was. 

Q. Who was deputy marshal there ?—A. There were three deputy 
marshals there. 

Q. Who made the report?—A. Mr. A. W. Green. The Democratic 
and Eepnblican supervisors, too, came to me and made the same report. 
They looked as if they had gone through a severe melee. 

3 s c 


34 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


{ Charleston 


Q. Did not Green look as tliong’h lie was in liquor ?—A. I do not 
tliink lie did. I would like to state here that the testimony given that 
Green was located in a chair by the fire so drunk that he was unable to 
get up or to move, from seven o’clock until ten, was utterly false. Between 
half past seven and eight o’clock Green came to me and said the super¬ 
visor had left and the ballot-box was stuffed so full that it was running 
over, and they were still continuing the work. He said it was all a 
ridiculous farce. He staid there to watch the counting of those votes, 
and when he attempted to count them he was driven away and forcibly 
set down by the stove. I said to him, “ Go back and see what is done, 
and report to me in the morning.” 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was Green drunk then"?—A. I regarded him as being perfectly 
sober at that time; he made his statement in a cool,deliberatewmy,and 
told me what I afterwards discovered to be the facts in the case. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You saw no more of him after that!—A. Ko, sir; I ordered him 
to go back and keep watch. 

Q. Have you any means of determining with accuracy the time when 
Green came to you and made this report, or is it only a mere impression 
on your mind ?—A. I know I did not leave my office until some time 
after seven o’clock; from there I w^ent to supper; and while I w^as eat¬ 
ing supper Green came to me with the announcement of w^hat had oc- 
curred- 

Q. Did you take any note of the time you left the office?—A. We 
have a city regulation that at seven o’clock the city bell rings. This is 
for the government of the police. It was some time after the seven o’clock 
bell rang that evening before I left my office—the United States mar¬ 
shal’s office—and w’ent home to supper, and I had been some time at 
supper when Green arrived. It is from this reason that I know it must 
have been at least as late as half past seven, if not eight o’clock, wUeii 
Green came to report the destruction of the ballot-box. 

Q. From that time on you don’t know anything about it ?—A. Kot 
till the next day. 

Q. Do you not know that Mr. Green is in the habit of drinking?—A. 
I know^ that he takes a drink once in a wdiile, but I never saw him drunk. 

Q. Is he not in the habit of getting intoxicated ?—A. I never have 
known him to be drunk, though I know- he takes a drink sometimes. 

Q. Do you not know that he lost his hat that night, and a gentleman 
bought him another the next day ?—A. I know that h6 reported to me 
that he lost his hat in the fight. 

Q. That was at the affliir that occurred at the time the supervisor at¬ 
tempted to arrest that German for alleged illegal voting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the difficulty to wdiich you referred ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How^ many deputy marshals did you appoint for the purpose of as¬ 
sisting in conducting the election in Charleston?—A. Forty-six. 

Q. They were appointed with special reference to the election ?—A. 
They were. 

Q. How^ many did you appoint in other counties ?—A. Previous to the 
election- 

Q. I mean with reference to the election ?—A. I appointed, expect¬ 
ing that they wmuld discharge their duty at the election, some fifteen 
deputies; not commissioned specially for the election, but instructed to 
act during the election as well as to perform their other duties. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M. WALLACE. 


35 


Q. In what comities?—A. In Darlington, Sumter, Williamsburg, Or¬ 
angeburg, and Eicbland. 

Q. How many did yon assign to Richland County ?—A. I could not 
give you the number; five or six, I think; maybe more, maybe less. 

Q. IIow many to Sumter?—A. I do not recollect how many; three or 
four; possibly five. 

•Q. This is a matter of consequence. I wish I could get at the exact 
innnbers.—A. I can get you the numbers; I have documents here which 
will give the exact numbers. 

Q. How were they assigned?—A. One at each voting precinct. 

Q. Of the marshals and deputy marshals appointed by you, what were 
their politics?—A. Those that were appointed in the counties outside of 
Charleston were Republicans. 

Q. Hoav about those in Charleston ?—A. They were about one-third 
of them Democrats. 

Q. And the other two-thirds Republicans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I wish you would give me the names of some Democratic deputy 
marshals that you appointed in Charleston.—A. I can give you the names 
of all of them. 

The Witness handed Mr. McDonald a list contaming the names of 
the marshals appointed, with those who w ere Republicans so designated, 
saying: These gentlemen were appointed on the recommendation of our 
Iriend, Mr. O’Connor (Mr. O’Connor being present at the examination). 
The witness continued: You will see by that that the total number of 
deputy marshals appointed in the city of Charleston was 46, of which 18 
were Democrats. It w^as my calculation before making the appointment, 
that one-third of my deputies in that city should be Democrats, and the 
rest Republicans. You w ill see, by making a calculation, that something 
over one-third of them were Democrats. 

Q. You spoke in your examination-in-chief about complaints being 
made from some of the counties in regard to disturbance at Republican 
meetings. Were not those disturbances caused by a demand to divide 
time with the Republican speakers ?—A. It grew out of that in some 
instances ; in other instances it grew out of the fact that the Democrats 
had resolved that the Republicans should not organize. 

Q. As to Sumter County, was not the hostility particularly directed 
towards Sam Lee ? Was there any other person there menaced or threat¬ 
ened excepting him ?—A. Every man who took a prominent part in the 
Republican party was menaced; Sam Lee particularly; because he was 
the county chairman on the Republican side. 

Q. What other men besides Sam Lee were threatened or menaced ?— 
A. Mr. Coghlan, candidate for senator, was assaulted and repeatedly 
threatened. 

Q. That wms at the place where the two parties held a mass meeting 
on the same day ?—A. Yes, sir; and on another occasion, when he went 
into the country to organize the precinct meeting, he was threatened 
and ordered to go home. 

Q. The warrants you issued and sent out were all executed without 
difficulty, were they not?—A. Without any serious difficulty. 

Q. The parties wxre brought in and put on bail without opposition ?— 
A. They were. 

Q. When you speak of nine-tenths of the colored people voting the 
Republican ticket if left alone, you simply give that as your own opin¬ 
ion?—A. Yes, sir; the result of long experience with the colored 
people. 

Q. Other persons differ with you as to that; they have their opinion 


36 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cbarleeton 


as you have yours?—A. I have heard persons make statements before 
this committee that I was satisfied they knew when they made them 
were false. 

Q. They may say the same of your opinion. As to that, there are dif¬ 
ferences of opinion expressed on this subject, are there not ?—A. There 
are, but the great mass of Democrats themselves regard Demo(Tatic votes 
from colored people as verj^ uncertain, very unreliable. They know, and 
say frankly, that the colored people have to be watched and carried up 
to the polls before they will vote the Democratic ticket, and then you 
have to see the ticket go in before you know that they have really 
voted with that party. 

Q. There were colored people openly advocating the Democratic cause 
and making speeches, canvassing the State, were there not?—A. A few 
of them. 

Q. Do you not yourself know a number of colored men who have been 
active in the political canvass making speeches, attending Democratic 
conventions, holding Democratic meetings?—A. I know of half a 
dozen—I think not more than that—who have been prominent in that 
direction. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Colonel Wallace, you occupy the position of United States mar¬ 
shal?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that (handing him a document) a copy of the order served on 
you a day or two previous to the last el>ection ?—A. No copy was served 
on me; an order was read to me. (After reading the document). Yes, 
sir; I believe that order, or one very similar to it, was read to me by 
Colonel Ehett. 


ALFEED EHETT. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29. 

Alfred Ehett sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. Did you occupy any position at the time of the last election in con¬ 
nection with the city government; and, if so, what position ?—A. I was 
chief of police of the city at that time. 

Q. The police officers of the city Avere under your direction and con¬ 
trol, were they?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you issue any orders, on or shortly before the day of election, 
for the government of the police force of the city ?—A. I did. 

Q. Look at that (handing the witness a document) and see if those are 
the orders you issued.—A. It is. 

Q. Who was marshal of the United States for this district at that 
time?—A. Colonel Wallace. 

Q. Did you submit that order to him previous to issuing it?_A. I did. 

I told him that I had prepared an order to be issued for the instruction 
of the police force on election day; that I did not intend to act in any 
partisan manner; that my business was simply to preserve the peace of 
the city; and that if on reading the order he thought of any amendments 
he would like to suggest I would embrace them in the order. 

Q. What did Colonel Wallace say to that?—A. He read over the order 





County.] "’TESTIMONY OF ALFRED RHETT. 37 

and then said it was perfectly satisfactory^ and that he had no amend¬ 
ments to offer. 

Q. Were any reports made to you that any member of the police force 
had violated that order ?—A. I myself arrested one man, a policeman. 
I saw him at the polls with two tickets in his hand, and I sent him to 
the station-house; he explained that he was just g;oing to vote liimself, 
and was examining to see which was the proper Democratic ticket to 
vote. 

Q. That was the only complaint made to you ?—A. Yes, sir. I will 
state further that two days after the election* I met Colonel 'Wallace in 
tlie street, and told him that the order had been strictly carried out to 
the letter ; and he said that no complaint had come to him of the action 
of the police that day. 

The order, which Avas then placed in evidence by Mr. McDonald, reads 
as follows: 


GENERAL ORDERS NO. 70. 

Main Street Station, 

Office of Chief of Police, 

Charleston, S. C., November 4, 1878. 

1. The police force will be divided into two squads, ‘‘A” and ‘‘B,” on Monday, 
Nov'ember 4, at 7 j). ni., and until further orders. 

2. Policemen on duty will take no part in the election on the 5th of November, be¬ 
yond depositing their votes at their respective polling precincts. They shall not hold 
any tickets, nor shall they solicit any votes, nor challenge any voter, nor hold con¬ 
versation in any manner with any citizen. 

3. It shall be the duty of the police, on the 5th inst ant, to make no arrests except 
for breach of the peace, or for disorderly and riotous conduct tending to a breach of 
the peace. 

4. The police will arrest any voter, at the request of the supervisor of the elections, 
for violation of the United States law as to illegal voting, and will assist any United 
States marshal in making arrest for the same cause. 

5. They alone will arrest any parties at the request of the managers of election. 

6. The officers of the day will be held responsible that no policeman armed with a 
gun leave their respective station-houses, except such armed squads as may be ordered 
on the streets by the officer commanding the respective station-houses. 

7. Any armed squad which leaves the station-house shall be under the direct com¬ 
mand of the officer detailed for that puiqiose, who will be responsible for any act or 
tiring done by said squad. 

8. No policeman belonging to any armed squad shall, under any circumstances, fire 
off his gun within the limits of the city, unless by direct command of the officer in 
charge of the squad. 

9. No policeman belonging to any armed squad shall break ranks or leave his squad 
under any consideration. 

10. Any policeman violating the provisions of this order shall be held to the strictest 
accountability, and shall be punished to the limits of the law and authority. 

11. The sergeants at the respective polls will be held responsible for the conduct of 
all ])olicemen and specials, and they will arrest and send to the station-house any 
policemen or specials violating this order. 

12. During the day the squads will be kept in instant readiness to move; no leave 
of absence will be granted, and none allowed to leave the station-house. 

13. The details for duty at the polling precincts will be as follows (the remainder 
of the order is occupied by assigning the regular and special police force to duty at 
the various polling places in the city). 

By order of 

(Signed) ROBERT RHETT, 

Chief of FoUce. 

Official. 

A. M. Williams, C. F. D. 


38 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[Charleaton 


E. W. M. MACKEY. 

Washington, D. 0., 
Tuesdayj February 4, 1879. 

E. W. M. Mackey sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. Since my birth—forthirty- 
three years. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late political election?—A. I did, 
sir. 

Q. What part did you take ?—A. I was candidate for Congress in the 
second Congressional district—candidate of the Eepublican party. 

Q. What counties composed that district ?—A. Charleston, Orange¬ 
burg, and Clarendon. Previous to my nomination, however, I had taken 
an active part in the organization of the Kepublican party in the State 
and in the canvassing of that part of the Congressional district. 

Q. You may give a general history of the campaign from the begin¬ 
ning, and give it as briefly as you can.—A. In the early part of the year— 
that is, a few months preceding the election, about June or somewhere 
thereabout—^the Eepublicans were doubtful as to whether it was worth 
while to enter into the contest. It seemed to be a prevailing opinion 
with everybody that as the entire election machinery was in the hands 
of the Democratic party the Eepublicans would have no fair show what¬ 
ever, and that it would be useless to enter into any contest. In fact it 
was generally admitted and talked about by the Democrats that they 
had the election machinery and that they would count out the Eepubli¬ 
cans. So general was this opinion throughout the State almost, that it 
attracted the attention of Governor Hampton, and in a speech made by 
him at Blackville, on July 4, at the reunion of Hart’s Battery, he referred to 
the matter. In that speech, imblished in the Charleston News and Courier 
July 5,1878, he said: If it is thought that we can be successful in this 
election by fraud—and I have heard some rumors floating through the State 
occasionally intimating that we have the machinery of elections in our 
own hands, and that we could count in anybody we pleased—I tell you, 
people of Barnwell, and people of South Carolina , that if you once counte¬ 
nance fraud, before many years pass over your heads you will not be 
worth saving, and will not be worthy of the State you live in. Fraud 
cannot be successful, because the chosen sons of South Carolina form 
the returning board now. The men placed there as representing the 
truth and honor of South Carolina would die before they would perjure 
themselves by placing men wrongfully in office [cheers].” As soon as 
Hampton made this speech of course it attracted the attention of 
Eepublicans throughout the State, and we took this as an assurance that 
there would be a fair election, and we therefore concluded to call a State 
convention. The chairman of the State executive committee of the 
Eepublican party then issued a call for a State convention to assemble 
in the early part August. Delegates were elected to that State conven¬ 
tion, I think, from twenty-eight out of thirty-two counties in'the State. 
There were four counties not represented. It was stated in the State 
convention, and in fact, I believe, a paper was presented setting forth 
the reason why the Eepublicans of Edgefield had failed to elect delegates 
from that county. It was because it was intimated that if they attemjded 
to elect any or attempted to reorganize the Eepublican party in that 
county, it woidd be fatal to those attempting it. In fact, I think there 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. \V. M. MACKEY. 


39 


was an editorial in the Edgefield Advertiser, advising if certain men 
attempted to organize the Eepublican i^arty in that county, that they 
should he hung up to the nearest tree. 

Q. Is that a Democratic paper?—A. Yes, sir; I read the editorial. 

Q. Have you got the editorial?—A. No, sir; hut I recollect reading 
it at the time—it was partly republished in Harper’s Weekly. You can 
refer to that paper about some time in July or August, and you will find 
a portion of the editorial published in it. 

Q. You may go on.—A. After the convention met we went into 
secret session, and there was a warm discussion as to whether we should 
nominate a State ticket or abstain from making any nominations at all. 
It was generally conceded that Hampton was the main strength of the 
Democratic party in the State, and if we made a nomination for gov¬ 
ernor and State officers that it would be a strong inducement to Hamp¬ 
ton to use the machinery of election—that is, in the appointment of 
commissioners, &c.—for the purpose of counting himself in; whereas if 
we made no nominations and simply confined ourselves to the Con¬ 
gressional districts and the counties, that all inducements for him to act 
unfavorably in the appointment of commissioners would disappear. 
That motive, I think, principally controlled us. Not that we were satis¬ 
fied with Hampton’s administration, because we distinctly set forth in 
our platform that we were not satisfied; but we thought by the failure 
to put in the field nominees for governor and other officers that his 
(Hampton’s) motives for using the election machinery against us would 
be partially removed. Therefore we made no nominations. Several 
delegations from the different counties waited upon General Hampton 
(that was previous to the action of the convention, however), and he in¬ 
formed them he would appoint as commissioners of election throughout the 
State fair-minded men, and would allow the Kepublicans one of their own 
selection in each county. When the commissioners were appointed, how¬ 
ever, much to the disappointment of Eepublicans, in nearly every county 
throughout the State all three commissioners were Democrats. Wherever 
a Eepublican was appointed, a very ignorant man, or some one who was 
not in affiliation with the Eepublican party, or perhaps some man whom 
the Democrats would call a Eepublican, but who had left the Eepublican 
party years ago, was selected, and it was a mere evasion in calling him 
a Eepublican. For instance, in Charleston County, Hampton appointed 
a Mr. C. W. Montgomery as a representative of the Eepublican party, 
although it was a well-known fact that for four years past Mr. Mont¬ 
gomery had not affiliated with the Eepublican party, nor was he recog¬ 
nized by Eepublicans as a Eepublican. It is true he was at one time a 
Eepublican, but in 187G he marched in the Democratic procession in the 
city of Charleston, and I suppose must have voted the Democratic 
ticket; at any rate, Eepublicans generally believed so, and did not rec¬ 
ognize him as a Eepublican, and he in no manner, shape, or form affili¬ 
ated with the Eepublican party—did not consult the Eepublican leaders, 
or any portion of them. Again, in Orangeburg County, a colored man 
who had been a Eepublican was appointed a commissioner ; his name 
was Cain. It was a well-known fact, however, that because of his 
failure to get an office from the Eepublican party he went over to the 
Democracy, and abandoned the Eepublican party entirely. That was 
in 187G. 

Ill some counties Hampton did not pretend to appoint men who 
had ever been Eepublicans, but appointed men who never had been 
Eepublicans, or who never had affiliated or been connected with 
the Eepublican party. I suppose that, throughout the State, there 


40 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


were only live or six men wlio could be called Eepublicaiis wlio 
were appointed as commissioners, and most of those resigned be¬ 
fore the election, because the Democratic commissioners of election 
refused to give them any Eepublicaiis on the board of managers. The 
commissioner of election in Clarendon County, J. P. Wragg, was a 
Eepublican, but he resigned before the election. Mr. John A. Agnew, 
of Columbia, was a good Eepublican alsoj I am not certain, however, 
whether he resigned or not. I know his complaint was that the other 
commissioners would not allow him any voice in the appointment of 
managers of election. In Charleston County Ave tried to get one Eepub¬ 
lican manager of election appointed out of the three at each poll, but 
we failed. We handed in a list of names of Eepublicaiis, one for each 
poll, but Avheii Ave saAv the appointments announced they AAT.re all Dem¬ 
ocrats; and so it was all OA^er the State. Ido not think there Avas a 
Eepublican manag’er of election of the 482 in the State. To appoint the 
managers of election exclusively from one party AA^as against all prece¬ 
dents, for the Eepublicaiis Avhen in poAver had ahvays given representa¬ 
tion to the Democrats on the boards of commissioners of elections and 
on the boards of managers. I knoAV in Charleston, in 1870, the Demo¬ 
crats had a man of their own choice, a prominent Democrat, as commis¬ 
sioner of election, .and at each one of the precincts a Democratic man¬ 
ager; I knoAv in 1874 the Democrats had a man of their oaaui choice as 
commissioner of elections, and at each poll they also had a manager of 
elections. 

Q. Did that hold good all OA^er the State?—A. Yes, sir; because Go\^- 
eriior Moses, in making appointments in 1874, appointed one Democrat 
in each county as a commissioner of elections, and the commissioners 
in turn appointed one Democrat as manager of elections at each poll. 
GoAwnor Chamberlain, in making appointments in 1870, published a 
notice iiiAdting. the Democrats to nominate a commissioner of elections 
for each county, and a Democratic commissioner Avas appointed for each 
county and a Democratic manager Avas appointed at each poll. So this 
really Avas about the lirst election of Avhich I haA^e any recollection Avhere 
the election officers Avere appointed entirely from one political party, 
and the other political party denied airy" representation AATiateAmr. 

Q. Let me ask you right here, did you determine to organize, and run 
candidates for Congress and members of the legislature?—A. Yes, sir; 
that was the policy agreed upon in the State convention—to make no 
nominations for the State officers, but to nominate candidates for Con¬ 
gress, not in all the districts, but in the first, second, third, and fifth; I 
think it Avas decided to make no nomination in the fourth; and to run 
candidates for the legislature in those counties Avhere the Eepublicans 
had an acknoAvledged majority. Of course we concluded it Avas useless 
to run any candidates in Democratic counties. PreA'ious to the assem¬ 
bling of the State convention, Air. C. C. BoAven, chairman of the Eepub¬ 
lican party. Senator Taft and myself, made a complete canvass of the 
county and organized the Eepublican party. We Avent to almost every 
polling precinct. After the convention adjourned, we again canvassed 
the county; in fact, I do not suppose the Eepublicans made a more 
thorough canvass of Charleston County in any previous year than they 
did last year. 

Q. Was Bowen in full accord Avith the party ?—A. Air. Bowen, Sena¬ 
tor Taft, and myself AA"ent through the county together and organized 
the party together; we were at every meeting together. The Eepubli¬ 
can iiarty was never more united than in 1878. It is true there had been 
a division in the Eepublican party in Charleston County years ago, but 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


41 


in 187G, when tlie Democratic party determined upon their straight-out 
policy, as a matter of course the Kepublicans were forced together, and 
we united and carried Charleston County in 1876 by 6,200 majority, and 
we have since remained united. But I think we were even more united 
last election than in 1876, because we made a much more thorough can¬ 
vass. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. What was the majority in 1876?—A. I can give you the exact fig¬ 
ures. The majority for Presidential electors was 6,308. The majority 
for Congressman was 6,238. I think in Charleston the difference be¬ 
tween the majority for Presidential electors and governor was about 
100 . 

Well, this year, as I was going on to say, we thoroughly canvassed the 
county—held meetings everywhere; we went to all the voting precincts. 
1 sux)pose we must have had in Charleston County thirty meetings out¬ 
side of the city of Charleston. When we started out the second time 
to hold our second list of meetings prior to the election, we exx)ected 
that the Democrats in that county would x)ursue the same policy which 
had been pursued in every other county; that is, that they would fol¬ 
low the Bepublicaus around the country and demand joint discussion, 
or, at any rate, be present at our meetings. We anticipated it, I say, be¬ 
cause Major Lamb Buist, chairman of the Democratic i)arty of that 
county, in a speech at Hibernian Hall after our State convention, some 
time in September or October, I think, stated that it was the intention 
of the Democrats to follow the Eepublicans around the county and de¬ 
mand a division of time; it was their intention, he said, to make a vigor¬ 
ous canvass, and to meet the Eepublican leaders on the stumx) and re¬ 
fute all they had to say. I do not know what altered their determina¬ 
tion, but after we started out, very much to our suri>rise, no Democrats 
appeared at our meeting. The first meeting we held of our second series 
of meetings was on John\s Island, where we held two meetings, although 
there was but one polling-j)lace. We held two in order that Ave could 
thoroughly post the people—holding one at the lower end of the island 
and one at the upper end. Ho Democratic si)eakers appeared. We be¬ 
gan to get very suspicious. We then went over to Wadmalaw Island, 
and there no Democrats appeared. Then we went over to Edisto, and in 
spite of their threats to follow us up no Democrats appeared there. We 
began to be suspicious, and Ave thought the Democrats must have deter¬ 
mined upon some other manner of carrying the election, as they did not 
follow us; and I recollect in talking among ourselves—Mr. Taft, Bowen, 
and myself—Ave did not like it, because Ave felt if they expected to get 
any colored Amtes on those islands—and on these islands there is not 
exceeding 200 Democratic Azotes, Avhile there are nearly 3,000 Eepub¬ 
lican Amtes—they should be around. If they exi)ected to make any 
imj)ression on the Eepublicans, it seemed to us that they Avould attend 
our meetings. We began to suspect that it was the intention of the 
Democrats not to open the i)olls on those islands. We came to the con¬ 
clusion that that was the plan they would adopt, and that they had come 
to that conclusion, too. Well, as it afterAvards turned out, they did not 
open any poll on Edisto Island, Avhere there was about 1,000 votes, and 
it Avas only by sending a man doAvn to John’s Island, and by his going 
and hunting up the managers of elections and carrying them to the poll on 
the morning of the election, that the poll was opened there. As it is, the 
two Democratic managers filed a statement after the election, saying that 
but tvv^o managers Avere imeseut, and the News and Courier recommended 


42 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


the throwing out of the returns, but the Democratic commissioners found 
that they had such a large majority that they concluded it would make no 
difference, and therefore- 

Mr. McDonald. Well, simply state the fact. 

The Witness. Well, they did not throw it out, and the county can¬ 
vassers made a statement to the effect that these irregularities existed, 
but that they had determined, nevertheless, to count that poll. You 
will find that statement appended to the return of the commissioners 
from Charleston County. 

After we had concluded our canvass of the islands, we then went on 
canvassing the other parts of the county. The Democrats met us for the 
first time at Saint Stephen’s—Mr. Buist and Mr. Lesesne. It was a very 
large and enthusiastic meeting. The Democrats appeared there in red 
shirts. They did not insist upon dividing the time, but asked it, and we 
were glad to give it to them. They made no impression Avhatever upon 
the Eepublican vote; I do not think that there were but two colored Dem¬ 
ocrats there; it had always been a Eepublican parish. The meeting was 
conducted quietly, and I think when the Democrats left they were satis¬ 
fied that they had made no imxiression on the Eepublican vote. The only 
other meeting the Democrats attended was at Strawberry Ferry. There, 
I think, they made a kind of attemx)trto take possession of the Eepubli¬ 
can meeting. We had called a meeting to elect delegates to the county 
convention. To our surprise, a card a^ipeared in the Daily Yews—I have 
it here—that Mr. Fishburne, president of the Democratic club, had ar¬ 
ranged with Mr. Bowen to have a joint discussion at Strawberry Ferry 
on the 19th instant; all persons without respect to color and all persons 
from the surrounding country were invited to attend. As soon as this 
appeared I went to Mr. Bowen and asked him if he had made any 
arrangement with Mr. Fisburne for a joint discussion. He said no; that 
he was surprised to see it. I called his attention to the fact because I 
thought Mr. Fishburne treated Mr. Bowen rather disrespectfully in the 
advertisement, which was, ^b¥r. W. H. Fishburne has arranged with 
0. C. Bowen.” I thought the least he could do, as he had styled him¬ 
self Mr.” and had evidently written the notice, was to give to Mr. Bowen 
the same title he had given to himself. I asked Mr. Bowen if he had 
made arrangement, and he said no, he had not ; that it was a surprise 
to him. Still, I understand that afterwards Fishburne came down and 
made arrangements with him. 

In Charleston County, whenever Democrats would come peaceably to 
our meetings, we did not object to a joint discussion; in fact, we thought 
we were strong enough to take care of ourselves, and if we thought 
they wanted to have a row we always went prepared; so we did not care, 
for the joint discussions always resulted to our advantage. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You mean around CharlestonA. Yes, sir; and therefore we 
did object to having a joint discussion. The advertisement also spoke 
of a boat taking up parties. We objected to that, for in the year 1876, 
when the Cainhoy matter occurred, a boat went down there and took a 
crowd of roughs, and we did not want to see a boat bring a similar 
crowd to the Strawberry meeting. At the meeting all the Eepublicans 
from the surrounding country were there. I will say that rumors came 
to me that I was not to be allowed to speak at that meeting; that the 
Democrats would prevent me from speaking. At a previous meeting 
they had interrupted me and I had spoken rather sharply, and they 
thought I had insulted them; there was a rumor this time that they 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


43 


would not let me speak. Still I went and I spoke. The only thing con¬ 
nected with that meeting worthy of mention is the fact that the Demo¬ 
crats took a number of the police officers from the city of Charleston. 

Q. What*distance did they go ?—A. About 40 miles from Charleston, 
up the Cooper Kiver, on a boat. They took up, I think, sixteen mem¬ 
bers of the police force of the city of Charleston armed with Winchester 
rifles. They also had a cannon aboard, which they said was to be used 
for firing salutes, which they did from the boat, but we could not un¬ 
derstand the necessity of taking up sixteen members of the police force 
of Charleston. The pretext was that they were State constables. 

Those were the only two meetings in tlie county where the Democrats 
put in an appearance. The Democrats made a very poor canvass of the 
county. 1 do not think they held a fourth or a fifth as many meetings as 
we did; their comi)laint was that unless they went to our meetings they 
could not reach the ears of the colored people, for the colored peo¬ 
ple would not come to their meetings, and to reach them, therefore, 
they went to our meetings, and thus got an opportunity to speak to them. 
That was the ground upon which they justified their attending Eepub- 
lican meetings throughout the State and demanding a division of time. 
The Democrats held but few meetings in Charleston County outside of 
the city of Charleston; of the meetings so held the two principal ones 
were at Wappetaw and Bonneau’s. The attendance of colored i)eople at 
the former place was small. At the latter x>lace I understand it was 
larger, because free cars were run ui:> there from Charleston, which was 
39 miles, and people were picked up all along the route. In fact a good 
many Eepublicans went uj) to see it. In addition to these two meetings, 
they chartered a steamer and went down to Wadmalaw Island and there 
attempted to hold a meeting, but the l^Tews and Courier afterward ad¬ 
mitted that they failed to get up one. I think the item was headed. 

Campaigning under difficulties.’^ I heard of another on James Island; 
that was four. I do not think they held outside of Charleston over half 
a dozen meetings. It was impossible to make a canvass of that county 
with that number of meetings or to reach in that way the ears of one- 
third of the people in it. Taking the canvass made by the Eepublicans 
in comparison with that made by the Democrats, we had every rea¬ 
son to believe when the election came off that we would be successful. 
The Eepublicans were united and more sanguine than ever before, while 
the Democrats seemed to be less active than in 1876 or at any previous 
election. They took less pains to try and convince the black people. 
Not even in the city of Charleston did they exert themselves to make 
the colored people leave the Eepublican party. In view of the fact that 
it is claimed that a good many colored people are Democrats in the city 
of Charleston, I may as well state that at the largest Democratic meet¬ 
ing held there, when Hampton came to Charleston, and they had Avhat 
Avas called their Hampton meeting, every exertion was used to get col¬ 
ored people to parade in the procession and to bring out the Democratic 
voters, to make the reception of Hampton as large as possible ; and yet 
Avith all their exertion there were but ninety-nine colored men in the en¬ 
tire procession. I haA^e a statement of the number of colored men who 
marched in that procession by wards. In ward 3, that gave the largest 
Democratic majority at the recent election, there was but one colored 
Democrat, Mr. J. Bruce Howard. Certain Eepublicans took the trouble 
to count them by wards, and the statement of the number of colored 
men who paraded in that procession was published in one of the neAvs- 
papers. I have the list here cut out of a newspaper, AAffiich I will submit 
to the committee: 


44 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


[Missionary Record, Charleston, S. C., Saturday, October 5, 1878.] 

HAMPTON’S DAY. 

Hampton’s Day, as it is generally termed, came and went like all others, and is now 
a thing of the past. The ])rocession was formed on the Citadel green, amidst the Loom¬ 
ing of cannons, and moved off at 11.30 a. m. The programme was as follows: 

White. Colored, 


Red shirts, pedestrians. 1^5 10 

Red shirts in wagons. *15 

Red shirts on drays... . 52 6 

AVard 1. 39 7 

Ward 2. 79 2 

AVard 3. 103 1 

AVard 4 . 185 28 

AAhird 5. 22 6 

• Ward G. 30 

Ward 7. 18 5 

AVard 8.•.. 20 8 

Equestrians. 250 23 

Equestrians, artillery. 50 


1,017 99 

7 carriages containing. 28 

5 buggies. 10 


Total amount. 1,154 


Last but, not least, a dilapidated wagon closing the procession offering for sale Hamp¬ 
ton badges. The only colored man from ward 3 was J. Bruce Howard. 

Afterwards some colored men who Avere in that procession came to me 
and said they put on red shirts because they Avere paid $2 for their 
day’s ser\ice. From all these circumstances, from CA^erything that 
liappened through the caiiAmss, from the apparent lukewarmness of the 
Democrats throughout the county, from the activity and energy we 
had displayed in organizing, to bring out the Kepublican \mte, Ave cer¬ 
tainly believed that Ave would carry the county. Of course, Ave did not 
believe Ave would haA^e as large a majority as we had in 1876, owing 
to the fact the Democrats had during the session of the legislature pre- 
Auous to the election abolished a large number of the Acting precincts. 

Q. Are they established by statute or how ?— A. Well, previous to the 
Avar the election precincts Avere designated together Avith the managers 
of election by the committee of the legislature on priAuleges and elec¬ 
tions. At eA^ery session of the legislature this committee generally made 
a report to the house of representatiA^es, setting forth the establishment 
of such and such precincts in such and such counties, and the appoint¬ 
ment of such and such managers, so that the polls Avere liable to be 
changed at each session of the legislature. After the Avar, Avhen the 
election laAV Avas passed ])roAdding for a board of commissioners of elec¬ 
tions for each county, the appointment of managers and the desig¬ 
nation of polling-places was left to the discretion of these commission¬ 
ers, who designated about the same polling-places that had existed 
preAdous to the Avar, except in a few counties where the vmte was so 
largely increased by the enfranchisement of the negro that they had to 
increase the polling-places. Well, the Eepublicans found after Uxo or 
three years’ experience that it Avas rather a dangerous poAver to A^est in 
the commissioners of election, and they determined to pass a law estab¬ 
lishing the precincts by act of the legislature, Avhich Avas done; and the 
polling-places throughout the State were designated by that act. Un¬ 
der this laAv the polling-places remained about the same as before. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Can you give me the year in which this act was passed?—A. The 
29th of March, 1875. When the Democrats got into power, however, 




















County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


45 


they passed an act, 27tli of March, 1878, which abolished a large number 
of voting precincts in the large Kepnblican counties—in Charleston and 
Beaufort ] aincipally. The act also abolished three in Orangeburg County, 
I think, and also in some other large Republican counties 5 but the three 
counties that were most affected by this act were Charleston, Beaufort, 
and Colleton. 

By the CnAiKMAN: 

Q. State how they were affected and what the changes were.—A. I 
have a map of Charleston County, which will show the location of the 
polls in that county. We will take, for instance, what is known as Christ 
Church Parish, tinder the act of 1875, there was a polling-idace at 
Mount Pleasant; then there was another at the Four-mile Church, which 
was 4 miles from Mount Pleasant. Farther uj), on the same road, there 
was a polling-place, also, afWappetaw Church, which is 15 miles from 
Mount Pleasant, or 11 miles from the Four-mile Church. Then, contin¬ 
uing 111 ^ the same road, there was a polling-place at the Thirty-second- 
mile House, in Saint James Santee, which is 17 miles from the Wappetaw 
poll. About 8 miles farther on there was another polling-place called 
Board Church. When the Democrats got into power, by tlie act of 1878 
they abolished all the voting precincts between Mount Pleasant and the 
Thirty-second-mile House, and left that whole stretch of country, a dis¬ 
tance of 32 miles, without a single i^olling-place. They abolished the 
two intermediate ])olling-places. Then they established at Moultrieville, 
less than a mile, another voting-place, where there is a large Democratic 
majority. This new poll was sure to give a Democratic majority, while 
the other polling places abolished used to give large Republican major¬ 
ities. Again, after leaving the city of Charleston, as you go out of the 
city on the State road which runs through Saint James Goose Creek 
Parish, there was a polling-place 4 miles from the city of Charleston; 
and another at Whaley’s Church, about 12 miles from Charleston; then 
another at Summerville, 22 miles from Charleston. How, the act of 1878 
abolished all these i)olling-places and established a precinct 22 miles 
from Charleston. There was also a poll at Mount Holly, and that was 
abolished. They abolished in the parish of Saint James Goose Creek ail 
the polls between the city of Charleston and the Twenty-second-mile 
House. 

Q. How many is that?—A. That is four. All of those were large 
Republican polls. In the upper part of Saint James Goose Creek they 
allowed the two polling-places to remain—Hickory Bend and Cross- 
Roads, because there was a large Democratic vote in that section, and 
in addition to those two established another within a few miles. 

Q. How far are they apart?—A. I cannot give the exact distance. I 
suppose from the scale on the map they are 5 miles or 0 miles apart. In 
Christ Church Parish, one of the polls abolished had always existed 
before the war. Then in Saint Stephen’s, where there had always been 
3 polls even before the Avar, they abolished the Pineville pc41 and left 
the one at Saint Stephen’s and one at Black\dlle—the latter because it 
was a large Democratic poll; but the Pineville poll had always gi\^en a 
large Republican majority. On James Island there used to be 3 polling 
places; two of them were abolished, to Avhich we did not seriously ob¬ 
ject, as I think myself one Avas sufficient. But on John’s Island, Avhich 
‘is 20 miles in length and 15 in Avidth, the Republicans by the act of 
1875 established 3 polling places, Avhich haA^e existed since reconstruc¬ 
tion. At Rushland, Avhich is near the city of Charleston, and around 
Avhich a large majority of the colored i)eople on the island live, the poll 
Avas abolished. About COO colored voters live at that end of the island. 


46 


SOOTH CAEOLIJIA IN J878. 


[ Charleston 


Campbell’s Clmrcli poll^ wliicli is in the center of the island, was abol¬ 
ished also. The poll at Andell’s Store, which is at the extreme end of 
the island, and at which a very small vote is cast—not more than one 
sixth of the vote of the island—was the only poll left on that island, so 
that the large number of people at Kiishland had to make a round jour¬ 
ney of 40 miles to vote. On Wadmalaw Island there was one in the 
center of the island and one on the coast; the center one Avas abolished 
and the one on the coast left standing. On Edisto, a Axry large island, 
there were two polling places, one at Calvary Church and one at 
AVright’s Store. The latter was remoA^ed to the steamboat landing, 
almost in the marsh, while the other was abolished j and CA^eii after they 
left the one in the marsh they did not take the trouble to open it. Tavo 
polls in Saint James Santee were also abolished. 

Q. Were those convenient ?—A. These polling places were abolished, 
the Democrats said, because they Avere established for the purpose of 
facilitating repeating, but as they existed it Avas imi)ossible to repeat, 
because they Avere generally 10 miles apart, in some instances they were 
CA^en 16' miles apart, so that it was almost impossible to make a journey 
to one of those polls and go to another and return the same day. In 
Saint Andrew’s Parish, Ayliich is completely separated from all other 
parts of the county by Avater, there were tAvo polling places, one called 
lied Top Church and the other Saint AndrcAv’s or Brick Church, 10 miles 
apart. Both of these Avere abolished, and the people of that parish left 
without any polling place at all. On the day of the election the people 
from Saint Andrew’s being without a polling place, of course came over 
to the city of Charleston to A'ote. I think it is necessary to state that 
fact because a good deal has been said about lieimblicans bringing peo¬ 
ple from the country to the city to A^ote. The people in Saint Andrew’s, 
AA^henever they Avant to come to the city of Charleston, cross the river at the 
ferry at foot of Spring street at the upper end of the city, or they cross 
over the bridge at Bee’s Ferry. At one of our meetings, we discussed the 
question hoAV these people from Saint Andrew’s Parish should get to 
vote—where they should go to A^ote. Under the laws of the State, A^ot- 
ers are alloAved to vote at any precinct in the county most couA^enient 
for them. The Democrats contended that the A'oters of Saint Andrew’s 
Parish should vote on James Island, but it was impossible for them to 
get there as they were separated from the i)oll on that island by a large 
body of water, and the only i)lace they could cross was on land belonging 
to private persons, and Ave did not feel like asking the OAvner the favor 
of alloAAung Eepublican voters to pass through his property. We told 
these people that we would try and make some arrangements for them ; 
that Ave would hire a steamer which Avould take them to James Island to 
A ote. 

Q. Why would they have to go to a certain point ?—A. Saint An¬ 
drew’s Parish is entirely separated from the city of Charleston and other 
portions of Charleston County by water. It is" not exactly an island ; it 
is joined to Colleton County, but as far as Charleston County is con¬ 
cerned it is separated from the rest of the county by the Ashley and 
Stono Eivers and Wappoo Creek. It is connected, as I said, with 
Charleston City by means of a ferry. 

Q. Is it marshy—are the streams fordable !—A. Eo, sir j none of them 
are fordable j the Ashley EIaw is very wide. 

Q. A man cannot ride his horse over ?—A. Eo, sir. 

Q. Do the marshes on each side of the river, as well as the river, ob¬ 
struct the crossing over ?—A. Yes, sir; all those islands are similarly 
situated. Even before you come to the river there are generally one or 
two hundred feet of marsh that surrounds them all. It is utterly im- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


47 


possible for a person to cross except by boat. Mr. Bowen and myself 
tried to make arrangements for hiring a steamer. There were three 
steamers in the city of Charleston, owned by the Mount Pleasant Ferry 
Comx)any. We thought we could charter one of these steamers, so as 
to take the voters from Saint Andrew’s to James Island, or to the Moul- 
trieville poll, so that they could not charge us with bringing them 
to the city of Charleston for the purpose of using them as repeaters. 
But there were enough voters on James Island to consume the whole 
day in voting, and we thought it best to hire a steamer and take them 
to Moultrieville where there were only about 200 voters, and let them 
vote at that poll. Mr. Bowen saw the agents of the ferry company 
and they said we could charter any of the steamers. He came back 
with the information and asked me for the money; I told him ^^All right,” 
and I gave him the money on Monday morning amounting to $100, to pay 
for the steamer, that being the price charged. When he went down with 
the money he was informed that tlie Democratic executive committee of 
Charleston had hired all the company’s steamers. They made no use of 
them at all—did not use them during the day; in fact it was understood 
that it was for the purj^^ose of preventing us from having the use of them 
that they chartered them. Well, we tried to get them and olferedthem 
money. We told the agents that we had understood that the steamer was 
engaged to us, but, as I said, when we went to tender money, they claimed 
that the Democratic executive committee had hired the steamers, so the 
steamers remained idle all day and they did not use them—nobody used 
them. After we failed to get the steamers, the only way these people 
could vote was for them to come to the city of Charleston and vote at 
wa,rd 8, which was the nearest poll to them. On the day of election 
some landed at the foot of Broad and Council streets, but the majority 
crossed the ferry at the foot of Spring street, and Avent to ward 8 poll. 
They were not allowed to Yote there, however—they were rejected on 
the ground that they did not live in the city, or that the managers did 
not know them. After being rejected at Avard 8 poll they would go to 
another poll,^ and Avhen they got there they would be challenged and the 
challengers would say, ‘‘ You AA^ere seen in line at ward 8 poll,” and they 
were again rejected j finally a good many made their way down to my 
ward—Avard 2. At that poll in the early part of the day, Avhen the 
])olls were first opened, about 25 or 30, perhaps even 40, of these men 
from Saint Andrew’s were allowed to vote there. An objection had been 
raised to their voting there early in the morning, but I insisted upon 
their right to Amte, and the managers finally alloAved them to vote. Up¬ 
on hearing that the managers of elections at ward 8 had refused to 
allow these people from Saint Andrew’s to vote at their poll, I sent word 
up there that they could come down and I Avould see that they voted at 
my poll. 

Q. Koav, right here, is that the charge that was made against you for 
repeating?—A. Yes, sir ; I sent word that the managers of AA^ard 2 had 
not refused to allow the people of Saint AndreAv’s to vote there, and if 
there was any trouble at Avard 8 to luwe them come down where I was. 
Well, some of them came down, when suddenly one of the commissioners 
of election took off the managers and talked to them, and all at once the 
managers declared that no more voters from the country should be 
alloAved to vote. I asked them why, and they said it Avas suspicious 
that they should pass two or three polls and come down here to vote. 
NTo proof Avas offered that they had voted at any other poll, but the 
managers put it on the ground that they had passed by other polls, and 
hence"that was a presumption that they had voted, and therefore they 
should not be allowed to vote here. 


48 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Ill this connection I desire to refer to the fact that Mr. Mattliews tes¬ 
tified in Oliarleston that a colored man came to him and said that lie had 
a message for me from Mr. Dnnnemann, that 250 men had just voted at 
ward 8 poll and that he was going to send them to me to vote again. 
That statement is untrue. I was there when the man came. The man 
never delivered any such message to Mr. Matthews, and Mr. Matthews 
knows full well that he did not. The man delivered to me this letter 
from Mr.-Dunnemann. 

November 5, 1878. 

Col. E. W. M. Mackey: 


Dear Sir : You will be compelled to put a stop to the Democrats from preventiug 
the voters from the 6th mile house, Saint Andrew’s Parish; they won’t allow none to 
vote at my poll in ward No. 8. By so doing you will oblige, 

Yours, 

LEWIS DUNNEMANN. 


There was no message brought to me that 250 men who had already 
voted at ward 8 had been sent down to vote at ward 2. While I was 
at the latter poll complaints came from all the polls throughout the 
city, that the managers at the difierent iiolls would not allow the voters 
from Saint AndreAv’s, or from Saint James Goose Creek to vote. The 
only poll Avhere the people from Saint James Goose Creek could A^ote 
was 22 miles from Charleston, and those Avho formerly voted at the 
4-mile house, rather than walk 18 miles to the poll above, determined 
to come to the city of Charleston, Avhich was only 4 miles, and Amte there. 
As reports continued to come from the difierent polls that the managers 
AAmuld not alloAv either the peofile from Saint Andrew’s or Saint James 
Goose Creek to vote, I went doAAui to the United States court-house 
and consulted with the district attorney, Mr. Northrop, and with the 
United States marshal, Mr. Wallace, and I do not hesitate to say I was 
in favor and did adAuse that warrants of arrest be issued for managers 
of election who Avere denying to qualified voters the right to cast their 
votes-, but they AA^ere not issued. We staid there a while, and soon 
the court-yard and court-house Avere croAvded with men who had been 
denied the right to vote. I sufipose 500 of these people came doAvn there 
and staid there the balance of the day complaining of the action of the 
managers in refusing to allow them to A*ote, and appealing to us to see 
if there Avas not some way by which the managers could be made to 
jiermit them to Amte. I think there Avas at one time fully 500 of these 
men in the court-house yard. They staid there the balance of the day 
and neA^er Avere allowed to Amte; they never got a chance. A large num¬ 
ber of men never attempted to vote, because after it became knoAvn, 
about mid-day, that the managers had determined upon this line of 
action, many of them made no attempt, but refrained from even offering 
their votes, as it AAms useless to do so. The number of Republican voters 
in Saint AndreAv’s is about 700, and the number that came from Saint James 
Goose Creek Avas about 500. There Avere about 1,200 or more of these 
people that were in the city. Out of this 1,200 not OA^er 200 of them 
voted that day. Besides these there Avas a number of men from the 
city Avhose \mtes were rejected. I know a number at my own poll Avere 
rejected that lived in the city of Charleston. 

Q. Do you know anything about these tissue ballots ? Some testi¬ 
mony Avas giA^en in the city of Charleston in regard to the Republicans 
having tissue ballots.—A. About ten days previous to the election I 
received a message from a member of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee of Charleston County that the Democrats were considering the 
question of using small tissue tickets. I did not pay much attention to 
the matter then, because my information Avas to the effect that tlie ques¬ 
tion Avas only being considered, and it had not been determined upon 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. 'M. MACKEY. 


4 ^ 


Moreover, I was busily occupied at tlie tiine, or shortly atter, with our 
county convention, and 1 had no time to tliink about it. I did not iiear 
any more about the matter until the Sunday ])receding the election, when 
a gentleman came to me with a message from another Democrat, telling 
me that we had better be on our guard; that the Democrats had a large 
number of tissue ballots with which they intended to stuff the ballot- 
boxes ; that they intended to tdace four or five hundred in each box, 
which, of course, would create a surplus, and which would necessitate 
the drawing out of a nund)er of ballots to the extent of the difference 
between the number of ballots in the box and the number of names 
on the ])oll-list, and the consequence would be that as the Kepub- 
lican tickets were larger and printed on coarser paper they would 
draw them out (easily distinguishing them from the others), and so de¬ 
stroy the Republican vote. This was the Sunday preceding the election. 
The information was brought to me from a Democrat, who said he was 
fully cognizant of the plan. That same evening Mr. James A. Williams, 
a candidate for tlie legislature on our ticket, came to my house and told 
me that wliile in Borger’s store, corner of King and Broad streets, he had 
overheard several men whom he did not know conversing in regard to 
the use of tissue ballots on the day of election. He said he supposed 
they wei*e ]3emocrats; at least they were white men, and they were con¬ 
versing about their using tissue ballots on election day, and he came to 
give me the information, as he supposed for the tirst time, but I had 
already received it. Immediately after that I went ui> to Mr. Bowen’s 
house "and advised with him what ought to be done. After consulting 
together, he advised that I should go down to Major Buist, chairman of 
the Democratic committee, and inform him that we knew of their plan, 
and see if it could not be sto])ped, thinking that if we informed him that 
we were cognizant of the matter that it might deter the Democrats from 
carrying out their scheme. I thought it would operate better if we 
should post a large poster throughout the city and inform the public that 
we were aware of the plan which had been concocted. So on Monday 
morning I went up to Mr. Perry’s store and asked him if he could print 
a poster (he was then printing the Republican tickets for me). He re¬ 
ferred me to his foreman who, after conferring with me, said I would 
have to get somebody else to print them, as he did not have time. I 
explained to him what I had heard about the plan of the Democrats to 
use tissue ballots, and I told him, in order to counteract the use of tissue 
ballots by the Democrats, I wanted him to print me some tissue ballots, 
for whicli I gave him the order. In consulting with Mr. Bowen we con- 
luded that our only remedy was to have tissue ballots printed so as to offset 
theirs, so that when they felt in the box all the tickets would be alike and 
our Republican tickets would be like theirs, and in drawing they could not 
tell the difference. On Monday morning I had these posters printed by 
Parry, Cooke & Co. Mr. Cooke was the printer who took the order; he 
is a Democrat. This poster, which is headed Democratic frauds,” is 
as follows: 

Exhibit. 

DEMOCRATIC ’ 

FRAUDS! 


BALLOT-BOX STUFFING! 


The attention of REl^UBLICAN Voters, Snpervi.sors, and Marshals is called to the 
fact that the Democratic Executive Committee have had printed, in small types, on 
tissue i>aper, a large numher of Democratic Tickets, commonly known as “ KISS JOKES, 
with Avhich certain Democrats at each Poll will attempt to stuff the Ballot Boxes. 

4 S C 





50 


SOUTfl CAROLINA IN J878. 


[Charleston 


The object is to get at least 500 of these kiss jokes in each ballot box, in order to 
make the ballots in the box exceed the names on tlie ])oll list. At the close of the 
l)olls, when the boxes are opened and the excess ascertained, one of the managers, all 
of whom are Democrats, will be blind-folded for the i)nrpose of drawing out the excess 
of tickets. Of course the Democratic manager will, in every case, feel for the Repub¬ 
lican tickets, which, being larger than the Democratic kiss jokes, w ill be drawn out. 
As the kiss jokes can be easily distinguished l)y the touch, none of them wdll be taken 
out. Supervisors and Marshals are earnestly urged to take such ])ositiou8 at the ballot- 
boxes as will enable them to detect any ])erson endeavoring to vote more than one 
ticket. By keeping a sharp lookout, the parties wdio are knowm can be easily detected, 
and must be arrested upon the spot. Notice is given that all parties caught will he vigor 
ously prosecuted in the United States Court. 

I had these printed just as early as I could on Monday morning, and 
I started out two men to post them. 1 had 1,000 of them printed, but 
gave them only 500 to post around the city. After being out an hour or 
two they came back and said that just as fast as they posted them a 
number of Democrats who w ere following them, tore them down. As 1 
had 500 in reserve, at night I gave them the 500, and told them to post 
them that night. They did so, but the next morning they were seen 
only about an hour or so, for during the day they nearly all disai)peared. 
I know that those at my poll were all torn down. 

We had 45,000 tickets printed in red ink on ordinary paper, of the 
usual size, as follows: 

Exhibit. 


I'XION KKPUIU.ICAN TICKET! 

For \{Mh Congress2d — 2d District. 

Ihlmimd W. M. Mackey. 

For Senator. 

James B. Cami>l)cll. 

For House of Bepresentatives. 

Andrew Simonds. 

C. G. Memmiiigcr. 

Francis S. Holmes. 

Edw ard McCrady, jr. 

Joliu H. Thiele. 

‘ Stephen H. Hare. 

William J. Brodie. 

James A. Williams. 

Joseph J. Lesesiie. 

James Hutchinson. 
Nathaniel Moraut. 

Frank Ladson. 

William G. Pinckney. 
Renty K. Washington. 
Andrew Singleton. 

Warren N. Bunch. 

James Singleton. 

For County Conimissioners. 

Imuis Dunnemann. 
William H. Thompson. 
Richard Bryan. 

For School Commissioner. 
Michael M. McZ/aughlin. 

For Judge of Prohate. 
Charles W. Buttz. 

For Solicitor, 1st Circuit. 

W. J. DeTreville. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. \V. M. MACKEY. 


51 


We then had 5,000 tickets ])rinted, of the same size as the above, on 
tissue-paper, but printed from the same form: 

Exhibit NTo. 4. 

UNION KKPUHLICAN TICKET. 

For AQtli Congress — 2d District. 

Edmund W. M. Mackey. 

For Senator. 

Janies B. Campbell. 

For House of Eepresentatires. 

Andrew Simonds. 

C. G. Meniininger. 

Fruncis S. Hidines. 

Edward McCrady, jr. 

John H. Thiele. 

8te]dien H. Hare. 

William J. Brodie. 

James A. Williams. 

Joseph J. Le.s(‘sne. 

James Hutchinson. 

Nathaniel Moraut. 

Frank Ladson. 

William G. Pinckney. 

Renty K. AVashington. 

Andrew Singleton. 

Warren N. Bunch. 

Janies Singleton. 

For County Commissioners. 
liOnis Dunneman. 

AVilliam H. Thompson. 

Richard Bryan. 

For School Commissioner. 

Michael M. McLaughlin. 

For Judge of Probate. 

Charles W. Buttz. 

Then we had 5,000 small tissue ballots, each about one-third the size 
of an ordinary ballot, like the following: 

Exhibit No. 5. 


UNION REPUBLICAN TICKET. 


For 4Qth Congress — 2d District. 
Edmund M. W. Mackey. 
For Senator. 


Andrew Simonds. 
Francis S. Holmes. 
John H. Thiele. 
AVilliam J. Brodie. 
Joseph J. Lesesne. 
Nathaniel Morant. 
AVilliam G. Pinckney. 
Andrew Singleton. 


James B. Campbell. 

House of Representatives. 

C. G. Memniinger. 
Edward McCrady, jr. 
Stejdien H. Hare. 
Janies A. Williams. 
Janies Hutchinson. 
Frank Ladson. 

Renty K. Washington. 
Warren N. Bunch. 
James Singleton. 


For County Commissioners. 

Louis Dunneman. William H. Thompson. 

Richard Bryan. 


For School Commissioner. 


Michael M. McLaughlin. 
For Judge of Probate. 
(diaries W. Buttz. 




52 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187". 


[Cliarlestou 


Then we 
follows: 


had of the ordinary size and paper, in black ink, as 

Exhibit No. 0. 


UNION KEPUBUICAN TICKET. 

For A6th Congress — 2d District. 

Edmund W. M. Mackey. 

For Senator. 

James B. Campbell. 

For House of lieprescntatives. 

Andrew Simonds. 

C. G. Memminger. 

Francis S. Holmes. 

Edward McCrady, Jr. 

John H. Thiele. 

Stephen H. Hare. 

William J. Brodie. 

James A. Williams. 

•Joseph J. Lesesne. 

.Tames Hutchinson. 

Nathaniel Morant. 

Frank Ladson. 

William G. Pinckney. 

Kenty K. Washington. 

Andrew Singleton. 

Warren N. Bunch. 

•James Singleton. 

For County Commissioners. 

l.ouis Dunneman. 

William H. Thompson. 

Kichard Bryan. 

Far School Commissioner. 

^Michael M. McLaughlin. 

For .Judge of Probate. 

Charles W. Buttz. 

It is a well-known fact in all elections in South Carolina it has been 
the habit of the Democrats to try and get hold of the Itepublicaii ticket 
a day or two in advance of the election, so as to iirint an imitation Ite- 
luiblican ticket, with the names of the Democratic candidates on it. As 
there is a large number of colored men who cannot read, they can easily 
be imposed upon in that way. Therefore, in this election, as in all pre¬ 
vious elections, we issued strict injunctions to the iirinters not to let any 
of our tickets get out. But as there is a large number of men in the 
employ of Democrats Avho desire to get their tickets the night before the 
election, as they do not wish their employers to know how they vote, 
we had 2,00d tickets like the above, which are different from the regular 
ticket, printed for distribution among that class of peojile. I staid up the 
night before the election, as I generally do, to furnish tickets to colored 
])eople who want to vote the liepublican ticket but who work for Demo¬ 
crats and who get their tiikets sei'retly and put them in their pockets in 
order to keep their emjffoyers from knowing how they vote; when they 
are given Democratic tickets they change them before voting. For this 
reason we generally have an ordinary ticket jirinted, so that if by mistake 
any should get out the Democrats will not counterfeit it. The 2,000 


€ounty. ] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


53 


printed in this form were, as I liave said, for tlie pnri)Ose of distribution 
tlie night before the election to colored men who came to us to get tick¬ 
ets, because they dare not get them off the tables at the polls, and who 
did not want their emx)loyers to know how they voted. 

If you will notice in the counting of the votes, and there is no doubt 
about it, not one of those Republican tissue-ballots were sent outside of 
the city of Charleston; they were not even distributed in the city of 
Charleston, for our idea was not to use them uidess the Democrats were 
voting tissue-tickets, as we had been informed they would do. But on 
the morning of the election I had a number of men watching to find out 
whether there were tissue-ballots being voted by the Democrats, and 
from all the different precincts I could get no information whatever as to 
Democratic tissue-ballots being used. I therefore thought my informa¬ 
tion was wrong, and that they did not intend using them. Therefore, we 
did not distribute the smaller tissue-ballots, and I believe I handed 
them to Mr. Teller, the chairman, before the committee left Charleston. 
We did not use them except a few that I took out and gave away. I 
suppose out of the 5,000 there is now fully 4,000 in that package. I had 
the night before given a small number to some men with the distinct 
understanding that they were not to be used unless the Democrats were 
using them also, so that in the whole city of Charleston there were only 
six of them voted. After I found that no one could find any Democratic 
tissue-ballots I thought there was no use to distribute them, and they 
were not distributed. 

C^. What was the larger tissues ?—A. Tliere were 5,000 of them, and 
very few of them were used, and then only because <luring the day I 
ran out of the others, and as they were of the same size as the regular 
ticket I distributed a few. The best i)art of them were never given out. 
Out of those distributed, the count shows that only 25() altogether were 
voted. But neither any of the large nor small tissue l)allots were sent out¬ 
side of the city of Charleston. The fa<*t of the case is we could not 
send them because the order for i)rinting was only given on Monday, 
and I did not get them until late Monday night, and when I got them, 
all of our tickets, so far as the counD' was concerned, had been sent out. 

[At this point the package of small Rei)ublican tissue ballots, which 
were printed with a view to offset the Democratic tissue ballots, was pro- 
<luce(l, and contained about 4,000.] 

1 must admit I thought that poster had scaixnl them, but, as things 
turned out, I am satisfied now that it did not. 

(}. What do you know about the Democratic tissue ballots being 
voted ? Tell us all about it as briefly as you can; of course, I don’t care 
tn know about those in the boxes which we counted, for that is shown 
by the returns, but if you know of any others you may state al)outit.— 
A. In regard to the count in Charleston County, and the manner of con¬ 
ducting the election, the x)lan of the DeimxTats appeared to be what is 
specified in this poster, but that jdan was not carried out entirely in the 
city of Charleston, because you will see in this poster we requested the 
sux)ervisor, especially the Republican supervisor, to take such a i^osition 
at the ballot-box as would enable him to detect any i)erson trying to 
vote more than one ticket. After issuing that circular we called the 
sux)ervisors together and told them they must take such i)ositions as to 
observe the ballot-boxes, and for them to kee]) their eyes on the ballot- 
boxes all the time, and employ a clerk at eacli x)oll to keep a xK)ll-list. 
Each of them, in accordance with the instructions given by us, employed 
a clerk, but at every x)olling-])lace except one, in the city of Charleston, 
objections were made to the clerks. 



54 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. I do not think it is worth while to go over that.—A. Well, I want 
to say that in the city of Charleston at all of the polling-places except 
one they did not adopt the plan of drawing out the tickets—well, all but 
two. All the tickets that were found in the boxes were counted, and, 
of course, in that way the poll-list in some places overran the ballots in 
the boxes, and sometimes the ballots in the boxes outnumbered the 
names on the poll-lisb but everything was counted that was found in 
the ballot-boxes. 

Mr. McDonald. What, in places that you were present ? 

The Chairman. Yon had better testify from the returns of the super¬ 
visors, and then make any explanation you choose about it. 

The Witness. Well, I will state that I have examined all the poll- 
lists of the city of Charleston, in the secretary of state’s office, and I 
have certified copies of those poll-lists here. 

Q. Well, you may state about this.—A. This poll-list at Market Hall. 

Q. Is that an examination from the original f—A. Yes, sir. I will 
state that at the Market Hall precinct the total vote this year was 1,987, 
of which the Eepublicans got 121 and the Democrats the remainder, or 
1,866. In the election of 1876 the total vote of that poll had only been 
585. At the municipal election of 1875 the total vote was 472. On the 
poll-list at Market Hall twenty-four pages of it is written upon the blanks 
furnished by the secretary of state to the commissioners of election, and 
by them, in turn, furnished to managers of election. Twelve pages is 
written on legal cap, and two pages written on foolscap. AYell, it ap¬ 
pears to have been written in seven different handwritings ; the hand¬ 
writings are very distinctly difierent from each other; it is hardly possi¬ 
ble that they were written by the same person, unless he took particular 
pains to disguise his hand in writing it in the various ways, and even 
then he could not do it. It is in seven difierent handwritings. Pages 
1, 4, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, and 24 are written in one handwrit¬ 
ing. Then pages 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, and 23 are written in another hand¬ 
writing; 25, 30, 32, 33, and 37 are written in another handwriting. 
Pages 26, 27, and 28 in still another hand. Pages 29 and 34 in an¬ 
other handwriting, and page 36 in still another. The managers return, 
at that precinct a total of 1,987 votes, but there is but 1,977 on this 
list, so that they have returned ten more votes than they have names 
on this list. Now, another fact which I wish to call your attention to is,, 
that on the last page of the blanks furnished by the secretary of state the 
regular list contains two columns for names, but the last page only con¬ 
tains half a column of names, and there is a column and a half blank, 
and these other names on the foolscap and legal cap were attached to 
that afterwards. 

Q. How many names were attached after that?—A. After that 407 
are attached. Another fact is that those written on the regular poll- 
list blanks are only in two handwritings. For instance, the first page 
appears in the handwriting of one man; then the second and third page 
in the handwriting of a second man; then the fourth page in the hand¬ 
writing of the first; then the fifth page in the handwriting of the second 
party; then again follows five pages of the handwriting of the first 
party; then another page again in the handwriting of the other, and so 
on. Now, another peculiarity which I desire to call your attention to is 
this: that all these names in this first handwriting, or nearly all of them, 
can be found in the city directory, and are well-known names, while 
all these names in the handwriting of the second party appear to be 
fictitious names; that is, that cannot be found in the city directory, 
unless it is some ordinary one that you can find in any city directory. I 


County.] 


TESIIMONY OP E W. M MACKEY. 


55 


luive taken these sheets and hunted in tlie city directory, and know tliis 
to he a fact. Xo two liandwritings appear on the same slieet; it is 
A^dlere tliey are interspersed between. Xearly all these that appear to 
be in the handwriting- of the regnlar clerk are well-known names, and 
yon will find them in the city directory. The next is the Marion 
])oll-list; that is in the seven different handwritings. They all ai^pear 
to me to be in entirely dilferent handwritings, because they are so 
much dilferent, except perliaps two or three that may have been writ¬ 
ten .by the same person disguising his hand. There is certainly on 
that poll-list not less than the handwriting of four ditferent persons. 
There are seven ditferent handwritings. Two of these, on the second 
and third page, evidently is the handwriting of a woman. From what 
1 know about it no man ever wrote the second or third page. The names 
I think, of (mnrse, ought to be snfiicient to satisfy anybody that they are 
fictitious Jiames. They follow almost invariably in conxdes or triidets. 
For instance: “Fharles Ilrady, Theodore llrady, John Wasco, Joe 
Wasco, Isaac Was<‘o, Amos ^lay, Almon May, St. Johns jVIayes, Alfred 
Mayes, William Walker, Ilobert Walker,A\\ d. Walker.’^ Then they 
change in some i)laces and rnn names into each other. For instance, 
“Jzrael Feterson, Peterson Xoble, Xoble Prince.” 

Xow, the nnmber of names on that poll-list is l,ld7, and I think the 
returns of the managers show 1,P^3 votes. 

The next xioll-list is that of the Xiagara Engine-House that I exam¬ 
ined—A"ard 8, and I have here the poll-list of the managers of election 
and the poll-list of the United States snj)ervisor. As 1 have stated, 
these two x)oll-lists are both in double columns. The forms furnished to 
both were sheets of i)ax)er with double columns. You will notice that 
the managers in keex^ing the x)oll-list did not keex^ that as all the other 
X>oll-lists were kex)t, by tilling nx) a X)ftg^ ‘"'f time, but they run down 
and nearly fill ux) one colnmn, and those names corresxK)nd, name for 
name, with the supervisor’s x^oll-list. And they rnn down until you get 
“S. (Jiisholm,” on x>age 10, which axix>ears in the middle of the column. 
Xow, then, the next x^erson avIio Amted, or attemx^ted to a ote, aaus J. 0. 
( kirter. His name ax>x>ears on the sux)ervisor’s list and is scratched out, 
so that you aa ill see that the one that Avrote that turned back again. 
Then John Wesley Oabbs and 1). Chester. Xoav all these names that 
follow on the managers’ xH)ll-list after that are x^artly in the second col¬ 
nmn and the balance in the first column, after the sixteenth sheet. All 
these x^ages afterAA’urds do not occur on the suxAervisor’s list at all. 

Q. Hoav many of those ?— A. On the snperAusor’s XAoll-list there are 
819 names and on the managers’ xxdl-list (including all those Avhich are 
not on the suxAervisor’s xAoll-list) 1,^11, or aditference of 372. Xow what 
I Avant to state is that notAvitlistanding that there are 1,211 on the 
managers’ list, yet they returned 1,315 Amtes as haAing been cast, or 131 
more votes than they had even on their own poll-list. 1 can give you 
the number of each party if you desire it. 

Q. SuxAXAOse you do.—A. Democrats OIG, Il(‘xmblicans 399. 

Xo w anotheiHact in regard to this poll-list. It is only written in tAvo 
handAvritings, and the names that occur on the sux)erA isor’s X)oll-list are 
in the same handAvriting AAlth the exception of the last 22 names. While 
all of those not found on the superAusor’s list but are on the managers’ 
])oll-list are in a difierent liandAvriting from the first lot of names; that 
is, all the names that appear to be added on the managers’ poll-list are 
in a ditferent haiulAA riting with the excex)tion of 22. Xoav in regard to 
the Ashley engine-house, I aaIII state that as that aa as one of the first 
I did not make any comparisons at the time, but on that the total num- 


56 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187,^. 


f Charleston 


ber of juuiies is 1,158, while the iiiiiiiber of votes that they returned was 
1,130. Now on tliis poll-list there appear six sheets that have been in¬ 
serted between the first and the eighth sheet, that are written on the 
first page of what was the blanks furnished to the supervisors. The 
headings have been torn off, so that they are about one-quarter shorter 
than the regular blanks. The reason wdiy 1 state that these are 
inserted is because the poll-list furnished to the managers w as of the 
same charaeter. I have had no time to make a thorough investigation 
of this poll-list, still here is one name, Mr. H. Spariiiek—1 know^ he does 
not live in Charleston, but in Denver, Colo. 

In regard to this Market Hall poll-list, it has the most outrageous 
names anybody ever heard of j nobody ever heard of any .such names in 
the city of Charleston. One appears to be taken from a Chicago direct¬ 
ory, for I see ‘‘Carter H. Harrison’’; I notice “C. Andrew,” “K. Van- 
eoit,” “Mark Dockridge,” “John Leonard,” “David Drombell,” “Isaac 
M. Gilliard,” “Carter H. Harrison.” ^Anybody knows that those names 
are not found in Charleston. 

At the Palmetto engine I examined that poll-list; Mr. Eaton exam¬ 
ined it also. Mr. Eaton has testified that the number of persons voting 
at that poll wms 3,5fi9,w'hile in 1870 it w as only 738, total number. The 
total number in 1875 w^as only 515. Now it is true that another poll in 
that w ard has been recently abolished. 

Q. What w as the vote at that other poll ?—A. In 1870 it was 503; 
add that to tlie 738 that Avas Amted at the Palmetto engine-house in 

1870, and the result w ill be 1,301. In 1875 the Amte Avas 375 at the poll 
that Avas abolished, and 515 at the Palmetto engine-house; added to¬ 
gether the result Avould be 891. Noav, the Avhole Amte of the city of 
Charleston at this election, including the 805 A otes that Avere cast at 
the Washington engine-house, AA here the ballot-box w'as destroyed and 
AA’as not counted, w as 15,512. 

Q. What has it been heretofore ?—A. In 1870, it aa as 12,333. In 1875, 
at the municipal election, the Amte aa us 10,230, the total of the city. In 

1871, the total AA^as 10,531; in 1873, the total A ote Avms 12,097 ; in 1871, 
it w^as 10,395. So that the a ote of 1878 exceeded that of 1875 by 5,147 ; 
it exceeded that of 1873 by 3,115 ; it exceeded that of 1871 by 5,011 ; 
it exceeded that of 1870 by 3,209. Noav, at the only two ])olls in the 
city Avhere the tissue ballots Avere not used, the Ke])ublieans carried ; at 
all the other polls avIi ere the tissue ballots aa ere used, the Democrats 
carried. 

(The following statement in regard to these years is taken from the 
official figures, and is by wards for the different years.) 

[Exhibit No. 0.] 



1871. [ 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 

Municipal 

election. 

1876. 

1878. 

ilimidpal | 
election, j 

Municipal 
election, j 

General 
election. ! 

General 

election. 

General 

election. 

Ward 1. 

. 024 

888 

904 

1. 007 

1.142 

960 

Ward 2. 

. 1. ib:C 

1.600 

1,173 

1,133 

1.410 

780 

Ward 8. 

. 1,411 

1. 643 

1. 593 

1. 866 

1. 886 

5, 556 

Ward 4. 

. 2. 206 ' 

2, 497 

2,301 

2. 366 

2.398 

2, .548 

AVardS. 

. 1,248 

1. 212 

1, 105 

l! 123 

1, 381 

1. 226 

AWard 6. 

. 1, 516 1 

1, 669 

1,598 

1,.587 

2, 054 

1, 988 

Ward 7. 

. 652 ' 

781 

653 

648 

821 

1, 139 

Awards. 

1.210 1 

1, 801. 

1,114 

1.006 

1, 241 

1, 345 

Total . 

. 10. 395 ; 

: 

12.097 

10, .531 i 

10, 236 ! 

12, 333 

15, 542 






















County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


57 


ExcesH of the vote of 187S over that of 1871. 

1873. 

1874 

187rr 

1876. 


5, 147 
3,445 
5, 011 
5, 306 
3, 209 


Tlie Kepublieaiis were satisfied that without those tissue ballots, and 
without those fraudulent names, we could have made a grand triumph. 
In fact, we all believed, on the night of the election, that we had car¬ 
ried the election—we felt confident until after we found out about the 
tissue ballots, after the boxes were opened. Now, in the county of 
Charleston, outside of the city, the method of counting the votes was 
carried out just as it is specified in that poster; that is, the excess was 
drawn out if the ballots exceeded the number of names on the poll-list, 
and, of course, a liepublican ticket would be drawn out every time. I 
have prepared a statement here from those poll-lists which I got from 
the exact figures, and the number of names on the poll-list taken from 
the poll-list on file in the secretary of state’s office, and the sur])lus taken 
from the number of surj^lus tickets, and the number drawn out taken 
from the reports of the sui^ervisors. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. A\"as that taken from the returns as they were made out ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that is, from the supplementary statements—it is taken from their 
official statements as supervisors of electiors. I do not know that they 
made an affidavit, but they swore to them. This statement shows that 
at eight polls outside of the city of Charleston the number of names 
found on the poll-lists was 3,70(), while the number of ballots found in the 
boxes, 5,317, and the excess of ballots over the names was 1,611, and the 
Kepublicaii tickets destroyed was 1,269. Now the vote for Congress¬ 
man at those eight iiolls stood Democratic candidate 2,140, Bepublican 
candidate 1,576; the Democratic candidate’s majority, 564. 

Q. lYas that as returned by the managers !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. The majority as the return made by the managers of the state¬ 
ment of votes destroyed !—A. No, sir; that is by the supervisors. 

Now, in regard to the count in Orangeburg County, 1 have here a 
similar statement from the Eepublican supervisors’ reports. I will say 
that I have the reports of the supervisors from every poll in Orange¬ 
burg, where there was fraud charged. There are 19 polls in the county. 
At three of tliem. Brown’s, Gleaton’s, and Cedar Grove, there are 
charges of irregularities. The reports made by the supervisors ap- 
[ pointed to represent the Eepublicans show that out of the 19 polls, at 
16 of them the ballots in the boxes exceeded the number of names on 
the poll-list, as ap])ears from the following statement: 













58 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ CharlfHtoB 


[Exhibit,] 


* Orangeburg Ctuinty. 

s ^ 

"s 5 

— 

5 ■” 

^ 5 y. 

o 

Excess of bal¬ 

lots over voters. 

1 


1, n» 

1,443 

324 


3r)H 

561 ■ 

203 


824 

1 , 111 

287 


293 

499 

206 


377 

5.54 

177 


3()r> 

449 

144 



804 

138 


428 

556 

128 


187 

287 

100 


328 

429 

101 


:m 

462 

97 


214 

291 

77 


386 

458 

72 


300 

388 

88 


304 

352 

48 


296 

384 

88 






6 , 77)0 
120 

9, 028 

2, 278 

^ ^ ....-. 

305 




304 







7, 479 







I want to say tliat the number of names on tlie supervisors’ ])oll-list 
correspond at each of those polls with the number of names on the poll- 
list kept by the managers of election, I having made the comparison 
myself or verilied them. 


(hailestc)ii ('OTin t.y. 


;Monnt Pleasant. 

32-Mile House. 

Henderson’s Store. 

Saint Stephen’s Depot 

Strawberry Ferry. 

Hickory Bend. 

Cooper’s Store. 

22-Mile House. 

Total. 


X 

5 ^ 

^ X 

rS r 

§ s 

Number of ballots 
found in the box. 

X 

2 

c > 

X 5 

X r 

CJ > 
o C 

a 


620 

1,163 

543 

372 

549 

890 

341 

336 

194 

269 

75 

73 

512 

612 

100 

80 

on 

730 

126 

IIU 

329 

391 

62 

49 

287 

422 

135 

88 

604 

834 

230 

161 

3, 706 

5, 317 

1 , 611 

1, 269 


Vote for Congressman at above polls: 


Democratic candidate. ‘2, 140 

Republican “ . 1,570 

Democratic majority. 504 


Add the 1,269 Ivepublican tickets destroyed to the Republican vote, 
and deduct the same amount from the Democratic vote, and the result 
really was: 


Republican. 2,845 

Democrat. 871 

Republican majority. 1, 974 






































































Comity.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


59 


By the Chairman: 

Q. Did the 13emocrats ever iieknowledge to you that the election was 
carried by fraudulent or unfair means f^—A. At various times, before 
and after I was nominated, I conversed Avith Democrats, and it was an 
every-day occuren(*e for them to tell me it Avas very foolish for me to run 
for Congress, or to take any part in the election, or to expend any money, 
because there Avas no chance of my winning; that they had control of 
the election machinery, that we Avould be counted out any Avay; that it 
AA as useless for the Kepublicans to attempt to make any fight. AVlien- 
ever I Avould make any i)rotest they would say, You taught it to usf 
you Bepublicans taught us these tricks; you used to do it Avhen you 
Avere in poAver, and now we are in poAv er Ave don’t intend that you shall 
A\dn. We liaA^e got the api)ointment of tlie managers, of the commis¬ 
sioners, of everything, ami, to croAv ii tlie a\ hole, Ave haA e got the count¬ 
ing of the votes.” It Avas a common thing for the Democrats to speak 
to leading Kepublicans in this way. 

Q. You heard the. testimony of some of the witnesses stating that dur¬ 
ing the Kepublican administration it Avas impossible for Avhite militia 
companies to be organized; hoAv Avas that?—A. That is not true. I 
think you Avill lind that the statement furnished by the adjutant and 
inspector general to the committee from the Senate or House, I forget 
Avhich, that Avent to South Carolina in 1870, sIioaa s that fiA^e hundred rifles 
Avere furnished to white militia companies. The Charleston Kitlemen 
liad arms from the State, and their oflicers Avere commissioned by the 
State. There Avas not a large number of AAhite militia, but they were 
organized into ride-clubs. They did not care to go into the militia of 
the State unless a distinction Avas made betAA^een white and colored. 
The white troops are noAv called State militia,” Avhile the colored troops 
are called National Guards;” and under the present administration 
they are not mixed ui) together. The Avhite and colored are separated. 
The whites object to going into the same organizations Avitli the blacks. 

Q. Under Kepublican ride the white comi)anies that were formed were 
formed outside of the regular militia hiAvs ?—A. AVhen a militia company 
applied for arms, they got them; but, except in a few instances, they 
refused to go into the regidar organization, on the ground that they did 
not Avant to be associated with the negroes. The Charleston Kitlemen 
Avere commissioned as an independent organization, and arms furnished 
them by the State. So it aams Avith otlier organizations in different parts 
of the State; but they always made it a condition in taking the arms 
that they sliould not be subjected to the orders of the regular militia 
officers, and should be considertHl as independent organizations. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say, then, it is true that during the Kepublican rule the Avhite 
(.'ompanies that aa ere formed Avere formed outside the regular militia laws 
—not subject to the regular militia hnv ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. All your regular militia laws require white and colored men to seiwe 
in the same company?—A. Our regular militia law made no distinction. 

Q. Did it make no distinction in the same conqiany between white 
and colored persons, or in the same organization?—A. No; there AA^as 
no distinction made l)y the law at all, either in regard to companies or 
regiments. 

Q. And the AAdute people would not go into the regular organization 
because they did not want to drill in the same company Avith the colored 
people?—A. No, sir; that Avas not necessary; they could form separate 
white regiments. Nobody wanted any militia company or regiment to be 


60 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cbarlestou 


composed of both Avliite and colored; but tlie Avhites objected to serving un* 
der the regular brigade and division commanders. They did not want 
to be subjected to the orders of Eepublican brigadier-generals or major- 
generals. They were never asl^ed to go into the same regiments with 
colored soldiers. They objected to being under the command of Eepub- 
lican generals. Nearly all the division and brigade commanders were 
Itepublicans. In Charleston County the brigade commander was Gen¬ 
eral Taft. None of the white men would go into an organization to serve 
under his orders, even if they were allowed to go into a separate regi¬ 
ment. 

Q. I would ask whether, in point of fact, there were but few white 
militia organizations formed during Eepublican I'ule in the State ?—A. 
In point of fact there were few regular white militia organizations. 

Q. They were generally independent companies, were they not 'i —A. 
Yes, sir; but there were a large number of armed organizations that 
were not in the militia, and nobody attempted to disband them, or to 
prevent them from organizing, except in 1870, when the i^roclamation 
was issued ordering them to disband on account of disturbances. 

Q. How long were you nominated before the election ?—A. Our 
nominating convention ended its labors about ten days before the elec¬ 
tion was held. We did that purposely. 

Q. I am not asking you why you did it. You were only a candidate 
for Congress by nomination about ten days before the election ?—A. 
Yes, sir 5 I was a candidate by nomination about a week or ten days 
prior to the election. 

Q. Before that time who had been your competitors for the nomina¬ 
tion?—A. General Taft, I think,'was the only competitor I had. 

Q. Was he voted for in your nominating convention ?—A. He was. 

Q. How many votes did he get ?—A. In the Congressional nominating 
convention he got no votes at all, because I was nominated unanimously; 
in the county convention of Charleston County there was a contest as to 
whether the delegates elected should be in my favor or in favor of Gen¬ 
eral Taft; I think out of 01 votes I re(‘eiv(Ml 50. 

Q. Which one of you, if either, were favored before the nomination 
by Bowen; you or Taft ?—A. I think that iVIr. Bowen favored General 
Taft, though a large number of Bowen’s friends supported me. After 
the nomination was made Mr. Bowen supported the nomination. 

Q. You say that Bowen himself favored General Taft ?—A. Yes, sir j 
before the nomination. 

Q. I ask you if the canvass made by Bowen, Taft, and yourself, sjmken 
of in your examination-in-chief, was not with reference to your nomina¬ 
tion for Congress as much as your intended election '? 

The Witness. How do you mean! 

Mr. McDonald. Were you and Taft not canvassing for the nomimi- 
tion?—A. No, sir. At all our meetings by special agreement the under¬ 
standing was that that matter was not to be mentioned; that we should 
go to work, canvass the county thoroughly, and have our organization 
perfected, the party put into pro])er trim, and that the nomination 
should be postponed until the very last moment. 

Q. Did not the canvass between you and Taft become very animated, 
and quite warm?—A. Not on the stump. 

Q. Off the stum]), then, among your followers?—A. In the city of 
Charleston I think there was a good deal of talk. 

Q. And a good deal of feeling?—A. I think tliis: In the city of 
Charleston there were a large number of men who declared that they 
would vote for me if I was nominated, but that they would not vote for 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 


61 


Taft if lie was iioiniiiated; on the other hand 1 don’t think there were 
any of JMr. Taft’s friends wlio said they wtnild not vote for me, and who 
did not vote for me. 

Q. You think that no one would liave voted for Taft and not for 
you ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You think, then, that you are much more ])Oi)ular with the Kepuh- 
lican party than he ?—A. I would not like to answm* that question. 

C^,. Is not that what you have answered ?—A. 1 think I have been in 
a position to become more po])ular than he. 

Q. Did not quite a number of your followers declare their purpose to 
vote for Mr. O’C'onnor if Taft Avas nominated?—A. Some said that if I 
* was not nominated they Avould vote for O’Connor. 

Q. Was not that your own declaration?—A. That I Avould vote for 
O’Connor ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. No, sir; I was very careful to make no declaration 
on the subject. 1 Avould have been veiy foolish to have made any such 
declaration. 

Q. Can you recollect any Kepublican meeting held after your nomina¬ 
tion at which Mr. Bowen attended and made a speech in your behalf?— 
A. As I have already said, the Bepublicans determined to make their 
(‘.anvass before the nomination ; having made a canvass before the nomi¬ 
nation they made none after it, so no meeting was held at Avhich Mr. 
Bowen could make a speech in my behalf. 

Q. Did you say no caiiA^ass at all was made after your nomination ?— 
A. None at all. Then after the nomination Avas made, Mr. BoAven, my¬ 
self, and Mr. Taft, set to work to make the nomination effective. 

Q. You say there Avas no political meeting held after the nomination 
Avas made ?—A. None whateA^er; it Avas generally understood that AA^e 
should canvass the county and do all our Avork before the coiiA’^ention ; 
that is, I mean in Charleston County. There Avere meetings held in 
Orangeburg County and in Clarendon County. 

Q. Did Mr. BoAven attend them ?—A. No; but I will tell you why. 
The agreement was that I should go to Orangeburg while Mr. Taft and 
Bowen remained in Charleston and attended to matters tliere, which 
they did. They got marshals and supervisors appointed, made arrange¬ 
ments for conveying A^oters to the polls, looked after the matter of tick¬ 
ets, &c. 

Q. Do you say that Mr. Bowen gaA^e you a hearty support after you 
were appointed ?—A. 1 say that Mr. BoAven gave me what I considered 
a hearty support; AAdiether lie was fooling me or not I cannot saj^ He 
offered to do anything he could for me. I took him at his word, and, 
asked such faA ors of him as 1 deemed proper, and he did whatever I 
asked him. 

Q. Did you not say before the election that you were not receiving 
that support, after the nomination Avas made, from Mr. Bowen AAdiich you 
thought yourself entitled to?—A. No, sir; I made no such statement.. 

Q. Did you not conq)lain that you were not receiving from Mr. BoAven 
the support you thought yourself entitled to?—A. No, sir; IneAwmade 
any such statement as tiiat; others may have made it, but 1 never did.. 

Q. Do you not remember a number of your Avarm friends coming and 
telling you that ]Mr. BoAA^en AA^as lying perfecdly still and doing nothing ?— 
A. Not a number; I recollect one or two who seemed to be susi)icious 
and said they thought Bowen aa as not doing aa hat he ought to do; but 
they did not knoAV Avhat he Avas doing. 1 did; and I did not sympathize 
Avitli them in their fears or feelings. 

Q. You say about ten days before the election a Democrat who Avas a 




62 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charles toa 


member of the Democratic county committee told you that they were 
consulting' about issuing the tissue ballots ?—A. I did not say a member 
of the Democratic cjounty committee told me so ; I said I received a mes¬ 
sage from a member of the Democratic county committee through a third 
person. 

Q. Who was it?—A. As that was told me in strict confidence, with 
the distinct understanding that I should not mention the name, 1 would 
very much prefer to be excused from doing so. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Ido not think it necessary to mention that; there is no question 
but the tickets were there. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. But there is a question as to the pur^iose for which they were in¬ 
tended. 

The Chairman. He does not claim that the i)urpose was suggested; 
he was told that they were consulting about the use of small tissue 
tickets. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. That information you say you received under seal of confi 
deuce, and yet you have made the statement notwithstanding?—A. It 
was received under the seal of confidence that I should not use the name; 
I have not divulged the name, and I do not wish to. 

Q. You paid no attention to that, you said?—A. I was so busily en¬ 
gaged in our nominating convention that I did not have time. He said 
they were only considering the question—discussing it. The informa¬ 
tion did not lead me to believe they had actually resolv^ed to use them. 

Q. And the Sunday before election you were told the same again?— 
A. Yes, sir; then I got positive information that they were to be used. 

Q. From whom did you receive that information ?—A. Indirectly from 
a Democrat who sent the information through a Republican. Since the 
election he has seen me and asked me if I received his communication. 

Q. Who was it sent you that information?—A. I received that also 
under the seal of confidence. He is a gentleman in the employ of the 
city government. If I were to divulge his name, he would be discharged 
to-morrow. 

Q. When you got the information, you say you went to ]Mr. Bowen 
and consulted with him?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he said get these Republican tissue tickets printed?—A. In 
talking together we came to that conclusion. 

Q. He advised you to go to Major Buist and tell him what you knew 
about the matter?—A. Yes, sir; he thought it was best; and on consul¬ 
tation we thought it was best to post a circular making the information 
public. Bowen advised getting the tissue tickets iirinted, so that the 
person drawing out the tickets could not tell the ditference between one 
of these and one of the other tissue tickets. 

Q. You and Bowen came to the conclusion that it was best to coun¬ 
teract their tissue tickets by using tissue tickets of your own ?—A. We 
came to the conclusion that we would try to counteract their idan by 
tickets so similar, so fiir as the kind of paper u]>on which they were 
printed, that any person feeling in the box after them would not find 
any difference between the two. 

Q. How did you understand that the tissue tickets, which you were 
told the Democrats were going to use, were to be got into the ballot- 
box?—A. I do not think I had any exact idea on that subject. The 


C6unty.] TESTIMONY OF E. W. M. MACKEY. 63 

inforinatioii tliat I received I have stated just about as it was in this 
circular; that is about all the idea 1 had. 

Q. Did you suppose it would be by double voting—folding several 
tickets in a larger one ?—A. 1 did not stop to sup])ose anything in i)ar- 
ticular about it. 

Q. Did you not think the ballots you had printed would fold together 
just as well ?—A. No, sir ; because they were not nearly so small. 

Q. Notwithstanding that, could it not be done ?—A. So far as that is 
concerned, the large ballots could be put inside of another large ballot; 
but that was not our object in having them iirinted. 

Q. I asked coidd not these be voted in that way as well as the others ? 
—A. No doubt it could be done ; but as the Democrats had the three 
managers of election and all the other machinery of election in their 
hands, and every oi)portunity for watching the boxes, we were not go¬ 
ing to be such fools as to attempt anything of that sort. 

Q. A^ou do not think, then, that the presence of the tissue ballots is 
prima facie evidence of a fraudulent ])urpose f—A. Yes, sir ; 1 do. But 
I do not think that any contrivance to counteract the use of tissue bal¬ 
lots is an evidence of a fraudulent purpose. 

Q. How many voting i)recincts were there in Charleston County be- 
• fore the late law changing them in the manner you hav^e stated ?—A. 
The act of 1875 designated 55 polling-places in the county of Charleston j 
that of 1878 designated 35. 

Q. So 22 polling-xdaces were alxdished ?—A. Yes, sir. At present 
there are 33 x)olling-i)laces in the county of Charleston. 

Q. Regarding the number of negroes at the Hampton meeting, you 
have given those yon miderstood were in the i)rocession ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. You did not count them yourself!—A. No, sir; they were counted 
by other parties, and the number was x)ublished in the Missionary 
Record. 

Q. In a i>olitical newspaper, a Reimblican newspaper at that time?— 
A. A"es, sir. 

Q. And it is on that accinint and not your own that you make the 
statement ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did (Governor Hami)ton address the people?—A. From the 
battery. 

Q. AAm were there when he addressed them ?—A. No, sir; I went 
down to the previous meeting; not to that one. 
i Q. A^ou do not know what number of colored people were there at that 
j meeting?—A. No, sir; 1 presume nearly all the colored people in the 

I city were there. They generally turn out to everything on holidays. 

Q. Mr. Mackey, you are an attorney, and are somewhat interested in 
this matter. I would like to have you get at this matter as correctly 
I and fairly as possible. 1 would like to know whether it is from personal 
knowledge that you state the number of colored people at that meet¬ 
ing?—A. No, sir; I do not know anything about it from personal knowl- 
edge. 

Q. Did the number embrace simidy those who wore the club uniform ?— 
A. I understood it eiidu'aced those who paraded in the procession, uni¬ 
formed or ununiformed. 

Q. AYas there any distinction made Ixdween those uniformed and those 
not uniforme<l by those who j)rofess to have kex)t count ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know how many were uniformed ?—A. I have a statement 
somewhere; I will hand it to ihe chairman of the committee. The state¬ 
ment gives the exact number in uniform and the exact number there 
were in each club. 




64 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ (Jhailostofi 


Q. Where does Colonel P>owen reside f—A. In the eity of Charleston. 

In what x)art ?—A. On Entledge street. 

Q. In the upper part of the city ?—A. No^ sir; in the lower part of 
the city. 

Q. Has he not had a very great influence over the colored people in 
the country outside the city of Charleston f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And has there not been a great deal of rivalry between you and 
him, his strength being in the country and yours in the city !—A. There 
was a good deal of rivalry i)revious to 1870,* I think none since. 

Q. Was not his strength in the country and yours in the city!—A. 
His princii)al strength was in the countr 3 ^ I think I had friends in the 
country, too; and he had friends in the city also. 

Q. But your i)rincipal strength was in the city!—A. Yes, sir; still, I 
had man 3 " friends in the country. 

Q. Where did General Taft reside!—A. In the city of Charleston, in 
the lower part of the city, ward 1, and his Avard gaA^e me a majority— 
the first time it has ever given a Republican majority in j-ears. 

Q. When were these election laws passed, which you call the ma¬ 
chinery of election”!—A. In different 3 ^ears. They have been amended 
several times. 

Q. Are they not now substantiallj' as they were in 1872 !—A. I think 
they are substantially the same as they were in 1872. 

Q. There has been no substantial change in them since 1872!—A. 
There has been a change in them in some respects. 

Q. What change!—A. Principalty in regard to the counting of the 
Azotes. 

Q. Is not the Iuaa^ iioav by Avhich the vote is counted the same as it 
was in 1872!—A. Yes, sir; it is. The amendment that I spoke of in 
regard to the counting of Azotes Avas made in 1872. 

Q. And has remained unchanged from 1872 until the present time!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Have you the returning-board s^^stem in South Carolina !— 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Has it never been repealed !—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You said that your nomination for Congress Avas postponed for a 
purpose!—A. Not my nomination; I said that all nominations aa ere pui• 
posely postponed. It Avas concluded that it Avas best to go to Avork and 
thoroughly canvass the county and organize the party before making 
any nominations, and to delay the nominations as long as possible; I 
supposed the purpose of that Avas that if anybody was dissatisfied there 
Avould be no chance to bolt, because there Avould be no time to oroanize 
a bolt. 

Q. As to the change—the reduction in the number of polling-places, 
from 55 to 33—was there any reason given for this change !-A. .Mr. 
Cami)bell states that in his letter. 

Q. Did you hear of Mr. Biiist making a speech in the legislature in 
Avhich he gave the reason!—A. Yes, sir; I heard of that. I have Mr. 
Cam])belPs letter here. The DemocTats contend that it AA^as done for 
two pnr])oses: first, for the sake of economy, and second, to i)reA"ent re¬ 
peating. Our ansAver to that Avas this: It could not be done for the 
sake of economy because the managers of election AA^ere not paid any¬ 
thing; so that the decrease from 55 to 33 could not save anything. As. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 65 

to repeating, the polls before they were abolished averaged between ten 
and lifteen miles apart, so that it was scarcely possible to repeat. 

Q. Have not the managers been paid anything?—A. They may have 
been paid something, but the payment of three managers at 22 addi¬ 
tional polls would amount to very little. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was it charged by anybody that those polls were reduced for the 
purpose of preventing voting ?—A. Yes, sir. I heard Mr. Campbell make 
the charge, and at the meeting that I attended at Strawberry Ferry, Mr. 
Colcock, a Democrat, when we charged the Democrats with having 
done this on purpose to throw obstacles in the way of the colored iieople 
voting, said of course they did it for that purpose. 

Q. Was he a member of the legislature?—A. No, sir; but he was a 
prominent member of the Democratic party in that part of the country. 

Q. Do you knoAV anything about parties who made affidavits as to 
illegal proceedings being-arrested by the State authorities ?—A. I know 
that throughout the State, when a supervisor, or any other person, would 
make an affidavit of any irregularities in the election .by the Democratic 
managers, the State authorities would invariably turn around and arrest 
the person making the affidavit, charging him sometimes with iierjury, 
and sometimes, if he had written a letter regarding it, with libel, and 
sometimes with different offenses. I know of nearly all these arrests. 
I have had something to do with getting parties out of jail who were put 
in jail on these charges; some from Williamsburg, and some from other 
places. I had some of them released on luibcas corpus. There were a 
number of arrests in Orangeburg, and some in Charleston. I think they 
only attempted one arrest in Charleston. Arrests were also made in 
Eichland, KSuinter, Barnwell, and other counties. 

Q. Do you know whether the State authorities have taken any steps 
toward punishing these alleged irregularities in the election?—A. Not a 
single manager or a single person from one end of the State to the other 
has ever been arrested on account of them, nor has a single step ever 
been taken towards punishing any one. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When arrests were made on charge of alleged frauds, counter-ar¬ 
rests were made by the State authorities on charge of perjury ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. The arrests were made on the one hand for alleged fraud, and on 
the other hand for alleged perjury ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Wherever the United States authorities attempted to ferret out 
frauds the State authorities turned round and arrested United States 
officials on charge of perjury ?—A. Yes, sir; and the flimsiest kind of 
charges they were, too. 


T. BAEKEE JONES. 

Charleston, January 21, 1870. 
T. Barker Jones sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a merchant. 

5 S C 



66 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston' 


Q. How long have you resided iu Cliarlestoii ?—A. Almost all my life. 

Q. With which political party have you affiliated before ?—A. The 
Democratic party. 

Q. What office, if auy, did you hold in connection with the recent 
election"?—A. I was one of the commissioners of election appointed by 
Governor Hampton. 

Q. Can you give the date of your appointment ?—A. I cannot give the 
exact date at this moment. It was within sixty days prior to the elec¬ 
tion, which was in November. 

Q. State upon whose suggestion or recommendation your appointment 
was made.—A. At the suggestion of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee. 

Q. Of this county?—A. Yes, sir; of this county. 

Q. Who were your assistants?—A. Capt. C. 0. White and Colonel 
Montgomery. 

Q. At whose suggestion were they appointed ?—A. At the suggestion 
of the Democratic executive committee. 

Q. State Avhether or not they received their appointments at the same 
time you did ?—A. They did. 

Q. Were you a member of the Democratic executive committee ?—A. 
I was. 

Q. When did you become a member of that committee ?—A. Shortly 
previous to the election. 

Q. About how long ?—A. About a year, I think. 

Q. Were you a member of the Democratic executive committee at the 
time the executive committee recommended your appointment as com- 
mKsiouer of election ?—A. I was. 

Q. When did you cease to be a member of the Democratic executive 
committee ?—A. I am still a member of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee, both of the county and city. 

Q. Then you remained a member of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee while you were a commissioner of election for the county ?—A. 
I did. 

Q. Was Mr. White also a member of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee ?—A. He was. 

Q. State whether he continued to be a member of that committee 
while he was a member of the board of commissioners of election ?—A. 
He did. 

Q. Please go on and state by whom the managers of election were 
appointed, and, it* appointed by your board, by whom their appointment 
was recommended or suggested; in short, give a history of their appoint¬ 
ment ?—A. So far as I recollect, the managers were appointed by the 
board of commissioners. Suggestions as to who those persons should 
be came from the Democratic executive committee. They were duly 
appointed by the board of commissioners, and at the same time their 
names were published in the columns of the Charleston News and 
Courier., 

Q. To which political party did the election managers in the county 
belong ?—A. To the Democratic party. 

Q. State what action, if any, the board of election commissioners took 
in regard to the election of Eepublicans as precinct managers.—A. At 
the request of myself the names of Eepublicans were handed in, but the 
board took no action upon those names. 

Q. Why did you request such names to be handed in ?—A. Because 
I desired both parties to have a representation on the list of managers. 


County.] TESTIMONY OP T. BARKER JONES. 67 

Q. And then you refused to allow them to he represented ?—A. The 
hoard refused them. 

Q. You, as chairman of the hoard, requested the names of Repuhlicans 
to he presented, and then you, as chairman of the Democratic executive 
committee, voted not to appoint Kepuhlican managers?—A. I did not 
vote not to place them there; the executive committee so decided. 

Q. What was your object in requesting the names of Repuhlicans to 
he handed inf—A. I did it merely as an act of common courtesy. 

Q. Did the hoard request that such names should he handed in f—A. 
We requested the representatives of the Kepuhlican party to hand in 
the names of persons whom they desired should he appointed to that 
position. 

Q. Did you at the time intend to appoint any Eepuhlicans as precinct 
managers f—A. I do not know the intention of the hoard j its action 
was to the contrary. 

Q. At the time you asked that those names should he handed in, 
what was your intention f—A. The object of the board was to have 
those names before us from which to select such persons as we thought 
would make suitable managers to act in behalf of the Kepuhlican party; 
the action of the hoard was to the contrary. 

Q. Did any member of the board vote against them f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who f—A. The entire hoard, including the Kepuhlican commis¬ 
sioner of election. 

Q. Who was the Kepuhlican member of the hoard f—A. Col. C. W. 
Montgomery. 

Q. To whom did you usually deliver the boxes?—A. To the managers, 
as selected by the hoard of commissioners and as published in the 
columns of the Charleston News and Courier. 

Q. I understood you to say they were selected by the Democratic 

executiv e committee and appointed by your hoard-A. Suggested by 

the Democratic executive committee. 

Q. Did the hoard of commissioners ever appoint any persons as 
managers who were not suggested by the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee ?—A. In a few instances. 

Q. Give an instance ?—A. I don’t recollect 5 I know there were some 
changes. 

Q. By whom were those appointed ?—A. By order of the board. 

Q. Who suggested them?—A. The hoard in talking over names sug¬ 
gested them right there and then. 

Q. Were not the changes made in favor of Kepublicans ?—A. There 
were none. 

Q. In every instance, so far as you remember, the boxes were deliv¬ 
ered to some'member of the hoard of precinct managers ?—A. If my rec¬ 
ollection serves me right they were. 

Q. Have you ever seen any of these so-called tissue ballots ?—A. I 
have, sir. 

Q. When did you first see them?—A. Some time prior to the election. 

Q. Give the time ?—A. About a week or ten days before the election. 

Q. Where did you see them ?—A. I saw them first at the rooms of the 
Democratic executive committee. 

Q. About a week before election, you say ?—A. A week or ten days. 

Q. In whose possession ?—A. In the possession of the executive com¬ 
mittee. ^ 

(^. Can you give the number that j^bu saw there ?—A. There was 
quite a number j I could not tell what quantity. 




68 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cliarleston 


Q. What kind of tickets were they, Democratic or Eepnblicaii ?—A. 
Democratic. 

Did you ever see any Eepnblican tissue ballots ^—A. I have, sir. 

Q. When —A. After the election. 

Q. Did you ever see any Eepublican tissue ballots before the election ? 
—A. I did not. 

Q. Where did you see them after the election ?—A. In the ballot-box j 
in examining the returns J tound some. 

Q. What number did you find ?—A. A very small number. 

Q. Give the number as nearly as you can.—A. I do not recollect, 
really. 

Q. What was the size of the Eepublican tissue ballots as compared 
with that of the Democratic tissue ballots f—^A. They were a little 
larger. 

Q. How much —A. About one-third or one-fourth larger. 

Q. Were thej' not of the same size as the regular Eepublican ticket 
—A. Eo, sirj if my recollection serves me right they were a little 
smaller. 

Q. Did you compare them'?—A. I did not, sir; there was a variety 
of tickets, and I did not examine them all very closely. 

Q. How many of the ballot-boxes Avere opened by the board of elec¬ 
tion commissioners after the election ?—A. They were all opened, sir. 

Q. In how, many of the 32 boxes, or AvhateA er number there Avere in 
the county, did you find tissue ballots ?—A. I suppose in about one- 
fourth of the boxes. 

Q. About what number of Democratic tissue ballots did you find ?— 
A. I found any quantity of them; I don’t recollect just how many or 
what i)roportion. 

Q. Could you not giA^e the committee some idea of the number !—A. 
It is hard to say; there were a. large number of them in the boxes ; that 
is about as near as I can estimate. 

Q. W^hat number of Eepublican tissue ballots, as near as you can esti¬ 
mate ?—A. Only a feAV. 

Q. We cannot tell what you mean by a few; gWe some idea of the 
number.—A. I sui)pose a hundred Avould cover it. 

Q. AVhat number aa ould cover the Democratic tissue ballots you found? 
—A. It AVOuld run up among the thousands. 

Q. Three or four thousand ?—A. Fully. 

Q. FiA^e or six thousand ?—A. Fully. 

Q. Eight or ten thousand?—A. Haidly so many as that; I suppose 
betAveen four and fiA^e thousand. 

Q. Did the Democratic executive committee determine to use tissue 
baliots prior to the election ?—A. They did. 

Q. When did they determine upon that ?—A. A day or two before 
the election. 

Q. Why did they determine to use tissue ballots in preference to 
ordinary tickets ?—A. They saw no difterence. 

Q. There must, of course, haA^e been some object; what reason was 
giA^en ?—A. To facilitate the election; a large number of colored people 
refused to vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Hoav Avould that facilitate the election?—A. A Aoter in depositing 
a tissue ballot would not be as likely to be discovered by his fellows 
and hunted down as is usually the case in our elections. 

Q. You understand it was for the benefit of Democratic negroes?—A. 
It AA’as, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 


69 


Q. Wouldn’t a tissue ballot be more apt to attract attention tbau an 
ordinary ballotf—A. Not at all, sir. 

Q. At whose suggestion were the tissue ballots obtained?—A. Ido 
not know. 

Q. When did you first ascertain they were to be used !—A. The day 
before the election. 

Q. Yon say yon first saAV them a week or two before election?—A. 
Perhaps I didj between eight or ten days, if my recollection serves me 
right. 

Q. At what time did the committee determine to use them ?—A. The 
committee took no action in the premises. 

Q. How did they get out?—A. I x^resnine that some of the committee 
saw fit to have them i)rinted and circulated. 

Q. Hid you assist in circulating them ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Who was ai)pointed for that purpose by the Democratic executive 
committee?—A. If anybody was appointed, I do not recollect who it 
was. 

Q. But one of the members was appointed to circulate them?—A. 
One or more. 

Q. Where were you on the day of the election ?—A. At the head¬ 
quarters of the commissioners of election at the City Hall. I was there 
a part of the time, and a part of the time I was around the polls. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots used on election day?—A. I did 
not. 

Q. Did you hear any reports that they were being used ?—A. I did 
not. 

Q. Was nothing said about the matter?—A. Not that I know of. 

Q. Were they circulated by the executive committee in difterent coun¬ 
ties of the State ?—A. I believe not; not so far as I know. 

Q. State by whom the Democratic tissue ballots were printed.—A. 
That is beyond my knowledge. 

Q. State where they were obtained.—A. That is beyond my knowl¬ 
edge. 

Q. They didn’t let you into that secret ?—A. I don’t know whether it 
was a secret or not; at any rate I was not let into it. 

Q. It seems to be something of a secret since you do not know any¬ 
thing about it?—A. I do not know anything about it. 

Q. You have stated that the precinct managers would come to you, 
and you would give them the boxes. Did you at the same time give 
them the Democratic tickets ?—A. We had nothing to do with them; 
we simply gave them the ballot-boxes and i)oll-lists, and the necessary 
instructions how to conduct the elections. 

Q. What instructions?—^A. Instructions to them as managers. 

Q. Who was the subcommittee of the Democratic executive county 
committee appointed to distribute those tissue ballots?—A. There was 
no positive action taken in the premises, sir. 

Q. If no positive action what kind of action was taken ?—A. I do not 
know that any action was taken. 

Q. Then how were those tickets distributed ?—A. They were distrib¬ 
uted through some means or other that I am not aware of. The execu¬ 
tive committee took no action in the premises as to the distribution of 
tickets. 

Q. How, then, were they distributed ?—A. By the management of one 
or two of the committee. 

Q. With the assent or in opposition to the other members of the com¬ 
mittee ?—A. There was no action taken about it, whatever. 


70 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. But tliere was action taken by members of the committee; can 
you give the names of any members of the committee who took that 
action ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Has the matter been discussed by the executive committee since 
the election!—^A. There has been no meeting of the executive com¬ 
mittee since the election. 

Q. It has never been discussed by the committee since that time !— 
A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Do you know where these tissue tickets were iirinted !—A. I do 
not. 

Q. Were they printed in your county or brought in from outside!— 
A. I have no knowledge. 

Q. When some eight or ten days before election you found them in 
the possession of the executive committee were no questions asked in 
regard to them !—A. No, sir. 

Q, And no explanation given as to where they came from !—A. None 
at all. 

Q. They were just accepted as a fact!—A. There is no doubt about 
that, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Have you a siiecimen of those tissue ballots with you !—A. I have 
not. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Do you know whether thej^ were used in any other county besides 
yours !—A. I have heard they were. 

By Mr. C aimer ON: 

Q. Were those tissue ballots i>rinted by the direction or instruction 
of the executive committee, or any subcommittee of the executive com¬ 
mittee, or any member of any subcommittee !—A. I have already said 
that no action was taken by the committee at all. I know of nothing of 
the kind being done. 

Q. Then your statement is that you have no idea where they were 
printed, when they were printed, or by whose direction they were 
lirinted!—A. I have so stated. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Where were the ordinary Democratic tickets printed !—A. I can¬ 
not tell you where. I occupied the position of commissioner of election 
and member of the executive committee. 

Q. As member of the executive committee did you not know where 
you got your printing done!—A. No, sir j that was a matter left entirely 
to others. 

Q. What others !—A. I do not know who they were. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who was the printing committee !—A. We had no printing com¬ 
mittee. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was there no subcommittee on printing!—A. No, sir. 

Q. And no printing committee !—A. No, sir. 

Q. 'Under whose direction was the ordinary printing which was re- 


County.] TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 71 

quired to be done by the party, done in this county ?—A. I presume 
the chairman of the executive committee looked after it. 

Q. Who was the chairman ?—A. George L. Biiist. 

Q. Do you presume that he looked after the matter of printing the 
tissue ballots 'I —A. I think not, sir. 

A. Wliy do you presume that he looked after the printing of one class 
of ballots and not after the other ?—A. I say, I presume he looked after 
the printing of the .tickets in any circumstances. 

Q. Of the ordinary ticket or of the tissue ballots —A. I presume he 
looked after both. 

Q. Please look at these pieces of paper; what do these purport to 
be—A. They purport to be the poll-list or a copy of the poll-list as given 
by the board of commissioners of election—by our board. 

Q. How did you give out these blanks j fastened together or in loose 
sheets ?—A. Fastened together. 

Q. In every instance ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How were they fastened ?—A. By strips similar to these [upon the 
specimens which had been exhibited to the witness]. 

Q. You observe there is a difference between this blank and this ? 
[exhibiting another to the witness].—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did your board give out any poll-lists like that ?—A. They did. 

Q. How many ?—A. They gave out a few extra. 

Q. What proportion of the whole number Two or three to every 
poll. 

Q. Then your statement is that your committee gave out poll-lists like 
this, and two or three extra ones like this at each poll ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What I want to get at is, do you swear positively that in every in¬ 
stance you gave out poll-lists like that —A. Yot in every instance; in 
some instances we did ; in some precincts where there was a larger vote 
polled than at others we sent extra poll-lists so as to facilitate matters. 

Q. You will notice that this list is of a different shape, of a different 
form, and printed on a different kind of paper; why is that?—A. Be¬ 
cause the secretary of state sent us a number of apparently old papers 
belonging to some previous election, to be worked off in this election. 

Q. But some of this kind of poll-lists were printed here also?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. I will ask you if the extra poll-lists sent out were furnished by the 
secretary of state, or were printed here; or were some of them printed 
here and some of them by the secretary of state ?—A. I think that some 
of them were printed here and some sent by the secretary of state. 

Q. What number did you send out, as near as you can remember ?— 
A. It is hard for me to say. It is a matter that went through the hands 
of the clerk. 

Q. To what precinct did you send any of them?—A. To the largest 
precincts in the city. 

Q. Can you not recollect the names of some of the precincts ?—A. I 
think some were sent to the fourth ward, for one instance; the second 
ward is a large precinct, and probably some of them were sent there; 
the eighth was a large precinct, and some may have been sent there. 

Q. Did you send any to the Washington Engine-House precinct?—A. 
They did. 

Q. Did you send any to the Yiagara Engine-House precinct ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did you send any to the Marion Engine-House precinct ?—A. Yes, 
sir; they were all sent at the same time. 


72 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Have you a list of tlie places to wliicliyoii sent them'?—A. I have 
not at my commantl; I think I can recall the most of them. 

Q. Can yon get one of the extra poll-lists which you had printed here ? 
—A. They were all sent to Columbia. 

Q. Why were they sent to Columbia ?—A. All the papers were sent 
there by instruction from the State authorities. 

Q. Were papers that you had printed here at your own expense sent 
to Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I believe you stated that the State refused to make any appropri¬ 
ation for the purpose of printing such blanks?—A. I did not so state; 
the preceding witness did, I believe; at any rate, all the blanks that 
were left over were forwarded to Columbia. 

Q. Did you pay for the printing that you had done here, or was it 
paid for by the State ?—A. It has not been paid at all. 

Q. Who became liable for it?—A. The commissioners of election. 

Q. Have you presented the bill to the State ?—A. I have not. 

Q. Did you propose to do so?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you have the work done at your own expense, and then re¬ 
turned it to the State?—A. We did. 

Q. In having the new blanks printed did you have the words “white” 
and “colored” changed to “names” and “names”?—A. We did. 

Q. Did you in every instance?—A. Yes, in every instance. 

Q. Please look at that paper. Will you state whether the extra blanks 
you had printed were printed on that kind of paper ?—A. That appears 
to be the style of paper used, sir. 

Q. This blank was printed by the United States?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And this?—A. I do not know where that was printed. 

Q. Did they make your blanks conform to that blank ?—A. I know 
nothing about it. 

Q. You never saw the blanks printed by the United States for the su¬ 
pervisor before that time ?—A. I did not; I had no knowledge of it at 
all. 

Q. I will state, as a matter of fact, that they were printed in Washing-- 
ton; please explain how your happened to use the same paper and to 
use the same form of blank as the United States printed at Washing¬ 
ton ?—A. I only know that we gave out the order to have them printed 
and they were printed. 

Mr. ItANDOLPH moved to adjourn; adding also, “Mr. Buist is here, 
whose name has been mentioned by the present witness, and we would 
be glad to have him testify.” 

The Chairman. We have these ballot boxes here which we want to 
examine, and we will not leave them here to be rummaged by any one 
that may come in. I want them put in charge of somebody who is sat¬ 
isfactory. 

Messrs. Eandolpii and McDonald said it would be satisfactory to 
them if the ballot-boxes were put in charge of the sergeant-at arms. 

The committee then took a recess of an hour, after which the exami¬ 
nation of the witness was resumed as follows: 

Mr. McDonald. You say you were appointed one of the commissioners 
of election of the county of Charleston about sixty days prior to the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At the time you were appointed you say you were a member of the 
executive committee; after you took upon yoimself the active duties of 
the office of commissioner did you continue to be an active member of 
the Democratic executive committee ?—A. Not very active, sir. 

Q. You attended its meetings at times?—A. At times. 


county.] TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 73 

Q. You did not attempt to keep posted as to its proceedings or polit¬ 
ical action I—A. Not altogetker, sir. 

Q. You say that the managers of the election were appointed by the 
board of commissioners upon the recommendation of the Democratic 
committees t—^A. The names of the managers were suggested by the 
Democratic executive committee. 

Q. They were received by the board and acted upon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There were also names suggested by the Eepublican party!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. By whom were they suggested ?—A. By some of tlie leaders of 
that party. I think Mr. Mackey had something to do with preparing 
the list which was handed in to our board. 

Q. Were the persons selected by you generally known to you person¬ 
ally ?—A. No, sir; a large number of them were not. 

Q. How did you get your information as to their fitness and qualifica¬ 
tions I—A. We acted on the suggestions of the executive committee of 
the Democratic party. 

Q. You say that the commissioners of election, when they came finally 
to act, determined to appoint none but Democratic managers of the 
election ?—A. That was the unanimous decision of the commissioners. 

Q. The managers are the party who receive the votes at election and 
make their returns to the board of commissioners 1 —A. They are. 

Q. That board of managers consists of three persons, does it not ?— 
A. It does. 

Q. They have a right to appoint a clerk ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Or not, as they please f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The clerk is selected by the managers and not by the board of 
election commissioners f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did your board have a clerk ?—A. We did. 

Q. Who acted as clerk for your board ! 

The Witness. Do you desire his name^ 

Mr. McDonald. Yes, sir. 

A. Our clerk was a gentlemen by the name of Johnson. 

Q. What were his duties f—A. Clerical, sir, entirely. 

Q. Did he keep an account of the proceedings of the meeting ?—A. 
He did, sir. 

Q. Did he keep an account of the distribution of these ballot-boxes 
and of the blanks sent out *?—A. He kept a full record of all the proceed¬ 
ings of the board, including a list of the papers and blanks connected 
with the election. 

Q. You delivered to the parties whom you appointed as managers 
nothing but the ballot-boxes and the necessary blanks for conducting 
the election and the instructions of the law —^A. That is all j we ful¬ 
filled the instructions of the law. 

Q. Did the law require you to divide the board of managers so as to 
liave them of different politics 'i —A. It does not say so. 

Q. Does it not require you to appoint persons of different politics on 
the board of managers ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know when this law was passed ?—A. It was passed dur¬ 
ing the Eepublican regime. 

Q. Then you are acting under laws passed by the Eepublican party 
during the'time they were in control ?—A. Yes, sir; those were the 
laws under which we were acting. 

Q. Was there any complaint made to you by any person that any of 
these managers whom you had appointed were not qualified persons to 


74 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


fill tlie places ?—A. Ko objections Avere raised at all by any party as to 
their manner of conducting the election and making the returns. 

Q. Did they furnish any evidence that they were qualified iiersons for 
that xDOsition f How were the elections conducted under their adminis¬ 
tration !—A. They were conducted admirably, as a general thing. 

Q. And the returns were carefully made'?—A. Yes, sir 5 very carefully 
made. 

Q. You say that after the returns were made to you you opened all 
the ballot-boxes ?—A. We did. 

Q. Did you go through the ballots and examine them with any care ?— 
A. We were not required to examine ballots. We comiiared the i^oll- 
list with the returns as made by the managers. 

Q. AVere there any instances of errors where the returns did not 
agree—the tally-iiapers with the poll-lists—when you looked through the 
ballots ?—A. There were one or two cases in which we did so. AA^heu 
such discrex)ancies occurred we threw out ballots and corrected the 
errors. 

Q. AAliat corrections did you make on the tally-papers where such 
votes were entered, or on the x)oll-books in which such names of voters 
were written ?—A. AYe made no corrections of the tally-papers or the 
poll-books ; we made the ballots tally with the x>oll-list. 

Q. You say that on looking through the box you saw quite a number 
of these tissue ballots ?—A. lYs, sir. 

Q. AA^as there anything to distinguish them except that they were on 
this tissue paper ?—^A. They were smaller, sir; very small. 

Q. You say x^robably two weeks before the election you saw tissue 
ballots at the room of the Democratic executive committee ?—A. I did 5 
about two weeks. 

Q. Did you see any number of them ?—A. Quite a number, sir. 

Q. AA^ere they in sheets or had they been sei)arated ?—A. They were 
in i^ackages, separate and distinct. The ballots were separate and dis¬ 
tinct, but in x:)ackages. 

Q. You were asked a while ago whether you heard anything said there 
about the use of these ballots. You rexdied that you had heard it said, 
or that you understood, that they were to enable colored Democrats who 
wanted to vote the Democratic ticket to do so without being intimidated. 
Please state Avhat called ui) that remark.—A. In the preceding election 
we had found great difficulty in i)ersuading colored men to vote the 
Democratic ticket. 

Q. AA^hy ? AYere they disinclined ?—A. Alen of their own color intim¬ 
idated them at the imlls. If they voted the Democratic ticket it was 
with great fear that they did so. 

Q. AAffiat means had been used to intimidate Democratic colored voters 
by men of their own race ?—A. Every means within their i)ower. 

Q. Please describe some of them.—A. I have seen many a colored 
man run off from the polls for fear of being mobbed or almost killed by 
his fellows, because they were indipiant at his voting the Democratic 
ticket; and from this fear it was with great difficulty they could be x)er- 
suaded to openly vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. AYas there any inclination on the i)art of many colored people to 
vote the Democratic ticket if it were not for the danger?—A. Aly opinion 
and belief is that a large number of them would have voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket were it not for fear of being mobbed by their fellows. 

Q. Do you know of any other kind of intimidation, ostracizing them 
from their churches, from lire companies, and from other associations ?— 
A. It is a frequent cause of comi^laint among many colored Democrats 


Couilty.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 


75 


that they are ostracized or discharged from fire companies and from other 
associations, and it was dread of being thus ostracized and exi)elled that 
kept them in dread and fear all the time. 

Q. Have yon one of those tissue ballots ?—A. I think you will find 
some of them in the ballot-dox near by. 

Q. Were they capable of being folded up in a very small place so that 
they could be concealed ?—A. Yes, sir j they were very small, printed 
upon tissue paper. 

Q. They could be held in the fingers with another ballot of larger size 
without attracting attention, could they?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. [Exhibiting a tissue ballot to the witness.] Ho you identify this 
ballot I—A. Yes, sir; I recognize that style of ticket. 

Q. That is what you call a tissue ballot?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I believe you said that that style of ticket was used in consider¬ 
able numbers in order that the colored people might be able to vote the 
Hemocratic ticket without exposure to persons of their own color ?—A. 
That was the general understanding of the parties for Avhich that ticket 
was devised, sir. 

Q. The great difficulty that hindered the colored people from voting 
the Democratic ticket was their fear of being ostracized, abused, &c., as 
they had been in preceding elections?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did it turn out; did any large number of colored men vote 
the Democratic ticket ?—A. There did, siifhcieiit to prove conclusively 
to our minds that our idea was entirely correct; they could vote and 
did vote those tissue tickets, concealing from their associates how they 
voted. The tickets would not tell on them, in other words. 

Q. You say you remained, at the headquarters where the election com¬ 
missioners held their office for the most of the time during the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Y es, sir. 

Q. When you were not at the room of the committee where were 
you ?—A. Going around from one poll to another to see that the elec¬ 
tion was properly conducted. 

Q. How many polls did you visit that day ?—A. Every poll within 
my jurisdiction. 

Q. State how the election was conducted as to order, peace, and quiet¬ 
ness.—A. I regarded it as a remarkably peaceful and quiet election; 
the best I have ever seen since the war. The commissioners were not 
bothered in the least; their duties were very easily got over. Every¬ 
thing moved on smoothly and quietly. 

Q. Did the Eepublican member of your commission go around also ?— 
A. He attended to the matter personally with the cliairman (myself). 
He saw that everything was fairly and squarely conducted. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What member of the Democratic executive committee stated, at 
the time you speak of, that the object in procuring these tissue tickets 
was to enable colored men to vote the Democratic ticket secretly ?— 
A. That was the general topic of conversation among them from time 
to time. 

Q. I am speaking of the time you saAV the ballots in the room of the 
Democratic executive committee, a week or so before the election; 
what member of the committee made that statement?—A. I do not 
recollect; it was the general subject of conversation. 

Q. Who engaged in such conversation?—A. The members of the 
committee in general. 

Q. Give me the names of those who made that statement.—A. Well, 
for one, General Gonzales, a member of the committee. 


76 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


Q. (lid General Gonzales say?—A. Why, he stated what I 

said ; I cannoti ^ive his exact words. 

Q. What other of the committee stated that that was the object?—A. 
Mr. Boylston. 

Q. What did he say ?—A. I don’t recollect exactly what he said, sir. 

Q. Kot a word that he said ?—A. I think not, sir. 

Q. If you can recollect what any one of them said, re^ieat it.—A. 
I cannot. 

Q. How many colored men did you see at the polls on election day 
trying secretly to vote that tissue ballot?—A. I saw, if I judge cor¬ 
rectly, a large number; in fact, it is a very hard matter to tell. 

Q. IIow many do you suppose from appearances ?—A. A large num¬ 
ber had their ballots concealed, so that no one could know what they 
had in their hands. 

Q. Give the names of any one who had his ballot concealed in that 
way.—A. I heard it from many; it was the general understanding. 

Q. But nobody had anj' list of colored men; at least you never heard 
of any such list?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Which party had control of the police affairs of the city at and im¬ 
mediately prior to the last election ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. Which party had control of the city gOA^ernment and of a majority 
of the judicial districts in the State?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. And yet, notwithstanding that, you were afraid that the colored 
Eepublicans would prevent colored Democrats from Amting the ticket 
which they desired to?—A. We based our judgment ui)on i>ast experi¬ 
ences. 

Q. But you neA^er were situated exactly. as you were last fall; you 
neA^er at any State election since the war had the executiA-e and judicial 
departments of the State Democratic until last fall?—A. Of course not. 

Q. And the municipal gOA-erument of this city ?—A. Of course not. 

Q. Then you never were situated exactly as you were last fall ?—A. 
Of (iourse not. 

Q. Then there was much less danger, was there not, of this intimida¬ 
tion of colored men last fall than at any election prior to that time ?— 
A. We thought the danger of intimidation as great as at any time 
I)rior. 

Q. But would the facts warrant you in thinking so ?—A. I think they 
would. 

Q. Then you do not think that the control of the execntwe, judicial, 
and municipal departments of the gOA ernment would tend to any ex¬ 
tent to enable you to jAreA ent intimidation ?—A. I do not say so. I be- 
lieA’^e the contrary. 

Q. Then why did you think there was more danger of intimidation 
last fall than at any time before ?—A. I said we judged so from past ex¬ 
perience. 

Q. From aa hat experience ?—A. From the intimidation that had been 
practiced during the reign of the Republican party in the State. 

Q. And you think that although the Democrats had control of the exec- 
iitiA^e, judicial, and municipal gOA'ernments, that the danger of intimida¬ 
tion Avas as great as if all these branches of the goAxrnment had been in 
the hands of the Republicans?—A. I do. 

Q. Did the executive committee make a calculation of the number of 
colored men who desired to vote the Democratic ticket in the city of 
Charleston?—A. I am not aAvare'of any calculations that they made re¬ 
garding that matter. 




County.] TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 77 

Q. Were you not an active member ?—A. Partially so j after I became 
commissioner I was not as active as before. 

Q. How frequently did you meet with them after you became commis¬ 
sioner —A. Well, now and then. 

Q. That is a very indefinite answer; state how frequently.—A. The 
committee met very indefinitely; they only met from time to time. 

Q. You state that you were api)ointed commissioner about sixty days 
before election ?—A. The law reciuires that, and my recollection is that 
the law was comxfiied with. 

Q. How many times subsequent to your aiiiiointment did you meet 
with the executive committee f—A. I suppose about half a dozen times. 

Q. Did you meet with the executive committee within a week prior to 
the election f—A. I did. 

Q. How many times'?—A. Twice; I will put it about twice. 

Q. Did you meet with it on Mondav evening before the election?—A. 
I did. 

Q. You were active enough to be present at the meeting the evening 
before the election and twice the week previous?—A. I was. 

Q. Did you jiarticipate in the deliberations of the committee?—A. I 
always did, sir. 

Q. Did you inform the committee what you had done as a commis¬ 
sioner?—A. Ko, sir; I did not inform them of anjdhing of the sort. 
The two positions of commissioner and member of the executive com¬ 
mittee were separate and distinct. 

Q. Then how did you take the suggestion of the committee for your 
appointments as managers of election ?—A. They were handed in bj' the 
executive committee. 

Q. But if the positions you held were so separate and distinct that 
you could not inform the committee of what you did as commissioner, 
explain how it happened that the xiersons whom you ai)poiiited as man¬ 
agers of election were suggested to you by the members of the commit¬ 
tee.—A. They were suggested by a communication addressed to the 
I board of commissioners. 

I Q. But you say that the positions were separate and distinct; why 
I was it that you took the suggestions from the executive committee ?—A. 

I Because the names were handed in to us as suitable persons that the 
I committee desired to have act as managers. 

Q. Does the statute require that you should take the suggestions of 
i the Democratic executive committee in regard to the axipointment of 
i managers?—A. It does not suggest anything requiring that. By the 
: unanimous consent of the board the names were handed in, and we 
j acted upon them; the Bepublican member acquiesced in the appoint- 
I ments. 

Q. The Bepublican member acquiesced in the appointment of persons 
all of whom were Democrats, as managers of the election?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Was he asked whether he knew of any proper x)ersons to be found 
among Bepublicans who might be appointed as managers ?—A. I do not 
know. 

Q. What was the object of the board in appointing all Democrats to 
be managers of the election ?—A. I do not know that I could speak for 
the board as a whole; I can state what the object of the Democratic 
portion of the board was, because I was of that party. 

(^. And because you were of that party you Avanted all the managers 
to belong to your party ?—A. That was the action of the committee. 

Q. Were there any reasons giA^en why all the managers appointed 



78 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


sliould be Democrats and none Eepiiblicans ?—A. ^J'o reason was given; 
I suppose tliey had their reasons. 

Q. Senator McDonald has asked yon if it would not be an easy matter 
to secrete a tissue ballot so that no person could discover what it was. 
I will ask you whether it would not be an easy matter to fold half a 
dozen or a dozen tissue ballots in an ordinary ballot and slip them all in 
together without being detected ?—A. I never experimented, so I do not 
know. 

Q. Did you ever experiment in regard to the other matter ?—A. ^N’o, 
sir. 

Q. Then you have had as much experience in i*egard to the one thing 
as to the other !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What do you believe '?-^A. I believe that a party could conceal 
one of them so that he could vote it without being seen. 

Q. I want your opinion Avhether it a\ ould not be an easy matter to 
take one of the ballots printed on that tissue paper and fold a half a 
dozen or a dozen of them inside of one of the larger ballots and drop them 
into the ballot-box Avithout being detected ?—A. I have said that I do 
not know. I iieAW saw the experiment tried. 

Q. You'haA^e not experimented with either ?—A. No, sir. 

Mr. Cameron. I Avould not haA^e asked your opinion in regard to this 
matter if Mr. McDonald had not asked you your opinion in regard to 
the other. 

Mr. McDonald. You see I thought about the one and you thought 
about the other. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You stated, in reply to a question addressed you by Senator Mc¬ 
Donald, that you deliAxred the box, blanks, and instructions to the man¬ 
agers. I AA ill ask you AA^ether in any case you instructed the managers 
not to permit any persons to A^ote at the poll unless they resided within 
the precinct ?—A. We did not; Ave had printed instructions which Avill 
bear me out in the statement; we gave those printed instructions to the 
managers. 

Q. Did you understand the law to be that a person entitled to vote 
anywhere in the county was entitled to vote at any precinct in the 
county ?—A. I did; and so Are instructed the inaiiageLS. 

Q. It api)ears from the testimony that at one i^recinct the managers 
resolA-ed that nobody should be allowed to A^ote wlio resided the other 
side of the Six-Mile House; had you any knoAvdedge of that on the day 
of the election I—A. I had not. 

Q. You Avent around to all the polls but did not ascertain that fact ^— 
A. I did not. 

Q. Did not Wallace, the marshal, call on you the day of the election 
and state that a large number of colored men were being preA^ented from 
voting by the managers, and did he not ask you to see that the law was 
enforced, and did you not decline to do so, but refer him to the Demo¬ 
cratic committee of the county A. Mr. Wallace called on me officially 
and stated that such AAms the case—that there was some difficulty: I 
did not say that I would refer the matter to the executiA^e committee. I 
kneAv my duty and attempted to perform it; I kneAv that my duty was 
to facilitate to the best of my ability the carrying forAvard of the election. 
I Avas associated in that duty with the Eepublican member of the board, 
Colonel Montgomery. I deny most emphaticaliy saying that I would 
refer the matter to the executive committee. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 


79 


By the Chairman : 

Q. How many voters are there in this county ?—A. That is a hard 
matter to answer. 

Q. Hid not the Democratic committee make a list of voters ?—A. 
They did not. 

Q. Canyon not tell about how many voters there are in the county?— 
A. During' the last election there were some twenty-three or four thou¬ 
sand votes polled. At the preceding elections the liepublicans have 
polled as higli as twenty-eight or twenty-nine thousand in the county. 

Q. How many of those voters are white and how many black ?—A. 
The proportion, I think, is in favor of the colored peoide. 

Q. You mean to say there are more colored voters than white ones?— 
A. Yes, sir; but I must say I am not positive as to the number; the 
results have been so irregular and there have been so many different 
returns, as it were, that it is a hard matter to make any estimate. 

Q. You can make some sort of an estimate ?—A. I supiiose there are 
two or three thonsand more colored voters than white voters. 

Q. What proportion of the colored vote did you understand was dis¬ 
posed to vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. A large number. 

Q. That is very indefinite; what proportion?—^A. We calculated on 
something like 5,000 of them. 

Q. What was t?e total colored vote?—A. I put the colored vote at 
about 13,000 or 14,000 in this county. 

Q. And about 5,000 of them, a little over one-third, you think, were 
disposed to Amte the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that an estimate simi)ly of your own or of your committee ?—A. 
I am merely trying to arrive at an estimate to answer your question; it 
is not an estimate made by the committee. 

Q. Then the committee thought that there were a large number, but 
did not go into the details ?—A. Xo, sir; the committee did not. 

Q. You say you saw a great number of voters attempting to conceal 
their ballots; explain how they attempted to conceal them.—A. By 
holding them in tlieir hands so that no one could see them. 

Q. What was the size of the ballots ?—A. As I could not see the 
ballots I could not describe their size. 

Q. Were the Kepublican ballots small or large?—A. They were larger 
than the Democratic ballots, sir. 

Q. Did tliey conceal those ?—A. I do not knoAV that I noticed whether 
they did or not. 

Q. Could a man conceal them so that they could not liaA^e been seen ?— 
A. I do not know but it might liaA^'e been done. 

Q. AYere not the Democratic tickets of the usual size ?—A. They were 
about the same size as the Bepublican tickets. 

(^. A moment ago you said the Bepublican tickets were the largest?— 
A. Tliey may have been a little larger; I think they were. 

Q. Were those Avho attempted to conceal their ballots all colored iier- 
sons ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From whom did they attempt to conceal them?—A. I judge from 
one another. 

Q. Who distributed the tissue ballots ?—A. I saw none distributed. 

Q. At what points Avere they distributed ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Did you know that they were distributed at any iioints ?—A. I 
have reason to belieA^e they were; on opening the ballot-box we dis- 
COA ered them there. 

Q. Did you liaA^e men standing by the polls distributing tickets ?—A. 
Both parties had them—what was termed rallyers. 


80 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Tlie Democrats had rallyers as Trell as the Republicans I—A. Yes, 
sii\ 

Q. Did you see the Democrats circulating these tickets f —A. I did 
not. 

Q. What tickets did they distribute!—A. I do not know the char¬ 
acter of the tickets. I did not pay any iiarticular attention to that 
matter. 

Q. You say you saw these colored men about the polls endeavoring to 
conceal their tickets from their fellow colored men; Avhat tickets were 
they concealing ? Did any of them have tissue tickets f —A. I did not 
notice what tickets they had. 

Q. Can you give the names of the men who distributed Democratic 
tickets of any kind there that day?—A. I cannot. 

Q. Have you no record in your office?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Can you not give them from recollection ?—A. I cannot. We had 
nothing to do with that. I only know the Republicans had one man 
and the Democrats one man at each polling-place for that puriiose. 

Q. Did not the Democratic executive committee appoint the men for 
that purpose ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Who appointed tliem ?—A. The president of the ward committees. 

Q. About how many tissue tickets were found in the box from ward 
8 ?—A. I do not recollect. 

Q. Can you give some idea?—A. No, sirj it is a hard matter to recol¬ 
lect these things after they have passed. 

Q. What was the excess of ballots over the names on the i)oll-list in 
ward 2 ?—^A. I think about ten or fifteen. 

Q. y/hat was the number of tissue ballots from that war?— A . I 
think the ballots were about equally divided. 

Q. What do you mean by their being equally divided ?—A. There 
were about as many tissue ballots as ordinary tickets. 

Q. How many tissue ballots were there?—A. I do not know. 

Q. How many ballots were there in the total ?—A. I did not remem¬ 
ber. 

Q. All that you remember is that they were about half-and-half?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you overhaul all ballot-boxes?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For what purx)ose ?—A. That is the law. 

Q. When was that law enacted ?—A. During Rex)ublican sux^remacy 
in the State. 

Q. It has been in operation for a good many years ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you make any changes in the returns ?—A. A few. 

Q. What changes ?—A. Where there were a few more ballots than 
the x)oll-lists called for; in such cases we threw out the extra ballots. 

Q. Under the law the managers first threw out the excess?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Then you threw out the additional excess?—A. The managers 
made their returns to us, and if we, in making up the returns, discovered 
that there was an error we corrected the same. 

Q. Does not the statute provide that the ballots shall first be counted, 
and then if there are more ballots in the box than there are names on 
the poll-list the number in excess shall be thrown out and destroyed ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they fail to do that ?—A. In some instances they did. 

Q. Is it a custom here for the commissioners to review the action of 
the managers—to examine all the returns ?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF T. BARKER JONES. 81 

Q. How many did you destroy ?—A. I suppose twenty-five or thirty 
would cover tlie entire number. 

Q. In all the precincts —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that there are about 5,000 of these tissue ballots in the 
box now f—A. Well, I judge so; I do not know j I could not state posi¬ 
tively ; I can only surmise the number. 

Q. Hid you ever hear where they were printed?—A. I never heard, 
sir. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was any polling-place established on Edisto Island?—A. I believe 
there was a polling-place there prescribed by law. 

Q. When did you send the boxes to that precinct ?—A. Two or three 
days before election. 

Q. By whom did you send them ?—A. By a party employed 5 we paid 
him to take them. The State had furnished us (tlie commissioners) 
with no means of carrying on the duties to which we were assigned, and 
we were compelled to use our own means to get the boxes to the polling- 
places. 

Q. And you employed a person to take the boxes to that precinct ?— 
A. Of course. 

Q. It was not sent there, then, by one of the election-managers ?—A. 
No, sir 5 the board employed this mail to take the boxes there. 

Q. It was not sent to the polling-place by one of the managers of the 
precinct?—A. No, sir; it was not. 

Q. Did you count the names on their poll-list so as to see if they agreed 
with the number of ballots in their box ?—A. No, sir; they were not 
required to do that. 

(^. How did you arrive at your conclusion that there was a difference 
between the number of ballots in the ballot-box and the number of 
names on the poll-list ?—A. In the statements made we found an error, 
and to trace out this error we counted the ballots. 

Q. You counted the ballots ?—A. In that instance. 

Q. Give the number as near as you can of Democratic tissue ballots 
that were polled in ward 1.—A. I do not know, sir, really. 

Q. Can you give any idea ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many were polled in ward 2 ?—A. That matter did not come 
within my jurisdiction at all; I was not a worker at the polls; my duty 
was to see that the election went on properly and quietly. 

Q. You said the tissue ballots were voted largely in ward 2; now, 
give the number of them voted in that ward.—A. It is hard for me to 
say. 

Q. How many were found in the box, as a matter of fact ?—A. As a 
matter of fact, when the returns were made the ballots found in the box 
made it evident that a large number of them were voted. 

Q. How many did you find in the box for ward 1 ?—A. The ballots 
were about evenly divided ; as many tissue ballots as other ballots. 

Q. In ward 2 ?—A. It was the same way. 

Q. Can you not even approximate how many there were in either 
ward ?—xl. I do not think I can. 

Q. Was it at Avard two that you saw these people trying to Amte se¬ 
cretly-concealing their ballots ?—A. That was principally in Avard 
eight. 

(^. Did you see anything of the sort in ward two ?—A. I did not pay 
any particular attention to that Avard; I do not knoAv that I did. 

6 s 0 


82 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. How long were you at ward eight ?—A. About a quarter of an 
hour. 

Q. And during that time you saw a large number of persons trying 
to conceal what ballots they were about to vote 1 —A. Yes, su*. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I understand that the managers, after the votes have all been re- 
cei^Td, count the votes and count the names on tlie poll-list to see if 
they agree. If they do not, enough are drawn out to equalize the two.— 
A. Enough are drawn out to make the number remaining in the box 
tally with the poll-list, sir. 

Q. Hid those managers make returns to the commissioner of this ac¬ 
tion on their part ?—A. They did. 

Q. Their returns showed that they found so many more ballots in the 
box than names on the iioll-list ?—A. In the first instance they were in¬ 
structed to do that by our board. They received their instructions to 
that etfect. 

Q. To what effect?—A. That if there was an excess of ballots the ex¬ 
cess must be drawn out. 

Q. And they didn’t make returns that they had done so ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. You say your board threw out twenty-five or thirty ?—A. Yes, sii*. 

Q. How did you determine which ballots to throw out ?—A. We blind¬ 
folded a man. 

Q. Who was blindfolded ?—A. The clerk. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. In answer to a question by Mr. Cameron, you said that in one or 
two wards there was an excess of ballots above the names on the iioll- 
list; did you mean an excess that you found in the returns made to 
you ?—A. Yes, sirj we discovered the excess. 

Q. You knew nothing of the excess as it appeared before the board 
of managers?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. You knew only of the excess which you found after it had come 
from the board of managers to you ?—A. That is my meaning. 

Q. If one or more ballots were folded and put in the box together, 
what does the law require?—A. That all shall be thrown away but one. 

Q. And when you found ballots thus folded together what was done 
with them?—A. All were rejected but one. 

By Mr. Caimeron: 

Q. If the ballots were folded up and put in thus folded up and after¬ 
wards became separated in the box from shaking it, so that wlien the 
l)oll-box was opened the ballots were not found folded together, then 
they would not be thrown out?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. They must be found folded together to cause them to be thrown 
out?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of the ballots that your board threw out for the purpose of equal¬ 
izing how many were Eepublican and how many were Democratic?— 
A. I could not say. 

Q. What proportion-—how many—were Eepublican tickets?—A. About 
one-third of the number, I should suppose. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN. 


83 


G. D. BEYAK 

CiiARLESTON, S. C.j January 22. 

G. D. Bryan sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Teller : 

Question. Where do yon reside?—Answer. In the city of Charleston, 
ward 1, at 27 Church street. 

Q. How long have you resided in Charleston ?—A. All my life. 

Q. What are yonr political affiliations?—A. I am a Democrat. 

Q. Were yon a member of any Democratic organization at the 
last election?—A. I was president of the Democratic organization in 
ward 1. 

Q. How many wards are there in the city of Charleston ?—A. There 
are eight. 

Q. Are there Democratic clubs in each ward?—A. There are, so far 
as my knowledge extends. 

Q. Can you give the names of the presidents of the several ward 
clubs ?—A. As I have said, I am president of the first ward club. The 
president of the club in ward 2 is B. F. Huger. 

Q. Who is president of the club in ward No. 3?—A. William L. 
Daggett. 

Q. Number 4?—A. J. F. Breton. 

Q. Number 5?—A. J. B. Aiken. 

Q. Number 6?—A. E. C. Barclay. 

Q. Number 7?—A. Win. Thomas. 

^ Q. Number 8?—A. Mr. Stephen Thomas. 

Q. These clubs were all organized and in operation during the last 
campaign?—A. I can only speak as far as my own ward is concerned. 
I can say that the Democratic party in ward 1 was well organized. 

Q. Did you ever attend a meeting of the jiresidents of these various 
clubs?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you not attend a meeting of the clubs in connection with the 
managers of election a few days before the election?—A. I was at a 
meeting—I think it was a meeting of the executive presidents—but 1 
can’t say now whether any of those presidents were present. I was 
there. I got into the meeting late, and whether the managers were 
there or not I can’t state. 

Q. Did you not know any of them to be managers of election. Was not 
the call issued in the papers of the city for the managers of the precincts 
and the presidents of these clubs to meet just before the election ?—A. 
I can’t state that positively. I know that from time to time I had a 
communication from the secretary of the committee to attend a meeting 
of the executive committee. 

Q. Were you a member of the executive committee?—A. No, sir. 
When I got that summons to go, I sometimes went, and sometimes did 
not. 

Q. You have stated that you attended a few days before the election ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. Now, think over who were present, and see whether the managers 
of election were there ?—A. I remember seeing one of the managers from 
my ward present, but I don’t know of any others. 

Q. Who was he ?—A. I think a gentleman by the name of Otis was 
the one who was present. 

Q. What was the day of this meeting?—A. Well, I don’t know, sir. 


84 


4 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


[ Charlesto 


I got in late; I saw this manager there, and they had been talking over 
the situation, but that the meeting had had any special object I don’t 
know. 

Q. How long did yon stay there?—A. Probably 10 or 15 minutes. 

Q. Did the meeting break up, or did you attend it in session ?—A. 
No, sir; the meeting l)ro]j:e up as usual. 

Q. Were you j)resent at your poll on the day of election?—A. Yes, 
sir; I was. 

Q. At any other poll ?—A. Well, I can’t say I was present at any other 
poll. I was within 20 yards of another poll. The poll at one ward was 
held at the City-hall, and another was just across the street. 

Q. Were you present at the other i)oll to see what was going on ?—A. 
No, sir; I staid at ward 1 until about ten minutes before six, and took 
an hour for breakfast, and then came back and staid until dinner; got 
dinner, and then staid until the poll closed. 

Q. Did you distribute tickets at the poll ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What were you doing there ?—A. I was giving a general super¬ 
vision to the election, as I thought it was my duty to do, having under¬ 
taken the presidency of the ward. 

Q. How many votes did you poll at that precinct?—A. Well, in giving 
an answer to this question, I would state that I refreshed my memory 
this morning from the published count. There were 9C0 votes, aggre¬ 
gating the vote polled for O’Connor and Mackey. 

Q. Nine hundred and sixty for the Congressman?—A. Yes, sir. 

How did it stand between O’Connor and Mackey ?—A. I think 
Mackey had 17G majority in the ward. 

Q. Were you present at the canvass of the vote ?—A. Not all the time. 
I was there after the poll closed, and staid there after they commenced 
the count. They took the ballot-box and emptied all the ballots on the 
table. I left them counting the ballots back into the box. I thiidi I 
went down into my office on Broad street, and when I came back I made 
the inquiry of some one of the number of votes, and how the vote stood 
with the poll-list. I was informed that the votes in thfe box had overrun 
the poll-list by three, and they had X)ut the votes back in the box and 
draAvn out three votes. One of the managers or clerks said that they 
drew out tAVO Democratic and one Eepublican. I went off and came 
back later, and then they gave me the result. I came back about half 
past nine or ten o’clock, and they gaA^e me the result. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots in there—A. I can’t say of my OAvn 
knowledge. I can only say I Avas told that there AA^ere 3 tissue ballots 
in the box in ward 1 —aa hat aa ^s knoAAui as the Buttz ticket. 

Q. You did not see any ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then you were not reliably informed ?—A. No, sir; I only heard 
about it. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots in the w^ard that day?—A. I saAv 
one or tAvo in the hands of men, but I did not see any on the tables. 

Q. Did you have a table on Avhich each party had its tickets?—A. 
Yes, sir; that is the general custom—for each party to have its tickets. 

Q. You have seen the tissue ballots, haA^e you not?—A. I saAv them 
on that day. 

Q. When did you first see a tissue ballot?—A. I can’t say. I think 
that AA as perhaps the first occasion. 

Q. You think the first you saAV was the one in the hands of some per¬ 
son?—A. I think so. 

Q. Did you see anybody \mte a tissue ballot?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you first hear that tissue ballots Avere to be used ?—A. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. I). BRYAN. 


85 


’Well, some one showed me these tissue ballots and said, ^^They are 
voting these tissue ballots.” I thought that they were perfectly useless 
things. 

(}. When were they shown to you; how long before the election?—A. 
Well, this was during the day of election. 

Q. How many did they show you?—A. A man came up to me and 
had two or three in his hands. 

Q. Why did you think that they were useless ?—A. I thought that the 
others were just as good as these tickets, and there was no use in hav¬ 
ing these. 

Q. You never saw any of them before election?—A. I don’t really 
remember. I saw a good many after the election. 

Q. Did you not hear before the election that there were some in exist¬ 
ence without seeing them?—A. That is what I cannot answer; it has 
been so long. I know this; there were no tissue ballots used iu my 
ward, to niy knowledge; and .whether this thing was before or after the 
election, it has been so long that I really do not remember now dis¬ 
tinctly. 1 may have heard it as an idle rumor, but from no authority, 
that these things were to be used. 

Q. The matter, then, was not discussed in your club?—A. NTo, sir. 

Q. Were you present at most of the club meetings?—A. I was pres¬ 
ent at all the club meetings. When I say “ club meetings,” I should add 
that we have an organization here that is not so strictly an organization 
as at the North. For instance, we all consider the residents of a Avard, 
with i)erhaps one or two exceptions, as members of the Democratic club 
or party. 

Q. That is the white men, you mean?—A. Yes, sir; our condition here 
has been such that we are forced to that. There has been no oppor¬ 
tunity for a division in this State, and the white men, with few excep¬ 
tions, are Democrats, and we look upon them as Democrats. Now, if I 
•had a meeting in my ward, I would say, The Democrats of ward 1 are 
requested to meet at South Oarohna Hall on such an ca ening.” The 
doors would be open and anybody could come in and attend that 
meeting. Whatever was intended to be doneAvould be announced there 
publicly, and all the parties were ap])ointed; and, in fact, there was no 
special secrecy in Avmrd 1 at all. All the men were expected to be at the 
])olls and remain there all day. It is not so much a matter of politics 
there as a matter of existence, and we expect every man to go there. 
It is not a matter of political parties, as it is at the North. 

Q. You liaA^e no other political party here, I suppose, except the 
Democratic?—A. Well, also what they call the Eepublican party. 

Q. Of what is that composed?—A. That is composed entirely hereto¬ 
fore of negroes and one or two white men ; a white man here and there. 
When I say the ward is thoroughly organized, it is this: the property- 
holders just voted everybody they could—the way Ave did in this elec¬ 
tion. For instance, if we had a servant, and asked him to Amte the 
Democratic ticket, in a great many instances they Avould Amte it, and in 
some they would not. Now, for instance, I had one colored man in ward 
1 —a right-hand man of mine—and he voted 85 names himself. This 
man has been a Eepublican, and in 1870, when the State went Demo¬ 
cratic, he turned over. I staid at the polls and saw him come up A\ith 
these men—three at a time—arid voted them. From interviews I had 
AAith the colored men in my office they said to me, ^^We can’t do this 
thing openly. We liaA^e eA^ery confidence in you and in your justice; 
but we can’t, on account of our church affiliations and company affilia¬ 
tions, come out openly and Amte for you.” I have always found these 
people to be truthful, and I know them thoroughly. 


86 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You believe that 85 of them voted the Democratic ticket?—A. I 
believe that that number voted it. 

Q. Did they profess to vote the Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir; 
came up openly and voted it. 

Q. What color ticket did they vote?—A. Well, the only tickets ou 
the table were check-back tickets. 

Q. Some witnesses called them calico tickets?—A. Well, they were 
check-back. 

Q. All the men that voted the Democratic ticket voted that kind?— 
A. Yes, sir; I have no doubt that there were from 300 to 350 colored 
Democrats in ward 1 voted that ticket, and I was told afterward that 
they did. 

Q. They did not seem to be afraid to vote the ticket ?—A. Yo, sir; I 
would not allow any one to interfere. 

Q. According to your statement, they were not so much afraid of in¬ 
terference at the polls as of church interference afterward ?—A. They 
had a hesitation, and there has been a hesitation for the last four years 
here. 

Q. You might protect them at the polls, but you could not protect 
them in the ehurch ?—A. Yes, sir. As to the details of this thing I 
would say that I do not give any facts myself. 

Q. They took their chance and voted the ticket openly ?—A. Well, I 
want to direct your attention to one point. What I have said I do not 
speak of my own knowledge. 

Q. But you saj^ you were so informed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. All the colored men that voted at that iDoll must have voted this 
calico ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; all that I saw. 

Q. In a way that enabled everybody who stood by to tell exactly how 
they voted ?—A. No, sir; not necessarily. 

Q. Unless he hid his ticket ?—A. Yo, sir; not necessarily; because the 
poll there was of a wedge-shaped character, and the voter went into • 
that aperture and went up to the ballot-box some 8 or 10 feet off, and 
deposited his ballot. 

Q. Is that the way it was at the other polls ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. You could see them to vote that as readily as if it was a white 
ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A little more so, could you not?—A. Well, I don’t laiow about that. 

Q. Whom did you see have these tissue tickets that you saw during 
the day ?—A. Well, I don’t remember the name of any person. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of where these tissue ballots were print¬ 
ed?—A. Uo, sir; never been informed. 

Q. You are confident that this meeting you spoke of was the last 
meeting ?—A. I can’t tell you; I went to two or three meetings. 

Q. Well, you are confident that at the time when you were present 
nothing was said about tissue ballots ?—A. Nothing was said, that I 
remember. 

Q. Did you ever attend a meeting of the executive committee of the 
Democratic organization ?—A. No, sir; not a meeting of the executive 
committee. I was asked to serve, but my duties were such that I could 
not. 

Q. What is your profession?—A. Well, sir, I am a lawyer. 

Q. How long have you lived here ?—A. All my life. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you ever see any of these tissue ballots before ?—A. Never 
before. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN. 


87 


Q. Did General Seigling, the Democratic candidate for senator in the 
last election, on the day of election or prior to it, or at any other time, 
take a package, large or small, of these tissue ballots to you and ask 
you to use them or have them used in your ward I—A. No, sir. 

Q. Nothing of the kind —A. No, sir. 

Q. 1 )id any other person —A. No, sir. 

Q. Have yon a package of these tickets in your possession at pres¬ 
ent!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you had a package of them in your possession since the day 
of election or on the day of election ?—A. 1 have had some in my pos¬ 
session. 

Q. From wliom did you receive them!—A. That is hard for me to 
say. I don’t remember. These tickets Avere gAen to me, large and 
sniall ones together, and I opened the package of large tickets, and I 
think tliere were some live or eight thousand tickets. I sent these to 
tlie polls, and after the election I opened the small package, and they 
were destroyed. But they were just sent to me as president of the 
ward. 

Q. From whom did you understand you received them!—A. They 
were sent from the execuitive committee, I suppose. 

Q. The Democratic executive committee of this county!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number of these tissue ballots, as nearly as you can judge 
of the number, were sent to you!—A. Tliat, I really cannot say. I 
kiiOAv that all the tickets make a pretty large package. I think the 
package I opened had some 5,000 tickets in it; that is my imxuession. 

Q. Did you receive them the day before election!—A. I think I must 
liave, because I sent them out. In fact, I took a large i)ile with me the 
morning I Avent to the poll and gave them around. Then during the 
day I saw some others there, and I think they must haA^e been giA^en me 
before that time, because I took them with me. 

Q. AYere the tissue ballots received, as far as you can remember, at 
the same time that the others Avere !—A. I think they Avere. 

Q. In the same package!—A. Yes, sir; I think there was one large 
package. 

Q. And as you understood it, they came from the Democratic execu- 
tiA^e committee!—A. I haA^e no doubt they did. 

Q. Did you talk with General Seigling in reference to these tissue 
ballots on the day of election or i^rior thereto!—A. I don’t remember 
exactly. I know some one asked me if any. of these ballots were being 
Amted in ward 1, and I told them, not to my knowledge. 

Q. Was that Seigling who asked you!—A. It may liaA'e been. I will 
not swear positively to that fact. 

Q. AAdiat is your best recollection in regard to it!—A. I would not 
like to SAvear that it was. 

Q. AVill you swear that it was not Siegling!—A. I will not swear 
whether it Avas or was not. 

Q. I AA ill ask you if Siegling did not request you or suggest to you 
that those ballots be used in that AAmrd, and you refused to haA^e them 
used in that ward!—A. No, sir; I don’t know. 

Q. Do you remember whether you had any such coiwersation as 
that !—A. I remember a conA^ersation—I AAill not say whether it A\\as 
with General Siegling—I remember some one saying to me, ^‘Are those 
ballots being Am ted in your ward!” I said “No,” and he said, “Why!” 
and I said, “Well, I don’t see any use forthem if I have other ballots 
here.” 

Q. AYhy did you not put the tissue ballots on the table just as you 


88 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliaileston 


had put the other ballots, so that any person could use them!—A. 
Because I had the other ballots open, and they were all sufficient for 
the poll. 

Q. You had the tissue ballots, too!—^^A. Yes, sir; but there was no 
use to open another package if there was nothing gained by it. It would 
be perfectly useless. 

Q. Well, they Avould be perfectly useless after the election!—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. It was not for the purpose of saving them!—A. ]Sro,sir; I suppose 
there were three or four thousand of the ballots left there. 

Q. Did you not think they might be used for corrupt purposes and in 
a corrupt way!—A. No, sir; I was not the keeper of the morals in my 
ward. 

Q. Well, but you were the keeper of the polls. Why, then, did you 
not give the people an opportunity, if they desired, to use these tissue 
ballots !—A. Because these other ballots were open, and they were suffi¬ 
cient. They had the names of the regular Democratic candidates on 
them, and they were sent for the purposes of the election. 

Q. Well, the tissue ballots had the names of the Democratic candi¬ 
dates!—A. Yes, sir; I think they had. 

Q. They also would have been sufficient!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then what was the reason, after all, that induced you to take the 
large tickets in place of the smaller ones !—A. I made no selection. I 
would just as lief carry these tickets during the morning and during 
the day as any others. 

Q. Have you not, since the day of election, stated to different persons 
that you Avould not have those tissue tickets used in that ward because 
you “deemed them badges of frauds,” or words to that effect!—A. No, 
sir; I doift knoAV. 

Q. Well, don’t you know !—A. No, sir; not so far as I can recollect. 
So far as fraud Avas concerned, I do not think they were badges of fraud 
if a man uses one, but if he puts several in the box of course it is a 
fraud. 

Q. What is the white Amte in your ward!—A. Well, sir, the total 
Amte—I am unable to say exactly: The ward generally polls from 1,100 
to 1,200 Amtes, and I think that the Amte is 150 white majority in the 
Avard. That is my recollection. 

Q. How many Amtes Avwe polled at the last election!—A. I think they 
haA^e stated 900. 

Q. You think about 350 colored men voted the Democratic ticket!— 
A. 1 think so, sir. 

Q. And yet Mackey had a majority of 76!—A. Yes, sir. I will ex¬ 
plain that to you. A large number of negroes from the islands Amted in 
ward 1. Quite a number voted, and tlie AAdiite population did not Amte 
in the Avard on that account. I know that in the morjiing I saw a great 
many persons Amte up toAvn, and the polls were croAvded with these col¬ 
ored people from the country. 

Q. Were those country people allowed to Amte in ward 1!—A. They 
were, almost without exception, so far as I knoAv Avhile I Avas there. In 
one or tAvo cases the persons offering to vote said they came from Saint 
Andrew’s Parish—and this Avas in the afternoon—and that they had 
landed at the foot of Spring street, AA’hich is in the northAvest corner of 
the toAvn, while this poll is in the southeast part of the toAAUi. In one 
or tAvo cases of this kind they were rejected on account of unsatisfac¬ 
tory ansAvers to questions, l)ecause to get to this poll they must have 
passed live or six other polls from the place where they say they lauded. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN. 


89 


There was no trouble at the polls; everything was perfectly quiet and 
everything perfectly fair. I do not remember a man who was not per¬ 
mitted to vote who should have been permitted. 

Q. About what number of colored men from the country, as nearly as 
you can estimate the number, voted at that poll?—A. It is very hard to 
say. I sui)[)ose there must have been at least 200 or 300. 

Q. Had you any means of estimating the number?—A. Only from 
the general appearance. I did not keep any list. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. These tickets that came to you were in a paper cover?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Kow, when you opened that outside cover, could you see what 
they were?—A. No, sir; they were all x)ut up in packages of brown 
paper. I do not know the number in each package; perhaps 4,000 or 
5,000 in a package. There were two or three packages of these large 
tickets, and I think two packages of these small tickets, 

Q. Did you open the packages of small tickets to see what they were ?— 
A. I don’t think I did on that day. 

Q. Were not those packages smaller than the other packages ?—A. 
Yes, sir; they were much smaller. 

Q. Had you been expecting to receive such packages ?—A. No, sir. I 
just got them from the committee. 

Q. Had you been expecting that in the packages that would come to 
you there would be small tickets ?—A. Not especially. I expected, gen¬ 
erally, to get tickets. 

Q. Now, when you found two classes of tickets, one large and one 
small, can you recollect whether you had curiosity enough to look into 
the small packages to see what they were—what was in them?—A. No, 
sir; I don’t think I did. I don’t think I looked into those packages 
until it may have been the day of election—during the day—and I 
thinJc it was after. 

Q. They might have contained something valuable for you in the way 
of instructions, or something else, for all you knew?—A. No, sir; I 
have been running this thing pretty long. 

Q.. And your present impression is that you did not open the small 
packages to see what they jeontained ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Tliey were not even distributed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You did not take them to the table and distribute them with the 
others ?—A. No, sir. I think I took some with me when I went home 
that night from the office. I took a package up to the polls with me, 
or a part of a package, and during the day if they wanted any I would 
send them up. Alembers of the rallying committee would come for 
them. 

Q. You mean the large tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You received those tickets just as you received the large tickets?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From the committee ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you do not think you opened the small packages until the 
next day ?—A. No, sir; I don’t think so. 

Q. Then you did not know until the next day that the smaller pack¬ 
ages contained tickets different from the larger ones ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You must have known they were different from the size of them?— 
A. Well, I suppose so. 


90 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliarlesion 


By Mr. McDonald ; 

Q. You did not know in what way they were different ?—A. ^^" 0 , sir 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Yon knew they were tissue ballots ?—A. I supposed they were the 
same as the tissue ballots at the polls j but I did not open them or see 
them. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Well, if you had run out of the larger tickets you would have had 
no hesitation in sending for the smaller packages 1 —A. ^To, sir j I don^t 
think I would. 

Q. You simply used the larger ones because you opened them first, 
and they were more convenient for you to use ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you state, from your observation that day, and your judg¬ 
ment, about what number of colored people voted at your poll, and what 
number of whites; what was the actual proportion?—A. Well, a very 
small nnmber of whites voted; nearly the whole number of votes—9C0— 
was colored votes. That is my impression. I know in the morning 
there were a great many old gentlemen that lived in my ward that 
would come ui) where I was standing on the pavement, and I would 
advise them to go up and vote in ward 3, instead of waiting there and 
being jostled; just to go up and vote there. 

Q. You were asked in reference to challengers. What was the usage 
that day at your poll, when a vote was challenged, as to what evidence 
would decide the competency and qnalifications of a voter?—A. Well, 
they pretty much took the word of a man if his answers were satisfac¬ 
tory. They would ask him several little questions, and if his answers 
were satisfactory they would vote him. 

Q. I see your law requires that every man who votes shall take an 
oath before voting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whether he is known to be a qualified voter or not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, where the person takes the oath, but the managers are sat¬ 
isfied he is not a legal voter, is it yonr law that his vote be received 
because he proposes to swear it in?—A. I do not know in regard to that. 

Q. You do not think the managers are bound to receive his oath be¬ 
cause he offers it ?—A. I am satisfied that it the managers are convinced 
that he is not entitled to vote he should not be allowed to take the oath. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you understand that they should take any sworn statements?— 
A. Yo, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. The managers take the responsibility of being right?—A. Yes, sir. 
If the managers have reasonable cause to believe that the man has voted 
before, or that he is under age, I think they would be perfectly justified 
in refusing him. 

Q. Are you a practicing lawyer in this city?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were asked if the colored men who voted the Democratic ticket 
did not do so without intimidation. Have you known of any intimida¬ 
tion practiced on colored Democratic voters on former occasions ?—A. 
Any quantity of it, sir. I will state that three or four years ago it was 
almost as much as a colored man’s life was worth to vote the Democratic 
ticket. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Have you known any colored man to be killed for voting the Dem- 
ocratic ticket?—A. No, sir; not as far as I know. 


County] TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN. 91 

Q. So that their lives seem to be pretty safe ?—A. If you were living 
down here yon would not think so. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say you have known white men to be killed in protecting 
them ?—-A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you did not consider these tickets as badges of fraud — 
A. I think that where they are voted singly they are just as good as any 
of them. 

Q. Do not you think they are adapted to being used for purposes of 
fraud, for perpetrating frauds, more than any other ballot you ever saw"?— 
A. I think so. 

Q. I think as the court in Connecticut thinks: that the very finding 
of them in the ballot-box is an evidence of fraud. You say you have 
known intimidation practiced upon the colored people for voting the 
Democratic ticket. Did the colored people show a disposition to vote 
the Democratic ticket three or four years ago?—A. Y^es, sir; in the elec¬ 
tion of 1870. The most curious thing about it was this, that np to the 
Saturday night before the election we were confident, and I believe we 
would have carried this county by 8,000 majority; but after the Sunday 
there was a complete change. There was the most marvelous political 
revolution in twenty-four hours that ever happened in this State. 

Q. That is, you had been led to suppose that they were going to vote 
the Democratic ticket, up to Saturday night ?—A. Yes, sir. On Satur¬ 
day they told me they were going to vote the Democratic ticket en masse. 
On Monday they made no bones about telling me that they would not 
vote it. 

Q. Where did you see white men killed for protecting negroes ?—A. 
Air. Buckner was killed while going from the club quarters up to his 
home. This squad was protected by young white men, and Buckner was 
killed. 

Q. Where was he killed?—A. He was killed by some negroes who 
made an attack on the club. 

Q. By whom was he shot?—A. By a colored man. 1 don’t know his 
name. 

Q. Did Air. Barnwell kill him?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. You attributed that solely to negroes ?—A. Y"es, sir. I mean he 
was killed in protecting them. 

Q. Do you not know of any negroes killed in this State for voting the 
Eepublican ticket?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you ever hear of any?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see this man killed of whom you spoke ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You knew he was killed ?—A. It was a matter of notoriety. 

Q. AVell, is it not a matter of general notoriety that hundreds of 
negroes have been killed in this State for voting the Kepublican ticket ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. For being Eepubbcans?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you never hear of the killing of negroes at Hamburg ?—A. 
Y"es, sir. I don’t think that grew out of politics. 

Q. How many negroes did you ever hear of as being killed upon the 
ground of j>arty excitement?—A. I don’t know how many. 

Q. Several hundred?—A. I can’t tell. 

Q. I do not now ask you whether they were killed for that .—A. No, 
sir; I can’t tell the number. 


92 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN. 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Well, a good inauy of them have been hilled?—A. ^^ot to my i 
knowledge. 

Q. Well, from general report yon know as much about that as about |l 
the othtir men that were killed?—A. No, sir. I got the information of i 
the other matter from men I w oiild believe. 

Q. You doubt whether there was any man killed in Hamburg in i 
1876?—A. No, sir; I don’t doubt that. 

Q. How many do you suppose were killed ?—A. I don’t know; sev¬ 
eral. 

Q. Were there not —A. I don’t know. 

Q. Didn’t you hear of any negroes being killed at Ellenton?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Do you believe any were killed there?—A. I do, because I read 
the testimony. 

Q. You don’t think they were killed because they were Eepublicans ?— 

A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t think it grew out of political excitement?—A. No, sir; 

I don’t think it was politics. 

Q. Now, do you think there ever was a negro killed in this State for 
causes growing out of political matters?—A. Well, there may have 
been. 

Q. Where do you think it was?—A. Well, I think in those troubles in 
the up-country, where the two races were arrayed against each other, I 
think, perhaps, on one or two occasions negroes were killed. 

Q. Have you ever known of rilie-clubs attending i^olitical meetings in 
this county?—A. Well, from the newspapers. 

Q. Is it not a fact that they have done so all over this State?—A. 
Well, sir, I can only answer from the newspapers, that I believe they 
have attended. 

Q. When?—A. Well, in nearly every election for the last four years. 

Q. Have you any idea how many ride clubs there are in this State, 
or were in 1876?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you in this State before the war?—A. As a child I was, 

Q. Are you old enough to remember a iiolitical campaign before the 
war?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know from history or otherwise whether rifle clubs were 
in usual attendance when this State was divided between the Whigs 
and the Democrats?—A. Not to my recollection. 

Q. Did you ever see them going out on election day with field 
pieces?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you ever heard of their going to political meetings with 
field pieces ?—A. Yes, sir. I believe they did go up here and fire a 
salute on one day—on one occasion at Blackville, and at Strawberry 
Point. 

Q. What occasion do you refer to now ?—A. In 1878. 

Q. Did you hear of any such thing in 1876 ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You have never read the investigation report on this subject ?— 

A. No, sir. I don’t think it could have been in 1876, because all the ' 
rifle clubs were disbanded. 

Mr. Cameron. O, no. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The proclamation did not disband them.—A. I never heard of i 
them in 1876—that is, the artillery. i 

Q. On how many occasions in this last campaign have you heard of I 



County.] TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN, 93 

their going out to elections or political meetings as rifle clubs!—A. I 
don’t remember now. 

Q. You remember some ^—A. I remember one or two. 1 remember 
the artillery going out to fire a salute. One was at Saint Stephen’s or 
Strawberry Point. 

Q. Now, you don’t supi^ose they only took those cannon out for fun?— 
A. Tliat is all. 

Q. Don’t you suppose thej? intended to terrify the people there ?—A. 
No, sir. I went there with three men in a boat, and we made speeches. 

Q. To the white men or to the colored men ?—A. Both. 

Q. Which were in the majority ?—A. The colored. I suppose there 
must have been about 15 white men and 300 or 400 colored men. 

Q. Where was it?—A. On James Island. 

Q. Where did those men vote ?—A. I don’t know. I suppose on Jamss 
Island. I did not go over there as a member of the rifle club. I did 
not even have a pistol. 

Q. Well, you think those things occurred?—A. I heard that j I sup¬ 
pose so. 

Q. Do you think the negroes would vote the Eepublican ticket in 
mass if they had a chance ?—A. I think if the colored people were let 
alone they would vote almost—I might say in a body, or at least one 
half of them—they would vote with the Democratic party in South 
Carolina. 

Q. Then the minority terrify the majority, and the white Democrats 
do not inspire them with enough courage so that they can vote the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. The people who are most intelligent bring to 
bear upon them the most flagrant intimidation. They turn them out 
of the church. 

Q. Name a case.—A. There is a case at Barnwell. 

Q. For voting the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now name another.—A. In talking to a colored man before the last 
election, I heard his wife say to him, “ You vote the Democratic ticket.” 
And all those influences come in, of course. 

Q. Then the women terrify them, too ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You say that in 1876, up to the Saturday night before election, 
you anticipated getting a very large colored vote for the Democratic 
ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On Monday you found that things had changed. Had the colored 
preachers been preaching politics on Sunday, as you understood it?—A. 
Yes, sir j as I understood it. I can’t say that of my own knowledge, but 
that was our impression. The word had gone out on Sunday and Sun¬ 
day night that the negroes were to be re-enslaved if the Democrats got 
in power, and that consolidated them against us. 

Q. You think it was the preaching on Sunday ?—A. Yes, sir; a great 
many of the colored people are superstitious people and religious people, 
and are governed a great deal by their leaders and class-leaders, who 
are all Eepublicans. 

Q. Then the more intelhgent portion of the blacks are Eepublicans 
thoroughly grounded?—A. No, sir; not always. The intelligent por¬ 
tion ot the blacks generally hold office, and they want to continue that 
thing. 

Q. Well, they are Eepublicans, then ?—A. Yes, sir; and they have 
been working just on that line. If you go across to James Island and 
tell those people that they cannot be put back into slavery, and some 


94 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


one else came along and told them that they can be put back into slavery, 
they would not believe you, because their preachers have told them other¬ 
wise. 

Q. And if they are let alone, if their preachers and more intelligent 
men among them, holding office, would not talk politics to tliem, but 
would allow friendly Democrats to talk to them, would you think that 
was letting them alone*?—A. No, sir; I have no objection to honest talk 
on politics, but I have an objection to the church being made a political 
instrument. 

Q. Your white peoi)le do not preach politics here?—A. Not that I ever 
heard. 

Q. I understood from your testimony that there has been something 
of a race as well as a political distinction; white men upon one side and 
black men upon the other?—A. No, sir; I think a portion of the Demo¬ 
cratic party has affiliated with the Kepublican party in 1874, and I voted 
for a Kepublican governor myself, and I think I did for the mayor of 
Charleston. 

Q. And the division in the State, then, has not been upon race, upon 
color-lines; which way do you desire to be understood ?—A. Well, I can 
only speak from my own knowledge. I do not think that in the city of 
Charleston the division has been upon color-lines, not for some years. 

Q. You think, however, that where the colored man is inclined to 
vote the Democratic ticket, pressure is brought to bear upon him by 
his colored associates, men and women, as if he was deserting his peo¬ 
ple. He gets in bad odor ?—A. Yes, sir; he gets into bad odor. 

Q. Is not that the case with the white men who vote the Kepublican 
ticket here, and does not the tiling work both ways ?—A. No, sir. I 
will say this: that those persons who have come down to the State for 
the purpose of making a political fortune for themselves, and who are not 
engaged in any industry, are in bad odor. But there are gentlemen who 
belong to the Kepublican party in South Carolina who are received in 
the city of Charleston and who are treated by the intelligent portion 
of the citizens of Charleston kindly and hospitably. They are not os¬ 
tracized. I belong to a great many societies myself, and I know that 
in those societies there are a great many Northern men, and some of 
them hold offices under the State government. 

Q. Do they take an active part in the political contests on the Ke¬ 
publican side ?—A. Some of them do. 

Q. And they are not black-balled at all among the white men ?—^A. 
No, sir; I meet them every day. 

Q. Is it not the same with the colored men; are there not many col¬ 
ored Democrats, and are they not received well among the colored peo- 
X)le ?—A. I think so. Those who have independence enough to assert 
themselves, and who do not care what others say or feel—these men 
make the others respect them. 

Q. Their wives and preachers cannot control them?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Your attention was called to this Strawberry Hill. Was not this 
cannon kept off to a considerable distance from where the speaking 
took place, and was it used for any other purpose than firing a salute ? 
—A. Well, I was not there. 

Q. Was not that the rumor about it?—A. Well, I was not there. I 
don’t know. I never saw an account of it. 

Q. It Avas taken upon the steamboat, Avas it not ?—A. I think so. 1 
think I saAV in the paper that it Avas taken up to fire a salute. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. D. BRYAN. 


95 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Was it a Democratic meeting?—A. I don’t know. 

By Air. AIcDonald : 

Q. Yon say that np to the Saturday before the election in 1876, there 
was every appearance that a very large number of the colored people 
of the city of Charleston were going to vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You say on Alonday a good many told you they were not going to 
do so. Did they tell you the reason why?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you inquire of them what had caused them to change?—A. 
Well, I expressed my surprise at the change. I do not remember whether 
I inquired. I suppose I said am very sorry to hear it,” or something 
of that sort; but it is so long ago I don’t remember. 

Q. Is it not a potent argument with the colored people—the charge 
that if the Democrats got into power they would be put back into 
slavery ?—A. That was one of the arguments, but I think they are not 
now using that cry. 

Q. It has lost its potency ?—A. Yes, sir. They can see that under 
the administration here there is no truth in it, and they are beginning 
to reject the idea. 

Q. AVell, so far as political difficulties have occurred in this State, 
have they not grown out of Badical or Eepublican speakers insisting on 
making that charge ?—A. AVell, that has had something to do with it, 
that and other charges, just as they used to fool the colored people by 
saying that if the Eepublicans kept in power they would give them 40 
acres and a mule. And they worked upon them in that way. 

Q. Kow, in reference to rifle clubs; was there not a negro militia used 
by the Eepublican administration in this State in connection with i)olitical 
meetings ? Have you not heard so ?—A. I have heard so j but I do not 
know about it of my own knowledge. 

Q. Have you heard it in the same way that you heard about these 
rifle clubs ?—A. I have heard it. 

Q. In regard to the difficulty at Hamburg, I will ask you if that did 
not occur long before any election—before there was any election going 
on ?—A. It was in the summer of ’76. 

By Air. Eandolph : 

Q. AA^ere not the State arms under the Chamberlain administration in 
the hands of negroes entirely ?—A. I believe so. 

Q. Have not some been left in the hands of negroes since ?—A. AAYll, 
we have a finer body of colored troops in the city to-day than we have 
had since the war. Under Chamberlain the white men were not allowed 
to go into the militia. The colored troops to-day are just as flue a body 
of troops as there is in any State in the land. I think there are 6 or 7 
companies of them. 

Q. AAffien Governor Hampton was here in the campaign of ’76, were 
not his audiences largely composed of colored people ?—A. AAYll, he 
spoke to a great many in the morning, and at night he spoke to them in 
the Academy of Alusic; I suppose 1,500. 

Q. And they received him well ?—A. Yes, sir; so far as I could see. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. And then voted for the other fellow?—xl. I will say that I believe 
on tliat occasion we voted at least 1,300 or 1,400 colored votes in the city 
of Charleston. 



96 


SOUTH CAROLIXA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you remember a meeting on John’s Island in 187G, where the 
negro militia figured pretty extensively!—A. I heard of it, but I do not 
know. I w as at the meeting at James’s Island. I was not at the John’s 
Island meeting; I w^as not there, but I heard of it. 

Q. You say this white man was killed for xirotecting a negro Demo¬ 
cratic club. Now, I Avant you to state about the attack on that club.— 
A. It was on King street, above George street, while under the guard 
of these young men. 

Q. And one young man was killed!—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Any one killed OA^er at John’s Island by this militia!—A. Isot that 
I heard of. I know that at James’s Island they had their guns Avith 
them. 

Q. They did not offer to shoot you!—A. No, sir; but Caiuhoy show^ed 
A\ hat they Avould do. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Well, at Edisto!—A. I was not up there. 


T. 0. WHITE. 

. Charleston, S. C., January 22, 1879. 

T. C. White (colored) sw orn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. You were one of the commissioners of election during the 
late election!—Answ^er. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what that office is.—A. We haA^e the suxierAusion of the re¬ 
turns from the different precincts of the county; the returns come 
through our hands. 

Q. How many commissioners!—A. Three. 

Q. Who w^ere the commissioners during the last election !—A. T. B. 
Jones, C. W. Montgomery, and myself. 

Q. Noav you may briefly give us the duties of the commissioners. —A. 
Our first duty, as far as I remember, we prepared the boxes for election, 
and turned them oA'er to the managers of election, so that they Avere be¬ 
fore the proper authorities, and turned the boxes, papers, pens, ink, and 
paper, and poll-list over to somebodj^ authorized by one of the managers 
(after they had organized generally), and they w^ent to different precincts, 
and after election they Avere returned to us. 

Q. Wdio api)ointed the managers of election! —A. Their names are 
furnished us by the executiA^e committee of the county. 

Q. W"hat executiA^e committee!—A. Of the county. They came from 
the different precincts to them. 

Q. Which x)arty are you speaking of?—A. The Democratic x^arty. 

Q. What order w^as that!—A. As near as I can remember there were 
names sent ux) from each x)recinct to the committee, and out of that list 
these names are furnished, and they come armed with their oath of office. 

Q. Then these managers w^ere designated to you by the Democratic 
executive committee!—A. Yes, sir. They came from the executive 
committee. AVhen they came with the x^i’oxier oath of authority that 
they were the ones to take the box w^e turned them over to them. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. C. WHITE. 


97 


Q. Did you appoint auy commissiouers ?—A. ^^o, sir. We were always 
satisfied tliat they had proper authority to have the box before we gave 
it to them. 

Q. Whose duty is it under the law to appoint managers of the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I don’t remember particularly. 

Q. How often does this of yours meet ?—A. I don’t know. We never 
met unless it was for business, and then generally met ev^ery day. 

Q. IIow many precincts have you in Charleston County A. I think 
at this last election 32. 

Q. Do you know the politics of these various managers ?—A. Not all 
of them; no, sir. 

Q. How many of them did you know ?—A. Personally ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. I think I know most of the managers in the city T)er- 
sonally. 

Q. What were their politics ?—A. Democratic mostly. What I mean 
by that is opposition to Kepublicanism. 

Q. Did you know of any Republican manager ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What did you understand others were whose politics you did not 
know ?—A. Some of them were Conservative, but not Democratic. 

Q. They were not Republicans?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any of them supporting the Republican, Mr. Mackey?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you send out these boxes ?—A. We were some several days 
getting them out. They were ready to go out, I think, on the 5th. The 
managers of the difterent precincts were notified to be ready at a certain 
time, and we Avaited, I think, and several came in. Some came by water, 
and some diflerent ways. When they came armed with the proi)er au¬ 
thority we furnished them. 

Q. Are these the boxes that liaA'e been brought in liere ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I think they are. 

Q. Was application made to you for the appointment of Republican 
managers ?—A. There was a list sent to us. 

Q. By whom ?—A. By Colonel Taft. 

, Q. Is he a Republican?—A. He is said to be. 

Q. Were they appointed.?—A. Not so far as I knowj I don’t think 
the.v were. 

Q. What is the law as to these boxes; after the election they are 
returned where ?—A. They are supposed to go into the county commis¬ 
sioners’ room—that is the instruction I got—and it was some time before 
we got them in there. We had them in until a few days before they 
were put in the A aiilt of the county commissioners’ room; and how they 
got there I don’t know, for I was taken sick. 

Q. You went to see them brought out?—A. No, sir. The chairman 
of the commissioners sent up Mr. Jones. 

Q. Is he here?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether those contained the ballots that were cast ?— 
A. I presume they did. 

Q. Do you know whether they do now ?—A. I know nothing to the 
contrary. 

Q. Have you the keys?—x\. No, sir; the keys were with them. They 
Avere under the charge of a policeman. 

Q. Under whose actual control haAe they been lately?—A. In the 
county commissioners’ room, I sup])Ose. 

Q. AYho are the county commissioners ?—A. Mr. Hughanim, and Mr. 
Fargarty is another, an d 1 belieA^e there is one more. They were elected 
at the last election. 

7 s c 


98 


SOOTH CAROLINA IN 187P. 


[Charleston 


Q. When were you elected or appointed f—A. I don’t remember, but 
it was a month or two before the election. 

Q. Upon whose recommendation were you appointed?—A. I don’t 
know; I knew nothing about it until I got appointed. 

Q. Did jmu have anything to do with sending out the poll-lists ?—A. 
Yes, sir; 1 prepared nearly every one. 

Q. How were they sent out?—A. Under charge of one of the man¬ 
agers always. 

Q. In what shape were they furnished?—A. They were locked to¬ 
gether and the key given to the managers, with poll-lists in them, and 
pen, ink, and paper. 

Q. Were the poll-lists in sheets or in books?—A. Sheets of paper 
I)iinted in regular form. 

Q. Were they fastened together, or in loose leaves?—A. They were 
fastened together with brackets—legal jiaper. 

Q‘. They were printed?—A. Y"es, sir. We sent to Columbia for these 
for several precincts, and in several precincts they were short and we 
had to duplicate some of them. I don’t know whether they were dupli¬ 
cated by printer or by hand. 

Q. Were the returns of some of these i^oll-lists sent to you?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did they come in from all precincts ?—A. No, sir; there Avere two 
short. One was destroyed, the box of ward 6,1 think. I have forgot¬ 
ten the names of the precincts; we have ncAcr heard very much yet. 

Q. Did all the others come in ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did the box come in from the Washington House ward?—A. No, 
sir; I think not. I have the lock and one of the forms. 

Q. Do you know Avho brought them in ? —A. Some of the managers 
and one or two supervisors came down with them, if I remember right. 

Q. So there were no returns made uj) from that precinct at all ?—A. 
No, sir; one general statement had. We Avere satisfied that that box 
Avas lost at Columbia. 

Q. There was another Amting-place in that w^ard ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You do not knoAv anything about the returns ?—A. No, sir. The 
Washington engine-house was the ])lace where this box was ca])tured. 

Q. Do you knoAv how it was captured ?—A. We had the eAudeiice 
taken by the parties before a notary in the shape of a deposition, and it 
was forAvarded to Columbia. 

Q. Whose statement did you take ?—A. There were several of the 
managers and one or tAvo of the superAisors, I think. 

Q. Did you haA^e Elfe’s testimony?—A. I think so; I would not be 
positive. I remember his coming down with them. I know his report 
to me corroborated that of the managers, and 1 questioned him very 
closely. 

Q. With regard to putting out the lights?—A. Y^es, sir. The box 
Avas kicked over, and some of them knocked down, and the lights put 
out—well, there was hell in tlie church. That Avas the report of the 
party that was in ('barge, and the circumstances that came under his 
observation, that he could sAvear to, corroborated the statements of 
others. There was really no difterence in their testimony. We ex¬ 
amined them very particularly, and we found no conflict in the evidence. 

Q. Were you a member of the Democratic executive committee?—A. 
Yes, sir; I was. 

Q. Did you take part in it?—A. Y^es, sir; as soon as this board went 
into efiect J requested and got ]3ermission of the board to haA^e no 
fiicial connection Avith it. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. C. WHITE. 


99 


Q. After it was over ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By tlie Democratic executive committee?—A. Yes, sir; I made 
that request, and they released me. 

Q. Did you sign an address to the voters ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^,. Was not that after you were appointed and sworn ?—A. It might 
have been after I had been appointed ; but we did not go to work for 
some time after that. 

Q. How long before the election was that add^^ess issued ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Was it just before the election?—A. Yes, sir; and we had run 
some time before it Avas published. 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue ballots ?—A. I did. 

Q. Where ?—A. We had occasion to go through seAwal boxes on 
account of clerical errors in order to correct them, and I saw tissue bal¬ 
lots. 

Q. How many did you see ?—A. I could not tell you. 

Q. In hoAV many boxes did you see them ?—A. I could not say; but 
we went through severab 

Q. Could you name any boxes?—A. I have forgotten now which pre¬ 
cinct it was. There were two or three x>recincts in which there were 
clerical errors, and we had to open the boxes and go through the same, 
as managers, to correct them, and we found them. 

Q. What did you do with them ?—A. We i^ut them back as Ave found 
them. 

Q. What party did these tickets belong to ?—A. They were Demo¬ 
cratic tickets. 

Q. All of them ?—A. I believe so. 

Q. Did you see Mr. Mackey’s name on any of them ?—A. I could not 
tell you that. 

Q. I Avish you to state Avhat boxes particularly you found them in, if 
you can.—A. I don’t remember; Ave opened two or three. As near as 
i remember, it was one of the city boxes that I saw the tissue ballots in. 
We had to oi)en all of them if I remember right, three boxes. 

Q. What is the duty of the board of commissioners in reference to 
returns; do they correct them ?—A. I could not tell you. We had our 
instructions before us, and Ave Avere gOA^erned entirelj^ by them. We 
folloAved the printed instructions. 

Q. Issued l>y Avhom ?—A. They came from Coiumbia. 

Q. From whom?—A. Well, they came officially; I don’t know. 

Q. llaA e you a copy of them ?—x4. I don’t know; AA-e returned all the 
X)oll-lists and papers. 

By 4rr. Cameron: 

Q. (live the time, as near as you can, Avhen you were appointed a 
county commissioner for this county.—A. I can’t remember. As near 
as my memory serveJ^ me, they liaA^e to be a])pointed sixty days before 
the election, and I had my appointment in time, according to laAv; but 
I don’t remember exactly what time. 

Q. Yourself and Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Jones Avere commission¬ 
ers?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you appointed about the same time ?—A. Yes, sir; about 
the same time; that is, Ave received our commissions about the same 
time. They Avere all received in amide time, according to law. 

Q. Who AA^as chairman of the board ?—A. Mr. rlones. 

Q. IIoAA^ AA as he ai)pointed ?—A. We organized, and I nominated him 
myself. 


100 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliarlesten 


Q. And he was elected by the board ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About what time did you organize ?—A. Some ten days before the 
election. We were governed by the printed law that we had j and I think 
it was ten days before election, according to law, we met and elected a 
chairman. We complied with the law. 

Yow go on and explain to the committee how the managers of 
•election at the different precincts in the county were appointed as j^ou 
understand.—A. I could not tell you how the managers came to be 
designated exactly. I simply know that some of the managers took 
their oath before the clerk of the court. When they came armed with 
the proper authority we gave papers to them. I don’t remember how 
they were selected. 

Q. Hoav were they selected as you understand '?—A. I can’t tell you. 
Whom did you say selected them f—A. Well, the managers of the 
Bemocratic party were generally selected by the Democratic executive 
committee. 

Q. Is this right, that the Democratic party in the ward, or townshi]), 
or precinct for which these managers of election were to be appointed, 
would designate Mr. A, B, or 0 as a proper person to be appointed ?— 
A. I presume so; that is the usual way. I can’t say that it was done 
that way this time. Sometimes we would send up half a dozen names. 

Will you explain where these managers got their authority at 
all?—A. I imesume the designated person would ]:>e armed with the au¬ 
thority from the executive committee. 

Q. Then, as you understood it, the Democratic executive committee 
'of the Democratic party appointed the managers for the different voting 
precincts in the county ?—A. I suppose they would designate them. I 
don’t know that they would ax)point them, I will say that we went by 
-the printed law entirely. 

Q. Is it not a fact that the Democratic executive committee of the 
^iounty designated the managers, and that the^^ were appointed by your 
board ?—A. The names came through them. 

Q. That is the fact !—A. I believe it, 

• ( J. A list of Bepublicans was fuiuished to you and you were asked to 
make some appointments from this, and you refused" to make any ap¬ 
pointments ?—A. YYs, sir; we refused. 

Q. Why ?—A. Because it had been done by the opposite party before, 
ivnd we judged it v^ould be so this time. 

Q. Why did you refuse ?—A. Because it had been customary before. 

lA Did the board talk it over and come to the conclusion'?—A. If I 
remember right, there was a motion that there should l)e no Bepublican 
managers, and it was carried. 

Q. Then your recollection is that the motion was made by the board 
that no Eepublican manager should be appointed for any precinct in the 
comity, and that was carried?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it your recollection that no Republican managers were apxioint- 
ed?—A. I don’t remember about that; I don’t know all about that. 

Q. Was it not an agreement by the board that no one should be 
appointed from that side?—A. We proposed to have the managers 
Democratic. 

Q. And so far as you know you made them Democratic?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you present at the meeting of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee in this county when the question of using tissue ballots was sug¬ 
gested and discussed? 

(Objected to by Mr. McDonald, on the ground that there has been no 
of such a meeting.) 


CoTiuty. 1 


TESTIMONY OP T. C. WHITE. 


101 


Q. Were you present at a joint meeting of the Democratic executive 
committee and the managers of election a few days before the election, 
at the Democratic headquarters in this city?—A. Yes, sir; there was a 
ioint meeting of the managers, I think, of election with tlie committee^ 
a few days beforq the election, at the executive chamber. I went down^ 
having heard of it, but did not attend as I had work to do. I did not 
participate in it, but I believe there was a meeting of that kind held. 

Q. Of the managers of election, and of the executive committee of the 
Democratic party?—A. Yes, sir; of the Democratic party and the man¬ 
agers of election; there was a call in the newspaper to that effect, and 1 
think that meeting answered the call. I didn’t attend the meeting as a 
member, for I went away; but I was there, however, about the time it 
was called to order. 

Q. Did you ascertain for what purx)ose the meeting was called ?—A* 
I don’t know whether I did or not. 

Q. Did you not know at the time what object the meeting was called 
for?—A. No, sir; I may possibly have heard it talked about; I supposed 
it was for general instructions as to the managing of election matters. 
We always call such a meeting to instruct the managers how to act; I 
think this was called to instruct them as to their conduct towards the 
supervisors and on general matters. 

Q. How long have you had the appointment of manager in this county 
from the Democratic party? Is not this the first year?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Then why do you say you have always met ?—A. Well, I say cus¬ 
tomarily, to instruct managers of elections how to act under certain cir¬ 
cumstances. 

Q. You stated a little while ago that heretofore there were no I>emo- 
cratic managers of election, and this year you determined there should not 
be any Kepublican managers. Now you say that heretofore it has always 
been the policy of the Democrats to hold a meeting for the object you 
stated?—A. Well, I will not say the Democratic managers, then; what 
I mean is, that it is the custom of all parties to call the managers to¬ 
gether and give them instructions before the election. 

Q. You say the Democratic party had no managers in this county 
before this?—A. Y^es, sir; I say so. 

Q. Then this was the first meeting ever held by the Democratic man¬ 
agers for the Democratic party here ?—A. Well, we have had Democratic 
organizations heretofore working against the Republican party, and 
managed by the same people, and we have been fighting the Republican 
party ever since the war—since 1808. 

Q. You fought it during the war too?—A. I believe so. 

Q. Were you present at a meeting of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee of this county, a short time before the election, with the rallying 
committees in that ward ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you remember whether you were?—A. I don’t think I was; I 
think I would remember, and 1 don’t remember. 

Q. Did you state that the Democratic party for this county never 
were represented until this last year?—A. I don’t-remember that they 
were. It was generally understood they were not. 

Q. Was there not a Democratic manager at each precinct in the coun¬ 
ty in 1870 ?—A. I dont know; I was in my bed then. 

Q. Was there not iii 1871 also?—A. I don’t remember. 

il. Tlien you are not entirely certain, are you, when you say that tlie 
Democratic party was never represented on the board of election man¬ 
agers until this year?—A. They haven’t generally; I can say that. 

Q. Is it not a matter of fact that they were rei)resented each of those 


102 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


two years ?—A. I don’t know about 1876, and I kave forgotten about 
1874! 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I understood you to assign, as the reason wby no Kepublicans were 
put on tbe board of managers this year^ the fact t hat belore the Democrats 
had not been allowed a representation ?—A. That was my impression. 

Q. Then, if you were wrong in that impression, the reason that you 
assign for making all the managers Democrats this time is an erroneous 
reason. Jf you are mistaken as to the fact, then you are mistaken as to 
the reason, are you not ?—A. Ko; my memory might not serve me right j 
but it was understood that the Kepublicans liad had control of the man¬ 
agers of election, and this was a restitutive step. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was that talked over in the board!—A. Not only that, but uni- 
versallj^ in toAvn. 

Q. Do you knoAv W. C. Bartley in the city!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he not commissioner of election in this county in 1876!—A. 
lie may have been; I don’t know. 

Q. Is he a Dtanoca at or Eepublican!—A. That is a hard matter for 
me to tell. I doubt a ery much if he is a Democrat. 

Q. Has he CA er been a Eepublican to your knowledge!—A. I don’t 
knoAA'. 

Q. Is he not at present chairman of the Democratic party for ward 6 
in tins city!—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Do you knoAv C. E. Myers!—A. I do. 

Q. AYas he not commissioner of election for this county for 1874!—A. 
I belicA^e so. 

Q. AYas he a Eepublican or a Demo(‘rat!—A. I can’t tell whether he 
was or not. I don’t think he aa as a Democrat then. 

Q. Air. Myers was elected, aa as he not, and sent to the legislature by 
the Democrats!—A. I belicA^e so. I belie ax he is a good Democrat now. 

(»). You stated, I belieAX, tliat the board of commissioners delivered 
the boxes to the persons whom you supi>osed Avere entitled to receiAX 
them! —A. If they came armed Avith the proper authority and qualified 
by an oath. 

By Air. Kirkwood : 

Q. Had they no other autliority than the oath ! —A. I don’t know; 
we folloAAxd the printed laAv. AA’^e gave boxes to the men that we AAxre 
authorized to ghx them to by law. 

Q. AYliat do you mean by ‘‘coming armed Avith the proper authority” ! 
—A. AYith the proper eA idence showing that they are autliorized to take 
the boxes. Some one might come in, a total stranger to me, and impose 
on us, and aax made it a rule that we would deliver the boxes to no one 
AA ithout AA ritten instructions. 

Q. From whom !—A. Sometimes from the president of the Democratic 
club, and in some cases from the Demo(?ratic executive committee. 

Q. So, then, you do not think that any man came armed a\ ith the proper 
authority to receiAX the boxes, uidess he came armed with some au¬ 
thority from the Democratic ofticials!—A. That is the way. 

Q. AYas it the custom of the board of commissioners to deli\xr bal¬ 
lots to the persons who received the boxes !—A. I think they did ; I 
have forgotten how that Avas ; I may not haAX attended to that part of 
the thing. 


bounty,] TESTIMONY OF T. C. WHITE. 103 

Q. Did you attend to it ?—A. No, sir; if I did I would have remem¬ 
bered ; but I don’t remember of getting a ballot out at all. 

Q. Do you know whether it was a custom for the board of commis¬ 
sioners to deliver the Democratic ballots to the i^ersons who received 
the boxes —A. I don’t know. 

Q. Were the tickets, or any of them, placed in the hands of the com¬ 
missioners before the election for the purpose of distributing them ?—A. 
There was a committee to look after that, I believe. We had nothing 
to do with the ballots, I don’t think. I don’t remember of handling a 
ballot. 

Q. Who did the printing ?—A. I don’t know. I could have known, 
as I was a member of the printing committee, but I don’t remember. 

Q. When did you first see these tissue ballots ?—A. When we came 
to correct the clerical error. 

Q. How many boxes did you open and find them in ?—A. Two or 
three, and there may have been more. We had counted them over to 
see if the ballots agreed with the returns. Kone of the ballots were very 
large; they were veiy small; but still we counted and corrected the 
error. These are the first I ever saw. 

Q. How long after the election was it that you opened the boxes and 
corrected the errors as you have stated'?—A. I don’t know; they were 
several days getting any of them; if my memory serves me it was three 
or four days before we got them all in. 

Q. Did the commissioners furnish the managers of election with blanks 
like that [showing] ?—A. Very similar. 1 think tliere was a little dif¬ 
ference in some of them, from the fact that some of the stationery that 
was furnished us was fiirnislied l)y some one doing the Eepublican ad¬ 
ministration printing of the State, and others by some one else, and they 
came mixed, and we found we were short, and we wrote to Oolumbia 
and filled up the gap by having some printed here, and we filled them 
up with pen and ink. 

Q. I will ask you if the papers furnished to the managers of the elec¬ 
tion did not have the names of white or colored on f—A. I think thej^ 
did—some of them did and some did not; and where they did, we 
erased the names white and colored, or at least we intended to whether 
we did or not; we did not keep a wliite and colored list. I think that 
accounts for the difterence in the different kinds of paper that might 
appear in the boxes when they were opened. Some of them were that 
way, and our instructions were to erase the names white and colored, 
and it was done. 

Q. I will ask you if every sheet numl)ered 3 to the precinct-managers 
did not have the names white and colored on ?—A. I am under the 
impression, not; but I don’t know. We had to get them. I think thej^ 
were printed here for us. 

Q. Can you produce a specimen of the paper furnished each time?— 
.A. ]^o, sir, I cannot, because everything after we got through was sent 
uj) to Columbia by a messenger—sent with our returns—everything was 
sent back, even blotters and pencils. I am pretty certain that we had 
some papers Avithout the names Avhite and colored printed on them, 
because we did not haA e to erase all of them. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. I understand you liaA^e been sick for some time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav long haA^e you been sick ?—A. If I remember right, it is fiA^e 
‘Or six Aveeks to-morroAW 

Q. Have you entirely recovered yet?—A. Well, I am well except a 
little feA^er. 


104 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Has tliat sickness kad any effect on your memory f—A. I can’t say 
but wbat it has. TMs morning the officer that subpoenaed me read the 
summons to me, and said he had told me to bring the box here, but I 
don’t remember to have heard it if he did. 

Q. Many things you do not remember with great clearness ?—A. Yes^ 
sir; I presume so. 

Q. You say the commissioners of election in this county were Jones^ 
Montgomery, and yourself?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Jones was the chairman ?—A. He was the chairman. 

Q. Appointed by the commissioners !—A. Elected by the commis¬ 
sioners. 

Q. On your motion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who appointed the commissioners; who did you get your commis¬ 
sion from ?—A. From the governor of the State. 

Q. What were the politics of the members of this board of which you 
were a member ? What are Jones’s politics !—A. He is a Democrat, I 
believe. 

Q. What are Montgomery’s?—A. He has always been taken as a 
Republican. 

Q. Then it consisted of two Democrats and one Republican?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. Under the law the managers of the election for this county are 
appointed by the board of election commissioners ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They appoint the managers of election under that law ?—A. Yes,, 
sir. 

Q. Then these managers were appointed by your board'?—A. I believe 
they were. 

Q. Upon the recommendation of the Democratic representatives from 
the wards for which they were acting?—A. Yes, sir; from different pre¬ 
cincts. 

Q. I will ask you what the iiolitics were of the board of commissioners- 
that preceded you ?—A. I have forgotten w ho they were now; I was not 
much about then—I was wounded. 

Q. Did you not understand that the board that preceded you, when 
the Republicans had control here, had made appointments in the same 
way, upon the recommendation of the Republican committees?—A. It 
was generally understood so. 

Q. You are following that same precedent in making your appoint¬ 
ments?—A. Yes, sir; we do. 

Q. You say you furnish the managers, or some one representing the 
managers, the necessary blanks?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. These blank poll-lists and other necessary papers you say Avere 
furnished to you from the capital?—A. They came from Columbia. 

Q. Some of them Avere blanks that had been printed during the time 
that the Republicans were in pOAver?—A. Yes, sir; and some were a 
httle different. 

Q. Yow I will ask you if the blanks marked colored and white were 
not of the old forms that had been used by the Republican party?—A. 
If my memory serves me, I think they were, because we had to erase 
the white and colored. 

Q. And old blanks that the Republicans used were used by your 
erasing these wnrds white and colored?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You ran out of blanks and had to have some ])rinted. How were 
they printed?—A. I think we had them printed so as to correspond 
with our instructions, Avith white and colored off*. 

Q. Your instructions AA’^ere to strike these words off* ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Connty.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. C. WHITE. 


105 


Q. And when you had others printed you had them printed according 
to your instructions?—A. Yes, sir. I spoke a little while ago about 
being on the committee on printing; that was the committee on printing 
connected with the executive committee; but I attended myself to the 
printing of the commissioners. As a member of the committee I had 
nothing to do with the others. 

Q. After you qualified as commissioner of election, and took upon 
yourself the duties of that office, you say you asked to be excused from 
the committee f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And did not act with them any more during the session ?—A. Xo, 
sir ; they agreed to relieve me. 

/ 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. You stated in answer to Senator Cameron that your reports were 
made' to the Democratic executive committee, and that you delivered 
the poll-box, &c.—A. I believe so. 

Q. I understood you to say that the ballot-boxes were delivered upon 
some recommendation or i^aper coming from that committee.—A. If 
some person would guarantee the respectability or integrity of the per¬ 
son who came for it, that we would turn them over; we wanted to be 
personally acquainted with them some way. 

Q. Do you know who bore the expenses of this election, so far as the 
erection of barriers, &c., was concerned ? I speak now of the legiti¬ 
mate expenses of the polling places, the erection of barriers, and the 
ordinary expenses incident to an election.—A. I never saw^ a cent except 
what I spent myself. I myself contracted for the barriers. 

Q. Was it generally understood that the Democrats furnished the 
money necessary for all those ordinary expenses connected with the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. They did, so far as the commissioners of election were con¬ 
cerned ; I don't know of anything else. 

Q. Do you not know that the State failed to make an aiipropriation^ 
and that it became necessary for some party or some man to furnish 
these necessary expenses f—A. I believe it was; I got nothing. 

Q. You have no idea of any money coming from the State ?—A. Xo^ 
sir. 

Q. Did you receive any pay from the State ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Or from any other parties f—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Your present illness came from pneumonia ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you ever been severely injured ?—A. A good many times. 

Q. Were you at the Cain Hoy trouble f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you injured there ?—A. I was wounded there. 

Q. Severely ?—A. I was laid up four months. 

Q. Where were you injured ?—A. I was shot with a rilie-ball in my 
left shoulder-blade, and was in bed four months. 

Q. I understood you to say there were three commissioners ?—A. Yes,, 
sir. 

Q. You being one ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What were the politics of the other two ?—A. Jones was Demo¬ 
cratic, Montgomery was Republican. 

Q. When you came to appoint the commissioners for the different pre¬ 
cincts what was the vote of the three commissioners ? Did you not 
vote unanimously?—A. There were only two votes cast that I remember. 
I made a proposition myself that there should be no Republican man¬ 
agers. 

Q. And that was acceded to ?—A. I don't remember whether it was 
unanimously acceded to or not. 


106 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187P, 


[Charleston 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Was there any contest over it in yoiir hoard ?—A. I don’t reinein- 
her j I think Jones acceded to it and it was carried at once. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did not Mr. Montgomery object to that ?—A. I don’t know; I don’t 
think there was much discussion. There might have been some objec¬ 
tion without a discussion. I think I made some little jokes over it j bat 
there was no discussion about it after he acceded to it. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. He acceded to the appointiaent of these managers. It was ])ut to 
vote by the chairman on your making the motion that there should 
be no Eepnblican managers ?—A. Yes, sir j that was carried. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. Your chairman was a Democrat “I —A. I believe so. 

Q. You made the motion —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The chairman put the motion to the board. Kow, did yon and 
Montgomery disagree so as to require the deciding vote of the chair¬ 
man, or did he agree so that it went without any contest ?—A. I don’t 
remember exactly what the vote was. 

Q. Did he insist that there should be no Eepnblican managers on the 
board!—A. Ko, sirj I don’t think he did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was not Montgomery appointed a commissioner hy Governor 
Hampton upon the suggestion or recommendation of the Democratic 
executive committee of this county!—A. I could not tell you. 

Q. What have you heard about that!—A. I have heard so, and then 
I have heard it disputed. 

Q. What have you heard from the Democratic executive committee!— 
A. I don’t know that any of them ever told me anything about it. 

Q. Do yon know it!—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Have you any recollection about it!—A. He was appointed by 
the governor; that is about all I know. 

Q. Did you know at the time that he was appointed on the sugges¬ 
tion or recommendation of the Democratic executive committee !—A. I 
did not. 

Q. How do you know that some of the blanks that were used were 
]irinted during the time the Eepublicans had the administration !—A. 
Because the}^ had the name of the Eepublican Printing Company on 
them. During the Eepublican administration of the government there 
was a printing company in Columbia, called the Eepnblican Printing 
Company, and part of these papers were printed by them, and a part 
of them were not. 

Q. Did your poll-list have an imprint of the company !—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. What papers had it on !—A. I don’t remember. 

Q. Give the name of any paper that had it on.—A. I can’t remem¬ 
ber; but some forms we had had apparently been printed by this com¬ 
pany. 

Q. But you cannot state what forms, nor how many of them.!—A. 
Ko, sir. 

Q. How many of them did you furnish to the board of managers in 
the county !—A. I don’t remember. 

Q. How many did the law require that yon should furnish to the 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. C. WHITE. 


107 


managers in each precinct—how many papers ?—A. I don’t know. On 
the poll-list we generally counted the number of lines on each piece and 
sent enough to cover the usual average number of votes balloted, and 
if we found in running them over that there was not quite enough, we 
added some other leaves, and if we found one short, we had to supply 
the deficiency here, and did so. Some were too full, and we took them 
oft* and ])ut them on the others. 

Q. AVho printed the others that you had to have ?—A. I think the 
new printing office. 

Q. Who ordered them printed ?—A. I think I did. 

Q. How many did you have printed ?—A. I don’t remember 5 we got 
them some way or another, but I don’t remember how. There was quite 
a list or roll of them handed to us after the election that were found in 
an old box; the same kind that we had exactly. AYe found two boxes 
in the room we occupied. 

Q. You stated, in reply to a question asked you by Senater McDonald, 
that your sickness has probably iini)aired your memory.—A. A"es, sir; 
for the reason I stated. 

Q. You stated you were shot at Cain Hoy?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did that impair your memory any ?—A. I don’t know; my memory 
is not really good any way, especially as to dates. 

Q. Did not Air. Alontgomery agree with you and Air. Jones on nearly, 
if not all, the questions that were passed by your board while the board 
was inexistence!—A. AAY consulted him in everything we did; but I 
don’t know; I think he disagreed sometimes. 

Q. Now, vstate any one thing that, lie disagreed with you upon.—A. 
r could not remember now. We had several discussions ; but I don’t 
remember what they were about, and he frequently carried his ])oint, 
too; I remember that, but I could not tell what the argument was about. 

Q. How did Air. Alontgomery vote at the last election !—A. I could 
not tell you that; 1 never heard him say. 

Q. Did you understand him that he would vote the Democratic 
ticket!—A. No, sir; I didn't. I never had a imlitical conversation in 
my life with him, or rather within the last year or two. 

Q. Do you not remember a year or two ago, when you and he Avalked 
in a Democratic procession together !—A. No, sir; if 1 did I don’t re¬ 
member it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Is that the class of paper you furnished, Avith AAliite ” and Col¬ 
ored” on it [shoAvingJ !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVAs this heading on it, Alake no distinction as to color in keeping 
this list”!—A. Some of them came that way; that was the instructions. 

By Air. AIcDonald: 

Q. That is one of the blanks that you understood had been printed 
by the Kepublican Printing Company !—A. I don’t know. Some of the 
printed forms and some of the printed matter had been published by 
this publishing company. (This blank Avas printed as follows:) 

Make no distinction as to color in keeping this list. 

Kept l)y managers of election of-engiue-honse, in ward No. -.election pre¬ 
cinct of the county of-, of the State of South Cnrolina. 

Names of voters. 

Niimher of white. 

Number of colored. 




108 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


K. E. DESVEENEY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29. 

E. E. Desverney (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Do you belong to a band ?—Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men are in tlie band'?—A. Eleven. 

Q. What are the iiolitics of the members of the band?—A. Well, J 
would not swear to what it actually is, but from the conversatiou I have 
reason to believe that the members of the band are Eepublican—that is, 
the majority of them. It is a musical organization and not a political 
one, and the man’s politics are never questioned. 

Q. It is not necessary to be a Eepublican or a Democrat to belong to 
that band ?—A. i^o, sir. 

Q. Well, did you ever lose any engagement because you were Eeimb- 
licans ?—A. Yes, sir; in this last campaign. 

Q. How was it?—A. Well, they went to a place, but I did not go. I 
think I was busy at that tiiuej and I think somewhere in the neighbor¬ 
hood of Adams Eun was where they went. There was one member of 
the band, by the name of Frank Yaughn, who was a stanch Eepub¬ 
lican, and while there with the band he spoke very freely, and expressed 
his opinions pretty freely among the colored people, among whom were 
colored Democrats; and he has been told since that it was noised about 
there that the band was not a Democratic organization. Consequently, 
about a week or ten days afterwards, when they were to have a festival 
there, our band lost the engagement. One man came to the city and 
told me they could not give it to us because it was not a Democratic 
organization. That was the month of October. 

Q. Were you born a freeman?—A. I was, sir. 

Q. How long have you lived near the city ?—A. AU my lifetime, with 
the exception of two years. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted with the men who were freemen 
before the war?—A. Every one of them. 

Q. What number of them are in the city ?—A. You mean number of 
families? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. Well, fifty or sixty difterent families, before the war. 

Q. Did you hear Smith’s testimony?—A. I did not. 

Q. What are these men who were freemen before the war—Eepubli- 
cans or Democrats?—A. Well, I don’t know, honestly. Out of the entire 
number they are not considered as being Democrats, outside of the Holli¬ 
days and Eeeveses. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you know E. M. Smith, policeman ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Do you know any Eepublicans among these people?—A. Four- 
fifths of them are Eepublicans. 

Q. Was Smith a freeman before the war?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. How long has this band been organized ?—A. Since 1870. 

Q. Who is the leader of the band?—A. Benjamin G. H. Holliday. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Frank Yauglin is a Eepublican?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was that meeting ?—A. Somewhere on the Savannah roail. 

Q. He was talking i)oliti(;s ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The Democrats didn’t like it?—A. iso. sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY'OP R. R. DESVERNEY, 


109 


Q. Well, the colored Democrats did not like the way he talked, and 
they reported him to the white Democrats?—A. Well, I would not say. 

Q. Did you hear that ?—A. Holliday told me that. 

Q. 1 oil don’t know anything about it except what you have been 
told ?—A. I do know that the band did not go back the second time. 
Holliday told me that. I know that. 

Q. Holliday was a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. ?S^ow, you say that it was not a political organization ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And no objection was made to a man on account of jiolitics if he 
was a good musician?—A. Yo, sir; mone. 

Q. Do you know the politics of each member of the band ?—A. No, 
sir ; I would not swear as to the age of the members or their politics. I 
think from the conversation I could judge of it. 

Q. According to your judgment the majority were RepuVilicans ?—A. 
Y(‘s, sir. 

(). Although their leader was a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. You say that of the colored men who were born free you oidy know 
two families outside of a number of families that you named here that 
are Democratic ?—A. I say what I know and tlie whole community be¬ 
lieve. They regarded them as being Democrats. 

Q. AVhat two families did you speak of as being Democratic; they 
did not embrace Hmith ?—A. No, sir; allow me to state here that Smith’s 
family is very small, while the Holliday tamily is very large. There are 
some four or live brothers and sisters of them. . 

Q. So you didn’t name Smitli in the families ?—A. No. sii'; well, his 
IKilitics are of recent origin. 

Q. Don’t you know that Smith is president of a colored Democratic 
club in the city ?—A. I have heard so. 

Q. A club that recpiired certain qualifications in the member, when he 
is admitted, as to education and intelligence ?—A. No, sir; I ne\'er knew 
him to be president of any society of that kind. I heard he was ju esident 
of a colored Democratic club in ward 5. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you belong to any societies here ?—A. Yes, sir; several. 

Q. What ?—A. I belong to two charitable societies, and one composed 
of the mechanic fraternity, and I am captain of a military organization. 

Q. Do you make any distinction in your organization and society about 
a man’s politics ?—A. No, sir; I never heard a man’s politics questioned 
in any organization I have ever been connected with. 

Q. You took Democrats if they wanted to come?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When was the military company formed of which you are a mem¬ 
ber?—A. Last April. 

Q. Before that time, were you a member of any military company ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I was for four years. 

Q. Are there any Democrats allowed to join the old comi)any you are 
in ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And were any Democrats in it?—A. Their politics were not known. 
We never questioned a man. • 

Q. Were there any Democrats in the company back of 1870 ?—A. I 
never heard of any, either Democrats or Bepublicans. In fact, jirior to 
1876, there was no such thing as an agitation about a man’s iiolitics at 


110 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


all; and there were very few men who claimed anything like notoriety^ 
becanse of their politics—that is, colored men. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. And after 187G you found you had some Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have not turned any of them out?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. The Democrats have not turned you out?—A. No, sir. 

Q. There are a good many Democrats in your iiresent organization ?— 
A. A good many. 

Q. A majority of them ?—A. No, sir; I would not say that, but there 
are a good manj^ 


AVILLIAM L. DAGGETT. 

Charleston, S. C., January 20, 1879. 

AATlliam L. Daggett (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AA^hat is your business ?—Answer. Printing. 

Q. AVliere are engaged?—A. 1 am in the office of the News and 
Courier, in this city. 

Q. Did you print any tickets at this last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you print any tickets of that character (the ordinary tissue 
ballot for Charleston County was here shown to witness) ?—A. I printed 
some tickets very similar to that. 

Q. Like unto that ?—A. Very similar. 

Q. How many did you print ?—A. 1 could not swear how many. I 
printed tickets for the whole State. 

Q. Can you estimate the number ?—A. AAYll, sir, several thousand— 
perhaps G,0()0 or 8,000, possibly 10,000. 

Q. AA^here did you send those tickets ?—A. AA^ell, various parties 
called for them. 

Q. In what counties were they distributed ?—A. I don’t remember. 
I don’t think there were over two or three counties. 

Q. You printed tickets of that character for Charleston?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For Sumter ?—A. AVell, 1 could not say as to that. I don’t 
remember. 

Q. Orangeburg County?—A. I don't remember. 

Q. Clarendon ?—A. 1 don’t remember. 

Q. Colleton?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Kichland ?—A. No, sir; I know we didn’t print any for Kichland 
of that kind. I printed all the tic^kets for Kichland on what we call 
“ French folio.'’ 

Q. Any for Kichland on tissue i)aper ?—A. If they were, they were 
not small. 

Q. Any for Kershaw County?—A. No, sir; I don’t remember any for 
Kershaw. 

Q. Beaufort?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Georgetown?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AVilliamsburg?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hampton?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Barnwell?—A. I don’t remember Barnwell. I didn't nrint any 
for Barnwell. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM L. DAGGETT. 


Ill 


Q. Darlington?—A. sir. 

Q. By whose direction did you i)rmt these '?—A. No special direction, 
I think it is a matter I got up of iny own. I thought it would be a very 
good ticket for voting. 

Q. Yon did not have any orders for these?—A. No, sir. They left 
tlie order with me, entirely, to print such tickets as I thought proper. 

Q. Who conferred with yon about this ?—A. The chairmen of the dif¬ 
ferent counties. 

Q. Who conferred with yon about these tickets ?—A. No one especially. 

Q. Any members of the State executive committee?—A. No, sir; 
they generally left the matter with me, and allowed me to get out such 
tickets as 1 thought ad\isable. 

Q. Did you ever get up any like this before ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When ?—A. SeA^eral times since the war. The first were for the 
Kepublicans. 

Q. For whom were they ?—A. It was Dr. Collins. They were sipaller 
ami thinner, for a primary eh*ction. 

Q. Did you ever print tickets before on as thin paper as that ?—A. 
Yes, sir; our ward tickets were as small as that. We have different 
grades of paper, of course, in the office, and I have xninted some on as 
thin paper as that. 

Q. When ?—A. I cannot specify the year. 

Q. You printed 10,000 of these ?—A. About that. 

Q. Can you swear to whom you furnished them at all ?—A. One man 
was Mr. Gonzales. He came for them at different times. 

Q. Who else ?—A. No one else especially. 

Q. Did you send any out by mail ?—xV. No, sir; if I did, it was not to 
more than one or two places. 

Q. What i)laces would they be?—A. I don’t remember. It has been 
so long since, and I have had so much business on my mind, it didn’t 
impress me. 

Q. Was there any extra compensation for ])rinting them that way ?— 
A. A little more; they are more difficult to print. 

Q. You can’t say how many were printed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. It might be^ 10,000, more or less?—A. Y"es, sir; not over that, I 
think. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How did you get your pay for printing those tickets ?—A. The 
different counties j>aid. Some of them have paid and some have not. 

Q. Did you not have an account on your books for the counties ?—xA. 
Yes, sir. 

•Q. Did you charge the same price for these as for the others ?—xA. I 
charged each county so much. 

Q. Did you print tissue ballots for all the counties ?—A. No, sir. 

Then you have some, way of knowing how many for. each county 
you supplied ?—A. No, sir ; I didn’t keep an accurate count. We had 
so little time, and sent by express. 

Q. IIoAv did you know how to charge them ?—x\. Well, they all had 
tickets—every county in the State. 

Q. Tissue ballots ?—A. Not all of them. 

Q. Would you charge the county more for the tissue ballots than The 
others?—A. No, sir; we charged all one price. 

Q. You did print tissue ballots for some counties ?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not for some counties?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, you charged as much to the county you did not print them 
for as you charged the county you did print tliem for?—xA. I charged 


112 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN I87S. 


[Cliarlealon 


SO much a thousand. The paper is a very little matter in printing* 
tickets. 

Q. Will your book show for what counties you printed 1 —A. Each 
county will show so many tickets. 

Q. You gave these tickets to one particular person ?—A. Yes, sir j 
Mr. Gonzales. 

Q. AVhere does he live ?—A. In Charleston. 

Q. How many did you give him?—A. Two or three thousand, at dif¬ 
ferent times. 

Q. What became of the rest!—A. Well, dift'erent persons came in 
and asked for them. 

Q. You don’t rememl)er who ?—A. I think some few were sent to the 
executive committee room in this city the night l^efore the election. I 
sent all I had here to them. 

Q. You can’t recollect to whom you delivered them, except this one 
man ?—A. N'o, sir. I gave them to him whenever he called for them. 

Q. You had no particulai- orders from any one to print this kind ?— 
A. Ko, sir; I think I got it up on my own responsibility. 1 am the in¬ 
ventor of it, if there is any credit to be attached to it. 

Q. You are in the Yews and Courier office ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Is Mr. Dawson, editor-in-chief, one of the State executive coin- 
mittee ?—A. I think he is. 

Q. Had you any consultation with him about the tissue ballots ?— 
A. Yo, sir. The matter was left entirely to me. They told me to print 
such as were ordered for the entire State. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. But these were not ordered?—A. Yo, sir; they wanted a small 
ticket, as I supposed and believ ed, so that the colored people could not 
be detected and mo])bed for voting it, as has been the custom. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. That was your own idea, you say; you originated the wliole 
thing ?—A. Well, yes, sir. " ^ 

Q. That idea orignated in your own mind, like the ticket itself?— 
A. Well, I can’t say it originated in my own mind. I think the first 
man I heard speak about it was Dr. Collins. 

Q. Hovv^ long ago ?—A. Six or eight years. 

Q. He used to get tickets for the primary elections ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did it ever enter into your mind in thinking almut it that it might 
be used for fraud?—A! Yo, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did Dr. Collins order tissue ballots ?—A. He ordered some small 
tickets, what he called ‘‘ kiss-jokes.” 

Q. Was it on paper you usiially printed ?—xA. Yot exactiv* that quality 
of paper. It was tissue paper. There are a good many reams of that 
paper used by cotton merchants to inclose cotton in letters. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. This paper you used in the office very frequently ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that the numlier and variety of tickets printed were left 
pretty much to you ?—A. Yes, sir, entirely. 

Q. What variety did you print on that occasion and liow many 
kinds?—A. Well, I printed a plain white ticket in red ink. I printed 
soine on white French paper. KSome were check backs and some were 
plain backs. I printed a ticket headed Union Kepublican Ticket,” 
with the Democratic names. 

Q. You printed some five or six varieties ?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF EDWARD PERRY. 


113 


EDWARD PERRY. 

Charleston, January 27. 

Edward Perry sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Wliere do yon live ?—Answer. At 125 Queen street, Charles¬ 
ton. 

Q. What is your business A. I am a printer and stationer. 

Q. Where is your place of business A. N^o. 149 Meeting street. 

Q. Y^on own and carry on a job printing office?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon print the Republican tickets that were used in the city 
and county of Charleston at the last election, or a portion of them ?—A. 
About 57,000 of them were printed at my office. 

Q. Republican tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What varieties of Republican tickets did you print; I mean, upon 
what kinds of paper did you print them ?—A. Ten thousand of them 
were on tissue paper; the balance on a good article of news paper. 

Q. State what varieties as to form, appearance, &c.—A. Some were 
printed in black, and some with red ink, on white paper. 

Q. As to the size of those tickets—those that were printed on black or 
news paper ?—^A. They were of the ordinary size of election tickets ] and 
printed in ^4ong-primer caps.” 

Q. Have you any specimens of any of them !—A. I* have not a speci¬ 
men j I destroyed them all, as I was requested. 

Q. By whom were you requested to destroy them ?—A. Mr. Mackey 
requested that none of the tickets shoidd be allowed to go out of the 
office; and the tickets that were spoiled on the press were destroyed. 

Q. Look at this, and see if it is one of the tissue tickets that you 
printed (handing a ticket to the witness).—A. It is a very difficult thing 
to swear exactly as to size after so long a time; I think that is the same 
size as those I printed, or possibly a little larger. 

Q. How about the paper ?—A. The paper used was very nearly, if not 
precisely, the same as this. 

Q. What is your belief as to this being one of the identical tickets 
that you printed on tissue paper for Mr. Mackey ?—A. It very much 
resembles those I printed; but I could not swear positively. 

Q. Are the names on that ticket which I have just handed you the 
names of the regular Republican candidates ?—A. I could not swear 
I)ositively to the names; you will remember that it is as long ago as the 
last of October or the first of November that the tickets were printed. 

Q. So far as you recollect the names, are they the same as those on 
the regular Republican ticket?—A. I see names which I recognize as 
being on the regular Republican ticket. 

Mr. McDonald put in evidence the ticket, concerning which he was 
questioning the witness, and three others, as follows : 

The following ticket was printed on tissue paper, of the size of an 
ordinary ballot: 

UNION REPUBLICAN TICKET. 

For A&th Congress — District. 

EDMUND W M MACKEY 
For Senator. 

JAMES B CAMPBELL 


8 s c 


114 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Charleston 


For House of Bepresentatii'cs. 
ANDRIAV "SIMONDS 
C O MEMMINGEK 
FRANCIS S HOLMES 
EDWARD McCRADY, Jr ' 
JOHN H THIELE 
STEPHEN H HARE 
AVILLIAM J BRODIE 
JAMES A WILLIAMS 
JOSEPH J LESESNE 
JAMES HUTCHINSON 
NATHANIEL MORANT 
FRANK LADSON 
AVILLIAM G PINCKNEY 
RENTY K AYASHINGTON 
ANDREW SINGLETON 
AYARREN N BUNCH 
JAMES SINGLETON 


For County Commissioners. 
LOUIS DUNNEMANN 
WILLIAM H THOMPSON 
RICHARD BRYAN 

For School Commissioner. 
MICHAEL M MCLAUGHLIN 
For Judge of Prolate. 
CHARLES AY BUTTZ 


The folloAviug- ticket Avas printed on tissue paper, of about half the 
length of an ordinary ballot, but someYiiat Avider: 

UXIOX REPUB Lie AX TICKET. 

For A6th Congress — 2d District. 

Edmuxd AA^ AI AIackey 


For Senator, 
James B Campbell 


For House of Representatives. 


Andrew Simonds 
Francis S Holmes 
John H Thiel 
AA^illiain J Brodie 
Joseph J Lesesne 
Nathaniel Alorant 
AVilliam G Pinckney 
Andrew Singleton 


C G Alemminger 
Edward AlcCrady Jr 
Stephen H Hare 


James A AA^illiams 
James Hutchinson 
Frank Ladson 
Renty K AA"ashingtoii 
AA'arren N Bunch 
James Singleton 


For County Commissioners. 

Louis Dunnemanu AVilliam H Thompson 

Riehard Bryan 


For School Commissioner. 
Alichael AI McLaughlin 
For Judge of Prolate. 
Charles AV Buttz 


The following ballot was of the ordinary size and paper : 


UXIOX" REPUBLICAX TICKET. 

For 4()f/< Congress — 2d District. 
EDAIUND AV U AIACKEY 
For Senator. 

JAAIES B CAAIPBELL 


County.]] 


TESTIMONY OF EDWARD PERRY, 


115 


For House of Eeprcsentatives. 
ANDREW SIMONDS 
C G MEMMINGER 
FRANCIS S HOLMES 
EDWARD McCRADY, Jr 
JOHN H THIELE 
STEPHEN H HARE 
WILLIAM J BRODIE 
JAMES A WILLI AH S 
JOSEPH J LESESNE 
JAMES HUTCHINSON 
NATHANIEL MORANT 
FRANK LADSON 
WILLIAM G PINCKNEY 
RENTY K WASHINGTON 
ANDREW SINGLETON 
WARREN N PUNCH 
JAMES SINGLETON 

For County Commissioners. 
LOUIS DIJNNEMANN 
WILLIAM H THOMPSON 
RICHARD BRYAN 

For School Commissioner 
MICHAEL M MCLAUGHLIN 
For Judge of Frohate. 
CHARLES W BUTTZ 

For Soliciior —Isf Circuit. 

W J DeTREVILLE 


The following ballot was of the ordinary size and paper, but printed 
in red ink: 

UNIOX REPUBLICAN TICKET. 

For A6t1i Congress — 2d District. 

EDMUND W M MACKEY 
For Senator. 

JAMES B CAMPBELL 
For House of llepresentatires. 

ANDREW SIMONDS 
C G MEMMINGER 
FRANCIS S HOLMES 
EDWARD McCRADY, Jr 
JOHN H THIELE 
STEPHEN H HARE 
WILLIAM J BRODIE 
JAMES A WILLIAMS 
JOSEPH J LESESNE 
JAMES HUTCHINSON 
NATHANIEL MORANT 
FRANK LADSON 
WILLIAM G PINCKNEY 
RENTY K WASHINGTON 
ANDREW SINGLETON 
WARREN N BUNCH 
JAMES SINGLETON 

For County Commissioners. 

LOUIS DUNNEMANN 
WILLIAM H THOMPSON 
RICHARD BRYAN 

For School Commissioner. 

MICHAEL M MCLAUGHLIN 
For Judge of Frohate. 

CHARLES W BUTTZ 



116 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


(The witness, on being questioned in reference to the size of the second 
ticket shown above, said:) 

I do not recollect the size of the tissue tickets iirinted at my office j I 
do not recollect seeing a ticket of that size. This is work that almost 
always goes through the hands of the foreman of the office, and Mr. 
Mackey dealt with him more than with me. As to that ticket (indicating 
the second one illustrated above), Mr. Mackey disputed the price and 
aiipealed from the foreman to me. 

Q. And you settled with him for that yourself?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is there any other charge for iirinting tissue tickets ?—A. There is 
another charge below that, for printing 1,000 tickets. I don’t recollect 
whether they were tissue tickets or not. 

Q. Do you remember i)rinting this ticket (indicating one printed in 
red) ?—A. I do. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. When did Mr. Mackey get these tickets printed?—A. About the 
12th of IS^ovember. 

Q. Was it not the 12th of October?—A. I may be mistaken as to the 
datej I can find the original entries and show them. 

Q. When did Mr. Mackey commence getting tickets printed?—A. It 
is very difficult to remember the exact date. 

(The chairman exhibited to witness a bill of Edward Perry against 
E. W. Mackey, and inquired if he remembered and identified that bill. 
Witness identified it, but added:) 

The bill does not show the dates when the tickets were ordered, but 
when they are delivered, or rather when they are ready for delivery. 
When a job that has been ordered is finished and ready for delivery, a 
bill of them is made out. 

Q. Will your books show the date wffien the tickets were ordered?— 
A. No, sir 5 only the dates when the tickets were printed. When the 
tickets were printed and brought downstairs ready for delivery, they 
were charged. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Then you kept no date of the time of the order?—A. No, sir. 

Q. So the order may have been given a week or ten days previouslv?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The books show only when the work was ready for delivery?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Do you remember Mr. Mackey coming to get you to print a circular 
or poster that he wanted to post up about town, in regard to the Demo¬ 
crats having issued tissue tickets, and that you were not able to print 
it ?—A. I have no recollection of that. If anything of that kind occurred, 
Mr. Mackey must have dealt with the foreman of the office. 

Q. Did not Mr. Mackey come to you on Monday, saying the Democrats 
were using tissue tickets, and ask you to ])rint tissue tickets?—A. I have 
no recollection of anything of that sort; he may have said something to 
Mr. Hudson. I remember Hudson asking me to put up a package for 
him. I saw him put up a package himself afterward. 

Q. When?—A. I do not remember. 

Q. About the time of election?—A. A day or two before election I 
think. No tickets were printed on the day of election. ’ 

Q. Was it not the day before election?—A. Yes, sir; I remember I 
carried a lot of tickets doAvn the day before election, and he said he 
could not use them. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. ALEXANDER. 


117 


Q. Were not those the tissue tickets?—A. I do not recollect a tissue 
ticket in that package; they were tied up so that I did not see them; I 
said to a young man in the office, “Tie up those tickets of Mr. Mackey’s,” 
and he tied them up, and I took them down, and I never saw the tick¬ 
ets myself. 

By Mr. Mackey : 

Q. The dates upon your books will show only the time of imnting, not 
the time the order was given?—A. They will give the date of delivery 5 
the day the tickets were charged they were delivered. 


Charleston, January 27. 

Edward Perry recalled. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Have you brought with you the book containing the date 
when those tickets were ordered, to which yo u referred yesterday ?— 
Answer. I have the date of the delivery of the tickets 5 I have no means 
of learning the date when the tickets were ordered. 

Q. Please state, then, the date of the delivery of the tickets ?—A. I 
find here that there were delivered—October 29, 6,000 election ballots 
for Clarendon ; October 30, 15,000 election ballots for Orangeburg; No¬ 
vember 4,45,000 regular election ballots for the city; November 4, 5,000 
regular for the city on tissue paper; November 4, 1,000 regular city on 
thick paper. (That was worded in that way, explained the witness, in 
order to distinguish the tissue paper from the ordinary i^aper.) Novem¬ 
ber 4, 5,000 regular small tickets on tissue paper; November 4, 1,000 
additional regular in black. 

Q. You say you have no order-book ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Therefore you cannot tell when the orders for those tissue tickets 
was given ?—A. No, sir. 


E. M. ALEXANDEE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1878. 

E. M. Alexander (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Mr. Alexander, are you a city officer here ?—Answer. No, 
sir. 

Q. Have you ever been appointed by the city authorities to take a 
census of the city of Charleston at any time ?—A. I was appointed by 
the mayor, who \vms authorized by the city council to do so. 

Q. Have you completed that census?—A. I have. 

Q. Have you delivered the result to the city authorities ?—A. I deliv¬ 
ered the result to the mayor in person. 

Q. Did you take it yourself?—A. No, sir; I employed twenty-five or 
thirty persons. I received the returns every evening. Some fifty-odd 
books were handed in to me. 

Q. Was it a census of the entire city?—A. Yes, sir; it was. 

Q. Inclusive of both white and colored ?—A. Yes, sir. 



118 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[.Charleston 


Q. Giving tlieir ages ?—A. It is a census of the voters only. Minors 
I (lid not take. 

Q. Did yon take the females ?—A. Yes, sir,* females over the age of 21. 

Q. A census of the males and females over 21?—A. Yes, sir 5 taken 
with a view of reapportioning the aldermen of the city. 

Q. What has been done with that report?—A. The mayor said: “Let 
the matter rest.” I did so; and I have given no information to anybody. 

Q. Do you know the number of persons in the city of 21 years of 
age?—A. I could not say positively, not from memory. 

Q. Do you know^ the number of whites ?—A. I don’t. You can get 
the documents of the mayor, undoubtedly. 

Q. In whose possession is that report?—A. I delivered it to the mayor. 

Q. Who is the mayor ?—A. W. W. Sales, sir. 

Q. How long is it since you delivered it to the mayor ?—A. I was 
comiielled to have it completed by the end of the year. I commenced it 
December 19 and had handed it in on the 30th of December. I had but 
seven working-days to do it in. 


ME. BEOWE^. 

Charleston, S. 0., Tuesday^ January 21,1879. 

Question. What was your business in 1875?—Answer. State superin¬ 
tendent of public education at that time. 

Q. AVhat is this paper ?—A. It is a list of registered voters of the 
State that I prepared in the office of the State register of voters. It 
contains the number of white and colored people in each parish accord¬ 
ing to the United States census of 1870 and the State census of 1875 
and the State registration of 1874, and the persons entitled to vote by 
State census of 1875. I have since compared it with the State records, 
and it is correct. This was prepared in the office of the State register 
of voters for my use as an officer of the State. 

Q. Does it contain all the parishes ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. This was made for your use in the school business ?—A. Yes, sir; 
as an officer. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You have compared it with the original ?—A. Yes, sir. 


W. W. SALES. 

As part of the record, it’is ordered by the committee to api)ear that 
Mayor W. W. Sales, of Charleston, was regularly subpoenaed to appear 
before tlie committee and give testimony j but upon being notified he 
refused to appear, and his messenger so reported to the committee. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF C. S. SMITH. 


119 


C. S. SMITH. 


Charleston, S. C., January 20, 1879. 

C. S. Smith sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have you resided in Charleston ?—A. Fifteen or sixteen 
months. 

Q. Where did you reside prior to coming to Charleston ?—A. At 
Marion Court-House. 

Q. Are you a native of this State?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were you on the day of the election in the city ?—A. In 
the city, in ward 1. 

Q. What official connection, if any, did you have with the election ?— 
A. I was Eepublican supervisor. 

Q. Hid you keep a list?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Have you compared the poll-list kept at that ward with the City 
Directory, and if you have, can you state the number of colored and the 
number of white people that voted at the election there on that day ?— 
A. I will state that I did not keep a poll-list; but I took a copy of the 
poll-list kept by the managers, which I assnme to be correct, from the 
fact that I noticed the names as they were put down, and was very well 
satisfied that the number as kept by the managers was right. I cannot, 
of course, be certain that the names were correct. I examined the poll- 
list, which is an exact copy of tlie managers’ poll-list, and compared it 
with the last City Directory—that of 1878 and 1879. 

Q. With what result ?—A. I find 901 names on the poll-list. Of these, 
456 are the names of white men residing in the city; 323 of the names 
on the list are those of colored men. There were 185 names which I 
was not able to find in the directory, and which I therefore put down as 
doubtful. Of these 185, some I suppose to be white men. I can only 
suppose so. I suppose, however, that a majority of them are black; 
but I am satisfied that a part of the 185 are names of white men. 

Q. You find on the directory the names of all except 185 ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Mr. Bryan, who was a witness in this case before the committee, 
said that very few white men voted at the poll on the day of the elec¬ 
tion.—A. From the investigation that I liave made I have arrived at a 
very different opinion from that. I am satisfied that in the early part 
of the day, of the names on the poll-list the first five or six pages of 
names are mostly those of colored men. There are very few names of 
white men on the first six pages. From that time on the majority of 
those who voted are white men. On some pages in the poll-list the 
names are almost exclusively those of white men. Mr. Haynes, this 
morning, said that very few white men voted there. I am satisfied that 
that is not the fact. I was satisfied, before examining the directory, that 
at least half the vote was white. 

Q. Do you remember what the Democratic vote in the ward was at 
the last election ?—A. The whole number of votes for Congressman was 
9G0; of these Mr. Mackey received 518, and Mr. O’Connor 442. There 
were four tickets in the box on which no Congressman’s name appeared 
or from which the name of the Congressman had been erased. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you live in that precinct?—A. Yo, sir. 


120 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. But you voted there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you there all day'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that although you did not keep a poll-list, you were satis¬ 
fied that the poll-list kept by the managers was correct as to the num¬ 
ber of votes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there not more tickets received than there were names on 
the poll-books A. I think there were more tickets in the box when 
the tickets were taken out than there were names on the poll-list 5 but 
they were destroyed in the usual way, as directed by law. 

Q. Mr. Bryan lives in the ward, does he not, and in that precinct ?— 
A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. He is an old citizen here, is he not ?—A. I don’t know him at all; 

I could not swear that he lived in the city, except that I find his name 
in the directory. 

Q. How long did you say you have been in the city —A. Fifteen or 
sixteen months. 

Q. Are you not pretty well acquainted here % —A. I am pretty well 
acquainted in one sense. 

Q. But you do not know Mr. Bryan, his standing and character?—A. 
I think I do. 

Q. What is it ?—A. I judge that his character is good. 

Q. Is it not very good ?—A. I don’t know, sir, that I could say that. 

Q. Can you say to the contrary ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Is he not a man of very high reputation here ?—A. I cannot say 
even that, sir. I can’t speak very strongly of any man that I am not 
acquainted with and have not been thrown with. I know he is a law¬ 
yer, and son of the district judge 5 that he is chairman of ward 1 on the 
Democratic side. 

Q. He is an old settler in the city, is he not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And would know these people better than you, would he not?—A. 
He ought to. 

Q. You say there were 185 names who you could tell not whether they 
were colored or white ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And there were 456 white and 323 colored ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

' Q. Mr. Bryan stated that according to his best judgment three hun - 
dred colored men voted the Democratic ticket in that ward that day. 

Mr. McDonald. I do not remember that he stated that; if he did, I 
do not understand that it forms any part of the examination. 

Considerable discussion followed as to how far it was proper to ask 
and to accept a witness’s opinion. 

Mr. Kirkwood. This is not a question of opinion. We have been 
having a great many estimates of votes; and we proposed to test their 
accuracy by submitting one of them to the test of mathematical demon¬ 
stration. 

Mr. McDonald. But when a witness is called upon he should give his 
own statement, irrespective of the statement of any other witness. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. If there were 456 white voters at that poll, and O’Connor had only 
442 votes, and three hundred colored men voted for Mr. O’Connor, must 
there not a large number of white men haA e voted for Mr. Mackey ? 

Mr. McDonald. That is simply stating your calculations to the wit¬ 
ness, and asking him to reason upon them. 

Q. (By Mr. Cameron.) What number of colored men from the coun¬ 
try Amted at that poll on the day of election ?—A. I think you could not 


County.]] TESTIMONY OF F. M. JOHNSTONE. 121 

find seventy-five, and I am quite certain there were less than seventy- 
five. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say there were 185 Avhose names you could not find in the 
directory ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You do not mean to say by that that they do not reside here?—A. 
l^^ot at all. 

Q. Only that you do not find their names in the directory ?—A. That 
is all. 

Q. Therefore you cannot determine whether they are white or black ?— 
A. That is what I mean, sir. 


F. M. JOHNSTONE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1879. 

F. M. Johnstone (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Were you an officer at the last election here ?—Answer. I 
was a United States supervisor. 

Q. At what precinct ?—A. At the court-house precinct, ward 2, in the 
city of Charleston. 

Q. State the character of the election.—A. Well, sir, as to the char¬ 
acter of the election, I don’t think there was much election. There was 
a little voting going on there, but it had very little to do with determin¬ 
ing the result. A good many colored men came over from Saint An¬ 
drew’s parish, right across the river. My poll was the one that was 
nearest to them ; it was very natural that they should come there, as it 
was right on their way to the city. They attempted to vote, but the 
managers objected. They all voted without interference till about 10 
o’clock 5 then the managers objected to their voting, and would not al¬ 
low them to vote, as they did not know them. Somebody had to iden¬ 
tify them, and nobody in the city knew them, because they lived across 
the river. There were about 100 colored persons came there to vote, 
who were not allowed to vote. I made a list for a while, of those who 
were sent away without being allowed to vote j I stopped them as they 
were leaving the polls and had them give me their names; I reported their 
names to the chief supervisor, Mr. Kivier; I did not report all of them, 
because I did not take the names of all of them j they were sent away 
too swiftly. I could not write down their names fast enough. 

Q. Have you the names of any of them ?—^A. I have about 30 names. 
The balance I could not take; it was coming on dark. As soon as they 
said they resided at Saint Andrews’, or six miles out of town, or anything 
of that kind, the managers would not let them vote. 

Q. Had they a right to vote ?—A. Yes, sir j they had j I knew a great 
many of them personally. 

Q. Did you know them to be voters ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Who were the managers at that poll ?—A. F. L. McHugh, Sam. 
Matthews, and a man by the name of Webb, whose first name I have 
forgotten. 

Q. Who was the chairman of the board of managers ?—A. Mr. Webb. 

Q. Those men’s votes were challenged on account of their not being 
legal voters ?—A. No, sir. 



122 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[ Cliarleston 


Q. That they had voted before ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. That they had not lived here long enough ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. That they were not old enough !—A. No, sir. 

Q. On account of their being non conq^os mentis f —A. No, sir. 

Q. Then on what ground?—A. Simply because the managers did not 
know them. 

Q. Did not know them to be voters?—A. I can’t say. Unless some¬ 
body came that could identify a colored man he was sent away at once ] 
but when Democrats came, somebody was certain to identify them. 
Joe Burnham seemed to identify most of the colored men that did vote. 

Q. When they were identified, and their right to vote established, were 
they not allowed to vote ?—A. I believe so, sir. 

Q. Were not white men, as well as negroes, objected to on account of 
their being under age ?—A. I never saw any white man hindered from 
voting at that ward all that day on any grounds whatsoever. 

Q. AVas not Mr. Arthur Bryan objected to at that iioll on account of 
his being under age ?—A. I don’t remember that, sir. 

Q. Do you know that he had to send for a good Democrat to come and 
establish his age ?—A. I don’t know any such thing. 

Q. You saw pretty much all that happened there that day ?—A. I 
was there the whole twenty-four hours. I was there till the votes were 
counted. 

Q. Do you know Arthur Bryan ?—A. I know him. 

Q. Don’t you know that he was challenged by one of the Eexiublican 
challengers, on the ground that he was under age ?—A. No, sir j I don’t 
remember anything about that. 


JOHN M. FEEEMAN, Jr. 

Charleston, S. 0., January 22, 1870. 

John M. Freeman, Jr., sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman ; 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have you resided here ?—A. About 28 years. 

Q. AVere you a supervisor at the recent election ?—A. Yes, sir; I was 
suiiervisor. 

(^. AA^here ?—A. At the second precinct, ward 3, Palmetto engine- 
house, in the city of Charleston. 

Q. Go ahead and state what occurred there at that time.—A. I ar¬ 
rived at the polls about half i)ast five o’clock in the morning. I waited 
a few moments and my clerk came. Air. P. AY. Gilliard. At six o’clock 
The polls Avere opened. Air. Alonzo J. AVhite, jr.. Air. J. Smyzer, and 
Air. C. AY. Seignious, jr., were managers, with one Air. Alaher as their 
clerk. I also met Air. Quinn, the Democratic supeiwisor, there. The 
first trouble there was an objection of Air. AYhite.' I stated to the chair¬ 
man of the board of managers that Air. Gilliard was my clerk to keep 
my poll-list and attend to clerical duties, and he objected to it at first, 
but finally waUed his objection and allowed Air. Gilliard to Avork in that 
capacity for about half an hour. Then Captain Armstrong came up 
with some other gentlemen. 

Q. AYho is he?—A. He is a Democrat of this city; and he objected to 
the clerk, and requested Air. White to eject him. I interposed my ob¬ 
jections, and told Air. Gilliard not to leave there until he was told to by 



County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 123 

me. Mr. Wliite told liiin if lie did not leave lie would order liis arrest. 
I told IMr. Gilliard to sit down and not to move unless arrested. Upon 
that Mr. White, chairman of the hoard of managers, anthorized Mr. 
Thomas W. Carlisle, a deputy State constable, to arrest him. He was 
arrested and carried outside, but not to prison. I then commenced 
keeping the poll-list myself. I had it numbered, and every voter that 
cmne np I would record his name and number it. Between lialf past 
eight and nine o’clock Mr. F. Parker Jones came ux) and told the board 
of managers that they must be on the alert, as they anticijiated some 
repeating. Then they commenced challenging every colored voter that 
came up. A good many men came up there that were old enough to 
vote, and stated how old they werej but from the fact of not knowing 
what year they were born in they were refused the right to vote, though 
they were willing to take the requisite oath prescribed by law. I ob¬ 
jected to that manner of proceeding, and told them I thought if a man 
took the oath that that was sufficient qualification, but they told me 
that I had nothing to do with that •, that they were running the election, 
and that I, as supervisor, had only to note my objections and record the 
same. I -kept the names of upwards of fifty colored men who were re¬ 
fused the right to vote. Everything went on quietly then until between 
the hours of three and half past three. A German came up to vote who 
had voted already. I knew him. There were several attempts made by 
parties to vote twice. I will say that each time, the repeating, instead of 
being on the Eepublican side, was done by the Democrats with calico tickets. 
I knew this German, and I challenged him, and told him he could not vote 
because he had voted already. He was under the influence of liquor, and 
I told him if he voted I would order him arrested for illegal voting. The 
managers consulted then, and decided that if he took the oath he could 
have a right to vote. I told them I would order his arrest if he voted, as 
that was my instructions. He took the oath and voted. I ordered his 
arrest, and called Deputy Marshals Green and Burns to come in and 
make the arrest. They started in and were forcibly ejected by the dep¬ 
uty State constable’s rallyer, through the orders of the managers. I 
then protested against that, and appealed to Mr. White, chairman of 
the board, and asked him if he would not give me some assistance in 
having the man arrested. He told me if I wanted the man arrested I 
could ask him to the door, which was about five feet from the table, as 
I could not, under any circumstances, allow the marshal to come in and 
take him out. Upon that I took the man by the lapel of his coat and 
took him to the door and handed him to the deputy marshal, when an 
Irishman by the name of Burke Carrigan came uj:), and I was struck in 
my mouth and face, and I was hurt some. I forced myself up until I 
got against the rail. By that time there were sticks and clubs flying. 
Some one said that I would be shot. At that time Thonias Miller and 
some others put their hands and arms around my head and kept me from 
being injured. That attack lasted about five or seven minutes. By 
that time my poll-list had been stolen. Up to that hour there was 915 
votes polled, and my poll-list tallied exactly with the poll-list of the 
board of managers. After the occurrence I made inquiries for my i)oll-list 
but could not get any satisfaction from the managers. I came down and 
reported to the chief supervisor, and then went back to my poll. I 
staid there until the closing of the polls. About a quarter to five or five 
o’clock in the evening Mr. W. L. Daggett, the Democratic chairman of that 
ward, came to the i)oll and took position right in front of the box, and 
commenced challenging every voter, saying that they had voted already, 
and not attempting to prove it, and therefore a large number were 


124 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


I Charleston 


rejected. It was nearly the last hour of the polls, and there was a good 
deal of inducement for me to go off and drink, as they asked me there; 
but I invariably refused. Mr. Daggett was in front of the box. They 
would call me off, and when I would turn around to see what was the 
matter I would see Daggett with his hand over the aperture of the bal¬ 
lot-box. I noticed it several times, and thought I would watch. Mr. 
White then asked me to take a drink, and mj^ attention was called away, 
and I said, “ I must positively refuse,” and I saw Daggett moving his 
hand and evidently putting his hand over the aperture. There was a 
package of kiss-joke” tickets on the aperture, and then Mr. Seignious 
attempted to push them down with a pencil. I said “ Now, that won’t 
do. Why don’t you do it openly, if you are going to do it?” He said. 
Well, if there is too many you need not count them.” They moved the 
box at the close of the poll about fifteen feet back in the engine-house. 
They opened the box, and immediately upon the opening of the box I 
saw half a dozen piles of these “kiss-joke” tickets right on top. One 
package of them I picked up in my hand, and none of them had any fold 
at all—had never been folded. I took them up and said, “Gentlemen, 
what are you goiug to do with these?” Daggett then said I had no 
right to touch them, and if I did it again I would do it at my peril. I 
then put them back and asked Mr. White to count the number of ballots 
in the box to see if they would tally with the number of names on the 
poll-list. Mr. White started to do that, and had taken out about 30 or 
40 ballots, and had arranged them on the table to do that, when Mr. 
Hugh Ferguson, one of the ralliers, came in and said he protested against 
the counting of the votes in that way, and demanded that they be put 
in the box. The managers consulted and decided in favor of Ferguson, 
and they were put back in the box and commenced counting immedi¬ 
ately. I then asked the right to scrutinize the poll-list and count the 
number of names, and they positively refused; they said all I had to 
do, if I was not satisfied, was to note my objections and return the same. 
Now, up to half past three o’clock there was no more than 915 votes 
balloted—nine hours; but their records show that in two hour^ and a 
half they balloted 2,600 and some odd votes, for I am positive my votes 
tallied with the poll-list up to that time. 

Q. How long were you gone ?—A. About half an hour. After I went 
back I didn’t keep a poll-list, because my poll-list had been taken out. 
I will state, in the afternoon, or about the close of the polls, when my 
authority as supervisor was utterly disregarded, I saw I could accom¬ 
plish nothing by remaining, and I retired. 

Q. What time did you retire?—A. About 7 o’clock. 

Q. That was after the counting commenced ?—A. Yes, sir. I have 
since learned 3,569 was the total number of votes, of which O’Connor 
received 3,108, and Mackey 416. 

Q. You left about 3.30 o’clock m. ?—A. Yes, sir; and returned in 

half an hour. 

Q. That was about four. The polls closed at six ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. During that time—about half an hour—how many could they 
vote?—A. I think not more than 200 at least. They swore on two or 
three occasions three men at a time. That Avas about half an hour be¬ 
fore the closing of the polls. 

Q. How many of those tissue tickets did you discover ?—A. The first 
package I took was nearly a quarter of an inch thick. There was about 
half a dozen packages. I think some of them had but one fold. You 
could easily put them through the aperture of the box in one of those 
boxes. 


Ccunty.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 125 

Q. You did not stay there until they were counted, and you do not 
know how many tissue ballots were in that box?—A. :No, sir; I don’t 
know how many. 

Q. Who did you say the managers were!—A. Alonzo J. White, W. 
J. Smyzer, and C. W. Seignious, jr. They were the managers. 

Q. Who was the clerk!—A. IVfr. Maher. 

Q. Your knowledge of the returns is from the published returns!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know what the vote has been ordinarily at that box!—A. 
Yes, sir. The vote at that precinct generally was a Democratic majority 
ranging from two to three hundred. 

Q. What has been the total vote ordinarily!—A. Heretofore we have 
had three polls ; one at the market-house, one at Eaunbird, and one at 
Palmetto engine-house. Allowing that the voters at Eaunbird precinct 
should vote at Palmetto engine-house, there should be about 1,500 at 
the outside. 

Q. There was no comparison of the poll-list with the votes in the box! 
—A. IS^o, sir; they refused. They started to do that and then they 
went on canvassing. 

Q. Had they counted any of these tissue ballots while you were there! 
—A. Yes, sir; they counted them off. My object in leaving was that I 
saw what was going on and I was disgusted. I had undertaken to say 
something, and I was told to shut up my mouth ; and Daggett ha^dng 
told me that if I did anything more it would be at my peril, I thought 
it was best for me to go home. 

Q. Were there a great many around there at the time of the canvass ! 
—A. The halls were crowded with many Democrats, but they would 
only allow myself and one deputy marshal in. 

Q. Did you ever learn what became of your poll-list!—A. Ko, sir; I 
never have heard of it since. 

Q. Were there many men challenged during the day f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When they did that what did they do !—A. It would take two or 
three minutes. 

Q. Did they cross-examine him and question him !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then question the party challenging him !—A. No, sir; they would 
not question the party challenging. When they were challenging they 
would say, Well, he is not of age”; or, “ He has voted already”; and 
the man would swear he was of age; and then they would ask him how 
he knew, and he would say that he had heard so, and knew about the 
time he was born. Some other man would come up and say he must 
make an affidavit before a trial justice and then come back and vote. 
I kej)t a record of challenges, and then I had no clerk and had to stop 
it. In the last hour when they got to challenging so fast I kept a record 
of them. As soon as a colored man would come up Daggett would chal¬ 
lenge him, and they would shove him about, and the ralliers would 
shove him off; and another man would come and they would do the 
same thing with him. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. It seems they polled more than five votes every minute during the 
entire day !—A. They did not poll but 915 votes up to half past three 
o’clock. 

Q. Allowing that they polled but one vote a minute, they could not 
have polled over 720 votes in the twelve hours !—A. Yes, sir. I am sat¬ 
isfied there was a good many of these small tickets put in by Daggett, 
because I saw it, and I called the attention of one of the managers to it 
at the time. 


126 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


By tlie Chairman : 

Q. Who kept the poll-list for the managers A. Sometimes it was 
kept by the clerk, and then sometimes by Mr. White, and sometimes by 
Mr. Sinyzer. Whenever the clerk wanted to get off, then one of the 
managers would keep the poll-list until he returned. 

Q. Anybody else "?—A. NTo one else that I know of. 

Q. Yon were only away this half hour ?—A. That was all. 

Q. Who kept the most of it ?—A. The clerk, Mr. Maher. 

Q. Is he here in the city ?—A. I think he lives here. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were the voters sworn in numbers, that is bodies of five and six 
at a time, or separately ?—A. They were sworn separately until about 
half past five o’clock in the afternoon, and then a little rush came. On 
three or four occasions two and three were sworn at a time, and that was 
all. 

Q. I will ask you if, at any time during the day, you examined the 
paper on which the managers were keeping the poll-list. What I want 
to get at is whether they went in separate sheets, or whether the poll-list 
was fastened together securely ?—A. Ho, sir j it was not fastened. I 
think they were in sheets, but they were fastened with a cord. In the 
morning they were tied with this cord; but later in the day they got 
apart. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. The objection to your having a clerk there was that they claimed 
that the law did not authorize a clerk as well as supervisor?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. That was the ground of objection, that the law only provided for a 
supervisor?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they Objected to there being any more officers there than the 
law provided for?—A. Well, they simply objected to my having a clerk. 

Q. What was the name of the German that you say came to vote ?— 
A. I think his name was Larch. 

Q. Had he voted before ?—A. At the Palmetto Engine-House. 

Q. Did you see him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The first time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you examine your list to find whether his name was there or 
not ?—A. I started to examine the list and I found his name there. 

Q. Did not the managers tell you to see if his name was there, and 
did you not look over it and not find it ?—A. Ho, sir; that was in the 
case of a colored man that voted; that happened earlier. I had chal¬ 
lenged him. He had voted once already, and I looked over the poll-list 
and found his name; but they brought another man in who claimed 
the same name, and that was settled. 

Q. There were two colored men of the same name?—A. Yes, sir 5 it 
was settled that the man had not voted before. 

Q. When you challenged this German, did not the managers examine 
their list to see if his name was on it?—A. Ho, sir 5 they didn’t; they 
asked the man if he was willing to take the oath, and the man said, 
“Yes; I am willing to take it”; and upon his taking it they allowed 
him to vote. They made no examination of the poll-list at all. 

Q. Who was the Democratic supervisor ?—A. Quinn. 

Q. He had no clerk there; had he?—A. Ho, sir; he didn’t have any. 

Q. You say this was about three o’clock in the afternoon that this Ger¬ 
man undertook to vote?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did joii look at any time piece ?--A. Yes, sir; I just had asked a 


County.] 


127 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 

few moments before, and tliey told me tlien (I had no watch); I was 
told it was five minutes of three; and I suppose it was about ten min¬ 
utes afterward that this difficulty occurred. 

Q. Whom did you ask for the time of day ?—A. I think I asked some 
j^entleman around there. I asked one man, I know; I think it was Mr. 
Walker; he brought me my dinner in fact, and I asked him what time it 
was. I would not leave for my dinner. 

Q. You think you were gone about half an hour?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your knowledge of the time of day was from asking this man for 
dinner ?—A. Yes, sir; I knew he had a good time-piece. 

Q. Do you remember whether he took out his watch to see ?—A. Yes, 
sir; he took out his watch, and then, I judge further, when I got down 
here by Saint Michael’s clock it was about twenty minutes after three 
o’clock, and I went right back. 

Q. Do you recollect looking at Saint Michael’s clock ?—A. Yes, sir ; 
I remember ; I did look at it. 

Q. Had you any particular purpose in looking to see what time it was 
then ?—A. I can’t say that I had any particular purpose; but I knew I 
had to submit a report, and I wanted to state the time of this difficulty 
in my report to the chief supervisor. 

Q. What time was it do you say that Jones came there and said there 
was danger of repeating?—A. He came early in the morning. In con¬ 
nection with that matter, I want to say that instead of there being re¬ 
peating on the Eepublican side there was a good deal on the other side. 

Q. Mr. Jones was the chairman of the county election coihmission- 
ers?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time did you say he came there and said there was danger 
of repeating ?—A. I think it was between eight and nine o’clock. It was 
very early in the morning. 

Q. You say the persons were challenged because of their not being 
of age?—A." Yes, sir; and because of their not being able to tell the 
year they were born in. 

Q. They were refused on this ground ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How could you tell about their age ?—A. I think if you look in my 
face you could teil how old I am, or about. 

Q. How could you tell ?—A. There must be some allowances made for 
their crudeness. " There are many people here who look to be forty or 
thirty-five years of age who were rejected because they could not tell the 
year they were born in. 

Q. will you name one of them?—A. I can’t now, but I can furnish 
them. 

Q. You stated you knew them ?—A. I beg to correct you; I stated 
this: that, judging from their appearance and looks, they were that old. 

Q. You mean to say, judging from their appearances ?—A. Yes, sir. 
There were several whom the manager attempted to refuse that I had 
to watch, as I knew the inanageTs would refuse them if they could. 

Q. You can name those ?—A. One man’s name is Mr. Williamson. He 
lives right near me. He was refused, and I had to vouch for him. 

Q. In every instance where you vouched for them as being of age they 
took their votes ?—A. Yes, sir; they took them. 

Q. Do you think you can give me the names of some colored men who, 
from their appearance, were thirty-five or forty years of age, who were 
rejected because they could not tell the year they were born in?—A. I 
kept a list of tliem. I think I might if I had the list here. It is in the 
citv. 

Q. You said your list was lost?—A. Ho, sir; my poll-list. We had 


128 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


first a poll-list, and tlien a list of offenses against tfie law, and I didn’t 
lose tliat list. After my clerk was sent off* I put that in iny pocket, and 
I didn’t lose it in the difficulty. 

Q. You have that now?—A. Yes, sir; I have that at home, I think. 

Q. Were you there when the ballot-hox was opened ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you there when the voting commenced in the morning?—A. 
Yes, sir; I was. 

Q. The ballot-box was opened and exposed ?—A. Well, I demanded it 

Q. Was there any objection to its being done?—A. They did not ob¬ 
ject; I objected. The managers said, “ You must recollect that we are 
running this.” ‘^Well,” I said, “I want to see that box and the poll- 
list.” 

Q. 1:^0w, I will ask you if the box was not opened and exposed at the 
voting place, so that any person, not merely you, but others, could sec 
that no tickets were illegally voted and locked ui) ?—A. There were two 
or three others there besides myself. There was the clerk, and Mr. 
Elliott and their clerk. It was closed and locked, and I saw that there 
was no votes in the ballot-box. 

Q. Before they commenced voting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you saw Mr. Daggett ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He was chairman of thn ward for that ward?—A. Yes, sir; he is 
the chairman of that ward—of ward 3. 

Q. That was his usual place of voting, was it not?—A. Well, in for¬ 
mer years he used to be in Market Hall, and he was not there and did 
not come until late in the afternoon. 

Q. You say he did not generally vote at this precinct ?—A. I cannot 
state that; but he used to be a chairman of the ralliers at Market Hall; 
but, as I see from the papers, was chairman of the working committee 
at Market Hall. I used to live in ward 6, but I am now a resident of 
ward 3. 

Q. Do you say now that you saw him put in tickets more than once ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any tickets in his hand?—A. Yes, sir; and I will state 
that there were a few gentlemen who came up in the day and voted 
these tickets, and I had every man marked on my poll-list who came up 
and voted one of those. 

Q. Give us the names of any of those who voted the tissue ballots be¬ 
fore that time.—A. I saw several, but I could not tell their names. They 
were white gentlemen, and I marked them on the i)oll-list. 

Q. They voted these tissue tickets as the other tickets were voted?_ 

A. Yes, sir ; Daggett had a lot in his i>ocket. 

Q Do you say you did not see any tissue ballots around the polls ?_ 

A. No, sir; there were none on the tables. We had what was called a 
regular calico Democratic ticket; they were only once on the table. 

Q. There was a white Democratic ticket, was there not ?—A. I didn’t 
see that; all that I saw there was the calico-back ticket and some tis¬ 
sue. 

Q. You spoke about these tissue ballots as “kiss jokes”; where did 
they get that name ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Is not that a Philadelphia name that was given to them ?—A. I 
really can’t tell. 

Q. Was it not given to them because they were like these little labels 
that are on kiss candies ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. By whom were you appointed supervisor ?—A. By Hon. George 
S. Bryan. 

Q. On whose recommendation ?—A. Mr. Poiniers, chief supervisor. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 129 

‘Q. Who gave the name to Poinier ?—A. There were a certain number 
of names submitted by the Eepublican committee of tliis county. 

Q. Were you not selected for this place by some of the candidates on 
the Kepublican ticket ?—A. I was elected, I believe, by the executive 
committee of the Eepublican party of this county. 

Q. And not by the candidates "?—A. Not particularly as I know of. 

I understood you to say a meeting of the executive committee at 
the sherili’s office was called, and they sent in the names by the chief 
supervisor.—A. I believe so. 

Q. Have you always been a Eepublican ?—A. I have; but I have been 
one of those liberal Eepublicans, and I am proud to say that the news¬ 
papers have always given me credit for being an honest one. 

Q. Sometime before election did you not go to O’ConnoPs office and 
ask to work for them —A. I said if Mr. Taft was nominated I would 
supi)ort O’Connor. 

Q. Then you belong to the Mackey wing of the Eepublican party f— 
A. I have been a supporter of Mackey because I thought he was an 
honest politician. 

Q. And did you not thhd^: so of Taft ?—A. Well, Mackey was my 
friend. 

Q. Taft is a Eepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There has been a division in the Eepublican ranks ?—A. Yes, sir; 
there was (juite a division in 1874. In the last election the Eepublican 
party was more solid than for a series of years past. 

Q. Were Taft’s friends supporters of Mackey after Mackey’s nomina¬ 
tion?—xV. Yes, sir; I think they were. 

Q. But Mackey’s supporters would not have supported Taft, if Taft 
had been nominated?—A. No, sir; I don’t think they would. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Were you a member of the legislature in this city at one time ?—A. 
Yes sir. 

q! In what years?—A. 1874, 1875, and 1876. 

Q. Were you in Columbia in 1876?—A. Yes, sir; I was in Columbia 
in 1876, but'not in the legislature. 1 was in the office of the secretary 
of state. 

Q.' Some charges were made against some members of the legislature 
of the session of which you were a member; were any charges ever 
made against you?—A. None ever have been, and I don’t think they 
can make any. I have a clear record. 

Q. Were you at the polls constantly during the day of election, except 
the half hour that you came here to town ?—A. Yes, sir. I left the polls 
about live minutes, to eat my breakfast, and thp I would not go out of 
the engine-house. I just went up stairs to get it. 

Q. You did not leave the polls anytime during the day?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you express yourself as satisfied with the results of the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. No, sir; I didn’t, otherwise I would have signed the report of 
the board of managers, which I refused to sign, and did not sign. 

Q. You didn’t say to any one that you believed the election a fair 
one ?—A. No, sir; because I knew to the contrary. 

Q. You had no conversation to that effect with any one on the day or 
the subse(pient day?—A. No, sir; on the contrary, 1 have said ever 
since that the most glaring frauds were perpetrated on that day. 

Q. You are very sure you had no conversation with any one on that 
day, or towaicl the close of the day, expressing your satisfaction with 
the fairness of the election ?—A. 1 am sure I didn’t. 

9 SC 


130 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[Charleston 


Q. Were you not urged, at the close of the polls that day, to remain?— 
A. I was. 

Q. Were you not told that you would be protected ?—A. I will tell 
you what was said to me. After discovering these tickets in the box 
and protesting against the count of them, and further asking the mana¬ 
gers to scrutinize their poll-list, and then asking them to count all ballots 
in the box, to see that they tallied witli the poll-list, and they refusing, 
I then said, ‘^I am going home.” Upon that, several gentlemen came to 
me and told me to stay, and they would give me ten iiolicemen to iiro- 
tect me, if necessary. I told them, ‘‘No; I could accomplish nothing 
by remaining;” that I had been threatened that if I tou(*,hed the tickets 
again I would do so at my peril, and I thought I had better go home; and 
the reason I didn’t remain, the man who struck me called an officer of 
the law and asked him to arrest me; and that officer said he had certain 
instructions, and he could not go beyond them. I pointed the man out, 
and I thought after they got through with the vote they would ask nm 
to sign, and I would refuse to sign, and they would injure me for it. 

Q. You-did not consider that the protection would extend far enough ?— 
A. I think some of, the gentlemen who spoke to me were sincere; but 
there is a class of characters there tliat don’t care for anything. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you know Mr. Simmons ?—A. Yes, sir ; he came up there that 
evening, and he was the one that brought the vote there that evening, 
and was the one that sent Mr. Ferguson to see if the number of ballots 
corresponded with the names on the poll list. He came to me and told 
me not to go home. 

Q. Did you say to him that everything went fair at the election ?—A. 
No, sir,; on the contrary, Simmons said to me that he desired me to stay 
Because he was anxious for me to sign the report. 

Q. Are you certain you told him you would not sign it ?—A. I am 
not certain, but I had made up my mind that I would not. 

Q. Did you not tell him that the election was conducted i)eaceably?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you have any conversation with Mr. White?—A. No, sir; I 
did with Mr. Blake White, the older one. He was the one that offered 
me ten policemen to protect me. 

Q. Did you not say anything to him as to your belief that it was a 
fair election?—A. No, sir; I could not have said so. 

Q. Do you recollect Mr. Armstrong?—A. I do, sir; but I don’t recol¬ 
lect whether I had any words or not with him. In tact there was a host 
•of them there, 

Q. You can recollect whether Armstrong was there or not?—A. I 
don’t recollect. 

Q. Did you have any conversation with him as to its being unfair ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. You made out a statement that you swore to afterwards which was 
published in the Cincinnati Gazette ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whom did you consult before making your statement ?—A. I con¬ 
sulted nobody; I made out my official report and filed it with the chief 
supervisor. My statement was made out the 6th day of November. 

Q. That is the statement that was published ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had you not consulted with some Eepublican candidates before 
that?—A. No, sir; I don’t know that I had any consultation with any 
one about my report. 

Q. Or as to what you were to embrace in it ?—A. No, sir; I was never 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 131 

asked or consulted by any Republicans as to wliat the tenor or sense of 
my report should be. I made it up according to the facts, of notes 1 
made on election day, with all candor and faithfulness. 

Q. Before that time you had conversations with a great many Repub¬ 
licans about facts that occurred there —A. No, sir; I hadn’t. 

Q. Dhl you not have with Mr. Mackey ?—A. I didn’t see Mr. Mackey 
except on the day of election; after my report was tiled I think I saw 
him. 

Q. Did you not see him before that after you left the election poll that 
evening ?—A. No, sir; I am positive I didn’t. 

Q. Who took a copy of your report and sent it to the Cincinnati Ga¬ 
zette ?—A. Two weeks after the election Mr. Mackey asked me if 1 would 
make a copy of the rei)ort for him, and I did so. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You were asked about the supervisors. Were they Democratic 
supervisors?—A. I believe one was. 

Q. Do you know how they were elected ?—A. There was one of each 
political i)arty selected by the chairman of the committee. 

Q. AYas he there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he attempt to keep a tally list ?—A. No, sir; but I think he 
wrote about twenty names on my poll-list, as I was tired and he sat right 
over me. 

Q. Did anybody approach you on the subject of not keeping a poll- 
list there?—A. Yes, sir. AYell, sir, prior to the election I was ap¬ 
proached in reference to this matter, but I did not care to. 

Q. You did keep the list anyway?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, you were asked about the satisfaction that you expressed at 
the result of the election. Had there been any special reason Avhy you 
should feel pleased over the result ?—A. No, sir. Not any that I know 
of. The question was simply this: that I was not satisfied, and I thought 
that instead of expressing myself as being satisfied I said right to the 
contrary. 

Q. AA'hen did you refer to any persons as to these irregularities?—A. 
The first report was my official report to Poinier, and I think that after¬ 
noon I met Colonel Mackey, and he got in conversation about the matter. 

Q. After the assault on you did you report to the marshal or any¬ 
body?—A. I came here and reported to Mr. Poinier, and I think the 
marshal, or one of the deputies was here any way. 

By Mr. Camron : 

Q. How large is the room in which the poll was ?—A. The room is in 
length about twice the length of this (about 40 feet). 

Q. How much in width ?—A. About 20 feet. 

Q. Who were in the room and behind the table besides yourself, the 
Democraticsuper\dsor, the managers of election, and their clerks?—A. 
Well, there were any quantity of Democratic ralliers had access to the 
house. They could come in when they wanted toj but they didn’t 
allow any one in there but myself on the Republican side. In the after¬ 
noon they allowed Mr. Green to come in. 

Q. Wliat reason did they give for that ?—A. They didn’t assign any 
reason at all. I asked them, and they said they didn’t want a crowd in 
there. In the morning they were pretty fair about it, and allowed two 
in the room; but later in the day they allowed as many to come in as 
they wanted to. 


132 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. Was there sufficient room for you and for a clerk there?—A. Yes, 
sir. . 

Q. Would he or would he not have interfered with the business of 
the board?—A. No, sir; I had a separate table for a clerk. There was 
identy of room at their table for their clerk. 

Q. What reason did they assign for excluding your clerk ?—^A. They 
said we did not have any reason to have one; in fact, they said T had 
no right; but I said I had, and read to them my printed instructions, 
and then they allowed me. 

Q. Did they claim that there was any statute admitting Democratic 
ralliers and excluding your clerk?—A. No, sir; I asked them to allow 
me to see it, but they didn’t. I knew it was customary for the llepub- 
licans to allow two or three to each side. 

Q. What objection did you and other Republicans make to Taft?—A. 
The fact was that General Taft was very objectionable, because he 
wanted the Republican convention to indorse Governor Hamilton, aud 
there was objection to that. We admired the course taken by Mr. 
Mackey; we knew he was a good, reliable Republican, aud we wanted 
to send a man to Congress who would represent us luoperly. We didn’t 
think Taft was the right man, and I said myself, if it came to tliat, I 
would vote for somebody else. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a lawyer. 

Q. How long have you practiced law ?—A. I was admitted by the 
supreme court of this State on the Oth of December, 1875, and was last 
November admitted to practice in the circuit court of the United States. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I understood you to say some time on the day of election some per¬ 
sons on the other side took an interest in having you take a drink ?—A. 
'Yes, sir. 

Q. More than one?—A. Yes, sir, there were several; thej" commenced 
early in the morning. The newspapers have accused me here of being 
drunk, and I have had no chance to reply. I asked the editor to cor¬ 
rect the same after hearing my statement, and he refused to do it; and 
I want to say that during that day I took but two drinks. 1 saw that 
there was an effort on their part to get me drunk—I thought there was 
an effort to drug me, and I took no more. 

Q. Were they white or black that invited you?—A. They were nearly 
all white men. 

Q. Were they very pressing in their invitations to drink?—A. Yes, 
sir; so much so that it was very annoying. 

Q. I understood you to say that there was one colored man?—A. Yes, 
sir; Mr. Elfe. 

Q. What are his politics?—A. He was a candidate on the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. 

Q. Is it usual for the white men in Charleston to be pressing in their 
invitations to colored men to drink ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They generally have to get their own drinks ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This attention on the i^art of these gentlemen became more pressing 
in the evening?—A. Yes, sir; and I became more vigilant. I thought 
it was really strange their offering these objections to me in the first 
place as supervisor and tlien appearing to be so anxious to have me 
drink. There were ten or fifteen around me, and every one asking me 
to take a drink at the same time, but I. would not move, and whenever 
I turned round, as I had to sometimes, I would see this man with his 
hand over the ballot-box. 


County.] 


133 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. FREEMAN, JR. 


By Mr. McDonald: 


Q. You say that the Bepuhlioans of the wing of the party to which 
you belonged preferred Mackey, because they thougiit he was a straighter, 
Ke])ublican. Now, did they not object to General Taft because he was 
a carpet-bagger f—A. No, sir; it was not on that principle at all. 

Q. Taft was not a native ?—A. The greater portion of Mr. Bowen’s 
friends, after having passed Mackey for a series of years, had finally 
come to the conclusion that Mackey Avas the best man, and it was Bow¬ 
en’s friends that sprung Mr. Mackey; hoAvever, Bowen himself supported 
Taft. 


Q. So tliat there Avas a division between BoAven and his friends on 
that subject ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it not well understood that Mr. BoAven took no part in the 
last canvass for Mackey !—A. No, sir; I think quite to the contrary. 1 
think that Bowen took quite an active part in cementing and uniting 
the Republican ])arty of this county; he and Taft made a A^ery active 
canvass of the county. 

Q. But after the convention nominated Mackey, did he then take any 
activm i)art?—A. Well, our convention was but a few days before the 
election. I saAV Bowen making arrangements to bring about 700 voters, 
from Saint Andre ay’s Parish, and BoAven Avanted them to Amte in the city. 

Q. In the conA^ention hoAV many majority did Mackey get over Taff?— 
A. He beat him by about six votes in the convention, and they finally 
made jMackey’s nomination unanimous. 

Q. Did they divide betAAmen them?—A I believe so; I think it was 
right. That was in the county convention to select delegates to the 
Congressional conA^ention. 

Q. UoAv many delegates were there in the coiiAmntion? —A. I think 96 
delegates. 


By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. I understood you to say that prior to the election the Republican 
party had been considerably divided?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IloAv Avas it at the last election? —A. There \A^as more solidity in 
the last election than since 1808 . 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. This Elfe that asked you to drink Avas with the Democrats; the 
candidate on the ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. We heard yesterday here tliat if the colored men voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket that thereupon his colored friends ostracized him; turned 
him out of the church, and otherAvise shoAved their bad spirit to him; 
hoAv is that?—A. Mr. Elfe, the present gentleman Ave are speaking about, 
is a member of a lire company that I am a member of. He is a Democrat, 
and has been sent to the legislature, and we certainly did not turn him 
out of our society on that account. 1 knoAV the largest Congregational 
Church in this city, presided OA-er by Mr. M. B. Salters, Avould certainly 
not permit anything of that kind or adAmcate it. The minister some¬ 
times does advise people to Amte the Republican ticket. 

Q. This Elfe is a Democrat, and standing high among his colored 
friends?—A. Yes, sir; but T think it is the other way Avith those who 
vote the Republican ticket; they are proscribcid here and can’t get any¬ 
thing to do here. A man Avho comes before this committee and testifies 
as I do may just as Avell make up his mind that he can get no more em¬ 
ployment in Charleston. 


134 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. I saw in the hTews and Courier some time ago an article like this: 
“If you want a drayman, hire a Democrat; if you want a laborer, hire a 
Democrat; if you want a butcher, hire a Democrat, if you want to buy 
from a storekeeper, buy from a Democrat,” &c.—^A. Yes, sir, that is a 
fact; that has been published here. 


A. W. GEEEK 

Charleston, S. C., January 23, 1879. 

A. W. Green (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside —Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. How long have you resided here ?—A. Twenty-eight years. 

Q. Had you anything to do with the last election f—A. I was deputy 
marshal at the voting-place at Palmetto Engine House, ward 3, second 
precinct. 

Q. State what occurred there that day.—A. I arrived at seven o’clock 
in the morning. I was belated, because Mr. Poinier was not here to sign 
my appointment. On arriving at the engine-house I met Supervisor 
Freeman; I asked Freeman if he had a clerk. He told me he had a 
clerk, but that his clerk was objected to. While I was in conversation 
with Mr. Freeman, a gentleman came up who said tliat he Avas a consta¬ 
ble, and objected to my sitting inside of the polls. I went outside. 

Q. Was the constable inside of the polls ?—A. He was. After I went 
outside some gentleman came and said “Are you the deputy marshal % ” 
I said, “ Yes.” They said, “ This man has A^oted tAvice; arrest him.” I 
arrested him, and he was brought up before Pionier, Avho investigated 
his case, and he was discharged. 

Q. Who asked you to arrest him ?—A. I don’t liiiow his name; he is 
a gentleman who used to keep a bar-room on the comer near where Will¬ 
iam’s cotton-yard is. I went back to the poll, and remained outside un¬ 
til about three or half past three o’clock. Then a German came up to 
vote; Freeman made some objection, saying the man hadA^oted already. 
Some words passed between Freeman and the manager ; the manager 
said if you want the man arrested, take him to the head of the barri¬ 
cade. Freeman called to me saying, “Arrest this man.” I started to 
arrest him; as I started, Charles Labanroue interfered and i)revented 
my going in. I was struck by a policeman in tlie ribs and on my arm. 
Mr. Hayne, special policeman, ran to my assistance, and doAvn he Avent, 
and then the row grew Avorse. Miller and Oathcart and some other 
gentlemen, I think, were all that prevented Freeman from getting killed. 
Freeman came down to Pionier and reported the case. After he had re¬ 
ported the case to Pionier, James E. Hagood, United States commis¬ 
sioner, said, “ Here are fourteen men, take them out to the Washington 
engine-house and vote them.” I started up with them; I went up in¬ 
side of the barricade, and as each man would come up to Amte, they Avere 
objected to. The second or third man, Charles Carrisoii- 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Who told you to take these men up there?—A. Mr. J. E. Hagood, 
United States commissioner, and clerk of the circuit court, told me to 
take them up to Colonel Sloan. I went up with them to Colonel Sloan’s. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. GREEN. 


135 


When I carried them inside the inclosure they were objected to. Garri¬ 
son said to Mr. Elfe, “Make a note of that.” I forget what Elfe^s 
answer was; at any rate, they didn’t vote. I returned to the Palmetto 
engine-house, in ward 3, and remained there all night. While they were 
counting the ballots, Freeman had left the polls. Before night I went 
to E. M. Wallace, United States marshal, and asked him had I a right 
to stay. He said I had until the last Congressional vote was counted, 
so I staid. In counting the ballots a large number of tissue-paper 
ballots turned u})—I don’t remember the number. The box was haE 
full of tissue ballots. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Who did the counting?—A. Mr. Smyzer, Mr. White, and Mr. Seig- 
nious, were the three gentlemen that attended to the counting. A 
young gentleman there kept the poll-list, at least he wrote the names 
on the poll-list as they were called out to him. He was a clerk for the 
Singer Sewing Machine Company; his name, I think, was Harry Guilt. 
I staid there until four o’clock in the morning, and then I went away. 
During the count I several times went up to the box; and I was told 
by the managers that I could remain in there, but I had no right about 
the box; so I kept away. In counting the ballots they commenced in 
this way: first, the straight-out Democratic votes; then the little tissue 
ballots—they were straight-out Democratic too; and then the Eepubli- 
can tickets. It seemed as though the ballots overrun the poll-list, to 
me; I am sure the ballots did overrun the poll-list. 

Q. How much did they overrun?—A. I could not be certain of giving 
the correct amount, but I know it was a good many. 

Q. Did you see how many of the tissue ballots there were?—A. No, 
sir; the box was so full of ballots that when they put them in again they 
had to press them down in the box. They started to seal the box up, 
and at my suggestion each manager wrote his name on the top of the 
box. 

Q. The box was sealed, was it?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After the votes w^re counted and put back in the box again?—A. 
Yes, sir; I attempted two or three times to go away, and was asked by 
the managers to remain there; but I was of no good while I did remain 
there. 

Q. They did not consult you about the canvass?—A. O, no, sir. I 
must say there were some gentlemen there who behaved as if they wanted 
to see everything go on fair. Mr. Daggett was sitting' on the table at 
one time, when I heard Freeman holler out, “ There, that won’t do; that 
is too plain; don’t do anything of that sort right before my eyes.” And 
I heard another man say, “ Good God! are you going to stuff the ballot- 
box right here before us?” 

Q. Who said it ?—A. His name is Edward Horsey. 

Q. He was not a manager ?—A. No, sir; not even a deputy marshal. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. AYashe Eepublicau or Democratic?—A. Eepublican,! think; I have 
never seen him vote. Policeman C. C. Hayne was standing there. 
Hayne went up to Horsey and said, “ Shut your mouth, or you will get 
a whipping ”; and Hayne shut up. 

Q. You say after the ballots were counted they were put back into the 
box, and the box was sealed up ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What became of the box then ?—A. It was taken to a fire-proof 
building, or to the city-hall, I don’t know which. 

Q. You did not accompany it?—A. No, sir; I had no right. 


136 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Yon saw no surprise expressed by anybody when they saw these 
tissue ballots in the box'?—A. No, sirj none whatever. 

Q. Did you see any of them at the polls during the day ?—A. I did 
not. 

Q. Did you see any colored people or white people vote them *?—A. 
Tissue ballots *? No, sir j I did not. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you see any Democrats around there during the day *?—A. Yes, 
sir; a good many. 

Q. And many Kepublicans *?—A. Only a few, sir. 

Q. How was it in the evening, at the time they commenced counting 
the vote *?—A. There were a few persons standing outside. There was 
a policeman by the name of Stocklebeu, and Jesse Bowles, and two or 
three others. 

Q. Did you see the box opened when the counting commenced ?—A. 
No, sir; 1 was outside, and was not admitted inside. 

Q. Did you see them after they commenced counting ?—A. Yes, sir j 
as well as I could from the outside. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. At what time did you get there that morning ?—A. About 7 o’clock. 

Q. They had been voting some when you got there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What time of day was it when you heard Freeman complain about 
their stuffing the ballot-box ?—A. It was about live or half past five 
o’clock; I had no time on me. 

Q. You had no time, and only guessed at it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you did not see any tissue ballots voted there that day ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Can you tell what kind of ballots they were voting *?—A. Yes, sir j 
for I voted myself. 

Q. You did not vote a tissue ballot, did you'?—A. O, no, sir. 

Q. Do you know that anybody else did ?—^A. If they did, I didn’t see 
them. 

Q. Might they not have voted any number of tissue ballots without 
your seeing them ?—A. I think they could hardly have voted many of 
them without my seeing them. 

Q. Did you watch the voters as they put in their ballots *?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you were away a good deal of the time ?—A. I was away 
in the afternoon. 

Q. You were away an hour in the morning; you said that they were 
voting an hour before you got there *?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then you were absent in the afternoon ?—A. Part of the time. 

Q. When you were at the polls, were you not looking at something 
else part of the time ?—A. The most of the time I was looking at the 
ballot-box. 

Q. Not all of the time *?—A. I don’t pretend that I was looking directly 
at the ballot-box all the time. 

Q. Can you recollect any man that you saw vote that day ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Who*?—A. Well, there was Bob Van Dolan. 

Q. That is one; that is the only one you recollect?—A. There were 
a good many others whose names I don’t know. 

Q. You must know the names of many that voted there that day. Can 
you recollect no other than the one you have mentioned ?—A. Yes, sir; 
I saw Johnny Freeman vote, and I think I saw Mr. Burns vote. 

Q. You saw these three men vote?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. GREEN. 


137 


Q. Kow, might there not a great many persons have voted tissue bal- ’ 
lots without your seeing them do it?—xY. I don’t see how they could 
have voted tissue ballots and I not see them. 

Q. What kind of a ballot did Mr. Van Dolan vote?—A. He voted a 
checkback ticket—Democratic. I saw Charlie Juss vote, too. 

Q. W^here were you when you heard Freeman make the exclamation 
in regard to stuffing the ballot-box ?—A. I was at the end of the barri¬ 
cade. 

Q. Could you see him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see anything wrong about the ballot-box at that time?— 
A. Nothing more than I heard Freeman say that the man had voted 
already, and if he voted again he would have him arrested. 

Q. 1 mean when he said, “ That is too plain.” Could you see the bal¬ 
lot-box then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you see ?—A. I saw Mr. Daggett standing near the box 
with his hands stretched out towards the box. 

Q. Did you see him put anything in the box ?—^A. I could not say 
that I did. 

Q. If Freeman saw anything he saw more than you did ?—A. If he 
saw anything more than I told you, he did. 

Q. Where were you standing?—A. Out at the barricade. 

Q. You say that there Avas some part of the time that you could not 
see what they were voting?—A. There was a big table therej they went 
up to that and voted. 

Q. You could not see them put in the tickets ?—A. I saw a good many 
of them putting in tickets, sir. 

Q. When Horsey said what he did, where were you then ?—A. Stand¬ 
ing out at the barricade. 

Q. Where was Horsey standing ?—A. He was standing near the bal¬ 
lot-box. 

Q. Did you see anything ?—A. No, sir; I heard Freeman speak first, 
and Horsey right afterwards. I saw Daggett standing near the box 
with his hand near the hole in the box. 

Q. Did you see his hand in the ballot-box ?—A. I saw it on the box. 

Q. Did Daggett vote at that precinct ?—A. I didn’t see him vote. 

Q. Was not that his usual place of voting?—A. I believe he lives in 
ward 3 j I don’t know whether in that precinct or in Market Hall pre¬ 
cinct. 

Q. You were not there when the counting commenced ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They had been counting some time when you arrived ? How long 
had they been counting ?—A. I sui)pose not over twenty or thirty min¬ 
utes. 

Q. W^hen you went up there you say you met Mr. Freeman ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. He told you to come there and stay ?—A. He told me he was going 
to leave, and he went back. 

Q. You did not go there until after Freeman had left?—A. Not until 
he told me he was going to leave. 

Q. I am trying to get at the time you got there. They had been count¬ 
ing all the time Freeman was there, and he left before you got there?— 
A. He left about the time I got there. 

Q. You did not know the condition of the box when it was opened ?y— 
A. No, sir 5 I cannot say as to that. 

Q. Then you do not know AA^here the tissue ballots were found ?—A. 
No, sir. 


138 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[^Charleston 


Q. When you got there, how many ballots had been counted out ?—A. 
I don’t suppose much more than twenty-five or thirty. 

Q. Do you know anything about it ?—A. I estimated about that num¬ 
ber ; I don’t think there were any more than that. 

Q. What makes you think there were no more than that t —A. From 
the pile of ballots I saw on the table where the count was going on. 

Q. The pile that had been counted out and laid aside —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were where you could see into the box when the lid was 
raised*?—A. The lid was turned right back and I could look right in. 

Q. You saw the tickets in the box *?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there anything wrong in the appearance of the tickets in the 
box'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was it ?—A. I saw when the tickets were pulled out that there 
were these large regular Democratic tickets, and inside of them these 
little tissue-paper tickets. 

Q. When they were taken out what was done ?—A. The little ballots 
were shaken out of the large ones in which they were folded and fell 
down. 

Q. Who shook them out?—^A. The manager. 

Q. Which one of the managers"?—A. I can’t tell whether it was Mr. 
White, Mr. Seignious, or Mr. Smyzer. 

Q. You ought to be able to say who did it ?—A. I think Mr. Smyzer 
did it. 

Q. How often did you see him do that ?—A. Pretty nearly all night. 

Q. Were pretty much all the tickets in the box folded in that way ?— 
A. Pretty nearly all the tissue-paper ballots were. 

Q. How many of them were there altogether ?—A. I can’t tell you how 
many exactly. 1 asked for the correct count- 

Q. i^Tever mind that; you can state what you asked after awhile. You 
said when the count was finished there were more tickets in the box 
than names on the poll-books. How did you know that to be so ?—A. I 
saw it. 

Q. How many names were there on the poll-lists ?—A. When the row 
occurred there were 915 votes. 

Q. I am asking you how many there were on the poll-lists. You saw 
the poll-lists, did you not ?—A. I did. 

Q. When the voting was all done how many names were there on the 
poll-list ?—A. I can’t tell you correctly how many; I don’t su^^pose much 
over fifteen or sixteen hundred. 

Q. You guess at that by the number of votes that you think were re¬ 
ceived there, do you not, and not by looking at the poll-list itself?—A. 
I could not look at the poU-list. 

Q. You did not see the poll-list ?—^A. I saw it, but they would not allow 
me to examine it. 

Q. Did you see the names on it ?—^A. Yes, sir; and I saw names put 
on it, too. 

Q. Who did you say wrote the names on the poll-list after the voting 
closed ?—A. He was a clerk of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. I 
think his name was Crafts. 

Q. How many names did you see him write ?—A. He kept writing 
names until four o’clock in the morning. 

Q. Was he writing all night?—A. Yes, sir; up to four o’clock the 
ndxt morning. 

Q. Whereabouts was his table or desk?—A. He was standing on the 
right-hand side of the box where the votes were counted. There were 
three doors to the engine-house, a large door in the middle, a small door 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. GREEN. 


139 


on the left, and another small door on the right. (The witness again 
explained at some length the i)osition of things at the voting place.) 

Q. Who kept the tally of the votes as they were counted!—A. I 
think one of the managers. 

Q. Who took the tickets out of the box!—A. One of the managers 
took the votes out of tlie box, and one kept tally. 

Q. Which one of them took the votes out of the box, and which kept 
tally !—A. I don’t think I can tell you. 

Q. Didn’t the clerk assist—did he not keep one tally-sheet, and one 
manager the other !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then, while the clerk was keeping this tally paper, the same clerk 
was writing down names on the poll-books, was he !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The clerk was entering votes on the tally papers and writing names 
on the poll-books at the same time !—A. No, sir ; the clerk could not do 
that. 

Q. Who was the clerk!—A. I don’t know the name. 

Q. Who did you say was writing names on the poll-list!—A. The 
clerk for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. 

Q. What w^as he writing the names from!—A. Not from anything. 

Q. Where did he get them !—A. I suppose he made them uj) out of 
his own head. 

Q. He must have had a pretty good head. You mean he had no list 
to co])y from, and was just writing whatever name came into his head !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He continued this work until four o’clock in the morning!—A. I 
left the polls about four o’clock. 

Q. How many votes were counted out of the ballot-box there!—A. 
About thirty-five hundred; that w'as the count they gave me in the 
morning. 

Q. The Singer Sewing Machine Company’s clerk had not quite got 
up with the number of the votes when four o’clock came, and more 
votes were counted than there were names on the poll-list; now how 
were they made to agree !—A. I suppose by doctoring the poll-list. 

Q. You are not to swear to what you suppose, but to what you know.— 
A. That is the only way T can thiidv of. 

Q. This clerk stopped writing about four o’clock in the morning, did 
he!—A. It might have been later. 

Q. Did anybody take his place!—A. Yes, sir j another gentleman took 
his xdace a i)art of the time. 

Q. Who took his jdace!—A. I don’t know his name. 

Q. How did you come to be elected as one of the deputy marshals!— 
A. I was appointed by Col. E. M. Wallace. 

Q. Who recommended you to him!—A. I guess he knows me well 
enough himself. 

Q. You have been a pretty active politician, have you not!—A. I don’t 
say that I liave been very active; I have done my duty. 

"Q. You sometimes have been a little dissatisfied with the course of 
the Eepublican party, have you not!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Considerably dissatisfied!—A. In 1876 I was. 

Q. During tliis last canvass, were you not dissatisfied !—A. I was dis¬ 
satisfied somewhat; if Taft had got the nomination I was going to sup¬ 
port him. 

Q. Did yon not offer to work for O’Connor, if he would pay you for 
it?—A. I will work for any man, if he will pay me; but voting is an¬ 
other thing. I have been collector of- 

Q. I am not asking for your credentials; only your election move- 



140 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


' Charleston 


ments. You offered to work for Mr. O^Connor in the election, if he 
would pay you for it?—A. I offered to work for him, sir. 

Q. Was it not on election matters that you went to talk with hinj?— 
A. I had talked with many about election matters. 

Q. You offered to work for Mr. O’Connor’s election, did you not?—A. 
Yes, sir; but I don’t suppose I could have done much for liim. 

Q. You mean you would have got the money from him and then not 
have done the work ?—A. When it came to voting I would have voted 
a straight ticket. 

Q. Did you not profess that you were supporting Mr. O’Connor up to 
the day of the election?—A. No, sir j I did until up to about a week be¬ 
fore election. 

Q. What was it you told Mr. O’Connor?—A. I told Mr. C’Connor that 
if the Eepublican party made a nomination of Taft I could not stand by 
him. 

Q. Did you not make an offer to Mr. O’Connor that if he would pay 
you you would come out and electioneer for him among the colored peo¬ 
ple ?—A. I didn’t offer to do so if he would pay me. There was a con¬ 
versation on several occasions, in which I said that under certain circum¬ 
stances I might be willing to work for Air. O’Connor. In fact, I have 
been to several Democratic meetings, and I told Mr. O’Connor that we 
were going to supx)ort an honest government. 

Q. You told him you were going to support an honest government?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tlien you did not think this other affair was an honest govern¬ 
ment?—A. Not entirely. 

Q. Then you thought that C’Connor would give you an honest govern¬ 
ment?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then why did you say that you were in favor of an honest govern¬ 
ment, and under certain circumstances might work for O’Connor ?—A. 
There Avere gentlemen on the ticket who were perfectly honest. There 
is Jim Simons, I voted for him. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you saw one colored man vote the clieck back ticket. Ex¬ 
plain that.—A. It was a Democratic ticket, on the back of which was a 
checkerboard. 

Q. What color was it?—A. It had a white face, but tlie back was red¬ 
dish, with little dots on it. 

Q. You say you saw Charles Juss vote. How did he vote ?—A. Demo¬ 
cratic. 

Q. Did he Amte one of these check-back tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many other colored men Amted the Democratic ticket ?—A. I 
don’t think I can tell you. 

Q. Did they all vote this check-back ticket ?—A. No, sir 5 some of 
them voted the Eepublican ticket. 

Q. Did any other colored men vote the Democratic ticket except those 
you have named?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Yousay that you came up to the table togettickets. Describe how the 
table was situated ?—A. (The witness described the location of the table, 
ballot-box, &c., and then added:) The Democratic tickets Avere kept on 
this side, the Eepublican were kept on that side by a man named Ander¬ 
son. If you wanted to get a Democratic ticket, you would go there; if 
a Eepublican ticket, you would come here. 

Q. Did you see any tissue tickets on the table?—A. None at all. 

Q. You saw calico tickets there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any other ticket?—A. Yes, sir; I saw a ticket headed 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. GREEN. 


141 


“Union Eepublican ticket,” but on it were printed the names of the 
Democratic candidates: “For governor, Wade Hampton j for Congress, 
M. P. O’Connor,” and so on. The ticket was handed me to vote and I 
would not vote it. 

Q. When did you first hear of tlie tissue ticket?—A. N^ever. I did 
not hear of it, I think, at all until I saw them. 

Q. When did you see them ?—A. In the engine-house, after the box was 
opened. 

Q. That was the first you heard of them?—A. Yes, sirj I didn’t know 
anything about them before that. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Were you not asked to imbibe several times during that day?—A. 
I was. 

Q. Did you refuse ?—A. I refused on several occasions, and on several 
occasions I drank. 

Q. Did you not drink to intoxication ?—A. l^o, sir; the crowd around 
there could not intoxicate me. 

Q. You were not intoxicated you say on that day ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Now, I ask you Avhether you Avere not so intoxicated that you 
went to sleep there in a chair?—^A. No, sir; Burns went to sleep; I 

didn’t. 

Q. Do you know Captain Cathcart?—A. I do. 

Q. Did not Captain Cathcart put you in a chair there AA^hen you were 
so drunk that you could not go alone, and did you not go to sleep and 
sleep there for a considerable time?—A. No, sir; no such thing oc¬ 
curred. 

Q. Are you sure you did not ?—A. I am pretty sure I didn’t. 

By Mr. Ca:vieron : 

Q. IIoAv maii}^ names were on Freeman’s list at the time the difficulty 
occurred ?—A. Freeman told me that 915 Azotes had been cast up to that 
time. 

Q. Where did you see the most of the tissue ballots in the box ?—A. 
I think they Avere in the middle of the box. The first croAAffi was in the 
top of the box, the next I saw AA^as about in the middle of the box. 
They AA^ere very small—“ kiss jokes” I haA^e heard them called. They 
were not longer than that (measuring on his finger about 2.} inches). 

Q. What did j^ou say in regard to this clerk entering the names on 
the poll-list during the night ?—A. I neglected to state that two or three 
times AAdiile the count aa^is going on I noticed that Avhen a Kepublican 
ticket was brought out of the box containing the name of E. M. Mackey 
for Congiess, and so on, they AA'ould call it a straight-out Democratic 
ticket, and count it in that Avay. 

Q. By Avhose direction did the clerk continue to enter names on the 
poll-list after the balloting closed ?—A. I sux)pose by the direction of 
the managers. 

Q. What office do you hold in the present State government ?—A. I 
am collector of State arms, apx)ointed'by Inspector-General E. W. 
Moise. 

Q. That appointment has not been revoked?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What is the date?—A. The date of my appointment is April 13, 
1878. 

The witness exhibited to the committee his appointment, which reads 
thus: “You are hereby instructed to gather all the arms, equipments, 
and ammunition to be found in the hands of persons not regular members 
of a militia comi^any, and to turn oA^er to the nearest trial-justice for 
I>rosecution any one who fails or refuses to surrender such prox>erty.” 


142 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


0. C. HAYNES. 

Charleston, January 23, 1879. 

C. C. Haynes (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. All my life, twenty-six 
years. 

Q. Were you in the city of Charleston on the last election day?—A. 
I was. 

Q. Did you attend the polls?—A. I was at several of the polls. 

Q. In what capacity were you acting?—A. I was appointed one of the 
special police. 

Q. By what authority?—A. By the authority of the mayor of the city. 

Q. At what poll did you stay most of the time?—A. The most of the 
morning I was at the eighth ward. 

Q. How long were you there ?—A. I suppose I was there about three 
hours. 

Q. Were you at the Palmetto Engine House any part of that day?— 
A. I was. 

Q. What time of the day were you there?—A. 1 went there about 
three o’clock. 

Q. What occurred while you were there, if anything?—A. I left the 
eighth ward and went around to several of the other wards j by three 
o’clock I arrived at the Palmetto Engine House, on Anson street. I was 
there I suxipose, as near as I can remember, about twenty minutes, it may 
have been longer, when a German came to vote. His vote Avas chal¬ 
lenged by Sux)ervisor Freeman. Quite a discussion arose, and finally 
the man voted. Mr. hreeman brought him out to the door, and a young 
man by the name of Brockey Carrigan rushed uji to Mr. Freeman and 
hit him one blow on the mouth and another over the eye. They crowded 
up against the barricade and xuilled and hauled one another out into 
the street. I then rushed ii}) to assist in quelling the riot, and was 
knocked down. The roAV became general. Freeman Avas beaten and 
cuffed all over the street. I myself, and Mr. Miller, engineer of the fire 
company, and another gentleman, crowded around Freeman and par¬ 
tially covered him, and rescued him, and brought him back into the 
engine house. He left the polls and went to report the matter to the 
chief sujiervisor, Mr. Poinier. Then he returned, and staid there 
awhile. 

About that time Mr. W. L. Daggett came in and took his stand in 
front of the box. Every now and again he would run his hand into his 
waistcoat pocket and take out a number of these little‘‘kiss-joke” tickets 
and stuff them into the box. I said nothing, but Avaited to see what the 
supervisor would do. His attention Avas frequently called by some gen¬ 
tlemen trying to get him to take a drink. He then and there refused, 
telling them that he had no time to drink ; but wheneA^er he had turned 
his head aAAmy Mr. Daggett Avould put in his Avork. Finally Mr. Free¬ 
man turned his head a little quick and saw what was going on, and ex¬ 
claimed, “Great God, gentlemen, if you are going to do such Avork as 
that do it decent.” lEd Horsey also said, “ Are you going to stuff* the 
ballot-box right before my face ?” I said to Horsey, “ You had better 
dry up or you Avill get a licking.” The thing ran on in that way until 
the polls were closed. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF C. C. HAYNES. 


143 


Wlien the voting closed at niglit the box was moved about fifteen feet 
back toward the rear of the engine-house. The box was opened, and, 
behold, it was literally crammed with those little “kiss joke” tickets. 
They started to separate them from the regular tickets, when Mr. Fer¬ 
guson came in and ])rotested against it, saying that the canvass should 
go on with what tickets-were found in the box. The kiss joke tickets 
were returned to the box, and the count went on. 

I staid till half-past twelve o’clock that night. Then I got fatigued 
and went home, having been up most of the night before. 

During the day many persons were not allowed to vote who I knew, 
from my own personal knowledge, had a right to vote in the eighth 
ward. Mike Hogan, Frank Heidt, and another gentleman on the detect¬ 
ive force, I do not know his name, did the most of the identifying. 
Unless these three gentlemen knew a man personally he was not allowed 
to vote. 

Such questions were asked as, “In what year were you born?” 
“ Who lives at the corner of Rutledge and Spring street ? ” “ Who used 
to live in your house before you moved there?” “Who kept that shop 
before the man who keeps it now?” &c. If a man could not answer 
such questions he was not allowed to vote, unless he was a Democrat, 
and then they did not trouble him with any such questions. Several 
men protested against this sort of thing, and then they would be 
dragged off to the guard-house. A Mr. Ohalon, I do not know his other 
name, an old gentleman on the police force, came up to vote, claiming 
that he had lived in the ward for eighteen or nineteen years. His vote 
was rejected, although he said he was willing to let a committee of both 
Democrats and Republicans go with him and he would show them his 
home, and prove that he had lived in the ward all that lengtli of time, 
and was entitled to vote. " But Hogan said, “We have no time to do 
business in that way ; we don’t run this arrangement in any such way 
as that. If you choose you ca,n go before a trial jury and take oath in 
the matter and it will be all right.” A sergeant, avIio was sitting there 
on his horse, said, “ Don’t be bothering with the old fool; club hell out 
of him and they did. They knocked the old man down and a white 
gentleman had to interfere. Then they took the old man to the guard¬ 
house, and what became of him after that I do not know. 

From there I came to the Marion Engine House, and found the same 
thing going on there. Then I came to the Hope Engine House, and the 
same thing w'as going on there. Then I concluded that w^hat I had 
heard during the canvass was about to be put into operation. 

Q. AVhat had you heard?—A. I heard different speeches. I heard 
one old gentleman say—he was a Democrat—if they could not beat us 
in any other way they would beat us in the middle. 

Q. What did lie mean by that ?—A. He said that in a speech in which 
he told a story about an Indian and a white man running a race. 

Q. Who was it said that ?—A. A jokish old gentleman from Rich¬ 
land. 

Q. A Democratic speaker ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A Avhite man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you stated all that you saw that day ?—A. I think so. There 
is a good deal I might say that I don’t think of uow. 

Q. You say that you wmre appointed a special policeman by the 
mayor of the city ?—A. I wms, sir. 

Q. Who recommended your appointment?—A. I don’t know that 
anybody did. I heard that special policemen wmre to be appointed, and 
I put in my owm request. 


144 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


Q. Did you represent yourself to be a Democrat ?—A. NTo^ sir j be did 
not ask me any such questions. 

Q. Did you say notliing to him about your politics'?—A. I don’t 
believe I ever bad a half a dozen words witb bim in my life. 

Q. Did you vote for bim for mayor “?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you tell bim that you liad voted for bim wben you asked for 
your appointment*?—A. No, sirj it was a known fact that I bad voted 
for bim. 

Q. Had you been active in tbe canvass up to that time *?—A. It bas 
been my habit since I became a voter to be very active. 

Q. How was it on this occasion *?—A. I was not very active in this 
election. Before the election I concluded that I would support fbe 
ticket nominated by tbe Democrats. I bad my preference for Congres¬ 
sional honors—Col. E. W. Mackey. 

Q. You are a Mackey man?—A. Yes, sir; always. 

Q. Wben did you make your returns and report to tbe mayor your 
doings as a special policeman ?—A. Tbe next day. 

Q. Did you report tbe facts wbicb you have stated bere?—A. He did 
not ask me. 

Q. Did you not make any report?—A. No, sir; I did not. There 
were men that were more intimate with him tiian I. 

Q. But they were not acting as special x>olice.—A. A great many 
of them were. 

Q. They were not acting for you.—A. Of course not. 

Q. You witnessed the things you have been testifying to bere, and 
said nothing about them ?—A. No, sir; 1 made no report wbetever. We 
were told the day after tbe election to go anel get our money; we went, 
and tbe mayor was sick; two or three days afterwards be got well; we 
went again, got our money, and came away. 

Q. And never reported at all ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you think that was right?—A. The mayor himself was at the 
polls, and saw everything that Avas done witb bis own eyes. 

Q. Did be see all that you saAv ?—A. 1 don’t suppose lie Avould like to 
tell about it if be did. 

Q. Would be not be as likely to tell the truth as you?—A. Y^es, sir; 
but there is such a thing as telling tbe truth as far as you go, and not 
telling tbe whole truth. 

Q. At Avbat time did you go to tbe eighth ward in tbe morning ?—A. 
At ten minutes after six. 

Q. And went to tbe Palmetto bouse about three?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And staid bow long?—A. Till after tbe row. 

Q. You came away witb Freeman ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you report to anybody in regard to that row?—A. Yes, sir; 
to the chief suiiervisor, Poinier. 

Q. So instead of reporting to tbe mayor, who appointed you, you 
reported to the United States supervisor?—A. I came down to him \\dtb 
Freeman. 

Q. In place of reporting to tbe authority who appointed you, you 
went witb Freeman to report to tbe United States supervisor?—A. I 
went witb Freeman; be knew tbe man that struck bim, and could tell 
tbe supervisor the man’s name. 

Q. Was not Freeman protected by a number of white men ?—A. Yes; 
Mr. Miller aiid myself and another man whose name I don’t know. 

Q. Did not Mr. Catbeart protect bim?—A. I don’t know if be did. I 
know that Thomas Miller put bis bands over bim in that way (illustrat- 


County.] TESTIMONY OF C. C. HAYNES. 145 

and I tliiiik James Miller did, and Mr. Green and others got around 
him, and Miller got him back into the house. 

Q. At what ward was it that Hogan and Ileidt took so prominent a 
part in identifying persons ?—A. In the eighth ward. 

Q. How long did you remain at the eighth ward f—A. Three or four 
hours. 

Q. How long were you at the Palmetto Engine House f—A. From three 
o’clock in the afternoon until nearly midnight. Tlie only time 1 was 
absent was wlien I went down with Freeman. 

Q. At what time were you at the Marion Engine House ?—A. On my 
way down town—as I came down. 

Q. As you came down with him ?—A. As I came down by myself. 

Q. How long did you remain th^re?—A. About tifteen or twenty 
minutes. I spent but little time at the Marion Engine House, the Wash¬ 
ington Engine House, and the Hope Engine House. 

Q. Where was this meeting where you heard that old gentleman make 
a speech in wliich he said you would be beaten?—A. At the Charleston 
liotel he made a speech from the piazza. There was a general meeting 
here that day—a Democratic meeting. The meeting was held on the 
battery, but this old gentleman spoke from the piazza of the Charleston 
hotel. He said the Democrats were going to beat us anyhow. Some¬ 
body said, ^‘How are you going to beat us ?” and he answered, will 
have to tell you a little story.” A Mexican and an Indian once arranged 
to run a race with their horses.. When the time came for the race to 
come off the Mexican found that the judges were determined to give 
their decision in favor of the Indian. Then the Mexican said to himself, 

I will let the Indian start out ahead, then I will claji spurs to my horse 
and pass him, and then the judges cannot do otherwise than to give me 
the race.” After the race was over the judges went one side and con¬ 
sulted, and then gave decision in favor of the Indian. The JMexican 
said, “How is this; didn’t the Indian start first?” The judges said, 
“ Yes.” “And didn’t I come out first at the end of the race ?” “Yes.” 
“ Then how do you make out that the Indian beat me? ” The judges an¬ 
swered, “ It is true you started last and you came out first, but the In¬ 
dian beat you in the middle.” And he said, “Xo matter what you 
Eepublicans may do, no matter how hard you may work, or how many' 
votes you may cast, we are going to beat y'ou in the middle.” 

Q. bo y ou "know who the old gentleman was ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Was it General Moise?—A. Xo, sir; he was an old gentleman; I 
don’t know his name. 

Q. Didn’t General Moise speak there that same evening?—A. I don’t 
reciollect that he did. I think General O’Connor spoke there. 

Q. Where did this old gentleman live ?—A. In Kichland. 

Q. Did he not live in Florida ?—A. He used to, but he said the col¬ 
ored people in Kichland were so very friendly to him that they advised 
him to (iome back and live among them. 

Q. Did he not live in Florida at that time?—A. Xo, sir; he lived in 
South Carolina then. 

Q. And this old gentleman said that they were going to beat you in 
the middle ?—A. Yes, sir; and that was the general tenor of the speeches 
that night—that they did not care how we voted, they were going to 
beat us—“going to clean us out,” they said. 

Q. Did not the speakers on the other side say that they were going 
to beat too? . A. I don’t remember that they did. 

Q. Were you not sure of beating?—A. Yes, sir, if we had a fail- 
shake ; we always got a majority when we had fair play. 

10 s c 


146 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Cliailestou 


• Q. You said “You liad seen liow the tiling was before.” Wlien did 
you see how it was before!—A. No sucli words ever escaped my lips ; I 
am satisfied no such words es(?aped my lips. I never saw such a thing 
in my life till that day. I had no idea a man could do such a thing 
right straight out in that way. 


FRANK ir. P]ATON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1879. 

Frank II. Eaton (white) sworn and examined, 
lly the Chairman : 

Question. AYhere do you reside !—Answer. In Columbia. 

Q. Have you examined the returns in the office of the secretary of 
state, of the Palmetto Engine House,, ward 3, of this city of Charleston, 
as well as the poll-list!—A. I have. 

(^). Have you gh en it a careful examination!—A. I have given it a 
very careful examination. 

(^. Do you find any difference in the handwriting in the names upon 
the poll-list!—A. YYs, sir; 1 do. 

How many names are there upon the poll-list!—A. Allow me to 
refer to my memoranda ujion the subject [after referring to memoranda]; 
the number of names upon the poll-list is 3,509. 

Q. Of how many sheets is the i)oll-list composed !—A. There are 80J 
sheets—pieces of i>aper like that. 

Q. Written on both sides !—A. No, sir ; only on one side. You might 
call them pages. They are of different sizes. There are 80i iiieces of 
pa])er. 

Q. How much difference is there in size !—A. One is only a half sheet, 
another is three-quarters the size of a sheet of foolscap pa])er; of the 
others, some are legal-ca]), some are foolscap, some are on the regular 
])rinted forms furnished by the State, some are on regular x)rinted forms 
furnished to super^'isors. 

i}. How many are on the form furnished b}" the State!—A. I do not 
remember; 1 did not make any memoranda of that. 

Q. Did you examine as to the handwriting !—A. I did, very carefull 3 ^ 

il. You examined the originals sent up from here !—A. Yes, sir; at 
least, what was given me by the s*ecretary of state as being the originals. 

Q. State what you found on examination; how many kinds of hand¬ 
writing!—A. 1 don’t make any statements as an expert, for I don’t 
(*laim to be an expert. I give my opinion. There are, in my opinion, 
twenty ditterent kinds of handwriting. I do not say they are written by 
twenty different i)ersons, but certainly tlie writing was done by at least 
twelve diftei-ent persons. In the other cases, what appears to "be difier- 
<‘nt handwriting, might possibly be that of persons endeavoring to dis¬ 
guise their handwriting in difierent instances; but there are some 
l)eculiarities which could not possildy belong to the same person. 

Q. State why you thiidv there are at least twelve different persons’ 
handwriting upon that poll-list!—A. On account of the peculiarities of 
handwriting that could be distinguished upon examination; from the 
character of the letters; from the terminations of the letters ; from the 
general appearance of the letters noticeably running through theim I 
expended a whole day u])on this point—over four hours. One part ap- 
])eared to be in a lady’s handwriting. 



(’ounty.] 


TESTIMONY OF HENRY W. PURVIS. 


147 


Q. How many sheets were in a lady^s handwriting ?—A. At least half 
a dozen ; I don’t know how many sheets, hut I know how many names; 
1 made a memorandum of that. 

Q. How many names are there which you judge to have been written 
by a woman ?—xV. There are between 400 and 500; to be exact, 487. 

Q. Are they consecutive?—A. No, sir; they are not. 

Q. How do they appear ?—A. They appear in four different parts of the 
poll-list. For instance, the names in a lady’s handwriting are those 
from number 739 to 878; then another and different handwriting is found; 
after which the same hand, a lady’s hand, again appears from 949 to 
1078; again, from 1089 to 1290; again, from 1307 to 1438, making, in all, 
487 names, all scattered throughout the list as 1 have described. They 
are all you will see in the earlier part of the list. There are none in a. 
lady’s handwriting in the latter part of the list. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say you are not an expert?—A. I never graduated as an ex¬ 
pert, but I consider myself a good judge, having had a great deal of 
ex])erience in such matters. 

Q. Why do you judge that this was a lady’s hand?—A. Because it is 
a small hand, a running hand, possessing i)eculiarities which Ave usually 
see in ladies’ handwriting. 

Q. You judge it to be a lady’s hand because it is a small hand ?— A. 
1 don’t judge so altogether because it is small. It is a linear, floAving 
hand, such as none of you could doubt, if you Avere to see it, to be a 
lady’s hand. 

Q. Did you ncA^er see a long, flowing hand written by a gentleman?— 
A. Yes, sir; a hand something similar. 


HENRY W. PURVIS. 

Chaeleston, S. C., January 29, 1879. 

Henry W. Puea'I« (colored) sAvorn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Do you reside in this city ?—AnsAAW. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you a United States officer of election ?—A. I Avas. 

Where ?—A. At Hope Engine House, in this city. 

Q. How many names Avere on the poll-list kept by you and your 
cleih?—A. I have a memorandum of it, and the original poll-list kepj; 
by.myself and the supervisor re]iresenting the Democratic party, Mr. 
Proctor, I think his name aa as. This poll-list was kept by my clerk. 
The correct number of names after caiiAmssing the \mtes Avas 1,238 in 
the box, less by 08 Azotes than the managers of election had on their 
])oll list. I had on my poll-list 838 names. I did not arrive at the polls 
at the opening of them, I suppose it Avas some twenty minutes; they 
claimed I Avas'half an hour late. The difference betAveen the number of 
names on my poll-list and on theirs Avas 408, Avhich they claim Avas 
voted during the interim after the opening of the polls, and betbre 1 
got there. At the can Amassing of the votes, of the number found in the 
ballot-box, Mr. O’Connor received 710, and Mr. Mackey 522. I may as 
Avell state that my poll-list corresponded with the list kept by the other 
supervisor. The manner in Avhich the vote Avas caiiAmssed Avas one in 
which there could be no mistake made. The Democratic nmnager of 




148 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Cliarleslon 


olection there, Mr. Zimmerman, suggested that the supervisors should 
first canvass the Congressional votes. He and another manager of the 
election were selected to hand out all the straight tickets for Mr. O’Con¬ 
nor for Congress. I selected a Republican ; the deputy IJnited States 
marshal selected Mr. Folsburg to hand out all the tickets for Mackey. 
He handed me the straight Mackey tickets. As I called the name the 
Mackey tickets were taken by iny clerk and the other sui:)ervisor there, 
and handed me in packages of twenty. I handed these to another 
manager named Levin, and they corresponded. After the tally was 
done I said to the other supervisor, We better aggregate these with 
my clerk and see whether they corresimnd.” This was done, and it was 
found that they were alike.' After the canvassing of all the straight 
ballots, there were in the box a lot of tickets called, I believe, tissue 
tickets. They were 323 in number. I requested of the other supervisor 
that they might be kept separate. Tlie manner in which it was done— 
they were not handed out to me as the other ballots were, but were 
handed out in handfuls afterwards—was such that I didn’t feel satisfied, 
as an officer of the government, that I could compile the vote, and 
make a report of that sort of vote to the government, and I didn’t. I 
said to the other supervisor, I suppose we are through, and we may 
as well make our report.” He said, ‘^Certainly.” I asked him if he 
would make the same sort of a report I did, making a specialty of these 
323 tickets. He said, N^o,” and I made a separate report. There was 
nothing else wrong that I know of in reference to the election j every¬ 
thing was conducted peaceably. 

Q. How were the tissue ballots in the box ?—A. They were handed to 
me by the handful. 

Q. Were the tissue tickets found folded np, or loose and unfolded?— 
A. They Avere loose Avhen they were handed to me, being straightened 
out by the parties representing both parties in the election. As the 
representative of Mr. Mackey handed me twenty tickets, I handed them 
over. These tickets were handed to me by the handful. 

Q. Where were they taken from ?—A. From the bottom of the box ; 
they were the A^ery last tickets in the box. 

Q. Had they been taken out of the box before they were handed to 
you ?—A. I think not; I didn’t see that they had. 

By Mr. Ca^meron : 

Q. Had they been taken out of the box before thevhad been handed 
to you ?—A. No, sir; I could better explain it, perhaps, if I had some 
tickets. (Some tickets were furnished to the Avitness.) The tickets were 
tnken out of the box and unfolded until they got twenty. If they Avere 
for Mackey I think they handed them to me, and I took them and called 
‘‘Mackey.” They said, “One,” I said, “Mackey”: they said, “Two” 
“Mackey”; “Three,” “Mackey”; “Four”—taliied; and so on Avith the 
tickets. I counted these tickets, and handed them to the other managers 
from one, two, three, four, up to twenty. The other tickets Avere handed 
right out of tfie box unfolded to me in this Avay (indicating). 

Q. Why were these tickets not handed out to you as the other tickets ^_ 

A. I can’t ansAver it myself; Avhether they were fraudulently voted*or 
not I could not say. They must have voted those 4G8 within the hour 
as they say, and that is beyond the fastest voting. ’ 

Q. Hid you managers have more than one clerk ?—A. I think on sev¬ 
eral occasions some others did take the place of those they had there 

Q. But only one man at a time ?—A. That is all. 

Q. There was no objection to their having a clerk ?—A. Kone 


County. J 


TESTIMONY OF HENKY W. PURVIS. 


149 


Q. Did you see any tissue ballots on the table or around the polls ?— 
A. No, sir; there w as none there. The question has been asked if there 
was a tissue ticket on Mackey’s side. There w^as a thin paper ticket of 
the size of the regular Itepublican ticket. 

Q. When you got to the polls in the morning did you look at the poll- 
list that had been kept by the managers ?—A. I did not; I did have a 
statement of the nuud:)er of names which the clerk and the managers 
and my clerk read off; but I don’t know what has become qt‘ it; but 
the original return made by the managers w^as 1,310 names, the number 
of tickets in the box Avas 1,238. I called the attention of the mana¬ 
gers to the fact that time, and I made such a report as that to the chief 
of supervisors. I know^ nothing of the box since. 

Q. When did your clerk copy in all the names wdio had a oted before 
you got there at the polling-place; at the close of the polH—A. Yes, 
sir; it Avas some time during the day and night. 

Q. Did you learn how many persons had A oted before you got to the 
polls? —A. I inquired and my clerk told me 110. I haA^en’t the means 
of finding out Avhat the number Avas, but it seems to me that that Avas a 
large number. I don’t belicA^e that many men could be Amted in a half 
an hour ; I don’t belicA^e they could administer the oath and do it. I 
think it has been stated that a man can be Amted in a quarter of a min¬ 
ute. I don’t belicA^e that in administering the oath and barring the 
challenges it could be done in less than a minute or two. 

Q. There must huA^e been 468 before you got there ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
think the managers Avill find that number of tickets corresponded Avith 
the statement made here. There can’t be any question in reference to 
this tally-list, because it corresponded with that of the opponent. He 
kept a list, and in adding up this tally-list his corresponded Avith my 
clerk’s. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Who was the other United States super\isor?—A. I think his 
name wms S. G. Proctor. 

Q. Mr. Lucas Avas your clerk?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He had copied on to your poll-list names that he took from the 
other poll-list kept by the managers as given to him by the clerk?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Tliose said to liaA^e Amted before you came there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did not the number on your poll-list agree with theirs? —A. I took 
it only for my OAvn benefit. 

Q. Those added to the poll-list he kept for you made 1,310?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. So that Avhen he had copied on to the list the names that Avere on 
th6 poll-list kept by the managers before you went there, that those 
AAdiich Avere kept by your clerk after you w^ent there made a sum equal 
to theirs?—A. Yes, sir; there wms no difference between theirs and my 
OAvn before the closing of the polls. 

Q. Then Avhen he kept on that made a list equal to theirs?—A. It did. 

Q. Well, I will ask you if the straight, regular ballots Avere not all 
taken out of the box first?—A. They w^ere. 

Q. That necessarily in the bottom of the box wxre these tissue tick¬ 
ets?—A. They Avere found in the bottom. 

Q. Do you not think tliey Avould necessarily be found in the bottom ?— 
A. I think if vou put in your hand you took out any kind. 

Q. Being in the box, they would necessarily be in the bottom of the 
box^ Avould tliey not, after the others A\’ere taken out?—A. Yes, sir. 


150 


SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliaiiestoii 


Q. Yon say when they were taken out of the box they were separated 
and not folded in ?—A. They were not. 

Q. I will ask you, further, if there were not some double tickets found 
in the box when they were taking them out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In that case was not one of them kept and the other destroyed?— 
A. I don’t think any of them were kept j I would not be positive about 
that. 

Q. If tjiey did that, would not that account for the fact that there 
were fewer ballots to be counted finally than there were names on the 
poll-list, what number the tickets might have been?—A. I suppose so. 

Q. But the number of tickets taken out were onl^^ four which con¬ 
tained other ballots; did you make a statement of that kind?—A. I 
don’t know; I don’t think 1 did. 

Q. You kept no memorandum of the number of double tickets that 
were found in the box ?—A. I didn’t. This tally-list is all the memoran¬ 
dum I have kept. 

Q. Now I will ask you if when the tissue ballots were found in the 
box the managers did not ask you and the other supervisor what had 
better be done in regard to them ?—A. Yo, sir; they didn’t. 

Q. And if you did not say, Well, they had better be left until the others 
are counted, and then we will see about it ?”—A. Yo, sir; there was no 
others left. 

Q. I know that, when the others were all taken out; but I ask you if 
you did not say when the others were counted that you would see then 
what was to be done with the tissue ballots ?—A. Yo, sir; they asked 
me no such question. 

Q. Your clerk was there all the time ?—A. He was. 

Q. And had some opi)ortimity of seeing the way things were con¬ 
ducted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Caivieron : 

Q. Were you going onto state that the i)oll'list kept by yourself and the 
managers of election corresponded exactly after you got through?—A. 
Yes, sir; they did. 

Q. How many persons after you got there?—A. Eight hundred and 
thirty-eight. You will find that the number of votes kept by myself 
and the number of votes found in the ballot-box make a deficiency on 
the part of the managers and their poll-list. The 838 votes taken'and 
the real number of Congressional votes would be 915, I think, whicli 
makes an ^average of about 77 votes during my absence; 915, that 
would be 522 for Mackey, 313 for O’Connor. Yow, to give them the 
benefit of the half ticket they had, there could not be but 77 and a half 
votes cast; that is the list, and if anybody can disprove that list they 
must also disprove the other. There'is 310 returned by the managers, 
and deducting the four ballots which were found to co'ntain other bal¬ 
lots, makes 1,306. I agreed with them to tear up these four ballots. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The person who testified before you was your clerk?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were late in getting there in the morning ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you got there you inquired how many votes had been i)olled I — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many did he say ?—A. He said he thought about 110. 

Q. When you got through voting of course your poll-list, commencing 
at the time you got there, and the poll-list kept by the managers agreed 
from that time on?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. GREGG 


151 


Q. Now, liow many names (lid yonr clerk add to Lis list !—A. Well, 
lie must have added 468. 

Q. Instead ot 110 ?—A. Yes, sir. He didn’t add them to my list, but 
simplj/ requested that I should have the names of the parties who had 
voted before my arrival ux) to the time of my getting there, which Avas 

Q. You were told when you got there that 110 votes had been cast 
before you got there !—A. Yes, sir j so my clerk said. 

Q. W hen ;^'ou got there, and it became necessary to add names to 
a<icount for the difference between the two lists, it took 468 instead of 
110 !_A. It did. ' 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Then it the 468 A^oted at all, they must haA^e A^oted before you ffot 
there!—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Can 468 A'ote in half an hour ?—A. I think not; he had much ex¬ 
perience in the matter, but it is more than I can a ote. 

Q. You ha\"e had experience in clerical aa ork !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can a man write that number of names in an hour !—A. I don’t 
think he can. 

Q. You don’t think you AA’ere gone more than half an hour!—A. No, 
sir ; I don’t think I Avas that. 

By Mr .McDonald : 

Q. The poll-list you returned?—A. Yes, sir; I only returned the list 
I took myself; 1 didn’t use the others. 

Q. Ilou refused to adopt them?—A. Yes, sir; I didn’t turn them in. 


JOHN M. GBEGG. 


Charleston, January 21, 1870. 

John M. Gregg sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside !—AnsAver. In Charleston. 

Q. How long luiA^e you resided there !—A. All my life, sir. 

Q. Were you a super aTsoi* at the last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At Avhat precinct!—A. At the Eagle Engine House, the precinct 
in the 5th ward. 

Q. Charleston County I—A. Yes, sir. 

i},. Did you attend the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Please state aa hat took place.—A. On the morning of the election I 
arriA^ed at the polls about five o’clock. I met there some one or tAA'^o per¬ 
sons Avhom I supposed to be A^oters, but there were none of'the managers 
there at tliat hour. My clerk wms there, sitting doAvn on the edge of 
the sideAvadk. After a little the chairman of the board of managers of 
the precinct, Albert SteAvart, arrived. At six o’clock by Mr. SteAv^art’s 
Avatch the polls Avere opened, the ballot-box Avas unlocked, and exhibited 
to the parties around. There AAms nothing in it. I looked in the box, 
myself, Avith the others. Then the ballot-box Avas relocked and the bal¬ 
loting commenced. A considerable crowd had by this time assembled 
and increased rapidly. Two of the men AVT.re there, but no clerk. 
Mr. Stewart acted as clerk himself for an hour or so. My clerk took 



152 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


down tlie names of tlie voters as fast as ttiey came np. About an lionr 
and a half after tlie polls opened Stewart said he Avas informed that 
I Avas not alloAved a clerk. 1 told him I did not knoAV anything about 
it; that 1 Avas instructed by my chief supeiwisor to provide a clerk, 
and had done so; and I asked Avhere he got his information. He saiil 
the executive committee of the Democratic party had sent him Avord to 
that eifect. I told him I did not recognize the authority of that committee, 
because I Avas appointed by the United States supervisor, avIio had in¬ 
structed me to proAude a clerk. Mr. StOAA art and I being on friendly 
terms no unpleasant AAmrds jiassed betA^'een us; eA^erything Avent on 
ipiietly for about an hour longer, A^^hen Air. Gonzales, the Democratic can- 
(lidate on the ticket for the house of representatives, came there and 
seemed to be quite AA^arm. He had some consultation Avith SteAvart and 
the other managers, to Avhich I paid no attention, as my time Avas fully 
occupied. At last SteAvart came to me and said: “Your clerkAvill have 
to go.” I told him I AA^ould not discharge the clerk until I had instruc¬ 
tions from the chief suiieiwisor to do so. StcANmrt and I A\^ere friendly. 
Yothing turther aa^us said or done then, and my clerk retained his posi¬ 
tion. Some time afterAvard I again noticed a great deal of muttering 
among the Democrats, saying that they AA Ould not alloAV any Republican 
behind the bar. They had challengers, but Avould not alloAV me any. 1 
])ut in my protest, of A\diicli they took no notice AAdiateA^er. Some time 
later in the day, aa hile I Avas leaning OA^er (the balloting having tem- 
])orarily subsided), looking OA'er the Avork of my clerk, I heard the Amices 
of tA> o gentlemen, one of Avdiich I recognized as being that of Captain 
DaAA’son; he had come in Avith General Siegleurs. I heard him say to 
Mr. SteAAmrt, “That superAusor is not entitled to a clerk.” He said ho 
had the opinion of some of the best laAAyers in Broad street. Captain 
DaAA Son said, “That is so.” I said, “I A\ill examine into the matter and 
act accordingly.” DaAvson said if I didn’t dismiss my clerk the man¬ 
agers must liaAm him put out. Being of a peaceful disposition, I did not 
AAmnt any fuss, and I kneAv my clerk Avould not submit to be put out. 
Consequently, for the sake of peace, I asked my clerk to retire, and he 
did so before DaAA^son and Siegleurs left. At least he remoAmd from the 
table Avhere he had before been sitting. The remainder of the day 
the Democratic supervisor and myself alternated in keeping the 
l)oll-list. He Avrote for an hour or so, and then I Avould A^^rite for an hour 
or so, relieving him. While I Avas AAriting 1 could not see Avhat Avas 
going on at the ballot-boxes. It Avas impossible for any man to be SA\mar- 
ing in three or four voters and at the same time keeping an eye on the 
ballot-box. They AAmuld have as many as four svrorn at one time, A\diich 
Iprotested against; but my protests throughout the entire day amounted 
to nothing, and I did not make any fuss. So far as the managers and 1 
Avere concerned Ave got along very aa^cII, bnt other parties seemed to ex¬ 
ercise more authority OA^er the election than some of the managers as 
regards voting at the precinct. There Avere a number of persons (and 1 
think I can safely say all Republicans and all colored men) AAdio Avero 
denied the right to vote. They Avere denied that right on the ground 
that they liA^ed in the country. They said there AAms no i)recinct Avithin 
their reach, and that they had been instructed to come here and vote. 
Some of these came from Saint Mary’s Parish, some from James Island, 
and some from beyond the Six Mile House by our State road. The rule 
AAvas established that nobody should vote Avho lived beyond the Six Mile 
House. That rule Avas established for the lirst time that I CA^er heard 
of that day. I said to the managers, “Gentlemen, as I understand the 
hiAv, a man can vote anyA^here in the county ”; but they overruled me 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. GREGG 


153 


and establislied their own rnlej and I had no power whatever. There 
was no disturbance at the i^olls on that day, so far as I saw. Several 
arrests were made; the. cause I knew nothing of, as they occurred on the 
streets while I was sitting in the room where the voting was going on. 
AVliere I was seated everything was (piiet. I remained there from about 
six o’clock that morning until half past two o’clock the next morning. I 
accompanied the box to the city, saw it delivered to the commissioners 
of election, and then returned home. 

As to the counting, when the box was opened and that count was 
made 1,22(> votes were found in the ballot-box—or rather on the ])oll- 
list. AATien we unfolded the ballots and counted them out on the table, 
it turned out 1,384 ballots—an excess of 158 above the number on the 
poll-list according to my calculation. By the way, the managers’ poll- 
list and mine agreed exactly. The ballots, after being poured out upon 
the table and counted, were put back into the box. One of the managers 
(I think his name was Sarvis) was blindfolded, and drew out 158 tickets. 
I am not certain whether his name was Sarvis or Jarvis; it was some¬ 
thing like that. He was not the man whose name had appeared in the 
papers as one of the managers. I said he was blindfolded, but it Avas 
done in such a way that I had to protest. I Avill show yon how lie Avas 
blindfolded [illustrating]. Noav, gentlemen, this handkerchief is appar¬ 
ently OA^er my eyes; I cannot see you; but I can Awy easily see doAvui 
into that hat before me. AATien the tickets Avere i:)ut back Ave found a 
considerable number of these little tissue tickets. They are soft, and 
the difterence between them and the other tickets could be felt A^ery 
readily. The liepublican ticket was printed on thick, stiff paper. I did 
not count the number of Eepublican tickets taken out, but I judge 
(and I want to speak only of facts)—I judge that the excess draAvn out of 
the box Avere all, or the larger iiortion of them, Kepublicau tickets; I am 
sure of it, almost. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

On what kind of paper were the Democratic tickets printed ?—A. It 
was Avhite, but not as stiff' nor as thick as the Eepublican tickets. The 
Eepublican tickets Avere printed on extra stiff'paper, the Democratic 
tickets on soft paper. One could A^ery easily distinguish the Eepub¬ 
lican tickets from the tissue paxier tickets. The excess in the number 
of tickets Avas taken out by this manager aa ho was blindfolded. Then 
the count Avas resumed. I kept tally, so did the Democratic supervisor 
and the clerk of the board of managers. After the count Avas finished 
the result showed that O’Connor had receiA^ed 732 of the votes to 494 
for Mackey, making a total of 1,22G, thus agreeing Avith the poll-list. The 
managers then, after the count of Congressman was over, proceeded to 
count the vote of the other officers on the ticket, to which I paid no 
attention. I remained there, but I didn’t superAUse the count of the 
A otes of the other candidates, because that Avas none of my business. 
I had nothing more to do AAuth the election officially except to remain 
with the boxes until the final caiiAmss Avas made by the commissioners. 

By the Chairman : 

(^. You say some men were refused the xirhfilege of Acting ?—^A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv how many?—A. I did keep a memorandum iip to 
about twenty-fiA^e or thirty men ; after that time I could not do it and 
attend to my other business too. After they refused to allow me a clerk, 
I had as much as I could do to keep my poll-list Avithoiit paying atten¬ 
tion to anything else that was going on. 


154 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. AVhat questions were asked of those persons whose votes were re¬ 
fused ?—A. ]S^umerous questions; very singular questions. 

Q. Give an illustration of the kind of questions.—A. Well^ it the pe 
son appeared to be somewhat young, they would ask hoAV old he wa 
he would answer, perhaps, 21 or 22. Then they would ask him, “IIo 
do you know^’ And he would answer, “Because my father or nr 
mother told me so,” or, “Because it is so in a book at home.” Then the 
would ask him, “What year were you born in^’ And he would say in 
such a year; then they would ask him, “How do you know you were 
born insuch a year 

Q. W-ere there many questions asked of them ?—A. That was just ac¬ 
cording to the appearance of the person. When a man had the appear¬ 
ance of full-grown manhood no such questions were asked him. 

Q. You say some of the tissue ballots were found in there ?—A. Yes, 
sir; a goodly number. 

Q. How many?—A. I did not count them. 

Q. Have you any idea how mauy ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What kind of tickets were those tissue ballots—which party did 
they favor ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. Were any of these drawn out with the excess ?—A. I do not think 
there were. 

Q. Have you with you any specimen of those tickets ?—A. I do not 
think I have, sir. 

Q. 158 tickets were drawn out ?—A. Yes 

Q. Of which the majority, you think, were Mackey tickets?—A. I do 
not think there is any doubt about that; I do not think there is any 
doubt in the minds of the managers about that. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who is Siegleurs whom you mentioned ?—A. He is a gentleman 
on the ticket as candidate for State senator. 

Q. What were the politics of the managers of the election at that 
poll ?—A. They were all Democrats. 

Q. How many managers were there?—A. Three. 

Q. What are the politics of the clerk ?—A. The same, sir. 

Q. Then, so far as you know, none of the managers or clerks were Ee- 
publicans ?—A. I so understand; that is where I thought the unfairness 
of the thing came in. I had no assistonce, and they had five to my one. 

Q. What objection was made to your having a clerk?—A. None 
further than I have already stated. Stewart spoke to me about the 
matter. Captain Dawson spoke about it so that I eould hear. He said 
it was the opinion of some of the best lawyers on Broad street that I 
was not entitled to a clerk. 

Q. They did not claim that your clerk acted offensively or improp¬ 
erly?—A. No, sir; they could not say so; he was as quiet as any man 
could be. 

Q. What duty was he performing ?—A. Keeping the poll-list. 

Q. Was there room enough there for your clerk, or was he in the way 
of the managers ?—A. Not at all, sir; he was at a table alongside of the 
others. 

Q. Did you observe any of those tissue ballots when they were depos¬ 
ited?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was anything said about the voting of those tissue ballots during 
the day ?—A. I had heard nothing more than that they were going to 
be used. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. GREGG. 


155 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did you watch the ballot-box until your clerk went away ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue ballots put in before he left ?—A. 
No, sir ; but it is possible that some of them may have gone in, for 
these tissue tickets can be folded very small so that it is hard to detect 
them. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. In this State each voter deposits his own ballot, I understand ?— 
A. Yes, sir. • , 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Y^ou don’t hand the ticket to the managers ?—A. No, sir; each 
voter deposits his own ballot. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you ^ee any tissue tickets during the day of election in cir¬ 
culation around the ballot box?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear any of the Democratic managers at the polls say any¬ 
thing in regard to voting tissue tickets that day ?—^A. No, sir; "l did 
not. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you see anybody peddling or distributing tickets ?—A. No, 
sir; my duties kept me inside the building where the voting was going 
on. 

Q. When, on that day, did you first see tissue tickets ?—A. Not until 
the ballot-box was opened and the tickets turned out. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You said something about four i)ersons voting at once; Avhat did 
you mean by that?—A. I meant that the same oath that was adminis¬ 
tered to one was administered to four at the same time. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. From whom did you get your appointment as supervisor of elec“ 
tion ?—A. From Chief Supervisor Poinier. 

Q. Did any instructions accompany it, i)rinted or written ?—A. Y^es, 
sir; I had the laAV governing the matter. 

Q. Have you it with you ?—A. I think this is it. 

[The witness exhibits to the committee a circular entitled, Instruc¬ 
tions to supervisors.”] 

Q. Were you appointed to represent the Eepublican party at that poll, 
so far as the Congressional election was concerned?—A. Yes, sir; so 
far as the Congressional election was concerned. 

Q. You were not concerned in the State and city election ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Who had appointed you as suxiervisor?—A. George L. Holmes, I 
think, was his name. 

Q. At what time did he appear at the polls ?—A. I met him there, sir; 
when I got there he was there. 

Q. Who was the third manager of election ?—A. I think his name was 
John Barry. 

Q. Then the names of the three managers were Eobert Stewart, John 
Barry, and this young man Sarvds or Jarvis ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know them personally ?—A. I knew Barry and Stewart 


15G 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


personally; Sarvis was not the one published in the paper j he was a 
substitute for somebody. 

Q. He appeared there with the chairman ?—A. He came there alone, 
sir. 

Q. Sarvis and Stewart opened the polls, I understood you to say i— 
A. I think they did. 

Q. At what time did Mr. Barry come 1 —A. I do not remember. ^ 

Q. Were you and Holmes both seated at the same table ?—A. Kot at 
all times. When I got ui) he took his seat j when he got uj) I took 
his i)lace. 

• Q. Was not the clerk doing work for both*?—A. Mr. Holmes kept no 
tally list except jointly with me. 

Q. And while your clerk remained there the names were written by 
him?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And when he left you took that work ui)on yourself and kept it 
with ]Mr. Holmes alternately ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you inside of the i)olling place?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This was at the engine house?—A. Yes, sirj Eagle Engine House, 
in the fifth ward. 

Q. Was any part of the room divided off from the balance of it ?—A. 
Yo, sir; there was simply a triangular bar there where voters Aveut in 
one way and Aveut out the other Avay. Policemen Avere stationed there 
to keep back all except those who Avere Amting. 

Q. Were the managers iffaced about the table?—A. They were sit¬ 
ting down of course j one Avas sitting here [indicating], and the clerk 
there, and the other manager to the left. 

Q. Where Avas the ballot-box ?—A. It was standing on the table. 

Q. Voters came up in front of the table and the managers sat behind 
the table ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid the table extend back to the wall of the room ?—A. Ho, sir; 
there Avas a passage Avay on each side of the table. 

(^. And the space back of it was occupied by the supexA isors, man¬ 
agers, and clerk?—A. Yes, sirj when the clerk Avas there. 

Q. And by whom else ?—A. By the rallying committee of the Hemo- 
cratic party. 

Q. What amount of space was there?—A. It Avas a large hall, larger 
than this room—larger tlian these two rooms together. 

Q. Was the space behind the table as large as this room ?—A. Larger, 
sir. 

Q. What time in the day did your clerk leuA^e?—A. I did not take the 
time; it Avas about two hours after the polls opened. I should say he 
only serA^ed about tAvo hours, more or less. 

(^. Hid you hear how many names he had written doAvn?—A. Ho, 
sir ; I didn’t look; I supi^ose those of 200 or 300 Amters. 

Q. Hot more than tliat?—A. More or less; I didn’t count; in fact, I 
AAns at the time so much proAX)ked that I didn’t think of counting. I 
was provoked at the idea of their not allowing the clerk to remain. 

Q. By Avhom were you directed to keep a poll-list?— A. By the chief 
superAusor, avIio furnished me the printed regulations—the regulations. 

Q. Ilav^e you a copy of it?—A. Ho, sir; I gaA^e it to him. 

Q. Was there a list furnished to the Hemocratic sui^erA isor?—A. Yes, 
sir; similar to that AA'hich I had, but he neA^er used it; he said there was 
no necessity for tAvo. 

Q. You had confidence in him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. And he had confidence in you ?—A. I suppose so. 

Q. AVas this what Captain HaAvson said: that there was no authority 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OP JOHN M. GREGG. 


157 


of law for a clerk for tlie supervisors ?--A. I do not know that he used 
those words 5 he said he had the opinion of some of the best lawyers in 
Broad street to that effect. 

Q. Mr. Holmes had no clerk ?—A. N^ot to my knowledge. 

Q. No one was taking down the list for him?—A. Not that I know of. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Was there any authority conferred in those instructions author- 
izing you to employ a clerk f—A. No, sir j 1 did not see any. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. There were challengers there, were there not, who challenged the 
votes of men who came up, if they thought proper to do so ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. When men were challenged were they sworu by the challengers 
of the board of managers?—A. No, sir; only Avhen they Avere going to 
deposit their Amte in the box. 

Q. Was not that Avhen the challenge was made?—A. No, sir; the 
challenge was made before. 

Q. When a Amte was challenged, then the managers heard the cause 
of the challenge ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Heard the ground stated ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then was the A^oter challenged?—A. If they Avere satisfied that 
he Avas entitled to Amte they SAvore him. 

Q. They first decided that he Avas entitled to A^ote, and then swore 
him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they swear him for then?—A. Tlie laAVrequired that he 
should swear that he was a resident of the county and entitled to A^ote. 
Ev^ery a oter was sworn, whether he AAms challenged or not. 

Q. This swearing of three or four at tlie same time was when they 
presented themseh^es toAmte and no objection Avas made?—A. Yes, sir; 
the managers did that for their OAvn conA^enience, but I didn’t like it 
very much. 

Q. I am not asking Avhether you liked it or disliked it; Avas the same 
oath required of all of them? — A. Yes, sir; the same oath that aa'us in¬ 
tended for one was put to three or four. 

Q. The same oath to each voter?—A. Yes, sir; whether administered 
to one or to a dozen—it was the same oath to all. 

Q. Sometimes, you say, as many as four would be sworn at the same 
time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Taking the same oath as to their qualifications ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then each one Avould deposit his ballot in turn ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did not more than one Amte at a time ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. But more than one took the oath of qualification at the same 
time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the oath to Avhich you haA^e referred?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you recollect at what time Captain Dawson spoke to you about 
your clerk?—A. No, sir; I didn’t obserA^e the exact time. 

Q. Was it not as late as one o’clock ?—A. Possibly; I do not remem¬ 
ber, sir; it might have been ; I do not know. 

Q. You say that after your clerk went away you kejit the poll-book a 
])art of the time and your Democratic colleague the balance of the time. 
How did you take down the names—as the voter put his ticket in the 
l)allot-box ?—A. No, sir; when he gave it, the name had to be recorded 
on my list and on the managers’ list, before he Avas alloAved to vote. 

Q. Did Ids name have to be recorded on your list first?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You asked tliat as a right?—A. Yes, sir. 


158 


SOUTH CAKOUINA IN 1878, 


[Charleston 


Q. Then yon wrote down his name before he voted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And after yon wrote his name down he put his ticket in tlie bal¬ 
lot-box?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What prevented your seeing him x)ut the ticket in the ballot-box?— 
A. I could not see him because I had to be writing. I checked the names 
as they voted. 

Q. Ho you saw them as they voted?—A. i^ot always. 

Q. You checked them as they voted ?—A. Their names were called. 
As the name of John Smith, for instance, was called, I wrote down 
‘Mohn Smith.” 

Q. Then they would say Peter Jones,” and you would write down 
the name ‘‘Peter Jones,” and so on?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, when Mr. Holmes was writing down the names that left you 
entirely jfree to see what was going on?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say your iiolMist and that of the clerk agreed in showing 
J,22G voters on the poll list?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But there were 1,384 ballots in the box when it came to be exam¬ 
ined?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Showing an excess of 158 votes?—A. AAs, sir. 

Q. Who did you say drew the 158 ballots out of the box?—A. One of 
the managers, I think, Mr. Sarvis. 

Q. Did you not notice closely who it was?—A. I know who it was, 
but I am not certain as to his name. 

Q. When the tickets were put back in the box, were they not shaken 
up?—A. I do not remember wliether they were or notj they were imt 
in ])romiscuously. 

Q. All thrown into the box again?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then this man was blindfolded in the maimer you speak of, 
and drew 158 of them?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they not put into a sack or something?—A. They were i)ut 
into a hat. 

Q. You saw them?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see the ballots themselves ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you inspect them?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Did you see the face of any one of those ballots?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Could you see them in the hat?—A. I saw them as they Avere 
thrown in. 

Q, Do you recollect seeing any one of those tickets so as to know 
wliat Avas on it?—A. I cannot say; I judged by the size only. 

(}. And nothing else?—A. Xothing else. 

Q. AYhat you call the regular liepublican ticket was printed you say 
on stiff paper; was it AAuiting paper or this common book paper? —A. 

J think it Avas common book i)aper; I did not examine except to see that 
it Avas A^ery stiff’ paper. 

Q. Such as neAvspapers and books are printed on?—A. O, no, sir; not 
like neAYSi)aper, by any means. 

Q. Dll Avhat were the regular Democratic tickets printed—those that 
Avere not tissue tickets?—A. On smaller sized paper than the Eepubli- 
caii ticket—shorter and narroAver. 

Q. Were they printed on the same character of paper?—A. Xo, sir. 

(,). What Avas the difference, betAveen them?—A. The paper upon 
Avliich they Avere printed Avas softer, sir; I could easily distinguish them 
by the shape. 

Q. Did you try it?—A. Yes, sir; after it was OA^er. 

Q. Did you shut your eyes to see Avhether you could tell one from the 
other by the touch?—A. Xo, sir; but I am very sure I could. 


County. J 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. GREGG. 


159 


Q. Bntyoii didn’t try ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. So it is a guess whether you could or not, after all?—A. I am sat- 
islied that I could, sir. 

Q. You say that on the count as it was made up officially Mr. O’Con¬ 
nor received 732 and Mr. Mackey 494?—A. Yes, sir. 

,Q. Then there was a majority in the ballot-box for O’Connor any¬ 
how?—A. Yes, sir; after they were put back. 

Q. But 732 is a majority of all the ballots originally in the box?—A. 
IS^o,, sir. 

Q. Certainly it is; 732 is more than half of 1,384, and that constitutes 
a majority?—A. I do not so regard it. 

Q. Is not 732 more than half of 1,384?—A. I do not so regard it. Bear 
in mind, we didn’t count for O’Connor and Mackey on the first count. 
We counted simply to compare the number of ballots in the box with 
the number of names on the poll-list. 

Q. Of those that remained in the box after returning to the box those 
which the manager when he was blindfolded had not luckcd out, 732 
were for O’Connor; and is not 732 more than half of 1,384 ?—A. It might 
be, but I didn’t figure it out that way. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The whole number in the box should be 1,22G?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Mackey. But what O’Connor had was a majority not only of those 
that were pat back in the box, but of all that were found in the box. 

Mr. Cameron. But you are assuming that Mackey had Jioue of those 
stuffed ballots. 

Mr. McDonald. No, I am testing the witness’s knowledge of these 
facts. You say that after the handkerchief was bound on this man’s 
eyes he could see what Avas in that hat?—A. I judged so and I told hiui 
so. 

Q. Did you examine to see how he was bandaged?—A. I looked at 
him, and I said that that was not the way to blindfold a man. 

Q. What did the managers on the other side say?—A. Nothing at all. 
They paid no attention to me and went right on. In fact, they paid no 
attention to anything I said through all that day. 

Q. Did you examine to see Avhetlier the handkerchief Avas bound so as 
to really blind him ?—A. I stood near enough to satisfy myself that he 
could see. I know I could if I had been fixed in the same aa ay. 

Q. How near AA ere you to him Avhile he was draAving out those tick- 
ots?—A. I was standing right alongside of him the whole day. Mon^ 
than that I had to i)rotest further. While draAving out the ballots he 
felt around in the hat, and I have Avitnesses to prove that he felt a long¬ 
time, so that I said “You haA^e no right to be feeling around aiidpicking 
oat ballots in that Avay ; all you have to do is to put your hands on the 
tickets and bring them out Avithout selecting one kind instead of 
another.” 

Q. If he could see, Avhat was the use of feehng ?—A. My vieAv of it 
was that he did both together to make the matter more secnre. 

Q. You are (piite certain he could see ?—A. I knoAV he could. 

Q. You knoAV that you could if the bandage Avas put on your eyes as 
they bandaged him?—A. Yes, sir; in the loose way that bandage Avas 
put on. 

Q. Do you recollect Avho tied the bandage OA^er his eyes?—A. I think 
the chairman of the board, Mr. Stewart; it Avas very carelessly and 
loosely done, sir; 

Q. You made a good many objections that day?—A. I had to object. 


IGO 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


[ Chaileston 


Q. But you made a good many objections ?—A. When occasion de¬ 
manded; I did according to my instructions. I entered my i^rotest. I 
was there as an officer sworn to do my duty, and I did it. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. What did you consider your duty that day ?—A. The duties that are 
laid down by the law to be performed by the supervisor of election; to 
supervise the election of Congressmen for this district. 

Q. Bid you consider yourself there as a partisan or as a United States 
officer?—A. As a United States officer. I did not exercise any i)arti6an 
feeling. 

Q. You said the Bemocratic managers would not allow you to have 
your ralliers there ?—A. I meant the ralliers of the Eei)ublican party. 

Q. What had you to do, as United States supervisor, with the ralli¬ 
ers of any i^olitical party?—A. I considered I had a right to see justice 
done to the Kepublican party. 

Q. Then a part of the time you acted as United States supervisor and 
a i)art of the time you acted as a Eepublican x>olitician?—A. No, sir; I 
acted all the time as United States supervisor. I wanted the Eepubli¬ 
can x)arty to have Avhatever i)rivileges, under the law, the Bemocratic 
l)arty had. 

By Mr. McBonald : 

Q. Were not a majority of the people around the polls that day col¬ 
ored peoi)le?—A. Early in the morning that was the case, but after the 
day grew on they found there was no use of their being there, and many 
of them went away. 

Q. Y^ou say they found there was no use of their being there; why 
was there no use of their being there ?—A. I supx)Ose so, sir; for they 
went away. 

Q. I asked you why there was no use of their being there?—A. They 
could not get u]) to use their intiuence; if a man said anything to a voter 
he was snatched off to the guard house. 

Q. Bid they not keep a line there?—A. They did in the morning; 
later in the day they did not. 

Q. After election did you join in a certificate in regard to that election 
being properly carried on?—A. I joined in a certificate as to the result 
of the election; a certificate of the correct count as it came out of the 
box. I knew what I was doing, sir, j^erfectly well. 

Q. You speak about persons being challenged and not permitted to 
vote; about a great many persons being turned away because they didn’t 
live within a certain distance of that precinct. Bid you keep any note 
of these persons so as to know how many there were of them ?—A. I did 
not. I have here a rough memorandum of twenty that was taken when 
I had time to do it. I marked them here [indicating] rejected. 

Q. You do not say for what cause these twenty were rejected?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Bo you know how many of them were rejected because they did 
not live within the distance from the }>recinct which the managers thought 
they ought to live ?—A. I did not keep an account of those that were 
rejected for tliat particular cause. I think the majority of them were 
rejected for that cause. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. How many of this rallying committee did the Bemocrats have ?— 
A. I think ten or fifteen. 

Q. Where did they have them ?—A. Inside the polling-place. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. GREGG. 


161 


Q. Where your clerk had been ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they stay there all day ?—A. Some of them did not; they re¬ 
lieved each other; there was somebody there for that purpose all day. 

Q. hen a challenge was made was the challenged party sworn ?—A. 
i^o, sir. 

Q. And if the managers decided that the person making ai>plication 
to vote was not rightfully a voter, he was not sworn at all A. Yo, sir. 

Q. They did not swear him as to his qualifications ?—A. i^^o, sir. 

Q. If it was decided that he was not a voter, they dismissed him ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Then his oath did not determine his qualifications ?—A. They did 
not take his oath; his testimony was not taken. 

Q. Did you examine those tissue ballots ?—A. I did, after the box was 
opened. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When a man challenged a voter what did the man who made the 
challenge say or do ?—A. He simply said, “ I object to this man’s voting”; 
and he gave the reason why he objected; as, for instance, he does not 
live in this ward, or in this precinct; or he has voted already; or he is 
not old enough to vote; but the challenger was not sworn on that state¬ 
ment at all. 

Q. Then did they swear the man Avho wanted to vote?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. If the managers were satisfied that he had no right to vote he was 
dismissed?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. In the testimony-in-chief you said a good many young men were 
challenged and questioned as to whether theyAvereof age; Avho did this 
questioning?—A. Generally the managers. 

Q. Then the managers did question?—A. Sometimes; but the objec¬ 
tion to his right to vote was always made by the challengers. 

Q. But the facts were ascertained by the managers ?—A. Kot always; 
I objected. 

Q. But in the case of young men who seemed to be under age you say 
the managers asked questions ?—A. The managers did not always; the 
ralliers took part as Avell as the managers. 

Q. Did not the managers ask him* where he Iwed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And from the statements of the party challenged and others they 
<lecided upon his right to vote ?—A. But the statements were not made 
under oatli. 

Q. Was the custom in this regard different from what it had been at 
elections heretofore ?—A. So far as regards asking when and where they 
Avere born, &c., it was. 

(}. Heretofore you haA’^e had Republican managers ?—A. Yes, sir; and 
heretofore both parties liad an opportunity to challenge; but the chal¬ 
lenging Avas all on one side tliis time. 

Q. Was it not the custom AAdien a portion of the managers were Re¬ 
publicans to administer the oath to tAvo or three at the same time ?—A. 
I have seen it done frequently. 

Q. Is it not gWen in here?—A. Yes, sir; whenever the polls are 
croAvded it is done to facilitate the Acting; at least, I belieA^e that is 
what it Avas done for. The only difference is in ordinary elections, 
municipal and State, there is no supeiw isor, and no iKill-list required to 
be kei)t. 

Use 


162 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Were not the Kepiiblican managers in the habit of rejecting voters 
on the same reasons as those for which voters were rejected at this elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I think not, sir. We took every pains to find out the facts in 
the case, and if a man really had a right to vote he was allowed to vote. 
I have gone so far as to send a manager to the residence of a party to 
obtain the facts. 

Q. But you did not swear them ?—A. I never did. 

Q. The same practice jirevailed in that respect that prevailed in this 
last election —A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. In regard to these tissue ballots, were th^y all Democratic tickets !— 
A. 1 have never seen a single Republican one. I have handled several, 
but I saw no Republican tissue ballots; all were Democratic tickets. 

Q. Did you ever see any tissue ballots before this last election ?—A. 
No, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Do you know where they came from ?—A. No, sir; the first I ever 
saw of them was when the box was ojiened. I had heard it whispered 
that they were being used. 

Q. Do you know where they were iirinted ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You say that an elector, as you understand the law, has a right to 
Amte at any voting place in the county ?—A. Yes, sir j at a Congres¬ 
sional election. 

Q. What reasons did the managers at the poll where you were assign 
for refusing to let those yote who did not reside in that precinct—A. 
They gave no reason. They simply made the objection that they did 
not reside in that precinct. They said they must go and vote in the 
lirecinct where they lived. 

Q. If the law authorizes them to Amte at any Acting place, what rea¬ 
son did they give why they should not be allowed to do so !—A. I can¬ 
not say. They arranged the matter to suit themselves. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Can you state whether any colored men, Republicans, residing 
within the limits of the distance of the Six-mile House, were denied the 
right to vote—A. I think there Avere. 

Q. GiA^e the names of any. —A. I could not furnish the names just 
noAv. I think I could later in the day. 

Q. You say as superAUSor you made a statement of the result ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you or did you not make a supplemental statement, setting 
forth in detail what occurred in connection with that election?—A. I 
made a statement to the superAusor of Avhait transpired around the polls 
that day. 


WALTER ELEE. 

Charleston, S. C., Jammry 22, 1879. 
Walter Elfe (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—AnsAver. 17 Harris street, in this 
city. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF WALTER ELFE. 163 

Q. IIow long liave you resided here ?—A. All my life—for twenty-five 
years. 

Q. Were yon supervisor of election at the last election ?—A. I was. 

Q. At Avhat precinct?—A. The Washington Engine House, ward G. 

Q. Was there a Democratic supervisor there also—yon were the Ee- 
pnhlican?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was he !—A. It was Mr. E. M. Wilson. 

Q. Who were the managers of election ?—A. One was Mr. J. II. L. 
Teller; another, S. P. Bennett; and Mr. Eivers. 

Q. Who was the clerk?—A. I don’t know5 I think his name was 
Conklin g. 

Q. What were the politics of these men ?—A. They were Democrats, 
to the best of my knowledge. 

Q. All of them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yow you may state whatever occurred during the day, commencing 
with the inorning.—A. I arrived at the polls, having engaged a clerk 
the day before. I took him there, and there was an objection raised to 
his acting as clerk. 

By Mr. Ca^ieron : 

Q. Who raised the objection ?—A. The managers. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. For what purpose did yon have a clerk ?—A. To keep my poll-list 
and to assist me in keeping my tally-list. 

Q. And what objection was urged to his presence ?—A. There was no 
particular objection urged—simply they would permit no clerk there, or 
something to tliat eftect. I yielded, and proceeded to keep my own 
X)oll-list. 

Q. Was tliere room enough for your clerk?—A. Yes, sir; because I 
occupied the table that I intended for my clerk; and there would have 
been room enough for him, because I would have stood up 

Q. Tell how the election was conducted; state in detail just what 
occurred._A. Yothing special occurred immediately except the objec¬ 

tion to my clerk, but during the day the managers and the rallyers out¬ 
side refused a great many colored voters from depositing their ballots 
on various pretexts; some on account of their age, because they could 
not tell wliat year they were born in; some because they were living in 
Saint Andrew’s Parish and came here to vote, and they were told that 
tliey could not vote here because they did not live in this ward. That 
was general through the day. The election was conducted all day long 
just that wav, and at niglit, when the time for closing up the polls had 
'arrived, and at which the balloting was closed, the door was closed and 
barred on the inside. 

Q. Let me ask you how many voters were thus turned away during 
the day.—A. Eighty-one. 

Q. Did you keep a list?—A. Yes, sir. * . 

Q. You spoke of Saint Andrew’s Parish; where is that?—A. Eight. 

across the Ashley Eiver. at .u • 

Q. Was there any voting in Saint Andrew’s Parish?—A. JNot 111 the 
part of the ward these men came from. That precinct was abolished 
by the legislature. 

Q. In Avhat other part of Saint Andrew’s Parish was there one A. 
In the lower part, I think. 

Q. What distance did they come to vote ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Yow yon may go on with the statement of what occurred. 


164 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1678 


[ Charlestou 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Wlio were in the room when the count was made!—A. There were 
only tlwee Kepublicans in the room. 

Q. Were you one?—A. Yes, sir; there were about 30 or 40 Demo¬ 
crats. The count was commenced, and the number of ballots in the box 
was found to be 865. There were 946 names on the poll-list, 81 of which 
were rejected, leading 865 votes. The managers proceeded to count the 
ballots,* and found they corresponded with the names on the list, less the 
rejected votes. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. That is, the managers had on their list 865 names?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yon found 865 ballots in the box?—A. Yes, sir; when about 
60 votes had been counted they said they would count the vote for 
Mackey as Congressman first, and they counted them in batches of tens. 
When they came to a vote for O’Connor they would lay that aside. I 
think 10 or 12 were thus laid aside. When they counted about 60 votes 
the gas-lights went out. 

Q. How did they go out?—A. I don’t knoAV. 

Q. llow many of those 60 Amtes Avere for Mackey?—A. They were 
counted for Mackey, and seA^eral had been laid aside to be counted for 
O’Connor afterwards. The gas-lights went out three times, and during 
the interval betAveen each time it Avent out about 7 or 8 Azotes were 
(counted, and AA^hen that gas AA ent out the last time they had laid aside 
7 tens for Mackey. There Avere candles burning there, and AAdien the 
lights Avent out the last time the candles Avere bloAAm out. At that time 
I heard tlie ballot-box fall on the floor. I aa as standing in the room, by 
the back aa indow, and I saAv a man get out of the back aa indoAA', and got 
out myself. 

Q. Wliy did you get out?—A. Because that was the only opening I I 
saAA", and there Avas considerable confusion in the room. I heard the 
clicking of pistols, or a noise that 1 thought AA^as that, and the room was 
in total darkness. 

Q. What time of night Avas it?—A. About nine o’clock, although I ] 
cannot say anything about the time, as I didn’t liaA e my watch with me 
that day. 

Q. Did you come back?—A. Ko, sir; I AAent home. 

What became of the ballot-box ?—A. I don’t know. 

(i. Was any return made from that precinct ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you kept any watch of the Amte during the day, so as to form ) 
any opinion as to hoAv it stood ?—A. Yes, sir, I watched it; and I judge 
there was about five Republican to one Democratic vote in the box. 

Q. Do you knoAv Avhether there was any return made from that pre¬ 
cinct?—A. There AA^as none made. 

Q. Were any proceedings taken to determine AAho had disturbed the 
count in that Avay?—A. No, sir; except a statement made by myself to 
. the chief superAusor. 

Q. Was anybody arrested?—A. No, sir. ! 

Q. Have you been called upon to testify in any court in regard to it ?— : 
A. No, sir; not at all. ; 

Q. What is the population of that precinct, white or black?—A. It is | 
mostly black—that is, the A^oting population. 

Q. You had been obseiwing the vote closely during the day?—A. Yes, 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF WALTER ELFE. 


165 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did the managers give any explanation of the going out of the 
lights?—A. No, sir, they did not; in fact, 1 have never seen them since. 

Q. I mean on that evening ?—A. No, sir; they simply said, “ Wliat is 
the matter with that meter? It wants some water in it; put some water 
in the meter.’’ I don’t know if any water was put in it. They had some 
candles on the table, and the same thing occurred about two or three min¬ 
utes after, when the lights went out the third time. 1 think they were 
out four times, and the candles were put out. 

Q. Did you see them do it?—A. I observed one man have a candle in 
his hand; that is the oidy one I noticed. There were three candles 
burning. 

Q. Do you know whether the managers have taken any steps toward 
punishing the persons who destroyed the box?—A. 1 don’t think they 
have. 

Have you heard that any prosecutions were commenced in the 
State courts here to punish them ?—A. No, sir; I have not. 

By the Chairman : 

(^. No notice of it in the papers ?—A. No, sir; no notice that I saw. 

Q. Did they comment on it ?—A. The day after the election I saAv an 
advertisement that the box had been stolen; that was all. I never saw 
any statement in regard to that precinct count. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. This was in the Washington Engine House precinct, ward G. AVas 
there more than one precinct in that ward ?—A. Yes, sir; there were 
two. 

Q. In what part of the (uty is that ward ?—A. In the upper part of 
the city. 

Q. AVhere is the end of that iiarish with reference to tliat Avard and 
to the polling i>lace ?—A. AVest of it. 

Q. Hoav far ?—A. About three or four miles across the Ashley Kiver; 
that is about a mile or a mile and a half wide. 

Q. AA^ith regard to these 81 persons that you say Avere turned away 
and not alloAved to vote. Hoav many of them were turned off because 
they Avere decided by the managers to be under age ?—A. I don’t knoAv 
hoAV many; a good many of them. Some of them Avere ai)pareutly of full 
age. 

Q. I didn’t ask that, but I Avant to know how many were rejected by 
the managers because they Avere not of age ?—A. I did not keep account 
of them. 

Q. AVere there as many as ten?—A. Probably, sir. 

Q. Alore ?—A. I can’t say. 

Q. How many were rejected because they lived in Saint AndreAv’s 
Parish ?—A. I can’t tell that directly. 

Q. As many as ten ?—A. Probably. 

Q. Alore or less?—A. Maybe more, maybe less; I cannot say posi- 
tiA'ely. 

(i. Then you have no definite idea of how many were rejected on 
account of their residence in another ward, or how many Avere rejected 
because they were not able to give satisfactory evidence that they Av ere 
of age?—A. No, sir. 

(,i. When the ballots Avere first take out of the box, they were taken 
out and counted A\ithout being opened?—A. Yes, sir; they Av^ere not 
opened to be counted. 


166 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. They counted them first to see if they corresponded wdth the number 
of the names on the poll-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Before they commenced to make a canvass of them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon see the inside of the ballots —A. Do yon mean the names 
on the ballots 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. Not while they were counting. 

Q. Did you at any time ?—A. I did when they were tallying. 

Q. They had tallied 60 when the lights first went out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that those 60 were the only ones on which yon saw the names I— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, how many of the other ballots that yon did not see?—A. I 
judged by the voters. 

By their being colored voters ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There were very few white persons voting at this poll ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Have yon estimated the colored vote as all Eepnblican!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. That is the way yon got at that estimate of 5 to 1 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say that when they commenced to canvass the ballots they 
decided to count those that had been cast for Colonel Mackey first ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And laid aside those for O’Connor till they should get through ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that they had laid aside 10 or 12 votes, more or less ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon count them ?—A. I believe not. They were laid aside to 
be counted afterwards. 

Q. There might have been more than that ?—A. Yes, sir; there miglit 
have been more; but there were about 10 or 12 ^ they were very few in 
comi)arison to the number of votes counted. 

Q. You say there were three candles on the table ?—A. Yes, sir; but 
not on that table. The clerk of the board of managers who was sitting 
about twelve feet from us had one. 

Q. He Avas keeping the tally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He had one or tAvo candles ? And hoAv many Avere there at the 
table AA^here the board of managers was sitting !—A*. One or tAvo. I was 
standing right by them. 

Q. You did not sit doAvn ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you sit doAvn Avlien the count aa us made of the ballots in the 
box ?—A. 1 cbd not. 

Q. They Avere found to agree, as I understand you, witli the number 
of names on the i)oll-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that there were only as many votes put in the box as names 
entered on the poll-list as having Amted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that it AAms about nine o’clock AA'hen the gas went out ?— 
A. About that. 

Q. No one turned it oif in the room there as fiir as you could see ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. It must have been turned off from some connection outside?_A. 

No; it might have been turned off* in the room. 

Q. You did not see that, though.—A. No, sir. 

Q. It just Avent out suddenly ?—A. Suddenly. 

Q. Then it was not entirely dark, but light enough for you to see?— 
A. Yes, sir, except AA^hen the candles went out, too. 

Q. Was the gas relit immediately upon its going out?_A. Yes sir 

as soon as possible. ’ ^ 


County,] TESTIMONY OF WALTER ELFE. 167 

Q. Was there any difficulty about lighting it ?—A. I don’t think so. 
The gas took tire right off. 

Q. The stops inside had not been turned? They just put the candles 
to the burners and they lit ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When the candles were put out, as well as the gas, which was put 
out first ?—A. The gas. 

Q. Where were you standing then ?—A. I was standing near the small 
door that I mentioned in my statement. 

Q. How many Republicans were in there then ?—A. There were three 
beside myself that I know of. There was another one before that, but 
I think he went out. There were certainly three, and they were stand¬ 
ing right near me. 

Q. Where were you in reference to the candles at the time they went 
out ?—A. I was in the same i)Osition during all the time they were count¬ 
ing. I was just near enough to see the ballots taken out of the box. 

Q. Did you see who disturbed the candles or put them out ?—A. I 
could have seen if I had noticed. I saw one man with a candle. 

Q. Was it burning then ?—A. It was, because he lit the gas with it. 
That same man lit the gas twice with it. 

Q. Do you know that he did not take up the candle to relight the gas 
he had done before ?—A. I think he attemi)ted to light it just before the 
candle light went out. 

Q. Do you think he attemi)ted to light it again ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you don’t know that he put out the lights at all ?—A. He 
seemed to be trying to keep it up—I don’t know. 

Q. Well, as far as you saw him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you heard the ballot-box fall on the floor. How do you 
know it was the ballot box ?—A. Well, I judge by the noise I heard 
on the floor. 

Q. The last time you saw the ballot-box it was on the table ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And the managers were engaged in making a canvass of the votes ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you saw some one leaping out of the window, and you fol¬ 
lowed suit ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yow, you spoke about hearing the click of pistols. Did you hear 
anything that you could recognize as the click of a pistol ?—A. Y es, sir; 
I did. 

Q. It might have been a knife ?—A. It might not have been a pistol, 
as well as it might not have been a ballot-box that I heard on the floor. 

Q. You have never been back to see whether it was a ballot-box or 
not ?—A. Ko sir. 

Q. Xor to see what has become of it?—A. ISTo, sir; I have not. 

Q. It may be there yet on the floor or the table.—A. It may be. 

Q. Were not a great many of the colored iieople there that day un¬ 
known to you?—A. Yes, sir; there was. 

Q. Did you ever see as many colored iieople coming from the country 
before as there were on that occasion ?—A. I think I have. 

Q. Were not a great many there that were entire strangers to you— 
new faces to you ?—A. YTes, sir. 

Q. Had you been quite familiar with that ward and the persons m it ? 
YYere you "not assigned to the supervisorship of that ward because of 
your great knowledge about it ?—A. I don’t think I was on that ac¬ 
count. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Had you any intimation from any source before the lights went 


168 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Charleston 


out that there might he trouble ?—A. Yes, sir, I had. I heard during 
the day that trouble was anticipated, but I don’t remember what kind 
of trouble. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. There was another voting place in that ward ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did the most of the white voters in that ward vote f—A. I 
can’t say. 

Q. Well, from information.—A. I understood they voted down town 
somewhere, at ward 3, but not more than 50 of them voted at the Wash¬ 
ington engine-house, Avard 6, at my ward. 

(^. Who said they had voted mostly at ward 3 ?—A. I think it was 
said in the IS^ews and Courier. 

By Air. Kirkavood : 

Q. AVas the ballot-box lost at Avard 3 ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. The ballot-box, as far as the colored A'oters was concerned, was 
destroyed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The ballot-box Avhere the aa hite voters polled was not destroyed ?— 
A. Yo, sir. 

By Air. Randolph : 

Q. AYas there any other ballot-box destroyed in the city I—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. And there were various other colored A^oters at other Avards than 
this ward I—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You spoke a little Avhile ago of their objection to your huA'iiig a 
clerk. Did the Democratic supervisor haA e a clerk I—^A. Yo, sir; he 
did not. He did not contend tor it. There was no objection raised as 
to his liaAung one. 


G. H. DAYTZAIAYY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1S79. 

G. H. Dantzaiann (Av hite) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairaian : 

Question. AA^ere you present at anj^ of the A^oting places at the last 
election!—Answer. Yes, sir; I was superAusor at the Alarion Engine 
House, ward (i. 

Q. State what occurred on the day of election at that poll.—A. I ar- 
riA^ed at the poll about half past tiA^e or six o’clock on the morning of 
the election, myself and clerk. After being there a little while the man¬ 
agers and the Democratic superAusor anWed. AA^e stood there until six 
o’clock, when the polls were opened. The Democratic superAusor, with 
whom I was acquainted before, introduced me to the board of managers. 
They asked who the other man was. I said he was a clerk whom I 
had engaged. They said that they Avere authorized to haA^e no one in 
the building but the commissioners of election and the superAusors. I 
asked what objection they could haA^e. I told them it was almost im¬ 
possible for me to superAuse the election and do the clerical Avork prop¬ 
erly. The chairman of the board said that the Democratic executiA^e 
committee had demanded that nobody should be allowed inside but the 
clerk of the managers. They rejected mine, and I was instructed to 
keep a poll-list, which, lioweA’er, 1 did not do. 

Q. AAHiynot ?—A. I could not conA^eniently; it was next to impossible 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF C. H. DANTZMANN. 


16 & 


to keep the poll-list and superiiiteiul the voting. I have had some ex¬ 
perience in this matter, and to conduct the election properly without a 
clerk I could not. I placed myself in a position Avhere I coidd see the 
votes that were polled; and 1 should say that after the polls were opened 
a very large number of colored votes a\ ere taken. The voting went on 
quietly until half an hour after the polls were opened. The chairman, 
R. 0. Barclay, then commenced challenging votes on the simi)le ground 
that the men whom he was challenging had been seen in line at ward 8. 
I protested against their votes being refused for this reason. I said, 
‘‘Gentlemen, if you challenge votes, you must do it on some specific 
grounds. If a man swears that he has not voted, he can vote; if he 
swears he has not voted when he has voted, you can arrest him and 
punish him as the law provides.’’ The managers, however, overruled 
my protest and rejected about 150 men, refusing to let them vote, on 
the ground that they had been seen in line at ward 8. 

Q. Were any tissue ballots distributed there during the day ?—A. ISTo, 
sir; there Avere some found in the box after it was opened. 

Q. AVhat about canvassing the vote ?—A. Just before the closing of 
the poll I counted the managers’ list and copied off the names. I found 
they had 1,128 names. There were found in that box 1,139 votes— 
an excess of 11. Of that number 210 were tissue ballots. The managers 
drew out 11 votes and destroyed them. The Amtes drawn out and de¬ 
stroyed Avere G Democratic and 5 Eepublican. 

Q. Did you see any of the tissue tickets A^oted during the day % —A. 
Xo, sir; there were none Amted during the day. 

Q. If there had been, would you huA^e seen them ?—A. Certainly ,• I 
Avas in a position where I could haA^e seen them. 

Q. Was there anything unusual during the day in the voting?—A.. 
Nothing that I remember, only in the rejection of the men that came up. 
If a man came up and had a Avhite ticket in his hand, he was rejected. 
The Republican ticket was Avhite. 

Q. From anything that occurred that day can you form an opinion as 
to how the tissue tickets got into that box I—A. I haA^e an opinion ; I 
will gh'e it oidy as an opinion—I want that distinctly understood. Mr.. 
Moroso, a reporter of the NeAvs and Courier, was around there. He 
wrote a ticket on thin paper of the kind commonly knoAvii as “ tea 
paper.” It Avas a ticket 4 or 5 inches Avide and 10 or 12 inches long. 
As he was sitting there writing on that tea paper I turned round and 
said to him, “ What are you doing, Mr. MorosoHe said, “ I am mak¬ 
ing up a ticket of my own; I don’t proi>ose to be bound by the nomina¬ 
tions of the party; I shall Amte for the men that satisfy myself.” I saw 
that it was a very large ticket; I came to the conclusion afterwards that 
these tissue tickets were in that ticket, because when that big ticket 
came up I saw about three small ones—tissue tickets—drop out. Exam¬ 
ine the box and you A\ill find that large ticket in there yet Avith his hand- 
Avriting all perfect. You will find written on it, “ W. H. Thompson ” 
and “ G. I. Cunningham,” and the whole rigmarole of names. 

Q. Was there anything peculiar in the method of the men coming up 
there j did they come up in the usual way !—A. There was nothing un¬ 
usual about that that I remember. 

Q. Did you notice anything peculiar in their names ; or did you notice 
several of the same family name coming up and A'oting together !—A. 
I do not recollect that I did. 

Q. See if you remember these names; I will read from the i^oll-list: 
“John Bull, Jacob Bull, Tom Bull, Isardis Bull”—do you remember a 


170 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


family with names like that coming up and voting consecutively ?—A. 
INo, sir. 

Q. The next is, Peter Bull winkle”—do you remember any such man 
^is that being at the polls that day ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. Is Sitting Bull” on the list? 

Mr. Cameron. Or any Bulldozers” ? 

The Chairman. You don’t seem to remember the Bull family ?—A. 
Ko, sir; I noticed tw^o of one family—the family of Wilsons. I see 
upon* the list there the names of some dead men. 

Q. Who ?—A. The O’Hare family. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were they dead before election?—A. Yes; long before. They 
•died during the war. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. How many of them are on the list ?—A. Two of them. 

Q. And they are both dead ?—A. They are both dead. 

Q. “Henry Cox, Peter Cox”—did they come up and vote in that 
wmy ?—A. I remember nothing of any such persons. 

Q. “William Smith, Jacob Smith, Israel Smith”—do you remember 
them ?—A. There were Smiths enough around, and some of them may 
have voted, but I do not remember those Smiths. 

Q. See if you can remember “John Duckworth, Peter Duckworth, 
Joseph Duckworth, Jacob Adams, Peter Adams, Adam Kush, Jacob 
Kush, Peter Kush, Moses Green, Green Kay, Kay Green, Dick Portia, 
William Portia, Alfred Portia, Tom Kavnel, Jake Kavnel, J. K. Kavnel, 
C. Kavnel, Jordan Jones, Peter Johnson, J. K. Johnson, T. P. Johnson, 
elacob Chapline, James Fripp, Jacob Fripp, Hamilton Simons, Simon 
Hamilton, Kente O’Hare, J. H. O’Hare, Tom O’Hare, Andrew Mullen, 
Joseph Mullen, M. P. Mullen, Lincoln Koberts, Kobert Powers”; do you 
remember people Avith such names as those coming up to A^ote in that 
order ?—A. Ko, sir; nothing of the sort. There are three or four names 
among those on the list there that I remember; I remember that the 
two Wilsons, father and son, came up together and A^oted. 

Q. That is the only occasion you can remember Avhen tAro men of the 
same family name came up together ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Let me read you still further: “ Marcus Copes, Dick Korth, W. 
Korth, Ashton Singleton, Jacob Singleton, Dick McQuade, Tom Mc- 
Qiiade, Tom Simmons, Amos Simmons”; do you remember their coming 
up in that style ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. If three or four men had came uj) haAung the same name, AA Oiild you 
not have been a])t to notice it ?—A. One could not help noticing a thing 
like that. 

Q. “William Walker, Kobert Walker, Y. J. Walker, Izard Peterson, 
Peterson Koble, Koble Prince”; do you remember those combinations of 
names?—A. Ko, sir; nothing of the kind. 

Q. Do you know any family there of the name of Fripp ? There Av^as 
a large family of Fripps there that day; here are a couple more: “Tom 
Fripp, Peter Fripp”; do you remember the Fripp family?—A. No, sir; 
I do not. 

Q. Here is another: “Amos May, Kollo May, St. John Mays, Alfred 
Mays”; do you remember people of that name coming up to A^ote, one 
right after another ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say you haA’e looked this list over and found uiion it the names 
•of some men that are dead ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have found numerous cases Avhere a man’s names are reversed, 


'Coitnty.] 


TESTIMONY OF C. H. DANTZMANN. 


171 


liis last iiaiiie put first and his first name put last, to make another man 
<of him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When did you first examine that poll-list ?—A. Just after election. 

Q. How long after election ?—xA. The day after. 

(,). Did you examine it that same evening!— A. AVhile I was writing 
down the names! Yo, sir. 

Q. You recollect writing of the names!—xA. I do. 

(^. Did you call the attention of the managers to the presence of so 
many names right along together!—A. I did not. 

Q. You say some of the names on the poll-list are tlie names of dead 
men !—A. Yes, sir. 

(i^. May there not he persons living who possess the same names!— 
A. AYs, sir; but there are none in that vicinity that I ever heard. 

Q. Is there not a large family of O’Hares here!—A. Yo, sir; I believe 
they are all pretty much dead. 

Q. If there are several O’Hares living here, would you think it any¬ 
thing strange if they were to come up to the polls and vote at the same 
time!—A. Yes, sir; I should regard it as somewhat strange; but I know 
it did not occur. 

Are there several O’Hares living here of the same family !—xA. I 
don’t think so. 

Q. Would you think it strange if they should all come ii\) and vote at 
the same time! Would you regard that as strange!—A. If they should 
go to the polls and vote together. 

Q. Was your attention called to the fact that other names were called 
out at the same time, as John James, James Mason, cAc., and with the 
same surname ?—xA. Yo, sir; when the men came up, I was standing in 
a position where I could hear most every man who gave his name. 

Q. Do you recollect i)ayiiig attention to every name that was given 
out!—xA. Yes, sir; I do. 

Q. Yow, your statement that there are names of dead persons on that 
poll-list is because of this fact, that you did know persons of that name 
living here some time ago were dead, and that you don’t know such per¬ 
sons of that name now !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that if there are ])ersons of that name here now, you do not 
know but tliat their names are on the poll-list ?—xA. I do say that there 
are not any O’Haras who voted at that place that day. 

Q. Yow, after the electioii was over and the votes had been counted, 
<lid you not report down to’ the Yews and Courier office at night?—A. 
Yes sir; I carried down a poll-list, and went further than that—not only 
the Congressional, but the Avhole list. I always did it, on all occasions. 

Q. I am asking you on this occasion.—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. If you did not go dovm there and make a return, and if they did 
not i)ay you for your trouble to give them the names ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. While you were tliere did you not state to Mr. Blackburn that it 
was as fair an election as you had ever seen in your life!—A. Yo, sir; I 
didn’t. 

Q. Did you say anything to that effect to him!—A. Yo, sir; he said 
that was the first return made, but I said nothing to him about the 
.affair. He didn’t ask me any question. 

(}. Did you not join the Democratic supervisor in a certificate that 
the election was fair!—A. Yes, sir; accompanied by some remarks. 
There were five remarks I made, which were on file with the chief super¬ 
visor. 


172 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. Yon did join liim in a general statement?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who is this man yon say wrote ont his ticket ?—A. ]VIr. Moroso. 

Q. You say there were two or three tickets dropped ont of that ticket 
when it was taken ont?—A. Yes, sir; dropped from between the ticket; 
as the ticket was taken out two or three dropped out. 

Q. Do you mean they dropped out so as to shoAV that they had been 
folded inside of it at the time it was voted? Is that what you mean to 
swear?—A. Ko, sir; I don’t swear to that. 

Q. Then you don’t swear that they were voted with the other ticket ?— 
A. I stated it in mj statement as an opinion only. 

Q. Yow you say that the poll-list contained 1,128 names?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And there were 1,130 ballots in the box ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The difference was fairly drawn out?—A, Yes, sir; there were (> 
Democratic and 5 Itepublican tickets drawn out. 

Q. You said at least 150 were not allowed to vote?—A. Yes, sii\ 

Q. Can you name any who were rejected?—A. Yes, sir; there is half 
a dozen right here: James F. Green, president of the Longshoremen’s 
Society, Abraham Teeler, Charles Jones, Henry Cornell. 

Q. There were some Joneses then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Any Smiths ?—A. 1 don’t remember. I didn’t say that any man 
by the name of Smith was rejected. There may ha\ e been. 

Q. They had been seen in line in Avard 8, you say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They had been seen making their AA ay to the polls in the line ?— 
A. Yes, sir; 1 would not be sure of their having been seen there, but it 
Avas suspected that they had A^oted there. They aa ere challenged on the 
ground that they were seen in the line. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You say Green was refused ?—A. Yes,* sir. 

Q. Is he a man Avell knoAvn?—A. Yes, sir; Awy well knoAvu; CA^ery- 
body knows him. He has a character, and CAwybody knows him. His 
character is such that he woidd not attempt to vote there and here too. 

Q. TYhat did they do with him ?—A. They chucked him uaa ay. 

Q. Was he arrested?—A. Not at my poll. 

Q. Were some arrested there?—A. There aa as one man arrested there. 

Q. Now I AA’ill call your attention to these names to see if these men 
A'oted; these names are taken from the poll-list of the Marion Engine 
House and certified to by the Secretary of State, commencing with 
Andrew Johnson, George Black, Black AVilliams, AVilliam Scott, Henry 
Scott, Tom Scott, Tom DeAuie, Peter Devue, John Deviie, Hard Times 
Jones, William Frampton, Alexander Devue, Henry Henson, Peter 
Henson, Jack Lobe, J. Brewer, J. M. White, Pomiiey Devue, James 
Paget Koav, J. MackAvood, MackAvood Jones, Sam Laughton, Peter 
Laughton, Bill Laughton, Jack Laughton, AA'illiam MacLeod, Sam 
MacLeod, Peter MacLeod, John MacLeod, Peter Story, Bill Stone, 
Jack Small. Noav, if men came up and voted in families like that, would 
you haA^e noticed it?—A. 1 think I would. 

Q. You think if they A^oted in that AA ay you Avould have been pretty 
apt to notice it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. If the fiA^e Devues out of tAA^lA^e Alters had come in, would you 
have noticed it?—A. Yes, sir; been pretty apt to. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you remember Stephen Elliott voting there?—A. No, sir; I 
don’t remember. 

Q. Frank Cassar?—A. No, sir; I do remember six or seA^en namea 
that I can call something like that. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R C. BROWN. 


173 


Q. Do you reiiioinber James Alison, Phillip Irwin, John Irwin, John 
Foster, Charles Graden, and Theodore Graden. Do you recollect any 
of them ?—A. ;No, sir; I don’t. 

Q. Edward Kogers and Mr. Gordon are on the list; do 3"Ou recollect 
them?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. These names I read to you are on the second page, and you say 
you don’t recollect any of them?—A. Yo, sir; you will tind that those 
were not registered on the poll-list, because the clerk of the poll kept 
the i)oll-list in his x>ocket. 

Q. W. Walker, J. Walker, Israel Peterson. There are three Walkers 
right here together?—A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That ought to have exhausted the Walkers in that 
neighborhood, but it seems it don’t. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Eobert Lights, Pressaway Lights, Tom Fritt, A. Fritt, Peter Fritt, 
Peter Ball, Bill Polite, Jacob Polite. Were there a great many strange 
faces that day or i^ersons you didn’t know ?—A. Yes, sir; but they were 
rejected on the ground that they were from the country, and they should 
vote where they lived. They said that Avas the next polling precinct to 
where they lived. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What was it you said about the clerk having the poll-list in his 
pocket ?—A. He folded it up and kept it in his pocket. The j^oll-list is 
made up and tagged usually; but they would keep it in loose sheets, 
and when he got a loose sheet he slipped it in his pocket. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did he slip it in or put it in his pocket by stealth?—A. Well, he 
took it up and put it in his pocket. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The poll-list was kept on loose sheets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. E’ot tagged, as it usually is ?—A. Yo, sir; Ave usually tag them, 
and any one could always come and get the number of white or colored 
votes from us. 

The Chairman. I Avant to say that among these names appears that 
of Abraham Lincoln. 


E. C. BEOWY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

E. C. Brown (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Charleston, 

S. C. 

Q. How long have you liA^ed here ?—A. It is my birthplace. 

Q. Were you an officer at the last election?— A. I was superAusor. 

Q. At what poll ?—A. At Mount Pleasant, Christ Church Parish. 

Q. Is that a city poll ?—A. It is about six miles out from the city. 

Q. Go on and state as briefly as you can what occurred there.—A. I 
left the city on the evening of the 4th, and went to Mount Pleasant. I 
left the place Avhere I stopped that night at exactly half past 5 o’clock 
in the morning, calculating to haA^e to hunt ui> the poll, from the fact of 



174 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


not knowing where it would be kept. I could not find out where it was 
the night before. It was rumored that it would be at the long hall, 
sometimes used as a dancing hall. I found that that was really the 
poll. When I went there, I saw several persons standing on the piazza 
attached to the building. I walked up to the place, and saw several 
persons standing near the door. I said, “Gentlemen, will you allow me 
to enter?” They stood aside; I stepped around a barricade they had 
erected, and went in. There was a candle lit, as it was quite dark yet. 
I introduced myself to the managers as the supervisor belonging to that 
poll. They said, “ I was quite welcome.” I took out my paper, pen, and 
ink, and placed them upon the table, without any objections being made. 
But before that, allow me to say, that after I went in, I saw that the 
ballot-box was placed at the window. I said, “ Gentlemen, it wants yet 25 
minutes to 6.” I didn’t sleep more than 300 yards from the building. I 
said, “I would like to have the ballot-box exposed to public view, and 
for my own satisfaction, I would like to see into it.” The managers 
there were Messrs. Muirhead and Fell. They told me that the ballot- 
box had been opened and exposed, and that it was now after 6 o’clock, 
and that they had closed the ballot-box, and that I could not see into 
it. I protested that it was not 0 o’clo(*k, and that they should not 
receive votes. They said they would receive votes, and would not open 
the ballot-box. 

Q. Had they received any ?—A. I asked them if they had received 
any yet; they said “I^o.” “Well,” I said, “I am in time to see the 
voting at any rate.” I then took a seat at the table. After finding that 
my protest was of no avail whatever, I took my seat with the clerk, Mr. 
Veiling, a young man whom I was unacquainted Vith at that time. I 
took out my pen and ink and paper, and laid them on the table. About 
that time Mr. G. B. Walker, candidate upon the Democratic ticket for 
the legislature, came in and protested against the managers allowing me 
to sit at the table. He said the board of managers were not suiixiosed 
to provide conveniences for a United States suxiervisor. The managers 
agreed with Mr. Walker that I had no right to sit at that table. I said, 
“ Gentlemen, I supiiose you are not obliged to furnish conveniences for 
a United States supervisor, but this is not the first time I have been 
supervisor, and I have never been thrown in with managers who would 
not allow the supervisor to sit at the same table Avith the clerk; but if 
you decree otherwise I must submit.” I AvithdreAV from the table, taking 
Avitli me pen, ink, and paper. I said “Can anybody furnish me A\fith 
a table?” SeA^eral parties said, “Certainly,” and in about a minute or a 
minute and a half a table and chair were brought me. I had them jilaced 
right alongside of the clerk’s chair and table. I took out my pen and 
ink and paper, and. was about to proceed to the performance of my 
duties, when Mr. Walker again protested, and made quite a lengthy 
S})eech, lasting seA^eral minutes, in aa hich he said the regulations did not 
require that the United States supervisor should be in the building at 
all, but that tliey simx)ly said he should be in the immediate Adcinity of 
the managers conducting the election, and wliether he was upon the 
outside or the inside made no difference, so long as could see the 
polling-box, that was all that was retpiired by hiAv; and he insisted, 
as a representative of the Democratic party, that I should leave 
that room. I was sitting silent all this time; but when I heard 
all that Mr. Walker had to say I got uja from my chair and said, 
“ Gentlemen, x>robably you have mistaken your man. If you think I 
am going to be bulldozed by any such expressions, you are A^ery much 
mistaken. I came here to discharge my duties as United States super- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. C. BROWN. 


175 


visor, and I am going to do so unless force or violence is presented tO' 
prevent me from discharging them. Mr. Walker^s expression takes 
no effect on me whatever. 1 tell you I am going to sit right here, and I 
am going to discharge the duties I am sworn to discharge, or I am go¬ 
ing to die trying; and the man that puts his hand on me will be respon¬ 
sible for the result, and not I.” There were in the room when I arrived 
there, and there remained during the whole time, between twenty and 
thirty white men, wearing red badges with black letters, designating 
them as deputy State constables. Walker says, “I demand that this 
man be put out of this building, and I call upon you, Mr. Managers, for 
yonr decision.” Mr. Muirhead, who was chairman of the board of man¬ 
agers, said nothing, neither did either of the others. I said, “Gentle¬ 
men, what is your decision F They said, “We agree with the construc¬ 
tion placed upon the law by Mr. Walker, and you will have to leave.” 
Said I, “I refuse to leave.” They then called upon the State constables 
to eject me from the building by force. They stepped up and took hold 
of the chair, upon which I was sitting, and started to raise the chair 
from under me. Eather than fall, I raised. Then two men took hold 
of me and escorted me to the door and put me out. I went in at the 
western door of the building and was ejected from the eastern door. 
After I was outside of the barricade at the eastern end of the building 
I asked them if they would be kind enough to hand out to me my table 
aud chair. They did so. I took them and placed them on the piazza, 
about 0 feet from the window, which I found to be as convenient a posi¬ 
tion as I could have been placed in, in fact, more convenient than if I 
I had been in the room, because the voters coming in would have jostled 
me. Then I proceeded to keep my poll-list. Kobody voted until after 
I got outside, i^obody could have voted, such was the nature of the 
discussion between the managers and myself. At this time day was 
breaking so that I could see to write. I sat down on the piazza and 
kept my poll-list uninterruptedly, except when voters would come up 
aud they would reject them because they were not able to tell the year 
when they were born, which is utterly impossible for many voters in the 
rural portions of this country to do, for the most of them are illiterate, 
and 1 don’t think they ever knew the year in Avhich they Avere born. 

Q. How many did they send away for this reason ?—A. Between 50 
I and 00 of them were rejected during the day. The a oters came in con¬ 
tinually, just as fast as they could be sworn; not as fast as they could 
have been sworn, but as fast as they Avould swear them, from the time I 
took my seat on the piazza till live o’clock in the afternoon. Tliey could 
have \v)ted, perhai)S, one-third more than they did, but they would not 
administer the oath in the ordinary manner. They AA^ould utter the 
: words in a long, drawling manner, so as to spin tile words out and oc¬ 
cupy as long a time as possible. I said, “Gentlemen, you know this is 
not a fair and square deal. You can vote two men A\diile you are a ot- 
ing one, if you choose to do so.” They said, “A\ell, we are doing as 
well as we know; Ave don’t know any other AAuy.” About tlA^e o’clock, 
when the Av^hite A^oters began to come in steadily, they AA^ere able to ad¬ 
minister the oath very quickly. I had occasion to send for a friend of 
mine, J. J. Le Saint; I sent for him and had him send about 150 or 200 
men away from the Mount Pleasant poll to SulliA^an’s Island, in order 
tliat they might vote at all. I found by calculation that they could not 
vote the entire population of our place before the time came tor the polls 
to close, so I adAused him to send the rest aAvay. At dark, Av^hen it got too« 
late for me to see to write, I was iiiAuted by the managers to come in¬ 
side. I AA'ent inside and carried my table and chair. After that theie 




176 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1578. 


[Charleston 


were about 10 or 12 votes polled; not more than that. At the conclu¬ 
sion, at six o’clock, they took the ballot-box and carried it to the west¬ 
ern part of the building, took two long benches, formed a table of tliem, 
and put the ballot-box upon them. They had some stiff paper, such as 
is used to fix up cotton with. They formed a tray of that. They tlien 
opened the box. llefore that, however, they put a barricade in front of 
this table they had erected, and said no one should come beyond that 
except the managers and the clerk. They did not, however, keep their 
word. They allowed Walker and these State constables to go behind 
tliis barricade, and after a wliile they allowed Mr. Le Saint also; but 
after he went in it was too late to do any good, if he desired. I was 
kept at least 10 feet from the ballot-box. Finally it was opened. The 
clerk as well as myself had tallied 020 votes. On this the clerk and I 
agreed. When the ballot-box was opened, instead of 020 ballots, there 
came out of that ballot-box 1,103, which was 543 in excess. The ballot 
was 020; that is, the legitimate vote. 

Q. How many ballots in the box ^—A. Eleven hundred and sixty-three. 
When it was found there were so many votes in excess of the poll-list 
they were returned to the box and they made a feint of shaking them; 
they raised the box once or twice as though they were going to shake it, 
and then set it down. Then they drew out the excess. There was 545 
in excess over the poll-list. Mr. Venning, who was clerk of the board, 
was told by the chairman of the board to draw out the excess. He was 
not blindfolded as the law directs. 1 told them, “Gentlemen, I mean 
whoever draws these votes out shall be blindfolded, or it is not right.” 
Mr. Yenning sat down by the side of the ballot-box and raised the lid 
sufficiently to insert his hand only, and would place his hand in the box, 
and there were times when he would keep it there two or three minutes 
until he could find the ballot he wanted, and then drew it out, and in¬ 
variably it was a Kepublican ballot. He did this until they had destroyed 
543. Of the number destroyed 372 were Eepublican ballots, and 171 
Democratic ballots. Before that, when the original count took place, 
when counting out the ballots there were times when they would find 
these tissue ballots. Here is one that came out of the box. This was 
given to me by Mr. Hale, the challenger. 

(Witness here produced a Democratic tissue ticket of the same char¬ 
acter as those already introduced in the evidence. It was for Charleston 
Oounty.) 

There were instances when these tickets came out as many as eight or 
ten together in one fold. I would object to it in everj^ instance, and my 
objections were always overruled, and I was told, “ You are a country 
supervisor, and you have only to sit here and see the count.” They said 
all I could do was to file my objections if 1 didn’t like it. 

Q. Did they count them all ?—A. They counted them all, sir. When 
the excess of ballots had been extractecl and the votes counted it was 
found that O’Connor had received 473 votes, of which 374 were tissues 
and nine regular tickets, and Colonel Mackey had 147 of the regular 
Eepublican tickets, so that the legitimate vote ought to have been 41fi 
for Mackey and 101 for O’Connor; that is the legitimate vote of that 
poll. After the ballots had already been counted, and the returns were 
made up, a friend of mine came to me and said, “Brown, do you intend 
to sign these returns f’ I said, “ By no means.” “ Why f’iie said. I 
said, “Because if I sign them it is equivalent to consenting to them, 
and these are not true and correct, inasmuch as there has been fraud 
committed, and they cannot be correct, and I will not sign them.” I 
never signed them. The 1 )emocratie supervisor could not sign them from 


County.] TESTIMONY OF R. C. BROWN. 177 

the fact that he didn’t remain until half ]3ast twelve from seven in the 
morning, and I haven’t seen him since. , 

Q. Did you keep any count as to the vote whether it was colored or 
white; did yon make any distinction!—xV. No, sir; I didn’t. 

Q. Can yon say how many colored men voted ?—A. Five hundred and 
nineteen; I am satisfied of that; that the white men voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket, and the colored men the Eepiihlican ticket. 

Q. Were there in the box 519 of the regular Eepublican tickets !—A. 
There was. 

Q. Yon thuik they were all voted by colored men ?—A. I do. 

Q. Did any colored men vote the regular Democratic ticket!—A. I 
saw none. O’Connor had 101 large tickets in the box; that is, legitimate 
votes. (Witness here produced a tally-sheet to substantiate his figures.) 

Q. Had you a watch or clock that morning!—A. No, sir; I hadn’t on 
my person. 

Q. How do you know it Avas half past five when you got up !—A. I 
had it in my room. 

Q. You looked at that, did you !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This clock was what you Avent by !—A. Yes, sir; the time 1 left. 

Q. Where did you say the polls were opened!—A. At a hall near the 
wharf. 

Q. This Mount Pleasant is the town across theiWer!—A. Y"es, sir; 
just across the river. 

(J. Had this place aa here the polls Avere held anymore than one room! 
—A. Several, I suppose. 

Q. Where Avas it held !—A. In the eastern portion of the building on 
the loAA er floor. 

Q. In a front room ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many doors Avere there opening in the room ?—A. Taa o; and 
a AvindoAV betAveen them. 

Q. It was at this aa indoAV the ballot-box Avas placed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On the table!—A. No, sir; on a board upon aa hich it was very 
convenient for a man to sit, and liaA^e the ballot-box beloAA^ the window. 

Q. It AA as placed on a board inside the aaIikIoav !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That brought the top of the box up level Avith the Avindow !—A. 
AboA'e. 

Q. When you took your seat inside you say it AA^as still dark enough 
to require a candle !—xY. Yes, sir ; they had it lit. 

Q. Noav, AA'as there any dispute betAA een you and the managers as to 
what time it Avas ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They claimed it was after six a\ hen you came there !—A. Yes, sir; 
and I said it was not, and I asked AAiiat time it aa as from a friend out¬ 
side, and he pulled out a Avatch that Avas regulated by the Charleston 
post-office time, and said it AAms aa ithin twenty minutes of six. 

Q. Hoav do you knoAV that Avatcli Avas regulated that Avay!—A. He 
said so, and it also agreed AAdth the clock at the house AA'here I slept 
that night. 

Q. Did not your friend say tAventy-two minutes !—xV. He did not; he 
said tAA enty minutes. 

Q. This tOAA n of Mount Pleasant has hoAA' many inhabitants !—A. I 
do not know. 

Q. Are you not acquainted Avith it!—A. I have Ausited it very sel- 
dom. 

Q. It did not hav e tAventy thousand inhabitants !—A. No, sir ; it has 
not. It is a village, and if' it had twenty thousand it Avould have been 
a toAvn. 

12 s c 


178 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ (’haiieston 


Q. You say tlie question Avas raised by Walker as to your light to 
keep a poll-list ?—A/ He said nothing about niy iioll-list. I did not say 
thatj 1 said as to niy remaining in the building. He iieAW objected to 
my keeping a poll-list, and I didn’t say that. 

Q. You said that he said as a country supervisor the law required 
you to be only in the immediate presence of the managers of election^ 
and that it did not entitle you to be in the room where they Avere.—A. 
Y^es, sir; that is Avhat they said. 

Q. Y^ou had quite a discussion oA'er it there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He gave his a iews of the law, and you gave yours ?—A. 1 didn’t 
giA^e any construction as to the hiw as to my duty. 

Q. Your duty Avas goA^erned by the law ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you insisted that the laAV entitled you to be in the room '?— 
A. I did not say the laAv; 1 said “ my instructions.” 

Q. Y^ou understood your instructions as being laAv ?—A. Yes, sir. 
They said for me to be in such aiilace that I could scrutinize eA erything. 
The position 1 Avas comiielled to take at the polls, Iioaa wer, AA as such 
that I could not scrutinize. 

Q. When you Avent outside on the porcli you jihu^ed your table near 
one of the doors, didn’t you ?—A. I phujed my table aliout six feet from 
the AA indoAV. 

Q. There aa'us a rail in front of the windoAA’ outside ?—A. No, sir: no 
rail; nothing at all to preA^ent them. , 

Q. Y^ou placed your table where?—A. In a coiiAenient i)osition. 

Q. No one outside told you A\here ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Y^ou i)laced it at such a point as aa ould enable you to supervise the 
count ?—A. No, sir; 1 placed it in such a position as AA’ould best enable 
me to discharge my duties Avithout being interrui)ted by the Alters, and 
it Avas about six feet from the Avindow. 

Q. You remained there during the day ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Who Avere the managers of this election ?—A. There Avere three 
Avho were appointed, but only two Avho served; these tAA o AA^ere Ylr. Muir- 
head and Mr. Fell. The third man’s nameAvas Gi aham; but he Avas not 
there. 

Q. Did anybody act in his stead f—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then the tAvo managers conducted the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They had a clerk ?—A. Yes, sir; they had. 

Q. You say while the colored men AA ere A cting in the forenooji, and 
up to live o’clock, they had administered the oath so sloAAdy that the 
voting had to go on very sloAvly?—A. Y^es, sir; it had to. 

Q. You heard the oath administered A^ery frequently, did you not ?— 
A. Yes, sir; all during the day. 

Q. How long did it take to administer that oath ?—A. About sixty 
men an hour, or one a minute. 

Q. That was on the sIoav principle ?—A. YYs, sir; it might IniA^e been 
administered in thirty seconds. 

Q. YMu say it took them a minute to repeat that oath ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At fiA'e o’clock, Avhen you say the white people were a oting there, 
you say this oath Avas administered more liAdy ?—A. Yes, sir; more 
rapidly. 

•Q. What length of time did it recpire them to administer it on the 
fast priiuiiple ?—A. Not more than thirty seconds. 

Q. Then those white men could vote or take the oath faster than the 
colored men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you called attention to the fact that they Avere not admin- 


TESTIMONY OP R. C. BROWN. 


County.1 


179 


istt'.riiig' tlirtt Oiith iis Itist <is it coiikl be done ?—A. \ es, sir ; in the inorn- 
jng, and I so stated to the managers. 

Q. Did you state to them that they were keeping the ])eople from vot¬ 
ing by their delay in administering the oatli ?—A. No, sir; I did not say 
that. I said, “Ctentlemen, let us endeavor to administer the oath in a 
fast manner; I know you can do it more rapidly than that; I coidd 
administer that oath to two men while you are administering it to one,” 
in a trifling kind of tone. 

Q. \ on sa>, liowever, that you had been delayed inside before the vot¬ 
ing was over ?—A. Yes, sir; I was admitted at dark. They invited me 
in when I could not see to write. 

Q. Then you remained in the room until how long ?—A. Until four 
o’(dock the next morning. 

Q. Until the votes were (‘-oiinted out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say in the first plaice they took ballots out of the ballot-box 
and put them in a paper tray ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And counted tliem as thev took them out?—A. Yes, sir; thev 
did. 

Q. Did you see any tickets folded in other tickets ?—A. Yes, sir; a 
good many. 

Q. How many did you see folded in other tickets ?—A. I did not 
count them. 

Q. Did you call the attention of the managers to them ?—A. Yes, sir; 
I did in every instance. 

Q. When did you call their attention to ballots that they were folded 
in other ballots ?—Quite often, and they overruled my objections, and 
counted them in, except in one instance, where it is my belief that they 
took three “ kiss-joke ” tickets put in a Eepublican ticket and brought 
'them to me and said, “ Hoav is that?” and I said, “ Destroy them.” 

Q. Did you see them ?—A. I could not see inside of the ballot. 

Q. Then, Avlien you stated that, you stated what you did not knoAV to 
be true ?—A. I supposed it aa us true. 

Q. You did not knoAv ?—A. I did not knoAV. 

Q. Then you have saa orn to a fact that you did not know ?—A. I 
said it was my belief. 

Q. You saAV' them Avhen they were brought to you, and that is all you 
saAv?—A. That is all. It was utterly impossible for me to see other- 
Avise. 

Q. ^Vnd in all other instances aa here they AA^ere folded together you 
say they counted them all ?—A. Well, I think AAu'th one or two excep¬ 
tions. 

Q. Then there AA*ere one or tAA o exceptions ?—A. The tickets would 
come out, and aa hen I Avouhl see them I would say, Grentlemen, how is 
that ? ” or something to that eftect. They would say, sometimes, “ O, that 
is all right,” or I would say, I Avouhl like to see that; bring it here,” 
and they Avould bring them to me, and I said, There is no doubt but 
AA'liat these tic^kets were put in together.” There was one or two instances 
Avhen they l)rought them to me and I said My God, that is too glar¬ 
ing ; you can’t count these tissue tickets.” They said, “ The law says if 
there are tAA o tickets you can destroy one, and if there are four you can 
destroy tAAo ;” they aa ouhl hah e it CA^ery time. 

Q. When there were more than tAvo you say their course AA^as to halve 
eA’ery time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav often aa as that done ?—A. Repeatedly during the night. 

(.}. Then they re])eatedly did that because they were with other bal¬ 
lots?—A. Yes,\sir; I say through the night Avhen they were found 






180 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleaton 


folded ill one they halved them and counted one-half and destroyed the 
other lialf; in two or three instances I saw that. 

Q. Was there any instance in Avhich they destroyed all but one where 
there were several found ?—A. ^o, sir. 

Q. After having counted all out in this paper tray, and finding the 
excess that you have stated, you say they were put back in the box ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Promiscuously —A. Yes, sir; promiscuously. 

Q. Was not the box shaken up ?—A. They made a feint to shake it. 

Q. Did they not shake it ?—A. They raised it up. 

Q. You say the man who drew them out was facing you ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Did he turn his face around with his back to the box and reach 
behind him?—A. He didn’t look into the box at all; his face was not 
towards the box. 

Q. His face was not towards the box ?—A. No, su*; it was not to¬ 
wards the box. 

(^. Does the law say that ?—A. I think the law says lilindfold. 

Q. Does not tbe la\i', on the contrary, say, ‘‘without seeing them,” 
draw from the box ?—A. You maj" be right. 

Q. Y"ou had a dispute with them ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did tliey not call your attention to the law as containing the in¬ 
structions ?—A. No, sir ; we had no great dispute about that. I saw 
it was no use for me to frame objections. 

Q. You say he could not see them when he put his hand in the 
box ?—A. No, sir; he couldn’t see them. 

Q. Blindfolding him would have made no difierence !—A. No, sii\ 

Q. Then he put in his hand and drew out until he drew out the ex¬ 
cess ?—A. Yes, sir; after feeling. 

Q. Of course he would liave to feel in the box to get a ticket?—A. ; 
He would have to feel to tell the Kepublican from the Democratic 
tickets. 

Q. Did he do that ?—A. 1 know he did. 

Q. That is your oxnnion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did lie happen to draw out 171 Democratic tickets ?—A. He j 
tried to blind the supervisor. I 

Q. Why did he not draw out all Republican tickets ?—A. He could 
have done it, but I suppose it was only done to blind him. I said they 
had better pull out the balance of the Re|)ublican tickets. 

Q. That is your oiiinion about it ?—A. Yes, sir; it is my candid opin¬ 
ion. 

Q. After the ballots had been taken out in that way the count was 
commenced ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Did you keep a count of the votes for Congressman ?—A. Yes, sir; 
that is here. I kept the tally-list of everything that was done. 

Q. Had you anything to do with the balance of it ?—A. No, sir; only 
Oongressman. 

Q. That is all you kept a tally-list of ?—A. That is all. 

Q. When you asked to see in the box in the morning, whom did you 
make that request of?—A. Of the managers. 

Q. To both of them?—A. 1 said “Mr. Managers;” it naturally meant 
one, or two, or more. 

Q. State what you did.—A. I said, “ I would like to have you open 
that ballot-box, in order that the public can inspect and in order that 
I as an individual can see in it for my personal inspection.” 

Q. Which one of them answered ?—A. Mr. Muirhead, chairman of the 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. C. BROWN. 


181 


board, answered me, and said, ^‘Tliat box lias been already opened to 
tbe public, and it lias been closed, and we are ready to receive votes, 
and it is after six o’clock.-’ 

Q. Will yon give me the name of the person who showed you the 
watch ?—A. The man who told me the time Avas J. J. Le Saint. 

Q. Where was he standing f—A. ]Siear the door. 

W^here were yon f — A. I a\ as in the room. 

Q. And then you walked to the door ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you say it was light enough for you to see the face of it; that 
it was light enough for you to see the time ?—A. Wliy, I think I could 
haA^e told it at tAveh^e o'clock at night if I put my eyes there and see the 
hands. 

Q. W^as not the request then made of Le Saint to have his Avatch and 
the managers’ watch compared with the city time ?—A. The managers 
produced no Avatch. 

Q. Well, AA as not the proposition made to liaA-e the time-pieces by 
which they were going compared A\uth the city time ?—A. Quite to the 
contrary. 

Q. I will ask you if your desk or table and chair were not so near the 
edge of the windoAv that you leaned your arm frequently on the lattice 
or panel on the outside ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say you were not so near the window ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. That you could lean your arm against the casing?—A. No, sir. I 
know not only that I AAms not near enough, but did not do it. 

Q. The ballot-box was in plain sight of you all the time ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What prevented you from seeing it ?—A. There were times Avhen 
two or three sat on the board, and it aa ould sink below the surface of the 
windoAv and I could not see it. 

Q. WTiat two or three persons did it ?—A. Several of these deputy 
State constables. 

Q. Name them.—A. They were strangers j I had not been at the place 
up to that day for three or four years: 1 Avas sent there in my official 
capacity. 

Q. Could you not at any time have put your hand on the ballot-box 
AvheneAmr you pleased ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What preA^ented vouf—A. I would liaA^e neglected my duties if I 
had. 

Q. Y"ou liaA’e gh^en one affiduAut in this case?—A. Y^es, sir; before the 
commissioners. 

Q. Did you not say in that that you could put your hand in the ballot- 
box whenever you pleased?—A. Yes, sir; proAuded I left my table. 

Q. Did you not in the first instance SAvear that your table was ten 
feet aAvay from the AAundoAV ?—A. 1 didn’t. 

Q. Did you not afterAvards reduce it to six feet, then to four feet, and 
then to tAA*o feet ?—A. I originally said six feet, and stuck to it through¬ 
out. I did not say exactly six; 1 said about six at the beginning, and I 
staid tliere to the end. 

Did you not in your examination finally say that you Avould not 
swear that it aa as oA’er tAvo feet ?—A. 1 did not. 

Q. Do you knoAV the names of these officers that sat on the board?— 
A. I told you that the people there were strangers to me; I do not know 
their names. 

Q. Did you not hear them that day ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you no curiosity to know who they were?—A. No, sir; I had 
too much else on my mind. 

Q. Did you not state before you left there that night that everything 


182 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cliarlestott 


had gone off satisfactorilyf—A. Xo, sir; I said that cverytliing had 
passed off' very nicely. 

Q. Did you say it with the einpliasis that \ ou iioav say it withf—A. 1 
said everything had gone off' nicely. When (leorge \\"alker went out on 
the piazza, he said, “ I want to see yon.” I went out, and iie said to me, 
‘‘Look here, hasn’t everything gone off' well?” And I said, “O, yes; 
very nicely.” He said, “ Xow, look here; it is useless for yon to make, 
a report against this thing; it will not do any good; and if yon Avill de¬ 
stroy your statement, and not say these men hn\e voted a handful of 

tissue ballots”-. (When they put them in they wer(‘ too tiuck, there 

being a good many of them, and they could not pass them through tlie 
aperture of the box, and they would have to punch them through; and 
I hollered to the managers once, and told them this man should sto]). 
I said he should be stopped, and I spoke of this in my report to the chief 
supervisor. I made the statement of this man rieeman.) He wanted 
me to leave this out. He said, “If you will come to my office on Broad 
vstreet, over the People’s Bank” (I think he said at nine o'clock to-morrow 
morning), “I will remunerate you if you will destroy your statement and 
not make anj" complaint about it at all. There Avas (piite a crowd about, 
and I thought I had better get out; and I said, “I will see you in the 
morning.” 

Q. Then you did not say everything had gone off' nicely to give them 
to understand that you were satisfied with the result ?—A. Well, they 
could place any construction on it they pleased. 

Q. Did you not intend for them to so understand it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you not speak with the same em])liasis that you use here ?— 
A. Yes, I did to Mr. W^alker; I only spoke to Mr. ^Valker. 

Q. You say you did not intend for him to understand that you were 
satisfied with the result ?—A. I intended for him to take it as he pleased. 
I didn’t care Avhat he thought. 

Q. The only dissent that you expressed there Avas the manner of your 
speaking to him ?—A. No, sir; by no means. I said right there in the 
presence of them that I thought it was a gigantic fraud, or AA ords to 
that effect. 

Q. You say they asked you to sign the papers; aa hat had yon to do 
with signing the papers ?—A. I did not say they asked me to sign the 
papers at all. I said a man came up to me and asked me if I would 
sign the returns, and I said “ By no means; I Avill sign no returns.” 

Q. Then the managers did not ask you ?—A. No, sir; it aa us a friend 
of mine. 

Q. Y^ou say a large number of colored men Avere sent aAvay from there ? 
—A. Yes^ sir; about 50 or 60. 

Q. Because there was not time enough for them to A^ote ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You said you directed some friends, and told them they had better 
go to Sullh all’s Island to A ote; that they Avould not luiA e time enough 
to vote there ?—A. I advised a friend to take the voters oa; er there. 

Q. Hoaa many of them?—A. 200 or “50. 

Q. The voting commenced at six o’clock in the morning and continued 
until six o’clock in the evening ?—A. It started at about tAventy-five 
minutes before six. 

Q. It commemed as early as six o’clock ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And continued until six o’clock in the evening ?—A. YYs, sir; by 
one of the managers’ watch it closed at six o’clock. 

Q. Then they had a AA^atch in the eAening ?—A. Yes, sir; I saAv it 
there in the eA^ening. 



Coixnty.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. C. BROWN. 


183 


Q. Tlie polls were closed by it ?—A., Yes, sir. 

Q. Were those Kepnblicaiis wlio went to Sullivan’s Island to vote ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They went over there on account of this slow voting —A. Yes, 
sir; from that cause. 

Q. Now was there not a good deal of time during the afternoon that 
the voters came up very slowly ?—A. Not until five, and then they voted 
as slowly between that and six. 

Q. Was there not a time along between twelve and three o’clock when 
there were very few voters around the polls—very few votes received ? 
—A. No, sir. 

Q. And between five and six did they not give out entirely ?—A. 
There were not many votes polled between these two hours, except in 
the first hour they voted i)retty rapidly; between five and six I don’t 
think there were more than five or six votes polled. 

Q. Up to that time the colored people had possession of the polls ?— 
A. No, sir ; they were only allowed to come in two at a time during the 
day. 

Q. At the entrance ?—A. It was just the same as the street on the 
outside, but the de])uties would not admit but two at a time inside of 
the barricade. 

Q. Was not the crowd outside principally colored ?—A. Yes, sirj dur¬ 
ing the day, until five o^clock, there were a great many there. 

Q. Now you spoke about fiO oi 70 being refused to vote because they 
could not tell the year in which they were born—A. Yes, sir. Well, 
various pretexts were given. 

Q. Did you not say that some 60 or 70 were excluded because they 
could not tell the year in which they were born f—A. Well, fifty or sixty, 
and I said the^' prevented them on various other pretexts. 

Q. I think, if my memory serves me, that you spoke about the colored 
people not being able to tell what year they were born in, and would 
not be allowed to vote in consequence.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many do you consider were treated in that way ?—A. I said 
‘‘in many instances.” 

Q. Then they were challenged because they were under age !—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Were they not challenged on accjount of their being under age ?— 
A. I don’t think so. 

Q. Then they were not challenged on that account—A. I said that 
was a pretext. 

Q. That was the ground on which they were challenged, that they 
were not twenty-one years of age f—A. Yes, sir; that is Avhat the chal¬ 
lengers claimed. 

Q. Then, upon examination of that question, they decided that they 
were not twenty-one years of age?—A. Yes, sir; upon consultation; 
upon facts originating with these gentlemen. 

Q. Statements made to them?—A. No, sir; statements^nade from 
one to the other. 

Q. Was there any voter that you knew to be twenty-one years of age 
that was excluded because he could not tell the year in which he was 
born? Did you not say that, sir?—A. I could not swear as to the age 
of any man; I can’t swear to my own. 

Q. Then you do not know that any man who voted there was known 
to you to be twenty-one years of age? How old are you?—A. I was 
thirty years old on the 21st of last August. 

Q. You can remember back twenty-one years?—A. Yes, sir. 



184 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


fjCliarleston 


Q. So tliat yon can remember back long enongli in your memory to 
make yon a voter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What were these tissue tickets that yon saw in the Itepnblicau 
tickets that yon called their attention tof—A. Tliey were Democratic 
tissue tickets. 

Q. Did yon see any Itepnblican tissue tickets there f—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Now, as to the age of these voters j how did yon form yonr opin¬ 
ion that they were old enough to vote ?—A. They were men who were 
refused to be allowed to vote, and Avho T regarded as being older than 
I am. 

Q. Yon judge that from their looks ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From general appearances indicating that they were o^ er twenty- 
one years of age ?—A. Y^e's, sir; over thirty-one. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I think yon said that one young man attempted to vote whose 
father was there and said he was twenty-one, bnt they ATOiild not allow 
him to vote !—A. No, sir; that Avas another witness that said that j bnt 
there were parties there AA'hose fathers said they Avere tAA enty-one years- 
of age, and they wonld not allow them to Anite. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Yon say yon recoUect a case Avhere the father said the son Avas- 
twenty-one years of age and they refused him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he vote?—A. He voted after the lapse of over an hour. 

Q. Who brought him np the second time to Amte ?—A. He (*ame np 
in company with his friends. 

Q. Was he a Democrat or Eepnblican ?—A. 1 regard him as being a 
Bepnblican. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What was it abont this blind man ?—A. He came np to A^ote in the 
absence of the gentleman Avho was rnnning the place there, Mr. AValker, 
and the manager said he conld not A^ote. He could not find the place 
of the box yerj aa ell, and they said he conld not vote. I said, “ Why 
can’t he ADtef” and they said, “Because he is blind.” And they said 
it wonld disqualify a man from A cting j and I said, “According to onr 
instructions and the law it does not disqualify him,” and they said it did; 
and they said he should not A^ote. I told them he should, or I shonld 
report the case. They said he shonld not vote under any circnmstances. 
They ordered the man to leave, and he was put ont. Mr. Walker 
appeared abont three-quarters of an hour afterward and aa ^s talking 
about this matter. I said I was going to report abont it, and he came 
np to me said, “BroAA ii, AA hat is it abont this blind man ?” And I said, 
“ There is a blind man and they will not alloAV him to A^ote, and I am go¬ 
ing to report it.” He said, “ He is as much entitled to A^ote as yon or 3^”; 
and then the man came np and A'oted, and he asked me to strike ont the 
memorandum I had made abont it, and not report it, and I did so after 
the man voted. 


M. E. HUTCHINSON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 22,1879. 
M. E. Hutchinson sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Where do you reside ?—^Answer. In South Carolina. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF M. E. HUTCHINSON. 185 

Q. How long liave you resided in South Carolina —A. Forty-six 
years. 

Q. Are you a native of this State —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you engaged on either side during the late war ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. On which side?—A. The Confederate side; I served about a year. 

Q. Were you a United States supervisor at the late election?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. At Cooper Store precinct, about 30 miles from Charles¬ 
ton, on the Columbia road. 

Q. Jlist state what came under your observation on election day.—A. 
There were 287 persons who voted there. 

Q. What parish is that precinct in?—A. Saint James Goose Creek; 
287 persons voted there that day; 163 colored and 124 whites. On open¬ 
ing the box there were found 422 ballots, an excess of 135 votes over the 
poll-list. My x^oll-list and that of the managers agreed as to the num¬ 
ber of persons who voted. There were in the box 135 “kiss-joke” 
tickets. 

Q. Explain what that is.—A. By “kiss-joke” ticket, I mean a small 
tissue ballot about as long as my finger and about an inch wide. 

Q. What was on these tissue tickets ?—A. The names of the Demo¬ 
cratic candidates, from Congressman down. 

Q. The straight Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what was done.—A. I kept three lines on my list. There 
were 126 regular Democratic tickets and 161 regular Eepublican; that 
made 287; and the third line showed 135 kiss-jokes. All were, put back 
in the box and 135 draAvn out. 

By Mr. Cameron ; 

Q. By whom?—A. By one of the managers, blindfolded. He drew out 
88 Eepublican tickets and 47 Democratic. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How many kiss-jokes did he draw out?—A. About ten of those. 

Q. They were included in the 47 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What then?—A. Kothingmore. I believe the Eepublican majority 
outside of the kiss-jokes was 135. When they drew the ballots out and 
counted them over again, they gave Mr. O’Connor 216 votes and Mr. 
Mackey 71. 

Q. The number of tissue ballots in the box corresponded Avith the ex¬ 
cess?—A. Yes, sir, exactly. 

Q. Had you been in attendance all day?—A. Yes, sir; I don’t suppose 
I was absent more than five minutes. 

Q. Where you were you could see the voting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you keep a poll-list?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue ballots during the day?—A. Eo, 
sir, not any. 

Q. Were all of these 135 tissue tickets Democratic tickets?—A. Yes, 
sir; we counted them all as Democratic tickets. 

Q. When did you first see the tissue tickets?—A. Not until the box 
was opened. The Eepublicans Amted late in the day. I supiiose they 
had counted about 50 Amtes before they reached any of these tissue 
tickets at all. They were about in the middle of the box. 

Q. You had heard nothing of them during the day?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t know how they came into the box?—A. No, sir. 


186 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J87^. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Have you a specimen of those tickets'?—:A. ^N’ot about me. There 
is one pasted on my return. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. They all bear a striking resemblance to one another !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. All belong to the same family!—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Is this a specimen of the ticket (showing a ticket to witness)!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the kind of ticket of which you found 135!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q.' And you say they were all Democratic tickets!—A. Yes, sirj they 
had the names of all the Democratic candidates on them. 

(The ticket exhibited was put in evidence. It was printed on the 
thinnest tissue paper.) 


-- « 

CHARLESTON COUNTY. 

DEMOCRx\.TIC TICKET. 


FOB GOVERNOR, 

Wade Hampton. 
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, 

W. D. Simpson. 

SECRETARY OF STATE, 

R. M. Sims. 
ATTORNEY-GENERA L, 

Leroy F. Yoiimans. 
COMPTROLLER-GENERAL, 

John.son Hagood. 

TREASURER, 

S. L. Leapliart. 

SUPERINTENDENT OP EDUCATION, 
Hugh S. Thompson. 

ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR-OENER.AL, 

E. W. iMoise. 

CONGRESS- SECOND DISTRICT, 

M. P. O’Connor. 

STATE SENATOR, 

Rucfolph Siegling 
REPRESENTATIVES, 

G. Lamb Hiiist. Wm Henderson. 

J. K. Britton. C. R. Miles. 

C. R. Cassidy. A. S. J Perry. 

James M. Easton. B. H. Rutledge. 

S. C. Eckhard. C. H. Simonton. 

W. T. Kite. James Simons, .Ir. 

John F. Ficken. Rev. \\'m. Smalls, 

John Gonzale?,. George R. Walker. 

J. B. Wiggin.s. 

PROBATE JUDGE, 

\V. E. Vincent. 

COU.VTY COMMISSIONERS, 

T. A. Hnguenin. W. H. Cain. 
Philip Fogarty, 

SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS, 

Rev. P. F. Stevens. 


Q. lYlio were the managers of that precinct!—A. I hardly remem¬ 
ber, although I know them all. 

Q. Were they Republicans?—A. No, sir; they were all Democrats. 
There were no Republican votes cast that day except by the colored 
people, of whom 101 voted the Republican ticket and 2 the Democratic 
ticket. 

Q. AYere the clerks of election Democrats!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So all the managers and all the clerks were Democrats as you 
understand!—A. Yes, sir; there were a supervisor, a clerk, the mana¬ 
gers—Democratic. 




County. J 


TESTlMOIsY OF M. E. HUTCHINSON. 


187 


A\ ere thci’e no Kepublicau clialleiig'er8 in the room?—A. There 
'vvas not a single vote (‘hallenged by tliem, except one 1 challenged my- 

S(‘lf. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. A hen the voting was over and they opened the l)OXj did they first 
eonnt the nnnibei’ of tickets Itefore they began to canvass them, or did 
they begin to can\'assthe tickets by reading the names ?—A. They can¬ 
vassed them all. 

Q. lietore tln^y (M)iinted them ?—A. They did not count them to as¬ 
certain how many, but so many for Mr. O’Connor and so many for Mr. 
Mackey. 

Q. When they (Mnnited them through they found there was that many 
more than the names on the poll-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon keep a count of the tickets as they were counted out?— 
A. \es, sir; I kept three lines, one for the Hepublicaus, one for the Dem¬ 
ocrats, and one for the kiss-jokes, for which I made a third time. 

(^). That was when they first commenced counting ?—A. Yes, sir; they 
had counted about dO votes then. 

(j). Then they were thrown back in the ballot-box, and one of the 
managers was blindfolded, and during that time he drew out 10 tissue- 
tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say 8<S Eei)ublican tickets and 47 Democratic ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(). Including 10 tissue-tickets?—A. YYs, sir. 

(^. Who was the Democratic supervisor that acted with you ?—A. I 
don’t remember the name of the Democratic supervisor, though 1 know 
liim wlum 1 see him. I remember Mr. Owens, who was one of the man¬ 
agers. 

Q. There was no interference with the drawing ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They Avere drawn fairly, as far as you could see ?—A. Y'es, sir. 

By Mr. Bandolph : 

Q. Y"ou said just now that the white votes were all Democratic votes; 
liow do you know that ?—A. Well, sir, I know it in this way : When T 
got to the i)oll in the morning, there were no Kepublicau ticAets at all, 
and I had to put a man on a horse and send him down to the next poll 
to get some tickets; and he got 100, and I gave them out and pavssed 
them through the window to those colored people as they came uj>, and 
then after I got through with these and had no more 1 commenced to 
wiite them. 

Q. Y"ou did that in your cajAacity as United Htates su])er\'isor ?—A. 
Yes, sir. I had to send foi' them. The polls were already full. 

Q. And they were j)ut in by persons voting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat perplexes me is, how you know when the a oter voted.—A. 
AYhen I wrote out the tickets, they all called for them and they would 
take them oil. These people came up jAretty quickly together and voted. 
We kept count of the number of colored and the number of white. 

Q. Y"ou considered all the colored people Kepublicans and all the whites 
Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You dreAv, then, Av^hat is known as the colored line in the v ote?—A. 
I kncAV what w^as voted. 1 saw two colored men a ote the Democratic 
ticket, and I saw them vote it o])enly. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When you say so many Kepublicau and so many Democratic tickets, 
you know that from having seen the tickets ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. You do not deiWe that from seeing them voting, but from liaAing 
seen the tickets ?—A. A^es, sir. 


188 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charlebton 


JAMES J. YOU^T4. 


Charleston, S. 0., Jamiary 23, 1879. 

James J. A^^oung (colored) SAVorn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have yon liA^ed here ?—A. Since I Avas about tiA^e years 
of age. 

Q. Were you supervisor during the last election at any voting-place \— 
A. I was supeiwisor at the Thirty-tAA o Mile House precinct, in Saint 
James, Santee. > 

Q. Go on and state AAdiat occurred.—A. I Avas there at the polls early 
in the morning before the balloting commenced. EA^erything went on 
right all day. The box AA as closed, and the managers went to open it 
in a place at the rear of the balloting place, off from the public road. 
Before the opening of the box I suggested- 

Q. Who were the managers ?—A. R. T. Morrison, Mr. Leland, Mr. 
Doer, were the managers; "but the last did not serve. 

Q. Who acted as clerk ?—A. They did not have any, except that IMr. 
Leland acted as clerk. 

Q. Were they all Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And all Avhite men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, proceed.—A. When aa^c had all got into the room, I sug¬ 
gested that we ffrst count the ballots polled, so as to see if their num¬ 
ber agreed Avith the tally-list. He insisted that they should be opened 
first and counted afterwards. I told him I did not think that was the 
right Avay; for if there should be an excess he aa ould know Avhat tickets 
to throw out. He showed me a copy of the law, and I did not raise any 
further objection. He took out the ballots. I sat at the table, and the 
commissioners sat [witness described the location at the table of the com¬ 
missioners, of the ballot-box, of the lamp, &c.]. When they started to 
take out the ballots, Morrison kept his hand on the box. I asked him 
to raise up his hand. He said it was all right, and he pulled out a 
handful of tickets; and then there came a lot of little tickets out of the 
box—little “kiss-jokes” I have heard them called. I liad not seen any 
of them before. At the end of the count it Avas found that while there 
were 549 names on the poll-list, there were a great many more ballots 
than that in the box. I remarked, “This is a self-raising box.” They 
asked me aa hat did I mean. I said, “The tickets are growing here, 
fast.” On the count it turned out that there were 890 Azotes in the box, 
341 in excess of the poll-list. Then we put them back in the box.. The 
box was so full you had to press them down with your hands. One of 
the managers proceeded to draw out the extra a otes. I suggested that 
he be blindfolded. He said, “Yo; I will shut my eyes.” I insisted 
upon his being blindfolded. He said the law did not require that he 
should be blindfolded, and he showed me the laAv; and it did not. Our 
ticket was a much shorter and Avider ticket than the other, so that a 
person could very easily tell by feeling, eA^eh if he could not see at all, 
which was the Republican ticket and AA liich Avas the Democratic. He 
drew out the tickets, and as he drew them out he would open his eyes 
and look at them, and then tear them in tAvo and throw them on the 
ground. In this way he destroyed three “kiss-jokes” and tAAO of the 
large Democratic tickets—I call them “ wrappers.” When they came 
to count the ballots afterwards, there were 164 straight Republican, 388 

kiss-jokes,” and 47 large Democratic tickets, such as they had on the 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES J. YOUNG. 


189 


table. At lirst, I thought I would not sigu the return, but afterwards, 
on thinking the matter over, I made up my mind I would. I staid to 
see the count, and I left. 

Q. How many Kepublican tickets were drawn out and destroyed?— 
A. 1 think about 336. 

(^. Then the tickets that were torn up were all Hepublicans except 
those 5—3 kiss jokes and 2 large Democratic tickets ?—A. That is all: 
1 could see him tear them up, and kept count. 

Q. Did you keep a poll-list that day !—A. I did. 

Q. Did your poll-list agree with that kept by the managers ?—A. I 
will explain to you how that was. I left here on Friday at 3 o’clock. I 
arrived at the place where I was to act as supervisor on Saturday 
afternoon. I had all day Sunday and Monday to stay there. Having 
two days to spare, I prepared my poll-list beforehand, so far as I coidd. 
1 put down the numbers so that when a man came to vote all I had to 
do was to AVrite his name opposite his number. The Democratic suiter- 
visor had no poll-list. The managers’ poll-list and my own agreed ex¬ 
cept that their list said there 550, while my own said 549. They 
accepted mine as correct. 

Q. When the ballot-box was first opened, how many ti(*kets did thev 
find?—A. 890. 

Q. What then Avas the excess ’?—A. 341. 

Q. There Avere just 341 kiss-joke tickets?—A. Yes, sir; there Avere 
i-hree of them destroyed, and 338 left in the box, which made exactly 
341. 

Q. Then the number of Azotes in the box, in excess of the number of 
names on the poll-list, Avas precisely the same as the number of kiss- 
joke tickets found in the box ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had you seen any of these kiss-jok(‘ tickets A'oted during the 
day?—A. Yes, sir; tAAO only I saAv. 

Q. Who A'oted them ?—A. One Avhite man, and one colored man who 
came Avith him. 

Q. Did anybody have them around distributing tliem ? —A. I doiiT 
knoAV about that. These tAvo Avho a oted them did not A ote until nearly 
3 o’clock. 

Q. Was there a table there AAfith tickets on it?—A. Yes, sir; they 
were large Democratic tickets. 

Q. Were any kiss joke tickets on the table ?—A. I did not see one. I 
did not knoAv anything about them until I opened the box. 

Q. Did you ever see any tissue tickets before this election ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. At AA hat election ?—A. In the city here, in a primary election. 

Q. By Avhom Avere they used ?—A. By Mr. 0. C. Palier and Mr. Buttz. 

(^. Wliat is Buttz, politically ?—A. He Avas a Eepublican. 

Q. What Avas Pufi'er ?— A. I don’t kiioAv; he said he Avas a Bepubli- 
can ; but he left here A^ery soon. I do not knoAA" where he belonged nor 
where he Avent. 

Q. That Avas at a Eei)id)lican luimary election ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

i]. Then Mr. Puffer Avas using them in the interests of the Bepubli- 
can party at that time?—A. Not at all, sir; he was using them in the 
interest of himself. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. When Avas that ?—A. At the time of the split up in the party be- 
tAveen Moses and Tomlinson for goA^ernor. 

Q. A numl)er of years ago ? —A. Y'es, sir. 


190 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ (jharlestOTi 


Q. Tkeii the kiss jokes have been known to you for some years f—A. 
I never saw them used before at any general election. 

Q. Only at a primary election ?—A. Yes, sir ; only at a primary elec¬ 
tion. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was the box used on that occasion like one of tliese tin boxes in 
evidence before us here!—A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman findicating]. That box is here, sir, with the.tickets in 
it. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say there were 800 tickets found in tlie l)ox ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you think that number of tickets would till a box of that kind 
so that you would have to crowd them down with your hands ?—A. 
When the tickets were opened and unfolded of course they Avere not as 
compact as when they were first put in folded. 

Q. They were thrown back into the box carelessly !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. After the manager had torn up the excess ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Which manager ?—A. Mi‘. Lei and. 

Q. You say that you wanted liim to be blindfolded, and he said he 
would shut his eyes; did he not turn his face aAvay from the box!—A. 
No, sir; he did not turn anything. He stood right there before the box 
and drew them out. He kept his eyes shut while he was drawing them 
out, and Avhen he had one drawn out, before he tore it in two-he Avould 
open his eyes. 

Q. He raised the lid high enough to i>ut his hand in !—A. He raised 
it high enough so that he could see in it. 

Q. Are you sure he could see in ?—A. 1 know E could see into it. At 
one time when he reached down into the box he had three votes in his 
hand. I told him that he had three votes in his hand. He dropped 
two of them and drew out one and destroyed it. 

Q. As fast as they Avere taken out he destroyed them '?—.V. Yes, sir: 
he tore them in half. 1 might liaA-e lirought tliem doAvn here* if I had 
thought of it in time. 

Q. The law requires that they should be destroyed ?—A. Yes, sir; 
tearing them in hahxs is destroying them, sir. 

Q. And then he threw them (lown ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. YMu haA-e taken a pretty active ])art in politics, have you not ?— 
A. I have been mixed up in it some. 

Q. A good deal mixed u]) in it, have you not ?—A. Not more tlmn I 
thought Avas right. 

Q. You have been more actiA e than juost people ?—A. 1 don’t knoAA* 
that 1 haA^e been more active than iiersons ought to be. 

Q. But more active than people generally are!—A. Yes, sir; 1 sup- 
])ose I have been more active than the general run of iieople. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Aon never knew these kiss jokes to be used before at any lefjal 
election!—A. No, sir; only at primary elections, to decide between two 
factions of the party. 

Mr. McDonald. They were only j)racticing then!—A. I ncA er heard 
them to be used in any general election before^ sir. 


Connty.] 


TESTIMONY OF G. H. F. GRAHAM. 


191 


G. H. F. GKAHAM. 

Charleston, S. C., Janucmj 29,1879. 

G. IT. F. Graham (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. Charleston. 

Q. Were you supervisor at the late election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. At Edisto Island. 

Q. How far from this city ?—A. I don’t know the distance. 

Q. Several miles?—A. Yes, sir; 40 or 50 miles. 

Q. Did you attend the polls on the day of election?—A. Yes, sir; I 
was there. 

Q. At what time did you get to the polls ?—A. I got there about half¬ 
past 4 or quarter of 5 in the morning. 

Q. Were any polls open?—A. No, sir; there was no polls open, but 
there was any (quantity of people there beforehand. They had been 
there all night. 

Q. What kind ?—A. Colored people, and plenty of horses and Avagons, 
&c. Tliey staid there all night. About 6 o’clock in the morning the 
door was opened Avhere the poll Avas to be, and there was no Avhite face 
seen around there till about a quarter of 7, and the first man there was 
Mr. Jenkins—J. M. Jenkins. He appeared about half past 6 or a quarter 
of 7. 1 Avas told he Avas one of the managers, and I Avent and asked 

him AAhat time he Avas going to open the polls. lie said he didn’t 
knoAv; he had neA'er been commissioner before, and that he had only 
seen his name as one of them this time. The (iolored people were 
still assembling and coming in all ready to A'ote. Between 8 and 10 
o’clock there comes another Avhite man, D. P. Pope, one of the man¬ 
agers. He Avas asked the same question — AA-hen the polls aa ere going 
to be opened? and he said he didn’t knoAA anything about it; that he had 
seen his name in the paper, and that Av^as all he knew about it, and he had 
neAW been commissioned by any one. Mr. Thompson was not there 
until about 11 o’clock. He was the Democratic sui)erAfisor. We were 
all standing about there until 11 o’clock, AAiien the two white men went 
ofi*, and no one Avas seen around of them until about half past five o’clock. 
Jolin Milligan, a trial justice, came riding down Avith the box under his 
arm about 2 o’tdock, and said it was carried to him about tAvo minutes 
ago, and he wtis told to bring it down. He came doAvn with the box about 
half past two, and there was no manager nor anybody around. This 
man said he aa ould not open it, as he had no instructions, and the box 
was left there. Jack Milligan had put it there. They came out and 
asked him where he got the box, and he told them all about it, and some 
one said, expect you kncAv where it Avas a long time,” and he said if 
he had knoAvn Avhere it Avas he Avould have brought it, as he Avas a can¬ 
didate for the legislature. We knocked around there, and the crowd did 
not begin to leave until about half past three, and then the people began 
to go liome, and about (>00 or 700 must liaA^e remained until about 6 
o’clo(‘k. 

Q. Noav, Avliat happened after that ?—A. Some ten or fifteen came 
doAvn just as avc were leaving, and [heard one say how nice it Avas done, 
and every time they saw me they busted out in a laugh. I didn’t say 
auA tliing, but I Avalked around to see and hear as much as I could. 

Q. Who AA as this man ?—xV. They said Jack Milligan Avas a candidate 
on the Bepubli(‘an ticket. 

Q. He had the box ?—A. Yes, sir. 


192 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliarlcstou 


'Q. Was it the regular Eepublicaii ticket?—A. No, sir; they were all 
Democrats on it except one or two. 

Q. So he was not on the Kepnblican ticket?—A. No, sir; he was not. 
It was a ticket I never saw or heard of till he brought the box there. 

Q. Yon knew what the Republican ticket was?—A. O, yes, sir; I 
knew the regular Republican ticket. 

Q. Were a large number of colored people there ?—A. There must 
have been between 1,000 or 1,100. 

Q. What distance did they come ?—A. Some from 15 to 20 or 25 miles. 
Manj^ had been there all night, for the distance was so great, and many 
said they had been there ever since 2 o’clock the day before. 

By Mr. Oaivieron: 

Q. Were those people there Republicans or Democrats ?—A. Every 
one of them Republicans, and they said they would vote the solid Re¬ 
publican ticket. 

Q. You didn’t talk with every one of them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. The nmiority of them said so ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear of any Democratic colored fellows around there look¬ 
ing for the voting place ?—A. The only man I heard talking was this 
Jack Milligan. 

Q. Was he a colored Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir; he was a colored Deiik- 
ocrat; and he has taken a heap of advantage of the colored men up 
there lately. 


GEORGE L. BUIST. 

Charleston, S. C., January 21, 1879. 

George L. Buist sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. How long have you been a resident of Charleston ?—xA.. For forty 
years ; ever since I was born. 

Q. To Avhat political party do you l>elong ?—xV. Straight-out Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Q. What position did you hold in the party organization during the 
last canvass ?—A. I was chairman of the county executive committee. 

Q. Do you remember about what time ?—A. The board of election 
commissioners received their appointment and organized in this county 
under the last statute about hO days before the election, and my recol¬ 
lection is that it was done probably a day or two before the time expired. 
They were appointed by Governor Hampton a day or two before, and 
announced in the public papers. 

Q. Was there any list furnished by you to the board of suitable i)er- 
sons to be appointed as managers in the different wards ?—A. A i^artial 
list was. 

Q. Furnished by you ?—A. Yes, sir, it was. 

Q. How many would you furnish for a common poll ?—A. Three. A 
large numl)er were recommended that were not appointed. The board 
of commissioners, as I understood it, not deeming them proper persons, 
for that reason and probably because their business engagements would 
not allow them to serve, were not appointed. Tliey used their discretion. 

Q. What about the conditions which they imposed on them ?—A. The 
condition of tilings was this : Until the Democratic party got in power 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 


193 


we wei^ always placed under heavy contribntioii for election expenses, 
and upon the Democracy getting possession of the governineut they 
went to the other extreme of abolishing it altogether, and provided no 
money whatever for election expenses, and it came to this, that our 
pemocratic executive committee paid every dollar that was expended 
in this county, and it was to this fact that the Eepublicans were kept in 
the majority. It cost six or seven hundred dollars to have tickets dis¬ 
tributed around. 

Q. Do you remember one Mr. Jones who was in your executive com¬ 
mittee room at the time these tissue ballots were presented there ?—A. 
Xo, sir; I never saw him there. I remember suggesting the propriety 
to ]\Ir. Jones not to take any part of the proceedings to the executive 
committee; but 1 do not think he was there afterwards. 

Q. At what time were those tissue ballots brought to your committee 
room, if they were brought there before the election f-^A. The first I 
saw of tissue ballots was about four or five days before the election. 
The executive committee in this county had nothing to do with the 
tickets. We contributed to the State committee, and they provided all 
these things. 

Q. They provided you with ballots, and you made your contribution 
to them ?—A. Yes, sir; they requested a contribution from all the coun¬ 
ties. Charleston County furnished her money, and that money was 
used for the printing of tickets. Tliere was never a dollar paid, to my 
knowledge, by the county for printing tickets. They were printed under 
the control of the executive committee of the State. I do not know any¬ 
thing about it. All I know is they were not paid for by us. 

Q. You say some three or four days before the election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How were they there—with other ballots?—A. Yes, sir; with other 
ballots. 

Q. What distribution did you make of them ? How did you distribute 
them ?—A. They were distributed just as other ballots, and were all 
over the city of Charleston the same as any other tickets, so 1 heard. I 
saw notices on the shops and stores, &c. 

Q. How were they distributed ?—A. Well, I think they were sent 
along with the general tickets always. 

Q. What was the purpose in sending those tickets and circulating 
them before the election and at the election ?—A. That is a question 
that requires quite a lengthy explanation. I can give you my views 
ui)ou it. 

Q. Well, you can do that.—A. I do not know whether these tickets 
were used in other counties or not; to my knowledge I know nothing 
on the sulqect; but I have read in the papers that they were very gen¬ 
erally used in the State. Ilut this was the view I took on the subject. 
I have had a good deal to do with politics here in the last eight years. 1 
have worked with one branch of the Eepublican party in Chaileston 
County, led by my own man, Mr. Mackey, under opposition to Mr. 
Bowen, and I know a good deal about these things, and about colored 
l^eople, and from the professions made to us by the colored friends here 
from James Island, and other places, we concluded that the political 
millennium had about arrived here if we could only enable these people 
to vote without fear of intimidation. This matter of tissue ballots was 
not then brought up before the committee at all. But taking this view 
of the inability of tlie colored people to vote openly for us, we thought 
these tissue ballots would enable them to vote in a secret way. 

Q. Enable them to vote and be secret about it ?—A. Yes, sir; at the 
same time they may liave been irregularly used, but not so far as I 
know, and we never gave such instructions. 

13 s c 


194 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You spoke about your couuectioii with electious heretofore. What 
facts had transpired in elections heretofore indicating that there was 
any necessity for voting in a secret way ? Had there been any intimi¬ 
dation practiced apiinst them; and if so, by whomf—A. Well, sir, 
universal intimidation. I am well acquainted with it, because I have 
happened to work with Mr. Mackey. There is a regular systematic plan 
of repeating them by the hundreds—taking them from one poll to another. 

Q. What intimidation had been practiced against them ?—-A. Aban- 
<lonment of them by their wives, and thrashing them by their wives if 
they had the physical power to (lo it, and the influence of the churches. 
It is hard to disband them after you get them to unite; but there is 
now an inclination among them to do what is right, as I have found by 
interviews in different parts of the county. But the great trouble is 
to get them up to the point on the day of the election. They will all 
vote Democratic if they are not intimidated. 

Q. It takes a pretty brave colored man to vote the Democratic ticket ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. You spoke just now of having worked with Mr. Mackey in some 
previous elections, and I understood from you (perhaps not in this ex¬ 
amination) that you had been a lite-long Democrat.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did it happen that you and Mackey worked together ?—A. 
Well, in this way : In 1874 the Democracy made no nominations in this 
State of State officers. One branch of the Republican party nominated 
Governor Chamberlain, and the other ]\Ir. Green. Mr. Mackey and Mr. 
Cunningham supported Mr. Green, and the Democracy of this county 
did the same. Mr. Mackey was chairman of the Republican party and 
I was chairman of the Democratic side in that election. I saw a good 
deal done that opened my eyes. 

Q. Then the Republican party in this county did not act as a unit ?— 
A. No, sir ; I do not think they did even in the last election. 

Q. Did they in 1874?—A. Yery much so. If it Avas not for Messrs. 
Mackey and Cunningham Ave would haA C lost the county. I do not 
think the Democrats have got over it. 

Q. Were there any Democrats on your ticket ?—A. I do not remem¬ 
ber that there were. Well, in ansAA cring that question I haA^e not an¬ 
swered it correctly, for this reason: there were a good many Democrats 
on the ticket, as far as the county was concerned, but not on the State 
ticket, howeA’er. 

Q. Was Mr. Trenholm ex-Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederate 
States, on the ticket ?—A. He was. 

Q. And it was for that ticket that you and Mackey Avorked in com¬ 
mon?—A. Yes, sir; and Mr. Cunningham. 

Q. You spoke a little while ago of knowing a great deal about the 
way in which things Avere done, because you and Mackey had worked 
together?—A. Yes, sir. I discoA^ered in that election that to carry an 
election in South Carolina under the Republican rule it was essential 
that you should have absolute power and control of the commissioners. 

Q. What do you mean by absolute power and control of the commis¬ 
sioners ” ?—A. I mean that Mr. Bowen in this county had persuaded 
Governor Moses, through some financial consideration, to appoint the 
commissioners, and his side of the Republican house were absolutely 
sure of the election. That Mr. Mackey and Mr. Cunningham discovered, 
and they brought influences in connection with Democrats upon Gov¬ 
ernor Moses, and changed that. In other words, the practice in this 
State was this, for the commissioners to control the elections. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 195 

Q. You say that was done through financial consideration!—A. I 
have heard so, and I have reason to believe it. 

Q. In other words, Moses was bought!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By whom, do you suppose!—A. Well, it was the party in opposi¬ 
tion to Bowen at that time. The Bepublican party was led by Mackey 
and Cunningham; but then the Democrats had united with them, and 
I suppose that both elements resulted in bringing about this result. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The Democrats, in other words, contributed to the buying !—A. 
Yes, sir; I have no doubt of it. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. They pooled their issues !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Then, in your judgment, the Mackey wing and the Republican party 
united to persuade them to do that which would give them, substantially, 
control in the election in this county!—A. I do, sir; I know it. 

Q. And the commissioners, as appointed, were within the control of 
the Mackey wing and the Democrats !—A. They were, sir. 

Q. To what extent did the Democrats influence the appointment of 
managers at that time!—A. Well, I don’t know to what extent, further 
than to provide the means to buy Moses. 

Q. Who reaped the benefit!—A. We lost the State, but we have a 
good government in this county. 

Q. Do you think you got value received ?—A. Yes, sir; but I don’t 
mean to say, gentlemen, that these commissioners did anything wrong 
that were appointed by Moses, but they assisted in shaping the election. 

Q. Was the colored vote large at that time!—A. Yes, sir. Mackey 
controlled the city, and Bowen controlled the country. That is the first 
time I ever saw repeating. 

Q. What do you know about that!—A. They went from one poll to 
the other and repeated. I never saw that, but I heard it. 

Q. You think it was done!—A. Yes, sir. That came about by the 
collision of the two wings of the Republican party. 

Q. Which one, do you suppose, contributed most to these repeaters !— 
A. Well, I think Mackey controlled the city, and I presume our side got 
the benefit of it. 

Q. Were there many colored men in from the country during the last 
election!—A. Yes, sir; quite a number. 

Q. There was no reason, at this recent election, why they should be 
restrained!—A. Kone at all. Some of the polling precincts were abol¬ 
ished, and I expected them to come in. 

Q. You do not know that Mackey had any reason for restraining at 
this last election !—A. Kone at all. 

Q. Was there anj^ effort made by you, as chairman of the Democratic 
executive committee of the county, to conceal these tissue ballots at any 
time within a few days of the election !—A. Koiie in the world. I never 
saw the tickets until they were printed. 

Q. They were distributed freely!—A. Yes, sii^ and openly. I voted 
at the Hope Engine House early in the morning, and was not about the 
poll at all after 1 voted. 

Q. So tliat your old Republican allies, if they had used their observa¬ 
tion, could have known it!—A. Yes, sir; they did, and had a card tacked 
up on the court-house to the efiect that these ballots were in existence, 
and persons told me they were all about Charleston. 


396 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You have been chairman of the comity committee for eight or ten 
years ?—A. ^^o, sir; the first comiection I had with jiolitics was as chair¬ 
man of the city association. I then retired until this last connection 
with Mackey and Greene. 

Q. 1 understood you were there in 1877, wlien the Kepublican party 
had no opposition. Have you had any other reason to co-operate with 
the Mackey and Greene party since 1874 ?—A. ^7o, sir. 

Q. You found them very efiicient ?—A. Tliey taught me things that 
I never learned before; they taught me repeating. 

Q. Well, after you received that sort of education, did you attempt 
to use it at the recent election —A. I had nothing to do on the day of 

the election at the polls. At the time I was just speaking of, Mr. B- 

had sent a message down to Mackey in ward No. 2 that he had just 
A'oted IdO men, and that he w ould send them to him. This information 
w as to have gone to Mackey, but was sent to ]\Ir. Mathews, to our com¬ 
mittee-room, by mistake, and we got it instead. Upon that I got alarmed. 

Q. You thought your old friends were exercising their old ingenuity'?— 
A. Yes, sir; and the result was that I sent a message to different par¬ 
ties that we must stop them if possible. Several called upon, me at 
Military Hall, and I stated the orders I had given, and they approved 
of them and w'ent off. Several of our men came to me with the com- 
))laiiit that there w^as repeating on the other side, and I told them my 
orders, and it satisfied them. 

Q. You believe that considerable repeating w'as done by the colored 
voters ?—A. Yes, sir. I think it was stopped about ten o’clock, by our 
onergy and activity. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did you organize your Democratic executive committee ?— 
A. The executive committee wms organized just before the meeting of 
the Democratic State convention. I think it was in June, and they wwe 
organized very soon after the meeting of the convention, after w^e returned 
from making State nominations. 

Q. How^ were the commissioners appointed ?—A. By Governor Hamp¬ 
ton. 

Q. At w hose request ?—A. Well, of the Democratic executive com¬ 
mittee. 

Q. How' long before the election did you see the tissue ballots you 
liave spoken of ?—A. I think a few days before the election. 

Q. Where did you see them ?—A. They wwe brought into the execu¬ 
tive committee room on Broad street. 

Q. By whom were they brought,and where did they come from?—A. 
They w^ere there; I found them in the executive cominittee room, and I 
concluded that they came from the State committee. I do not know 
that, how^ever; they came just the same as all the other tickets. I do 
not mean to say they printed them; but they w ere responsible for their 
payment. 

Q. Did both varieties of tickets come at the same time ?—xA. Y^es, sir; 
I believe so. I knew^ they would i)ay for them. 

Q. You never lieard anything about the tissue ballots until you saw 
them printed ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you distribute your tickets ?—xA. About three days be¬ 
fore the election; just as people came in. 

Q. When did you commence distributing the small tissue ballots ?— 
A. At the same time the others were. 

Q. And just as publicly ?—A. Yes, sir. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 


197 


Q. You placarded on the court-house that you had tissue ballots ?—A. 
No, sir; the Kepublicaiis did that. I kept my own counsel. I was not 
going to give them any counsel. 

Q. Do you know whether any of them were exhibited on the streets ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. What did the Republicans placard on the court-house ?—A. I did 
not see; but information was giv^en me that they placarded that these 
tickets were known to be in existence, and to beware of them, &c. 

Q. They were warning the Republican voters against these tickets f— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you present at any of the polling-places during the elec¬ 
tion?—A. I was ; I got there about a quarter past six in the morning. 

Q. Where ?—A. At Hope Engine House, ward No. 4, where I live. 

Q. How long were you there ?—A. I was there about ten minutes. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots while you were there f—A. No, sir; 
I walked up and ])ut in my own vote and went off. 

Q. Did you see anybody peddling those tissue ballots ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know who (\id peddle themf—A. No, sir; I do not. 

You have been for eight years an active i)olitician ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, can you think of some one man who on election-day was dis¬ 
tributing these tickets ?—A. No, sir, I can’t; and it would be doing an 
injustice to him if I did tell it. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots voted at your polls ?—A. I got there 
about two minutes after six, and 1 got into line, and when'my turn came 
I voted and went off*. 

Q. Do you know when the returns were made whether any tissue bal¬ 
lots were found or not?—A. No, sir ; I do not. 

Q. You stated that you knew that it was essential to have the com¬ 
missioners?—A. No, sir; not in this election. I said my observation in 
I)olitics while the Republicans were in power in this city led me to be¬ 
lieve that if you didn’t get the commissioners that were appointed by the 
governor, it was useless to hope for anything. I said in reference to 
these other elections it was the fact. 

Q. You mean to say that you did not intend to say that you thought 
it was essential to have the commissioners at this last election ?—A. No, 
sir; I never said that. 

Q. But did they have them ?—A. Yes, sir. I understood that there 
was to be no Republican managers in any part of the State. 

Q. Where did you get your instructions ?—A. I don’t know; but I 
was glad to get them. 

Q. Two members of the managing-board would have answered your 
purpose, would they not ?—A. Well, some members of the Republican 
party are the sharpest men I ever saw. 

Q. You think it would take two Democratic commissioners to stand 
off' one Republican commissioner ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Most managers are colored men in this State?—A. Most of them 
are, and they are the sharpest men on elections that we have. If T was 
representing the Democratic party, I would take all the commissioners 
I could get. 

Q. You would not have any Republican colored men either, would 
you ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Who appointed the clerk ?—A. I think the managers. 

Q. You did not have any Republican clerk ?—A. That 1 know nothing 
about. 1 didn’t api>oint him. 

Q. These tissue ballots you understood were for these Democratic col- 


198 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


ored people who were intimidated by their fellow colored people ?—A. 
Yes, sir; that was the idea. 

Q. That you should wrap them up in white paper and get the colored 
people to vote them ?—A. Well, vote them some way. 

Q. They were so small that they could slip them in without the colored 
people knowing what they were doing ? Do you know how they were 
voted !—A. No, sir. I never saw one voted. 

Q. The common ticket could be voted as well as that without being 
discovered f—A. Well, they did the same thing in the Butler election. 
They had a colored ticket, and that did something to prevent these peo¬ 
ple from being bulldozed by Eepublicans. 

Q. You wanted the ticket made so that they could not tell how a man 
voted 1 —A. So that any colored man who was intimidated could vote as 
he wanted to. 

Q. Is it not just as easy to vote an ordinary Democratic ticket as one 
of these, without being intimidated f—A. No, sir; I don’t think it is. 
They are all printed on one kind of paper, and these people see them at 
the polls. 

Q. You can wrap a large paper up ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Would not the fact that a man was voting one of these little tick¬ 
ets naturally call attention to it, if he went up and apparently did not 
vote any !—A. I don’t think it would. 

Q. It was in the interest of these apparently intimidated Democratic 
colored people that you got these tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Without instructions'?—A. We had no instructions on the subject. 

Q. You stated you thought there were some irregularities ?—A. I 
have no doubt there were irregularities on both sides, according to 
Governor Hampton’s letter. 

Q. How did you know there were ?—A. I think there are always ir¬ 
regularities at their elections on both sides. 

Q. Do you think this is an irregularity to vote these tickets ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Suppose a man puts in two or three ?—A. I think that would be a 
great irregularity. 

Q. Now, you say from the promises made by the colored people; 
where were these promises made ?—A. I would have, for instance, a del¬ 
egation of 25 or more from Jones Island in my office, and they would 
show that there was a perfect revulsion of sentiment since the govern¬ 
ment had been conducted on an economical base, and they would invite 
us to go steamboat-riding, &c., and show they were friends. But the 
great difficulty was they just talked—they did not stand up when the 
point came at election-time, and I think it was because they were intim¬ 
idated by their own race. 

Q. About how many fellows came around and told you about the 
revulsion of sentiment ?—A. I suppose about 150. 

Q. They represented that the whole colored community favored your 
side!—A. No; not the whole. 

Q. Well, the masses had turned over to that way of thinking?—A. 
Yes, sir; and at our political gatherings when we said anything they 
would take off their hats and bow low to us. I thought was an evi¬ 
dence of reform, sure; but now 1 know it was an evidence of hypocrisy. 

Q. How long did you continue in that mind ?—A. Until some four or 
five days after the election. 

Q. Then up to that time you expected to get their votes ?—A. Yes, 
sir; and we did get a good many. 

Q. Did these men complain to"you that there was any moral restraints 


County.] TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 199 

or intimidatioD by their fellows ?—A. They said at previous elections 
there was great intimidation ; but the people’s minds changed. 

Q. Still you thought it was necessary to have these tissue tickets, 
which you never had before !—A. Well, 1 think they may have had 
them before, at Mackey’s election. 

Q. The Democrats had never used them before !—A. I never run but 
one election, and that was in 1877, and in that election we did not have 
any opposition; and we had no tissue ballots in the Greene campaign 
that I know of. 

Q. These men you say talked very favorably and bowed low, but did 
not act accordingly!—A. I think a great many of them did not, and I 
was very much disappointed. I would rather have had them tell me 
that they were against us. 

Q. You were disappointed by that ?—A. Yes, sir; and a good many 
of them were. 

Q. Still you found a very large number of these tissue ballots in the 
boxes !—A. Yes, sir; a large number in the city. 

Q. How many did you find in !—A. I never saw a ballot-box or the 
contents of one. 

Q. Have you any idea liow many tissue ballots were put in there !— 
A. I know nothing about it. 

Q. Your theory is that they were voted by the colored people !—A. 
A. Xo, sir; by hundreds of white peo])le in the city. 

Q. Why did they vote them !—A. Well, they would march up to the 
polling-places and vote them the same as any other ticket. I never saw 
them, but I have heard it, and I can bring testimony by parties who saw 
it. I do not mean to say but that there might have been irregidarities 
among them, because there may have been. 

Q. AVhere did the white Democrats vote these tickets; what ward !— 
A. I think they voted them at nearly every ward in town; that was my 
information after the election. 

Q. AA^hat reason was there why they should vote it!—A. I don’t 
know; I suppose because they were just there with the regular tickets. 

Q. Did they vote them with the other tickets !—A. I presume but one 
ticket; if he votes two he is responsible for it. 

Q. Do you know of any Democrats who voted that ticket openly !—A. 
Xo, sir; but I have heard of a good many, though. 

Q. There was another object, I suppose, and that was to furnish Dem¬ 
ocrats with votes!—A. Xo, sir; not at all. The Democrats voted them 
just as they would any other ticket. 

Q. Do you know of any negroes who voted them!—A. Xo, sir; not 
■one. 

Q. Might they not liave been all voted by white men!—A. I don’t 
know; I was not present. 

Q. You say in 1874 there was a spilt in the Eepublican party here!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And somebody—Mr. Moses; who is Moses!—A. He was Republi¬ 
can governor of South Carolina. 

Q. AAliere was he from !—A. South Carolina. 

Q. A native of the State!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He was not a carpet-bagger!—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Xow, who bouglit him out to appoint the commissioners!—A. 
AA^ell, we heard on our side that Air. Bowen’s party had for a considera¬ 
tion got the commissioners, and upon, that the other branch of the 
Republican party outwitted him by paying a larger consideration in 
getting the commissioners. 


200 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


Q. Moses (lid not appoint Bowen’s coininissioners ?—A. Xo, sir; but 
had agreed to do it. 

Q. Who furnished the money ?—A. I don’t know of my own knowl¬ 
edge ; my information is that both sides did it, and liberally too. 

Q. Do you know how much they paid him f—A. No, sir. 

Q. You got the commissioners f—A. Well, the Greene element ()f the 
Kepublican party got the commissioners, ami the election was carried in 
this county. 

Q. Who were the commissioners ?—A. I have forgotten. 

Q. Was not Mr. Myers one of them ?—A. 1 don’t know positively. 

Q. AVas he not elected last year ?—xV. Yes, sirj on the Democratic 
ticket for the legislature. 

Q. He was a Democrat all the time'?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Now you say you anticipated a good deal of repeating at the last 
election ?—A. Not only that, but I discovered it, and I have helped to 
check it. 

Q. AVho has control of the city government I —A. The Democratic 
party. 

Q. AVho has control of the county government!—A. The Republicans 
have all the county officers—the sheriff and the county commissioners. 

Q. They had them ?—A. Y"es, sir; they don’t now. 

Q. AYho has had control of the district court here?—A. I think 
the Reimblican party had control of it. 

Q. I mean the State court; what judge comes here'?—A. They go by 
rotation ; there are eight of them. Our resident judge, though, is Judge 
Preston. 

Q. AA'hat is he 1 —A. He is a Democrat. 

Q. How many Republican judges are there in the State?—A. I don’t 
know how many now. 

Q. How many were there last summer ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. The courts are under the con Aol of the Democratic officials ?—A. 
Yes, sir; the courts of the State. 

Q. Well, you anticipated a large number of repeaters; did they have 
anything to do with the getting of tissue ballots?—xY No, sir; I say 
the difficulty is this, the colored men cannot be distinguished by white 
people, and if the Republican party are disposed to repeat them by the 
hundreds, you cannot stop it. 

Q. Y"ou say you do not wonder that the colored people came in here, 
because some of the voting places of the country had been abandoned ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Exidain that.—A. I mean that there was a voting precinct in Saint 
Andrew’s that they usually voted at that was changed, and we expected 
them to come into Charleston. There was several of them abolished. 

Q. AVas it by act of the legislature ?—xV. Yes, sir. They were abol¬ 
ished in this way: for instance, they would take a brick church in Saint 
Andrew’s Parish, and then another time Sofatee, and after they abolished 
Sofatee precinct the people could just cross the river and^ go to the 
other. 

Q. Was there much complaint about that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are your i^recincts abolished by statute ?—A. Yes, sir; State stat¬ 
ute. The Republicans used to announce precincts on the morning of 
the election, and the Democratic party followed their examj)le, so it is 
now fixed by statute. 

Q. When was that passed ?—A. In Republican times; but we amended 
it. 

Q. How many have been abolished ?—A. I don’t know. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 


201 


Q. Was it the act of 1877 ?—A. Yes, sirj 23. I think if they had 
retained all these precincts the Democratic executive committee would 
never have had money enough to maintain them. 

Q. How was it in 1870 ’?—A. I think Bowen did not give ChamheiTain 
any support. 

Q. There was a Republican majority here ?—A. Yes, sir; but he did 
not do anything to help Chamberlain. 

Q. Do you know what the majority was ?—A. It was 0,000. I wonder 
that it was not 10,000, for they repeated at that election, and I saw it 
going on, but we had no power to stoj) it. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. Were there any colored Democratic clubs in this county last fall f— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. I think there were about three. 

Q. Where were they ?—A. Different w^ards in the city. There w^as a 
club called the “Haines Club”; 1 don’t know the other three. There 
vrere clubs on Jones and Janies Islands; but I don’t know what they 
counted up. 

Q. How many members belonged to these three city clubs ?—A. I don’t 
know. I never met them in any way except when their representatives 
came in the room. 

Q. Did the report of the executive committee show the number of 
members in the clubs ?—A. Yo, sir. They always made great profes¬ 
sions of large numbers, but they made no official report in writing. 

Q. Were not Bowc^i and Chamberlain running on the same ticket in 
1870?—A. Bowen was running; but I don’t think he took much stock 
in Chamberlain. 

Q. I suppose from that remark you would be understood that he did 
not support the ticket ?—A. Xo, sir; I didn’t mean that. I don’t think 
he exerted himself, but did nothing to impede its progress. 

Q. Did you hear anything in regard to these tissue ballots until you 
found them in your committee-room ?—A. 'Not a word. I never knew 
they were in existence, and the matter has never been discussed in com¬ 
mittee. All that I knew was that they had money to jiay for the print¬ 
ing of them. 

Q. You think they came from the State committee directly ?—A. I 
don’t know that; but I suppose so. 

Q. Were there any prominent colored men aiding the Democratic 
party at the last election?—A. Yes, sir; a good many of them. 

Q. Give the names.—A. There was a large number of them in Haines 
Democratic Club, ai\d a large number in Holiday’s band of colored peo¬ 
ple. Everywhere I met them, they professed to be changed in the coun¬ 
try. I met them at Saint Stephen’s in large numbers, and at Sofatee 
Cliurch in large numbers, and Mount Pleasant. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. They were not scared a bit ?—A. They were not scared at that 
time. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did any of them tell you that if you would be kind enough to send 
them tissue ballots that they would succeed in voting them ?—A. Noy 
sir. 

Q. Did any colored men ever apply to you, as chairman of the Dem¬ 
ocratic executive committee of the county, to furnish them these tissue. 


202 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


ballots !—A. None. A great many of tliem bave expressed great fears 
about voting. 

Q. Did the chairman of the Democratic State executive committee 
communicate to you the reasons why those tissue ballots were sent to 
you “?—A. Never ; I never spoke to him on the subject. 

Q. Never wrote to anybody at all ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Where did you understand those ballots that you received came 
from !—A. As I told you before, the State committee, as I understood, 
paid for them; I am just judging where they came from, but I know 
nothing about it. 

Q. Did you understand that j'ou were to receive the tickets for this 
county from the State committee, or had you thought anything about 
it ?—A. I understood this: that our money went to the State committee, 
and whoever printed those tickets were to be i^aid by the State com¬ 
mittee. 

Q. And have them sent to you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many Democratic votes were cast on St. John’s Island?—A. 
I don’t know; the returns will show that. I could not state positively 
about that. I was not at any of these points. 

Q. You stated in reply to a question that you understood that these 
tissue ballots were used pretty generally throughout the State.—A. I 
have heard that; that they were used in certain counties, from Rich¬ 
land County down. My knowledge is princii)al New York papers. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You worked for what was called the Chamber]|iin ticket in 1874 ?— 
No, sir; I worked for what we called the Greene ticket. 

Q. Who were the candidates for governor at that time!—A. Mr. 
Chamberlain and Mr. Greene were opposing candidates; there was a 
split in the Republican party. 

Q. Mr. Greene !—A. He was the Republican that the Democrats sup¬ 
ported and carried this county. 

Q. I understood you that Moses was a native of your State !—A. I 
am sorry to say he is. 

Q. Was his father one of the justices of the sui)reuie court!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Your experience in that connection showed you that if you had 
the commissioners of election in the county you would be all right!—A. 
It satisfied me that if Bowen retained the commissioners that Moses 
had appointed, that under that condition of things Bowen was bound 
to carry the election. 

Q. But if other commissioners were appointed !—A. I thought that 
if Mackey was fortunate enough to get the commissioners we would 
carry the election. 

Q. Then Mackey, at that time, was working in the interest of good 
order!—A. Yes, sir; he did great service, and I think Mackey will 
testify to the same condition of things, so far as that election goes. 

Q. Were all three commissioners at that time appointed Republi¬ 
cans !—A. No, sir; I think it was just as it was at this time; there were 
one Democrat and two Republicans. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. One Republican belonging to each wing!—A. I don’t know; but 
we had the majority. The Republican appointed at this last election was 
not recommended by the Republican committee, but by the Democratic 
committee. I don’t think he would have been suitable to the Republi- 
•caus. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE L. BUIST. 


203 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Mho was that Republican commissioner appointed by the gov¬ 
ernor? Did you not recommend him?—A. I am not positive. 

Q. There was some fear upon your x^art that but for these tissue bal¬ 
lots the colored men who were desirous of voting the Democratic ticket 
might find it unpleasant to do so. Am I right?—A. Yes, sir; that is 
one view I took of it. 

Q. That they would be afraid that their wives would go back on them, 
and church members?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But now you tell me at the same time that you have a colored baud 
here composed of Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; and we have turned out to 
their meetings, and go to their barbecues; and when a good thing is 
said by a Democratic speaker they would take off their hats and bow to 
him, and not appear to be at all scared. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Now if these men Avere boldly out in favor of the Democratic party, 
did it not convince you that your fears that they would be intimidated 
Avere groundless, and that there was no use of your tickets in that ]iar- 
ticular ?—A. I took this Anew of it: that since the Democrats got in 
power the colored people would do a great many things that tliey would 
not do before; but when it came to the day of voting, and there would 
be a great effort made, I think those tickets could be used with benefit 
to the colored voters. I don’t pretend to say that there would be irreg¬ 
ularities in connection Avith it. 

Q. Did you not think that they were dangerous to use ? Do you not 
think that a man could fraudulently use them ?—A. Yes, sir;" I must 
confess that it was not judicious to do it; that they could easily commit 
frauds. 

Q. You do not kuoAv of any such men in this town, do you?—A. I 
am not responsible for the morals of the community. 

Q. Have you as many x)eople as in Philadelphia ?—A. I don’t think 
Ave have as many people here as in Philadelphia. 

Q. Y^ou have not as large a population ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. But you think in imoportion to the population they are as good as 
in Philadelphia ?—A. I think we haA^e as good people as in any city. 

Q. Whether any of these tickets were fraudulently Amted or not, you 
don’t knoAV?—A. No, sir; I don’t know. It would be rather a singular 
circumstance if at a great many i)olling places there should not be a 
large excess OA^er and aboA^e the names on the i)oll-lists. 

Q. It Avould look suspicious?—A. Yes, sir; I think it would. 

Q. Did any of the other Democrats in Charleston take lessous from 
Mackey at the same time that you did ?—A. I think our entire executh^e 
committee learned from them. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You were asked if you saw any persons at the i)recincts distributing 
tickets; do you recollect of their distributing any kind of tickets ?—A. 
No, sir; I don’t, because I was not there long enough. 

(^,. Your attention AAms not called to it ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. You saw no more of other tickets than you did of those?—A. No, 
sir. I simply voted and came aAvay. 

Q. Do you recollect of seeing the regular Republican ticket ?—A. Yes, 
sir; the Democrats’ ticket. 

Q. What Avas the relation of those two tickets ?—A. I think they were 
pretty much the^same size. There was one Republican ticket brought to 


204 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


me which was called a tissue ticket. They were larger than our tickets 
and I thought they were an olf-set. I don’t know^ whether they were 
voted or not. 

Q. You think they were about the same size or larger than the regular 
Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of paper were they printed on; the Republican ticket?— 
A. White, ordinary paper. 

Q. You say that in your conferences with ]\rr. ]Vrackey you became 
satisfied from what he and his friend communicated tliat these first com¬ 
missioners would make the election go against Mr. Mackey and his 
friends ?—A. Yes, sir; Mackey and all of us were satislied of it. 

Q. Do you know where Moses is now ?—A. I hear he is in New York. 
I think the Republican party has abandoned him and have nothing more 
to do with him. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. He has joined the Democrats, has he not ?—A. No, sir; I think not. 

Q. Did you ever know^, previous to this election, of the Republicans 
using tissue ballots ?—A. No, sir; I did not. 

By Mr. Oa^ieron : 

Q. Did the Democrats in this last election in this (*ounty have what 
they called a calico ticket ?—A. We did at the election before the last. 

Q. Well, at this last election?—A. No, sir; I don’t remember of any. 
We have a great vmriety of tickets ordinaril.y; that is one of our weak¬ 
nesses. 


R. :\r. SMITH. 


Charleston, S. C., ^yednesday^ January 29, 1879. 
R. M. Smith (coloied) sw orn and examined. 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—^^nsw er. At the city of Charleston. 

Q. How" long have you lived here ?—A. I was born here. I have been 
absent, though, at different times. 

Q. With what political party have you acted in the past?—A. With 
both political parties. 

Q. When you first commenced to vote, with wdiat party did you act ?— 
A. With the Republican i)arty. 

Q. How^ long did you continue to act with that party ?—A. Up to 
1872. 


Q. Since that time w hat party have you acted w itli ?—A. WTth the 
Democratic party. 

Q. In the last cain ass and election did you take any part ?—A. Dur¬ 
ing the canvass I did, but on the day of the election I did not. Being a 
member of the police, I did not do anything but vote. 

Q. At w hich poll w ere you stationed ?—A. At the Eagle Station House, 
ward 5. I wms there all day. 

Q. Were you a member of any political club during the canvass?—A. 
I am president of a political club in the city. 

Q. In w hat w aid was that organized ?—A. In w ard 5. 

Q. How many members w^ere there belonging to your club during the 
last canvass ?—A. That was a club that did not seek to get members 
particularly. 





County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M SMITH. 


205 


Q. as it a colored club ?—A. It was. It was founded upon iutelli- 
j^euce, and uo one was admitted that did not have intelligence, ami we 
never admitted more than fifty members. It was used as a rallying club, 
and we did not care to admit any more than fifty. It is not a tempo¬ 
rary did), as clubs usually are, but it is a permanent organization. 

Q. You initiated your members how ?—A. By ballot; and they are 
required to possess a certain amount of intellectual qualitication. 

Q. And cliaracter?—A. Yes, sir; and character. And I do not think 
there are six ot them who are not tax payers; and some of them are 
ante helium freedmen—some have always been free. 

Q. Did they engage actively as canvassers ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For what party?—A. The Democratic party. In fact, they did 
fli^ ^nrk of ward 5. The white people did not participate very much in 
politics there. They are mostly wealthy jieople in that ward—people of 
advanced age, and they take very little active participation in politics. 
I have never seen at any political meeting there over one hundred white 
men. 

Q. The members of your clul), then, acted as rallying men in the elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Yes, sir; I represented that. 

Q. Where ?—A. In every convention that has been held there. In 
every convention I have always been a delegate from that ward. 

Q. Did they keep up any communications with the wards in other 
parts of the county ?—A. Yes, sir; that was done. We were called u[)on 
to assist in some other Democratic clubs in the city—that is, in organ¬ 
izing them. In fact, I assisted in organizing them all. 

Q. What Democratic clubs were organized, or in organization, in the 
last canvass ?—A. Well, in every Democratic club here there are colored 
men. For instance, while I was president of a colored Democratic club 
in ward 5, I was vice-president of a white Democratic club. 

Q. Your club of which you were president was a political organiza¬ 
tion confined to colored people ?—A. Yes, sir; while it was not wholly 
for the Democrats. If you will allow me to tell it in my own way I can 
explain it. 

Q. Well, go on.—A. Well, in 1872, and before that, I do not believe 
a colored man could vote the Democratic ticket, because they did not 
recognize his right to. Then myself and many colored men were driven 
out, in effect. Education was a disqualification for office with them, and 
a little white blood was a disqualification. Finally it got so you would 
get your head broken if you did not go with them. I thiidv Mr. Mackey 
here knows that. In fact, a man who voted for Hampton was a Demo¬ 
crat. Of course I am a negro, and I think now to consult the interests 
of the colored people is to go in with the white people. We cannot suc¬ 
ceed here in keeping up the color-line. What I mean is, the Eepublican 
party is composed exclusively of colored people. I do not supjiose there 
are two hundred white Eepublicans in the State of South Carolina, and 
I don’t know any of them who I would vote for, or any respectable man 
among them, except Mr. Mackey. I except Mr. Mackey here as the only 
white Eepublican that I have any respect for at all. 

Q. What number of colored men in this last canvass, as near as you 
can judge, entertained about the same views as you do, and took about 
the same course?—A. Well, we have a number in our club, and we con¬ 
cluded there was about fifteen hundred colored men here who are quali¬ 
fied voters. 

Q, That is, qualified by intelligence?—A. Yes, sir. Men who voted 
t ie same as white men—qualified by intelligence. Then we concluded 
there was about twenty-six hundred colored men who were in the em- 


206 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


ployment of Democrats, oue way or another, either as draj^men, domes¬ 
tic servants, &c.; and they vote just the same, the world over, with their 
employers. Well, then, we estimated about from twenty-live hundred 
to three thousand who live by fishing"—longshoremen and jobbers. These 
men are independent, and vote mostly the Kepiiblican ticket. They are 
mostly of a class of men who can be misled and incited to anything, and 
people who do whatever they are told. AVell, of that first class of fif¬ 
teen hundred intelligent men, we calculated there were four or five hun¬ 
dred of them who were Eepnblicans. They are officeholders and school¬ 
teachers, and men who live by politics. Then the balance are conserv¬ 
ative men, who look to the interests of the race, who believe that they 
can accomplish more in the Democratic party for the colored people than 
outside of it. We think it is folly to fight intelligence with nothing. 
We know^ we are incapable of a high government as the most intelligent. 
The Republicans go Xortli and bring the thieves and officeholders here 
to get office, which is an admission that the colored men are not qualified 
for self-government or to hold offices. Secondly, these six to eight hun¬ 
dred are conservatives, and vote with the Democratic party. Those tw o 
thousand, as I said, vote w ith their employers, and w hite people could 
always get their votes at all times if they w^ere not too proud to ask it. 
They have never asked them to vote and guaranteed their rights would 
be protected, and w hen they did that they alw ays voted. 

Q. When did they do that—A. When Greeley w as running for Presi¬ 
dent, in 1872; and from that time the w hite i)eople told them they would 
protect their rights, and from that time out the colored people have as¬ 
sented. They had to vote for them. 

Q. Since that time has this Conservative vote been increasing ?—A. 
Yes, sir; daily. And even active Republicans here, if they could get 
themselves into the Democratic party, w ould come in if they had not 
made themselves odious. 

Q. You say these three or four hundred colored men wdio go with the 
Republican i)arty w ant to exclude intelligence, and they want to hold 
offices among themselves, and have kept out intelligence ?—A. They 
tried to keep out every intelligent colored man, and they never wanted 
any white man to come into the Republican party, because they would 
have been candidates for office. 

Yon think the Conservative element among the colored people is 
increasing?—A. Y^es, sir. As soon as their fears and apprehensions 
that they might be returned to their old masters is done awmy with, I 
think there Avill be a change. I think that as soon as Hampton was 
elected that change w as begun, for 1 do not think any of them now^ think 
they are going to be slaves again. I think they are perfectly satisfied. 

Q. So that the Democratic vote has increased in the last few years?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At the last election what number w ould you say, from information 
of people and from your organization, of the "colored people voted the 
Democratic ticket in Charleston ?—A. Well, I shoidd say in Charleston 
that from one-half to two-thirds of the colored people voted with the 
Democratic party. That is my opinion. Of course I do not know, for I 
Avas averse to haAing anything to do with politics on the day of the elec¬ 
tion. In fact, I could not do anything else, for I Avas policeman, and the 
vice-president acted in my place, and I have never inquired into the 
matter since. 


i 

J 


i 

{ 




<1 

a 

I 


By Mr. Cameeon : j 

Q. What degree of intelligence is required for admission into your ^ 

i 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. M. SMITH. 


207 


club?—A. Well, it is necessary for a man to read and write; he must 
be able to read the tickets, and take names occasionally; some knowl¬ 
edge of figures, would be about all. 

Q. How many colored voters in Charleston A. About 6,000. 

Q. How many, in your opinion, voted the Democratic ticket at the last 
election—A. I think from three thousand to thirty-five hundred. That 
is simply guess-work. 

Q. What do you base your opinion on ?—A. They voted twenty-six 
hundred in the Hampton election, and from the appearance of an in¬ 
crease among the Democratic element, and the discouragement of the 
Radicals, the Radicals thought they would be defeated before they 
started. They could not make a State ticket. They had not a man in 
the State they could put up for governor. 

Q. Who was the Republican candidate for State senator in this dis¬ 
trict ^—A. J. B. Cameron. 

Q. What is his character and reputation in this city?—A. I was a 
member of that convention, and it was known to every delegate that 
Cameron aspired to that office from the Democratic party, and there was 
not a man there that nominated him. 

Q. Well, what of it?—A. Well, thaCs the public opinion of his char¬ 
acter. 

Q. What is his reputation for a man of ability and integrity in this 
city?—A. Well, that was the opinion of that convention, since they did 
not nominate him. There were only three white men in the convention. 

Q. I ask you what was his reputation as a man of ability and integrity 
in the city in which you live, if you know ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Your opinion is based upon the fact that the Democratic convention 
declined to nominate him for senator?—A. That is all. 

Q. Was he ever nominated by the Democratic convention for the office 
of senator?—A. Yes, sir; he was. 

Q. When ?—A. He was nominated to fill out an unexi)ired term just 
after the Hampton election. 

Q. I am asking you if he was nominated by a Democratic convention.— 
A. He was, and no one went against him. 

Q. Then you would say that in 1877 he was considered a man of good 
reputation in this city because he was nominated by a Democratic con¬ 
vention?—A. Well, that does not follow. 

Q. You say it does not follow; but you say it does follow that he is 
not a man of good reputation because this year the Democratic conven¬ 
tion declined to nominate him?—A. I don’t know anything about it— 
don’t know what his reputation might have been. 

Q. Do you know Andrew Simonds ?—A. I do, by reputation. 

Q. Was he on the Republican ticket as a candidate at the last elec¬ 
tion?—A. He was one of those who said they would serve if elected. 

Q. Was he a candidate on the Republican ticket?—A. Yes, sir; I think 
he was. 

Q. Do you say that he ever declined to run on that ticket ?—A. I think 
he did. 

Q. Why do you think so ?—A. Because I understand that all white 
men declined to rnn on that ticket. 

Q. From whom did you understand that?—A. From newspapers and 
from rumor. 

Q. Well, which?—A. Both. 

Q. Did you ever see, in the IS^ews and Courier, that Andrew Simonds 
declined to run as a candidate at the last election ?-^A. I cannot say 


208 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


positively that I saw it. I say that is my opinion 5 that it was stated in 
the News and Courier. That is iny impression. 

Q. Did Andrew Simonds ever write a letter and have it puhlished 
saying* he declined to run?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. How many colored people did yon see vote the Democratic ticket 
at the last election in this county ?—A. I saw a great mauyj I did not 
count tliem. 

Q. Where did you see them vote?—A. At the Eagle Engine House, in 
ward 5. 

Q. How do yon know they voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. Because 
a great many belonged to my chib, and 1 am acquainted with every man 
in that neighborhood. 

Q. I ask you how many colored men you saw vote the Democratic 
ticket in the city?—A. I saw a large number; I did not count them. 

Q. What do you mean by a large number?—A. Hundreds. 

Q. How many hundreds?—A. I do not know. 

Q. How many ballots were voted at ward 5 ?—A. Well, the usual num¬ 
ber; 1 don’t know how many. 

Q. How many white men voted at ward 5 ?—A. I think four or five 
hundred. 

Q. How many colored men voted at ward 5?—A. From seven to eight 
hundred; about twelve hundred generally voted at that ward. 

Q. What is the whole number of votes cast in ward 5 ?—A. Some¬ 
thing over twelve hundred; between twelve and thirteen hundred gen¬ 
erally. 

Q. How many Democratic votes were cast in ward 5?—A. I do not 
know that. 

Q. How many Eepublican votes were cast in the last election at ward 
5 ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. How do you know, then, that you saw hundreds of colored people 
voting the Democratic ticket?—A. I do not know. 

Q. How long have you been a member of the police-force of this 
city?—A. Since 1809. I have been under Major Pillsbury, but I am not 
a member of the police-force now, on account of ill-healtii. 

Q. What is your occupation now ?—A. Boot and shoe maker. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You said there were about six tliousand colored voters in the city?_ 

A. I mean to say in the corporate limits of the city. 

Q. How many are Democrats ?—A. About thirty-six hundred, in the 
election of 1876. 

Q. How many do you say now^ ?—A. I say thirty-six hundred. 

Q. Out of the six thousand ?—A. Yes, sir; when I say Democrats I 
want to be understood—I do not mean to say that these people are Dem¬ 
ocrats, but I mean to say that on behalf of law and order they vote in 
that number. 

Q. How many white men ?—A. I do not know. The white men are 
regarded as all Democrats here. 

Q. How many white voters in the city ?—A. I think from five to six 
thousand. 

Q. Well, what will you have it?—A. Between five and six thousand. 

Q. Will you put it at five thousand ?—A. Between the two. 

Q. There are about twelve thousand voters in all, and the whites arp 
a little less tliau half ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know how many votes w'ere cast at the last election ^_A 

No, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OP R. M. SMITH. 


209 


Q. Are there any white Republicans —A. Very few. 

Q. How many in the city “?—A. I judge one hundred and fifty, or so. 

Q. If you should find more than a thousand more had voted the Re¬ 
publican ticket at this last election, would you not think you were mis¬ 
taken !—A. No, sir; I could account for it. There has many come from 
the country here. 

Q. Well, they did not belong here?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Now, do you know how many ballots were cast here at the last 
election ?—A. I do not. 

Q. Did you not say so many ?—A. You asked what was voted in the 
city, and I said twelve thousand. 

Q. Won said thirty-six hundred of them voted the Democratic ticket. 
No^v, if you should tell me the white vote was five thousand, would you 
not be mistaken ?—A. I said that thirty-six hundred colored men, in 
my judgment, voted the Democratic ticket in the city of Charleston— 
that is, in my judgment—and that five thousand white men voted the 
Democratic ticket. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Do you know the total Democratic vote ?—A. Over six thousand. 

Q. You said it was twelve thousand.—A. I said that was the total vote 
in this city. 

Q. You have nothing to do with politics ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Still, you have been president of that club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Was not the last election here last fall a very warm spirited elec¬ 
tion ?—A. No, sir; I think not. I think it was the calmest, quietest, 
and one-sidedest- 

Q. I don’t mean that. Were not the people on both sides anxious to 
get out their voters?—A. No, sir; I think the Republican party were 
demoralized and had no minds to do anything. 

Q. How were they demoralized; were they not anxious; did they not 
use strong measures to get out their voters?—A. No, sir; I do not think 
there was one-third of the money spent that there was in 1876. 

Q. You said, in reply to a question from Mr. Teller, that there were a 
good many people from the country that voted at the last election ?—A. 
I did not say so. I said that would account for a difference. 

Q. That w^ould not account for it, if they did not vote here?—A. 
WeU, I said that would account for it. 

Q. I understood you to say that there were one thousand more votes 
in the city than could be credited to it?—A. No, sir; I did not say that. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You account for it in that way?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any ?—A. I saw some. 

Q. Now, more voted, in your judgment, last fall than two years ago?— 
A. No, sir; I could not say that. I say I was a policeman and don’t 
know. 

Q. Was there, in your judgment, a larger vote in the city last year 
than two years before ?—A. I cannot tell. I have never passed an opin¬ 
ion upon it. I was a policeman and had to make arrests, and go to the 
court-house, and I was absent several times. 

Q. Then, if that statement that there was one thousand votes more 
that could not be accounted for, by people coming in from the country, 
how do you account for it then?—A. Well, I think that is the way to 
account for it—that these men have come from the country. 

14 s C 



210 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. But you don’t know?—A. I did not hear they did, but only ac¬ 
count for it that way. 

Q. You don’t know whether any more came from the country at the 
last election than in.1876?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Now about Mr. Cameron: He had been senator from this county? 
—A. He was. 

Q. Nominated unanimously?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that at the last nominating convention there was nobody 
that proposed his name?—A. No, sir. 

Q. During th^ session at which he was a member, was not a very ma¬ 
terial change made at the polling-places in this county ?—A. There has 
been some considerable change. 

Q. Now, did not Mr. Cameron, in th.e legislature, oppose these changes,, 
declaring that it was interfering unjustly, and oppose the making of 
changes, because it would deprive colored men of the opportunity of 
voting ?—A. I don’t know; I saw that in his letter. 

Q. Did you hear anything about it in the session of the general as¬ 
sembly?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Gentlemen, you know, thought that was the reason he was not 
nominated in the general assembly ?—A. I do not believe it. I do not 
believe that Cameron would be the man above all people to injure him¬ 
self among the colored people. 

Q. You think he would not oppose a law that he thought would work 
injustice to the colored i)eople?—A. I do not think he would take any 
unpopular position. 

Q. If he had opposed this, the result of which was to make it difficult 
for the colored people to vote, then you may be mistaken about it ?—A. 
Well, I don’t know about it; I don’t pretend to state facts about it. I 
have been going with him all my life. 

Q. Well, now, I understand you to say you don’t know what his repu¬ 
tation was ?—A. In what way ? 

Q. Well, his reputation as an honest, square, upright man ?—A. Well, 
a man’s honesty and his political principles are another thing. A man 
may be honest and still wrong in his politics. Now, Cameron made 
speeches to the negroes in this city at one time, and the negroes said, 

Get out, you carpet-bagger.” I will not deny that I never knew him 
to do anything fraudulently. I knew he had a slave here. 

Q. Don’t you know that at the last session of the legislature he 
opposed the law that took away these polling-places in the adjoining 
precincts here?—A. I don’t know, only from his letter which he wrote, 
that he was nominated by the Republican party, and I took it, as every 
man did, that it was a bid for Democratic votes. I don’t think that any 
colored man will say that he did it to serve the interests of the negroes. 
That is, opposing the change of these polling places. 

Q. You think he is an honest man, but in politics he will lie and 
cheat ?—A. I did not say that. 

Q. Now, this club, of which you speak, to which you belong—the In¬ 
telligent Club—is that the name of it ?—A. It is called the Hampton 
Club. 

Q. How long has it been in existence ?—A. It was organized in 1874 
as an independent Republican organization, with a view to help the 
Independent Re]mblican party. In 1876 it was organized on a straight- 
out Democratic issue, as they were Radicals then or Democrats, and we 
chose to join the Democrats, and it was called the Hampton Club. 

Q. Now it is rather an exclusive concern ?—A. Yes, sir j that was our 
objection to the Republicans. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN A. MITCHELL. 211 

Q. Intelligence is one of the qualifications of apprenticeship?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Do I understand you to say that it was composed of men who 
were ante-helium freemen ?—A. Principally. 

Q. The men who became freemen by the emancipation are not sought 
for ?—A. The men who became free by emancipation have not the quali¬ 
fications. 

Q. Now, you say how many colored men are working for white men ?— 
A. About two thousand, more or less. 

Q. They vote with their emifioyers ?—A. Yes, sir, as a general thing. 

Q. Is that understood to be a condition of employment ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. That they must vote with their employers ?—A. No, sir; but I 
expect the same class of people do that in the North—vote with their 
employers. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You don’t know about that ?—A. Well, I have heard about it. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Your Democratic friends say that ?—A. No, sir; but I subscribe 
for the New York Tribune, and the Herald, and Times. 

Q. Do they tell you that that is the case ?—A. Well, at different times 
I have read that. Of course, Ben Butler says so. If I had employes 
myself, I would try to get them to vote for me. You must recollect, 
gentlemen, that we have not the kind of people here that you have in 
the North; it is barbarism. 


JOHN A. MITCHELL. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27,1879. 

John A. Mitchell (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. How long have you lived here ?—A. I came here in 18G1, if I am 
not mistaken, from Columbia, S. 0. 

Q. With what political party have you acted ?—A. With the Bepub- 
lican. 

Q. With what party did you act in the last election ?—A. The Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Q. Down to what time did you act with the Eepublican party ?—A. I 
was with the Eepublican party up until it came to the election of Mr. 
Green and Chamberlain. I voted with the Green party, I believe, against 
Mr. Chamberlain. Two years ago I voted against Chamberlain for 
Hampton. 

Q. You went for Hampton two years ago ?—A. I did. 

Q. At this election you went for the Democratic party?—A. I did. 

Q. At what poll did you vote?—A. Ward 1, City Hall. 

Q. At what time did you go to the polls that morning ?—A. I was 
there about half past five, or twenty minutes to six o’clock 

Q. State what you did throughout the day in connection with the elec¬ 
tion.—A. I took an interest, so far as my ward was concerned, with the 
Democratic party* I went a week previous to the election and called a 
meeting of my friends and acquaintances that had always voted the Ee- 



212 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


publican ticket. I called a club meeting of the old club to advise them 
also. It was the Saturday night previous to the election. There was 
eighty-four or eighty-five persons present. I told the men the object of 
the meeting, and I told them they had their own time to consider; and 
I said if any man who had the regulations and rules of the club written 
off and failed to read them, should do so ; that if any man did not feel 
like dissipating in the action of the meeting, he could retire from the 
hall. The majority of them staid tliere, and 1 told them the object of 
the meeting was to support the Democratic party. 

Q. How many staid there and agreed to that ?—A. About eighty- 
three. I adjourned the meeting to meet Monday night again. 

Q. Did you meet again Monday night ?—A. Yes, sir; we did. On 
Saturday night there was, I believe, in tlie neighborhood of one hun¬ 
dred and four, and on the Monday night there was eighty-five. We 
staid there ami jollied the night out until Tuesday morning. 

Q. Then what did you do ?—A. We went to the polls together and 
voted. 

Q. Did you see any other colored men voting the Democratic ticket 
besides of your own club ?—A. I did, sir; after we voted 1 turned every 
man out as a committee of one to get voters for us. There was a good 
many. 

Q. At what ward was that !—A. At ward 1. 

Q. Was there a very large colored vote at ward 1 that day !—A. There 
was a tremendous vote. 

Q. Have you ever suffered any abuse from your colored people because 
of your joining the Democratic i)arty !—A. I have, sir. 

Q. In what way!—A. Many have told me I was foolish for doing it; 
that was before the election. Since the election many of them have 
come and told me they were sorry they didn’t do as I did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is your business!—A. I am a city i)oliceman. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Simmons !—A. Yes, sir; I have known him for 
years. 

Q. What is his business !—A. He is a city policeman. 

Q. How long have you been a city policeman !—A. Under this admin¬ 
istration it will be one year. I was appointed on the first of last Feb¬ 
ruary. 

Q. From whom did you receive your appointment !—A. From the 
mayor. 

Q. Is he a Democrat or Republican !—A. He is a Democrat. 

Q. When were you on the police force before this time !—A. Along in 
the Republican times, and up until Mr. Mackey became one of the aider- 
men. 

Q. When were you policeman!—A. In Pillsbury’s administration and 
Mr. Wagner’s administration. Since Mackey was alderman I haven’t 
been in there. 

Q. Have you ever been accused of crime!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Have you been tried for a crime!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been convicted of a crime!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you been sentenced to the State penitentiary!—A. Ko, sir; 
I was sentenced to prison for six months, but was pardoned by the 
judge. 

Q. What were you accused with!—A. For assault with a deadly 
weapon with intent to kill. 

Q. Did you plead!—A. I pleaded guilty; I could not get around it; 
it was too plain. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN A. MITCHELL. 213 

Q. When Avere you couAicted of an assault A\uth a deadly AV’eapon?— 
A. About ten years ago. 

Q. Have you not been accused of another crime ?—A. Ko, sir; not that 
1 knoAv of. 

Q. IlaAe you not been accused of gambling?—A. I used to gam¬ 

ble. 

Q. HaA e you not been prosecuted for it ?—A. Well, I A\^as accused 
of it. 

Q. Not couA icted ?—A. No^ sir. 

Q. That Avas not so plain?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you form a colored club in 1870 ?—A. I belicA e I did. 

Q. Do you not knoAV ?—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. When did you form that club?—A. I don’t knoAv exactly. 

Q. Hoaa" many persons did that club consist of ?—A. Tavo hundred and 
four colored A^oters. 

Q. Did the members of the club A^ote the Democratic ticket in 1870?— 
A. They promised to vote the Kepiiblican ticket, but they dodged and 
voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. You stated in your testimony that you supported Hampton two 
years ago?—A. I did, sir. 

Q. Well, did you form a Eepublican club?—A. No, sir; I came out 
and worked just so, for I had a reason. 

Q. Did you organize a Democratic club two years ago ?—A. I didn’t. 

Q. You supported Hampton two years ago?—A. I did. 

Q. You supported Green against Chamberlain?—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. When did you support the Eepublican ticket ?—A. From the fram¬ 
ing of the constitution up until we came to Green and Chamberlain, and 
I then supported Green, and worked for him too. 

Q. At the next election you supported Hampton?—A. Yes, sir; and 
I voted for him. 

Q. You supported Hampton at this last election?—A. Well, I voted 
the entire ticket. 

Q. You stated, I belieA^e, that you called a meeting to be held on the 
Saturday night before election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav did you call that meeting ?—A. I knew seA^eral persons that 
had been acquainted Avith me, so far as politics are concerned- 

Q. Well, you notified them?—A. Yes, sir; I told them I Avanted them 
there. 

Q. Where did you call that Democratic club meeting ?—A. George A. 
Elliot’s. 

Q. In the room?—A. Yes, sir; I hired a room from Moses LeA^y—two 
rooms. 

Q. Hoav many attended ?—A. There was some hundred and odd at¬ 
tended that meeting Saturday night. 

Q. You stated you got up and made a speech and told them that those 
who did not w^ant to “dissipate” in the meeting might go?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And those AAdio did not want to “dissipate” left?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many of the number left ?—A. Fifteen or sixteen. 

Q. Hoav many remained to “dissipate” in it?—A. About 85. 

Q. Give the names of as many as you can remember ?—A. I have the 
rolls. 

Q. Can you give the names of any of them ?—A. John A. LeA^y, vice- 
president; James EdAvards, James Andiron- 

Q. Was LeA^y a colored man?—A. Yes, sir. William A. Young was 
another, John Sumter was another, and William Haines, Jacob Single- 
ton, Andrew Young- 





214 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You had another meeting on Monday after that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number assembled on Monday night to dissipate ” in the 
meeting f —A. Quite a number remained there at the first calling. 

Q. Well, how many ?—A. 1 suppose there must have been from 84 
to 85. 

Q. At whose suggestion did you call that meeting ?—A. ISTo one’s. I 
told Mr. Bryan. He is the chairman of the Democratic party of ward 1. 
I went to him, but he didn’t come to me, and I told him that I felt like 
I was out for good government as far as I knew and understood myself, 
and I was supporting this party for the last several years—the Eepub- 
lican party—and was tmed of it, and that if I could advise some friends, 
as I thought I could, to take the other side I would do that. I found I 
had been mistaken and I made a sliort stop. 

Q. Did you tell him you were going to call a meeting ?—A. Yes, sir j 
I told him that at my own expense I would do it. I said I knew the 
man I wanted to hire a hall of, but he was a strict man, and I didn’t 
have the money to hire it with. 

Q. Did Bryan furnish you with any money to hire the hall ?—A. He 
didn’t; and I told him if I would send a gentleman to him would he be 
responsible lor the calling of this meeting; that I might get some money 
within ten or twenty days. He said he didn’t know as he could, for he 
was out of money, so I took some collaterals that I had and got the 
money myself and called the meeting. 

Q. MTiat do you call a good government ?—A. I call that a good gov¬ 
ernment where there is a chance for eveiy man to live, not only one class 
of men. 

Q. Do you not think that government is a good government that pun¬ 
ishes crime !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which party was in power when you were punished ?—iV. The Ee- 
publican party. 

Q. Then it was a good government ?—A. Yes, sir; but it was good 
enough only to punish certain classes. 

Q. It was good enough to punish you ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. You were a Eei)ublican ?—A, Yes, sir; I am to day. 

A. But you are supporting the Democratic party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you used to gamble some ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you play"?—A. Poker and seven up. 

Q. Where did you play A. Anywhere. We played the strap game. 

Q. That is a pretty good game for the man that plays it'?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How long were you engaged in that business ?—A. Two years. 

Q. Gambling !—A. Yes, sir; I used to be a regular body servant of 
General Kershaw’s. I got in with some Yankee gentlemen down there, 
and they taught me the game. 

Q. You followed it up, did you!—A. Yes, sir; I followed it up. 

Q. You followed it up two or three years !—A. No, sir; not that long; 
about a year. 

Q. Were you ever convicted '?—A. Not of the strap game; they tried 
it but could not make it. 

Q. What of the assault!—A. The government jiardoned me. 

Q. What time was that ?—w. I don’t remember, only that Mackie 
called it up. 

Q. You have not been gambling any since ?—A. No, sir; well, I might 
sit down and play for a drink. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN A. MITCHELL. 


215 


Q. Have you had any business since ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What has been your business A. Well, constable and detective. 

Q. You have been in politics —A. Yes, sir j some. 

Q. Well, when you were not in politics what has been your business 
since the war ?—A. Well, constable and public business. 

Q. What business have you been in in the interval?—A. Well, I live 
oft' the interest of my money. 

Q. Did you do any business at any tinje ?—A. I always had something 
to do at the office of the trial justice. They always give me a chance to 
make a dollar. Bowen would always give me something to do. The 
Hunkedori Club call me uncle. 

Q. How long have you been policeman ?—A. For about eight years. 

Q. How long have you been under this present administration ?—A. 
One year. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did I understand you to say that you kept your club together all 
night Monday night ?—A. I did, "sir. 

Q. Kept them there all night ?—A. We jollied oft' the time as we used 
to do in olden times. 

Q. You kept them all there ?—A. Pretty near all of them. I told 
them if any one wanted to go they could go. 

Q. Did you have some liquor there that night ?—A. Yes, sir; they 
had two drinks. I didn’t want to give them too much for fear they 
might get sleepy and not wake up. I give them one when they came in 
and one when they went out. 

Q. How did you keep them entertained during the night ?—A. Talk¬ 
ing and laughing. 

Q. It was pretty near morning when you left ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How old are you?—A. I am about 37 j I was born the 27th of 
May, 1842, in Columbia, S. 0. 

Q. Are you a iioliceman now ?—A. Yes, sir. I belonged to Dr. Fred¬ 
erick Marks. 

Q. Were you on duty on the day of election?—A. Ko, sir; I got a 
furlough a week before the election. 

Q. For the puiqmse of engaging in the election ?—A. I didn’t state 
for what purpose I wanted it; I didn’t state to the chief of police for 
what purpose I wanted a furlough. 

Q. He did not know ?—A. Kot that I know of. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many times have you been indicted for conspiracy to cheat?— 
A. I couldn’t tell. 

Q. Were you not indicted twice?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Were you indicted at all?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many times were you indicted for breach of trust ?—A. Kever, 
that I know of. 

Q. Do you swear that you were not ?—A. Kot that I know of. 

Q. How many indictments were found against you ?—A. I can’t say; 
I don’t know. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Is it because there are so many of them that you cannot tell ?—A. 
Ko, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Is your likeness suspended in the rogues’ gallery?—A. I don’t 
know. 


216 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. Have you mulerstood it was there I —A. jSTo, sir. 

Q. When were you there last f—A. About a week ago. It is right 
across the street. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Does an indictment make so little impression on your mind that 
you cannot remember it ?—A. Kot that I know of. What I say I say 
confidentially, and I know it to be a fact. 

Q. You do not know whether you have been indicted several times or 
not f—A. I haven’t been tried for it. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say you were indicted for conspiracy j was that for using this 
strap game ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you tried and not convicted ?—A. They could not convict 
me, I think. 

Q. Did you serve your time out when you were convicted of an assault 
to commit murder ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How did that come ?—A. A man insulted my sister, and I thought 
she was a perfect lady. I demanded redress and he refused me, and I 
assaulted him. 

Q. Was it draw poker you played ?—A. A little of both. 

Q. Did you ever see the work called “ Schenck’s Treatise on Poker” ?— 
A. No, sir ; only the pack of fifty-two leaves. 

Q. You say you only gave the members of your club two drinks that 
night?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You kept them awake by the promise of another drink in the morn¬ 
ing?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have the roll now ?—A. I have. 

Q. You can bring the roil here. 


CHAKLES S. SIMMONS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 26, 1879. 

Charles S. Simmons sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city. 

Q. How long have you lived here ?—A. I was born and raised here. 

Q. What political party have you acted Avith ?—A. The Kepublican. 

Q. What party did you act with at the last election ?~A. I voted the 
Democratic ticket. 

Q. Was that your first Democratic vote ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what ward did you vote ?--A. Ward 1, and Avas guard at Wash¬ 
ington House precinct, ward 6 ; but voted down here. 

Q. How long were you at the polls in ward 1?—A. I first voted, and 
then went right back to ward 6. 

Q. Were you at any other poll during the day ?—A. Yes, sir; I was 
at ward 6 until six o’clock in the eA^ening. 

Q. Were there many colored people voting at ward 6?—A. Yes, sir: 
a great many. 

Q. Did you give out tickets that day ?—A. No, sirj I was doing po¬ 
lice duty. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN HAYNES. 217 

Q. Your instructions were not to take any i)art in the election ?—A* 
No part at all. 

Q. Were you acquainted with many of the colored men who voted at 
ward 6 ?—A. Yes, sir; many of them, 

Q. Was there any trouble during the day ?—A. In my judgment that 
was the quietest election I ever saw around there. 

Q. Was there any considerable number of them voting the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket ?—A. 1 think that about one hundred and fifty colored men 
took the Democratic ticket off the table and voted it. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted with the colored people here ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I was raised here, and I am a great politician myself. 

Q. I will ask you it there has been any great change in the colored 
vote here in the last year or two from the llei)ublicaii to the Democratic 
party ?—A. At this election I was not actively eagaged; I was only at 
the polls once when I voted, and I could not tell as to the others. 

Q. How did they talk ?—A. A great many talked about voting the 
Democratic ticket this time that had been Kepublicans before. 


STEPHEN HAYNES. 

Charleston,- S. 0., January 29, 1879. 

Stephen Haynes (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live !—Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. Were you connected with any j)olitical club during the last can¬ 
vass ?—A. Yes, sir ; I was. 

Q. With which club ?—A. With the one which was called Haynes’s 
Colored Democratic Club. 

Q. Wlien was that club organized ?—A. It was first organized in ’77. 

Q. Who was the president of it ?—A. I am the president of it now. 

Q. Who was president of it during the last canvass ?—A. Thomas P. 
Holmes. 

Q. What was the number of members in that club ?—A. About 150. 

Q. Were they residents of Charleston also ?—A. Yes, sir; they were. 

Q. W^here did you vote at the last election ?—A. At the city hall pre¬ 
cinct, in ward 1. 

Q. What ticket did you vote ?—A. The Democratic ticket. 

Q. Did the membeis of your club all vote that day ?—A. Yes, sir;, 
so far as I know. 

Q. What ticket did they vote ?—A. The Democratic ticket. 

Q. Had you taken an active part in the campaign ?—A. I had. 

Q. In behalf of which party ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. How long have you been a member of the Democratic party ?—A. 
For a number of years, sir. 

Q. Have you ever had any trouble or difficulty with the Bepublican 
colored peo^de on account of being a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir; many 
times. ^ ^ 

Q. State what trouble has resulted from that fact.—A. Some time 
previous to the municipal election there was a colored Republican club 
called the Hunkidori Club; many times they would threaten my life if 
I did not keep awav from the polls ; it was said by one of the mem¬ 
bers, C. 0. Haynes, tliat when they sent out these rallying committees, 
it was especially to keep us from the polls. 




218 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleatoa 


Q. I don’t tliiiik I understand you. What was it 3 ;ou said about Mr. 
Haynes ?—A. 0. C. Haynes came in and joined us this last time, and he 
said openly that when the Hunkidori Club came out their general in¬ 
structions were to keep me and my father from the i)olls. 

Q. Haynes had been a member of that other club f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And afterwards joined yours ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For whom did 0. 0. Haynes electioneer for Congress ?—A. For 
Mr. O’Connor. 

Q. Did he i^ropose his nomination in the club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was any additional hostility manifested by the Hiuikidori Club ? 
Were there any other instances of hostility or intimidation, or any at¬ 
tempts to intimidate or control you —A. Yes, sir; as I was i^assing by 
I could hear them cursing and saying, “There goes that damned nigger 
Democrat,” “ That damned nigger Democrat ought to be killed,” and 
other such expressions. 

Q. That was a common thing ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was the customary way in which colored Eepublicans would 
treat colored Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On the occasion of the last election, did you remain at the polls 
all day?—A. Yes, sirj from half past five in the morning till eight at 
night. 

Q. What number of colored men, so far as you could judge, voted the 
Democratic ticket at the polls where you were ?—A. So far as my best 
judgment goes, about 200. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquaiuted with the colored men throughout 
the city ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How was it .in ward 4 ? Which ticket did the colored men mostly 
vote in that ward ?—A. In ward 4 the colored men voted strongly 
Democratic. 

Q. The colored men voted the Democratic ticket very strongly in ward 
4 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How was it in other wards in the city ?—A. I believe it was about 
the same, sir. 

Q. What number of colored persons voted the Democratic ticket at 
this last election in this city, so far as you can judge?—A. So far as I 
can judge, I should say about 2,000. 

Q. Did the members of your club live in different wards in the city ?— 
A. Some of them came from other wards, sir. 

Q. Do you know wlio got uj) the organization of the Hunkidori 
Club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who ?—A. Joseph Walker and i\Ir. Mackey* 

Q. I will ask if the colored Eepublicans were divided in this county, 
during the last canvass, into ditferent factions, called tlie Bowen faction 
and the Mackey faction ?—A. They were. 

Q. Mr. Mackey and Mr. Bowen have been rivals in the Eepublican 
party here, have they not ?—A. Yes, sir; in nearly every election. 

Q. Particularly in trying to obtain the colored vote ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Bowen faction take any particular part in the flection this 
last fall ?—A. It didn’t seem so to me, sir. 

Q. Did not a great many of the Bowen men vote the Democratic 
ticket ?—A. That is what I believe. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How many men are there in your club ?—A. About 150. 

Q. That is indefinite. How many men joined the club ?—A. xVbout 
100. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN HAYNES. 


219 


Q. One hundred put their names down ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do you know that!—A. Their names were down on the books. 

Q. You have seen the books ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And read them over ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say there were about 100; what do you mean by that; were 
there 95 or 105 ?—A. There were over a hundred names on the books. 

Q. You are sure there were more than 100 ?—A. Yes, sir; more than 
100. 

Q. How many more than 100?—A. I don’t know how many more 
than 100. 

Q. You know whether there were 5 more or 3 more than 100 ?—A. On 
the books there are about 150. 

Q. For what year ?—A. Eighteen hundred and seventy-seven. 

Q. I am asking about 1878.—A. On the new book that contains the 
names of the present members ? 

Q. Yes.—A. There are 83 names on the new books. 

Q. Now we have got that. Do all these men live in one ward?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. How many live in ward 1, where the club is located ?—A. I said 
the club was located in ward 4. 

Q. Well, in ward 4; how many of these 83 men live in that ward?— 
A. Nearly all of them live in ward 4. 

Q. You say nearly all; how many does that mean—80 or 85 ?—A. I 
think that all live there, except one man by the name of Wells; he has 
moved out. 

Q. All but one man of these 83 live in that ward ?—A. Yes, sir; who¬ 
ever did not live in that ward we checked of the books. 

Q. How often did you meet ?—A. Once every two weeks. 

Q. Are you always at the meetings ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know these men personally ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many can you name ?—A. I can name a good many. 

Q. How many do you mean by a good many ?—A. Ten or twelve. 

Q. Is that the most you can name ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have the roll with you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you produce it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you can name 10 or 12 of them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many did you say voted on the last election day?—A. I 
didn’t say that any of them did, from my own knowledge; I was not 
in the precinct. 

Q. You say 200 colored men voted the Democratie ticket at ward 1 ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know any of these colored men that voted the Democratic 
ticket in ward 1 ?—A. "l don’t know that I can call the names; there was 
one man by the name of Mitchell that did. 

Q. Can you call the names of others ?—A. I am not so well acquainted 
in that ward. 

Q. Did you keep any tally of the men ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What were you doing ?—A. I was on duty as policeman. 

Q. You belong "to the police force of the city ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you been a member of that force?—A. About 
eight months. 

Q. How long have you been a Democrat ?—A. Now, I want to tell you 
plainly- 

Q. I want you to tell me plainly how long you have been a Democrat. 
—A. A couple of years. 

Q. Have you not belonged to that party five or six years ?—A. No, sir. 



220 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cliailestou 


Q. Not longer than two years!—A. I have voted in the mnnicipat 
election for Democrats before that. I voted for Green, too. 

Q. Were you stationed at ward 1!—A. Yes, sir; that was iny jdace^ 
as policeman. 

Q. Were yon at ward 4 on election-day!—A. No, sir; I was there at 
ward 1, from the opening of the poll until they commenced counting. 

Q. Yon don’t know, then, how it was at ward 4!—A. No, sir; not of 
my own knowledge. 

Q. But yon say that at ward 4 the colored men voted the Democratic 
ticket strongly !—A. I was told so. 

Q. You don’t know whether they did or did not !—A. I don’t suppose 
that men would come and tell me a lie about it. 

Q. Do you know how many colored men voted at ward 1, all told, 
that day ?—A. I can’t say positively. 

Q. Can you say whether there were 200 ?—A. I believe there were 200. 

Q. How do you come to that conclusion!—A. I saw the men go to 
the table. 

Q. Could yon see the tickets they voted!—A. Yes, sir ; they voted a 
check-back ticket. 

Q. You didn’t see them put the ticket in !—A. I saw them go up to 
the table with it. 

Q. You did not see them put it in !—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many white men voted there that day!—A. Not many. 

Q. That is indefinite again. State how many.—A. There was a long 
row of colored men- 

Q. Were there 50!—A. I can’t say. 

Q. Can you say whether there were 50 or 100!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did any white men vote there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, how many white men voted there!—A. They came so quick 
that I could not say. 

Q. You can say w hether there w^ere 50 or 500?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there 200 ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Why can’t you tell how^ many white men voted there as well as 
how many colored men ?—A. The colored men came pouring up—so 
many of them that 1 could see there were a great many of them. 

Q. Yon say there were 200 colored men ?—A. I said, so far as my best 
judgment went. 

Q. Well, now, as a* fact, how many colored men were there !—A. I 
can’t say. 

Q. Were there 500 !—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Is it not a fact that you don’t know very much about how many 
voted, who voted, and how they voted!—A. 1 was in a i)osition where 
I could see the table. 

Q. Answer my question. Do you know’ very much about it!—A. Yes, 
sir; I do. 

Q. Well, if you do, tell me how’ many white men voted.—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. How many colored men voted!—A. I don’t know. 

Q. All you know is that 200 colored men voted Democratic !—A. I 
believe firmly that there were that many. 

Q. They all voted the check-back ticket?—A. All voted the check- 
back ticket. Bryan and Mitchell was getting most of- 

Q. Did Mitchell vote in the same ward as you?—A. No, sir; he voted 

ward 1; I voted in ward 4. 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket at the Pal¬ 
metto Engine House!—A. I don’t know. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN HAYNES. 


221 


Q. Do you know anything about it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many voting-places are there in the city ?—A. There were a 
large number of votes cast. 

Q. Never mind that. Wbat I asked you was, how many voting- 
places are there in the city?—A. There is the City Hall, the Court 
House, the Market Hall, the Palmetto Engine House, the Hope Engine 
House, the Stonewall Engine House, the Eagle Engine House, the 
Marion Engine House, the Washington Engine House, the Niagara 
Engine House, the Ashley Engine House over on Columbia street—I 
don’t think of any others. 

Q. You say you can’t tell how many voted at the Palmetto Engine 
House?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many voted at the Niagara Engine House ?—A. I don’t-know, 

1 sir. 

Q. You can’t tell whether there were 1,000 or 200?—A. No, sir. 

, Q. How many at the Hope Engine House?—A. I don’t know, except 
what I heard. 

I Q. What did you hear ?—A. I heard that 200 odd voted there. 

Q. You iiev^er heard how many voted at the Palmetto Engine House ?— 
A. No, sir. 

I Q. Nor at the Niagara ?—A. No, sir. 

I Q. How many voted at the Court House ?—A. I was not there, 

j Q. Then you know nothing about any of the wards, except the two 

I you have named ?—A. No, sir. 

! Q. Then why did you say that 2,000 colored people in the city voted 
j the Democratic ticket ?—A. That is what I believe from the estimate I 
I made before the election. 

r Q. You came to that opinion without any proof?—A. I thought I had 
I proof. 

j Q. But all you can estimate now is 200. Why did you swear that 
2,000 colored men voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. I swore to what 1 
j| believed. I judged for one thing from the number that went to Bon- 
li neau’s. 

! Q. How many went to Bonneau’s?—A. A good many. 

Q. That doesn’t mean anything j how many ?—A. A great crowd j 
^ just how many I can’t say. 

Q. Did 200 go?—A. Over 200. 

S Q. Did 300 go ?—A. I can’t state positively whether there were 300 
I or not. 

j Q. Do you think that 300 went to Bonneau’s?—A. I think there were 
I more than 300. 

I Q. How many more ?—A. I can’t say. 

; Q. Were there 400 ?—A. I can’t state positively what were taken up 
on the road. I think there were over 400. 

Q. That did not vote in this city?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then what has that to do with your 2,000?—A. It has nothing to 
do with it as I know of. 

Q. Not a thing. That was a free ride, was it not ?—A. Yes, sir.' 

Q. You did not ask the men who went on that ride whether they 
were Democrats or Bepublicans?—A. All that I gave tickets to said 
they were Democrats. 

Q. And if they said they were Democrats, you gave them a ticket?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are there not many Bepublicans in the city who would take a free 
ride if you gave them a ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Or a free drink?—A. Yes, sir; all the time. 





222 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You say you were badly treated because you were a Democrat?— 
A. Yes, sir; many and many a time. 

Q. Were you outraged by being called a damn Democratic nigger ^^?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How often have you been called so?—A. At every election. 

Q. They generally suggest that that is a good title to apply to you?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you not got pretty well used to it by this time ?—A. Yes, sir } 
I have. 

Q. So that it does not affect you much?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Are the colored men, generally, very much alarmed about that 
sort of thing ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. And have you not been killed yet?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or badly injured?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or intimidated?—A. Yes, sir; I have been. 

Q. How have you been intimidated; so much that you could not 
vote?—A. No, sir; I always voted. 

Q. Then it never really affected you?—A. No, sir; it did not affect mej 
others it did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many of your club turned out the day that Hampton was 
here?—A. I believe there were 39. 

Q. Where were the rest of the club ?—A. They were kept at work, 
and could not get away. 

Q. Where did your club meet?—A. At 18 Mazick street. 

Q. Is that a large hall?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About the size of this room?—A. Yes; it is as long, but not so 
wide. 

Q. How many have you usually had in attendance on the night of 
meeting ?—A. Sometimes there was so many that there was not room for 
them in the house, and they were crowded out into the yard. 

Q. That is not an answer. State how many there were in the house.— 
A. Sometimes there were 30; sometimes more, sometimes less. 

Q. You said a great many Bowen men voted the Democratic ticket 
last fall ?—A. No, sir; I said that was my impression. 

Q. Give the name of a single Bowen man that voted the Democratic 
ticket last fall.—A. Thomas T. Holmes, for one. 

Q. Bowen had had him turned out of the custom-house, had he not ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he a Bowen man after that?—A. He was always a Bowen 
man, I know, up to the last campaign. 

Q. When was he turned out of the custom-house?—A. In 1876. 

Q. Bowen had him turned out of the custom-house in 1876 ?—A. I 
don’t know whether Bowen had him turned out of the custom-house or 
not. 

Q. Where did he vote ?—A. His precinct was the Stonewall Engine 
House. 

Q. Did you see him vote ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How do you know he voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. He told 
me so. 

Q. Give the name of any other Bowen man that voted the Democratic 
ticket.—A. 1 can’t name anybody else in particular. Parties are so 
mixed up here—one time Mackey and another time- 

Q. So you can’t tell any other Bowen man that voted the Democratic 
ticket?—A. I don’t think that I can mention any now. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN HAYNES. 


223 


Q. You said that a good many Bowen men voted the Democratic 
ticket at the last election.—A. I said there was very much dissatisfac¬ 
tion — 

Q. When did Holmes join your club ?—A. In 1877. 

Q. Was he a Democrat in 1877 ?—A. I don’t know. There were some 
men that had objected to his joining onr club, claiming that he had been 
a Republican. 

Q. Did they elect a Republican president of a Democratic club ?—A. 
He was elected president, but he had always been a Republican. 

Q. Did you not count all the members of your club Democrats ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You wanted Holmes as a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you counted Bowen men as Democrats ?—A. Yot always, 
sir. 

Q. What do you count as a Democrat ? Do you count as Democrats 
men who supported Bowen ?—A. I think Holmes always supported 
Bowen. 

Q. Was Bowen a candidate for any position at the last election!—A^ 
I don’t know, sir; not that I know of. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say you are president of that club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When were you elected president of that club WA. In 1878. 

Q. And you have been president ever since !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were asked if you were a member of the police force Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You said you were!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When were you appointed ?—A. About eight months ago. 

Q. There is a representation of colored men on the police force I—A» 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What number ?—A. About 25. 

Q. About 25 of the police of the city are colored ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You formed your estimate of the colored men that voted the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket from your knowledge of the men whoin you heard say 
during the canvass that they intended to do so f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And from what you saw and heard at the poll where you were ?— 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And that is the only poll you were at, and the only place where 
you saw votes given f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is the name of Isaac D. Rivers on the roll of your club ?—A. No, sir^ 

Q. Was it ever there I—A. Yes, sir; it was. 

Q. Why is it not there now ?—A. He made a speech, and his name 
was taken from the roll. 

Q. How many members of your club are on the police force?—A. 
About 5. 

Q. What are their names ?—A. There are Gordon, Brown, Dewees, 
Chavis, and myself. 

Q. Was Brown a member of the Hunkidori Club ?—A, Not that I 
know of. 

Q. When did Brown join your club ?—A. During the last election 
campaign. 

Q. When did Gordon ?^A. At the same time. 

Q. W en did the other members who were on the police force join 
your club ?—A. At the same time, in August. 

Q. None of the old members of your club were on the police force?— 
A. No, sir. 



224 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1378. 


[ Charleston 


SAMUEL MATTHEWS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

Samuel Matthews (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. In the city of Charleston. 

Q. How long have you lived here^—A. All my life. 

Q. To what party do yon belong ?—A. To the Democratic party. 

Q. Did yon take any i)art in the last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat part —A. I was manager of one of the polls—that in ward 2. 

Q. Which one of them ?—A. At the court-house; that is the only one 
we had in the ward. 

Q. State just what was done there at the election in opening the poll, 
conducting the voting, and in counting the tickets after the ballots had 
been received.—A. We opened the poll at 6 o’clock in the morning and 
commenced to receive ballots, and continued to do so all thrpugh the 
day. Everything passed off very quietly. There was no disturbance. 
We counted the votes at night, and we found that- 

Q. Before you proceed to the subject of the counting the votes, let 
me ask 3 "ou whether during the day all who had the right were allowed 
to vote ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no interruption or delay?—A. Clothing more than ask¬ 
ing questions, sir, in order to find out the facts in regard to each case. 

Q. N^ow go on and state how many names were on the poll-list when 
you closed the polls.—A. There were 784, or somewhere about that. 
We counted the ballots out of the box. I think we threw out 2 or 4 
that were found wrapped together. 

Q. Were they votes of the same kind ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you do with them ?—A. We destroyed them. When we 
found more than 2 votes wrapped together, we destroyed all of them. 
When we found two that were of the same kind, we destroyed one and 
kept one. When the two were of different kinds, we destroyed both. 

Q. How was it about challenging ?—A. We did not have much of that 
to do. 

Q. Did you not challenge persons on account of age or of non-resi¬ 
dence?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What course was pursued?—A. The challenged party, if we 
thought him under age, was made to prove his age to our satisfaction. 
If he was old enough to vote, he was allowed to vote. 

Q. You counted the ballots, you say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did you find the votes, on counting, to compare with the poll- 
list ?—A. They came out to a ticket according to the poll-list. 

Q. Was there not a considerable number of colored men voted at that 
poll ?—A. Yes, sir; I don’t think there were more than 150, or, perhaps, 
250 white votes polled there that day; the balance were colored. 

Q. Was there a red-back or check-back ticket voted there ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that was the kind that was principally voted. 

Q. What kind of tickets were they—of what political party?—A. 
Democratic. 

Q. Had the Kepublicans any tickets of that color and appearance ?— 
A. No, sir; I don’t think they had. 

Q. So that whenever you saw a red-back ticket put into the box you 
knew pretty well what ticket it was ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the colored men vote any great number of those tickets ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL MATTHEWS. 


225 


Q. Did yon receive any message or did a message come to your poll 
from any of the upper wards stating that other men were coming down 
to vote at your ward f—A. Yes; I received such a messsage from J\Ir. 
Dantzmann. He sent a message to tell me, or at least the message did 
tell me, that there Avere 250 men from the country that had all voted in 
his ward and a\ ere on their way doAA n to us, and that we must take 
care of them. They Avere coming to A^ote again. 

Q. Where were you when the messenger spoke to you ?—A. Eight 
behind the ballot-box, receiving the Amtes. 

Q. Did tlie messenger say AA'hat ticket they had A^oted?—A. NTo, sir. 
I don’t think he did. 

Q. Did you learn AAdiether the message was intended for you or for 
somebody else^^—A. I can’t say for certain, but I don’t think that it 
Avas intended for me. 

Q. Wlio is this Duntzman that sent the message'^—A. He is a well- 
known Eepublican np-toAvn. 

(^. Has- he been active in the Eei)ublican party in years past ?—A. 
Very active. 

Q. Has he the reputation of repeating men—a man who has fre¬ 
quently participated in bringing repeaters to the polls to vote ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I haA^e lieard it often said that he was a ‘D-epeating” man. 

Q. Did you say anything about his intending to do anything of the 
sort on this occasion?—A. Yes, sir; I heard, the night before election, 
that he had quite a number, some thousand or more, Avhom he intended 
to A^ote on election day. That might be an exaggeration, of course. I 
knoAV nothing about it personally, but I heard that he had a gang of 
repeaters on hand to A^ote the Eepublican ticket on election day; 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were any tissue ballots used at that place ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. I think there Avere about six Democrats, and 
some eighteen or twenty Eepublican ballots. 

Q. What was the size of the Eepublican tissue ballots?—A. They 
were of the ordinary size, the size of the larger tickets, but A^ery thin. 

Q. Were they as thin as the Democratic tissue tickets ?—A. I think 
they were; just about as thin. 

Q. Hoav many persons who applied to A^ote at your poll were re¬ 
jected?—A. That is a question 1 could not answer exactly; I don’t 
; kuoAv precisely, but there Avere a gi-eat many. 

Q. If you can estimate the number, do so.—A. I declare, I could not 
i say. 

Q. Would you estimate the number at 100 ?—A. I would not like to 
say. 

I Q. Look at that ticket, and state whether or not it is like the Eepub- 
I lican ticket A^oted at your precinct (shoAviug ticket).—A. It was a ticket 
I very similar to that. 

Q. Which candidate for Congress had the majority at your poll ?—A. 
Mr. Mackey. 

Q. What was his majority ?—A. I think 130 something—134, as near 
i as I can remember. 

i' Q. That Avard has usually been Eepublican heretofore, has it not?— 
I A. Yes, sir. 

I Q. Has it not iiiA^ariably been Eepublican for the last five or six 
years ?—A. I think so. 

" Q. Wliatisthe usual Eepublican majority in that ward?—A. That 
I majority has varied considerably, sir. 

15 sc 






226 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873 


[ Charleston 


Q. But about wliatlias been tbe average Eebuplican majority?—A. I 
suppose between 200 and 300. 

Q. Who was tbe messenger that brought word to you that those men 
were coming from another precinct?—A. I didn’t know him at allj I 
never recognized him; I never thought anything about it, only it made 
me a little more cautious. 

Q. Was it not a city policeman who came and told you?—A. I can’t 
say; I thought the fellow, whoever he was, had made a great mistake. 
I think I remarked to Colonel Matthews that there must be a mistake 
somewhere. 

Q. Did not the messenger who came to you have a letter?—A. ITo, 
sir; not that I know of. 

Q. Did he not hand you a letter ?—A. sir. 

Q. Was Mr. Mackey there at the time?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see this messenger hand a letter to Mr. Mackey?—A. E'o, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether he did or did not?—A. Ko, sir; I don’t recollect 
that. Mr. Mackey went out immediately, and in about lialf an hour he 
returned with a paper. I did not read it; but I hear that Duntzman 
certifies that he had sent no message of that kind. 

Q. Was that the purport of the letter or i)aper?—A. I did not seethe 
paper. 

AYas that what Mr. Mackey stated to be the purport of it?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it not stated that these men came from Saint Andrew’s, 
where no poll was opened?—A. ISTo, sir; the messenger said they were 
country people. 

Q. Without stating from what point they came?—A. Yes, sir; with¬ 
out stating where they came from. 


ROBEET S. CATHOAET. 

Chahleston, S. C., January 22, 1879. 

Captain Egbert S. Cathcart (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr McDonald : 

Question. AYhere do you reside?—Answer. Ko. 51 Hazel street. Charles¬ 
ton. 

Q. AYere you in the city during the late election, last November?—A. 
I was, sir. 

Q. Did you vote?—A. I did. 

Q. In which w^ard ?—A. In ward 3. 

Q. AA^ho were the managers of election in that ward?—A. I don’t 
recollect for certain. I think I saw Mr. Seignions, Mr. AYhite, and Air. 
Smyzer; at least I was told that they were managers; they acted as 
such. 

Q. AA"ho was United States supervisor representing the Eepublicans ?— 
A. John AY. Freeman. 

Q. AATio was United States deputy marshal?—A. A white man named 
Barnes, and a colored man named Ureen were deputy marshals. 

Q. During what time were you at the polls?—A. I first went down in 
the morning about half past five o’clock. 

Q. How much of the day did you pass there?—A. The majority of the 
day. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATHCART. 227 

Q. AYere you tliere at the time the disturhance occurred in the effort 
to arrest a German f—A. I was, aud endeavored to suppress it. 

Q. What was Green’s condition at any time during that day as to 
being intoxicated ?—A. I went around, as I said, about half past live, at 
the suggestion of some colored men, to protect them in their voting. 
They had some doubt about being tlieir able to vote as they desired with¬ 
out being distipbed. 1 told them I would meet them about half past live 
the next morning. (They came to see me the day before the election, 
and I made this appointment with them.) So, in the morning, we got up 
early and went down to the polls, so that it should not interfere with 
their going to work. After voting I went to my place of business, 
about half past six or seven o’clock, perhaps a little later. Very little 
business was doing that day, however, and so I thought I woufd walk 
aTOund to the polls. I di(l so. I first walked into the engine-house. 
While in there I heard some talk about people being in there who did 
not belong there. Among others, Mr. Green was there. I didn’t know 
who Green was. I said to him that he had better go out. Says he, 
‘^YTou don’t know me.” 1 said, ^^No; but that don’t matter. Y'ou had 
better go outside.” He said, I will go outside if you say so.” I said 
did say so.” When he went out of the door he said to me, would 
like to see you.” I followed him out and closed the door, when he called 
a young gentleman who claimed to be O’Connor’s son, and he said to 
this young gentleman, I wish you would tell this man who I am.” The 
young man said, It is Mr. Green.” I said, ‘^That is all right; I don’t 
want to have a difftculty here; as there might be some difficultly with 
so many in the room there, I merely asked him and some others who 
were there at the same time, and didn’t belong there, to go out.” 
Green said, ‘‘I am as good a Hemocrat as you are.” I said, ‘‘It 
don’t make any difference whether yon are a Democrat or a Repub¬ 
lican. If you are a good Democrat you will do as I do; behave your¬ 
self, and so prevent any difficulty or disturbance in the ward.” This 
talk went on while we were outside. After that a little while I 
was called upon by a colored man who came up to vote, whose 
A'ote was challenged, as it was alleged he had been a native of Nassau. 
The challengers demanded his naturalization papers. He said he would 
bring them. A little while after that a man came up who was a for¬ 
eigner—I judge an Irishman. Mr. Freeman asked his papers. Some¬ 
body said, “ Never mind; let him vote, and bring his papers afterwards.” 
I said, “ No; that is not the way.” Freeman appealed to me, and I said 
Freeman was perfectly right. The man went off for his papers and I 
saw no more of him; I don’t know that I have ever seen him from that 
day to this. I don’t recollect whether this colored man ever came back 
either. A disturbance occurred down street a while afterwards, at the 
corner of Pinckney and Church streets. Green then took hold of me and 
wanted to knoAV what to do. I said, “ Do nothing, but keep still and 
behave yourself.” I only wanted no disturbance there. I went around 
a little and came back to the engine-house. Some one invited Free¬ 
man upstairs to drink. Freeman said he would if he had anybody to 
take care of his poll-list. One or two persons offered to take care 
of his poll-list for him, and he said, “ I will go if Captain Cathcart will 
take care of my poll-list.” I told him I would. He went, and came back, 
and afterwards took ^diarge of his own ])oll-list and conducted himself all 
properly. Between 2 and 3 o’clock a Frenchman came up to vote. Ex¬ 
cuse me, gentlemen, let me go back a little. A colored man came up to 
vote and Freeman objected to liis voting, saying he had voted before. 
The colored man called upon me to certify that he had not voted before. 



228 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cliarleston 


I said he was with me and had been with me all day, and I knew that 
he had not voted. I said this to Freeman. I said, Ilis brother has 
voted, but he has not.” Ilis brother was sent for. Ilis brother came 
and satisfied Freeman that it was he Avho had A’oted, and that this col¬ 
ored man had not voted that day. Freeman thanked me kindly. About 
3 o’clock this man that I spoke of before, Avhom I took to be a French¬ 
man, came np to vote. Shortly afterward I heard some disturbance. 

I AA^ent to see AAdiat A\"as the matter. It appeared tliat Freeman said 
that this man had voted before. Others said he had not. When I got 
there from the engine-hoiise, aa here I had been for a wliile. Freeman had 
jumped out of his seat. Freeman had ordered his arrest, and as there 
seemed to be nobody there to arrest him. Freeman said he would arrest 
him himself. I said to Freeman, Sit doAvn; don’t leave your polls. If 
he has to be arrested, we will find somebody else to arrest him.” But Free¬ 
man jerked aAvay from me and Avent and caught him. As Freeman was 
going through the doors, the door closed on him. I ran to the latch and 
grabbed the door. At that time the man had Freeman under his arm. 
The man had his stick up this Avay ; I told him not to strike Freeman. 
The trouble increased between them, and others became engaged in the 
meUe^ till I had to refer to my pistol in order to shoAV that I Avanted 
Freeman protected. Mr. Miller also came to Freeman’s rescue. After 
the fuss Freeman came in crying and blubbering like a baby, and said 
he was going home. I said, “You stop here and attend to your busi¬ 
ness.” Freeman says, “I thank you, Mr. Cathcart, for saATug my life. 

I am going home.” Miller begged him to stay there, but he aa^us crying 
and blubbering, and grabbed the door and jerked it open. I followed 
him for a Avhile, but as I could not induce him to return, I came back my¬ 
self. Soon afterwards Marshal Wallace came up and asked me where 
Avas Freeman. I said, “He has gone home.” He said, “ Where are his 
deputies ?” I said, “ I am under the impression that they are all drunk.” 

I could not find any of them around there. When dinner-time came 
I went home to dinner, read the paper, and after a Avhile came back. 
Mr. Freeman came in. Shortly afterAA^aids I saw Green again. He took 
me under the arm and said, “AVhatdo you Avant me to do?” I said, 

“ ISrothing, only to behaA^e yourself.” He said, “ Well, I am as good a 
Democrat as you ever were. I am appointed by General Moise to take 
the arms from these damned negroes, and I am doing it.” He said, j 
“This damned nigger Freeman is kicking up a fuss here. I am in this ' 
felloAv Wallace’s ofitice and have to play my hand pretty Avell; but if you ■ 
want Freeman taken out, I A\fill take him out.” I said, “I don’t Avant 
Freeman taken out; I don’t AAvant anything done to him; and I don’t ’ 
want you to do anything except just behave yourself and keep quiet.” ; 
Everything went on quiet for a Avhile. By and by there Avas some little ! 
disturbance, but not amounting to anything. After the boxes had closed ’ 
some one came up to me, and I found it AAms this man Green again. Said 
he, “ What do you Avant me to do?” I said to him, “You sit doAAm in a i| 
chair and keep quiet; shut your mouth and behave yourself, or the first i 
tiling you knoAv you will have your head shot off.’’ With that I took ' 
a chair and sat him doAvn in it. At tea-time I went home. I came back I- 
about 11 o’clock that night and saw Green curled up in the same chair 1 
fast asleep, as he AA^as when I left him. I said to some one, “ Green has I 
taken my adAUce pretty Avell; he sat down there at G o’clock, and he is 
there still, fast asleep.” The next day Green came to me and said he 
had lost his hat. I took him to Major FelloAvs and bought him a hat, | 
and gave it to him. I think that is'the hat he is wearing to-day. 

Q. Hoav long did you lemain there?—A. ^s"ot over ten minutes. * 



County.] TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATHCART. 229 

Q. What time was it when you returned from home A. About 10 
or 11 o’clock. 

Q. How long did you remain there after you returned ?—A. ten 

minutes, if that. 

Q. AYhat was Green’s condition then ? —xA. He was pretty drunk. 

Q. You spoke about going down with your men to vote } were they 
colored men I—A. Every one of them. 

Q. What ticket did they vote ? —xA. The Democratic ticket. 

Q. .What kind of Democratic ticket ; what was their appearance?—A. 
They were the regular Democratic ticket. Their backs were covered 
with checks printed in red. 

Q. What is called the ‘‘calico” ticket? —xA. I presume that is what 
they call it. 

Q. Do you know whether quite a number of negroes voted the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket on that day ?—A. Quite a number said to me, “ I would 
like to vote the Democratic ticket, but so-and-so is watching me, and if 
I it can be fixed so that I can do it without being detected, I want to vote 
the Democratic ticket.” And then I fixed up a Democratic ticket for 
j them, and they voted it. I presume a great many others voted the 
; Democratic ticket besides those for whom I fixed up tickets. In fact, I 
know they did. 

I Q. Did Green say what ticket he voted ?—A. Yes, sir; he said he 
I voted the straight Democratic ticket. Says he, “ I want an honest gov- 
' eminent, and so I voted the straight Democratic ticket.” 

Q. Did you see anything of these tissue tickets on the day of elec¬ 
tion ?—A. I saw plenty of them, sir. 

Q. Were they voted there on that day? —xA. Yes, sir. 
i Q. The same as other ballots ?—A. Yes, sir. Some of the colored men 
I asked for them, and I got them and gave them out to the men. I voted 
I one myself. All of my men were going to vote in the morning, but were 
i| caught at the latter end of the- 

■ Q. Did not an unusual number of white persons vote in that ward 
I from other wards ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Doyouknowwhy it was that they VO ted there?—A. Yo, sir; unless 
it was because there were such crowds at their own wards that they 
I could not possibly get to the voting-places there. Tliat was the case 
with my senior partner, Mr Williams. Mr. Mallory, from ward 6, told me 
it was the same with him. 

Q. Which are in a majority in your ward—whites or blacks ?—A. The 
whites are in a majority in ward 3. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. By whose request did you go inside the polling-place that day?—A. 
By nobody’s request. 

Q. Of whom did you request permission to go in?—A. Of no one, sir; 
I went right in. The door was so that I could go in, and I went in of my 
own accord. 

Q. How many Eepublicans did you find there when you went in ?—A. 
Eeally I don’t know what their politics were. I didn’t ask them whethty 
they were Eepublicans or Democrats. Wallace was there, and Hennepin 
came in a little afterwards, and others came in while I was there. 

Q. How many of the Democratic rallying club were there ?—A. I don’t 
know as any of them were. I do not remember any of them. 

Q. How many of the Eepublican rallying committee were there? —xA. I 
don’t know that any of them were there. I don’t recollect whether they 






230 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


were tliere or not. I saw Cowliill, one of tlie deputy United States inar- 
slials, as I understood it; lie had a badge on at court. 

Q. How many of the Democratic rallying committee of that ward were 
inside the polling-place ?—A. I don’t knowj I didn’t notice any of them 
there. 

Q. Were none of them there to your knowledge ?—A. Uo, sir. 

Q. Did you not know who constituted it ?—A. ^N'o, sir. 

Q. Can you give the names of any of its members —A. No, sir. 

Q. Who aaithorized you to order the United States deputy marshal 
out of the room f—A. I did not order him out. 

Q. Who authorized you to request him to go out*?—A. Nobody 5 but I 
spoke to him just because- 

Q. I did not ask you the reason; I asked jmu who authorized you to 
tell him to go out ?—A. I told you before I did not know that he was the 
United States marshal; he had no badge on that I saw. 

Q. How many men of color were inside the polling-place at that 
time ?—A. I could not pretend to say. 

Q. Was Green noisy and turbulent ?—A. Not at all. 

Q. Then why did you request him to go out and not others ?—A. I 
didn’t; I requested all of them to go out. 

Q. Did they all go out ?—A. Yes, sir ; I went out, too. 

Q. How long did you remain out ?—A. I suiipose an hour or two; 
l^erhaps two or three hours. 

Q. When did you ascertain that Green was deputy marshal ?—A. 
Never during that whole day did I know it. 

Q. At what time did you tell him that unless he would do so and so, 
his head Avould be shot off ?—A. That was about six o’clock that eve¬ 
ning. 

Q. Was he noisy and turbulent then?—A. No, sir; became uj) good- 
naturedly and asked me what I wanted him to do. I said I didn’t want 
him to do anything, only to behave himself and sit down in the chair 
there and keej) quiet. 

Q. At what time did you \'ote that day ?—A. Some time between twelve 
and three o’clock. 

Q. Did you vote a tissue ballot ?—A. I did. 

Q. How many colored men did you bring there to vote ?—A. Thirty- 
one, sir. 

Q. What tickets did you sui^ply them with ?—A. With a long ticket; 
w hat are called by you the calico ticket. 

Q. Why did you not furnish them with the tissue ballots ?—A. I didn’t 
see any at that time. I went to the table and took up a batch of tick¬ 
ets—the first that I came to that were Democratic tickets—and I gave 
them to the men to vote. 

Q. Did you not learn before that that tissue ballots were being used ? 
—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see nothing of them ui) to that day?—A. No, sir; not in 
any manner, shape, or form. 

Q. Who kept the poll-list during that day ?—A. For the United States 
sui)ervisor ? 

Q. No, sir.—A. For the other party? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. I know him very well, sir. I will be able to recollect 
his name in a minute. I think his name is Maher. 

Q. He was the clerk, I suppose ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Did you see anybody keeping it besides him ?—A. Yes, sir; I think 
at one time he left it and called on some one to take his place. I think 
I saw two or three different persons during the day keep his poll-list. 



Connty.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATnCART. 


231 


Q. AA ere tliey coniiected witli the polls, or did he call in outsiders ?— 
A. He called in outsiders, I iinagine, for I kept Freeman’s list awhile 
for him myself, at his request. 

Q. Are not the clerks sworn in here as officers of election A. I pre¬ 
sume they ai'e, sir; I don’t know what the law is on that subject. 

Q. AVere these men who were called in from the outside to helj) keep 
the poll-list SAvorn in ? —A. I presume not, sir. 

Q. How many worked on the list besides Maher I—A. I am sure I 
don’t knoAv how many, sir. 

Q. Hid yon see any of the managers of election keeping it ?—A. 
sir. 

Q. How many Amtes were polled at that poll up to, say, about three 
o’clock in the afternoon !—A. I haA^e not the most distant idea. 

Q. How many AA^ere polled up to twelve o’clock !—A. I have not the 
most distant idea. 

Q. How many by six o’clock that afternoon ?—A. I must answer in 
the same way. I have no idea AvliateA^er. Yon might ask from seA^en in 
the morning to six in the evening and I could not tell yon. 

Q. Hid yon make any inquiry during the dayf —A."I don’t recollect. 
I niiglit liaA^e inquired how many votes had been polled, and a man 
might answer, and I might hear the answer and have forgotten now 
Aviiat his ansAA^er was. 

Q. Hoav many times did yon make such an inquiry ? —A. I don’t recol¬ 
lect making it but once. I don’t know noAV of doing it more than once. 

Q. Of whom did yon inquire then ?—A. Of Mr. Freeman. 

Q. AAHiat was his answer !—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Hid yon inquire of the managers of election or of the clerk 1—A. 
FTo, sir; only of Mr. Freeman. 

Q. Hid yon look at Freeman’s poll-list ?—A. Yes, sir; when he asked 
me to take his place he said, ‘‘Take my place while I go up and take a 
drink,” and I said, “ Certainly I will,” and then I took charge of his 
poll-list. 

Q. At what time of day was that ? —A. It was about two o’clock. 
Then as each one came in to vote I Avonld Avrite doAvn his name. 

Q. AA^ere the names on Freeman’s i)oll-list numbered?—A. I think 
they Avere. 

Q. Hid yon number the names as yon wTote them down ? —A. I did 
not. If I recollect rightly, they Avere all numbered ; that is, there Avere 
numbers running down along the side of the page, before I took charge 
of the list ; and after I took charge when a man came to vote I would 
write his name opposite the corresponding number in the vacant line. 

Q. IlaA^e you any recollection how many names were on the poll-list 
AAdien you AA ere kee])ing it ?—A. I have not. 

Q. Yon know Avhether there were a hundred or a thousand ? —A. It 
would be merely the most random guess. I don’t want to say what I 
really don’t know anything about. It was a matter that I gave no con¬ 
sideration to Avhatever. 

Q. AAYre you at the poll during the principal part of the day?—A. I 
was there from half past fiA^e, and I think I left at se\"en. I returned 
about half past nine or ten, and I belieA^e I was there nearly the entire 
day, with the exception of a little while in the afternoon, wlien I Avent 
around home and took my dinner. After dinner I took a carriage and 
rode up to Avard 4, and looked around to see how the election Avas going 
on, and I came back about flA^e o’clock ; I think a little before, for it was 
about fiA^e o’clock that Freeman came in. 

Q. AA^ho swore the voters that day—Avhich member of the board?—^A. 


232 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Different ones, sir. White at one time and Sei^^nioiis at another. I do 
not recollect of Smyzer’s swearing any one at all. 

Q. Were the voters sworn in groups or singlj^?—A. My recollection is 
that they were sworn singly. Sometimes I was outside, and sometimes I 
Avas bringing in a man, and would stand by Avhile he Avas sworn in. In 
such cases my recollection is that they Avere sworn in singly. 

Q. Hoaa" long did it take to Amte a man in that A\my I—A. !Not A^ery 
long. A half a minute or a quarter, I should say. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Were they all sworn*? — A. All those that I put in Avere. I didn’t 
see a man Amte that was not SAvorn. 

Q. Were any who offered to Amte challenged?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About how many?—A. I can’t say exactly how many. I recollect 
of one, this colored man from Nassau; and then there Avere this German 
and this Frenchman, and some one said tiiat Mr. Cainhoy was challenged. 
Parties said, “You must liaA^e Amted. You have got to giA^e us eAudence 
that you liaA^e not Amted before or you cannot A"ote.” Those who swore 
that they had not Amted Avere alloAved to put in their Amte. Some Avere 
too scared to Amte. Some gentleman outside would say, “I will SAvear 
he has Amted before,” and then they were frightened and dare not A"ote. 

Q. Do I understand you to say that the managers said a man must 
bring eAudence that he had not Amted before he would be allowed to 
A’ote? —A. He must go before the trial justice and swear that he had 
not Amted, or bring eAudence that he had not, and then he would be 
alloAved to A’ote. 

Q. Under your law, if a man who aj)plies to vote takes the oath that 
the statute prescribes is he not entitled to vote Avithout being called 
upon to bring eAudence to prove that he has not Amted ?—A. I know 
nothing about the law, sir. I decided a great many cases simply by 
saying Avdiat I thought AA^as right; but what the law is I leaAX with gen¬ 
tlemen who know the law. The only one by AA^hom I was appealed to 
that day Avas Freeman. 

Q. Were you an officer of election?—A. No, sir; not at all. 

Q. Who gave you so much authority?—A. I had no authority. I did 
not pretend to liaA^e. I said that Freeman appealed to me for my opin¬ 
ion, and I gaA^e my opinion. 

(J.. You Avere there deciding these questions?—A. Merely by appeal 
of Freeman to me on one or two occasions. 

Q. Then you decided on one or tAAm occasions for the United States 
supervisor; you told the United States marshal to go out of the room; 
and you afterAvard told him to sit down and behave himself or you AA'Ould 
bloAv his head off. 

Mr. McDonald. The witness did not say that. That is not a fairAxr- 
sion of his statement; you are putting down a statement in place of his 
testimony that is not Avarranted by his testimon5\ 

The Chairman. The Avitness himself says that he did order out of the 
room this man Green, Avho Avas the United States marshal. 

Mr. McDonald. But he did not order the United States marshal out 
of the room. 

The Chairaian. Certainly, according to his own statement, he ordered 
this man Green out of the room, and Green was United States marshal. 

Mr. McDonald. lie ordered a person out of the room who turned out 
to be the United States deputy marshal, but whom he did not know to be 
such at that time. You put your question as if he ordered Green out of 
the room knoAving him at the time to be the United States deputy mar¬ 
shal. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATHCART. 


233 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Well, then, if it makes any difference, yon requested Green, whom 
yon subsequently learned was IJnited States deputy marshal, to go out 
of the room; you decided questions during the day on two or three occa¬ 
sions for the United States supervisor; you afterwards told Green, whom 
you subsequently learned was United States dej)uty marshal, that unless 
he sat down and behaved himself you would blow his head off.—A. I 
did not say any such thing. I said, Sit down and keep quiet, or the 
first thing you know jow will have the top of your head blown off*.” 
That Avas to keep him out of trouble. 

Mr. JMcDonald. I suggest that you put into the record the statement 
that the United States deputy marshal Avas drunk. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How often did you drink that day?—A. ^^ot at all. 

Q. Hoav often did you request Freeman to drink ?—A. Once. 

(^. Why did you do that ?—A. Freeman came to me to talk OA er a 
X)olitical proposition. He had always knoAvn my feelings as a couserAm- 
tiA^e man. We Avere talking over matters, and Freeman said to me that 
if things had gone on as I desired all would liUA^e been peaceful and 
quiet, and there would not liaA^e been so much trouble in the country. I 
said that I thought that if my policy had been adopted all Avould haA^e 
been well. He told me that he knew that I was not a Eadical; that I 
Avas not a politician of any kind. I Avas as good a Democrat as I was a 
Eepublican, and as good a Eepublican as 1 was a Democrat. I cared 
for. the success of no party, but only for the good of my country. Then 
he said, ^‘If all men Avere like you, we could get along and the country 
Avould be the better for it.” While this coiiA'ersation Avas progressing 
betAveen us, he said, “Let us go up and get a driidv.” There Avere tAvo 
or three Avho had spoken of getting a drink, and they Avent up there. 
There A\ms a i)arty of them in the room, and Freeman took a glass, and 
Fife took a glass, and perhaps others. That is the only time I drank 
that day. I refused to drink a dozen times. 

Q. You did not request Freeman to drink?—A. No, sir; I did not. 
He said he would drink if I would keep his poll-list for him, and I did. 

Q. Were you present AvUen the box aa^s opened at six o’clock?— A. 
No, sir; I was outside in the street; when I came in the box aauis open. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots in the box at that time!—A» No, 
sir; this is the time AAUen Green came up and I sat him in the chair, 
and told him to sit there- 

Q. We don’t want to hear about that again. The question I asked 
was, did you see any tissue ballots in the box?—A. No, sir; I did not 
look inside the box, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv Avhether the managers counted the ballots in the 
box for the purpose of ascertaining AAdiether they did or did not correspond 
in number Avith the names on the poll-list ?—A. I knoAV nothing AAEat- 
eA^er about it. 

Q. At what time did you vote ?— A. Sometime in the middle of the 
day, betAveen ten o’clock and three. 

Q. Hoav long did you stay at the polls ?—A. I went there about half 
past fiA^e in the morning and came aAvay about seA^en. 

Q. How long did you stay the time when you Avent to A^ote?—A. 
That time I AA’^ent about half past nine and staid till about half past 
three. 

(J. AYere you iu attendance on the polls officially ?—A. No, sir. 



234 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliarleston 


Q. Were you there distributing tickets?—A.. If any one came and 
asked for a ticket I gave him one. 

Q. Wliere did you get the tickets ?— A. From the table. 

Q. What kind of tickets did you distribute—calico or tissue tickets ?— 
A. Both as the case might bej as the i)ersou desiring them might 
choose. 

Q. At what time were the tissue tickets distributed ?—A. Along later 
in the day than the others. 

Q. Where did you get them ?—A. Off the table. 

Q. Who brought them ?—A. I have no idea in the world. 

Q. You said that they were not there when you voted ?—A. They 
were not there when I voted my own men in the morning. 

Q. What ticket did your men vote?—A. They all voted the calico 
ticket. 

Q. After leaving at seven o’clock you did not go back till half x)ast 
nine?—A. ISTo, sir. 

Q. What was the first thing you did after you got back ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Did you go inside at once?—A. I don’t recollect that, sir. 

Q. Did you examine the table then with reference to those tickets ?— 
A. I did not. 

Q. At what time did you first see the tissue tickets?—A. About half 
past ten or eleven o’clock, as nearly as I can remember. 

Q. Ill what shape ?—A. There were two or three bunches of them 
lying there on the table. 

Q. So you took up a bunch, took out a ticket, and voted it?—A. .It 
was not till later in the day than that I voted. 

Q. \Mien you saw them there on the table at half past ten or eleven 
o’clock, that was the first time you ever saw them ?—A. Yes, sia’. 

Q. And the only time you ever saw any ?—A. Yes, sir; the only time 
that I ever saw any, before or since. 

Q. Were any of them at any other of the polls ?—A. No, sir; not that 
I knoAv of, though there might have been without my seeing them. 
When at the other iiolls I sat in my carriage and talked with the peoiile 
about the polls, but I saw no tissue tickets. About half past three or 
four I drove around to ward 4, to the Stonewall Engine House and the 
Hope Engine House, and then back home. 

Q. How many men were there at the polls at the time you left about 
six o’clock in the morning ?—A. Fifty or 75, perhaps 100. 

Q. Did they swear those men then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they swear those 30 odd men that you voted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVho swore them ?—A. One of the managers ; Mr. White, I believe. 

Q. How many of them did he swear at a time?—A. Only one at a 
time. 

Q. Did he keep a record of them as he swore them?—A. I presume 
he did. 

Q. Did he ask any questions ?—A. Not a question. 

Q. You furnished the tickets, did you, sir ?—A. I did. 

Q. How many more persons voted while you were there, besides those 
men whom you voted ?—A. As soon as they had voted, I left the place. 

Q. How long were you there getting these men voted ?—A. I suppose 
fifteen or twenty minutes after the jiolls were opened. 

Q. Not more than fifteen or twenty minutes ?—A. I don’t know j it 
may have been half an hour. I didn’t take particular pains to notice or 
to remember. I didn’t then expect ever to be examined upon the subject. 

Q. What is the form of the oath ?—A. As well as I can recollect, it 


County.] TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATHCART. 235 

runs about this way: I swear that I am entitled to vote, and have not 
voted at any other i^recinct at this election: So help me God.” 

Q. The oath is that which is provided by law, and is to be found in 
the statutes—A. I presume so. 

Q. And the form that is to be found in the statute book ?—A. I should 
naturally suppose so. 

Q. The managers administered the oath that vou understood to be the 
regular oath !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To all the men that you saw voted that day ?—^A. Yes, sir, 

Q. Was it administered to you before you voted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you returned at half past nine, were many there then?—A. 
ATes, sir; a good many. 

Q. Were tiley white or black!—A. Of both colors; i>erhaps not far 
from an equal number. 

Q. How many white voters were there !—^A. I have not the most dis¬ 
tant idea; perhaps one or two hundred. 

Q. How many colored voters!—A. I suppose one-half; possibly not 
more than one-third of them were colored. 

Q. Were they swearing men then!—A. Yes, sir; every man I saw 
vote was sworn. 

Q. Did you vote any other men after those 30-odd whom you voted in 
the morning!—A. Yes, sir ; I did. 

Q. Hoav many !—A. Perhajis some 20 or 25 in the course of the day. 

Q. What kind of men, white or colored !—A. Colored; I never voted 
a white man. 

Q. Were they all sworn!—A. Yes, sir; eA^ery one of them. 

Q. Were any of them challenged !—A. No, sir; not until late in the 
afternoon, when one colored man was challenged on the ground that it 
was alleged that he had already voted. I said that he was a man v-horn 
I had fetched along, and who had been at work for me all that day; and 
I knew that he had. not voted. 

Q. That Avasenough, was it!—^A. Yes, sir; that was enough for the 
challenger. 

Q. You voted 20 or 25 men in the course of the day, besides those 
whom you voted early in the morning!—A. I think "there was that 
many. 

Q. What tickets did they A’ote !—A. The most of them Amted the tis¬ 
sue tickets. 

Q. Were any other tickets there !—A. Plenty of them. 

Q. Why did they Amte the tissue tickets!—A. The most of them, I 
presume, because they Avanted to keep others from knoAving what tickets 
they voted. 

Q. Were any other tickets proAuded by the Democratic party besides 
the calico tickets and the tissue tickets !—A. Yes, sir; there were. 

Q. What were they !—A. I saw tickets there headed Union Eepub- 
lican ticket.” 

Q. On what kind of paper were they printed !—A. On white paper. 

Q. Did you haA^e any regular white Democratic tickets without calico 
backs !—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Were those tickets which you saw labeled Union Eepublican 
tickets,” Eepublican tickets or Democratic tickets!—A. They Avere 
Democratic tickets; they had the names of the Democratic candidates 
on them. 

Q. How many kinds of tickets did the Democratic party haA-e in all!— 
A. All the kinds that I saw were the calico backs, the tissue tickets, and 


236 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


tlie regular Eepublicaii tickets, so called, with tlie names of the Demo¬ 
cratic candidates on. 

Q. You did not try to get any negroes to vote the so-called Union 
Eepublican tickets A. I did not. 

Q. Are you sure you did not ?—A. Yes, sir; I am sure I did not 

Q. For what i)urpose were these calico tickets furnished ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Have you never heard, before or since the election, for what pur- 
l)ose they were furnished ?—A. I never did. I have no knowledge of 
the fact. 

Q. You are willing to swear that you have never heard, nor have any 
idea whatever, of the purpose of the calico back upon those tickets !— 
A. I said I have no knowledge of the fact. AYlien it comes to asking 
whether I have any idea, I presume it was to distinguish them from the 
Eepublican tickets. 

Q. For whose benefit?—A. I presume again—it is only a supposition, 
for I have never heard anybody say anything about it—I presume it was 
in order that it might be understood tliat a man who put that ticket in 
voted the Democratic ticket j while if he voted a white ticket it was a 
Eepublican ticket. 

Q. For what purpose do you presume those Democratic tickets printed 
on white i^aper and headed Union Eepublican ticket,” were brought 
there ?—A. 1 ])resume that was done so that colored men could vote the 
Democratic t:ctet, and io )1 their friends with the idea that it was a 
Eepublican ticket that they were voting. 

Q. Are you sure it was not so that Democrats could fool the colored 
men who wished to vote the Eepublican ticket into voting the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket ?—A. Yo, sir j I don’t think anything of that kind was in¬ 
tended. 

Q. You didn’t expect, then, to fool the men who voted that ticket ?—A. 
Yo, sir. 

Q. You had two classes of tickets for two cases ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the tissue ballots for still another case ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat were they for?—A. They were just to fold up close so that 
they could be put in- 

Q. Was there any particular object in view in folding them up close?— 
A. Yo, sir; not that I know of. 

Q. flow often have you voted?—A. For twenty years. 

Q. Did you ever vote a tissue ballot before ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you ever see anybody vote a tissue ballot before ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you ever see a tissue ballot in your life before ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. You took kindly to them Avhen you did see them, didn’t you?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And after that, as I understand you, you did not distribute any¬ 
thing else but tissue ballots ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. At what time did you place Green in the chair there in the engine- 
house ?—A. A little after six o’clock; the polls closed at six, and it was 
a very few minutes after they had closed that I placed him in the chair. 

Q. When did you see him next ?—A. Between ten and eleven o’clock. 

Q. He was still there in the chair?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you make any inquiry as to whether he had remained there 
all the while you had been gone ?—A. Yo, sir; I don’t know as to whether 
he left five minutes after I went away and came back five minutes before 
I returned. I only know that when I went away I left liim there, and 
when I came back between ten and eleven o’clock at night he was still 
there in the same identical seat and position. 



County,] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT S. CATHCART. 


237 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Those thirty-one men that yon voted in the morning were men in 
yonr own employ, as I understand it?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yon went np to the polls with them ?—A. I did, sir. 

Q. At their request ?—A. Yes, siiq tliey had sent for me the night 
before. 

Q. Y'on openly gave them calico-back tickets?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they voted them openly?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were not afraid to vote them openly ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. They were not afraid to have it known, it appears, that they voted 
the calico-back ticket?—A. Ko, sir; I told them I would see them out; 
that I would see that no harm Avas done to them for voting as they chose. 

Q. They voted it openly ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you went back to the polls, about half past ten that forenoon, 
you found some tissue ballots there, you say?—A. Ko, sir; I went back 
about half past nine. I saAv the tissue ballots first about half past ten. 

Q. And after that you distributed the tissue ballots ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the men ask for them in order to conceal from their liepubli- 
can friends for whom they voted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In the mean time had you learned that those tissue ballots had 
been prepared for that purpose?—A. I did not. 

Q. Had no one suggested it to jmu?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Y^ou just took up the idea yourself that it would be a good thing?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You saw at once, without its being suggested to you by any one, 
that that tissue ballot would be a good thing to enable the colored men 
to conceal the Avay they voted?—xA. Yes, sir; they suggested that I 
should write some tickets for them. I said, ^^Come, like free men, and 
vote as you choose.” 

Q. You spoke of administering the oath; was it administered verbal¬ 
ly, or otherwise?—A. Verbally. 

Q. Did each man sign an afiidavit?—A. Kone at all, sir. The man¬ 
ager had the person hold up his hand, and said, ^Woii solemnly swear,” 
&c., and the Amter said, do,” and that is all there AAms about it. 

Q. You said that during the afternoon some came to a ote and were 
told to go to the trial justice and have an oath written out for them ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not prefer to swear those men A^erbally?—A. That was a 
different case. The manager was not satisfied that they AA^ere entitled to 
Amte, and he suggested that they should go to the trial justice and bring 
somebody to pro\"e that they had not Amted before. 

Q. Hoav under the sun were they to prove that they had not voted be¬ 
fore ?—A. When a man was challenged he Avas obliged to go off* andhaA^e 
his oath reduced to AAuiting. 

Q. When he Avas challenged, then, they Avould not take his Axrbal 
oath ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did you understand that that was in accordance with the law?— 
A. Ko, sir; I did not understand anything about the Iuaa". I haA^e no 
knowledge myself Avhether the law requires it or not. 

(^. You say you gave Green a hat the next day ?—A. I did; I paid 
for a hat for him. 

Q. Under the impression that he was a good Democrat?—A. He had 
mashed his hat, and I said, “ Come up, and I will gWe you a hat.” And 
he walked up to Major Bellows’, and I said to the major, “ Here is a fel¬ 
low Avho is a good jieinocrat; I AA^ant you to gh^e him a hat; I aaMI pay 
for it.” I did give him a hat, and I did pay for it. 


238 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cliarleston 


Q. Did you say you '^ere there when Freeman was attacked ?—A. I 
was. 

Q. Did you say you attempted to hold the man at tlie door so that 
someone outside might arrest him'?—A. Xo, sir; I did not say that. 
Freeman started to arrest the man himself, and I said, Don’t go away 
from your post,” and I jerked Freeman away from the man. 

Q. Did any one say the marshal could not go in there to arrest him, 
or that he could go as far as the door ?—A. I did not hear any such re¬ 
mark made. 

Q. If it was said, you don’t know anything about it ?—A. I have no 
idea that it was said. 

Q. Was there any controversy about arresting the man before Free¬ 
man started for him ?—A. Tliere had been considerable, sir. 

Q. There had been, then, some talk about arresting him before ?—A. 
I heard Freeman call out, “ I am going to have him arrested.” 

Q. Did you hear him call for the marshal to come and arrest him ?— 
A. If he did, I have no recollection of it now. 

Q. Did he say he would take him to the door where the marshal could 
arrest him ?—A. Ko, sir; he said, ‘‘I will arrest him.” 

Q. I will again ask you whether you recollect any one saying that the 
marshal could not come inside the door '?—A. JS’o, sir; I did not hear any¬ 
thing of the sort said. 

Q. Did you see Green knocked down outside about the same time ?— 
A. I did not; I didn’t know that Green was touched at all in the world. 
The man whom Green testified had struck him is an old man, I suppose 
55 years of age—an old gentleman of the police who could not knock a 
child down. 

Q. Only 55! Whjy I am 65, and I think I can knock a man dovui 
yet.—A. O, I will back out from all I said if you can do that. I should 
be very sorry to get in your way. I did not know that Green had been 
disturbed at all, until I heard, several days afterwards, that an affidavit 
had been made by him against the old policeman. I had not the most 
distant idea that he had been touched. 

Q. Do you live in that Avard ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that when you were in the'back room, in the morning, 
where the table and box Avere, you did not know any of the men in 
there '?—A. Perhaps I did, but I could not recollect their names now to 
suA'e my life. 

Q. Do you recollect whether there were any Eepublicans there ex¬ 
cepting Green, if he AA^as a Ilepublicaii ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Then if Green was not a Eepublicaii, there Avas no Eepublican 
there?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Hoav many persons were in there ?— A. Fifteen or tAventy. 

Q. All Democrats'?—A. I imagine they were. 

• Q. And all Avent out but Green ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They Av^ent out ahead of you ; when you went out afterwards, did 
you find any persons in the back room'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. I do not recollect. 

Q. Were they Democrats or Kepublicans!—A. At one time Marshal 
Wallace was there, and Mr. Hennepin. Then again Captain Wright 
and Mr. Montgomery were there. 

Q. Who Avere there aside from the offi3ials ?—A., I met Mr. Ferguson, 
president of the Palmetto Fire Company. It was in his house that the 
election Avas held. 

Q. Were other Democrats there?—A. I presume there Avere. 

Q. Were any Kepublicans that you knew back there, except the offi- 


(bounty.] TESTIMONY OF R. D. LUCAS. 239 

cials you have named?—A. Yes, sir; tliere was a man tliere named 
Walker, a Kepnblican. 

Q. White-or colored?—A. His name was James Walker; he used to 
be street inspector; and then there was Elfe, who ran for the legislature. 

Q. But he was on the Democratic ticket?—A. I would not put him 
down as a Democrat, though, by any means. 

Q. You would not put Elfe down as a Democrat Avhen he was running 
on the Democratic ticket; but you would put Grreen down as a Demo¬ 
crat when he was a Bepublican official. How do you make that a])pear 
consistent ?—A. I put Green down as a Democrat because he said he 
was. 

Q. Was it because he said he was, or because he was drunk ?—A. 
Because he said he was. 

The Chairman. That is all.—A. Thank you. I am glad if I have con¬ 
tributed to your amusement, gentlemen. 


E. D. LUCAS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1879. 

E. D. Lucas (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald i 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In this city. 

(^. How long have you lived here ?—A. All my life, oft' and on. 

Q. What political party have you acted with ?—A. I never took any 
prominent part with any party, except the Eepublican. 

Q. Have you always been a Eepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At the last election, with what party did you act and vote ?—A. I 
acted as a Eepublican, sir. 

Q. What ticket did you vote ?—A. I voted the Eepublican ticket. 

(j). You voted the Eepublican ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; I don’t claim that 
I voted the whole Eepublican ticket. I fixed my ticket to suit myself. 

Q. You voted a mixed ticket ?—A. I voted for candidates of both 
parties, in part. 

Q. Can you recollect whether there was a majority of Democrats or a 
majority of Eepublicans on the ticket which you voted ?—A. I can’t say 
as to that. 

Q. Did you take any part in the canvassing and the election ?—A. Yo, 
sir; the only part I took in the election was that I was there as a clerk 
for the supervisor. 

Q. At what poll ?—A. At Hope Engine House, in ward 4. 

Q. How was the election conducted at that ward that day?—A. 
According to my knowledge, everything went on very smoothly there; T 
saw no trouble, or but very little; there was some misunderstanding, 
but it was rectified. 

Q. What was the misunderstanding ?—A. It was between the super¬ 
visor and the managers of election; but all was soon rectified. The 
supervisor claimed that there was some irregularity, but the managers 
claimed that they were not positive about it, and they sent off for some 
liarty for legal advice, and when that advice was given they acted accord¬ 
ing to it, and got along well the balance of the day. 

0,. Eacli party took legal advice, and they came to an agreement and 
went on smoothly the balance of the day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did your poll-list correspond with the poll-list kept by the 



240 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J8r8. 


[ Cbarleston 


iiianagers?—A. I was tliere when the poll was opened; I was there, I 
sni)pose, ahont three-quarters of an hour before the supervisor got there. 
I didn’t atteni])t. to go inside the engine-house where the - poll was, be¬ 
cause the supervisor was not there. I staid outside, near enough to see 
who voted. I kept an account of the number up to the time that he 
arrived. Up to that time I had 110 votes on my poll-list; after he came 
he had me admitted as a clerk, and I ke|)t count. That night, after the 
l)oll closed, I think there were a few names more than tickets, or a few 
tickets more than names, I am not positive Avhich; at any rate there was 
a difference of a few. I kept the names myself. 

Q. And how did the names as kept by you correspond with tlie man¬ 
agers’ list?—A. The names I iiad and tlie names the clerk of the mana¬ 
gers had came out alike; we agreed, I think; I am not positive about 
being exactly alike, but I think we agreed. I think that the difference 
was that there was a few more names than tickets. It may have been 
that tliere were a few more tickets than names—I am not positive 
which. 

Q. But whatever it was the matter was adjusted, was it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the votes were counted ?—A. Yes, sir. There were different 
kinds of tickets in the box—the regular tickets and tissue tickets. The 
managers first made mention of the tissue tickets; they said to the sup¬ 
ervisor, “ What are you going to do about the tissue tickets ? ” The 
supervisor said, “ I don’t know; let us go on and count the regular tickets, 
and lay the tissue tickets aside.” They did‘so, and there were 320 odd 
of these tissue tickets. After they got through canvassing the regular 
tickets, the supervisor told the managers he guessed they had better 
count these other tickets, and they did so; but we kept a separate count 
of them. 

Q. They were in the box separately ?—A. There were three hundred 
and something of them in the box. There were some tickets in the box 
folded together, concerning Avhich there was a disimte. When they took 
them out of the box and found there was more than one ticket, they 
drew out one ticket, and the manager tore the other right in two, and 
threw it on the floor. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What kind of tickets were those which were folded together— 
tissue tickets f—A. Yes, sir; tissue tickets contained in one large ticket. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. And all were thrown away but one ?—A. All were thrown away 
but one. The manager drew one away and tore the rest in two and 
dropped them on the floor. 

(^. From all that you observed that day in regard to that poll, was 
the election fairly conducted and the count fairly made I—A. Yes, sir; 
I can’t say otherwise; it was peaceable the whole day. 

Q. And was the election fairly conducted and the count fairly made ?— 
A. Yes, sir; according to my observation. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you keep a list all day ?—A. Off and on, sir; when I got tired 
the supervisor kept the list. 

Q. And when they got done at night you found that they had more 
tickets in the box than you had names on the list ?—A. Yes, sir; I think 
that was the way it was. 

Q. How many more ? 

The Witness. Do you mean including the 110? 


County.] TESTIMONY OF R. D. LUCAS. 241 

The Chairman. I do not include the 110, hut you can j you begin 
where they began to vote. 

A. Me and the clerk sat down and took the balance of the nauies off. 

Q. Tlie 110 do you nieaii?—A. Yes, sir. 

^ Q. Was tliere still a difference between your poll-list and theirs ?—A. 
Yo, sir; I think that our lists were correct when we got through; I think 
there was a difference between the lists and the tickets; that there were 
a few more tickets than names or names than tickets; as I said before, I 
am not positive which. 

Q. Were there not something like four hundred more names on their 
list than on yours?—A. I don’t think there were four hundred; I don’t 
think I wrote four hundred names. 

Q. I am not asking about your list, but their list ?—A. I don’t think 
I took,four hundred names off their list. 

Q. Did you not keep a list all that day?—A. I kept every name from 
where I commenced back. 

Q. Did you not keep some additional ones ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many more ballots were there in the box than you had names 
on the list?—A. I think tlie ballots were less than the names we had; 
I am not sure, sir, but I think there were less tickets than names. 

Q. Did they not draw out some and destroy them?—A. Yes, sir; 
where they found more than one ticket folded together they destroyed 
all but one. There was a difference between my list and theirs, with 
those tissue tickets included; but when they had destroyed the tickets 
which were found folded in other tickets I think they came out even; 
but I am not positive about that. 

Q. Did they not have on their list something over four hundred more 
names than you had ?—A. I could not say, sir. 

Q. How many names did they have on their list in all ?—xl. I think, 
sir, they had 1,300 and something. 

Q. Was it 1,300 ?—A. It was somewhere in that neighborhood. 

Q. How many tickets did they have in the box ?—A. I can’t say posi¬ 
tively the number of tidkets; I don’t think they had 1,306 tickets; I think 
the tickets were less than the names we had. 

Q. Was it not about 61 tickets less than the names they had on the 
list?—A. No, sir; it was not so many as that; because I remember the 
supervisor said the difference was so small it would hardly make any 
difference, and he guessed they had better let it stand. 

Q. Did he as supervisor at the time make a memorandum of the 
votes?—xV. He made a memorandum of the difference between the tissue 
tickets and other tickets. 

Q. He made a memorandum of the whole thing?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You do not remember how many tickets there were, do you?—A. 
There were 310 or 320 tissue tickets. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say that when the double tickets were torn up and the balance 
of the tickets counted, you think they were a little less in number than 
the number of names on the poll list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

16 s c 


242 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


THOMAS FOSBUEY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

Thomas Fosbury sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Qnesdon. Where do yon reside?—Answer. In Charleston. 

Q. What position did you hold at the last election?—A. I was deputy 
United States marshal. 

Q. In Avliat ward?—A. In Avard 4, at the Hope Engine House precinct. 

Q. At what time did yon go to the polls?—A. I reached there about 
a quarter before six o’clock. 

Q. Were you there AYhen the polls opened?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon see the box examined?—A. Yes, sir; the box, 'when I 
reached there, was turned on its end, Avith the lid open, right fronting 
the street, so that eA^'erybody could see into it. It Avas on the table right 
before the doorway. 

Q. At what time was the box locked and the A’oting commenced?—A. 
At six o’clock. 

Q. Are yon acquainted with Henry W. Pniwis?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At w hat time did he arriA^e there?—A. To the best of my knowl¬ 
edge it was about a quarter or half past seA^en o’clock in the morning. 

Q. According to that, the AU)ting had been going on for an hour and 
a quarter or an hoim and a half?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had there been many v^otes receiA^ed before that time?—A. Yes, 
sir; \mtes had been coming in rapidly; sometimes three, or four, or five 
at a time. 

Q. Did you continue there through the day?—A. Yes, sir; I was there 
all day long. 

Q. How AA^as the election conducted?—A. It was very quiet and 
orderly. 

Q. Were you there during the counting of the votes ?—A. I was. 

Q. Do you know E. B. Lucas?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he there ?—A. He was. 

Q. In what capacity ?—A. He Avas clerk; the supervisor had a clerk. 
Sometimes Lucas would not be there, and sometimes there was no 
clerk. 

Q. Do joii recollect AAUether Lucas put into his list the names of 
A^oters Avhich the managers had taken but Avhich he had not taken be¬ 
fore ?—A. I know^ I saw him copying something. 

Q. Did you hear anything said by Lucas to the managers about the 
two lists agreeing in numbers ?—A. I heard Mr. Lucas ask on one oc¬ 
casion hoAA" many Amtes had been polled. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. After the polls closed ?—A. Eo, sir; w hen he first got there. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did Lucas get there before Purvis ?—A. Yes, sir; Lucas was 
there from the first start, but he kept no poll-list. 

Q. Did you witness the count of the vote that night?—A. I did. 

Q. State how the count was made.—A. The supervisors and manag¬ 
ers consented to draAV out the straight tickets first; the chairman of 
the board dreAv out the tickets; the chairman of the board sat here 
(witness describes the location of the table, ballot-box, managers, &c.); 
I sat at the left of the chairman, w ith my head near the box, watching 
his niOA^ements. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF THOMAS FOSBURY. 243 

Q. Did you see any tickets that were found in the box folded to¬ 
gether !—A. I did. 

Q. How many I—A. I could not say the number; I should say between 
70 or 100 tickets. One of them had thirteen tickets folded into it. 

Q. What was done with that ?—A. It was destroyed. 

Q. Those that were double were all destroyed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they all destroyed, or all but one?—A. They were all de¬ 
stroyed. 

Q. When they had drawn the tickets and got them all out were they 
counted?—A. Yo, sir; they would draw and count how many were 
folded into each and every ticket, and put them out on the lid of the 
box, and they agreed to put them aside. 

Q. What tickets were counted and put on the lid of the box ?—A. The 
tickets that were found with other tickets in they agreed to put aside; 
and after they had counted the tickets they were destroyed. 

Q. How many tickets were counted ; what was the total vote ?—A. I 
think 1,228 or 1,230, or somewhere about there. 

Q. Do you know how many names were on the poll-list ?—A. N'o, sir; 
I don’t remember. 

Q. How was the election conducted there that day as to quiet and 
fairness ?—A. I never saw an election in all my life conducted more 
fair, square, and quiet. 

Q. What did they leave. in the box when all the large tickets were 
drawn out ?—A. Tissue tickets of a smaller size. 

Q. AVere they folded separately ?—A. Each and every ticket was folded, 
some, in a little ball, like. 

Q. Each ticket by itself?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And these were counted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The tissue tickets found by themselves were counted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was Mr. Purvis there during all the time?—A. He was absent 
during a great portion of the day. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you stay there all day ?—A. I did. 

Q. AA^ere you inside the room where the voting was going on?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And you staid inside ?—A. Yes, sir; the greatest portion of the 
day. 

Q. AAdiere were you ?—A. I wms about half the length of this table 
from the boxes. 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue tickets before they were drawn 
out?—A. 1 did. 

Q. AYhere did you see them ?—A. I saw them in the hands of colored 
Republicans. 

Q. In the hands of colored Republicans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many did you see in the hands of colored Republicans ?—A. 
To the best of my knowledge, some fifteen or twenty. I directed the 
attention of the supervisor to them once and said to him, ‘‘ There is a 
(colored man who has one of those small tickets.” 

Q. Did he go up with it openly ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AA^ere those fifteen or twenty tissue tickets all that you saw there ?— 
A. Yes, sir; except at night- 

Q. I did not mean at night. That is all you saw there during the 
(lay?_A. Yes, sir; that is all, to the best of my knowledge. Several 
others came up and I could not tell what ticket they had; they might 
liave had some of the same tickets. 




244 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You say there were seventy tickets that had other tickets inside of 
them “?—A. {Seventy or seventy-live. 

Q. What kind of tickets were inside?—A. Eepiiblican tickets, sirj 
straight Eepublican tickets. 

Q. Some of them had as many as fifteen Republican tickets inside ?— 
A. I said that one ticket contained thirteen others. 

Q. What you say is, that one of these tickets had tliirteen other Re¬ 
publican tickets folded in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of tickets were folded into it; tissue tickets ?—A. Yo, 
sir; common tickets; straight Republican tickets. 

Q. Thirteen of them in one fold ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you say there were from seventy to one hundred of these 
tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. All containing other Republican tickets folded in them?—A. Yes, 
sir; I remember I said to the manager- 

Q. Yever mind the manager now. You say there were from seventy 
to one hundred tickets that had other tickets folded in them ?—xi. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. One of them had thirteen ?—A. One had thirteen. 

Q. Were they all Republican?—A. To the best of my knowledge. 

Q. One had thirteen folded into it; how many did the others have ?— 
A. I didn^ notice the others particularly. 

Q. Did you see any Democratic tickets that were double ?—A. Xot to 
my knowledge, sir. 

Q. Were those tissue tickets that were in the box Republican or Dem¬ 
ocratic ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. All of them ?—A. Yes, sir; all of them. 

Q. Did you see any tissue Republican tickets ?—A. There were some 
other tickets, larger-sized Republican tickets—a few of them found in 
the box. 

Q. You say Mr. Purvis was there by half past seven o’clock in the 
morning ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do you know ?—A. I heard this clock strike. 

Q. Did you pay special attention to the time he came?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you recollect particularly that you heard the clo(;k strike just 
as he came ?—A. I am sure. It is not a very ditficult thing to hear a 
clock strike that distance. 

Q. What special reason did you have for keeping track of the time 
when Mr. Purvis came ?—A. From hearing the clock strike. 

Q. Did you make a memorandum of the time Avhen Mr. Purvis ar¬ 
rived ?—A. I did; I sent a dispatch to Mr. Mackey to notify him that 
Purvis had not arrived. 

Q. At what time did you send that dispatch ?—A. About seven o’clock. 

Q. How many persons voted before Purvis got there ?~A. A large 
number. 

Q. But how many; you were there to watch and were watching?_ 

A. I should say 250 or 300 votes were polled before he reached there. 

Q. Did you hear Mr. Lucas’s testimony last night ?—A. I heard a 
portion of it. 

Q. Do you remember how many he said were there ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What means have you of knowing that 250 or 300 persons voted 
before Mr. Purvis arrived ?—A. The way they came up by threes and 
fives at a time. 

Q. What were those who voted during this time; Democrats?_A 

No, sir. 

Q. Were they white or black?—A. The greater prox)ortion of them 



County.] TESTIMONY OF THOMAS FOSBURY. 245 

were colored men. I could notice that these check-back or colored- 
backed tickets were voted pretty near solid. 

Q. Who voted them; the colored people f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do I understand you to mean that the colored people voted the 
Democratic check-back ticket almost entirely"?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did the white people vote that day?—A. The greatest por¬ 
tion of them voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How many check-backs do you think went in during the day?—A. 
I am sure I could not tell you. 

Q. You ought to be able to tell 5 you paid close attention tb these 
things.—A. Well, I should say about seven hundred and odd. 

Q. How many Democratic tickets in all ?—A. About seven hundred 
and odd. 

Q. I asked you how many check-back tickets went in; the Democrats 
did not all vote check-back tickets?—A. O, no, sir; there were about 
three hundred and ninety-odd check-backs, and the balance were small 
tickets. 

Q. There is quite a diiference between 390 and 700; now, which do 
you mean?—A. There were between 300 and 400 check-back tickets. 

Q. How many ordinary white Democratic tickets—straight common 
tfckets?—A. Between four and five hundred. 

Q. Did you see 450 ?—A. I saw about that. 

Q. How many tissues were in the box?—A. I heard the supervisor 
when he was counting say there were two hundred and twenty-odd. 

Q. That would make about 1,040 tickets. Do you think that about 
the number of Democratic tickets that went in there during the day ?— 
A, No, sir; I doiiT suppose any such thing. 

Q. Why not?—A. Because I know there was not. 

Q. You said there were 390 check-backs voted by black men; then 
there was 450 common tickets voted by white men.—A. I didn’t say 
that the check-backs were voted by colored men. 

Q. You said there were 390 check-backs voted.—A. I didn’t say they 
were all voted by colored men. 

Q- How many Democratic tickets, not tissue tickets, were there in 
the box?—A. Some three or four hundred. 

Q. You say there were between three and four hundred white tickets, 
and you think there were two hundred and twenty-odd—you did not 
remember how many—tissue tickets?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, 390 check-back tickets and 300 white tickets would make 
690 tickets in the box, besides the tissue tickets.—A. I heard the count; 
that is how I came to have this idea. 

Q. You assisted in the examination of the box.—A. Yes, sir; in re¬ 
ceiving the tickets and passing them over to the supervisor. 

Q. How many Kepublican tickets were there, all told, in counting those 
that you destroyed?—A. Somewhere about five hundred. 

Q. What was the total vote of the box?—A. I was told that the total 
vote was, I think, 1,228. 

Q. How many names were there on the poll-list?—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Were there more names on the poll-list than there were tickets in 
tlie box ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. That is all you know about it ?—A. That is all I know about it. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. At what time did Lucas get to the polls ?—A. Not until some min¬ 
utes after I got there myself. 

Q. At what time?—A. About six o’clock, or a little after. It was 


246 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


a little after, at least when I first noticed him there. I don’t know 
the exact time that he came. 

Q. Fix the time as near as you can.—A. To the best of my knowl¬ 
edge, it was half past six, or seven. He may have been there before, 
but I did not recognize him if he was. 

Q. When did he inquire of the managers, how many votes had 
been polled !—A. As soon as Mr. Purvis came there, I think, Mr. Lucas 
asked him how many votes had been polled. 

Q. Of whom did he ask that question % —A. Of the clerk on the other 
side. 

Q. What reply did the clerk make ?—A. He told him that a great 
many votes had been polled. He did not state what number. He said, 
“ 1 am pushed. I haven’t time to look and tell you. If you choose you 
can copy from my poll-list.” 

Q. You swear that the clerk did not tell him how many votes had 
been polled ?—A. I do, to the best of my knowledge. I remember the 
clerk made this remark: that he was pushed, but that he could copy 
his poll-list if he wanted to. 

Q. Did not the clerk tell him that 110 votes had been polled ?—A. 
Not to my hearing. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You spoke about some sixty or seventy double votes ?—A. I said 
from seventy to seventy-five. 

Q. You mean that there were that many destroyed in all?—-A. Yes, 
sir; altogether. 

Q. Because they were folded in other tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not mean to say that there were 70 or 75 tickets that had 
other tickets in them, but that the number of tickets folded in others 
were some 70 or 75 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that the whole number thrown out for that reason were 70 or 
75 f—A. Yes, sir; the whole number counted altogether. The twos, the 
threes, and this, with thirteen in it, all taken together, amounted to 
70 or 75. 

Q. And that was the number destroyed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Caivieron : 

Q. And all those that were thrown away, so fiir as you can remem¬ 
ber, were Eepublican?—A. Yes, sir; to the best of my knowledge. 

Q. And these double tickets were all Bepublican "tickets ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 


GEOBGE E. WALKEE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29,1879. 

George E. Walker (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live?—Answer. In Charleston County. 

Q. Where is your residence ?—A. I am temporarily residing in this 
ciQy but my residence is in the toAvii of Mount Pleasant. 

C^. VYere you at the voting place in the town of Mount Pleasant at the 
last election?—A. I was there at the opening, I was there at the closing 
of the poll, and, with very short intervals, was at or in the immediate 
vicinity of the poll throughout the day. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE E. WALKER. 


247 


Q. At what time was the poll opened!—A. I did not have a watch 
niyself. I left lioine ‘■'y my clock at one hour and forty minutes before 
0. I walked to the poll by the iidand route, which, I think, is about 
three quarters of a mile long. AVhen I reached the poll, I aided in put¬ 
ting up a barricade, and a statement was made in my hearing that it 
was at that time 0 o’clock, and that the poll would be opened. 

A few minutes after tlie opening of the poll, Mr. E. 0. Brown, United 
States supervisor, and some others, came up. Mr. Brown claimed that 
it was not 6 o’clock. He appealed to one Le Saint, a colored man, who 
pulled out his watch and said it was 22 minutes of 6. I am positive 
that he said it was 22 minutes before C. I asked him, ^LAre you pre- 
l)ared to protest under oath that it is 22 minutes of G!” and he refused 
to do so, saying that was a little too much to ask. I then asked him if 
lie would submit his watch for inspection by the post-oShce time. He 
refused also to do that. 

To proceed. The poll was opened by a watch in the possession of Mr. 
Fell. I have every reason to believe that Mr. Fell’s watch was entirely 
correct. Mr. Ericson, who was presnt, also had a watch with him, and 
pulled out his watch, and they differed only a few seconds from each 
other. He found that it was 0 o’clock by his time. I would also say in 
regard to the time that, just before the time the poll was opened, the 
box was shaken out of the window, lifted up and down, and banged and 
banged against the window-sill, open. Some seconds before doing so, I 
w as at that time standing near by a pillar and looking the whole length 
of the piazza, wdiich w'as a very long piazza, as the hall wms a long danc¬ 
ing-hall. I say that I was looking the length of the jdazza, and 1 called 
to a number of colored ])ersons scattered along the ])iazza and at the 
farther end of the piazza to come up. I said, Eepublicans, all of you, 
come ui> and see that this thing is done fairly.” Several men did come 
up. I could see them distinctly. The light was perfectly clear. It was 
in the gray light of the morning, it is true; but at 6 o’clock in that time 
of year, on a clear morning, it Avas easy enough to see distinctly the 
entire length of that piazza. So I called to the men- 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Do you think they heard you!—A. Yes, sirj I am sure they heard 
me. 

Mr. Cameron. I liave no doubt of it. 

Witness. Gentlemen, I know that I haA-e, unfortunately, a very loud 
Amice, that it is impossible for me to control j but I Avill endeavor to con¬ 
trol it as far as possible. 

Mr. McDonald. You can go on. 

AYitness. It has been claimed that the supervisor was compelled to 
go out on to the piazza. 

Mr. McDonald. You need not state w hat has been claimed by other 
ANutnesses. Proceed as if you kueAV nothing of the testimony offered by 
anyone else.—A. I Avill try to do so, sir. I say this: that there was 
nothing whatsoever of fraud or unfairness in the conducting of the 
election during the Avhole day. 

Q. You may state at Avhat time the supervisor arrived there, and 
what transpired Avith reference to his occupying a place outside or in¬ 
side the room.—A. A¥hen the supervisor arrived there—I ought to ex¬ 
plain a little. Tliere were tAAO doors and a windoAV. These tAAm pens 
Avill represent the tAvo doors, and this piece of rubber wall represent the 
windoAV. Barricades Avere ran out of the tAvo doors, across the piazza, 
and voters AAmre alloAved to come in, tAvo at a time, and pass along to- 



248 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Cbaiieston 


getlior and vote, and go ont at tlie other end of the barricade. That 
part of the piazza inclosed [witness indicatingj was for the convenient 
egress and ingress of voters. When Mr. Brown entered, he entered 
through this door. Quite a discussion followed between BroAvn, Le 
Saint, and myself, as to where Mr. Brown should sit. The discussion 
was held with me, not with the managers, ^s’ot one word was said in re¬ 
gard to opening the box again after the arrival of Mr. Brown. Not one 
Avord or iota of objection Avas used by any one as to the opening of that 
ballot-box. Any statement to that effect, by AvliomsocA^er it may be 
made, or may haA^e been made, is untrue. Mr. Brown AA^ent into the 
room, and AA’^as about to place himself some distance in the rear—in 
fact, scA^eral feet in in the rear—of the ballot-box; I Acas standing out¬ 
side of the room, on the i)iazza, bej^ond the barricade, beyond the further 
l)arricade, in fact; I called the chairman of the board of managers, who 
was standing at the window, inside the windoAA^; I called his attention 
to the laAY requiring that supervisors in places of under 20,000 inhabi¬ 
tants should be “in the immediate iAresence”of the managers, and 
not seA^eral feet in their rear. Thereupon Brown got up and ex])ressed 
a contrary opinion. I am not prepared, at this moment, to give his 
exact words. Mr. Muirhead, chairman of the board of managers, said, 
“ Mr. Walker, will you read the Iuaa^ I read the laAv to him. lie said, 
“ That coincides Avith my own opinion,” or “ I agree AAdth you,” or words to 
that effect. The sui)ervisor, in a A^ery uncalled-for manner, thereui)on 
jumped up and said he did not intend to be bulldozed. I say that I re¬ 
gard his manner in this respect as being entirely uncalled for, because 
not a sign of bulldozing had been attem])ted. Air. Aluirhead made the 
remark, “You can remain in here, sir, with my consent.” To my great 
surprise, after the protestation that he Avould endure no bulldozing, the 
superA'isor \"ery quietly, and Avithout saying another Av^ord, got up and 
sneaked out, and came around onto the i)iazza in front. He was alloAved 
to place himself just where he pleased; not one Avord Avas said to him by 
any of the managers, or by anj^ other person, as to where he should place 
his seat. It was a large, open Avindow, and he ]Alaced himself as closely 
by the ballot-box as it was possible for him to do and not prevent men 
from going up to be sworn. There Avas nothing to prevent him at any 
time from rising and standing over the ballot-box in the whole course of 
the day. He Avas so close to the ballot-box that when I Avent up to AU)te 
myself (I A^oted a so-called tissue ballot, and many gentlemen there did 
the same) he had not the slightest difficulty in seeing the tissue ticket 
Avhich I held in my hand. No constable Avhatsoever put out the super- 
Ausor; no force whatsoever AA^as used toAA^ard him by any person. When 
it began to groAV dark, the courtesy Avas Awy kindiy extended to him to 
come inside, so that he might scrutinize the balloting. When it became 
time to count the ballots, a portion of the barricade Avas drawn into the 
room, so that a small, narroAV end of this room AAms again barricaded off. 
Then, openly, in the presence of the supervisor, the ballot-box was taken 
up and placed upon another board. The candidate on the Bepublican 
ticket for tlie legislature, Mr. Le Saint, Avho Avas present, was invited 
into the room. He AAms also invited, inside the barricade. The lights 
Avere up, and the room was filled Avith the populace. When the box was 
opened, I noticed BroAvn, the supervisor, standing outside the barricade. 
It was almost immediately after the box had been taken in that I saw 
him. I spoke to the managers. I said to Air. Aluirhead that I thought 
it proper that the United States supervisor should be invited in. I said, 
“I suggest that you invite him in here.” He said, “Certainly,” and 
thanked me for the suggestion; and he invited Air. BroA\ n in immedi- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 


249 


ately. Not only that, gentlemen, but throughout the entire day the su- 
l)ervisor was treated with the greatest and most scrupulous courtesy. 
Indeed, I myself went so far as to divide with him my sui)])er, which I 
had talven thither with me. Mr. Muirhead poured out coffee for him. 
But I inust not forget to say that the supervisor positively refused to 
come inside tlie barricade. 

Q. During that day what number of the constabulary force were inside 
the polling-place!—A. I think that there were, all told, fourteen or fifteen 
State constables; I think only fourteen. Of that number I do not believe 
that more than over four or five ever went inside j indeed, I could not 
swear that I ever saw more than two in there. 

Q. As the voters passed inside of those barricades what number at 
any time were collected immediately in front of the window where the 
box was located ?—A. I don’t think that more than two of them went 
up at a time. 

Q. So there was nobody to obstruct the view of the supervisor —A. 
Nobody at all. The space was at least 12 feet wide, so that two persons 
at a time would constitute but a very slight obstruction. 

Q. The box was placed on a board inside the window ?—A. Yes, sir ; 
close along side the window. 

Q. Did you see anybody sitting on the board so that it bent down, 
letting the ballot-box below the window ?—A. No, sir. I not only say 
that, but, if you will come to Mount Pleasant, I will get those same 
boards and place them precisely as they were i)laced before on that day, 
and will demonstrate to you that such a thing is impossible. If any 
person had been sitting upon the boards that miglit possibly have sunk 
them an inch, but as for their sinking enough to hide the ballot-box from 
view, that is not only absurd, but it is utterly impossible. 

Q. Then it is not true that the ballot-box went below the window ?— 
A. That is utterly untrue, sir, 

Q. How many persons were rejected there that day, and for what 
reasons?—A. I don’t believe that eight men were rejected there in the 
whole course of the day. 

Q. How were the votes received; was there any delay in administer¬ 
ing the oath to the colored voters ?—A. I was about to express the opin¬ 
ion that if the managers had anticipated that the number of ballots in 
the box would have been greater than the number of names on the poll- 
list, and if they had ever expected to have to explain that away, they 
certainly would have hastened the voting. But they seemed to proceed 
with the ordinary form and the ordinary x^recautions, and I could not 
see that there was any undue or unnecessary delay in the administering 
of the oath or in the j^erformance of any other of their duties. 

Q. Was there any difference in the manner of administering the oath 
to white voters and to colored voters? Did they hurry uii with the one 
and inotract with the other?—A. No, sir. Why should they, sir? 

The Chairman. You need not enter into an argument.—A. No, sir; 
but it seemed so utterly ridiculous to me. Very few were denied the 
right to vote. Allow me to say a word in regard to an old blind man. 
One of the managers, because that blind man seemed to be stui)id as 
well as blind, did not think that he was a proper subject for voting, and 
refused to take his vote. I was not one of the managers, but some one 
said that in my absence a blind man had been refused the right to vote. 
I became indignant upon hearing that, and spoke to the managers and 
asked if it Avas true. They said, “ Yes.” Then** I said, I think that is 
a subject of protest.” I never said a Avord to E. 0. Biwn about his not 
reporting it. I immediately called ui)on a Democrat who kneAV all the 


250 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


people there, and told him to go and find that blind man. He did so, 
and brought the blind man back and took him ii}) to the place of voting. 
When he came the second time the managers, or at least some of the 
managers, wanted to reject liis vote again. I earnestly protested. I 
did this all the same, although I believed that the blind man would vote 
the Eepiiblican ticket j and I now believe that that blind man did vote 
the Eepublican ticket. I don’t know it, gentlemen, but I believe it. If 
so, he voted the Eepnbican ticket in consequence of my earnest protest 
to the managers against his vote being rejected. 

Q. Were any i)ersons excluded that day except on fair challenge?— 
A. I challenged a great many who I thought were under 21 years of age. 
The managers, being old citizens of Christ Church Parish, knew better 
than I did • but I don’t think that in a single one of my challenges they 
excluded a voter. In one or two instances men were rejected. Ko man, 
however, was rejected on account of being under 21 years of age, unless 
it was on positive knowledge of some person there present who had 
known him from his boyhood that he was under 21. No such i^ersou 
Avho was excluded can be found. 

Q. State how the count took place.—A. The count took place in this 
way: I was the only lawyer in the parish. I had the hiAV. I took the 
precaution to carry a volume of the Statutes with me to the j)olls that 
day. I read the law upon the subject of elections carefully to the man¬ 
agers. I did it because they asked me to do so. One of the managers 
])ut his hand into tlie box and drew out the ballots voted and unfolded 
them. As he dreAV out those ballots he placed them in a tray—a large 
tray made out of some stiff paper which had been used as a wrapper 
for that box. The ballots were i)laced in this tray Avithout being looked 
at at all. I think I can state Avith positiA^e certainty, and I do state 
Avdtli positiA^e certainty, that E. C. Brown, United States sui)erAdsor, pro¬ 
tested against no ballot that aa as not destroyed. The managers ga\"e 
liim the benefit of the doubt in every solitary instance. The managers, 
in fact, in several instances destroyed ballots which I said should not 
have been destroyed. These ballots aa hich Avere destroyed, I observed, 
appeared to be tissue ballots. I said then, and I say now, that the man¬ 
agers Avent too far in destroying ballots, and destroyed some ballots tliat 
ought not to haA^e been destroyed, because they had beeu i)rotested 
against by Mr. BroAvn, the supeiwisor. 

Q. Wlien these ballots Avere placed uiAon the tray did it appear that 
any of them had been folded together ?—A. Yes, sir ; a great many of 
the Eepiddican ballots were found folded together, and I saw one Ee¬ 
publican ballot AAdth a large number of tissue ballots folded in it. It 
appeared as if it had been voted by some pretended Eepublican A^oter 
for the benefit of the Democratic party. AVheneA^er two ballots came 
out together, both of which Avere alike, only one of them was counted; 
when tAvo came out AAUicli were unlike, both were destroyed. 

Q. How was it when more than two came out folded togetiier ?—A. When 
more than tAA o came out folded togetiier, and any one of them was dif¬ 
ferent from the others, all Avere destroyed. In fact, gentlemen, the whole 
tiling Avas coiulucted as closely according to law as anything could be. 
AfterAvard the ballots were put back into the box. 

Q. M'ere they found to be in excess of the number of names on the 
list f—A. Heavily in excess, sir. The poll-list tallied between the super- 
Ausor and the manager, but there was a large excess of ballots beyond 
their poll-lists. 

Q. IIoAv were they reduced to a number equal to the names on the 
poll-list ?—A. According to the laAv, sir; according to the laAV passed by 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 


251 


a Eepnblicaii legislature. They were taken out of the box and put back 
and stirred up again, and put back, right in, without the slightest sign 
of any attempt to defraud, but put back. 

Q. No assorting?—A. No, sir; none whatsoever in the slightest. 

hen the}" were put back in the box the clerk of the managers, accord¬ 
ing to law, took his seat with his back to the ballot-box—he could not 
possibly have seen the box. 

Q. How was the top of the box at that time?—A. I think it was cov¬ 
ered with cloth or ]3aper cover; when the tray was emptied the same 
wrapi)ing-pa|)er was i)ut under that. 

Q. Was he in a position to know—he could not see the ballots?—A. 
No, sir ; he could not. 

Q. Was there any hunting around for tickets?—A. Not the slightest 
sign. I was near the supervisor, too; the tickets had every appearance 
of being fairly drawn out. 

Q. W^hen the count was closed, what did Brown say—was he satisfied 
or dissatisfied with the manner in which the election had been con¬ 
ducted?—A. Well, Brown did not say it to me, but he said yesterday 
he was, but he did not then. He did not say anything to me. 

Q. Did you have a conversation with him about fraud afterwards ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In that conversation did you make any proposition to him how he 
should do and what he should do ?—A. None whateA^er in regard to 
remuneration. 

Q. Just state about it.—A. I was not present at the poll for a short 
time; once or twice I had gone 20 to 50 feet from the poll. On one oc¬ 
casion I came back, and I heard Brown claim that a Mr. J. O. Freeman 
had voted more than one ticket. The managers denied it. It was the 
only claim that I heard made in the AA"hole contest that more than one 
ticket had been voted. The managers denied it and J. O. Freeman av as 
indignant about it. Mr. Freeman, whom I knoAV A'ery well, is a con¬ 
firmed asthmatic; he is a terribly poor man, with a large family, but 
A"efy industrious. Mr. Freeman, I think, had been drinking. I do not 
like to say it, but I think he had. Knowing his illness, and knoAA-ing 
their large family, and knoAving their absolute dei)endence upon a small 
man to work for them as he Avas compelled to do, I remarked to the super¬ 
visor on the piazza that I hoped he AA"ould be careful in making a charge 
against Mr. Freeman under the circumstances; and I said exactly Avhat 
I haA"e stated to you, hoped he would be cautious in the making of such 
a charge unless he was convinced of the truth of it. I made no offer of 
remuneration AvhatsoeA'er, so help me God. I did not ask him to destroy 
his poll-list, because I knew there \\"as not a thing in the poll-list Avhicli 
he could report honestl}^ against the poll; he Avould haA e been a fool to 
do it. In addition to that, I asked K. 0. BroAvn, the superAusor, some 
time after proceedings Avere brought in this court against the managers, 
if he had filed his poll-list, and he had to admit that he had not, and 
that before filing he had consulted Avith Mr. E. W. M. Mackey in regard 
to the same. I Avould like to state, as this charge was made against me 
yesterday, that the charge of perjury Avas brought in the State court 
against B. 0. BroAvm, that Mr. Mackey, the assistant district attorney, 
on account of his statements similar to those made yesterday, A\"as 
brought into the court; that Mr. Mackey, assistant district attorney, 
claimed that this court alone should try the case, and the State officials, 
being of opinion that his point Avas A\"ell taken, dro])ped the case; that 
thereupon I came to this court, filed my affidavit, and gave my testimony 
before the United States commissioner that B. C. BroAvn had been 


252 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


guilty of three perjuries (I might have made it fifty, gentlemen). There¬ 
upon four witnesses presented themselves, of the highest character and 
respectability, and indorsed my statements. ' 

Q. In drawing out these ballots in order to reduce the number in the 
box and the number on the poll-list, what was done Avith them—the 
drawn ballots —A. They were destroyed instantly; they Avere instantly 
held in a candle and burned. 

Q, Were they examined to see AAdiat they were ?—A. They were not; 
and it aa as impossible to tell aa hat they aa ere. 

Q. Not unfolded or examined ^ —x\. No, sir. 

Q. But burned as they were draAvn ?—A. Yes^ sir; a large number of 
the stilf, AA'hite-backed paper ballots were draAAm. And here let me say 
that these Avhite paper ballots Avere both Eepublican and Democratic; 
Ave had no check-backed Democratic tickets in the parish at all. 

Q. Why sof—A. I do not know; but the checked-backed and Kepub- 
lican ballots Avere, to all appearances, identical. There Avas a slight 
difference in size, but when folded it AA^ould be imjiossible to tell, except 
by practice and A^ery critical examination in your hand, AA^hich was the 
Democratic and which Avas the Eepublican ticket. The manager, AAuthout 
exhibiting them, received them from the clerk and immediately burned 
them, and it Avas as absolutely impossible for any human being to see 
how many Democratic or hoAv many Eepublican ballots Avere in that 
box as to solve the problem of the hereafter. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You were running on the Democratic ticket for office ?—A. Yes, 
sir; for the legislature of South Carolina. 

Q. You liaA^e been declared elected ?—A. I liaA^e been declared elected. 

Q. I will ask you, were you the only Democratic official at that poll¬ 
ing place '! —A. No, sir. 

Q. Who else was there that was on the ticket ?—A. Nobody else ex¬ 
cept Major Huguenin. 

Q. What was he running for !—A. County commissioner. 

Q. Then you and Huguenin Avere the only ones Avho Avere running on 
the Democratic ticket aa ho Avere present'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the managers ?—A. Mr. Fell and another man. 

Q. AVho AAUis the clerk?—A. Mr. Yenning. 

Q. AVhat were the politics of these men ?—A. I haA^e eA-ery reason to 
believe they are Democratic. 

Q. Well, you knoAV it, don’t you !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is the politics of O’Connor doAAui there ?—A. Well, he ran 
on the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Is that the only reason you knoAV a man is Democratic, because 
he runs on the ticket?—A. No, sir; because there has been so much 
fusion. 

Q. You know these other men Avere Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; so far 
as I knoAV from general information. 

Q. Who else was there Avhen you got there besides the managers and 
clerk?—A. Mr. Errickson Avas there. 

Q. What is his politics ?—A. He AA^as a Democrat. I knoAv he is. 

Q. Who else did you see there?—A. elohn Fell. I belieA^e he is a 
Democrat. I would not SAA-ear as to the others; there aa^xs so many 
came up that I would not like to say exactly who AA^ere there and Avho 
Avere not there. 

Q. I mean to confine myself to those in the house.—A. I cannot say; 
I was trying to recall a moment ago some Avitnesses who were there and 
I could not do it. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 


253 


Q. AAlio was in tlie room when yon got there ?—A. I think there Avas 
only ]\Ir. Errickson when I got there, for he was there fixing the barri¬ 
cades. 

Q. At the time the box was shaken ont of thewindoAv, who was .there 
at that time ?—xA. I do not knoAA’'; I conld not giAX all the names. 

Q. I mean inside of the house.—A. I do not know. I was on the 
piazza outside of the barricades. 

Q. Yon AA^ere close by ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Brown had not got there ?—A. N^o, sir. 

Q. Were there any Republicans 5 those you suat at the end of the 
piazza ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYliere AA^ere they ?—A. In fact I am confident they were there. 

Q. Where were they?—A. Well, the mass of the Republicans, in¬ 
stead of coming up to the poll-box, stood at the end of the steps, but 
when I called out to them seA’eral came. 

Q. And looked in the box?—A. Well, I can explain that better this 
way- 

Q. What I want to know is who looked into the boxes ,* whether the 
Republicans looked in?—A. Yes, sir; I mentioned that they did. 

Q. You looked in the box ?—A. I did not. 

Q. You saw it opened ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you able to swear positiA^ely that when it was shaken there 
Avere no tickets in it ?—A. Yes, sir; there were no tickets in it when it 
was closed. I am posith^e about that. 

Q. Perfectly positiA^e?—A. I am positiA^e that I saw none; as to 
whether there were a trick of the conjurist I do not know. 

Q. Who handled it?—A. Mr. Muirhead. 

Q. How long was it after the shaking of the box when Brown came ?— 
A. I think it AAms from tAAm to three minutes, perhaps fiA e. 

Q. Had anybody \mted ?—A. I do not know. I think I heard Brown 
say that some one claimed that but one vote had been polled after he 
came up, but I turned away after the box. 

Q. You say BroAvn did not say he saw it opened?—A. No, sir; he did 
not. 

Q. You stood there how long—all day?—A. No, sir; not right in 
sight of the polls. 

Q.' Were you inside of the building?—A. I neA^er remained inside. 

Q. Were you inside of any room, I will ask you ?—A. I Avas not in¬ 
side. 

Q. When did you first go inside of the house ?—A. I went inside of 
the house first when I went in there to aid in putting up the barricades. 

Q. Tlien you were in there before the box was shaken outside of the 
AAindoAV?—A. Yes, sir; but left immediately AA^hen the barricades were 
put up, and neA^er remained inside of the room after that during the 
day, but I had occasion only to pass through the room in the rear to 
get my lunch. 

Q. Were you inside when Brown was?—A. No, sir; I met BroAAn 
outside on the piazza. 

Q. Where Avas the conversation about BroAvm haAdng a table inside?— 
A. I was outside of the barricade speaking to the manager through the 
window. 

Q. Where was Brown?—A. Some feet in the rear of the managers, in 
the room. 

Q. Did you object to Brown’s staying there?—A. Yes, sir; I made 
the objection because I considered that that poll shonld be conducted 



SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


234 


fairly and squarely, and I wanted tlie supervisor to be along near tlie box, 
and not several feet in the rear. 

(^. He was not near enough ?—A. Ho, sirj not near enough to see a 
fair election. 

Q. You were anxious he should see"?—A. Yes, sir; everything. 

Q. Muirhead told him he should not remain inside?—A. Ho, sir; he 
did not; he said, ^AVith my consent he should not remained inside.” 

Q. He could have got nearer the box by remaining inside ?—A. Ho, 
sir; the managers stood between him and the box. 

Q. Then he came outside?—A. Yes, sir; and placed himself by the 
box. 

Q. Did he not have a table?—A. Well, my information is based on 
hearsay. I do not know how he got the table, of my own knowledge. I 
was at a table when I spoke. 

Q. Were there any constables inside?—A. Yes, sir; there were. 

Q. What time of day were they in there ?—A. All day. 

Q. How many were in there?—A. I do not think there was more than 
four to five in there at any time; I do not think more than two at any 
time. 

Q. Who were there?—A. Mr. Brown. 

Q. What are his politics?—A. I think he is a Democrat; I am not 
very intimate with him. 

Q. Who else ?—A. I believe they were all Democrats—no, sir; I will 
take that back. There was appointed a committee to suggest the names 
of several for constables, and I named several Kepublicans, and they 
refused to serve. 

Q. Well, I am inquiring about these other names that were there and 
in this room.—A. I cannot do that; I do not remember which constables 
were in the room and which were not. 

Q. Were there any constables in attendance upon that poll that were 
Bepublicans ?—A. There were constables present who were Kepublicans. 

(^. Any State constables?—A. I do not think there was, because I 
think that all constables refused to serve as State constables; there 
were some others there. 

Q. Were they inside ?—A. I do not recollect. 

Q. You do not know whether they were, then ?—A. I could not swear 
to any men being there. 

Q. What time did you vote ?—A. I think I voted about some time be¬ 
tween twelve and three. I would not like to swear what time. 

Q. What did you vote ?—A. I voted the Democratic tissue ticket, as it 
was called. 

Q. Were they generally distributed there?—A. Yes, sir; I did myself 
distribute them. 

Q. Where did you have them ?—A. I had them in my hand. 

Q. Were they on the table?—A. Ho, sir; I had them in my hand. 

Q. Who distributed them besides yourself?—A. I do not know; any¬ 
body who wanted to take them. I gave a great many to pretended Ke¬ 
publicans. 

Q. How many tissue ballots did you distribute during the day ?—A. 
I do not remember. 

Q. You can give some idea.—A. Well it may have been anywhere 
between—well, I suppose, thousands—well, about a thousand. 

Q. How many other tickets did you distribute—of the stiff ones ?— 
A. It may have been about 500; hardly that many. 

Q. Did you see some of those tissue "ballots voted?—A. Ho, sir; for 


County.] TESTIMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 255 

this reason: I did not tliink I had any right to scrutinize the ballot. I 
heard several men say they had voted them. 

Q. You voted one*?—A. Yes, sir; that is the onlj- one I saw voted. 

Q. Everything went off fair during the day f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Everything was fair all the time, so ffir as you know ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You did not see anything that was indicative of fraud ?—A. Yo, 
sir. 

Q. ^Teither in the day nor evening ?—A.^ It was charged that tickets 
were drawn out; more tickets in the box had to be drawn out, under 
the laAv, to make the number correspond with the names on the poll-lists. 
That showed fraud, of course. 

Q. You know that was true ?—A. Yes, sir; I was present and know 
it to be true. 

Q. A\niat was the excess ?—A. It was over 500. I do not doubt that 
the statements you received yesterday as to the excess Avere correct. 
They were first counted fairly and squarely, to all appearances, and then 
counted again, and it was found that there was ten too many. For ex¬ 
planation, say 1,100 were in the box and 500 were drawn out. Before 
they Avere draAvn out it was agreed, and the supervisor assented, that 
the tickets be counted again, so that there should be no mistake; and 
on the second counting there Avas found ten more A otes. 

Q. You do not think that anybody can tell AA liat tickets Avere drawn, 
whether Eepublican or Democratic ?—A. It Avas absolutely impossible. 

Q. Were any tissue ballots AAuthdraAA u?—A. Some Avere, sff; a great 
many probably were. 

Q. About how many tissue ballots were drawn ?—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Then you could tell e\^ery tissue ballot Avas a Democratic ticket ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any other ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Then if any tissue ballots Avere draAAui out they must haA'e been 
Democratic tissue ballots?—A. I don’t see that that follows, because 
there may haA^e been some Eepublican tissue ballots there. 

Q. But you did not see any ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Neither at the box nor at the polls ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Still you think that A^ery likely these tissue ballots were-A. 

I did not saj^ ^^A^ery likely.” 

Q. Try and tell us how many tissue ballots were burned up.—A. It 
would be absolutely impossible for me to tell; a great number of tissue 
ballots w^ere destroyed—a very great number. 

Q. Will you say that half that Avere draAAm out were tissue ballots?— 
A. No, sir ; not that many. 

Q. Well, one-third?—A. Yes, sir; one-third were destroyed, in my 
opinion, because I know I felt A^ery nervous in my heart. I did not 
like the clerk because he was so honest. 

Q. Then you did feel some dissatisfaction because the clerk was hon¬ 
est?—A. I had dissatisfaction that there were so many burned up. 

Q. You said you were dissatisfied because the clerk AA^as so honest.— 
A. What I mean was, and the Avords Avill com^ey, is, that in my ojunion 
it would be God’s blessing if in it ended tlie Eepublican rule of South 
Carolina (for I liaA-e no objection to Eepublican rule)—the Eadical negro 
rule Avould be put an end to; and I Avas A^ery much in fear that the clerk 
AA^as drawing out too many Democratic tickets; and Avhat I mean by 
tliat is, tliat I Avas very much in fear that the clerk aa us doing Avhat he 
ought not to do, and yet it Avas his duty. 



256 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Charleston 


Q. You did not want the clerk to do his duty ?—A. I would have been 
much pleased if he had not taken so many out. 

Q. The clerk Avas sworn to do his duty f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You Avould like to huA^e seen him commit i)eijury to secure your 
ends ?—A. Not my ends. 

Q. Well, for the purpose of destroying Eadical rule !—A. Well, for 
the purpose of destroying Eadical rule, I would have been glad to see 
him take any steps he pleased. 

Q. Commit perjury ? I understand you to say that you think pretty 
much any means Avould be justiliable in destroying the Eadical rule in 
South Carolina !—A. I do not knoAV that my language meant that, but 
you may put your interiiretation on it if you want to. My interpreta¬ 
tion of it is, I AYOuld liaA^e been much pleased to see that poll giAX a 
handsome Democratic majority, and I Avould haA^e been A^ery much 
pleased to see the clerk so manage it, but the clerk seemed to have been 
entirely too honest, and I did not encourage him in anything else, and 
he did not gratify me. 

Q. Well, he drew them out honestly before, and in doing so he 
destroyed a few tissue ballots —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You suppose that Avlien you saAv them drawn out you thought he 
was drawing too many tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you do supiiose he was drawing too many ?—A. You said I 
sui)posed it. 

Q. AVhat do you say now; did you think so at the time ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. AA^hen it was impossible to understand AvTiat onedhird of these were 
when they were draAAui ?—A. Not with certainty } it aa as a mere matter 
of presumption. 

Q. ITow many names did you haA^e on your poll-list ^ —A. Aly recol¬ 
lection Avas 018. I think the supervisor said yesterday OUO. I make 
that correction. I do not know that 018 Avas the number, as I did not 
keep any list •, but my recollection is what it is said to be. 

Q. Now there was Iioav many excess ?—A. It was said that there Avas 
about liA^e hundred odd. 

Q. Can you giA'e the figures ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is that the number f—A. AVell, it was less than 000 and more 
tlian 500. 

Q. How many tissue ballots did you find in there?—A. I do not 
know. 

Q. Well, you can form an opinion—you were there and an interested 
spectator.—A. AVell, I cannot truly estimate. 

Q. AAAs it 500 ?—A. I suppose 500. 

Q. AVas there that many after they got done drawing?—A. No, sir; 
not that many after they got done; I mean 500 total number of tickets 
in the box included 500, but that Avas all a mere presumption. 

Q. Now, in your 500 excess you did not include the tickets that were 
destroyed as they Avere taken out; there was no record kept of those ?— 
A. No, sir; at least I think not. 

Q. Now, as they found more than one ticket together they tore up 
Avhat—all of them ?—A. If they found more than one ticket together 
differing in character, all were destroyed. 

Q. If they found them of the same character, what then ?—A. One 
was counted and the balance destroyed. 

Q. Noaa^, how many double tickets did they find ?—A. AVell, sir, in 
answering that question I Avill have to state that there was a great nmn- 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 257 

l)er of tickets drawn out, which, on account of the peculiar character of 
the paper they were printed on, they wonld cling together. 

Q. Yon do not know how it happened ^—A. They were not folded 
inside of each other, Init they would cling together, and against iny x)ro- 
test and views, even in some cases against the oxiinion of the snxiervisor, 
when they were believed to be but tickets found sticking together, they 
were destroyed. 

Q. Now, how many were destroyed of that class of tickets ?—A. It 
would be impossible for me to say j we went on several times, and num¬ 
bers were destroyed. 

Q. You can guess at it.—A. No, sir; I could not begin to guess ; I 
could not axipi’oximate it. In fact the figures I have been giving are 
based so utterly on conjecture that I would not like to give them. 

Q. Was it 40 or 50 of that class that were destroyed?—A. No, sir; I 
do not think as many. 

Q. Half as many ?—A. It seemed to be about 20. 

Q. Then, if there was 20, that should be added to the excess that was 
destroyed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many Kepublican tickets did you find with tissue ballots in 
them *? You said a number; now how many ?—A. Quite a number, I 
said. 

Q. Now that is very indefinite. Was it 5, 50, or 100?—A. Ten or 
fifteen, I think. 

Q. Keimblican tickets with tissue ballots folded in—^how many in each 
one ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Can you give any idea about it?—A. Two or three, or perhajis 
four. I really do not know. I am speaking now on conjecture. 

Q. Well, there must have been two, anyhow?—A. Well, there was 
more than two, I think. 

Q. Did they have two in them?—A. Well, sir, the fact of the matter 
is, I do not recollect. I heard of such a thing occurring, but I was not 
put there to scrutinize the vote. 

Q. Well, you said that they were, and you have given your theory 
how they came there.—A. I have not done so; I have not given any 
theory at all. 

Q. You said that there were two ballots in each ticket, or more; now 
what was done with the tissue ballots ?—A. They were destroyed. 

Q. What was done with the other tickets ?—A. Destroyed. 

Q. Then all the Eepublican tickets were destroyed?—A. Yes, sir; all 
destroyed. 

Q. Then you think they destroyed ten or fifteen tickets that way ?— 
A. Well, I want to say that in shaking—the Eepublican ticket being a 
large ticket—that in shaking them in the box the tissue ballots would 
fall out. 

Q. What were these tissue ballots—Eepublican tickets that were in¬ 
side of the Eepublican tickets ?—A. I presume they must have been 
Democratic, because they were destroyed. 

Q. If they had been different how would it have been?—A. If they 
had been different, one would have been ke]>t and the other destroyed. 

Q. If they were otherwise they would have been all destroyed ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And they were all destroyed?—A. Yes,'mr. 

Q. They imist have been Democratic ?—x\. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, your tlieory was that the Democrats did not want the Ee- 
publicans to know that they were voting the tissue ballots ?—A. If you 
will let me give my theory—in the parish of Christ Church I have, In 
17 s C 



258 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Charleston 


the past year, made a large number of friends of the colored peojileI 
have defended a great many for nothing, and they liave come to me, 
that were strong opponents of some of the men; and, in addition to 
that, in the precincts in Charleston, Mr. Frank Main was nominated at 
the extreme end of the parish and I was nominated at the other end, 
and a large number of Republican leaders gave me their assurances 
that they were going to aid me in every way they could. I i^aid the 
expenses of some men that came to the Eepnblican convention. These 
men would not come out openly as my adherents, but I had promises 
and assurances from the leaders of the party in that parish to help me. 
F'ow, sir, they went up to the polls and I distributed these tickets freely 
among the Republicans and did not ask what they did with them. My 
theory is that these people wanted to help me. I saw the pastor of their 
church during the surveying of his church grounds, which was paid for 
by me, and he informed me that there was large numbers that voted for 
me, although they did not do it openly. They would pin Republican 
tickets on their hats, 4&c., and then go up and vote this tissue ticket— 
shake them in. ISTow, that is my theory for the excess of votes. I think 
the Republicans repeated largely and voted double tickets largely, and 
I think a great many voted for me in that way. 

Q. You think the excess came from the Republicans who voted in 
that way!—A. Republicans voting two for themselves and two more 
for me. I do not think they had any love for O’Connor. 

Q. Well, they still voted for him !—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. They committed a crime against the election laws in their interest 
for you, against O’Connor, but for your interest!—A. I think they voted 
just as many for the Rex)ublicans. 

Q. Who did!—A. The Republicans, themselves. 

Q. Now, how many Republican votes were declared when you got 
through! 

The Chairman. If you do not remember I can give it to you from 
official figures: It is 147; the Democratic vote is 473 as returned. 

Mr. Cameron. It is 400 tissue ballots, 9 regular Democratic tickets, 
and 147 Republicans. 

The Witness. Yes, sir; but I think the Democratic ticket would 
come to the toji, and I think the man would draw out a majority of the 
Democratic tickets. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You cannot tell about that!—A. No, sir. 

Q. There are 14Y Republican votes; now what proportion of the Re¬ 
publican voters do you suppose were anxious to vote for yon of that 
147 !—A. I suppose that 147 voted 147 straight tickets. I do not think 
they voted for me at all. 

Q. Then the men who voted for you were those whose tickets were 
destroyed!—A. How can I tell! 

Q. You knew who were your friends there!—A. No, sir; I never 
touched a iirivate. 

Q. You are a sort of field-officer!—A. No, sir; I am a lawyer. 

Q. You cannot deal with the people!—A. In handling Republican 
voters I would not deal with the privates. 

Q. I want to find out l^w much on the average—how many of these 
Republican voters voted for you !—A. I do not know. I had the assur¬ 
ances of tliff Republican leaders that they would vote for me. 

Q. Did any of them tell you that tli^y would commit frauds on the 
election!—A. No, sir; I would not ask them for that. 


Comity.] TESl’IMONY OF GEORGE R. WALKER. 259 

Q. You liad no inforniation they would vote double tickets for you ?— 
A. Yo, sir; I did not understand anything about it. 

Q. Do you know anything about the election here in Charleston ?— 
A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Have you ever heard that any tissue ballots were used here?—A. I 
heard there were 10,000 Kepublican or Mackey tickets to be voted here. 

(^. Have you ever heard that any tissue ballots were voted here?— 
A. Xo, sir. I think I heard as a general matter of report that Eepub- 
lican tissue tickets were voted here. 

Q. How many?—A. I have not the slightest idea, except the tes¬ 
timony given by ]\lr. Junes, but I also understood a great many more 
than that. 

(^. How many Democratic tissues did you understand were A oted ?— 
A. I have not the slightest idea except what I heard at the table the 
other day, and I have forgotten those figures. 

Q. AVhat do you say about the number in the city ?—A. I know noth¬ 
ing about it, but only in regard to the precinct Avhere I was. 

Q. You have no theory about it here?—A. Xo, sir; only where I had 
the positive assurances of the leaders of the Eepublican party in that 
parish that they Avould do everything they could to aid me, although 
they could not pronounce themselves Democrats. 

Q. You say you had Brown arrested for perjury?—A. Yes, sir. 

Did you abandon that suit in the State courts ?—A. Xot by me, 
but it was abandoned on the ground that the United States court alone 
had jurisdiction, at the instance of the United States assistant district 
attorney. 

Q. AVhat then?—A. I then went before the United States commis¬ 
sioner and made an affidavit, and it Avas corroborated by four good, re- 
.spectable witnesses. 

Q. AA^homdid you go before?—A. Commissioner Hagood. I went be¬ 
fore Commissioner Poinier, and he refused to take it, altliough he had 
taken all the cases against the Democrats. I Avent to Commissioner 
Seabrook and he said he was too busy. 

Q. Is not Seabrook a Democrat?—A. I think he is a Democrat; he 
has a Eepublican employee. 

Q. AAJiat did Hagood do?—A. AAYll, after A^arious delays, he took my 
affidavit. Brown was not arrested, no action was taken against him; 
but he alloAA^ed me to come before him the next day, and then fiA^e of us 
solemnly swore that this man was guilty of perjury, and there the mat- 
has since laid. 

Q. He did not hold him to bail ?—A. Xo, sir; not to my knoAAdedge; 
he did not do it openly. 

Q. AVhora did you bring first to make the affidavit ?—A. I forget; I 
haA^e brought some one, and he was certain of certain facts; I think it 
Avas Air. John Fell, and he preferred not to make the affidavit. I then 
brought fiA^e Avitnesses from my parish AAdio made the affidavit before 
the United States commissioner. Charles Errickson Avas one. 

Q. Jlid you try it in this court ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Did you liaA^e anything to do AAith it?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you adAuse it?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you not knoAV, ^s a lawyer, that the United States had no ju¬ 
risdiction ?—A. I did not know it at the time, until Air. AAJnthrop sub¬ 
mitted to me a case decided in Georgia. I supposed that the United 
States had jurisdiction over such cases. There is a decision against me. 

Q. Then all there is about it, you have charged Air. Brown AAuth per¬ 
jury and he has not been coiiAucted?—A. Yes, sir; I haA^echarged hixn, 




260 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cliaiieston 


and I can say that I can go to Massaclinsetts, Wisconsin, or any IS'orth- 
ern State and prove him on the clearest possible testimony before a jury 
as the most infamous perjurer in the United States. 

Q. Do you think you can convict these Eejuiblicans of stufQng these 
ballot-boxes at your place ?—A. 1 do not know which of them did it. 

Q. Tliat is an offense against the law, is it not, to vote more than one 
ticket ?—A. Well, now, I do not know tliat. 

Q. Do not know ?—A. I thought it Avas, but 1 have heard, 1 think, 
Mr. Mackey express a doubt. 

Q. Now you liaA e some doubts whether it is an offense against the law 
to A ote more than one ticket ?—A. I think the hiAv is against Acting 
tAAuce. 

Q. But not against voting six or eight ti(?kets ?—A. I do not know 
what the hiAv is; I thouglit it Avas an offense. 

Q. Has there been any prosecution in the courts of anybody for Amting 
these double tickets ?—A. I do not think it Avas necessary. 

Q. No matter about that, has there been any ?—A. There has been 
none at all. 

Q. You think all prosecution for Auolations of election laws in the 
United States courts is improper?—A. No, sir; I do not. 

Q. Well, if the managers at the ballot-boxes, having an excess of 000 
and a little OA^er, would you consider if they Avere prosecuted that that 
was persecution ?—A. 1 would consider, if they Avere arrested and it 
should appear upon the cross-examination that the witness who had 
made the charge Avas uiiAvorthy of belief, and if 20 witnesses should pre¬ 
sent themseh'es, of the highest respectability in the county, and offer to 
swear that the witness aaTio made the charge was unworthy of belief, I 
would consider it the duty of the commissioner to haAX heard the 20 
witnesses and to have released the managers. But, sir, they Avere not 
held. 

Q. Is that the way you try cases in South Carolina; do you go off on 
an issue of that kind; is not the question before the court Avh ether there 
was a fraud against the law; can you disproA^e that in that way when 
the fact A\ as not disputed ?— A. My opinion is - 

Q. Noav, does anybody dispute that there aa as that excess there ?—A. 
No one disputes it. 

Q. They knoAv Iioav they got in ?— A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not your belief that they got in imi)roperly ?—A. I believe 
that Kepublican and Democratic leaders put them in the box. 

Q. Eepublicans principally ?—A. I think they did a fair share of it; 
I think they were quite au fait^ and I do not think they were derelict in 
their duty. 

Q. Yon think they voted most of the tissue ballots ?—A. Well, I think 
if any went in on the Democratic side, they were put in by my friends; 
if they Avent in on the Eepublican side, I suppose they were put in by 
my friends. 

Q. You have taken a good deal of interest in this matter!—A. Well, 
about this poll, as I think a great outrage has been perpetrated upon the 
managers of Christ Church Parish, and I have taken a great interest in 
demonstrating the truth, but the United States courts aauII not permit 
me to do so. 

Q. You haA^e been to Columbia on this election matter !—A. No, sir. 

Q. You have been there recently to examine the returns from this 
county ?—A. I A\^ent to Columbia on professional business. 

Q. Did you examine the returns ?—A. My answer is, that haAung gone 



County.] TESTIMONY OF J. E. HAGOOD. 261 

to Columbia on professional business of a private cliaracter, I refuse 
to state what I did or tell any confidences. 

Q. You decline to say, then, whether you examined the returns or 
notf—A. I decline to say anything' about my Columbia trip. 

Q. Were you arrested in Columbia for abstracting the records ?—A, 
I decline to say anything in regard to my Coluud)ia trip; it is part and 
parcel of my business. As a business man, I decline to say anything 
about it. 

Q. Were you not, within the last ten days, arrested in Columbia for 
abstracting a portion of the public archives of the State ?—A. I was not 
for such an offense. 

Q. What were you arrested for ?—A. God Almighty only knows. 

Q. By whom were yon arrested ?—A. Well, I have stated more than 
I should have stated, because I was u}) there on confidential business. 
I merely state that I have reason to believe that a certain member of 
the State government in Columbia, having grossly and most miserably 
deceived himself in regard to my objects in Columbia and purposes and 
certain other facts, did undertake, I believe, to have me arrested. He, 
upon discovering his folly, most humbly apologized for having done so. 
Now, sir, I refuse to answer any more such questions. 

Q. What officer was that ?—A. The secretary of state. 

Q. He is a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir, I believe. 

Q. What particular records were you charged with abstracting from 
the secretary of state ?—A. He never told me of the records. 

Q. Had you been examining any ?—A. I had been examining none. 

Q. What records have you had in yonr possession ?—A. I have had 
none in my possession. 

Q. Do you know with Avhat you were charged ?—A. I do not } they 
did not make a charge. 

Q. You say you Avere charged with no crime ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You Avere not arrested ?—A. I Avas arrested, but no charge aa as 
made. 

Q. They hardly arrest people in Columbia without making a charge?— 
A. They do, sir. 

Q. Did the officer have a Avarrant ?—A. He did not. He AAmuld not 
tell me what the charge was when I asked it. I heard he Avas looking 
for me and I immediately volunteered my presence. 1 found they had 
blundered, and they apologized and I left. 

Q. You had some trouble up there about this matter—were you acting 
in connection Avith some of those election contests ?—A. 1 haA^e nothing 
to say to you upon this subject. 

Q. Did you get any valuable information from your trip to Colum¬ 
bia ?—A. That is my business. 


J. E. HAGOOD. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29, 1870. 

J. E. Hagood re-examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Did Mr. Walker present Mr. BroAvn before you for per¬ 
jury ?—AnsAver. Yes, sir; he shoAved me the warrant. 1 Avas present and 
heard the examination before Poinier, in which Brown was one of the 
Avitnesses against the managers of election at Mount Pleasant. I met 



262 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


I Charleston 


Walker one day down street, and lie asked me to issue a warrant for 
Brown for perjury. I said 1 would see about it. 1 met liiin the next day 
on the street. Walked asked me, Have you issued that warrant !” I 
told him, “I have never received any affidavit.” 1 said that when he 
showed an affidavit I would issue the warrant. One day—I believe the 
2l8t of November—he came up to my office with the form of an affida¬ 
vit. He had called a day or two before that, 1 ought to state, and left 
an affidavit a\ ith a young man in the office, which I did not see. This 
time he brought another man with him to make an affidavit. When I 
read it over to him the other man refused to sign it. Mr. Walker was 
very much enraged when tlie man refused to sign it, and said, ‘‘If I had 
known you would not make an affidavit, I would not have gone to the 
expense of bringing you over here; you have cost us a damned sight of 
trouble.” Then he sat down and made an affidavit himself. On the 22d, 
Brown, the defendant, was brought before me. I heard the testimony. 
It is in this book. 

Q. What was the result ?—A. On the 22d I left for Columbia^ I had 
to go to court in Columbia. After Walker had taken the testimony 
which he produced before me, he took the testimony taken before Poinier, 
when Brown was witness in the case against the managers. It had been 
taken down in writing by a stenograiiher. Walker said, “ Bead this, 
and you will see that Brown has committed perjury.” I called on him 
for the testimony afterwards, and he would not let me have it. I never 
saw that testimony any more. I talked with Major Bassett and Mr. 
O’Connor about it, and tliey told me I had better let the case stand; 
and nothing has ever been done since. I don’t think the testimony was 
sufficient to bind him over. I wanted to read the testimony which he 
had taken down, but he would never let me see it. 


THE CHABLESTON COUNTY BALLOT BOXES. 

Charleston, January 22,1879. 

The committee directed the sergeant-at-arms to examine the ballot- 
boxes, which had been in the possession of the police since the day ot 
election, in the presence of the committee; said boxes having been used 
in the election of 1878 at the different precincts in and about Charleston. 
The following is the result: 

Palmetto Engine House, ward No. 3. Box opened and nothing found 
in it except the lock. No tickets. 

Niagara Engine House, ward 8. Box opened and tickets found in it. 

Marion Engine House, ward G. Tickets found in the box. 

Stonewall Engine House, corner Georgia and College streets. Box 
opened and tickets and papers found in it. 

Court House, ward 2. Box opened and tickets found in it. 

Twenty-two Mile House, on State road. Contents, tickets. 

Cross-Boads. Box examined. Contents, tickets. 

Enterprise Landing. Box examined. Contents, tickets. 

Muster House. Contents of box, tickets and papers. 

IMount Pleasant. Contents of box, tickets and papers. 

Audell’s Store. Contents, tickets. 

Cooper’s Store. Contents, tickets. 

Pinopolis. Contents, tickets. 

Eagle Engine House, Meeting street. Contents, tickets and papers. 

Black Oak. Contents, tickets. 



County.] 


CHARLESTON COUNTY BALLOT-BOXES. 


263 


Tliirty-two Mile House. CoiitentSj tickets. 

Blackville. Contents, tickets. 

Hickory Bend. Contents, tickets. 

Strawberry Ferry. Contents, tickets and ])apers. 

Henderson Store. Contents, tickets and instructions. 

Moultrieville. Tickets and instructions. 

Hill’s Bind*. Contents, tickets. 

Biggin’s Cliurcli. Contents, tickets. 

Ben Potter’s, at Half-way Creek. Contents, tickets. [Statement on 
the top of this box: Total vote 109; all Democrats.”] 

City Hall, ward 1. Contents, tickets and pai)ers. 

Strawberry Ferry. Contents, tickets. 

Ward-. [Kumber of ward scratched out.] Contents, nothing. 

Ashley Engine House, ward 7, Columbus street. Contents, tickets. 
Saint Stephen’s Depot. Contents, tickets. 

Columbus Pond. Contents, tickets. 

Hope Engine House, ward 4. Contents, lists and papers. 

By which it will be seen that three of the boxes contained nothing; 
twenty-nine contained tickets and papers. Many of the tickets were 
tissue tickets. 


Charleston, January 23. 

At the close of the testimony of A. W. Green, the ballot-box labeled 

Blackville ” was opened by the sergeant-at-arms by order of and in 
presence of the committee. Inside the box were found 284 tickets. The 
chairman made a careful and close examination of the tickets, and ex¬ 
pressed the opinion that between tliirty and forty of them had never 
been folded. Messrs. McDonald and Eandolph, representing the 
minority of the committee, agreed that twenty-three (at least) of the 
tickets had never been folded (indicating that the ballot-box had been 

stuffed” to that extent). The uncreased tickets were all Democratic tick¬ 
ets. Besides these, there were 70 tissue tickets, all Democratic, and 191 
other tickets. The ordinary printed ticket, the kind with which the box 
was mostly filled, and 23 of which were still uncreased and smooth, 
was found to measure 8J inches in length by 2J nearly in width. 

Mr. Kirkwood called attention to the fact that there were 32 ballot- 
boxes in all, 29 of which contained tickets, while 3 were empty. In the 
case of one of the empty boxes the label belonging on the top of the 
box, giving the ward and the polling place where that box was used, 
had been defaced, and the part of the label which contained the number 
of the ward had been cut out. Of the name of the polling place noth¬ 
ing remains except the letters M-a-r.” As none of the other boxes are 
labeled a& belonging to the Market House precinct, it is probable that 
this empty box belongs to that precinct. 

Another of the boxes, also empty, has the word “ ward ” remaining, 
but the number of the ward is completely erased. 

Mr. Eandolph suggested that it would be well to take the testimony 
of one of the commissioners next j some explanation would seem to be in 
order. 

The Chairman thought it well to postpone this for a little, as other 
matters might, and undoubtedly would, arise, concerning which the 
committee might desire to question the commissioners. 

Mr. Cameron suggested tlie counting of the ballots in the other boxes; 
which was at once agreed to. 

The tellers to perform this counting were then appointed: On the 



264 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Cbarleston' 


part of tlie Eepublicans, J. Grregg and W. I. Elfe j on the part of 
the Democrats, W. A. Zimmerman and J. A. Barhot. 

The Chairman, after free and informal consultation with the other 
members of the committee, drew up the following instructions for the 
guidance of the tellers : 

1. Count all the tickets in each box separately from the others. 

2. Note the varieties of tickets, size, color, and a\ hether Democratic or 
Bepublican. 

3. Note the number of tickets, whether Democratic or Kepublican. 

4. Note the tissue ballots, whether Democratic or Bepublican, and 
the size of the ballots. 

5. Preserve all tickets and papers, and replace them in the boxes 
from which they ai^e taken. 

6. Make the count as to Democratic or Bepublican, calling Mr. O’Con¬ 
nor Democrat, and Mr. Mackey Bepublican. 


Charleston, January 24. 

At the conclusion of the testimony of William Singleton, the tellers 
reported regarding the Strawberry Ferry ballot-box that it contained 
only old ballots, cast for James B. Campbell for State senator. It was 
e\ddent that it was an old box, not used at the last fall election. 


REPORT UPON THE BALLOT-BOXES. 

Charleston, January 28. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Perry’s evidence Mr. Gregg, of the board 
appointed by this investigating committee to examine and report upon 
the number, size, appearance, &c., of the tickets in the several ballot- 
boxes used in Charleston County in the last election, stated that they 
were now ready to report. He added that the board had strictly ad¬ 
hered to the instructions given them when ai)pointed to perform this 
duty, and had drawn uii a reiiort embodying in full the results of their 
labors, which they now submitted to the committee. The only point on 
'which the members of the board differed was as to whether some ten or 
more tickets found in the box belonging to one of the city precincts 
sliowed evidences of having been folded. The tickets in question being 
produced before the committee, its members found it as difficult to de¬ 
cide the question as the board had done. But little time, however, was 
spent in the discussion of the subject, the committee unanimously agree¬ 
ing that it was minor matter, not worth any lengthy discussion, much 
less any dispute. The report of the board of examiners follows : 



for M.P. 


County.] 


CHARLESTON COUNTY BALLOT-BOXES. 


265 











































































































Republican tickets'for Edmund TV. M. Mackey for Congress. Majorities. 


266 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Charleston 


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CHARLESTON COUNTY BALLOT-BOXES. 



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268 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1 ^ 78 . 


1 Charleston 


T. J. HUGUENra. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28. 

T. J. HuGtUENIN (wliite) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Ohaileston Comity. j 

Q. What office do you hold?—A. I am chairman of the board ot [ 
county commissioners. ^ 

Q. How long have yon held that office ?—A. Since the election in last ; 
November. ■ 

Q. When did yon take possession of the office ?—A. On the 3d of 
December. 

Q. At the time yon came into office as county commissioner, were the 
poll boxes of this county in the conrt-lionse, or in any room of the court¬ 
house, where they had been returned to the commissioners ?—A. JS^o, 
sir; they were in the city hall under charge of the police of the city. 

Q. When were they put in tlie custody of the commissioners ?—A. A 
day or two after I came in charge of the office I received notification 
from the chief of police of the city that the boxes were there, and that 
he desired to turn them over to my charge. I refused to receive them 
niion any such understanding. I told liim that if he desired to place 
them in the fire-proof building, of which I had charge, he could do so. 
He sent them over. I understand that they were placed in the fire¬ 
proof building. I never saw them. I have not seen them yet. They 
Avere placed in an open room downstairs. I wanted to have the room 
cleaned out and whitewashed, and I found the boxes in there. 

Q. Has the door been closed so that it could not be opened ?—A. It is 
an iron safe, but it is very much out of repair. My attention has been 
called to the insecurity of the fastenings of the Amult. It is a little Amnlt 
that has not been used for a long time. I ordered it to be cleaned and 
repaired, and employed a carj)enter to do so. When the carj^enter came, 
he took me downstairs and said to me, ‘‘Here are some boxes inside.” 

I said to him, “I have nothing to do with them. You can remove them : 
or let them remain, as you choose.” 

Q. Who brought them to this committee-room ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

I never felt myself responsible in any official capacity for the boxes, ex- 
cept to furnish a room to place them in. 

Q. Yon only stored them there until they should be wanted for the 
next election ?—A. Yes, sir; that is all. 

Q. As to the ballots, you did not think yourself responsible for them ?— 
A. No, sir; not in any shape or form. 

Q. From the situation they were in, was any care taken of the con¬ 
tents ?—A. No, sir 5 the building Avas open throughont the aa hole 
day, from sunrise to sunset. It is a public place. The public have access 
to it. The keys and locks of all tlie rooms need to be fixed. People 
could go in and out ])retty much as they chose. Parties had been in my 
office tampering with my official paj^ers, and I had to have iieAA^ locks 
put on most of the doors. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did yon state you were one of the county commissioners ?—A. ' 
Yes, sir; I am chairman. 

Q. How long have yon held the office ?—A. Since earlv in December 
last. 




l TESTIMONY OF T. J. HUGUENIN. 269 

Q. AVho were your assoeiates on the hoard!—A. Mr. Fogerty and 
31 r. Cane. 

Q. Are 3 on a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are j^our assoeiates Democrats f—A. Y^es, sir; I believe they are. 

Q. Do you not know they are Democrats ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Just as you know Mr. O’Oonner is a Democrat'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYho is the chief of police of this city'?—A. Colonel Ehett. 

Q. Is he a Democrat'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is there a janitor tO that building ?—A. Y'es, sir. 

Q. Who is the janitor ?—A. His name is Zimmerman. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is there an assistant janitor also?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Who has charge of the building at night ?—A. I don’t know that 
anybod^^ has. The janitor’s instructions are to lock ux) the building at 
niglit. 

Q. It api)ears that the tickets were not in the box that was used at 
the Palmetto Engine House i^recinct, nor in the box used at the 3Iarket 
Hall precinct. Can 3-011 exxilain how the tickets haxipened to be taken 
out of the boxes belonging to those precincts and not out of any others ? 
—A. ]No, sir; I never saw the boxes. I only xiermitted them to come 
into our x^ossession as county x>i‘operty. I took the ground that I would 
not be resxionsible for the ballots. I told 3Ir. Ehett that he could send 
the boxes there. The 3 ^ were received with my sanction as chairman of 
the board of commissioners. 

Q. Is the building in 3 our custod 3 ^ ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. YMu have charge and control of it ?—A. I have official control of 
it. I have official control of all the x^ublic buildings in the county. 

Q. Have 3^11 not actual control of that building?—A. Y^es, sir; 
although the janitor keeps the ke 3 -s and sweeps out the building. 

Q. Is he subject to you ?—A. Yes, sir; he is subject to what orders I 
may give him. 

Q.. Are there any Eex^ublicans emplo 3 -ed in the building ?—A. Yes, 
sir; up to within a few da 3 -s ago the commissioner of schools was a Ee- 
XUiblican. The late county solicitor, ^Ir. Buttz, claimed to be a Eepub- 
lican, and occuxned an office there. The new solicitor qualified only a 
few days ago. Buttz had to be ejected b 3 ^ the board of commissioners. 

Q. They turned him* out ?—A. Yes, sir; he had no authority to rent 
the building without the recommendation of the grand jury. 

Q. Was Buttz turned out after or before the boxes were carried there? 
—A. I don’t know x^recisely. I can refer to my books. 

Q. When were the boxes carried there ?—A. A few days after I took 
I)ossession. I know it was a week or two after I took possession before 
I could get Buttz out, because he said the late commissioners had rented 
him the office. I said the commissioners had no right to rent him an 
ofiice vdthout tlie recommendation of the grand jur 3 ^ 

By 3Ir. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did I understand jo\i that the room in which these boxes were put 
was a fire-xiroof room ?—A. The whole building is Axhat is called a flre- 
X)roof building. 

Q. The boxes, tlien, were x^nt in a special fire-XR’oof room ?—A. Yes, 
sir; it was one of the vaults in the building. 

Q. Was anything else stored in there ?—A. Kot to my knowledge. I 
never have been in the vault at all. I ordered it cleaned out the other 
day. 

Q. Was tlie vault kept locked ?—A. I don’t know, sir. When I went 



270 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Cbarlestou'Couiny. J 


down tliere the other day, on my rounds through the building, I found 
that door, among others, open. I found one room filled with wood, 
another with coal, another with coffins, &c. I wanted to have these 
rooms cleaned and papered. That is the Avay 1 happened to find this 
room open and these boxes. 

Q. Did not the carpenter come to you and report, before you went 
down, that the door was open?—A. No, sir; he Avas only going down 
Avith me. I was to show him what was to be done. 

Q. What officer was ejected?—A. Buttz. He had been Kepublican 
solicitor of this district, and AA^as once a member of Congress; at least, 
he was said to liaA^e been elected a member of Congress. Whether he 
Avas granted his seat or not, I don’t know. He has been solicitor of this 
judicial district. He had a room doAA iistairs in the basement, next to the 
room where these boxes were stored. He occupied it by lease of the old 
county commissioners. 

Q. He occupied it as his official office ?—A. No, sir ; it was his priAmte 
office. I found he could not retain it under the hiAV, and ordered him to 
leaA^e, and he left. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You allowed those boxes to be placed there simply as property of 
the county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon took no charge of the contents?—A. No, sir. 

Q. The laAv did not require you to keep the boxes and contents in that 
AA ay ?—A. No, sir; I only receiA^ed the boxes as county property. 

Q. To be handed out when needed for the next election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Those coffins were such as are furnished by the county to the poor? 
—A. Yes, sir; the county keeps 85 or 90 of them on hand. 

Mr. Cameron. I did not know but that the coffins were kept to bury 
Kadicals in. 

Mr. McDonald. I asked the question on purpose to ease your mind 
on that point. 

The Witness. We would be Axry happy to bury a number of them, 
sir. 


A 


> 






SUMTER COUNTY. 


FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 







. ’v y . 


.i 


)|T>KF ' 








SUMTER COUNTY. 


JAMES B. WITHERSPOON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 23, 1879. 

James B. Witherspoon sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside !—Answer. At Sumter. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. For fifty-one years. 

Q. What is your business !—A. I am a practicing physician. 

What are your politics A. I am a Democrat. 

Were you there in Sumter County during the last campaign % —A. 
Yes, sir ; all the time. 

Q. Did you take any part in the campaign % —A. No, sir 5 except sim¬ 
ply to vote. 

Q. Did you attend any Democratic meetings ?—A. I went to one, sir. 
They proposed to consider me a member of the club, l)ut I retired. 

Q. Why did you retire ?—A. I thought they would go to extremes, 
sir. 

Q. State wdiat was said and done.—A. They said they were deter¬ 
mined to carry the election at all hazards. I could not indorse that, 
and retired. 1 withdrew from the Democratic club because they pro¬ 
posed to enter upon a course of intimidation and violence, of Aviiich 1 
could not approve. 

Q. That was a feature of Democracy that you did not believe in ?—A. 
No, sir; I did not believe in it at all, sir. 

Q. Did you see any demonstration made in pursuance of this plan ?— 
A. When the Bepublicans had appointed a meeting to be held there I 
heard the firing of cannon from 12 o’clock, midnight, until nearly day¬ 
light, from the academy grounds; then, in the morning, the firing con¬ 
tinued until they began to assemble. Tdien a large parade of infantry 
and cavalry came into the town well armed. A procession of colored 
people on their way to their place of meeting was headed ofi* by the 
Democratic cavalry, and for a long time they could not get to the place 
where their meeting was appointed. When the meeting was in progress 
they seized Mr. Coghlan and took him onto the platform of the court¬ 
house, and threatened him a great deal. I didn’t see him struck, but I 
did see him struck at and tortured a good deal, and jerked from side to 
side, while they were trying to put a red shirt on him. There were a 
great many of us who would have been glad to rush up to his rescue, 
but from the fact that there was a semicircle of cavalry men, well armed, 
surrounding him so that we could not get up there at all. 

Q. What else?—A. After a length of time, just how long I could not 
say. General Ilagood stepped up and said the man had been tortured 
long enough and he would protect him, and he did protect him, and the 
mass of the people dispersed after that, and there was no more trouble. 

Q. Did you see any cannon there that day?—A. Yes, sir. 

18 s c 



274 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Where was it when yon saw it ?—A. jSTear the court-house j I be¬ 
lieve there were two cannon, but I only saw one. 

Q. What kind of a cannon!—A. An old brass cannon, unless it was 
an iron cannon so admirably painted that you could not distinguish it 
from brass. 

Q. It was undoubtedly brass!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of what size!—A. I am no judge of such things. 

Q. Was it loaded!—A. I don’t know; it was charged with gunpowder 
and I lieard say it was also charged with nails. 

Q. When was it said to have been charged with nails !—A. They said 
it was charged with nails before it was brought up to the rear of the 
colored people at the court-house. 

Q. Did you see it!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Will you describe the location!—A. The colored people who had 
left the place of meeting at the depot could not go much farther; the 
cannon was brought up on this side (indicating the location), close against 
a large body of colored men, so that they could not get an^^ farther. 

Q. Who had charge of it there!—A. The officers from Columbia had 
charge of it, I understood. 

Q. How many were there of them !—A. Four. 

Q. How was the cannon hauled from place to place!—A. With horses. 

Q. Did they bring the horses from Columbia!—A. I don’t know cer¬ 
tainly about that. 

Q. Where was the Democratic meeting that day !—A. The Democratic 
meeting was on horseback, mostly, and infantry marching together. 
There was no articular place where they assembled. 

Q. They were just going all over town!—A. Yes, sir; the place w^as 
full of cavalry and infantry. 

Q. How many men in all, cavalry and infantry, were there in town 
that day !—A. Yot less than a thousand. There may have been more; 
I can’t say. 

Q. Were they armed!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What were they armed with !—A. With rifles, shot guns, pistols, 
and other things. 

Q. Who commanded them!—A. I really don’t know, sir. I am of the 
opinion that they had a variety of commanders. I saw men riding 
about from place to place giving orders, and I could not tell who com¬ 
manded them in i^articular. 

Q. Did they have any flags !—A. Yes, sir; there were flags there. 

Q. Did you see any armed men at any other time in that county 
during the campaign!—A. O, yes, sir, at different times; there was 
another Kepublican meeting where armed men came in, and the meet¬ 
ing ended. 

Q. When was that!—A. That was about the same time—about the 
first of Yovember; I am not certain as to the exact date. 

Q. How many armed men did you see at this time !—A. There were 
not very many—some two or three hundred. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. I don’t recollect whether you stated where you saw these armed 
men !—A. There was to have been a meeting of the Bepublican party 
at a church there, and there was such a demonstration of Democratic 
infantry and cavalry that it was never held. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say there were three or four hundred armed men at that time! 
—A. At least that many, sir. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. WITHERSPOON. 275 


Q. Did yon see any other exhibitions of like character ?—A. Not that 
I recollect, sir. I only heard of the Rafting Greek afiair: I was not there 
myself. 

Q. AVhat was the effect of this npon the Republicans of Sumter! 
What result did it produce t—A. At the moment it intimidated the col¬ 
ored people; since that time it has amalgamated the party. 

Q. And kept them away from meetings?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Republicans remit in their determination to vote the 
Republican ticket ?—A. After the treatment Coghlan received it amal¬ 
gamated them, and more of them voted the Republican ticket than if it 
hadn’t occurred. A few had joined the Democratic clubs, but they quit 
the clubs after that. I suppose some colored men voted the Democratic 
ticket. I only know that after that, in the town of Sumter, a great 
many colored people who had allied themselves to the Democratic clubs 
retired. I know of white men who had been Democrats who Avithdrew 
from the clubs for the same reason. I did that myself. 

Q. Why did they do it ?—A. On account of the persecution. We 
would not indorse this sort of thing at all. 

Q. What Avas the result of the election ?—A. The Democratic ticket . 
was elected by a majority of 1,776. It was not a good count. 

Q. You do not know how it Avas done ?—A. No, sir; I went to the 
polls and Amted, and went home; I had no confidence that there would 
be a proper count from the very first. 

Q. State why you had no confidence that there would be a proper 
count.—A. From the general feeling OAmr the countiy that there AAmuld 
be no impartiality at all. 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. IIoAv many colored men belong to the Democratic clubs in Sumter, 
so far as you know ?—A. Really I am unable to say, only I know that 
there aa ere a great many. 

Q. IIoAV many Avhite men left the Democratic clubs on account of the 
course taken bj" the Democrats?—A. I oidy know of three 5 myself and 
two others. 

Q. But you still Amted the Democratic ticket?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You did not change your politics?—A. 1 scratched off* two names 
from the Democratic ticket, and substituted two other Democrats in 
place of the two whose names I scratched off*. 

Q. You don’t know but what the colored men who left the Democratic 
clubs did the same thing?—A. Of course I cannot tell. 

Q. You simply Avent to the polls and Am ted and went away?—A. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. About what time Avas this club meeting held, at Avhich the decla¬ 
rations were made to carry the election at all hazards, that caused you 
to AvithdraAV?—A. E\mry fcAV days they liaA^e a meeting of the club. 

Q. When did you meet with them last ?—A. I suppose about the 12th 

of October. ^ 

Q. You did not meet with them after the 12th of October ?^A. No, 

sir- T , 

Q. Then there Avas nearly a month of the canvass during Avhich you 

did not meet Avith them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in the political affairs of the county after 
tiiat?—A. Nothing more than simply to \mte. 

Q. Then you gave no particular attention after that to the matter of 
politics?—A. No, sir. 


276 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


[ Sumter 


Q. Who was president of the club of which you were a member?—A. 
Dr. Bossard. 

Q. What did Dr. Bossard say that induced you to leave the club ?—A. 
He was not present on that occasion. 

Q. Then it was not a declaration of the president that caused you to 
leave?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Or of any other officer?—A. Only the president, sir. 

Q. You say you know nothing of the difficulty at the Bafting Creek 
meeting?—A. No, sir; only what I heard. 

Q. At this meeting of the 12th of October, you say the cannon were 
fired at night ?—A. The firing began at twelve o’clock, and it was kept 
up until nearly daylight. 

Q. Was it not the firing of a little cannon there which was used on 
several occasions?—A. No, sir; it was a cannon brought from Colum¬ 
bia. 

Q. Was it not a little iron cannon that they have on Academy Green 
there ?—A. O, no, sir; that would not make that much noise. 

Q. You judge from the report only that it was not that cannon ?—A. 
Yes, sir; mostly. 

Q. You did not see it ?—A. Yes, sir; I saw it the next day. 

Q. You did not see it that night ?—A. No, sir; not that night. 

Q. How far is Academy Green from the depot ?—A. About four hun¬ 
dred yards. 

Q. Something like a quarter of a mile from the depot ?—A. I sui)pose 
so, sir. 

Q. Was there not a Democratic meeting at the depot?—A. It organ¬ 
ized at the depot. 

Q. Were not political speeches made there?—A. Yes, sir; but I was 
not present at tliein. 

Q. You did not go down to the depot ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You do not know what occurred at the depot ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. At what time did you first see Mr. Hagood on that day?—A. 
When he went ui) to rescue Mr. Coghlan. 

Q. Was that the first time you saAV him ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Had you not seen him the evening before ?—A. No, sir; I did not 
know who he was until he went up to protect Coghlan. 

Q. At what time of day did the difficulty occur at the court-house ?— 
A. It would be only guess-work for me to say; probably about two or 
three o’clock. 

Q. After that meeting and S])eaking was over and both crowds had 
assembled at the court-house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I will ask you if for some time before that meeting was held there 
were not rumors that the colored x^^ople were coming armed that 
day ?—A. I never heard it, sir. 

Q. When did you first see these cannon ?—A. When the colored men 
had retired from the meeting at the church, and had gone up to near 
the court-house, then this cannon was brought up almost behind them. 

Q. Only one piece ?—A. Yes, sir. I saw two pieces going up to 
Columbia during the afternoon. 

Q. But you saw only one piece on the streets that day ?—A. Yes, sir; 
only one. 

Q. And you did not see that until it was brought ui) from towards 
the depot?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How near were you to that cannon ?—A. Twenty steps, I should 
suppose. 

Q. Did you undertake to give it any close inspection ?—A. No, sir. 


Co’inty.] TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 277 

Q. You just form your opinion by seeing it twenty steps oif f—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Your opinion is that it was a brass piece ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It had not been up in town at any time before, so far as you know ?— 
A. Yo, sir. It went from the academy green towards the dei)ot. 

Q. Did you see it go down '?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You do not speak from your own personal knowledge ?—A. No, sir; 
I could hear the report from that quarter. 

Q. You suppose that they took it back to the depot, because you saw 
it come from that direction ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For all you know it may have been there all the time, and some 
other cannon used in firing on the green?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This piece might have remained at the depot all day until brought 
up that afternoon, if the cannon on academy green was the one which 
had been used in firing the night before ?—A. It might, sir. 

Q. How near were you to those parties in conf roversy with Ooghlan ?— 
A. I Avas near enough to see them all the time. 

Q. Has he not criticised on account of something he was charged to 
have said regarding Hampton?—A. Yes, sir; he was trying to explain 
to the people Avhat he meant, but was not allowed to. Whenever he 
tried to say anything somebody would interrupt him, push his hat down 
over his face, and so on, so that he could not be heard. 

Q. That was Avhat caused that difficulty—the charge that had gone out 
through the crowd that he had said something offensive about Hamp¬ 
ton f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is what made them treat him the way they did ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. U]) to that time was there any quarreling or controversy, or any 
difficulty'?—A. Only when that negro man got knocked down. 

Q. The police tried to arrest somebody for disorderly conduct, and 
this negro interfered and got knocked down ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But of political controversy you heard nothing except this one 
thing about Ooghlan—the rumor that Ooghlan made some offensive 
remarks about Hamilton, and the crowd made such a noise that he could 
not explain ?—A. Yes, sir; he was not allowed to explain. 

Q. You say that in the midst of that 7nelee Mr. Hagood came in and 
quelled the disturbance ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When that was quieted doAvn was there any other disturbance !— 
A. No, sir; everything else Avent off peacefully and quietly. 

Q. This had the effect to intimidate the colored men, you say, but they 
afterwards got over their intimidation ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And afterwards gave an increased vote to the Eepublican ticket!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was not the Sumter Am te larger than usual ?—A. Yes, sir; but that 
made little difference, for it Avas not counted. 

Q. On election day you Avere not at any other polls but Sumter and 
AAmre at that only long enough to vote"?—A. Yes, sir; I Avas only at one 
precinct. 


SAMUEL LEE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 23, 1879. 
Samuel Lee (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Sumter County. 

Q. How long ha\m you resided there ?—A. All my life. 



278 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Are you a native of tliat county !—A. I am. 

Q. Witli wliicli political party have you affiliated ?—A. The Republi¬ 
can. 

Q. What public offices, if any, have you held in this State'?—A. I was 
a member of the constitutional convention at the reconstruction of the 
State. I have held no office at all until 1870, when I was elected judge 
of probate of Sumter County. 

Q. AYliere were you during the late political campaign, if it can be 
called a camj^aign"?—A. I was in Sumter County during the most of the 
time. 

Q. What position did you hold officially in connection with the Re¬ 
publican party!—A. I was chairman of the Republican committee in 
that county. 

Q. Go on and state what occurred in your county previous to the 
election.—A. A great deal occurred. I don’t know that I can tell it all. 
In the oi)ening of the camx)aign, quite an effoit was made on the part 
of the leaders of the Democratic party to i)revent any organization 
whatever of the Republican i)arty. 

Q. What were those efforts"?—A. The first effort that I discovered in 
that direction was from a street conversation between a prominent 
Democrat, the adjutant inspector of the State, E. W. Moise, and the 
editor of the Sumter Watchman, Mr. Dargan. I was passing along the 
street when my attention was attracted to a conversation between these 
two men , quite a heated conversation, in which both were very much 
excited. Mr. Dargan took the position that the Republican party should 
be entirely crushed out in the county, and if any one of the leaders of 
the party moved he should be put out of the way. Mr. Moise took the 
position that this was very unwise; that the Republican party should 
be recognized; that a committee should be appointed from the Demo¬ 
cratic party to wait upon the leaders of the Republican party, and pro¬ 
pose to them to have one ticket in the county j and that the Republican 
party should be represented ux)on that ticket. He said he believed that 
only in that way could they have a fair and peaceable election. Dargan 
excitedly charged Moise with being a Republican in disguise, and said 
that he and the rest of the Democrats would see that Moise’s schemes 
should not be carried out. Moise took offense at that, and they had 
some very heated words. Dargan told Moise that he and the Vhite 
people intended to cany that county for the Democracy at any cost 
whatever. 

A short time after that, the State Republican executive committee 
ordered the chairman of the county executive committee to call a meet¬ 
ing at the various precincts in the county, to have delegates selected to 
the county convention, whence delegates were to be sent to the State 
convention. I, acting as county chairman, called a meeting at the vari¬ 
ous ])recincts throughout our county. Some days before the Saturday 
appointed for these meetings—the 27th of July was appointed for the 
meetings at the various precincts—I received notice that at one precinct 
the precinct chairman had been visited and threatened that if he at¬ 
tempted to call a meeting at that precinct his house would be burned 
down, and his life would be iu danger; and he gave me notice that he 
would not call the meeting. I thereupon rode out into that neighbor¬ 
hood and went to his house. On arriving there he told me that there 
was such a feeling created there that he had found it necessary to go to 
their church the Sabbath before, and assure them that he would not call 
a meeting. And 1 asked him to circulate through that neighborhood a 


County.] TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 279 

notice that I myself would be there on Saturday, for the purpose of or¬ 
ganizing a meeting to elect delegates. 

On Saturday I left Sumter quite early in the morning, taking with me 
one of the county commissioners. Wlien about a mile from the precinct, 
I saw quite a crowd in the road. The persons composing it apparently 
had arms in their liands. When I got near to the cross-roads, where 
they were gathered, I discovered that they Avere white men, and that they 
had formed themselves in military array on each side of the road and 
across the road. I dnwe up, but before rea(*hing them I met a colored 
man and asked him where the Republican meeting Avas to be held that 
day. These Avhite men, upon this, groaned in a kind of ugly AA^ay, and 
the colofed man made no answer. I saAv that he Avas afraid, and I drove 
on to AAdiere I saAV some colored men standing a little beyond the cross¬ 
roads, and began to talk AAuth them. At this two Avhite men and Dem¬ 
ocrats, named McLeod and Frazier, came up and called my name. They 
said they AAmited to see me by myself. Tlie colored man objected to my 
going Avith them alone. He said it was dangerous. I said I thouglit 
tliat there Avas no danger, and I walked across the road. Some colored 
men Avalked Avith me and stood not far aAAny. The Avhite men, McLeod 
and Frazier, said they had a painful but imperative duty to perform. 
The Democrats of that precinct had met and discussed the matter, and 
decided that there should be no organization of the Republican party in 
tliat precinct again, and I Avas advised toleaA^e immediately. Tliey said 
if I Avas found there inside of 10 minutes from that time my life Avould 
be taken. I protested against any such authority. I denied that they 
had any right to order me aAvay or to preAumt a Republican meeting from 
being held there. I said I intended to call the meeting to order. They 
said, excitedly, if I called a meeting to order, the meeting Avould be shot 
into, immediately, and I would be lield responsible for the blood shed. 
I said I differed Avith them as to aaTio sliould be responsible, and I said 
I intended to hold the meeting. They asked me should they carry 
that message back to their men. I said, yes. They started back and 
AA^ent to the cross-roads. They had about time enough to tell the message, 
Avhen the rest of the men sprang up and Avent to their carriages and bug¬ 
gies, and took their shot-guns in hand, and formed a line across the 
road. 

Q. Hoav many Avere there! — A. There were about twenty with guns, 
j counted twenty-one or twenty-tAvo. There may liaA^e been more. One 
or two were colored men, and they had no guns. They had ])istols in 
the i)ockets. When these men came into line across tlie road, 1 AAmlked 
up to them and told them that I had received their message. I addressed 
the Avhole of the men. I told them that I thought I discoA^-ered that they 
intended to disturb the meeting, and I wanted them to distinctly under¬ 
stand that we came there for no fuss. It Avas not our intention to liave 
any row; I did not expect anything of the kind. What we intended to 
do was to elect delegates to the county convention, and I could see no 
reason Avhy they should interrupt the meeting, and hoped that they 
would not." I added that Avhile ours AA^as a peaceful purpose and Ave 
AAuinted no disturbance, and should giA^e no occasioTi for any disturb¬ 
ance, if the meeting was interrupted Ave intended to defend our right to 
liold a peaceful meeting there. I then went back and had a AAmgon 
drawn out into the road, AAdien it AV'as suggested by one of the other 
party that they intended to hold a meeting at the cross roads, and that 
our coming there would interrupt their meeting. I said I had heard 
that the (Irangers intended to hold a meeting somewhere about there, I 
did not knoAV exactly where. I did not knoAV that when our meeting 


280 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


was called. I said that we did not wish to interfere witli any other 
meeting of any kind, and that we had no objection to drawing our crowd 
aways down tlie road, where it would not interfere with their meeting. 
So I had the wagon drawn a little ways off, in order that our x)roceed- 
ings migh t not interrupt them. I got ui> into the wagon. The men i)re- 
tended that they intended to fire into our meeting. There was quite an 
excitement, but I went on speaking and they did not fire We elected 
our delegates, and they staid right on the spot there for twenty min¬ 
utes or so. They got into a crowd, mounted their horses, and rode 
right up, but instead of stopping they rode right by. I kept on speak¬ 
ing, and they passed on and went oft, and did not disturb us. I got 
through and went back to Sumter. When I got to Sumter fhe news 
hiul reached there that our meeting had been disturbed, and that Ave 
had been driven back Avithout holding a meeting. I called ux)on the 
Democratic county chairman, Mr. Fraser, and informed him Avbat had 
taken place. In the conAx^rsation Avhich folloAved, Mr. Fraser said that, 
Avhile he did not knoAA^ anything of the intention of that meeting being 
disturbed, he thought that there seemed to be a tletermination on the 
l)art of the white i)eox)le of Sumter County not to alloAv the IteiAublican 
l>arty to organize and come into poAVer again. I reasoned aa ith him ux)on 
the injustice of such a course. He said that it was of no use to reason. 
He stated it simx)ly as a fact that there Avas a determination not to allow 
the Kei)ublicans to organize, and he advised me not to attenq^t the or¬ 
ganization of the Eepublican x:)arty there. He thought the Democratic 
party was the best i)arty to rule, and ought to huA^e a chance to sIioav the 
colored people that they were their best friends; and AvhoeA^er attempted 
to organize the Eepublican i)arty there this cami)aigii would be doing a 
great Avrong to the colored i)eox)le, as Avell as the AA'hites; and he Avould 
not hold himself responsible for the result. I came out on the streets, 
and there a short time afterward I x)assed Mr. Dargan. He had quite a 
croAvd of colored men around him, to aa horn he AAms talking A^ery excitedly. 
I did not stop to listen to him, but I afterAvards asked several i)ersons 
Avhat he Avas saying. I Avas told that he said that if aa^c attempted to 
hold'a convention he Avould get a croAAM of AAiiite men to come up and 
break uj) the meeting. He said that there should not be any Eei)ubli- 
can organization in that county. This was told me by several x)ersons. 
It was generally regarded throughout the county that it was the determi¬ 
nation of the AAFite people that the coiu^ention apx)ointed for the folloAv- 
ing Saturday, August 3, AAmuld be broken up if any attempt Avas made 
to hold it. On the Saturday that the convention AA^as to be held, the Ee- 
publicans held a caucus. The night before, various stores in the toAAui 
had had guns put in them. They Avere seen carried into those stores on 
Friday night. We met on Saturday morning early to decide Avhat 
course to pursue; Avhether AA-e should meet in the court-house—the usual 
jdace—or at the school-nouse. It AA^as finally decided to hold the caucus 
at the school-house, which Avas out in the suburbs of the toAvn, and that 
Ave should arrange all our business so that aa e need not have a long 
session in the court-house. We held that meeting and went from 
the school-house to the court-house. At the court-house Ave organized 
the meeting, looking every moment for the rumored attack. Mr. Dar¬ 
gan, followed by several notorious characters in Sumter County, came 
into the meeting laughing and stamping very hard, and making consid¬ 
erable noise. I Avas chairman of the meeting and I called the conven¬ 
tion to order, not addressing them particularly, but asking all Avho were 
present to come to order. These men, hoAvever, went on Avith their 
noise. With one motion Ave elected all the delegates that Ave had de- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


281 


cided 071 in tlie caucus. Then a motion was made, very unexpectedly 
to these men, that the convention do now adjourn.’^ At this, Darj^aii 
and liis friends jninpeil up excitedly and said that the meetinj^ should 
not adjourn; that they had come there for the purpose of speakin<^ that 
day, and we should not spring any adjournment on them in any such 
way as that. I did not pay any attention to them, but they came up 
towards me and demanded that no such motion should be put. I bad 
a large key in my hand, and I knocked with that on the table in front 
of me, and decided that the convention had adjourned. Dargan came 
torward and very excitedly said he was going to speak. Mr. Moore 
asked me why not allow Dargan to speak ? I said I had no objection to 
Mr. Darg#n speaking; that if the people wanted to hear him they could 
do so; but the convention had attended to its business and had ad¬ 
journed. Some one made a motion that the crowd be organized into a 
mass-meeting, and tlie motion was put and carried. Then Dargan said 
that he moved that Sam Lee (myself) should be chairman of the meet¬ 
ing. The Democrats said I must stay and preside; I said I had no ob¬ 
jection to presiding that I knew of, and called the meeting to order. 
Then Dargan said he wanted to speak, because he had been misrepre¬ 
sented, and that he came there for the purpose of denying what had been 
said about him, and to meet the scoundrel face to face and give him the 
lie. He said he had come there for the purpose of denyiiig the rumor 
that he came there with the intention of breaking u}> the meeting. I 
said that if that was the case no one would be more pleased that he had 
not come there for that |)urpose than myself. When the convention 
adjourned a great many staid aiid a great many left. Dai’gmn commenced 
in a very excited manner to abuse the Republicans, calling them thieves 
and scoundrels. A colored man attemi)ted to ask him a question, but he 
would not hear the question just then. I api^ealed to all x^iesent not to 
interrui)t Dargan, but to let him speak. I told them if anj^body wanted 
to speak to Mr. Dargan lie should address the chairman, and if I thought 
it was a right sort of question to be asked of Mr. l>argan, I would ask 
it. Dargan again commenced. He commented on the election of Gov¬ 
ernor Hampton, telling the,colored people that he had in the previous 
(‘.ampaign told them that Gov'^ernor Hampton would be governor of South 
Carolina, but reminding them that he had never said he would be elected 
governor of South Carolina. He asked them if they had not seen what 
he had said come true. He went on now to say that the Democrats 
vv^ould hold the offices in Sumter County hereafter. He did not say how 
it would be done, but he wanted them to bear him witness that the Dem¬ 
ocrats would hold the offices in Sumter County after the 5th of Novem¬ 
ber. One colored man asked him, ‘‘ Do you think that is right f” A 
white man jumped up and told the colored man not to ask any questions. 
Dargan said, “Yes; let him ask.” The vvdiite man said, “ He shan’t.” 
The colored man said, “ I am asking him whether that is right.” Tlien 
the vv hite man struck at this colored man, and a row commenced, during 
Avliich pistols were drawn, and a general light followed, and tliey cleaned 
out the building. A. large number of Democrats ran in vuth drawn 
pistols, and the meeting broke up in disorder. 

We went to Columbia and held our State convwtion. While in Co¬ 
lumbia a committee was authorized to call upon Governor Hampton, 
composed of T. B. Johnson, an ex-representative, T. J. Colter, an ex¬ 
senator of the county, and Mr. Douglas and myself. We were author¬ 
ized to wait ujjon Governor Hani])ton and tell him of the disturbance at 
our meeting in Sumter County. We called upon Hampton and informed 
him of it. 'He got up and walked up and down his room vv^ith his hands 


282 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


f Sumter 


ill his pockets, and denounced it in iininensured terms, saying' that it 
was an outrage and that he would see that it should not occur again. 
He took the names of the parties that led these disturbances, and said he 
would Avrite to Fraser immediately, telling him that it would meet with 
his disapproval, and that all parties should be allowed to meet and hold 
their conventions undisturbed. He further stated that he expected to 
come over to Sumter in a short time to attend a meeting, and that 
he would then denounce those Avhite outrages. We went back to Sumter, 
and on the 31st of August Ave called a meeting at Itaftin Creek to reor 
ganize the Itepublican party of the county. Stewart and others were to 
address the meeting, and Coghlan and myself Avent OA^er from Sumter to 
speak. When Ave got a little piece from toAvn Ave Avere intm*med that 
quite a number of armed Avhite men—Democrats—had gone ahead of ns. 
AVe had heard that there aa ould be a meeting at ProAudence, betAveen 
Eaftin Creek and Sumter, and I said I supposed they were going to hold 
a meeting. We Aveiit to Raftin Creek, and met at a colored church called 
‘Dlood Hope.’^ AVe had to turn a bend, and as Avere turning the bend 
Ave came to the church. As Ave came around the bend Av^e AA^ere greeted 
Avith yells and groans by the AA^hite men assembled j and the tirst that 
Ave knew, Ave Avere surrounded immediately by a large number of men, 
some 2(K). AVe looked to see if there Avere any colored men there, and 
Ave saAv a feAv ov er in one portion of the cioaa d. We droA^e up where they 
Avere to unhitch our horses, and AAiiile Ave were doing so I noticed Mr. Earle 
and Air. Dargan, who AvereA‘aides” on GoA ernor Hampton’s statt', which 
surprised me, as the gOA^ernor had promised to help us put down any dis¬ 
turbance. They commenced by saying they had us at last, and that they 
came there for the i)urpose of seeing that Ave spoke to the Democrats and 
tliat Ave should cease draAA ing our lines Avith the colored people; and they 
ordered us to i^roceed Avith our meeting. I told them that as soon as the 
llepublicans got there Ave lu'oposed to hold a meeting, but that Ave did not 
see enough Republicans there at present to hold a meeting. They said we 
had called a meeting and Ave should not back out. Those AAwe Air. Earle’s 
A\mrds. He said if the meeting was not called to order in one hour’s 
time, he Avould take me and Coghlan prisoners and carry us back to 
Sumter. I said, ‘‘AA^hat is your object in doing that I” He said, “Xo 
matter AAdiat is the object, aa^c Avill (lo it; and the less you say here the 
better it Avill be for you.” By that time a crowd gathered there and said, 
“ Shoot him now,” and I heanl all kinds of threats. I refused to call a 
meeting to order, and he took out his AAuitch and said, “If you don’t call 
it to order in one hour’s time, you Avill be taken prisoner!” Well, the 
hour passed, and I did not call it to order. Earle called the Democrats 
and said to them that the hour had passed, and Lee had failed to call 
the meeting to order; and he wanted to knoAV if his determination should 
be carried out, and the croAvd yelled, “Yes, yes, carry him out!” He 
came to me and said I Avould have to go to Sumter. I told him I A\muld 
not go unless they carried me, and they said they Avould carry me. Just 
then a Democrat AA^ho aauxs under the intluence of Avhisky jumped up in 
the Avagon and said, “I call the meeting to order.” He made some re- 
inarks in which he said a day had come in which Radicalism had died 
in Sumter County and that Avas the funeral, and he did not Avant Air. 
Lee to leave there until the entire ceremony had been linished. He said 
he AAainted the rest to see it. Then Earle stepped up to seize me, but 
several came up and asked Earle not to take me off jnst then, but to 
stay and see it through. This man who Avas speaking Avas Dr. Rembert. 
Then they Avanted me to speak, and they said they Avould make me. They 
took hold of me and said I AA^as a very eloquent speaker and they Avanted 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


283 


to hear my eloquence. I said I didn’t have any eloquence for a Democratic 
meetin<>‘, and that what I should say might not please them, and I refused 
to speak. In the mean time they put a colored man up, and I recognized 
him as a man who had been acting as chairman of tlie precinct. He 
said he had come there for the pnr])ose of declining to act any longer 
as i)recinct chairman; that the feeling was so much against Itepnb- 
licans that he had decided not to have anything to do with politics, 
and he wanted the Republicans to elect his successor on that occasion. 
The crowd cheered him and said lie was a good Democrat, and that he 
should never be intimidated or harmed. When he got through they de¬ 
clared thayhe Republicans should organize and have all their speeches 
in their prwence. At this time the Avagon upon whieh this man Avas 
standing AAms completely surrounded by Democrats, and all the men had 
their pistols visible. A motion Avas then put that another man should 
be elected as chairman of the Republican meeting; and the Demo¬ 
crats decided whom he should be, and he was elected. He took the 
stand and called uxion the Amrious speakers. Stewart was called, 
and spoke, and then they called for me. I requested that Mr. CogR- 
lan, AA ho Avas a much older man than myself, should speak, and that. 
I Avould give Avay to him. Coghlan declined to speak. Then some 
one called for John J. Dargan, and he immediately jumped upon 
the stand and commenced speaking,^and as he started'off he turned to 
me and poined his finger at my face* and said, This man is responsi¬ 
ble for all the trouble in Sumter County, and the Avhite men intend to 
see that he ceases creating any more disturbance.” As soon as he com¬ 
menced I tried to get oft* the AA^agon quietly, but he saw me and demanded 
that I should stay there. I said, Ko; not while you are pointing 
your finger in my face.” Then he knocked me doAvn and others ran in 
and helped to choke me. They took me off bodily and carried me off. 
They took me to a dark, thick piece of woods, and seA^eral times Avhile 
going through the woods they stopped and held consultations as to Avhat 
should be done AAuth me; and they came to me and asked me if I Avas 
ready to decide iieA^er to call another Republican meeting in that county. 
I said, “Xo, I am not ready.” They asked me if I was ready to sacrifice 
my life for the Republican party, if life Avas so sweet to me as that, and 
they told me to choose. Then they decided to drive off*. There Avere about 
150 men there, some following, some in front, but the majority went be¬ 
hind. They went on for a mile or tAvo, and then ordered another halt. 
They came and asked me if I would pledge myself not to leave the toAAui 
of Sumter during the campaign ; and, if so, thej" AAmuld a'OucIi that I 
should be carried back to Sumter AAdthout a hair of my head being hurt, 
and that if I did not do that they would not be responsible for AAdiat they 
wonld do. I told them I would not do that; that I Avas chairman of the 
Republican meeting and could not do it; that I felt it was my duty to 
AAmrk for them. They did not do me bodily harm then, but droA^e on. 
When AA'e got within 4 miles of Sumter, they halted the procession and 
said, ^^]Noav, this is your last chance; you must cease your operations in 
behalf of the Republican party.” If I pledged myself to join the Demo¬ 
cratic club at the next meeting they would see that I was well taken care 
of, and that I should not Avant for anything, and that I should haA^e a 
peaceable time in thejcounty. I told them I Avould not make any pledges. 
Then Mr. Dargan and Earle gave me my ^‘instructions,” and said that 
AA^as the first time they had got me out from Sumter, and they wanted to 
giv'e me fair Avarning that if I ever came out of Sumter again attending 
public meetings, or going to one, my life should be taken. They said 
that I should stay in Sumter and behave myself, and if I was CA^er 


284 


SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1873. 


[ Sumter 


caught out of town the white people intended that I should no longer 
live in the county. Then they gave me orders not to open my mouth j 
till I got to the court-house. They said they would take me to the 
court-house steps and give me these instructions i)ublicly; that I 
should quietly ride in that l>uggy up to the court-house steps; and 
that if I opened my mouth I should he shot immediately. Itode along, 
and they had to pass within two squares of my residence. When I 
got within two squares, I checked the reins and attempted to turn the i 
horse to go in that way. The man who was riding hy me, and a friend ii 
of mine, said, No, you had better not do that.” But they discovered > 
me, and immediately surrounded me ; and they took me heels over i- 
head, and pitched me back in the buggy, and nearly outfit. When i 
we got within one square of the court-house, we were witliin one square 
of my house. Then I jumped out of the buggy and ran toward my 
house. They turned their horses and ran them over me, and tripped 
me down, and jumped off their horses with their drawn pistols and took 
hold of me. Then I resisted, and said they had no riglit to take me, 
and I would not go to the court-house. I said that I had no business 
there, and would not go. There was quite a disturbance. I recognized 
the chief of police near us, and appealed to him to protect me as a citi¬ 
zen of the town, saying that these men had unlawfully taken me pris¬ 
oner, and I called upon him to pj-otect me. As he came in the crowd 
he was knocked back by Mr. Earle, who said that it was not a ])olice » 
matter, and he called upon some others to help him keep back the 
crowd. There was quite a rush. In the mean time my wife and sisters 
i*an there and commenced screaming, and quite a number of colored 
men ran in to protect me. We had quite a little ffght there. These ' 
men attacked all of the colored men avIio were in the crowd, that had 
attempted to rescue me, and beat them back with their pistols. Some 
older citizens of the town came over and plead with these men to allow 
the police to take me to the court-house steps. They finally agreed that 
the police could carry me there, and allow tliem to give me my instruc¬ 
tions. The police did so. j\Ir. Dargan and Mr. Earle made speeches, 
and said they had captured me out at a meeting, and they had brought ; 
me back alive that time; but they Avould not do so if they caught me 
out again. I Avas then allowed to go home. That Avas on the 31st of 
August. 

On the 7th of September the Republicans called a imecinct meeting 
for the toAvn of Sumter, right in the toAvn. Notices were put up in the 
post-office, and given out in Amadous forms. On the 7th, Avhicli Avas 
Saturday, early in the morning, quite a large number of caA^alrymen 
came into the toAvn—some four or five counties—one from Clarendon 
County, and the other two or three from Sumter Couutj^. They paraded 
the streets (piite early in the morning Avith their State guns. They Avere 
regular A olunteer troops of the State. They said they came in for the 
purpose of breaking up the Republican meeting, and that none should 
be held in that county. The Republicans had heard of the order. It 
Avas rumored that General Richardson had sent out such an order, and 
Ave had heard of it, and had changed our time for the meeting so that 
they Avere disappointed that day, and Avere A ery much disappointed. 
They said they liad taken their rides a good Avay for nothing, and said 
the best thing they could do Avas to take Sam Lee out, who had called 
the meeting, and hang him. I was in my probate office, and a number 
came there and halloed for me, and they demanded that I should be brought 
out. It Avas Avith great difficulty that they Avere restrained from earrying 
me out. My friends did the best they could to help me, and I staid in 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


285 


my office and did not show myself at all. They staid until after dark, 
and when they went out they beat several negroes because they said 
they were Eepublicans when asked wliat they were. The company that 
did that resides at Bishopville. On the 14th of September, the Eepnb- 
licans at Wells Court House called a meeting, and the red shirts (that 
was the first time I ever saw the red shirts), quite a number of them, ap¬ 
peared, and one or two companies with State arms. They came to that 
meeting and demanded to be heard. The Eeimblicans refused to 
allow them, and they took possession of the meeting and were heard. 
Quite a number of Eepublicans left, and others staid and heard tliem. 
The following Saturday, tlie Saturday that had been appointed for hear¬ 
ing Governor Hampton, the 21st of September. In the mean time 
between these two meetings, Mr. John S. P. Eichardson, a candidate on 
the Democratic ticket for Congress, came in my office and spoke about 
these disturbances, and said they were wrong and did not meet his 
views. He said that the men who were leading them had been notified 
by letter from Governor Hampton that they must cease these disturb¬ 
ances, and he assured me there would be nothing of the kind from that 
j time forward. He invited me to attend and hear Governor Hampton 
at tlie next meeting. He said that Governor Hampton would speak 
' upon that phase of the campaign in unmistakable language. I went to 
the meeting for the purpose of hearing Governor Hampton give liis 
views on this point and express his purposes to us, and also to hear 
Mr. Eichardson. I went to tlie meeting and I listened to Governor 
Hampton. I was pretty near the stand, and he closed without saying 
a syllable one way or the other about the disturbance. I said to one or 
j two Eepublicans there, “Why, Governor Hampton has not touched 
i upon that matter, and I am going to call his attention to it, and ask him 
j his views about it.” I addressed Governor Hampton in a respectful 
1 manner, and asked him whether he would allow me to ask him a re¬ 
spectful question. He got up and said if the question would not provoke 
I a discussion he would hear it. While he was saying that, I heard 
^ swords drawn and the rattle of arms, and quite a large number of men 
1 came in and took me up bodily and took me out. The cavalry company 
I rode out and took their guns off their shoulders, and said to bring me 
! out there. Governor Hampton advised them from the stand not to 
I hurt me, but to bring me back. They did not do it; but finally they 
I got to pulling me, and he got hold of me and pulled me one way, and 
f some pulled me the other. I thought they would tear my limbs off. 

' Finally they allowed those who were assisting Governor Hampton to 
j bring me back to the stand j and they kept me on the stand until late 
I in tlie evening, until they decided I could safely go. I had requested 
j several times to leave the meeting and go home; but they said no; I 
I must stay there; that if I went down I would be killed; that they 
could not control these men. John Kennedy there is one who said to 
me that if I did not mind what I was doing I would get killed ; that 
these men dnl not intend I should disturb the meeting. I staid there 
until they decided it was safe for me to go down off the stand. Then I 
came home. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did Eichardson make a speech then!—A. I heard he did after I 
left. I went home. There Avas great excitement among these men. 
They rode around town hunting for me, and inquiring for me, but I did 
not shoAV myself. 

The next disturbance that took place in Sumter was on the 12th ot 






286 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187d. 


[ Sumter 


October. The Eei)iihlicans called a meeting and advertised it to he held 
at Sumter Court House. But before that meeting and just after the 
Hampton meeting, I had a conversation Avith Mr. Frazer, who is the Dem¬ 
ocratic chairman, and in the conversation he said there was great ex¬ 
citement in the county; that he did not approA^e of it, but that it Avas 
carried on by Democrats who thought it was the best way of carrying 
on the campaign; that it might be right or AATong, but, at any rate, he 
AA-as poAA^erless. He was only one man, he said, and he could not control 
it. He said he AA^ould like to see the Ilepublicans giA^e up and make no 
effort at all to elect any ticket, but allow the Democrats to carry the 
county. But if the Republicans i)ersisted in carrying it, they Avould be 
interfered with as Dargan threatened; that if their meetings AA^ere to be 
interfered Avith the United States Attorney-General intended to enforce 
certain laws that were A^ery questionable, and if that was to be the plan, 
to arrest them if difficulties occurred, there would be no election in Sum¬ 
ter County. I smiled and asked how that Avould be brought about. He 
said it would be brought about. He said, “ You know I have power enough 
to carry the election and if that is the plan there aauII be no election in 
Sumter County at all.” That Avas all I could get out of him. Well, the 
day before this meeting on the 12th October Mr. Dargan Avent around 
among the Republicans there and wanted them to define their position— 
Avent around in a A^ery solemn manner and said he had come to haA^ethem 
define their position and Avanted to knoAv if they AAwe Republican or 
Democratic. Some Republicans wanted to know Avhy he Avanted to 
knoAv that fact, and others got frightened and said they didn’t have any¬ 
thing to do Avith the meeting the next day, and they Avould keep away. 
Well, the fact that some of them were frightened encouraged Dargan 
and his friends and they went to others and wanted to know how they 
stood. They Avere asked what they Avanted to do that for. They said they 
intended to clean out the last radical leader to-morrow and they Avanted 
to knoAv every man’s position. Well, on that Friday night about 12 o’clock 
or a little after they commenced firing field-pieces in the town and they 
kept it up until near daylight continuously, at an interAmlof 6 or 7 minutes, 
until very near daylight. Then they ceased a Avhile till about 8 or 9 o’clock, 
and they commenced firing again for quite a Avhile. From 2 o’clock that 
night the town commenced to be crowded with mounted men—Demo¬ 
crats—and every available stable, field, and lot in town were crowded. 
The next morning could be seen armed men of all descriptions, and the 
red-shirts. Two brass pieces Avere brought from Columbia, with the 
men belonging to them, that is, the artillerymen. The Republicans held 
a conversation, and so many threats had been expressed against me 
that they decided I should not attend the meeting that day. I Avas anx¬ 
ious to attend to see if they Avould carry out their threats, but I Avas 
prevailed upon by my Avife and political friends not to attend. Mr. But¬ 
ler Spears Avas selected to be cliairman; he is jailer. The meeting 
Avas marched down to the colored church. The Democrj4s had also 
called their meeting. I think we had intended to call our meeting on 
the academy green, and the Democrats supposed it would be called 
there, and therefore they had published to hold their meeting there. 
But Avhen Ave decided to go to the colored church instead of holding our 
meeting on the academy green, they folloAved the Republicans doAvn 
Avith their brass band and field-pieces and Avent doAvn to the de¬ 
depot. They stopped there. The Republicans continued on, and 
Avent to their stand and organized their meeting; and these Democrats 
commenced shooting right OA^er in that direction, elevating their guns, 
and firing oaw from there, and they kept it up. They held a meeting 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


287 


tliere, and it was not satisfactory. We expected CongTessman Eainey 
and other distinguislied speakers. They failed to come; an account of 
tlie intiinidation tliat was shown they decided to go back to town. The 
procession was reformed and they went back to town. When they got 
back to where these Democrats were at the depot, a detachment got in 
front of tliem and said they must go to the Democratic meeting and 
liejp the Democratic speakers. They refused to do it, and there was 
quite an excitement right there, and the question was whether the Ee- 
l)ublicans should be allowed to go down town or whether they should 
be compelled to go to the Democratic meeting. They finally allowed 
them them to go down town. ' Immediately on getting straight, the 
Democratic horsemen gallo])ed across the streets where the proces¬ 
sion would have to pass. The Eepublicans attempted to force their 
way through, and that was the signal for another disturbance there. 
Air. Coghlan and Si)ears went to the court-house steps and called for 
the Eepublicans there, and immediately the Democrats ordered Coghlan 
down and commenced threatening him. He persisted in speaking, and 
the town bell was rung as an alarm. I have fonnd out since that it 
was a prearranged matter that the town bell should be struck as an 
alarm for the Democrats to fly to arms. The toAvn bell w>is struck, 
and immediately the brass pieces were rushed down to Alain street, 
loaded Avdth ten-penny nails, and were so arranged as to sweep the 
street in the direction in which the Eepublicans were. A company of 
tlie town rushed out and closed the stores, and fell into line of battle 
right across the street, and bore right doAvn on the court-house Avhere 
Coghlan Avas standing, and came to the ‘‘ ready to fire.” This state of 
afiairs continued until some Democratic leaders rushed foiward Avdiere 
Air. Coghlan Avas and ])rotected him. A great many individuals drew 
their pistols upon Air. Coghlan and threatened to slioot him. After 
much exertion Coghlan Avas induced to leaA^e the court-liouse steps and 
go home. During this disturbance a colored man was A^ery badly beaten 
by some Democrats. TJie reason for it has been Amriously stated, but 
at any rate he was laid up for several weeks. That Avas the 12th ot 
October. AA^e held a meeting on the Saturday previous to the day ot 
election. The election Avas held on Tuesday, and that meeting Avas not 
disturbed. Air. Dargaii said in my presence that they did not intend 
to disturb the meeting any more, and that they had agreed upon another 
plan, and if Ave only kneAV Avhat their plan A\ms, it would be useless for 
us to hold any meeting. AA^ell, the night of election we learned it Avas 
their purpose to use tissue ballots, as they did not succeed in intimi¬ 
dating the colored people as much as they thought they could; and 
they found out that instead of intimidating them they only united them 
the more. I think noAV they are more united as Eepublicans than CA^er 
before. On the day of election ended the intimidation i)hase of the cam¬ 
paign. ISTow, if the committee desire to hear anything about the affairs 
of the election day, I can tell them something about that. 

The Chairman. Go on.—A. I was appointed superAusor of election in 
the toAvn of Sumter, poll Ko. 1. On the morning of the 5th, after staying- 
in my office all night, 1 left in the morning about half past 5 o’clock to 
find the polls. I had previously tried to find out AAhere the polls AAere, 
but no one kneAV except the Democrats, and AA^e suspected the Demo¬ 
crats knew. About half past 5 o’clock I came out of my office to aa atch 
where the polls AAmuld be. I saw some white men going up into a hall 
over the engine-house, on one of the cross streets, and I folloAA^ed them 
uj), and saw that Av^as to be the polling place. As I got up in the hall 
the clock struck 6, and the men up there declared it Avas G o’clock, and 


288 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187S. 


[ Sumter 


time for tlie polls to be opened. The managers were present, and they 
delared that the polls were open. I took along Avith me J. H. Stewart, 
to keep my poll-list, and I carried a table and a chair, and sat liiin down 
outside of the bars, and lie commenced taking the names of the folks. 
Mr. Richard Lee, a Democrat in Sumter, rushed up then with quite a 
number of Democrats—twenty or thirty—and commenced to call out their 
names, and give them to the other managers. They A^oted very hastily 
and in a very excited manner, Mr. Lee taking great pains to get betAA^een 
me and the managers, and pressing me back as much as he could. I 
thought that iirobably the crowd was so great that they were jAressing 
me, but I soon discovered that Lee AAms intentionally pressing me back 
to keep me from seeing these men as they deposited their ballots in 
the ballot-box. Then there aa^s a cessation, and I got A^ery near the 
polls, where I could see every man Avho jiut in liis ballot. During 
the day a great many colored men were denied the right to A^ote on 
various pretexts; some on account of their not being of age; others 
because they did not belong in the county; others because they 
had been charged with inhimous offenses, as Mr. Moise, who Avas a 
challenger, said. All these men that Avere thus challenged, and 
the reason Avhy they were challenged, I took doAvn. Why they 
AA^ere not alloAved to A ote, &c., and the names of those Avho chal¬ 
lenged them. Nothing else occurred i^articularly until the close of the 
polls. Mr. Moise had been acting as challenger all day. He got up 
and said he AAOuld go home; that he had had nothing to do AAuth the 
frauds at that ballot-box; that all he had to do was to see to the intim¬ 
idation; said it in a jocular manner. He left and Avent home. The 
managers proceeded to count the whole number of ballots in the ballot- 
box. They found that there aa ere only 4 Azotes OA^er and aboA^e their 
poll-lists, but there Avere 215 more ballots iii the ballot-box than there 
were names on the poll-list kept by myself as su])ervisor. I neglected 
to say that along in the afternoon I called the attention of the managers 
to the fact that there were more names ui)on their poll list than tliere 
AAwe names upon my i)oll-list, and I told them I understood exactly hoAV 
they made it. They asked me Avliy. I said I would tell them after Ave 
got through. Noav, I should have said that about an hour or so after 
the polls opened I discoA ered the clerk, Mr. Peoples, had two or three 
sheets separate from the poll-list filled out with names upon them. He 
had these sheets hidden under the paper upon which he Avas AA^riting. 
They worked out from under there, and his attention Avas called to the 
fact that I AA'as seeing them. One of the managers spoke to him about 
it, and he excitedly put them back. I went oA^er to him and asked him 
to see his poll-list, as I aa anted to compare it with mine. But he A^ery 
abruptly said no one should see it. Just on the close I charged the 
managers Avith having more ballots in the box than there were names 
upon the poll-list. They said they AAOuld go by their poll-list, and if 
there Avere more ballots in the ballot-box than names upon the poll-list 
they would throw out all that Avas in excess, and asked me if 1 Avould 
not then admit that that would be right, and I said “ Yes.” When they 4 
ballots over and above the names on the poll-list they agreed to throw 
out those 4 ballots. I demanded that they throAV out *215 ballots, which 
was the excess over my poll-list. They refused to do it. I asked then 
to see their poll-list. They did not make any objections, so 1 reached 
OA^er and got it; and they had arranged these three sheets that I saAv 
under there in various portions of the ]mll-list, so that I had to hunt 
about to find them. I found that pages Nos. 4 and 5, and either 0 or 7— 
I have forgotten Avhich—contained names of men that had never voted 


County. 1 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


289 


tliere tliat day. I was afterwards told by one of tlie managers that they 
liad got those names from the auditor’s books the night previous; that 
he was asked to swear that they were genuine, and lie would not swear 
to their genuineness. I called out to them and said, “ These sheets Avere 
fraudulently added to the poll-list to offset the Kepublican votes.” They 
had 211 names that corresponded exactly with my poll-list. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What do you mean by that ?—A. Taking those 211 names out of 
their poll-list, theirs and mine aa^ouUI correspond exactly. They held a 
meeting the night afterwards, and I am informed that Bland told them 
that it was a grievous mistake to allow those four ballots to be in excess 
of the poll-list. 

They then proceeded to canvass the Amtes. I took a tally of their 
tissue ballots that were in the box. There were 215 tissue ballots in 
the box. -EA^ery one of those tissue ballots had the names of the Dem¬ 
ocratic candidates upon it. They Avere all counted for the Democratic 
nominees. The four tickets that Avere throAvn out were Eepiiblican tick¬ 
ets. Quite late that night, before the caiwass was through AAdth, Mr. 
Dargan and Mr. Moise (Marion Moise) and other Democrats came into 
the hall, and said they had carried Democratic one of our largest Re¬ 
publican precincts. They brought a carpet-bag with them; and, as 
I was acting as supervisor, they came up to me A^ery insultingly and 
shook the carpet-bag in my face and adAused me to leaA^e there, and in 
my hearing made use of all kinds of threats about my taking those 
papers that night. I sent out and got a large number of colored men, 
and they escorted me out that night with my iiapers. At the bottom of 
the street we met a large number of the worst characters in toAvn, who 
had eAudently come there for a puri)ose—I supposed to take my election 
papers from me; but, being protected, I got through. They did attack 
my office for the purpose of taking those papers, and perhaps with the 
AueAv of making me leaA^e Sumter County. 

That is Avhat occurred at the ])oll where I Avas. Noav, I know of other 
facts that have been communicated to me. There are acts of fraud and 
Aiolence at other polls that were gh^en me by a United States super- 
Ausor, that haA^e been sworn to; but they did not come under my ob- 
serAmtion. 

Mr. Randolph. Were they in the form of affidWits ?—A. Yes, sir; 
they were sent to me. 

The Chairman. Were these papers sent to you by the supervisors of 
other precincts"?—A. Yes, sir; and others by those who complained of 
acts of violence. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. What has become of the poll-list that was kept by the managers 
of election at the precinct Yo. 1? What disposition does the law re¬ 
quire to be made of poll-lists, and what disposition was made ?—A. The 
laAV requires that they shall be returned to the commissioners of elec¬ 
tion, and by them forAA arded to the secretary of state. I will say that 
when I discovered that these sheets were fraudulently added to the poll- 
list, I put my name, as United States supervisor, upon each of the sheets 
of the poll-list, so that they could be identified and no changes be made; 
as I said, I was threatened to liaA^e my papers taken aAvay. The next 
niglit I heard that tlie poll-list of the managers had been lost and could 
not be found. I heard-the clerk sw^ear that he had lost the poll-list out 
of his pocket. 

19 s c 


290 


SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How were these separate sheets, with names on them, attached to 
the poll-list; Were the sheets of the regular poll-list fastened ?—A. Yes, 
sir; with a brass fag. 

Q. How were these others fastened or inserted ?—A. They were put 
in there i^romiscuonslj', so that they could not be found together. They 
were put in loose. One of them was Ko. 4, another Ko. 5, another 6 or 7. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were you present at the trial of some of those men from Sumter?— 
A. Yes, sir; I was present at the trial of the managers’ clerk. 

Q. What was the result of the trial ?—A. It was a mistrial; the jury 
disagreed. 

Q. Was the defense able upon that trial to produce a single man of 
the 211 whose names they claimed you left off the poll-list by mistake ?— 
A. They did not attempt to put ui) any such defense. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. What was the offense they were charged with ?—A. As nearly as 
1 can recollect, they were charged with fraudulently stuffing the ballot- 
box and keeping an incorrect poll-list. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did the defense produce upon that trial any witnesses who swore 
that they voted tissue ballots ?—A. Ko, sir. Every person who was put 
upon the witness-stand was asked if he voted a tissue ballot, and every 
me denied it; some of them denied ever seeing them. 

Q. I Avill ask you if the Democratic challenger did not deny upon the 
stand that he ever saw the tissue ballots until after the election?—A. 
Yes, sir; he did. I have also heard him denounce in very strong language 
the Democratic frauds. 

Q. He was the gentleman who said at the close of the polls that he 
had nothing to do with the frauds; that he was there to look after the 
intimidation?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many Democratic white men voted at that poll on elec¬ 
tion-day, as nearly as you can fix the number from your own observa¬ 
tion ?—A. I kept a poll-list separately of whites and colored. It was 
objected to by the managers, but I know exactlj^ There were 44 white 
men voted at that poll. 

Q. How many colored men?—A. There were 8G1 in all. 

Q. That is the total vote?—A. Yes, sir; the 44 come out of that. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. So that they counted 861 ?—A. That was the managers’ count. I 
have here the notes that I made at the time. You can" look at that. 
There were 850 on my poll-list, and there were 861 on the Democratic 
poll-list. 

Q. How many white men did you say voted at your poll ?—^A. 44. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket ?—^A. I counted 
that day five or six colored men who voted the Democratic ticket that 
I saw. 

Q. What ticket did the other colored men vote?—^A. They voted the 
Eepublican ticket as far as I know. By actual count there must have 
been 11 that voted the Democratic ticket on account of the vote that 
Eichardson received, because I know two or three white men had voted the 
Eeimblican ticket. I saw five or six colored men vote the Democratic 



Oonnty.] TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 291 

ticket. 1 know the majority of the Eepnhlicans there were colored 
men. 

Q. r>id you see any tissue tickets about the i)olls during the day ?— 
A. I saw one ticket about noon or after. It was brought over by a 
Eeiniblican, and he said he liad discovered they were ’s oting the tissue 
ballots at the other polls. I kept a close watch from that time on, and 
never saw anything of the kind until the box was opened. I can swear 
positively that no man voted a ticket that day and put it in the box with¬ 
out my seeing it. None had a tissue ballot that I discovered, unless it 
was a few white men that came up with Lee, for at the time he was 
pressing me off I was not able to see them vote. But with that ex¬ 
ception I saw every man that put his ticket in the ballot-box as I was 
sitting there that day. 

Q. What are the relative numbers of the white and colored voters in 
Sumter County ?—A. There was a canvass made of the white voters by 
the Democratic clubs. They put forth every exertion to bring out the 
white vote. They cast 1,600 and a few over, white and colored, all told. 
They have never cast in that county over 1,800 white votes.. 

Q. What is the number of colored votes in that county ?—A. Tlie 
colored vote is about 500. 

Q. What was the result in the county last November?—A. They have 
never published the vote in Sumter County as white and colored. 

Q. They simply claimed a majority?—^A. 1,776 they claimed was the 
Democratic majority then, but they never gave us the votes. I have never 
even seen the statement of the votes at the various precincts. 

Q. Did you, on the day of election, keep your lists separate, of white 
and colored votes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Democrats endeavor to keep you from doing it ?—A. Yes, 
sir; they said I would be indicted if I persisted in doing it; that the 
constitution and the laws of the State jmevented any distmction on ac¬ 
count of color. 

Q. What profound lawyer gave you that opinion?—A. Well, Mr. 
Moise gave me that order, and he was a challenger there that day. The 
Democratic supervisor also joined him, and said I ought not to do it, and 
that I ought not to keep a poll-list at all j that it was not required of me. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. You have always been a Rei)ublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you always acted with that party?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In all the elections in this State ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you do so in the campaign of 1874?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you not oppose Governor Chamberlain in 1874?—A. Yes, sh\ 

Q. You did not consider that inconsistent with your Republicanism?— 
A. No, sir 5 I thought it. was my duty as a Republican. 

Q. Governor Chamberlain was the candidate of the Republican party 
in that year ?—A. Of one branch of the Republican party. 

Q. What was known as the regular Republican party ?—A. Well, there 
was a dispute about that. We claimed that we were the Republican 
party. 

Q. Did you call yourselves the regular Republicans or the Independent 
Republicans?—A. I don’t think we called ourselves by eitheiq we called 
ourselves the true Republicans. 

Q. Did you not denounce Governor Chamberlain and his wing of the 
party in your speeches ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For frauds and irregularities ?—A. Yes, sir; I think we did. I am 
certain we did. 


2&2 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Did you not sni^port Ctreen against Chamberlain, and your candi¬ 
date for Congress against Rainey"?—A. Yes, sir j that is the same elec¬ 
tion. 

Q. Did yon not charge yoiir Republican allies, or those who had been 
in connection with yon ]n‘evionsly, with intimidation of colored voters?— 
A. I am not positive whether 1 did or not. 

Q. Intimidation of those who desired to support Green and yourself?— 
A. Well, we were both making strenuous efforts to get colored votes. 
I don’t know whether I charged them with intimidating oiir colored wing 
or not. 

Q. What charges did yon make against them ?—A. As near as I can 
recollect we charged them with not administering the government of the 
State in the interests of the people, and that there were irregularities by 
members of the i)arty who had held prominent offices that were not in 
keeping with the practice of the Republican party. 

Q. Did you not charge the Republicans of that wing that was opposed 
to yon with frauds at that election ?—A. Afterwards that might have 
been our opinion, but the campaign was over at that time. 

Q. Did you not contest Rainey’s seat in Congress ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And upon the ground of fraud?—A. Ro, sir; I think my ground 
was that he had received votes that had been cast for another x^erson; 
that those votes should not be allowed him; and that if those votes were 
not allowed him, I would be elected. That was my xwincipal charge, 
and there may have been the general charge of fraud. But that was 
the ground that induced me to make the contest. 

Q. Did you have any trouble in Sumter regarding the office of i:>robate 
judge?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. Dargan and other Democrats who were op- 
l)osed to my having the office attempted to take me out. 

Q. Did you make a forcible entry ?—A. I took possession of it. 

Q. By force ?—A. I don’t know whether you call it force or not. I 
took it very early one morning. I took x>ossession from an ox:)en Avindow 
which the judge of in’obate had very carelessly left oi)en. When he found 
me he attemx)ted to take me out. 

Q. Did you not threaten, or say at some time, that you intended 
that that county should be carried by the Rei)ublicans ?—A. I think I 
did say a great many times that it should be carried, if 1 could carry 
my x)oint. But, of course, I meant in a legitimate way. 

Q. What was the character of your si)eeches ?—A. I don’t know; 
others are the best judges of them. 

Q. But what did you think was the character of your si>eeches ; were 
they conservative in tone, or were they pretty warm and denunciatory ? 
—A. I think they were A^ery conservative when I Avas allowed to hold a 
meeting peaceably. But probably AAffien I Avas interfered with, I greAV 
warm in denying the right of anybody to interfere with us. 

Q. You spoke of a difficulty at Rafting Creek, and of the difficulty 
you had there with Dargan, and you said that he struck you?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Were you just getting off the wagon?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had you made any demonstration towards him before he struck 
you?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you any shot-gun in your hand, or anything of that kind ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you shaken your finger in his face?— A. No, sir. I have 
heard that said before, bnt it is an entire mistake. I never made any 
demonstration toAAmrds him ; I Avas leaving him when he struck me. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 293 

Q. Was Colonel Eichardsoii tlie man wlio inyited yon to the meeting 
on the 21st September ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A very pressing invitation, was it not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon asked Hampton if yon conld make any inquiry of him, after 
yon went to the meeting. Did yon make that in an ordinary tone, or did 
yon make it in abrupt way ?—A. In a very respectfnl tone, as I thought. 
It was certainly my intention to make it so. . 

Q. Did not Governor Hamilton, General Bntler, and General Ken¬ 
nedy, and others who were there, very prominent Democrats, request 
the crowd to keep quiet ?—A. They did. 

Q. Did not Hampton insist on yonr i^rivilege of asking a question?— 
A. I have seen that stated, but he did not. I have no recollection of my 
being allowed to ask it there. He advised me to see him at another 
time, which I agreed to do. Governor Hamilton’s friends also reminded 
me that it was not the time to ask a question; that the people were so 
excited that it was dangerous. 

Q. Hampton suggested to you that there was so strong a feeling 
toward you that it was inexpedient for you to ask that question at that 
particular time ?—A. Ko, sir; I don’t know that Hampton advised me 
as to the feeling at that time, but Kennedy and Moise did that; but 
they did not say whether it was the feeling. We had a discussion as to 
what caused the feeling, and Moise said it was whisky caused it. 

Q. What terms did Ooghlan use against Hampton to cause a dis¬ 
turbance ?—A. I don’t know; I did not hear it. 

Q. Have you heard it since ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the term ?—A. I have heard it said that Coghlan said 
that Governor Hampton reminded him of a dog with another i)OAver 
wagging the tail j that Hampton A\^as not carrying out his own views, 
but was controlled by others. 

Q. Did he not speak of Hampton as a dog?—A. Well, to give you a 
good Democratic authority for it, Ooghlan did not say any such thing; 
and this man heard him speak. 

Q. Were you present at that meeting on the 12th of October?—A. 
Ko, sir. I skw the procession, but I was not present at the meeting. 

Q. You described that meeting at very great lengtli, and yet you were 
not present ?—A. I said I saw the procession, and saw the men that 
composed it, but I was not present at the meeting at the depot. I have 
heard a great deal of talk and discussion on both sides about it. 

Q. You described the place of meeting, and spoke of the guns being 
loaded with tenpenny nails, and made a variety of descriptions, all very 
vivid; yet all comes from hearsay, does it ?—A. I saw the men and 
heard the guns, but not when they were at the court-house steps. But 
I have heard those descriptions given generally by the people of Sumter. 

Q. Were you a witness of that, sir?—A. Yes, sir; in part. 

Q. You were supervisor of wards in the town of Sumter ?—A. Yes; 
poll Ko. 1. 

Q. What is the population of the town of Sumter ?—A. Brom 2,000 to 
2,500. 

Q. You testified vou were there all day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that you saw all this go on?—A. All, with the exception of a 
few in the early part of the day. 

Q. Did you sign the returns?—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

Q. Have you said at any time, or did you say after that time, that 
you were satisfied with them?—A. Satisfied with my returns? 

Q. With the general result of the election?—A. I may have said that 


294 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


the result of tlie returns, so far as I was concerned, was correct j but so 
far as the managers were concerned I certainly never said so. 

Q. Have you testified before the United States court?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you not testify there that you saw no irregularities there that 
day?—A. I testified that with those exceptions I saw none. 

Q. You referred to some brass pieces at the meeting on the 12th of 
October?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you sure that they were brass pieces ?—A. I took them to be. 

Q. Do you not know that they were old iron guns?—A. I don’t know 
that they were. 

Q. Have you ever heard they were ?—A. I think I saw some state¬ 
ment from a Democrat that they were. 

Q. Have you ever heard that they were used as posts; that they were 
condemned guns ?—A. The same person made the statement that they 
were used in Columbia as posts, &c. 

Q. Have you not heard that they could only be used for light charges— 
with small charges of powder in them?—A. Yo, sir; I have never heard 
that. 

Q. Have you examined the guns yourself?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Would you know as to their i^robable safety if you had examined 
them ?—A. I am not an expert. 

Q. Have you not frequently said that those guns were of some service 
to fire salutes with, but would be much more dangerous to fire shot 
with?—A. I have not heard that said, nor have I said it myself. 

Q. Do you think they were fairly good guns and could have done a 
vast amount of mischief?—A. Yes, sir; I think they were good. 

Q. Have you ever been x)resent at a meeting where salutes were fired 
by blacksmiths’ anvils ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has it not been quite common to have guns fired off at public 
meetings in tliis State for a long while?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Yor to have anvils fired off?—A, Yo, sir; the first time I ever saw 
an anvil used was in the Green Pond meeting. 

Q. Did you have anything to do with the firing of guns off?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You thought it was well to have some firing?—A. We thought to 
draw the colored peoi)le in. They fired guns to keej) the colored i^eople 
away. 

Q. That was a matter of opinion?—A. Well, I have heard Democrats 
ex])ress themselves that that was the object—to keep them away. 

Q. You spoke, in the latter part of your testimony, of the lack to 
publish the votes in Sumter County by color. You said that no votes 
had been published yet ?—A. I said I had not seen any. 

Q. Has it been customary to publish the votes by color in that 
county ?—A. Yes, sir; the white and colored vote are generally given. 
Heretofore, the Eepublicans have been rather anxious to ascertain the 
number of colored i)eople who have voted with them. 

Q. You speak of this as merely a local publication, not as official ?— 
A. Yes, sir; local. 

Q. Under the law, there is no publication of a color vote?—A. Yo, 
sir. I think they simply designate them as party votes. 

Mr. Eandolph. I want to submit to the committee a statement made 
by the comptroller-general of the State to the governor, touching the 
transactions af Sumter on the 12th day of October. I would like the 
committee to examine the statement at their leisure, and I would like 
to offer it in evidence. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


295 


The Chairman. Is there any law that requires hiiu to make such a 
statement f 

Mr. Randolph. It is in the nature of a request. 

(The committee decided not to admit the article in evidence, but to 
call the comptroller-general, Johnson Hagood, as a witness to the prin¬ 
cipal facts.) 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say that the town of Sumter, in which this precinct in which 
you were supervisor is, has some 2,000 inhabitants ?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. On whose petition were you appointed supervisor ?—A. On the 
petition of the Republican executive committee in that county. • 

Q. It required in that case a petition of ten citizens to authorize 
the appointment. Yow, Avhat ten citizens petitioned for your appoint¬ 
ment ?—xA. I cannot call to memory what particular ten cftizens. 

Q. Did you know that ten did ?—A. I think ten did. 

Q. But you cannot recollect who they were f—A. Yo, sir. I think 
the petition was signed on both sides, by Republicans and Democrats, 
asking for me. 

(^. AVho was on the Democratic side ?—A. Mr. A. AV. Suder. . 

Q. AYhen you received your appointment, did you receive any in¬ 
structions "?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVere they printed instructions ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you a copy of them !—A. I think I have. (Producing a copy, 
Avhich is as follows :) 

IXSTllUCTIOXS TO SUPEllVISORS. 

For tlie guidance of supervisors of election, the following extracts from the act of 
Congress approved February 28, 1871, referring to their duties, are hereby published: 

Sec. 5. And he it further enacted, That it shall also be the duty of the said supervis¬ 
ors of election, and they, and each of them, are hereby authorized and required to 
attend at all times and x>hices for holding elections of Representatives or Delegates in 
Congress and for counting the votes cast at said elections ; to challenge any vote offered 
by any person whose legal qualiffcations the supervisors, oreither of them, shall doubt; 
to be and remain where the ballot-boxes are kei)t at all times after the polls are open, 
until each and every vote cast at said time and place shall be counted, the canvass of 
all votes polled be wholly completed, and the proper and re([uisite certificates or re¬ 
turns made, whether said certificates or returns be required under any law of the 
United States or any State, Territorial, or municiptil law, and to persoaially ins 2 )ect 
and scrutinize, from time to time, and at all times, on the day of election, the manner 
in which the voting is done, and the way and method in which the poll-books, registry- 
lists, and tallies or check-books, whether the same are required by any law of the 
United States, or any State, Territorial, or municipal law, are kept; and to the end 
that each candidate for the office of Re^u'esentative or Delegate in Congress shall ob¬ 
tain the benefit of every vote for him cast, the said su 2 )ervisors of election are, 
and each of them is hereby, required, in their or his respective election districts or 
voting 2 irecincts, to personally scrutinize, count, and canvass each and every ballot 
in their or his election district or precinct cast, whatever may be the indorsement on 
said ballot, or in whatever box it may have been iilaced or be found; to make or for¬ 
ward to the officer who, in accordance with the lu’ovisions of section thirteen of this 
act, shall have been designated as the chief simervisor of the judicial district in which 
the city or town wherein they or he shall serve shall be, snch certificates and returns 
of all such ballots as said officer may direct and require, and to attach to the registry 
list any and all cojiies thereof, and to any certificate, statement, or return, wliethA 
the same, or any ])art or portion thereof, bo re< 2 uired by any law of the United States, 
or of any State, Territorial, or municipal law, any statement touching the truth or 
accuracy of the registry, or the truth or fairness of the election and canvass, which 
tlie said sujiervisors of election, or either of them, may desire to make or attach, or 
which should projicrly and honestly be made or attachecl, in order that the facts may 
become known, any law of any State or Territory to the contrary notwithstahding. 

Sec. 6. And he it further ometed, That, the better to enable the said sn 2 )ervisors of 
election to discharge their duties, they are, and each of them is, hereby author¬ 
ized and directed, in their or his resiiective election district or voting jirecincts, on the 
day or days of registration, on the day or days when registered voters may be marked 


296 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


to be clialleiigefl, and on the day or days of election, to take, occupy, and remain in 
sncli position or positions, from time to time, whether before or behind the ballot- 
boxes, as will in their judgment best enable them or him to see each person offering 
himself for registration or offering to vote, and as will best conduce to their or his 
scrutinizing the manner in which the registration or voting is being conducted; and 
at the closing of the polls for the rece])tion of votes they are, and each of them is, 
hereby required to place themselves or himself in sneh^ a position in relation to the 
ballot-boxes, for the purpose of engaging in the work of canvassing the ballots in said 
boxes contained, as will enable them or him to fully perform the duties in respect to 
such canvass jirovided in this act, and shall there remain until every duty in respect 
to such canvass, certificate's, returns, and statements shall have been wholly com¬ 
pleted, any law of any State or Territory to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 7. And he it further euacted, That if in any election-district or voting-precinct in 
any city, town, or village for which there shall have been appointed sujeervisors of 
election for any election at which a Representative or Delegate in Congress shall be 
voted for, the said supervisors of election, or either of them, shall not be allowed to 
exercise and discharge fully and freely, and without bribery, solicitation, interference, 
hinderance, molestation, violence, or threats thereof on the part of or from any person 
or persons, each and every of the duties, obligations, and powers conferred upon them 
by this act and the act hereby amended, it shall be the duty of the supervisors of elec¬ 
tion, and each of them, to make prompt rei)ort, under oath, within ten days after the day 
of election, to the officer who, in accordance Avith the proA'isions of section thirteen of 
this act, shall liaAU been designati'd as the chief su]Aervisor of the judicial district in 
Avhich the city or toAvn Avherein they or he seiwed shall be of the inanner and means 
b}' Avhich they Avere or he Avas not so alloAved to freely exercise and discharge the duties 
and obligations required and im[)Osed l»y this act. 

8ec. 10. And he it further enacted. That avIiocauu’, Avith or without any authority, 
poAver, or process, or pretended autliority, poAver, or process of any State, Territorial, 
or municipal authority, shall obstruct, hinder, assault, or by bribery, solicitation, or 
otherAvise, interfere Avith or preA’ent the supervisors of election, or either of them, or 
the marshal, or his general or special deputies, or either of them, in the performance 
of any duty re(iuired of them, or either of them, or Avhich he or they, or either of them, 
may be authorized to perform by any hxAA" of the United States, AA'hetherin the execu¬ 
tion of process or otherAvise, or shall, by any of the means before mentioned, hinder 
or i)reAmit the free attendance and presence at such places of registration, or at such 
polls of election, or full and free access and egress to and from any such place of reg¬ 
istration or poll of election, or in going to or from any such place of registration or 
poll of election, or to and from any room where any such registration or election or 
caiiA'ass of Amtes or of making any returns or certilicates thereof may be had, or shall 
molest, interfere AAnth, remoA'e, or eject from any such place of registration or poll of 
election or of caiiA^assing votes cast thereat or of making returns or certificates thereof, 
any superAUSor of election, the marshal, or his general or special deputies, or either of 
them, or shall threaten or attem])t, or offer to (lo so, or shall refuse or neglect to aid 
and assist any superA’isor of election, or the marshal, or his general or special depu¬ 
ties, or either of them, in the performance of his or their duties, when required by 
him or them, or either of them, to give such aid and assistance, he shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and liable to instant arrest AAuthout process, and, on coiiAUction thereof, 
shall be punished by imprisonment not more than tAvo years, or by fine not more than 
three thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and shall pay the costs 
of the prosecution. Whoewer shall, during the progress of any Anuidcatiou of any list of 
the persons Avho may IniA'c registered or voted, and Avhich shall be had or made under 
any of the provisions of this act, refuse to ansAV(‘r, or refrain from answering, or, an- 
sAA'ering, shall knoAvingly giA'e false information in respect to any inquiry laAvfully 
made, such person shall be lialde to arrest and imprisonment as for a misdemeanor, 
and, on conviction thereof, shall be lAunished by imprisonment not to exceed thirty 
days, or by fine not to exceed one hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprison¬ 
ment, and shall pay the cost of such prosecution. 

Sec. 11. And he it further enacted, That AvhosocA'er shall be appointed a supervisor of 
election or a special dejnity marshal under the provisions of this act, and shall take 
the oath of office as such supeiwisor of election or such special deputy marshal, Avho 
shall thereafter neglect or refuse, Avithont good andlaAvful excuse, to perform and dis¬ 
charge fully the duties, obligations, and requirements of such office until the expira¬ 
tion of the term for Avhich he Avas appointed, shall not only be subject to remoA'al from 
office, Avith loss of all pay or emoluments, but shall be guilty of a misdemeauor, and, 
on conAuction, shall be ])unished by inq)risonnient for not less than six months nor 
more than one year, or by fine not less than tAvo hundred dollars and not exceeding- 
five hundred dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment, and shall pay the cost of 
prosecution. 

Under an act of Congress approved June 10, 1872, supplementary to the act approA^ed 
February 28, 1871, it is further pro Aided that the supervisors appointed outside of cities 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 


297 


of 20,000 inliabitants and over “ shall have no power or authority to make arrests or to 
perform other duties than to he in the immediate presence of the officers holding the 
election, and to witness all their xu'oceedings, including the counting of the votes and 
the making of a return thereof.” 

Sux)ervisors are requested to keej) a poll-list ui)on the blank sent them ; to rei)ort all 
cases of intimidation of voters, or any other violation of the enforcemeiit act, and to 
make a true return, on the xu’oxier blank, to the chief supervisor of the result of the 
election. 

SAMUEL T. POINIER, 

Chief Supervisor. 

Q. These were all the instructions you received ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They appear to be copies of certain sections of acts of Congress 
relating to the appointment and duties of supervisors f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What office did Samuel T. Poinier hold ?—A. Chief supervisor of 
the State. 

Q. Was your attention called to the fact that supervisors of election, 
appointed outside of cities 20,000 inhabitants and over, “shall have 
no power or authority to make arrests, or to perform other duties than 
to be in the immediate presence of the officers holding the election and 
to witness all their f^roceedings, including the counting of the votes and 
the making of the returns thereof”?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was tliis section of the law embraced in your instructions?—A. I 
think that same section is in those instructions. 

Q. Then, did you understand this direction to the sui)ervisor as apply¬ 
ing to your appointment ?—A. With that exception. 

Q. “ Sui)ervisors are requested to keep a poll-list upon the blank sent 
them 5 to report all cases of intimidation of voters, or any other viola¬ 
tion of the enforcement act, and to make a true return on the proper 
blank to the chief supervisor of the result of the election.” Was your 
attention called to that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Wefe you advised that, holding your appointment in a Congres¬ 
sional district where there were less than 20,000 inhabitants in the city 
in which you were acting, you would be governed by section 2229 of the 
Eevised Statutes, which says that you “ shall have no power or authority 
to make arrests or i^erform other duties than to be in the immediate 
presence of the officers holding the election, and to witness all their i)ro- 
ceedings, including the counting of the votes and the making of a return 
thereof”?—A. I sui)i)ose so. 

Q. E'ow, I ask you, should this direction for you to keep a poll-list, 
and which might be proper in a city of 20,000 inhabitants, should it 
apply to you ?—A. The request was made that the supervisor should 
keep a poll-list, and on that I did not attempt to make any arrests or 
perform any duties that I considered were excluded from the duties of 
supervisors" in any jdace of less than 20,000 inhabitants. 

Q. How was it in regard to any other duties than those specified ?— 
A. The statute makes it the duty of supervisors to follow any instruc¬ 
tions that were given, and under them to make such returns as were 
required. 

Q. Were those instructions authorized by law or not ?—A. I don’t 
know. That was a legal point that I did not think I had to decide. I 
followed the instructions of the chief supervisor. 

Q. And you did not care whether they conformed to the statute or 
not ?—A. Yes, sir; I tried to make them conform. 

Q. Were any of those instructions the same as those issued to super¬ 
visors—issued in cities of 20,000 inhabitants and over ?—A. I don’t know 
whether they were the same or not. 


298 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Have you not seen any printed instructions used in the city of 
Charleston ?—A. Not to my knowledge. 

Q. This meeting on the 12th of October at Sumter was one to which 
Governor Hampton said he Avould send representatives to see that there 
w'as no interference!—A. I donT knoAvj but it was one meeting I was 
at that he said he would denounce it. 

Q. Hid he not say he would send persons to see that there would be 
no disturbance!—A. He said he would write me, and would come over 
to Sumter at a meeting to be held and denounce it. 

Q. Hid he not also say he would take others to see that there Tvas no 
interference given at the meeting!—A. Yes, sir; he assured me at that 
time that he would see that the meetings were not interfered with. 

Q. At what time did the train from Columbia reach Sumter !—A. I 
am not positive as to that time. There have been many changes in the 
time, but I think they came there at midday, and also at midnight. 

Q. Now, on the night of the 11th of October, did you not understand 
that Mr. Hagood had come down there from Columbia to be present 
at the meeting!—A. No, sir; I did not understand that until the next 
day, and then I heard he was there. 

Q. And that he had come down, sent by Governor Hamj)ton, for the 
purpose of being i:)resent!—A. No, sir; I did not say that. I heard af¬ 
terward that was the purpose that brought him there. 

Q. You say you heard next morning that he was there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid you not see him at any time through the course of the day!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you see him!—A. I saw him going to the depot from 
up towm. 

Q. At the time the meeting reorganized at the depot !—A. No, sir. 

Q. When the procession of Eei^ublicans and Hemocrats w as going 
toward the depot !—A. Well, it was wdien they were going doAvnto the 
de])ot to organize this meeting. 

Q. You saw Mr. Hagood then!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With w horn was he in company at the time !—A. I am not positive 
who was riding with him. He w^as riding in a carriage. 

Q. That is the time you say this brass cannon was taken down 
there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You saw them!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were you at the time!—A. I was in the vicinity of Main 
street. 

Q. Were you at your house!—A. No, sir; I had left my house at that' 
time. I w^as at my house that morning, and at different places in the 
toAvn, but not shoAAung myself in the croAwl. 

Q. Were there a great many threats made!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you w^ere in the Aucinity of Main street!—A. Well, at one 
time I w^as right on the street, in a building on Main street. 

Q. At the time this procession was going down in the direction of the 
depot, w^here Avere you !—A. I Avas immediately uiion Main street look¬ 
ing out upon them. 

Q. YMu saAv Mr. Hagood and others riding dowm in a carriage then!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had no talk with him that day!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You took no part yourself in that meeting that day. You say it Avas 
decided you had better not!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you did not take any part in it!—A. No, sir; not in the 
meeting in the church. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 299 

Q. Anywhere else ?—A. I cannot say that I took no part j I gave ad¬ 
vice to my friends. 

Q. Yon were not pnbhcly at the meeting ?—A. No, sir; I was not there 
publicly. 

Q. You at any time saw some of your friends and talked with them?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you not know that in the morning there w'as a proposition made 
by ]VIr. Fraser, chairman of the executive committee, that there should 
be an amicable arrangement for a joint meeting that day?—A. I don’t 
think it came from Mr. Fraser, though I may have been mistaken. I 
think it was signed by Mr. Moise. 

Q. Was there not a committee of Democrats that waited upon you 
that morning and proposed this ?—A. I saw that paper drawn up and 
submitted to the Kepublicans. The way it happened was the Eepubli- 
cans, pending the demonstrations made by the Democrats, went to Mr. 
Moise and others, and asked what they meant, and if they intended to 
have bloodshed there that day. Mr. Moise said there would be none, 
and advised them to have a joint meeting; and it was put in writing by 
Mr. Moise, and signed by him. It suggested that there should be but 
one meeting, and the Eepublicans should appoint a chairman and the 
Democrats should appoint a chairman, thinking that both could control 
their respective parties, and that there should be so many speakers on 
each side. 

Q. Was there any committee that waited upon you and submitted 
these propositions ? 

To the Bepuhlicans of Sumter County: 

Tlie Democrats i^ropose to tlie Republicans— 

1st. That but one meeting be organized this day at Sumter. 

2d. That two speakers are to be entered on each side, the Democrats naming the 
Hon. Hugh S. Thompson and Gen. E. W. Moise, the Republicans to name any two 
speakers whom they choose. Candidates for Congress, if present, to have the right 
to speak. Two hours only to each side, no matter if .the Congressional candidates 
speak or not. 

3d. The discussion to be conducted on the basis of parliamentary usage, without in- 
terru])tion from either side, and each party to restrain and control its own people. 
No violence of word or act to be allowed. 

4th. Governor John L. Manning to act as president with any president named by 
the Rei)ublicans. 

5th. Oue hour to bfii the limit of each speech. The meeting to organize at 11 o’clock 
or as soon as possible after that time. If three sx)eak on either side, the two hours to 
be divided between them. 

6th. If the Republicans do not hold a meeting, the Democrats invite them to attend 
their meeting and will hear them with courtesy. 


A. No, sir; I heard of that paper just before the meeting took place, 
but never until that time. I don’t think it was brought up till the Ee- 
publicans went to the depot, and the Eepublicans went to Mr. Moise 
and asked him if he really meant bloodshed, and I think Mr. Moise then 
for the first time drew up that paper. 

Q. You say that such a paper as that was not submitted to you by 
Mr. Fraser, chairman of the county committee?—A. No, sir; never. I 
saw that paper during the day, out of the meeting, but the meeting was 
going on at the time. I think that paper was a kind of last resort on 
the part of the Democrats. 

Q. AYell, if you did not see it until late in the day, you did not know 
what kind of resort it was ?—A. I think you will find it dated. It shows 
that there was no kind of an arrangement like that before that day. 

(i. You don’t know that this paper was prepared the night before for 


300 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


the purpose of bringing about harmony of action that day ?—A. I don’t 
think it was. I don’t believe it was. 

Q. Well, yon don’t know whether it was or not?-—A. Ko^ sir. 

Q. Yon simply express your belief that it was not —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were these cannon you speak of taken back to Columbia on the 
night after the meeting 1 —A. I am not positive whether on the night of 
the meeting or Monday. It was either Sunday or Monday. I think 
Monday. 

Q. Yow, do yon know that any of these cannon were loaded with any¬ 
thing besides blank cartridge !—A. I don’t know of it. All I know is 
what was currently reported. 

Q. Yon don’t know whether they were brass or iron cannon ?—A. I 
think they were brass. 

Q. Yon believe that; yon don’t know it ?—A. I don’t know, as I did 
not examine them; but I believe that—I saw them going along the 
streets. 

Q. Yon spoke about the firing taking i^lace during the night. Were 
the salutes not fired after the train came in from Columbia f —A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Then, after they fired the salutes no more firing took place until 
the next day ?—A. Well, the cannon came on the train, and of course 
they could not fire before they got there. 

Q. Was not that all?—A. They commenced a little after twelve and 
fired till near daylight. 

Q. How many times do yon say the cannon were fired off in that 
time?—A. I didn’t count. I don’t know how many times; but I judge 
thej^ fired oft* some twenty or thirty times. They fired off at one time 
at a very rapid rate. 

Q. Was not that when they first came there?—A. I don’t know 
whether it was first or last. 

Q. Was it not the fact that they fired a salute on their arrival, and can 
;smn remember of their firing any time after that until the next morn¬ 
ing ?—A. They kept it up till near daylight, and then they ceased. 

Q. How long did it continue ?—A. Several hours; from twelve till 
daylight. 

Q. They continued four or five hours ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With what intervals did they continue firing ?—A. They varied. 
It was kept up during that time, though. 

Q. How long have you been probate judge in Sumter County ?—A. 
Since 1876. 

Q. What is the jurisdiction of that court ?—A. It has the manage¬ 
ment and control of the estates of deceased i^ersons and of orphans. 

Q. It is a probate court ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has it civil jurisdiction in suits l3etween parties ?—A. Ho, sir; only 
those which arise out of the settlement of estates. 

Q. It has jurisdiction in partition cases ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And controversies arising in partition cases ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Probate of wills and contest of wills ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But in conflictions betAveen i)arties you say it has no jurisdiction ?— 
A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Has it any jurisdiction as a committing magistrate ?—A. Ho, sir; 
except in refusal to comifiy with the laws of the probate court. 

‘ Q. For conteiniAt ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But it has no poAver as a committing magistrate to hear charges 
upon affidavit of criminal offenses ?—A. Ho, sir. 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL LEE. 301 

Q. Were you a practicing lawyer before becoming probate judge ?— 
A. iSTo, sir. 

Q. l>id yon ever study law*?—A. Yes, sir 5 some. My Democratic 
successor is not a lawyer either. 

By Mr. Ca^ieron : 

Q. Senator McDonald asked you if you knew that those cannon were 
loaded with anything excei^t blank cartridges. Have you ever heard 
the Democrats claim that they were loaded with anything else ?—A. No, 
sir; I never heard it claimed until I saw a statement from the papers 
saying that it was currently rei)orted in Sumter and claiming that they 
were seen loaded with ten-penny nails. 

Q. No denial has ever been made in Sumter about it!—A, No, sir. 

Q. Who is your successor as probate judge!—^A. Colonel Walsh. 

Q. Is he a lawyer !—A. No, sir. 

Q. What was his occupation prior to taking office !—^A. He has been 
a merchant and farmer. 

Q. Which i)arty called a i)olitical meeting at Sumter the day these 
cannon were brought there !—A. The Kepublican party called a meet¬ 
ing and afterwards the Democrats called a meeting on the same day. 
T. B. Fraser published a call, in which he called all the Democratic 
organizations to be at Sumter at an early hour on that morning, and to 
report to him at the Music Hall for further orders; and that order was 
issued some time after the Republican meeting had been called and 
notice given of it. The military portion of the party was also called. 
The papers in our county called upon the organizations around to send 
in all the military companies they could find. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was that a published call!—A. Yes, sir; the newspapers called 
upon the mounted men around to send in all the military comx)anies 
they could find, and those who were not in military companies should 
come in ready. There was a call to come to Sumter and see the new 
way of dividing time demonstrated.’^ Again, they said the Republicans 
would attemi)t to hold a meeting under “ Pop-gun 5520”; and all such 
squibs as that. 

Q. What did they mean by that!—A. They meant Attorney-General 
Devens’s order, that is in section 5520. 

Q. Now, I will ask you if you have not seen this statement in the 
papers in reference to this cannon and the firing: “On the same train 
were several pieces of artillery already prepared to fire a salute. These 
guns were requested by the Democratic chairman to be sent for the 
occasion and for the puri)ose indicated.” Have you seen that!—A. I 
read that in some statement, I think; but I would say, also, that Mr. 
Fraser told me that those i>ieces were brought there as precautionary 
measures. 

• By Mr. Caiheron: 

Q. You did not believe that statement when you saw it!—A. No, sir. 
I think I read it very carefully in a crowd of men on the street, and said 
at the time how many misstatements were in it. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Well, you differ very much from other parties who have given 
statements about these scenes. You differ from Hagood and Dargan. 
You give your version of it, and they give theirs.—A. I don’t differ 
from Dargan. Till recently he has been fool enough to state the facts. 


302 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[ Sumter 


and was very loud-moiitlied j but since tbis matter is being investigated 
be is not so bold. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. You said sometbing about tbis man Dargan, or somebody, being 
an aid of Governor Hamptonj wbat is that?—A. They are aids aii- 
pointed on tbe governor’s staff. 

Q. Ho you know bow many tbe governor bas on bis staff?—A. Ko, 
sir. He bas two, I tbink, in Sumter, and probably more. 

Q. Hid General Johnson Hagood attempt to stop tbe disturbance at 
Sumter on tliat day ?—A. I beard be did at tbe court-bouse. When 
these cannon were brought uj), and these men bad drawn themselves 
up in line of battle, apparently to take Cogblan and bis Kepublican 
friends, I understood that then lie came and protected Cogblan. • 

(Tbe regular Eepublican and Hemocratic tickets for Sumter County, 
used at tbe election on November 5,1878, were put in evidence by order 
of tbe committee, and were as follows:) 

SUMTER COUNTY. 


For Governoi'y 
Wade Hampton. 
Lieutenan t- Governor^ 

W. D. Simpson. 
Secretary of State, 

R. M. Sims. 

Superintendent of Education, 
H. S. Thompson. 
Comptroller-General, 
Johnson Hagood. 
Adjutant and Inspector-General, 
E. W. Moise. 

State Treasurer, 

S. L. Leaphart. 
Attorney-Gencfi'al, 

Leroy F. Youmans. 
Congress—First District, 

J. S. Richardson. 

State Senator, 

T. B. Fraser. 
Bepresentatives, ^ 
Joseph H. Earle. 

J. W. Westherry. 

W. D. Scarhorough. 
John J. Dargan. 

County Commissionei’8, 

J. M. Wilder. 

John O. Durant. 

Jacob Keels. 

Prohate Judge, 

T. V. Walsh. 

School Commissioner 
Win. F. Rhame. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. COGHLAN. 


303 


The following was of regulation size and paper: 

UNION REPUBLICAN TICKET. 

For 46th Congress, 

Joseph H. Kaiuey. 

For State Senate, 

Thomas J. Coghlan. 

For House of Eepresentatiues, 
William J. Corbett, 

Henry W. Mackey, 

Daniel Wiley, 

Eobert M. Andrews. 

For Judge of Probate, , 
Frank F. Teicher. 

For School Commissioner, 
Wash. J. Smith. 

For County Commissioners, 
Zachariah E. Walker, 

Geo. W. Brown, 

Benjamin Lawson. 


T. J. COGHLA^^:. 

Chaeleston, S. C., January 23,1879. 

T. J. Coghlan sworn and examined. 

By the Chaieman : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. I reside in the town of 
Sumter, Sumter County. 

Q. How long have you resided in the State !—A. I don’t remember j 
I was born here, and I don’t remember the time I was born. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late political campaign ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what part you took, as briefly as you can, and what occurred. 
—A. The first occurrence to which I will refer was that at Eafting Creek, 
on the 31 st of August j I have a memorandum of dates, if I may be per¬ 
mitted to look at it. 

The Chaieman. You are at liberty to look over your memoranda of 
dates. 

The Witness. I was right; it was on the 31st of August that I went 
up to Eafting Creek, with Lee and anotlier man named Walker. Our 
purpose was to organize the precinct. We arrived there about the 12th, 
nearly twelve o’clock. When we arrived there we found some 200 Demo 
crats there, a good many of whom I recognized. As I drove into the 
church lot and hitched my horse I was saluted with groans and yeUs. I 
did not mind that, for that was what I expected. I alighted and went 
down to the spring close by. A number of Democrats went down at the 
same time. There were two springs there, not far apart. I asked one 
of the Democrats, ^AVhich is the Eepublican spring and which the Demo¬ 
cratic spring ! for I would like to drink out of the Eepublican spring.” 
They pointed out the Eepublican spring, and I drank. I returned to 
the buggy, got in, and took out my lunch. The Democrats were halloo¬ 
ing about there. Some one said, ^Wou might as well try to scare hell 
as to scare that old fellow.” I said my custom is as I journey through 



304 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


life to live by the way, and I would like my lunch before going to busi¬ 
ness. I hnished my lunch. Then Earle came up, and addressed Lee 
and myself, saying that we must organize and leave there within a cer¬ 
tain time. I said that I was in a free country ; I was an American citi¬ 
zen ; and I should remain until it suited my pleasure to leave. He 
reiDcated liis threat, and I repeated my promise. I told him perhaps 
he had better not interfere with the people there. Mr. Dargan, another 
celebrated rioter of the same county, came uj) about that time. I said, 
“Dargan, you are rampant against cari)et-baggers 5 you haven’t been here 
long enough to take any part in this business.” “Well,” he said, “I 
have been here long enough to get into better society than you.” I said, 
“That is a good thing, since you were not able to get into good society 
of any kind where 5^011 came from.” I said, “ You had better behave 
quietly; I am going to do what I came here to do, and nothing more 
and nothing less; and the best thing you can do is to leave me alone.” 
Then we commenced organizing. Lee got into a wagon. I was sit¬ 
ting by the side of Lee, when Dargan got up and went on and spoke for 
some time. He was very personal in his remarks with reference to Lee. 
Lee attenq^ted to retire. Lee is a very quiet, inoffensive man, who had 
given no cause for offense to anybody. As Lee was getting off the 
wagon, when about half way off, Dargan popped him in the face with a 
blow which floored him, or rather grounded him, as it was the ground 
he fell on. Then Dargan dreAv a pistol, and caught Lee, and dragged 
him about as far from where he knocked him down as from here to the 
end of the table, and choked him. There was a crowd there, so great 
that I could not get to Lee to liel]) him. I thought they would certainly 
choke him to death 5 but some of the men from Eafting Creek interfered 
and got him loose. I can only corroborate what Lee said in his testi¬ 
mony. The e\fldence that he has given here was perfectly true in every 
respect. It is of no use to go over with the story again. They said 
they were determined to capture me. I told them I did not think they 
wonld. I had no arms with me. I sometimes carry arms, but that time, 
fortunately, I had none. I got into my buggy. I had to drive 50 or 100 
yards from the iflace where 1 had hitched my horse before I reached the 
public road. They formed a barricade in front of me. As I was driving 
some of them caught the horse by the halter. I said to them, “You are 
performing a dangerous operation; you had better let that horse go.” 
But they kept hold of the halter, till I touched the horse with the whip 
and he started suddenly and threw the fellows about twenty yards. They 
cried out, “ Stop him, stop him but I got into the road, and then I said, 
“ I am now in the public highway, and I don’t propose to be interrupted.” 
A fellow by the name of Gaylord rode np and caught my horse by the 
bridle; another, who was on foot, caught him on the other side. I waited 
until they got hold, then I said, “ If you have no respect for me, have 
some respect for that horse; he is a good horse, don’t spoil him.” They 
threatened what they would do, to which I made no further reply. I 
just tapped the horse with the whip again, and he immediately cleared 
the track and laid them both aside very easily. I rode on until I came 
to a place where there was a bridge just ahead of me. There were a 
number of them on the bridge. Those who were behind called to them 
on the bridge to stop me, that I could not pass. My horse by that time 
had recovered from the twisting and turning they had given him, and 
was making pretty fast speed. I called out to the men in front, “ You 
better get out of the way; I can’t be responsible for any injury that may 
be done by this horse, for I can’t control him.” We got over the bridge 
in safety. I thought, “IS^ow I am across the bar, I presume I am safe.” 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. COGHLAN. 


305 


I went on at a moderate pace until I was overtaken by Mr. Stewart, 
who rerpiested me to bring him down to Snniter. I stopped and took 
him np. We rode on then two or three miles. It Avas a very Avarm day, 
and I had throAvn off my OA^ercoat. Suddenly I pert^eived that I Iiad 
lost my coat. I said, SteAAmrt, I have lost my OAWcoat j I must go 
back and get it.” I came back, Stewart remaining in the baggy. 
They did not capture me and carry nte in the croAvd with Lee and 
Walker 5 they attempted to do it, but could not accomplish it. Well, 
liaA ing this man Avith me, and it not being very light, it took me some 
time to get home; and the road was A^ery boggy and sticky and heavy 
to travel on, and I arrived at home about, perliaps, two hours after. I 
didn’t see any of the carryings on Avith Lee. I Avent immediately and put 
up my horse. That was about all. There was a meeting that Avas 
advertised to take place in Sumter, and that dreAv the soldiers there 
under Kichardson, and they Avere dismounted, it appears, and did not 
find anybody to come in contact Avith. 

Q. Is that the Kichardson who was a candidate for Congress ?—A. 
Ko, sir. He is a distant relath^e of his. They are all of the same fam¬ 
ily. At the meeting that took place in the court-house to nominate or 
elect a delegate to attend the convention in Columbia I was present. 
They organized and commenced proceedings, and this man Bargan and 
his creAV came, and some Eepnblicans said to me, ‘‘We had better retire,” 
and I said, “By no means, I neAW give np the ship”; but I said, “Don’t 
interfere AAdth those gentlemen; if they behave themseh^es they IniA^e 
as much right to be here as anybody”; and'I said, “ Don’t interfere Avith 
them.” They remained there as quietly as they possibly could. Of 
course they could not keep still until Ave had finished onr business. 
Then the meeting adjourned, and they rushed np and got possession 
of the stand, and said they must be heard. I said, “Any one Avho 
Avishes can be heard, but I must go to dinner,” and I A\"ent. The 
next meeting that I took an active part in Avas on the 12th day of 
October, which Avas a Congressional meeting to nominate or ratlier 
to hear the speeches of Kainey, the candidate for Congress. The meet¬ 
ing had been imblished in the only mode that Kepnblican meetings can 
be i)nblished, for they can’t get the use of the neAvsi)apers—by posting 
up placards in the county. It had been x)nblished in due time that there 
ATonld be a Kepnblican meeting some time in October. That meeting 
AA^as published to be held at the African church. I can remember that 
the platform had been erected many days before the meeting took 
place. I think I saAv in the papers a notice of a Democratic meeting 
also to be held on the same day, after our meeting Avas to be held. No¬ 
tices were placarded or posted ii]), and when the 12th came tliey all 
came—I think about onerfonrth of the State. About 4,000 armed men 
arriA'ed there Avith cannons and arms. But I was going to state Avhat 
took place at the Kepnblican meeting. The Kepublicans met as ap¬ 
pointed. I was not cognizant of the cause of the absence of Lee. I in- 
(liiired for him, and no one coidd tell AAdiere he Av^as. I said, “He ought 
to be here to call this meeting.” Tliey could not ffnd him, and I said, 
“ Well, I shall go down to the place of meeting, and they wlio choose 
can folloAV.” I started, and about half-Avay betAveen the conrt-hoiise and 
the church I met a Kepnblican who had a paper—the same that was 
read there. He iiresented it to me to read, and 1 said, “I am not the 
proper xierson to jiass on that.” 

Q. That is the paper xiroposing a joint discussion ?—A. Well, I said, 
“Yon had better take no notice of this, for this is a Kepnblican meeting 
and I Avant no amalgamation. They can IniA^e their meeting Avhere they 
20 s C 


306 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


please.’^ We then coiiclucled to go down and hold a meeting. ]\Ir. Spears, 
who represented Lee, organized the meeting at the church and made a 
speech. When he got through 1 was called on to speak, and I did so. 
In the mean time onr plaj:form was tilled with si)ies from the Democratic 
jtarty, who had intrenched themselves at the depot, and had sent out 
spies to reconnoiter. 1 had spoken very freely, and I generally speak 
freely, and I took occasion in my speech to tell what I had long felt and 
often expressed before. I said the people of South Carolina owed an 
eternal debt of gratitude to the colored people; that during the war I 
was located some six miles from Sumter, in a thickly-settled neiglibor- 
hood, where there was not a man in the neighborhood, where there was 
nothing but women and children. [At this point the witness was so 
affected that he could not proceed for some time.] Well, to go on, I was 
then running a grist-mill, and, in view of what was suggested to me by 
past experience, I said, ‘^However this war may terminate, the people 
of South Carolina will owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the colored 
people.” They said, “ Why?” Several gentlemen were near me. I said, 
‘‘Just look around here—who protects these people? Where is there a 
l)eople on this earth who are doing as they are doing Avhen they are 
working for their liberties ?” I mentioned it in my speech further about 
Wade Hampton, and just here I will say I never recognized him as gov¬ 
ernor, and therefore 1 do not and did not speak of him as governor. I 
was speaking of Wade Hampton. I had been api)ointed a committee to 
wait upon him to learn his views on the actions of the people of Sumter 
County. I consider him a very imbecile man. In my speech I did com¬ 
pare him to a dog. I sakl to the people, “You may have heard of the 
dog whose tail wagged the dog, but the dog did not w^ag the tail.” I 
meant that the men hi Sumter, Avhom Hampton could not control, 
wagged him as they pleased. They Avagged him to suit themseh^es, 
and he could not help himself. And so it proA^ed to be, for that 
very meeting, on the 12th October, Avhere they set him at api)arent 
detiauce, was proof of that. I was not present, howeA er, at the Hamp¬ 
ton meeting, but I saAv them chasing after Lee in the street like a iiarcel of 
hunters chasing av itli the dogs after a fox. They chased him, but did not 
get him. Now, that an as the head and front of my offending against Hamil¬ 
ton. Unfortunately for him at that time he Avas not a cripple, which I regret 
very much as a man. I have A^ery little sympathy Avith the Democrats 
of South Carolina politically. As friends I regard them as men, but as 
politicians I haA^e no use for them; and it is utterly impossible for me 
to be hypocritical enough to pretend to be a Democrat, if I an- as so dis¬ 
posed. My principles and my education, Avhat little I haA^e, from earliest 
recollection incline me towards Kejmblicanism. I traveled after I serA^ed 
my apprenticeship here in Cliarleston, belieAung that men in those days 
Avere pretty much as they are now. They A\'ould come around and say 
among 100 or 150 young men and say, “ Well, an e are a great people 
here. These northern i)eople are aa orse than our negroes. They are 
an aNAful set of people up north, and Ave don’t intend to patronize the 
damned Yankees as long as Ave live.” That aa hs during election times. 
Well, it Avas my duty to a isit large houses in those times. They an ere 
then a more Avealthy people than they are noAv. I remember one in¬ 
stance in General SouthAN'ick’s family, an here I an as up stairs doing some 
Avork tailoring, and the conversation turned upon his son’s clothes, and 
he said, “ I Avant to send my son’s measure to Liverpool.” I said, 
“ Why don’t you patronize our oayu peojde ?” and he said, “ O, no. AYe 
can’t get a coat made here for our son.” That had perha])s some little 
to do in tixing my principles. Nothing can prevent me from being a 


■ ‘County.] 


TESTIMONY OF T. J. COGHLAN. 


307 


true Eepiiblican; I liave always been and always will be. IVIy life to me 
is a small and unimportant tiling, but for me life without liberty is not 
worth having. All I ask in this State is my constitutional rights; I did 
not want more than that, and don’t want more than that, and I don’t 
want a Democrat to be imposed upon or any man to be imposed upon 
on account of his political principles. I hold that this is a free country, 
that all men are equal, and all should enjoy constitutional privileges 
alike, and I would see no man imposed upon for enjoying his political 
principles, be they what they may. I am not a partisan; I have my 
])rinciples, and I wish all people to have the same. As for myself, I am 
determined to have mine if it is at the expense of my life. But I will 
not imxiose my political principles or my religion on another citizen. 

I think I have gone far enough and told you the condition of things 
here as far as I can. Stewart and Lee covered the ground. I don’t wish 
to deny what I did or to retract, but to give my reasons for what I did. 
Those reasons are my own, and there is no man nor government can 
take them from me. 

Q. Were you arrested before the election and carried over the coun¬ 
try f—A. O, yes. 

Q. You may state the facts about that.—A. I was arrested. The 
trial-justice sent the constable after me. He lives some 15 miles from 
Sumter. I was dining, and when he came I said, ‘‘ Just wait, and I 
will go with you, of course.” He waited. Now,” said I, don’t keep 
me late this eA^ening, if you please, for there are some bad roads between 
here and there, and it is impossible for me to stay all night. I Avill go 
up to the trial-justice, and you can get your commitment and put me in 
jail, for I will give no more bonds, for I am informed that every trial- 
justice has his warrants against me, and as soon as I get through one I 
Avill be taken up by another. I don’t feel disposed to do very much 
riding.” Well, I went up with him, and he Avas pretty near drunk—his 
usual failing—and I said, ^AYrite out your commitment and let this 
man go back with me as soon as you can.” He said, Won’t you give 
bonds?” I said, “By no means. I haA^e gAen all the bonds I am 
going to giA^e.” He didn’t know what to do. The old constable and his 
mule had about given out, and I said, “ Well, I must go on, and I Avill 
go home; you know where I liA^e.” And I said to him, “I don’t care 
AA^hat time "of night you come with your commitment, I will get up and 
go with you to jail, and if they refuse to let me go to jail I Avill take 
you and your horse and keep you over night. You can keep up with 
me, but you must go on, for I am going home.” I went on and Avaited 
some time, but he did not appear. Well, the next morning the United 
States marshal came after me. I said, “ I am under an engagement 
Avith the constable.” He said, “What is it?” I said, “ I can’t fill both 
engagements.” He said, “ Well, I think I will take you.” I said, “ I do 
not want you to, for I haA^e given the old man my word of honor that I 
AAull wait for him, and I would rather bear the brunt myself.” Says he, 
“ You have got to go with me.” I told him then I would go, and I bade 
good-bye to my wife, and I came to Charleston AAith him. 1 have iieAW 
seen tlie old constable since. I think they took a better thought of it 
and gaA^e it up. 

Q. What were you charged with?—A. With assault Avith intent to 
kill Berhaps I had better state about that. It was not correctly 
stated by the other Avitnesses. In fact, neither of them Avas there. I 
ha])pened to be there myself. We found that the Democrats had tried 
in every aa ay to keep them back. Wlien aa^c came up to the next cross 
street, at the court-house, there aa^s a perfect jam, and I kne\\^ some- 


308 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


thing would be done. My object was peace. One of the Democrats 
said, For God^s sake, try and get the Democrats away,” so I went in 
among tlie crowd and said, Come, let us go up to the court-house,” and 
1 said, “ We will get something to drink between liere and there”— 
although I don’t drink anything but water and coftee. AVell, they woukl 
not come, though I i)ersuaded them very strongly, and I went on myself 
and said, 1 Avill go to the court-house and make proclamation mj^self 
there, and i)erhax)S they will come,” and I went uxi there and hallooed out 
as long as I could at the top of my voice, and said, Come on! come on! 
Some of the colored men came up, and I said, For God’s sake, come up 
or they will be killed; ” and I told them I had done my best, and I said^ 
Now, you try,” and they did so, and probably about 100 or 200 came 
i\\) to the court-house where I was. I said, “ Now, remain here, and be 
Xieaceable and try to get the others away.” When that was done, 
these 2,000 red-shirts leveled their cannon, loaded with tenpenny 
nails, toward us and formed in line. The colored people then began 
to say that I was in danger, or, at least, they thought I was, and 
they rushed uj) to the platform, while a friend of mine by the name 
of Flowers came up. The order was given from below, ^‘Kill the 
damned rascal, and throw him over the balcony, and give him 
hell generally.” I heard all that, but did not regard it. This 
Flowers came up, and so did Mr. Hagood, and said, ‘‘No man shall 
hurt this man,” alluding to me, and he said to me, “ If you can keep 
• your men below quiet, I will mine,” and I said, “I can, for my men are 
here for peace, and they are not ready for a condict with arms.” I timied 
around to the colored people and said, “Now, gentlemen, be i^eaceable 
and keep quiet; don’t mind me, only keep yourselves out of the way.” Then 
Mr. Hagood retired and I saw no more of him. After he retired they 
commenced jeering and gibing and pointing their guns, and they came 
on the platform, and two or three red-shirts grabbed me. I told them, 
“ Your company is disagreeable; you are smoking in my face, and it is 
disagreeable; keejj away from me.” “ No, no,” and they stuck the closer. 
I took one of the fellows’ arm and said, “ Now you may walk this plat¬ 
form as long as you want to,” and they walked awhile, and they ba(‘lved 
away. I walked down four or five steps of the portico and remained there 
listening to their gibes, &c. They were all the time ordering men to go 
up and throw me over the banisters and kill me. Well, they did not 
disturb me. Several old Democratic citizens came to me and told me to 
leave. “ No, gentlemen,” I said; “ I am not a coward or poltroon; I will 
go home dead, but not as a coward.” Two or three red-shirts came up, 
and I retreated up the stei)s as well as I could until 1 got ux) against a 
column. Then 1 took my x)istol out of my x^ocket this way [witness show¬ 
ing], and I said to them, “If you approach me, I will defend myself.” I 
had then thought my time had come to depart. I was determined to fall 
with my face to the foe. I was just as well aware of their intention as I 
know I am sitting here, but I intended to make no demonstration hrst. 
They were then within a few feet and they stopx)ed; but if they had 
come one stex3 farther the ball would have ox)ened. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. It was for that you were arrested ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Uimn whose comxdaint ?—A. One of those young men. I had them 
arrested afterwards. 

Q. How many were there ^—A. Four of them. 

Q. Ax)parently young men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is your age !—A. I will soon be 76, only. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF T. J. COGHLAN. 309 

Q. Tliose young men tliouglit they were in danger of their lives ?—A. 
I sup])ose so. Well, they were if they had come forward. 

Q. There is some youthful fire left in you yet?—A. Yes, sir; young 
enough for those chaps. 

Q. Are you a native of this State?—A. Yes, sir; I have always lived 
here. I have lived in Sumter for about fifty years. I served my ap¬ 
prenticeship here, and at the suggestion of some gentlemen 1 went up 
there. 

Q. You are a mechanic?—A. Yes, sir; I am; and I thank God for it, 
too. I can go the world over and donh have to succumb to anybody. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Where were you on the day of election?—A. I was at precinct 

lS"o. 1. • 

State what occurred in your precinct.—A. I rose about 5 o’clock. 
I understood the election was to commence at 6 o’clock. I got up 
about 5 o’clock. I knew where the old polling-xfiace was, and I went 
tliat way. I wanted to see the inside of the box before the poll opened, 
for I had heard various reports of boxes with false bottoms; nor would I 
permit any one, neitlier Democrat nor Kepublican, if I knew it, to put in a 
fraudulent vote. Well, I found there were no persons at the old i>oll 
except these young skirmishers, and I said: “Where are the commis- 
. sioners?” and they said they had been voting all night, and I said, “Is 
that so ? w^ell, I would like to take a hand in it.” 1 found out, however,, 
where the voting x)lace was, and got there before the time necessary for 
me to vote. I asked to see the box; I wanted to see if any false bot¬ 
toms might be there. They showed it to me, and then tliey x>nt the box 
down and others rushed ux^. A lot of these skirmishers ruslied ux) and 
took possession of the box, and they voted and voted until they had all 
got through, and then x^ermitted the colored x)eox)le to vote. The voting 
went on during the day without much interrux^tion. A few challenges 
took x^lace, but not much worth sx)eaking about. I went there X)nr- 
X)osely to keep a poll-list, and to be near to see myself that everything 
was fair, but when I got there I saw it was imx^ossible to do that and 
pay attention to the A'oting too. I saw the sux^ervisor was x^repared 
and had a good clerk. Well, I staid in a x^osition where I could see him 
enter every name as it was called out and the ballot x^nt in the box. 
Everything went on quietly. We had several good jokes around. I 
was on the Eepublican ticket for State senator. One of the mangers, a 
particular friend of mine, called me aside about the winding ux) and 
said, “ You will not be elected.” I said, “ Well, if there is a fair count, 
it is immaterial whether I am elected or not.” “Well,” he said, “there 
will not be a fair count.” When the box was ox^ened and the lists of 
the supervisors were compared with the managers’ list, there was found 
a discrex)ancy of 211 votes. They then squabbled a little over that. 
“Well,” said the manager, “the count will prove whether it is right.” 
They commenced the count, and the count tallied with the managers’ 
list nearly—four over. At the ox^euing of the box they counted out 
X)retty well all, until at the bottom where these tissue ballots were, and 
there they were in a x)ilo* When the votes were x^ot in in the morn¬ 
ing the managers had a long stick that they pnt in the ax)erture of the 
box and kex)t working and working it. Well, I could not account for 
tliat at the time, but I saw afterwards without any glasses the small 
tickets in the large tickets. They were all in tlie bottom. One of the 
liepublicans said, “ Can’t you get me a Eepublican ticket? ” “ Yes, sir,” 
I said, and I gave him one. He kex)t it a little while and then dex^osited 


310 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


it and said, Well, I liave killed that vote.” Well, in counting it out 
we found that that Hepuhlican ticket had a lot of tissue ballots in it. 
They put it in simply to say that there was a Eepnblican ticket ATith 
tissue ballots in it. Well, notwithstanding the fraudulent votes they 
put in, we would have beaten them 300 or 400 a otes and aa ould have 
beaten in the county, for I ncA^er saw the Kepublicans so intensified in ; 
my life. The expedients of the Democrats far surpassed theirs ; but a 
fair showing AAmuld carry the State of South Carolina largely Eepubli- 
can. if that can ever be accomplished. 1 think if General Grant was 
president we AAmuld have a fair count. 

Q. Do you remember hoAA^ many tissue ballots were counted out ?— 

A. There were 211 of them. As I said before, they Avere as common, 
and still you could not see a Democrat moving about at all. Said 1, : 

‘‘ There is mischief brewing, I assure you.” And sure enough it Avas 1 
one of the greatest tricks I ever kiiCAA^ of. 

By Mr. Eandolph : , 

(}. You are a native of this State ?—A. Yes, sir. 1 

Q. AVere you at Eafting Creek on the 3d of August?—A. Yes, sir. j 

Q. AAlth Lee and StCAA art ?—A. Yes, sir. ’ j 

Q. You heard their testimony !—A. Yes, sir ,* I did. ■ 

Q. You said it AAms fortunate you were not armed upon that occasion ?— j 

A. Yes, sir j I would have shot either of those men aa ho attacked me . 
in the highway. I felt I had a right to do it, and I thank God I did not 
have any arms, but 1 anticipated no trouble and so had none. 

Q. You said you had often said to the white people in your neighbor¬ 
hood that they owed a debt of gratitude for such reasons as you as¬ 
signed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. HaA^e they not in many Avays tried to manifest that gratitude, out¬ 
side of political matters?—A. AVell, if you can judge by their taking 
the crops, and their unfriendliness generally, if that is paying the debt, 

I don’t think they liaA e. At school if a big boy whips a little one, the 
little one Avill whip somebody else to get ca en. They got whipped, and 
tliey Avill Avhip the negro, or the dcA il (if they can catch him), to get 
eA^en. 

Q. Have you been in the habit of getting along peaceably with your > 
neighbors in years gone by?—A. Yes, sir; never had any trouble. I i 
IniA e had sex eral offices, and the proceeds haA^e gone to alleAuate the ! 
poA eDy of poor women and children—all my salary. I 

Q. You say you compared Hampton AAuth a dog ?—A. I compared him I 
to the AAmy the tail wagged the dog. { 

Q. AVhat do you mean by the aa ords “he not being gOA ernor”?—A. I 
said if 1 had offered him any insult, I was willing to meet 1dm at any J- 
time. J 

Q. That is your disposition?—A. Yes, sir; if I said anything against ? 
him he had a perfect right to demand satisfaction, and I would be per- 
fectly willing to do it. || 

Q. You think that is the way to do ?—A. I think it is the true way. , 
If I had insulted you, and you demanded satisfaction, you must take it. i 

Q. Why did you make that remark if you did not suppose- A. I t 

Avill illustrate the Avay- ’ 

Q. AVhy did you make the remark, “If Hampton was as young as your- j 
self, and could defend himself”?—A. 1 never made that remark. I said ^ 
just now that Wade Ham])ton could have done that if he felt disposed. I 
Q. You say you never had any sympathy with the Democracy of South ? 
Carolina?—A. Yo, sir; by no means. 





TESTIMONY OF T. J. COGHLAN. 311 

Q. Have you always been a Eepublicaii ?—A. Yes, sir; anterior to the 
war. I was born one and bred one. 

Q. Yon also said yon were not a partisan?—A. Yes, sir; I would do 
an act of kindness to a Democrat as quick as I Avonld to a Eepnblican. 
There have not been any charges against me since the war, but I reserve 
my opinion and will do that, and let them do tlie same. 

Q. Were yon armed on the 12th of October ?—A. I had a pistol on 
that day. 

Q. Yon had the young men arrested for x)resenting their pistols to 
yon'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon had them arrested before your arrest was ordered?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Yon made the first comidaint?—A. Yes, sir. 

And they then made a counter-complaint ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As to the poll of Yo. 1—these young men jocosely said they had 
been voting all niglit?—A. Yo, sir; not at the precinct. I went out to 
find out where it would be. It was the old place. 

Q. Where was it ?—A. It was at the court-house. 

Q. You said, in reply to that, that you would like to take a hand ?— 
A. Yes, sir; T asked them where the polling-place was, and they said 
they had been voting all that night; and I said I would like to find out, 
for I would like to take a hand myself. 

Q. You found the box all right upon examining it?—A. I did. 

Q. Yo trouble at the polls ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. The supervisor had a good clerk?—A. Yes, sir; he had. 

Q. Were you brought before the United States marshal?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As to the occurrences of the 12th of October ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you suggest to him or to any one, on that occasion, a compro¬ 
mise of matters?—A. I said this: that I had no personal feelings toward 
those men whatever; all I wanted was a guarantee of my constitutional 
rights. That effected, I was disposed to let them go. 

Q. Did you say you were anxious to have matters compromised at 
that time?—A. Yo, sir. I felt for those young men; they were among 
strangers; and I went so far as to go on their bonds for their appear¬ 
ance. I think they were only instruments in the hands of others. All 
I wanted was to be guaranteed my rights and let them have theirs. 
That was done, and I was satisfied. 

Q. What was your exact idea of a comx^romise ?—A. Well, sir, tliat I 
should drop any x)roceedings against them and that they should take 
none against me. Ot course, I knew I woidd get no justice in a South 
Carolina court. Yo Republican could have justice in the most trivial 
ofiense. 

Q. Was not the compromise that certain proceedings against you were 
to be dropped?—A. I didn’t specify anything that came from them. I 
told the attorney, at the hotel, that I had nothing against them. The 
attorney came to me and told me that. Then we went into court, and I 
reiterated the same; that I was willing to drop it. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. To what place did they change this voting-place?—A. To the en¬ 
gine-house, from the c6urt-house. 

Q. About what distance ?—A. About the distance of a square. 

Q. Had there been any public notice about that ?—A. Yo, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was that a suitable place to hold it at?—A. Yot as suitable as tlie 
Other. Well, it was suitable. 


312 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


EDGAE J. DOUGLAS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 23, 1879. 

Edgar J. Douglas (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. At Stateshurg precinct, 
Sumter County. 

Q. How long have yon resided there?—A. Ever since I was horn 
there. 

Q. Were you present during the last camiiaign in that county?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did take any part in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what you saw at that place in the way of armed inen, inter¬ 
ference with voters, &c.—A. On the niglit before the election I saw 
white men, members of the Democratic party, coming in from all parts 
of the county to Stateshurg. They came in wagons, buggies, and on 
horseback. During the night they kept ui> a great firing, in volleys 
and single shots. On the morning of the election I was making my 
way to the polls very early, when I was overtaken by a large crowd of 
white men behaving themselves very disorderly. I was to act as super¬ 
visor of election. I took my place in the building where the election 
was to be conducted. A while afterward J. J. Dargan, after seeing a 
large crowd of colored men come uj) to vote, asked his men to close up 
around the polls. They staid there for two hours, playing drunk and 
hollering and pulling everybody around there, and threatening, and 
one white man in the crowd cut two colored men with knives. 

Q. How do you know that ?—A. I knew the two men personally. 

Q. Who were they?—A. Henry Addison and Henry Bowles. 

Q. By whom were they cut ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. Were there any further difficulties ?—A. The white men would 
snatch tickets from the hands of the Eepublicans and place Democratic 
tickets in their hands. In this way they would make some Eepubhcans 
vote the Democratic ticket unbeknownst to themselves. 

Q. What do you know about the count of the votes ?—A. I got to 
the polls about five minutes after six o’clock. I had about two acres 
to walk, and I started about ten minutes before six. I guess they had 
about 300 names polled already. 

Q. Three hundred names on the list by five minutes after six?—A. 
Yes, sir. There was a large crowd of white men there which had been 
there all night. I asked could I take those names oft* the iioll-list, 
and they gave me very slight answer. After the crowd came in to vote 
I was told I could not have it now; I must do the best I could in that 
particular. When the counting of the votes came there was found to 
be 807 names on the poll-list. I had but 550 or 500 names. 

Q. Were any tissue tickets found in the box?—A. Yes, sirj a great 
deal. 

Q. How many?—A. Three hundred or more. 

Q. Did you count them at the time?—A. I took an estimation of about 
three hundred. 

Q. Did you see any tissue tickets left at the polls during the day?— 
A. Yes, sirj I didn’t see them until late in the afternoon j then I saw 
some. 

Q. Where ?—A. On the table. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF EDGAR J. DOUGLAS. 313 

Q. Did you see any of tliem voted ?—A. I didn’t see a single one 
voted, sir. 

Q. Who were the managers at that poll ?—A. P. P. Gilliard, James 
Pryson, and John Buckner. P. P. Gilliard acted as clerk. 

Q. Was there a Democratic supervisor?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he keep any list ?—A. He kept no list. 

Q. Did you keep a list of all that voted after you got there?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Were all the tissue tickets counted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were the tissue tickets all Democratic tickets ?—A. Yes, sir; every 
one of them, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was this a town?—A. No, sir; it is a country place. 

Q. There is no town there?—A. No, sir; there is a small collection of 
houses. 

Q. How many houses are there about there ?—A. Not very many. 

Q. What do you mean by not very many?—A. I suppose fifteen or 
twenty. 

Q. Are there any stores there?—A. I think there are about three 
stores. 

Q. It is a little village, then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far did you live from the polling-place ?—A. About a quarter 
of a mile. 

Q. Where were the polls held that day?—A. At an unusual place; on 
the place of Dr. W. W. Anderson, sr. 

Q. In a house ?—A. In a very large building that used to be a wood- 
shop. 

Q. A vacant building?—A. Yes, sir; it was vacant at that time. 

Q. To whom did it belong?—A. To Dr. W. W. Anderson. 

Q. Why did you say it was an unusual place?—A. Because the elec¬ 
tion was never held there before. 

Q. Where had it been held before?—A. It used to be near these 
stores, about the center of the village. 

Q. How far was this away from the stores ?—A. About a quarter of a 
i mile. 

I Q. Was the place easily found and easy of access?—A. Yes, sir; I 
I guess it was about two or three acres from the public road. 

Q. There was no trouble in getting there ?—A. No, sir; once you knew 
where it was. 

Q. The election had not always, before that, been held in the same 
place?—A. No, sir. The same idace was offered this time, but they 
would not accei)t it. 

Q. Why not ?—A. I don’t know why, unless it was because that place 
belonged to a Republican. 

Q. When the Republicans were in power they held the election in a 
Republican’s house, and when the Democrats came into power there 
they held the election in a Democrat’s house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that what made it unusual?—A. Yes, sir, to me. 

Q. You say that quite a number of Democrats came into Statesburg 
the night before election; can you name them?—A. No, sir; not per¬ 
sonally. 

Q. Are you well acquainted in that part of the county?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And did not know any of these ?—A. I didn’t see any of them in 
the face. 




314 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Sumter 


Q. DM you see any of them at the polls!—A. A large nuniher of 
T\iiite men from other precincts were tliere that I didn’t knoAv; some of 
them may have been these men. 

Q. AYhat number of colored votes were polled there that day!—A. I 
think about between 480 and .485. No, I will take that back; on the 
count of the votes there were 270 Kepnblican votes counted in that 
box. 

Q. How many colored persons voted!—A. About 485. 

Q. And about 270 Kepnblican votes were counted out!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You staid there wliile the count went on, did you not!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. They counted the votes in the ballot-box wheli it was opened, did 
they not!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. None were put in after they quit voting!—A. Not to my knowl¬ 
edge. 

Q. Then you do not know but some of these colored people voted the 
Democratic ticket !—A. Well, I was told- 

Q. You need not state what you were told. Do you know they did 
not vote the Democratic ticket!—A. No, sir; of course I don’t know. 

Q. There are colored Democrats in that precinct, are there not!—A. 
Yery few, sir. 

Q. But there are some!—A. Yes, sir; there are some. 

Q. You say when you got there in the morning there were some 300 
names on the poll-list!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you count them!—A. From my poll-list I counted them. 

Q. That is the only way you counted them!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You mean your poll-list was that much short of the other !—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not count the number on their poll-list when you went 
there in the morning!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say that the number of ballots in the box was about 870 !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you count the tissue tickets!—A. Y'es, sir. 

Q. Did you keep a count of them at that time!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you make any list of them!—A. Yes, sir; just as they took 
them out. 

Q. You counted them separately from the others!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no effort to prevent any one from voting that day who 
wanted to vote, was there!—A. I should call it so. 

Q. What effort was made in that direction!—A. On the occasion of 
the Democrats getting around the polls, which frightened a good many 
Kepublicans away from the polls that day. 

Q. Is it an uncommon thing for voters of any party to gather around 
the polls when the voting is going on!—A. No, sir; it is not. 

Q. You speak about two men being cut with knives that day; did you 
see that!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State how it occurred.—A. While they were there around the polls 
the white men came up unbeknownst to them, and began to pull and 
haul at them, and cut them. 

Q. Did you see that!—A. No, sir. 

Q. How did you know about it!—A. I was told so. 

Q. You said that you saw it done; then I asked you to describe it, 
and now you say you did not see it done.—A. I didn’t see the cutting; 
I saw the men after they were cut, and 1 saw the fuss that was going on 
when they were cut. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF EDGAR J. DOUGLAS. 


315 


By Mr. Ca^ieron : 

Q. How many colored Democrats are there in that vicinity Xot 
more than 50. 

Q. How many colored Eepuhlicans^—A. About 470 or 480. 

Q. How many white Democrats A. N^otto exceed 82 or 83. 

Q. Are there not white Bepuhlicans in that precinct ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many colored men voted, as near as you could fix the num¬ 
ber?—A. Between 550 and 500. 

Q. How do you account for there being' only 270 Bepublican votes in 
the box?—A. I caift say from my own personal knowledge, but only 
trom what was stated to mej I was told that votes that were taken out 
were not counted. You see the way of it was this: here sat the chair- 
inan of the board of managers j here was the clerk; and here on the otlier 
side of the clerk was the other managers; back of tliern sat another man 
who was not an ofiicer. I sat over here. 1 was told afterwards that 
every time this man got a chance he would pull half a dozen or fifty Be¬ 
publican votes out at a time, and not count them; and so they came out 
short at the end of the count. 

Q. Were you satisfied on the day of the election that the colored men 
generally were voting the Bepublican ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Bandolph : 

Q. How many precincts are there in Sumter County ?—A. I think 
there are about 32, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Did you see this man standing back there that you were told took 
those tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was he?—A. He was a stranger to me and didn’t belong to 
that precinct at all. 

Q. Did you ever see him before?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you ever seen him since?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Y"ou were there to see that the tickets were counted out as they 
were put in, were.you not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And so far as you could see they were?—A. So far as I could see. 

Q. Who told you that this man was taking out and destroying Bepub¬ 
lican tickets ?—A. A colored man; I could not name him. 

Q. I wish you would try to remember his name.—A. (After some hesi¬ 
tation.) I think his name was Charles Gale. 

Q. Where did he live ?—A. At Statesburg. 

Q. Did he tell you that he saw this man take out the tickets ?—A. 
Yes, sir; and some others. 

Q. Give the names of some others ?—A. I don’t think I could; there 
were others who were mth him. 

Q. The tickets were first taken out of the box by one of the managers 
and counted, were they not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were then put back into the box and counted out?—A. No, 
sir; they tallied them and then put back in the box, and then they 
counted how many votes there were belonging to the several candidates 
on the tickets. 

Q. You saw them counted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And certified that the count was all right ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did this man tell you he saw those votes taken?—A. Just 
as soon as I got out of the place there. 

Q. That night?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you say anything about it that day ?—A. No, sir. 



316 SPUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. [Sumter 

Q. Was the man who had taken the votes out there then ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. You say he was a stranger to you!—A. A stranger to me, sir. 

Q. He was not one of the officers!—A. No, sirj he was not one of the 
officers. 


BUTLEE SPEAES. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

Butler Spears (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside !—Answer. In Sumter. 

Q. How long have you resided there!—A. All my life j I was raised 
there. 

Q. State the occurrences at the meeting at Sumter on the 12th of Oc¬ 
tober last.—A. There was a meeting at Sumter which had been adver¬ 
tised for some time previously to come off on the 12th of October, that 
Congressman Eainey was to address. A great many Eepublicans came 
in, and equally as many Democrats. The Democrats were mounted and 
armed. They came there in conii)anies, from three or four counties. 
They were there from Eichland County, bringing two pieces of cannon; 
from Clarendon County, and from Darlington County. The meeting did 
not begin until late in the day, because the leading Eepublicans did not 
<jome out. They had a stand erected down at the depot. When we 
marched down there the Democrats were marching all around the town. 
We formed the x^rocession upon Main street and marched down to the 
dex)ot. The Democrats marched and formed right in front of our stand 
where we were; some came right uxi among us. Now and then they 
would fire off one of their x)ieces of cannon. We had our meeting not¬ 
withstanding; Coghlan and myself siioke. We started to march the 
€rowd back; the Democrats crowded around, and I thought it better to 
march away and disband our people at the edge of town. When I at- 
temxited to march our peoxile away, the cavalry went ux) the back streets, 
and some of the infantry—the comxiany that stays in town—formed a 
line across the way; then there was a cavalry company on each side of 
us and an infantry comxiany in front of us. I thought there was going 
to be trouble. I thought so the more as just then the fire-bells com¬ 
menced ringing. I looked both ways, and there was a cavalry comxiany. 
I started to march back to the depot, and there were the infantry. I 
told the xieoxfie they had better go away. By that time the Democrats 
commenced crowding around me to get me out of my buggy. Mr. Fraser, 
chairman of the Democratic party, told me to jump out of the buggy 
and run into the crowd. I told him I would not do it. I kexit tell¬ 
ing the xieoxile to go off the street. Fraser told me get away as soon as 
I could; and I did. The Democrats halted before loading their camions; 
then the colored people commenced to go off* the streets. They loaded 
their cannon with nails, then they carried it ux) to the court-house, where 
Coghlan was telling the xieoxile what to do. 

Q. They took a cannon loaded with nails up to the court house!—A. 
They took it up toward the court-house. Then 1 went home. I heard 
that everything was quiet down street, only one man was hurt. Going 
down street, I heard somebody say, There the fellow is now.” They 
were fixing tin horns and things to serenade Mr. Coghlan and others. 
I went around a back street; as they kex)t coming my horse got excited 




Coimty.] 


TESTIMONY OF BUTLER SPEARS. 


317 


and began to run, and they tired eight or ten shots after ns. I met a 
lot of colored men going lip town. I stopped and went back and in¬ 
quired who they were that had shot at me. But I never found out 
exactly. 

Q. How many mounted and armed men were there in all ?—A. There 
must have been twelve or tifteen hundred, if not more. 

Q. With what were they armed ?—A. With Winchester rifles, Kem- 
ington rifles, and any number of pistols, and those two pieces of artillery 
which they had brought down from Columbia the night before. 

Q. Hid they tire at yon, did yon say?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men were there in the crowd that followed after yon ?— 
A. I judge there must have been eight or ten, as 1 looked back at them 
from my horse. 

Q. Witli what were they armed?—A. I do not know. 

Q. At what time was this ?—A. It was just dark. 

Q. What were those cannon—iron or brass ?—A. I cannot say posi¬ 
tively ; they were painted dark, but I think they were brass. 

Q. Did yon know they came from Columbia?—A. Yes, sir; I was at 
the depot when they came; they Avere taking them off while I was there. 
I had heard they were going to bring cannon from Columbia, and I went 
down to see them when they came. 

Q. How many persons came with them ?—A. Eight or ten, in artillery 
uniform. 

Q. How did they march?—A. They had two mules drawing each piece, 
and there was a man standing upon each canon with his arms folded in 
this way (illustrating). Epperson and Hardee were the two men whose 
mules were attached to the cannon as they were brought up to Academy 
Green. 

Q. When did the tiring commence?—A. About one or two o’clock in 
the morning they commenced tiring, and tired till about six o’clock ewery 
two or three minutes. They jarred the AAundow-glass out of some houses 
near around there. 

Q. Were you at the polls in Sumter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what occurred there on the day of election.—A. I had charge 
of the Republican tickets, and exhibited them around, and went from 
place to place. It was very difficult for me to get up where they had 
the election; it was upstairs over a store; there was a very narrow stair¬ 
way that led up to the place in there where the polls were held. I could 
not get up the stairs scarcely, and appealed to the constables, but they 
Avould .not do anything. I went to the United States deputy marshal, 
and explained, and asked him, could not he do something? He said 
he could not. So we had quite a time to get up and doivn; some old 
men and crippled men could not get to the polls at all. When crippled 
Democrats came and wanted to vote the managers Avould bring the ballot- 
box downstairs and let them vote. Mr. Richardson, a laAvyer there, 
was a cripple; the managers brouglit the box down so that he could 
vote. 

Q. Were you present at the canvassing of the vote?—xA. Some iiart 
of the time I Avas. 

Q. Were there any irregularities?—A. Yes, sir; anybody and eA^ery- 
body counted; oneAAmuld get tired and then one of the bystanders Avould 
coulit a while. During the day I saAV from the a\ ay things were going 
on that there was something wrong. I thought they AA^ere counterfeit¬ 
ing our ticlvets. A colored Democrat came to me and said he would 
show me something if I AAmuld say nothing about it. I told him that I 


318 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


would not. He then showed nie ten or fifteen little tickets all i)ressed 
together. He said, ‘‘They gave me that to vote just now.” 

Q. How many tickets were there folded together ?—A. I think there 
were sixteen. 1 called in anothei' colored Democrat and we showed it 
to him. Then he said if that was the way they were doing he would 
not have anything to do with them. I went to some white Democrats 
and asked them what they thought. I went to General Moise among 
the rest. They said they did not agree to any such thing as that ; that 
they thought it frauds and did not have anything to do with it. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Mr. Spear, what position, if any, do you hold in the county ?—A. 
I am jailer. 

Q. How long have you been jailer ?—A. About two years. 

Q. Did you preside at the Sumter meeting on the 12th of October ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At a meeting that was held at Emanuel Church?—A. A platform 
was erected near the church. 

Q. Was there any disturbance at that meeting?—A. Il^^ot right at the 
church, there was not. 

Q. Did any one interrui^t you at that meeting ?—A. l^^o, sir. 

Q. Then the meeting itself was orderly and quiet ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That meeting was called by direction of Mr. Lee, the countj^ chair¬ 
man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was Mr. Lee himself present?—A. IsTo, sir; he said he would be 
killed if he came out, so he did not come. 

Q. So you and Mr. Coghlan were the speakers at that meeting ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you a member of the legislature at any time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In what year ?—A. In 1868 and 1869. 

Q. Were you in the legislature in 1872?—A. 17o, sir. 

Q. Did you never swear that you were elected to the legislature in 
1872 ?—A. I don’t remember certainly just now. 

Q. Did you not serve one term in the legislature of 1872 ?—A. I think 
it was 1872. 

Q. Then it was not in the years you stated a moment ago ?—A. l^^o, 
sir ; but I was commissioner at that time. 

Q. You voted for Mr. Patterson for United States Senator on that 
occasion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You stated in an affidavit taken on the 21st of November, 1877, 
concerning that and other matters, that you were under obligations to 
Mr. Patterson, and for that reason voted for him, and that you election¬ 
eered for Mr. Patterson, and sent members to him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And told these members that they would be taken care of ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you mean by that ?—A. I meant that he had befriended 
me, and that I thought he would them also. 

Q. In what special manner had he befriended you ?—A. He had given 
me an appointment on the State constabulatory, which I held for fifteen 
months or thereabouts. 

Q. In the legislature of 1872 you voted for what was known as the 
“ printing bill ” ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you get anything for voting for that bill ?—A. I think I did, 
sir; I don’t remember. 

Q. Then, as a member of the legislature of 1872, you received pay for 


County.] TESTIMONY OF J. H. STEWART. « 319 

voting for the printing hill ?—xA. I did not receive pay for voting for the 
printing hill. 

Q. From whom did you receive it?—A. It was sent to me: I don’t 
know what for nor why, scarcely. 

Q. You swore on the 2d of Novemher, 1877, that you were elected to 
the legislature of 1872, and served one termj that you voted for the 
■claim of the Bepuhlican Printing Company, in consideration for which 
one A. Q. Jones paid you a certain sum of money?—A. I never said in 
consideration for a sum of money. 

Q. Your words are here in this report.—A. Prohahly they are; I don’t 
know what they put down; I never read what they have got down there. 
I went before the committee there, and I don’t know what they done, 
nor I never seen what they put down. 

Q. You say that twelve or fifteen hundred mounted men came into 
Sumter that day?—A. I think there were that many. 

Q. And that toward the dusk of the evening some of them fired upon 
jou ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You don’t know who they were?—A. I think I do, hut I won’t say 
positively. 

Q. Have you never said at various times and to different people that 
there was no disturbance of your meeting at Sumter on the 12th of 
'October?—A. Yes, sir; and there was not, at the stand, sir. 


J. H. STEWxAKT. 

Charleston, January 23,1879. 

J. H. Stewart (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. At Sumter. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. Four months. 

(,). Were you there during the last election ?—A. I was. 

Q. Had you anything to do with the election?—A. I acted as clerk 
for the supervisor of the precinct in the town of Sumter. 

Q. Who was the supervisor ?—A. Samuel Lee. 

Q. Did you take any part in the campaign or in any of the transac¬ 
tions connected with the election ?—A. Some time before the election I 
was at Eafting Creek, where the Pepublicans were holding a meeting. 
I was living in Camden. The meeting at Eafting Creek was held on the 
31st of October at eleven o’clock. I was notified to speak. When I 
arrived on the grounds, which belonged to the colored people, and at 
the building at which the meeting was to take place, which was a church 
called Good Hope Church, I noticed that everything looked quiet. There 
were only two colored persons there. I inquired the reason, for the time 
had passed for ,the meeting to assemble. No one could account for it. 
I sat down and waited for some one to come. Pretty soon my attention 
was called to a noise upon the bridge near the church like the tramping of 
a big crowd of horses coming over the bridge. Very soon there came 
in sight a company of about forty men on horseback. They rode into 
the church-yard, yelling and whooping and keeping up a horrible noise. 
AVhen they saw me they asked me why the meeting Avas not going on. 
I did not know, and could not tell them. I heard one man say to another 
that the negroes were scared, and so kept aAvay. I waited there some 
five or ten minutes longer, Avhen another s(iuad of horsemen came in. 


320 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


forty or fifty in nn mber. A little while after that another, and then another 
squad of horsemen rode up, until there was about two hundred mounted 
men there. After waiting for some time, Mr. Lee put in his appearance, 
and Mr. Goghlan and Mr. Walker from the town of Sumter, who had 
been expected to address the meeting. Tliey came after this crowd of 
horsemen had arrived, on the ground. They were saluted with yells and 
groans, and every sort of contemptuous abuse. Mr. Dargan, a leading 
Democrat who was in the crowd of horsemen, asked wliy the meeting 
had not commenced. I noticed prominent among the white men there, 
Mr. Dargan, Mr. Earle, and Marion Moise. Dargan and Earle asked 
why the meeting had not commenced. They declared that the meeting 
should be called to order within an hour’s time, or Sam. Lee should be 
taken forcibly back to Sumter. Lee protested against his time being 
limited for calling the meeting to order. He said he was not the 
person who had authority to call the meeting to order; that the precinct 
chairman Avas the person on whom that duty dev olved. They said it 
did not matter; if the meeting was not called to order within one hour 
Lee would be forcibly taken back to Sumter. Lee said that he would 
remain there, but it might be longer than an hour before the meeting 
Av^as called to order; that Avould depend upon the number of persons, 
Kenublicaiis, Avho might be in attendance. About tAventy or tAventy- 
fiA^e minutes afterward Mr. Eembert called the Democrats to order, and 
addressed them. Then he asked JMr. Lee to assist in addressing them. 
Lee said that this Avas not a Eepublican meeting; that he came out to 
deliver a Eepublican speech, and if he attenq)ted to address a Demo¬ 
cratic meeting with a Eepublican speech he might say something otfen- 
sHe to them, therefore he declined. Eembert then spoke some more. 

After a while, more Eepnblicans coming in, the Eepublican meeting 
Avas called to older by the i)recinct chairman, who Avas called upon for a 
si)ee(;h, and spoke for a short time. Then somebody in the croAvd called 
for Dargan. Dargan rose and mounted a wagon which Ave used as a xilat- 
forni. Lee Avas sitting in the rear of Dargan, on the same Avagon. In the 
course of Dargan’s remarks he arraigned the Eepublican party bitterly, 
and turned around and addressed his remarks to Lee, particularly, telling 
him that he and such as he, but Lee principally, was the cause of all the 
disturbance in the county, and that so long as he made these incen¬ 
diary speeches to the negroes there ahvays Avould be disturbance in the 
county. Dargan Avas A ery insulting to Mr. Lee, and in shaking his fin¬ 
ger in his face almost came in contact Avith Lee’s nose. Lee objected to 
such indignities, and rose to get doAA ii oft* from the AA^agon. Dargan 
said, “ Stay there; I want yon to remain and hear eA^erything I am to 
say; I am directing my remarks to you.” Lee continued to get doAvii 
out of the Avagoii, Avhen Dargan struck him a blow in his face which 
felled him to the ground. Considerable confusion folloAved, in Avhich 
Lee Avas badly choked by some of the Democrats. After aAvhile they 
carried their threat into execution. They seized Lee forcibly. 

Q. Who seized him ?—A. Earle wus one AAdiom I recognized; seA^eral 
other of the Democrats assisted him. At that time I Avas a perfect 
stranger in Sumter and kneAv but few of the people there. Earle and 
others seized Lee, put him on horseback, and had him driA^en oft* to 
Sumter. 

Q. Did you see any other bodies of armed men, or knoAv of any other 
troubles, in that Aucinity !—A. I was in Sumter on the 12th of October. 
I am liAung there now. The 12th Avas the day appointed for a Eepubli¬ 
can mass meeting to advocate the election of Eainey to Congress. On 
the night of the llth, about tweh e o’clock, I heard the booming of can- 


County. 1 


TESTIMONY OF J. H. STEWART. 


321 


noil. It continued at intervals of about five minutes for probably an 
hour or two, then this continual booming of cannon ceased for some¬ 
time, but after awhile it was renewed again at a little longer intervals 
than at first. Then it ceased for awhile and again reoiiened in tlie 
morning about five or six o’clock and continued at probably a little lon¬ 
ger inteiwals, perhaps from ten to twelve minutes. About eight or nine 
o’clock the Itcpublicans from all over the county commenced gathering 
into town. 1 noticed also a great many Ifemocrats coming in, so that 
by about ten o’clock, or between ten and eleven, the town Avas filled 
Avith a large croAA'd of colored peojile, Ivei)ublicans, and a lai-ge ci'oaa d of 
mounted Democrats. 

By jNIr. Kirkavood : 

Q. AVere the Democrats armed ?—A. I am not clear as to A\diether I 
noticed that they Avere armed at that time. 1 did notice a little later in 
the day that they were armed. The colored people who had come to 
their meeting marched down the street and AA'ent to the grounds aa here 
they were to be addressed, at the Methodist church; it is called Eman¬ 
uel church. They AAere followed by those Democrats on horseback. 
AVhen the Democrats got to the depot they halted and drew up in line, 
and continued the firing of cannon. The Bepublican meeting was called 
to order and addressed by Mr. Spears. After the meeting adjourned 
the colored people marched up the street and were soon followed by the 
Democrats. The colored people marched uj) the street to the court¬ 
house, and there were addressed again by Mr. Ooghlan. 1 didn’t go up 
so far as the court-house, so I shall just merely state what I saw myself. 
AVhen the people reached the court-house, I had got as far as the JarA^ey 
House, Avhich is, I believe, about half-way, or very nearly half-way from 
the depot to the court-house. My attention was called to the fact of 
Dargan and Earle riding \erj excitedly and hurriedly doAvn the street, 
and crying out, Men, get your arms ! Get your arms quick ! a riot is 
about to ensue up here, and you are wanted to put it down ! ” Then I saw 
other men on horseback dismount A^ery quickly. Some of them ran into 
the Jarvey House where I was and brought out their arms, which they 
had left there j mostly rifies. Then a large crowd of mounted men gal¬ 
loped aAvay as fast as they could down to the depot, and soon returned. 
They hadn’t all of them left their arms at the Jarvey House. I don’t 
know AA here they all got their arms from. I saAV them soon return at 
full speed from the direction of the depot Avith their arms. There AA^ere 
three or four hundred horsemen, all armed Avith rifles. They galloped 
up to the scene Avhere Dargan and Earle had said the riot had com¬ 
menced, or was about to commence; they alleged that the riot Avas 
about to occur at tlie court-house; I didn’t see what they did further 
than that they formed in line of battle, and went on u]) toA\ ard the court¬ 
house. I saw them cross the street just before you come to the Jarvey 
House, between the colored Baptist church and the JarAey House. 
Pretty soon afterAA ard I saw a cannon drawn up the same street to the 
scene of confusion. The cannon was loaded wdth tenpenny nails, and 
Avas pointed in the direction of the colored people. 

By the Chair:\ian : 

Q. Did yon say you saw the cannon yourself ?—A. Yes, sir; I saAv the 
cannon myself j and the News and Courier stated that it w as loaded 
Avith tenpenny nails. I saw the account in the NeAvs and Courier, and 
heard it rumored all OA^er the State. On that day we had to conceal 
Mr. Lee on account of many threats being made against him. We pre¬ 
vailed upon him to seclude himself, for the air was filled with threats as 

21 s c 


322 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[ Sumter 


to liis being' l 3 'nclie(lf in fact some of tlie delegation frojii Kershaw 
County—some of the mounted Democrats from Kersha'W County who 
knew me—hollered out Where is Sam Lee*? we want him to-day.” I 
told him I was not Sam Lee’s keeper, and they passed on. 

Q. Was there anj’ riot there at all!—A. Yes, sir j one McFadden was 
beaten pretty badly with a gun. 

Q. Was he white or black!—A. He Avas a colored man. 

Q. Were an^' white men hurt there that day!—A. I don’t know that 
I ever heard of anj^ 

Q. Were 3^011 at anj' other i>lace AA^here there were an}' armed men 
during the campaign!—A. Kot during the cami)aign. 

Q. Were 3 'ou clerk for Mr. Lee on the daj^ of election !—A. I w as. 

Q. Were you present wLen he opened the box!—xl. I Avas. 

Q. Did 3 'ou keep the list!—A. I did. 

Q. Hoav man}' names Avere there on that list!—A. I think there were 
the names of G50 men. I kept the names of colored and Avhite in sepa¬ 
rate columns. I think the colored men numbered 006, and the whites 44. 

Q. What AA'as the result of opening the box !—A. I kept my i)oll-list 
A'ery carefully. When I w'ent up at first the Avhite men A'oted very 
rapidly. Th% crowded around there so thickly for some time that it 
seemed as if they were trying to keep out the colored men. I had to 
write as last as I could; I Avas in a A'ery inconvenient place for writing. 
As soon as the croAvd slackened a little I went down into a more con- 
A^enient place, and Avas careful to have eA^ery name taken doAA'ii. The 
colored people Avere challenged on different pretexts, generally on ac¬ 
count of not liaA'ing arrived a.t the right age. It was claimed of many 
that they had A'oted before. About twelve or one o’clock a colored man 
brought me a small ticket of tissue paper, and told me he had reason to 
believe that a good many of these tickets Avere being voted, and that 
that w'as the Avay the Democrats intended to carry the election. That 
Avas the first tissue ticket I had noticed. A little later jVIr. Moise, who 
was a close observer of the election, and w'ho w'as there in the interests 
of the Democratic party, came to me—this was between three and four 
o’clock—and asked me to let him see my lAoll-list. I did so. He 
said, ‘^Yoii liaA'en’t got so many names on your list as we haA'e on 
ours.” I said, ^^The mistake must be yours, for I haA'e been A'ery 
careful to put down eAwy name.” ^^WeU,” he said, ‘tyou have got 
many names less than w'e haA'e.” At the close of the poll I was A'ery 
curious to account for this discrepancy between the two lists. Before 
they commenced to count the A'otes the clerk of the managers com¬ 
menced to number the names on his poll-list. I commenced to number 
the names on my lAoll-list about 12 o’clock, as soon as the A'oting began 
to slack up. The clerk did not commence to number his until they had 
finished A^oting. When he had finished numbering the names on his list 
we compared the number of names on our lists. His list had 861 names 
on it and mine 650, making a difference between his poll-list and mine of 
211 names. The superA'isor, Mr. Lee, asked to be allowed to look at 
their list. I think they granted him the right to do so. He examined 
it, and I, myself, looked it over. I saw that there were A'ery many 
names there upon that list which were not called out at all that day. I 
noticed several names AA^hich were very peculiar. What struck my at¬ 
tention particularly was that these names came all crowded up together, 
which rendered it impossible for me to haA^e made the mistake. If there 
had been a name here and a name there that I didn’t recollect I might 
have thought that it was my mistake, but the names came, a good many 
of them, in regular order. I did not have time to read the poll-list 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF Jo H. STEWART. 


323 


tliroiigii entirely, but I took a casual glance at it. When the baUots 
were counted 1 was careful to be present. I made a note of the tissue 
ballots that were found in the box. I counted 214 of these small tickets, 
only one of which I had seen during the day. Mr. Lee, I believe, ob¬ 
jected to these tickets being counted, but the managers insisted they 
should be counted, and they were counted. 

Q. Were the managers Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were the tissue tickets that were found all Democratic tickets?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Having the same names upon them as those upon the regular 
Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. On that day when the meeting was held in Sumter at the church, 
when you spoke of people marching down past the depot, was it the 
Eepublicans that formed a procession and marched down ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the Democrats followed on and marched with them !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. AYas there a cannon in either procession !—A. I am not very clear 
as to that. 

Q. Did you go down to the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say when the Democrats reached the depot they halted there ? 
—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. How far was the church from the depot ?—A. I suppose about 120 
yards. 

tQ. AVas the cannon fired while the Eepublicau meeting was being 
held?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AA^here were the cannon then?—A. They were at the depot at that 
time. 

Q. Was the noise such as to interfere with the Eepublicau meeting 
going on T —A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. The cannon spoke louder than the speakers could ?—A. Y'es, sir. 

Q. Was the firing kept up during the time the speaking was going 
on ?—A. Yes, sir. I am not very clear as to whether it was kept up 
regularly, but I know that I heard some reports while the speaking was 
going on at the church. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a school-teacher. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. At the Eafting Creek meeting, were you interrupted while you 
were speaking ?—A. I was interrupted by Mr. Earle and Mr. Dargan 
asking me questions. 

Q. They simply asked you questions ?—A. Yes, sir. But they were 
not questions put for me to answer j they were not put in a respectful 
manner—in a manner which a speaker would take to be a respectful 
manner; they were put in a taunting manner, and plainly for the pur¬ 
pose of interrupting the speech, not for the purpose of being answered. 

Q. You went on speaking ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The only interruption there was, so far as you were concerned, were 
these questions, to which you paid no attention?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Mr. Lee did not undertake to speak there that day ?—A. I am not 
very sure about that. I think Mr. Lee did commence to speak at one 
time. 

Q. Did he not say it was not his business to call the meeting to order, 
and decline to speak ?—A. He did decline several times to speak; but I 


324 


SOOTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


Sumter 


think at one time, after they were continually persuading* him to speak, 
he said a little something. If my memory serves me right, it was when 
they tried to get him to speak at the Democratic meeting. They stopped 
him and said that was not the way they Avanted him to speak. He said 
since he had not had the adAmntage of their instruction he did not knoAV 
how to speak to suit them. 

Q. Then you think he did make a short speech ?—A. I think he at- 
temi^ted to speak, and they stop])ed him, saying that Avas not the kind 
of a speech they AAmnted. 

Q. What other Eepublican speakers spoke besides yourself and Lee ?— 
A. I think one Wiley spoke a few AA^ords. 

Q. He AA*as not iiiAuted, was he—A. I don’t know whether he was 
or not. 

Q. Did any jicrson attempt to commit any act of Auolence toAvard you 
that day ?—A. Not at all. The reason of that was, they said I Avas a 
stranger. 

Q. Nor toward IMr. AYiley f—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say the reason Avhy they did not commit any act of Auolence 
toward you was because you were a stranger!—A. They said I was not 
liAung there; I was a stranger, and they would not trouble me. And 
some one from KershaAv said, Let him be heard.” As I understood it, 
he said jocularly, “Let Kershaw be heard from.” 

Q. That was said good humoredly, was it not ?—A. I aa ould not say 
it was not. 

Q. You say that public notice had been given in the x)apers of the 
Eepublican meeting at Sumter on the 12th of October f—A. 1 don’t knoAV 
about its being published in the papers. 

Q. Public notice had been given of it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had not public notice been given of the Democratic meeting there 
that day ?—A. I knew there was to be a Democratic meeting held there 
that day. 

Q. You heard that before the meeting took i^lace ?—A. I didn’t hear it 
before our meeting was announced, but 1 heard it before their meeting 
took place. 

Q. Do you not know that a delegation came doAAm from Columbia to 
attend the Democratic meeting ?—A. I think I did hear something about 
that. 

Q. So that the news that a Democratic meeting was to be held there 
had gone as far as Columbia, and persons came down from Columbia to 
’ attend it—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see Johnson Hagood there that day f—A. I heard that he 
was there. I don’t myself knoAA" the gentleman. 

Q. These cannon AA^ere brought doAAm from Columbia, Avere they not!— 
A. 1 believe so. 

Q. Did you not hear that they came down on the train ?—A. I think 
I understood so. 

Q. The firing at midnight on the night of the 11th was all done at the 
depot, was it not?—A. Eeally I don’t know exactly; I Avas in my room, 
so I could not answer for certain where it was. 

Q. Did you see the cannon anywhere else except at the depot until 
that one was brought up the street ?—A. I don’t recollect that I did. 

Q. Were they not leit at the depot on the train until they were taken 
back, except this one ?—A. I don’t know sir; I don’t know where the 
firing was done during the night. In the morning I saw them at the 
depot, about one hundred and twenty yards from the church ; I didn’t 


County.l TESTIMONY OF J. H. STEWART. 325 

see the guns again until after the scene of confusion occurred j then I 
saw this one. 

Q. You saw it going up towards the scene of disturbance ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And it was brought up there towards the depot ?—A. I don’t know 
whether it was or not; I only saw it going through a cross street. 

Q. From what direction ?—A. The depot is south from the church, 
and I saw it coming through the cross street that runs east and west. 
I first saw it when it turned this cross street and came up towards the 
eourt-house. 

Q. Did this cross street come up from the direction of the depot — 
A. There is another street that could have led from the depot. I didn’t 
see what street it came from when it came into this cross street. 

Q. Might it not have come from the depot as well as from anywhere 
else ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time did the Eepublican procession go down to the church 
that morning ?—A. If my memory serves me right it was between ele¬ 
ven and twelve. 

Q. How long did they stay at the church?—A. Not long; not longer 
than probably about an hour. 

Q. How many speeches were made there ?—A. I think three speeches 
were made. 

Q. By whom ?—A. By Mr. Spears, Mr. Coghlan—well, now I don’t 
know that there were more than two speeches 5 I know that Spears and 
Coghlan spoke. 

Q. You don’t know whether anybody else spoke or not ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was the meeting held in the house or outside of it?—A. Outside, 
on a platform erected near the church—-just against it. 

Q. Was it on the side towards the depot or on the other side?—A. 
On the side towards the depot. 

Q. And about 150 yards from the depot?—A. I said about 120yards 5 
I would not be exact as to the distance. 

Q. At the other meeting—the Democratic meeting at the depot—was 
there any speaking ?—A. I don’t know whether there was or not. 

Q. Did you remain at the Eepublican meeting until it was finished?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. You came away before it adjourned?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As you returned did you go by the Democratic meeting at the 
depot ?—A. Yes, sir; I had to go near by it in going to my houie. 

Q. When you passed up there was any person speaking at the Demo¬ 
cratic meeting ?—A. I don’t know; I think that there was somebody ad¬ 
dressing tliem. 

Q. A person standing on the railroad platform there by the depot 
would be in full view of both meetings, would he not ?—A. I don’t 
know 5 I think he would be able to see some of the parties at both meet- 
ings. 

Q. Is not the railroad platform between the two meetings ?—A. The 
railroad platform was nearer to the Democratic assemblage. 

Q. But betAveen the two ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Nearer the Democratic than the Eepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But near enough to see generally what was going on about that 
meeting ?—A. I should say so, sir. 

Q. There was nothing to obstruct the Anew between the railroad plat¬ 
form and your meeting ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You think the cannon Avas fired at the depot while your meeting 
was in progress?—A. Yes, sir. 


326 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 18*8. 


[Sumter 


Q. Was that not also while the Democratic meeting was in progress *?—- 
A. It may have been for aught I know, for I was not at the Democratic 
meeting. 

Q. Might it not have been that the cannon was fired when one of the 
speakers at the Democratic meeting was through and when another was 
about to commence ?—A. I am not clear as to that, sir. 

Q. Was it not a common thing for such an occurrence to take place!— 
A. Yes, sir; when it is not disagreeable. 

Q. There is nothing peculiarly disagreeable in firing a salute between 
speakers, is there !—^A. I don’t know that there is. 

Q. You have done that yourself, have you not, with an anvil!—A. I 
don’t think the Democrats were so glad to see oiu* meeting as to fii’e 
salutes in honor of it. 

Q. I am speaking about their firing salutes between the speeches at 
their own meetings—the Democratic meetings. Was there anything 
disagreeable about that! Have you not fired salutes in anvils between 
speeches at Eepublican meetings!—A. I don’t know about that. I 
heard rumors- 

Q. You heard a great many rumors, did you not!—A. I was sur¬ 
prised to see them go down to the depot. I understood they were to 
meet at a certain square or green there in town. 

Q. It may be that they were surprised to see you go down to the 
church. Was there anything in the call which designated the place 
where the Democrats were to meet!—A. I don’t know. I simi^ly heard 
it rumored that the meeting was to take place at this green. 

Q. Academy Green !—A. I believe that is the name j there is a monu- 
monument there. 

Q. You don’t know but they came down to the depot because it was 
convenient to these cannon which they had brought there to fire salutes 
with !—A. I don’t know but they could fire salutes as well on the green 
as at the depot; they did haul cannon up there, anyhow. 

Q. You did not go back up so far as the court-house after the meeting 
was over!—A. Eo, sir; I was not armed, and didn’t want to run any 
risks. 

Q. Other colored men there were armed, were they not!—A. I think 
not. I do not say but some colored men might have had pistols. 

Q. Did not Coghlan say there were arms down at the church !—A. 
that I know of, sir. 

Q. Did you not hear that there were !—A. Y^es, sir; but I heard it 
denied by the minister of the church and by the stewards, who know 
everything about the church. 

Q. You did not go into the church yourself!—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Do you not know that Mr. Coghlan himself was armed!—A. I don’t 
know it of my ovm personal knowledge. I have heard that he was. 

Q. Did you not see him have a pistol that day!—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say that when you got up to the court-house there was some 
excitement. Do you knoAv what was the cause of that excitement!—A. 
Xo, sir; I don’t. 

Q. Was it not a dispute between Mr. Coghlan and the Democrats in 
regard to what Coglilan had said at the meeting!—A. I don’t know, sir. 
I might say that I heard it rumored; but I don’t know. I only try to 
state ’what I know of my own personal knowledge. 

Q. Did you not hear it said that Coghlan had made a personal attack 
on Governor Hampton in his speech !—A. I think I heard so. 

Q. And that caused the difficulty u]) town !—A. I heard so. 

Q. You spoke about a colored man being hurt by some persons. Was 
not the man who was hurt intoxicated!—A. I don’t know about that, sir. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE 


327 


Q. Did he not get hurt while rushing in and interfering with a man 
who was about to be arrested for disorderly conduct?—A. I didn’t hear 
that. 

Q. You heard that he was arrested by two policemen ?—A. I think I 
heard that the Democrats had drawn up in line, and that this man went 
across or tried to go across the line, and was knocked down. 

Q. Did you know the man ?—A. Ko, sir; I did not. 

Q. Do you know whether he was intoxicated, or in the habit of being 
intoxicated ?—A. I don’t know anything about that. 

Q. There was not a shot fired there all that day, was there ?—A. I 
don’t know that there was. 

Q. You did not hear a shot fired ?—A. sir; I didn’t. 

Q. And when the disturbance was finally quelled, I will ask you 
whether the day’s proceedings did not wind up with what appeared to 
be general good feeling, and whether both parties did not go home with 
general good feeling!—A. I don’t know about the good feeling; I should 
not like to hazard any oi)inion as to that. I think they all went ofl:* 
quietly. 

Q. There was no further disturbance than you have mentioned ?— 
A. I don’t know that I heard of any. 

Q. I will ask you whether the leading men in the Democratic party 
did not exert themselves actively to have the disturbance quieted and 
peace restored?—A. I heard Mr. Dargan order his men to arm, if you 
mean put it down in that way. 

Q. Did not the leading Democrats take an active part in quelling the 
riot which seemed imminent ?—A. I heard so; but if that occurred it 
was at the court-house at the time when I was not there. 

Q. Did not Mr. Moise, and Mr. Fraser, and Mr. Eichardson, the can¬ 
didate for Congress, do what they could to quiet the disturbance ?— 
A. I don’t know; 1 was at the Jarvey House. 

Q. How far is that from the court-house ?—A. I suppose it is a quarter 
of a mile. 

Q. Then you were not near enough to see what took place at the court¬ 
house ?—A. I saw the cannon turn at the Jarvey House and go up the 
street toward the court-house, and I saw the men riding by; but I did 
not see what was done at the court-house. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Are you a lawyer by profession ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Eegularly admitted to the bar ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything about Mr. Spear being driven off from there 
and forced to go home f—A. No, sir; not of my own knowledge. 


CHAELES MOISE. 

Charleston, January 21,1879. 

Charles Moise sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. At Sumter. 

Q. Do you hold any official i)osition ?—A. I am county auditor^ 

Q. How long have you held that office ?—A. Since June 7, 1877. 

Q. Were you elected at the previous election?—A. No, sir; I was ap¬ 
pointed by Governor Hampton. 



328 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1876. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Is that an elective or an appointive office?—A. It is always an 
appointive office in this State. 

Q. To wliat political party do you belong?—A. To the Democratic 
party; that is, I call myself a Hampton Democrat. 

Q. Were you concerned in the late i)olitical canvass in that county; 
did you take part in the last election ?—A. IS^o, sir; not especially. 

Q. Did you give attention to political affairs in that county ?—A. I 
did, considerably. 

Q. State as briefly as you can the character of the canvass in that 
county, whether it was peaceful or otherwise; if there was any disturb¬ 
ance, speak of that ami the cause; and especially state the events in 
connection with the meeting of October 12 last, and any facts preceding 
that meeting that may tend to explain those events.—A. So far as I 
know, ui) to the time of the appearance of Samuel Lee upon the public 
political movements of the county, everything was entirely i)eaceful and 
quiet. It was generally believed that there Avould be no oi^position of 
any kind to the Democratic party, which was then in power and had 
given universal satisfaction to both parties, Eepublicans as well as Dem¬ 
ocrats. The first disturbance, so called, that occurred to my knowledge 
was at the convention held in the court-house, of which Lee was chair¬ 
man, and at which Col. John J. Dargaii made a speech. I was informed 
beforehand that he intended to speak there; and there were several 
young men, among them my son, who were called—I forget precisely 
what name; but they were supporters of Dargan, and theii’ business 
was to see that he was allowed to speak. The Eepublicans would not 
allow their men to come to our meeting. Democratic meetings, and the 
Democrats were determined to speak at their meetings, so that the col¬ 
ored people might know what the Democratic platform was and their 
movements and intentions toward the colored people. I never heard at 
that time, nor at any time, nor had I any reason to believe, that the 
Democrats had any intention of breaking up Eepulfiican meetings. 
Their purpose was to be heard at those meetings, so that colored people 
might know our purpose and intentions toAvard them. It was the only 
Avay in which the Democrats were able to reach the colored people. 

This first meeting at which the so-called disturbance took place was 
in the court-house. 3Iy office was below the court-house. I was in¬ 
formed that Mr. Dargan Avould speak. I paid some attention to what 
Avas going on, as my son was one of Dargan’s supporters. I went ui) into 
the court-house. On arriAung there I found considerable confusion. Col¬ 
onel Dargan was standing up and endeaA oring to speak. The Eepubli¬ 
cans Avere talking about confusedly. The colored people, to the number 
of about three hundred or four hundred, were in the (‘ourt-house, together 
AAuth a few white men. The first man that I met. Col. James B. John¬ 
son, was trying to get out of the court-house, followed by many colored 
people ; there were left only a few aa hite men—Colonel Dargan and a 
few others. At the time I entered the court-house Dargan was speak¬ 
ing in a very conciliatory manner to the Eepublicans. He said he Avould 
like to speak to them and give, them some plain truths; and if they did not 
like them, they must remember that he Avas endeavoring to treat them as 
his physician did him ; sometimes his ])hysician gaA^e him medicines that 
Avere not pleasant for him to take, but they were good in the end. He said 
that he might say some things that they iiiight not like at the time of hear¬ 
ing them, but they would be good for them in the end. He spoke A^ery 
briefly; as long as lie could keep them together he Avas dilating upon 
the advantages to be gained by the triumph of the Democratic party. 
When the croAvd had pretty much left the court-house he Avent to the 


€ounty.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. 


329 


front porcli of tlie court-house. He spoke to the people there to the 
same effect. He didn’t use a single unkind expression, but everything 
he said was kindly in the extreme to the colored people. He endeavored 
to show them that it was to their true interest to unite with the Demo¬ 
cratic party, and not follow corrui)t leaders. When I was coming out 
of the court-house I saw a young man, named Kerns, who was very 
drunk. The Democrats were trying to take a revolver away from him. 
He was so drunk that it was unsafe for him to be carrying a revolver; 
besides he was threatening to use it upon persons. Kerns was a white 
Democrat from Bishopville. His white Democratic friends succeeded 
in taking him down the steps. 

The Eafting Creek meeting I did not attend. I was present, however, 
when Lee was brought into town in a buggy. I Avas in my own office. 
I heard a great noise of cheering and confusion, and went out to see 
what was the matter. I saw Lee surrounded by a number of excited 
men. Lee aa as trying to get out, but they put him back. They had 
made a resolution, it seems, to bring him to the court-house; he wanted 
to go to his own house, a few squares or so from the court-house. In 
the mean time some of the police helped to carry Lee to the court-house 
steps, where they dismissed him. Lee’s wife came up very much alarmed. 
I told her “Don’t be alarmed; these gentlenven Avill not injure Mr. Lee. 
Their inotiA^e I don’t know, but I have no doubt that he Avill soon be 
released.” He was soon released, and went home. Butler Spear came 
up and said, “Mr. Moise, is this the way to get Democratic Amtes?” I 
said, “ Ko, sir; that is not the way to get Democratic Amtes.” I was very 
indignant; I didn’t approA^e of that sort of thing, and I said so to Mr. 
Spear. As to the meeting of October 12, I knew all that occurred- 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Before you reach that, let me ask you a question upon another 
})oint; at the time (loA^ernor Hampton was at Sumter, was there any 
difficulty with Lee ?—A. At that meeting, when GoAxrnor Hampton 
spoke at Sumter—I think the date was the 21st of September, though 
as to that I Avill not be positiA’e—:Sam Lee, who was on tlie ground near 
the stage, said, “GoA^ernor, I Avould like to ask you a question.” The 
Avords were no sooner out of his mouth than several persons rushed to- 
Avard him with Auolent gesticulations, with the intention, I thinlc, of kill¬ 
ing him, or hitting him, or doing him some personal liarin. I Avas at 
that time acting as reporter for the Columbia Eegister. I jumped up 
and seized one of the men who were rushing toward Lc^e, and said, “For 
God’s sake, gentlemen, don’t disturb this meeting; let Lee ask whateA^er 
he wants to.” It was as much as we could do—we Avhose heads were 
cool—to keep those men from making a disturbance. General Kennedy 
did his best to prevent there being any trouble. There has been con¬ 
siderable feeling against Lee on account of the part he took in the cam¬ 
paign, and the harsh and bitter language he used toward people who 
Avere entitled to respect. At one time there was a violent demonstra¬ 
tion toward him ; but the gwernor went doAA n and brought out Lee, and 
made a place for him on the stage; the gwernor then said he AAmuld 
gh^e Lee an opportunity to ask AvhateA^er questions he desired to ask, 
either publicly or prAat^ely; after some consultation betAveen the two, 
the governor announced that Lee had determined to take a |)riA'ate oc¬ 
casion for asking the questions. 

By ]Mr. Eandolpii : 

Q. So GoA^ernor Hampton gave Lee an opportunity to reinterrogate 
Iiim privately, but Lee declined ?—A. So the governor stated. 



330 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Now, go on and tell what next occurred.—A. The meeting at which 
Governor Hampton spoke was September 21, I think. The next move 
that I remember anything of was October 12. 

There has been a great mistake made in regard to the firing of artil¬ 
lery on that occasion. About half past two o’clock on the night before 
the meeting I heard an unusual noise, and got up j I was about three- 
quarters of a mile from the court-house. 

Q. Before going on with the account of this meeting of October 12, 
state whether General Moise was present at that meeting of September 
21—A. He was. 

Q. AVhat part did he take ?—A. He made great exertions to keep 
everything quiet; all the Democrats of any character or position did 
their best to put a stop to such demonstrations of violence. 

Q. What did your brother say as to Lee’s right to ask questions !—A. 
He said, ‘‘Let him ask anything he wants to ; the Governor will answer 
him, or I will.” There was no purpose on the part of any Democrat 
present, of any standing or character, to prevent his asking anything 
he chose ; his own cowardice was all that prevented him j Coghlan, or 
any man of any courage, could have gone on and said anything they 
pleased. 

Q. Now about the meeting of October 12!—A. The night before the 
meeting I saw General Hagood, the comj)troller-geueral of the State, 
who had been sent there by Governor Hampton to preserve the peace. 

Q. How long before that had the Democratic meeting been called !— 
A. For a long time. It had been known all over the county for several 
days that there were to be two i)olitical meetings at Sumter that day— 
one Democratic and one Eepublican. General Hagood and my brother. 
General Moise, and several leading Democrats of the county, had a meet¬ 
ing on the night of the 11th, at which arrangements were made by which 
it was hoped to avoid any trouble. They agreed upon a programme, 
which has been published, and which, no doubt, this committee has in 
its possession. 

Q. Who were the persons who met and made out that programme !— 
A. General Hagood, General Moise, Colonel Earle, Colonel Dargan, and 
all the leading Democrats there. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. To whom was that programme submitted as representing the Ke- 
publican party!—A. It was sent to Lee, as he was acting as chairman. 
It was then submitted to Spears, who was acting as chairman in the 
absence of county judge, the evening before this meeting. When I 
heard this firing, I got up and dressed and went down town, and I saw 
these cannon that had been bursted before, according to one of the wit¬ 
nesses. 

Q. What cannon was that!—A. This little iron cannon that they fired 
about three o’clock in the morning, and fired it until daylight. 

Q. Where was that!—A. It was what we call the court-house. 

Q. Did you see any cannon there mounted on wheels!—A. No, sir. 
They remained at the depot until about seven o’clock the next morning, 
and theu they commenced firing salutes, which was usual with these 
Democratic demonstrations. 

Q. Where were they then!—A. At the dexmt. 

Q. Salutes were fired at the depot!—A. Yes, sir. On the morning of 
this meeting October 12, everything appeared to be (piiet and peacea¬ 
ble on both sides. It was understood that the Democratic managers in- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. 


331 


tended to have peace there. Hampton had instructed his aids to pre¬ 
serve peace at any hazard in Sumter County, and it was understood by 
Democrats and Republicans that no disturbance would be allowed that 
day. There was a large number of Democrats there from that county 
and neighboring counties, and, I think, an unusually small demonstra¬ 
tion of Rex)ublicans. I went to the meeting myseif to see what was 
done there. Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Register, and Mr. Kimberly, a rei)orter 
ot the Columbia News and Courier, were guests at my house, and we all 
went together to see what was done. 

Q. It was held at the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where was the Democratic meeting held ?—A. It was held at the 
depot. 

Q. How far is that from the church ?—A. As far as from here to Saint 
Michael’s church (about one square distant). I went to the Republican 
meeting and remained there the whole time. 

Q. Was any firing at or over it ?—A. No, sir. There was firing occa¬ 
sionally at the Democratic meeting, but there was no cannon fired at 
them. 

Q- gnns fired at or over that meeting?—A. No, sirj nothing of 
the kind. I heard Coghlan and Andrews and Spears speak, and I 
thought they were all very moderate. I heard Mr. Coghlan remark 
about Mr. Hampton, and I don’t think it was a bad speech. I took no 
offense at it. He simj^ly said that Hamilton was the dog, and the others 
wagged the tail; but a good many did take offense, but I did not my¬ 
self. The meeting was x>erfectly peaceable and quiet, and there was no 
disturbance there at all. About the time of the closing of the meeting 
I returned to the Democratic meeting at the de|)ot, and went uj) to my 
brother. General Moise, and ]\rr. Seignois, and remarked to them how 
quiet it was, and how everything was going on quietly and harmoniously 
that day. As I was sj^eaking the Republican meeting adjourned, and 
they commenced marching back past us, gomg to town. As they got 
to the corner I saw a disturbance commencing there, or some excite¬ 
ment. I saw some men with red shirts on at the head of the Republi¬ 
can procession. My brother said, “ Charlie, there is danger in that 
crowd.” I said, ^‘What danger !” He said, ‘^This Republican x)ro- 
cession passing here with music and banners is going to excite our young 
men, and they cannot be controlled.” He had hardly said so, when fifty 
young men dashed off and started after them. They were cavalrymen. 
I said, Why don’t you imt a stop to it! You have control of the mili¬ 
tary and he said he would. He called Col. Brown Manning, and said, 
‘^Take a detail of men and stop that row.” He went, and returned in 
about ten minutes, and came to my brother and said he could not sto^) it j 
and I said to my l 3 rother, ^Hf he can’t stop it, put a man there who can 
stop it.” He then put General Johnson Hagood in his place. General 
Hagood j umx)ed on a horse and headed the column. He turned the column 
to a reverse position, and marched it down towards town by a back street. 
As soon as he commenced to march, the young men commenced to run for 
the town and ring the bell. Gen. Johnson Hagood would not allow the 
men to move out of a walk. They wanted to go faster, but he would not 
allow them to march out of a walk. He marched down by a back street, 
and I started to walk down Main street. I went with an old gentleman 
named Major Leland, but had to leave him behind, as he could not walk 
fast enougli for me, and I went on down to stoj) the riot if I could. 
When I arrived there Major Hagood was in the midst of the crowd, and 
tlie street was j^acked full of black peoi)le. Ton could not put a ])in 
between tliern 5 they were immovable. Gen. Johnson Hagood was in 


332 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


\ Sumter 


tlie midst of this mass, speaking to them and trying to quiet things. 
Five or six hundred cavalrymen were back of them, unable to come any 
farther on account of the crowd. Gen. Johnson Hagood was trying to 
quiet them, and was apparently unsuccessful. Mr. Johnson, a leading 
Kepublican, was trying to stop the riot also, and, I think, did more in 
that direction than any man, during the day. The colored people were 
massing in a square on the street, but had no leader and did not know 
what to do. I went up and asked them what was the difficulty. Mr. Ha¬ 
good said he did not knowj that there was no cause for a difficulty. Mr. 
Sdowers, a white Democrat, General Hagood, Dr. T. B. Johnson, and 
myself, did our best to quiet them. Johnson made a speech, and said 
they knew he was their friend j that* he would sustain them whenever 
they were right, but would not when they were wrong. He said, “ There 
is Hagood with a body of cavalrymen, and you had better let them pass, 
because they will pass anyhow, and you had better let them.” With 
great exertion, he induced them to separate and let them pass. That 
was the end of that difficulty, and that dispersed them. I then went 
on Main street, where there appeared to be another riot going on. I 
found a great many excited people there—young men whom I addressed, 
trying to prevent difficulty. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Who were these young men that you met ?—A. They were young 
Democrats—white men. They were excited by the colored ])eople on 
account of this attempt to block up the streets. I did what I could to 
succeed in quieting them. I knew that we had live men to their one, 
and that the colored people could not fight anyhow. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You were unarmed and they were not!—A. The white troops were 
armed, but there was no exhibition of arms except on the part of some 
militia who had drawn up in front of the court-house. I saw the dis¬ 
turbance of Coghlan on the steps of the court-house; I saw there was 
danger of trouble, and I went there myself and spoke to him in a very 
friendly manner, and asked him to come out of the way of difficulty; 
that there was liability of difficulty on account of what he had said, and 
that he had better come out. “Xo, sir,” said he, never run;” and 
he would not go. AVe said, ^AYe don’t doubt your courage; we all 
know you are courageous, but you must move;” but we could not move 
him. He is a man of a great deal of determination and courage, and 
very obstinate. The young men threatened to throw him over the ban¬ 
ister, and I did what I could to protect him. I thought it was a shame 
to insult him and threaten him. Finally we succeeded in getting him 
to go away. Dr. Baker, anotlier man, and myself took him as far as the 
line of military, and we got tlie military to allow him to go through, and 
when I found he was perfectly safe I let him go, and he went to his own 
house with Baker and these other men. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. That ended the trouble at tliattime?—A. Yes, sir; I never saw 
anything of the Butler Spears afiair at all. 

Q. You spoke about a large number of military being in town that 
day; what was the cause of so great a collection of military !—A. It was 
understood that the Kepublicans were coming to that nieeting armed, 
and come prepared for a difficulty, and those who managed the Demo¬ 
cratic cause thought it was best to, liave Democrats under arms and un- 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. ' 333 

tier orders. I believe myself if it hadn’t been for that large force there 
would have been a riot. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Protecting the blacks ?—A. Xo, sir; to protect the peace is Avhat I 
mean; and, it necessary, to kill the blacks to protect and preserve 
I)eace—and Avhites. The orders were from Hampton to preserve the 
peace at all hazards. 

Q. Well, aside from the organized military forces there that were 
under command of the number of armed men, Avas there any that car¬ 
ried military arms ?—A. I didn’t see any except those aa hich belonged 
to the cavalrymen. There AA'ere about forty men from one county and 
thirty from another. I suppose there was about betAveen four and liA^e 
hundred armed caAmlrymen there. 

Q. You say eA^erything was quiet until Lee commenced agitating ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was his course in that county as politician ?—A. His course 
was to stir up Bepublican bitterness that had been Imried in the last 
cantmss, and to reA Ia ify old stories. 

Q. What was his attack !—A. It aa as A^ery bitter and violent against 
white people. He endeaAmred to draAv^ the color-line and lead the col¬ 
ored people against the whites. I attribute the whole trouble in the 
county to his actions in that connection. I have no doubt if he had not 
been there, there woidd haA^e been no Beiniblican ticket there. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Ko Eepublican party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There would haA^e been peace f —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the character of his speeches as to exciting the Demo¬ 
crats ; did yon hear any of them ?—A. Ko, sir; I doift think I ever heard 
him speak at all. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. About what time did Lee interfere in this election ?—A. Well, as. 
near as I can recollect, about the middle of the summer. 

Q. Was it in August some timef—A. About July or August. 

Q. Had Lee been liAung in that county ?—Yes, sir; except when he 
was in Washington. 

Q. Is he a white man or a colored man ?—A. He is very near white. 
I wish he were white; if he Avere we would haA e had no trouble in that 
county. He is a light mulatto, with sandy and curly hair. He has a 
fair complexion, and is a very well informed man. 

Q. Has he any property there ?—A. No, sir; no property there at all. 
He has no means at all. I say that advisedly, because I am auditor of 
the county, and I know. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. I want to ask you with reference to the count, the number of qual¬ 
ified voters in that county?—A. Yes, sir; there is a very large error 
there in the supposed vote of the county. It is a great deal larger than 
it is supposed. Here is a memorandum that has been furnished to me; 
you can see what it is—that is my affidavit and statement. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You can give us the figures from that.—A. I make the total count 
of the vote in 1876—I mean the voting capacity of the county—7,165; 
in 1877, 7,553; in 1878, 7,682. 


334 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 187?. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Ko\y, liave you tlie white and black vote there ?—A. My figures 
are according to iaw j there is no distinction of color. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Can you state about what proportion of these voters are white and 
what colored ?—A. I can state only from my knowledge derived out¬ 
side of this. I think the ratio of colored voters to the whites was about 
two and a half to one in the last canvass. 

Q. ^Vhat did you know about colored men taking an active part for 
the Democratic ticket and voting for it?—A. I think there was a great 
many. I was estabUshed in a ward where I was stationed that day 
where I could observe, and I saw a large number vote what I supposed 
to be the Democratic ticket. Of course I could not see inside of the 
ticket, but I thought I could tell from the appearance of the ticket that 
there was a large number of voters who voted for it—more than I ex¬ 
pected, considerably more. 

Q. Well, in your knowledge of the colored people of the county did 
you know, before the election, of any number that were acting with the 
Democratic i)arty?—A. Yes, sir; the Bepublican ticket was such a 
wretched one that I don’t think they expected themselves to succeed 
upon it. It was concealed from the voters. A leading Kepublican told 
me he could not find out who the candidates were, and Lee would not 
tell him. And when they were nominated they were the most miserable 
set ever nominated—men without character or means. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say Lee had lived there a long time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had he taken any iiart in politics before ?—A. Yes, sir; he had 
always taken a part. 

Q. I^ow, about the middle of August you made an attemi)t to organ¬ 
ize the Eepublican party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Being no opposition there would have been no disturbance ?—A. 
YYs, sir. 

Q. Then the disturbance grew out of the fact that the Bepublicans 
wanted a ticket?—A. No, sir; because Sam Lee wanted an office. 

Q. Wanting an office, he insisted upon the organization of the party 
to put a ticket in the field ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And out of that grew the trouble ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Was he a candidate on the ticket?—A. When the county ticket 
came out we found he was not a candidate. It must have been an in¬ 
ferior ticket, because it was the remains that were left from the Eepub¬ 
lican party. 

Q. Because there were few Eepublicans there?—A. They were in¬ 
ferior. 

Q. You never heard Lee make any speech ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Well, you say he was very bitter?—A. Yes, sir; he was particu¬ 
larly so in conversation. 

Q. He insisted that the Eepublicans had a right to organize ?—A. 
Yes, sir; he made personal and insulting remarks of every gentleman 
in the county. 

Q. He generally spoke well of Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. I mean he 
did not speak well of men of character. 

Q. And that is not allowable in South Carolina ?—A. Y"es, sir; the 
very fact that he is there is proof of it. 

Q. AYhat Democrats did he speak so vilely of?—A. Of all of them. 
He never spoke anything kindly of any one except myself, and he has 
since taken that all back. He stated yesterday that these lists of fraud- 


TESTIMONY OF CPIARLES MOISE. 335 

Tilent votes were made out of the county auditor’s books before the elec¬ 
tion. He knew ay hen he stated that that it Avas not true. 

Q. XoAV, you say on the 12th of October eA^erything Avas quiet iq) to 
the time the E(q>ublicaiis passed along with banners ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And tlie band of music ?—A. Yes, sir; one band. 

. And banners—AAdiat kind of banners did they liaA^e ?—A. They had 
some transparencies and the United States flag, Arhich is an unpoiAular 
emblem there. 

Q. Did you see them AAdien they came along with the band and ban¬ 
ner and flag f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your brother remarked that that was calculated to excite the 
young men —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhatwere these men doing at the time?—A. They were marching 
along. 

Q: Then what excited them ?—A. AA^ell, the fact of their haAung a 
meeting doAAm there which AA'^as a failure, and the fact of marching 
through the streets, as if they had obtained a Auctory, instead of going 
home to work, made them excited. 

Q. Thereupon you asked your brother to stop the ioav ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYho had started the row ?—A. I heard the Democrats. 

Q. You say you asked him subsequently to stop the riot ?—iA. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Had there been a riot ?—A. Tliis Avas going on then. 

Q. What was going on then ?—A. This procession had got to the 
streets, still going to the tOAvn. SeA^eral Eed Shirts were among them. 

Q. How many ?—A. Ten or twelve, I suppose, and they were increas- 
iiig. 

Q. These were mounted men ?—A. Yes, sir; drawn up in front of the 
meeting. 

Q. AVere there ofticers—I mean the young men?—A. Yes, sir; a part 
of the military. 

Q. Were these black men tliemselves in the street?—A. AYs, sir; it 
was at the corner of Liberty and Main streets. 

Q. How far from where you first started ?—A. About half a mile. 

Q. About how many young men followed them ?—A. Fifty or sixty. 

Q. What were these young men doing ?—A. I could not say; but 
there was excitement. 

Q. Where were these young men when you got there ?—A. I saw 
nothing but the colored people. 

Q. Were they not there?—A. They were on the other side of the 
square. 

Q. You say these blacks were very much excited ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They did not know what to do ?—A. Ko, sir; they didn’t. 

Q. Were there any women and children there?—A. Not in that part 
of it; I saw women and children on the street as I went down there. 

Q. AA^hat were they doing ?—A. I thought they were getting out of 
town. 

Q. When you got down there Hagood was addressing them from one 
point, and Johnson from another?—A. Yes, sir; Johnson did his best, 
and I thought did more than any man to stay the riot that was impending. 

Q. Did- you see any negroes armed ?—A. No, sir; I didn’t see them 
have any arms, and I didn’t see them draw any. 

Q. How did they exhibit their fright?—A. WaAung their arms and 
hands and appearing excited. 

Q. How many were in that crowd at the church ?—A. The colored 
people were estimated at 500; many of them were right at home when 


336 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


the trouble commenced, as I was told by their leaders afterwards. The 
cause of the difficulty at that intersection I could never ascertain. 

Q. They kept on to that x)oiiit, and you could not see whether they 
kept on further ?—A. I could see them. 

Q. AVere there any Democrats in the vicinity of the meeting at this 
point where they massed tliemselves ?—A. Yes, sir; the Democrats had 
adjourned from the depot to meet at the court-house. 

Q. AVhere is the court-house ?—A. Year there. They were to hold a 
meeting on the steps, and an invitation was sent to them to come to the 
depot to hear us. The object then was, as they did not come to the 
depot, to intercept them as they were going home, and have them hear 
us. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Alake them hear ?—A. AVell, to stop them as they were going home, 
and have them listen. 

Q. AVhat became of the negroes when they were excited ?—A. A great 
many remained at the depot where the speaking was to take place. 

Q. How many negro liepublicans attended the Democrats’ meeting 
that day ?—A. I don’t think one; I didn’t see oiie. 

Q. How many colored Democrats ?—A. AVell, there were colored 
Democrats there. 

Q. How many colored men either Democrats or Republicans attended 
the Democrats’ meeting?—A. AYell, 1 suppose two or three hundred. 

Q. You say the Republican meeting was unusually small that day ?— 
A. Yes, sir; there was about 500. 

Q. How many remained in town ?—A. I suppose fifteen hundred. 

Q. How many white men in the county ?—A. Perhaps two thousand. 

Q. AVhat county did they come from ?—A. Some from Kershaw, some 
from Clarendon, and some from Darlington. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What distinguished Democratic speakers were present ?—A. Gen¬ 
eral Hagood, the comptroller-general of the State, who came there at 
the request of the governor, and others were present. 

Q. Did he speak?—A. He did at the Democratic meeting; I did not 
hear him, however. 

Q. Who were advertised to speak at the Democratic meeting ?—A. I 
don’t know all of them. 

Q. Did they remain there until the Republicans dispersed ?—A. Most 
of them, I believe. 

Q. What became of the band ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. What became of the fiag ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Did they pull down the flag ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say it was an unpopular emblem ?—A. Only to this extent: 
that the Republicans always displayed the United States flag and the 
Democrats never did. 

Q. In your judgment, what was it that excited the men; was it the 
banner, the flag, or the band ?—A. I think it was because the Republi¬ 
cans had answered the proposition from the Democrats in relation to 
holding a joint meeting, to the eflect that tliey would hold no meeting 
that day, and then in violation of that they did hold a meeting. 

Q. You say the cannon used on that occasion was the little cannon in 
town ?—A. Yo, sir; the cannon fired before the day was the little cannon. 

Q. Were there two pieces used during the day?—A. Two pieces came 
from Columbia; one was a six-pounder and the other was a twelve- 
pounder. 


County. J 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. 


337 


Q. What is the distance from Sumter to Columbia ?—A. Forty-two 
miles. They came by railroad. 

Q. 1 low many men came Avith them ?—A. Some ten or twelve. 

Q. Did they bring a flag?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were they the State troops ?—A. They a\ ere the regular militia 
(‘.ompanies; the State troox)S and others were the county l)emo(‘.rati(*. 
<5lubs. 

Q. What were the mounted Democratic clubs armed with ?—A. I don’t 
remember. 

Q. Then they Avere in addition to the 500 cavalrymen ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were the caAmlrymen State troox)s ?—A. Yes, sir; they Avere the 
regular organized companies of caA airy, Avith their officers, under the 
command of Colonel Brown Manning. 

Q. Did you see the cannon after the trouble commenced ?—A. Yes, sir. 
After they had dispersed, and this difficulty in front of the court-housti 
had taken x)lace, I saw the cannon then in front of the court-house. 

Q. Was it in charge of these military men?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it loaded?—A. I don’t know; I haA^e no doubt that it was, be¬ 
cause I heard some men say so. 

Q. Do you know what it Avas loaded with ?—A. Yes, sir; with nails. 
They had brought no fixed ammunition AAuth them and they seized hastily 
a package of nails and put them in. 

Q. Large cannon, Avas it ?—A. It AA^as either the 0 or the 12 pounder. 

Q. Were they iron or brass ?—A. They AA^ere iron pieces, both of them. 

Q. Well, they belonged to the State troops, I suppose?—A. No, sir; 
they Avere used by the trooi)s. They AA^ere the x)roi)erty of the Avife of 
the captain of the company. The aa hite people are not allowed to have 
arms or anything of the kind, and these cannon Avere produced by the 
cai)tain’s AAufe. 

Who furnished the money to purchase them?—A. CajAtain Myatt. 

Q. They Avere in charge of the company ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the State organization?—A. Yes, sir; regular organized 
militia company. 

By Mr. CA:vrERON: 

Q. How many ca\mlrymen did you say were present at the meeting?— 
A. I think, between four and fiA^e hundred. 

Q. From what localities did they come ?—A. From Clarendon County, 
from Sumter County, Kershaw County, and Darlington County. 1 am 
not certain Avhether any cavalrymen came from Darlington County; but 
some men came from there. 

Q. Who ordered them there ?—A. They Avere ordered there; I, myself, 
telegraphed to various offices, and telegraphed to bring all the horses 
and men they could; and we got up a public dinTi.er. 

Q. Do you understand, then, that these military companies are at lib¬ 
erty to go as military companies to Democratic or other meetings Avith- 
out the order of their superior officers ?—A. Not Avithout their captains’ 
orders. 

Q. Of course you would liaA^e no authority to order them there ?—A. 
No, sir; I haA^e no doubt they Avere ordered there by their captains’ 
orders. 

Q. Hoav many infantry Avere there ?—A. I saw two companies; one 
comjmny resides there, and the other was a coinxiany from some other 
part of the county; I don’t know Avhat part. 

Q. When this bell Avas rung to alarm the people, tliey then got their 
arms and came out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

22 s C 



338 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[ Sumter 


By Mr. Kirk’SYOOI) : 

Q. AVliere were their guns ?—A. They were in a store there; they 
were informed not to have their guns nntil the hell rung. 

Q. Under whose direction was the hell rung?—A. 1 doift know; I 
was at the depot at the time. 

Q. I think you stated that you, yourself, was op])osed to hreaking up 
Repuhlican meetings hy force ?—A'. Yes, sir; entirely. 

Q. Are you in favor or opposed to this system of dividing time? 
Now, suppose a Repuhlican meeting is called, and it assemhles, and the 
democrats insist on having a division of time and the Repuhlicans refuse 
to grant the request for a division of time ; what is likely to he the re¬ 
sult?—A. It is likely for the Repuhlicans to go away and the Democrats 
to hold a meeting there. It has always heen the result. Nor has there 
ever heen an instance Avhere the Repuhlicans have refused to hear the 
Democrats. This very meeting, w hen this difficulty took place, when 
the chairman spoke, it was upon the request of the Repuhlicans that he 
did speak. The Repuhlicans got up and said that they hoped Colonel 
Dargan would he heard. 

Q. Yes; hut I think you stated that Dargan, some time on the day of 
tlie meeting, stated that he w^ould address that meeting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he made that declaration hefore he was invited hy the Re- 
])uhlicans themselves?—A. He was not invited really at all. He got 
iq) and said he Avould like to address this meeting; and I think Mr. 
8pears got up and said w e w^oidd like to hear him. 

Q. Do you think that the memhers of a political party have a right 
to assemhle ])eaceahly and orderly in this State for the purpose of hold¬ 
ing peaceahle and orderly meetings?—A. Certainly. 

Q. AVell, do you thiidv, then, they have a right to hold them without 
heing disturbed hy others?—A. AA'ell, there is a part of the country in 
w^hich your premises are coiTe(*t; hut in this country I don’t think it is 
])ossihle for Repuhlicans to speak for the rest. I think it is essential 
to their owm preservation that they should hear our view's. 

Q. I asked you if you thought that the memhers of the Repuhlican 
party had a right to meet peaceably and hold a meeting Avithout heing 
disturbed or interfered Avith hy Democrats?—A. To AAdiich 1 say that in 
the condition of the Repuhlican party of the State to-day, it is, in my 
opinion, essential to the peace of the State that they should hear Demo¬ 
cratic speakers. 

Q. Do you think they have a right to meet and hold a meeting i)eacc- 
ahly and orderly?—A. AYt'll, 1 think they have a right to do so. 

Q. Well, suppose they do not AA'ant the Democrats to hear them?_A. 

AYell, I think they do Avant to he^u- the Democrats. I think it is neces¬ 
sary for them that Democrats should speak. For instance, there is 
Cornell, I thiidc, spoke at the same meeting; he and Chamberlain never 
have had any objection. 

Q. But I am assuming that they do object.—A. I thiidc Avhere the lead- 
(ws compel them to object Ave have a right to he heard, and, if the Re- 
])uhlicans insist, that the Democrats have a right to enforc.e it. I don’t 
think they have a right to stand up and abuse anybody. If they don’t 
Avant to hear a man speak they can hoot them doAvn. " It is a fact that 
the Republicans as a mass seek to knoAv Avhat the Democrats knoAv 
about politics; hut the leaders Avill not let them hear. 

Q. You do not consider a political meeting called hy one of the i)arties 
as occupying an exclusive i)osition—not to he intruded upon?—A. No 
sir; I speak of the party here, not Avliere you came from, Avhere you 
have education and intelligence on both sides. 


Cotinty.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. 


339 


Q. That is an exception here?—A. Yes, sir; in some parts. 

Q. Then you think you liave a right to intrude upon a llepuhliciiii 
meeting- and insist upon their hearing you or leave?—A. I think we have 
right to be heard. 

Q. If they don’t want to hear you they can exercise the high-born 
])rivilege of leaving their own meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Supposing- a Democratic meeting Avas called in your county, as a 
Democratic meeting, and arrang-ements made for speeches tfom Demo¬ 
cratic speakers, and a large body of negroes should come and ask the 
privilege of dividing- the time, and your people, from some cause or 
other, were to refuse it ?—A. They would not do it. 

Q. Well, suppose they would refuse and the blacks would insist any- 
liow on speaking; Avhat Avould be the immediate result ?—A. 1 cannot 
imagine such a case. 

Q. Well, they have a right to be heard?—A. Well, Ave liaA^e a right to 
be heard. ^ 

Q. If you call a Democratic meeting- it is yours is it not?—A. That 
depends upon circumstances. Inside of a hall I sui)pose the parliament¬ 
ary rule would be that the hall Avould belong to the meeting. 

Q. I am speaking if it is called as a party meeting—then Avhat?—A. 
Then, I think, in the condition of things existing in South Carolina, the 
Democrats are bound—it is their duty to be heard there. 

Q. Yoav, you say you saAV Lee return from someAvhere—I beliewe Raf¬ 
ting Creek. Suppose the treatment that had been giA'en to him upon 
that occasion had been given by the blacks to your i)eople, they Avould 
liave been killed, Avould they not?—A. If it had been a Avhite man so 
treated by blacks they Avould have been killed, undoubtedly. I don’t 
jiretend to justify it in any sense, and I think it was entirely Avrong. I 
don’t think that anybody Avho Avas not led aAvay by passion Avould 
defend it. 

Q. Did I understand you that upon the occasion of the meeting- of the 
4th of September, AAhen Governor Hampton spoke, at some time during 
Ids speech some one asked the privilege of asking a question of the gov¬ 
ernor?—A. I believe so. 

xVnd he A\ms not alloAved to ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of Democrats Avan-e there?—A. I considered some of 
tliein bad Democrats. Some young men Avho should liaA^e knoAVii better 
Avere among the croAvd. 

Q. At Avhat age among you do your young men come to know better? 

_A. Well, I don’t knoAV.' They are hot-headed and impetuous; there 

are many of them in our country. 

Q. Did you atteTid it ?—A. I did. On the 12th it appears that there 
Avas a Democratic-Republican meeting. 

Q. Which had been first called, so far as your knoAvledge goes ?—A. 
I think the Republican Avas first called. 

Q. IIoAV long before ?—A. A few days. 

(J. XoAV, Mr. Moise, Avas not the Democratic meeting- called upon the 
same day because the Republican meeting had been called for that day? 
—A. Yes, sir; of course it Avas. 

Q. It Inmng been publicly knoAvn that the Republican meeting was 
called on that day, the Democratic meeting Avas called for the same day ? 
—A. Yes, sir; aiid Avanted to prevent a possible riot. 

Q. These troops came in ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Xow, Avould it not have been better to have •iiA^oided trouble by 
holding their meeting another day ?—A. So it Avould, if we had been 
Avorking into your hands; but Ave were Avorking for our own party, 


340 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


making a Democratic demonstration^ tliat was the object j a grand Demo¬ 
cratic demonstration. 

Q. For the purpose of preventing any good coming to the Eepublican 
party?—A. Yes, sir; for the purpose of exhibiting great power, and 
making a demonstration; that is the idea. 

Q. Ilad you appointed your Democratic meeting on that day at the 
depot; was that the place you originally intended to liave it?—A. Yo, 
sir; on the academy green. 

Q. Wliy was it transferred to the depot ?—A. Decause it was nearer 
to tlie Republican meeting, and we made an etfort to have them come to 
liear us. 

Q. About how far apart were you ?—A. According to my recollection 
it was about 200 yards. In fact I stepped it. Tliere is an open plain 
between. 

Q. Were there cavalrymen at the Democratic meeting there?—xi. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. AYere there infontry there ?—A. No, sir; the infontyy were in the 
town. The infantry didn’t go down to that meeting, but the mountc^d 
clubs were there, and tlie cavalry, and the cannon. 

Q. Any Democrats there ?—xV. Yes, sir; and the band was there. 

Q. Do you think that the cannon were fired there intentionally or not, 
so that the effect was to annoy the speakers at the Republican meeting ? 
—A. No, sir; not at all. AYe could not annoy them without annoying 
ourselves. 

Q. But if it should have happened that they were speaking and you 
were not, and you fired the cannon, then it might have annoyed them 
without annoying you?—A. Yes, sir; possibly. 

Q. Aftei’ the Republican meeting adjourned, they marched back into 
the town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And in doing so marched past the Democratie meeting?—A. Y^es, 
sir. 

Q. AAfore they going towards the court-house?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it the purpose to have Coghlan speak at the court-house ?— 
A. I know there was no such intention, because Sx)ears said so. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yfou noticed a number of red-shirts at this cross street ?—A. Yfos, 
sir. 

Q. And you were afraid of trouble ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. You stated you were afraid of trouble because the procession were 
carrying banners, had music, and you mentioned some transparencies, 
and you said they carried the United States flag ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that that is not popular here?—A. No, sir; the Democrats of 
Sumter have no flags; they have never used any. AYhen they see it at 
Republican meetings, where it is an emblem of oppression, it excites them. 
I hope some time it will be otherwise. 

Q. When you saw this large body of black men in the street, where 
you say a pin could not be got througli, had the infantry companies af 
that time demanded tlieir arms ?—A. They had not participated yet, but 
they were dropping into line within range of the court-house. 

Q. AATthin rifle-range?—A. Yfos, sir. 

Q. Well, with the infontry there and the clubs there—were they armed ? 
—A. I don’t think they exhibited any arms; but they had them’. Every 
Democrat had arms. 

Q. Then tliey loaded these cannon with nails ?—xY. Yes, sir. 

Q. AA here vas that?—A. It was in front of the coui’t-house, iiointin^ 
north, at the time I saw it. ^ 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF CHARLES MOISE. 


341 


Q. In what direction was this blaclj: crowd ?—A. They were two hun¬ 
dred yards away; tliey had dispersed before these cannon Avere brought 
there. 

Q. Well, Avith these things rcA^ersed, the blacks being unarmed, Avas 
there really apprehension on the part of anybody that the blacks Avould. 
attack you, Avith your 500 caAmlry and tAvo companies of infantry, all 
armed, and cannon loaded with tenpenny Tiails ?—A. No, sir ; it aa as the 
other Avay. The apprehension Avas that the Avhites Avould attack the 
blacks—the danger of our impetuous young men attacking the blacks 
Avithout cause. 

Q. They liaA^e reached the years of discretion, but liaA^e not reached 
discretion yet ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, Avonld it not be a cowardly thing for a company of armed 
men to attack defenseless men"? Would they do it CA^en in anger, or is 
it possible, AAith the courage and chiAmlry here in the South, that a lot 
of its armed representatiA^es AA^ould attack a small lot of unarmed men ?— 
A. Well, I don’t sui)pose they kncAv they AA^ere unarmed, according to 
reports. 

Q. Do not such reports get into circulation intentionally and for a pur¬ 
pose sometimes ?—A. 1 suppose so. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. At what time AA^ere the cannon loaded Avith nails ?—A. It Avas be¬ 
tween the time of the dispersing of this croAAal at the corner and the 
difficulty AAdtli Coghlan, or between one and three o’clock in the day. 

Q. Wliere AA^ere the cannon loaded ?—A. They were loaded right there. 
Somebody got a feAA" pounds of nails in a store and tied them up in a 
bundle and put them in. 

Q. Where AA^ere you on the day of the election —A. I aa us challenger 
at poll No. 1 —the same at AAdiich Lee aa as superAisor. 

(^. What portion of the day were you present at the polling place ?— 
A. The AAiiole day; I left the i)olls about a quarter past one, and I staid 
aAAmy about fifteen minutes. I asked a gentleman to take my place Avhen 
I left, and I came back in fifteen minutes, and ^aid until six., 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue ballots voted there that day A. 
I did not. 

Q. Were you present Avhen the box AAms opened?— A. I aa as not; I 
left there at half i)ast live or six and did not see it opened at all. 

Q. Do you khmv aa liefiieY th^poll-list as kept by the managers of elec¬ 
tion corresponded AAuth the poll-list kept by Lee?—A. No, sir; it did not 
correspond. 

Q. What Avas the difference ?—A. I AA’^ent out about half past one and 
crossed over to a poll tAAX) or three blocks off. I asked one of the man¬ 
agers hoAc many An)tes they had polled there that day. He said about 
700. I then AVTiit back and said, “How many Amtes haA^e Ave polled?” 
He said he did not knoAA^ I said, “ We certainly have polled more than 
tliey haA^e at the other box.” I took up the poll-list and counted the 
Democratic managers’ ])oll-list; there AA^ere eleven i)ages full, each page 
(,‘ontaining tAvo columns lull, thirty-five names in a column, and then 
there Avas another iiage with one column on it, AA hich AA^ould equal about 
tAATlA’e pages, so that Ave must have polled 840 Amtes. I then turned to 
Stewart and said, “How many liaA^e you?” He said, “A little OA'er 
000”; and I said, “ There is certainly some mistake, for aa o have 840.” 
I did not count them^but I countinl the pages to see hoAV many there w^as 
on a page. He said, “ I have made no mistake,” and I said I AA^ould look 
at their list, and I got up and aa alked over Avhere the supervisor’s clerk 




342 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[SumtiT 


was taking tlie list, and I looked over it. He kept his numbers con¬ 
secutively. I took page by page, and then followed it out correctly. 1 
noticed that he had kept a separate list for white voters, and I saw he 
Lad 40 or 50 as they had voted that day. I then counted our manager’s 
list again, and I still found that the list was twelve times 70, or 840. I 
said, ‘‘Lee, can you account for this difterenceJ” He said, “I think 1 
know what it is,” shaking his head. He did not say anything further, 
but went and took his seat with Ids clerk. I afterwards heard that there 
were a certain number of tissue ballots that came out, but I never saw 
a tissue ballot at all on the day of the election. My little boy brouglit 
one from the store, and said, What is tliis T’ and I put on my spec¬ 
tacles and said, “ Throw it in the fire,” and I said, “ It must have been 
what Coghlan meant yesterday when he said there was some meanness 
going on”; but I never knew anything about it until I saw it the day 
after the election. 

Q. Is it your recollection that the poll-list kept by the managers was 
numbered consecutively ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Lee numbered his ?—A. Yes, sir; I only arrived at the number by 
multiplying the number of pages by seventy. In regard to Lee having 
a clerk; I went over there with the intention of seeing Justice Dunn 
about that matter; some maintained that he should not have one. 

Q. What does the statute require shall be done with the poll-list!— 
A. That it shall be kept and put in the box with the votes, and sent u]) 
to the comity canvassers. 

Q. What became of the poll-list kept by the board of election mana¬ 
gers ?—A. I don’t know; I heard afterwards that the list had been lost, 
or is lost; it certainly was not produced. 

Q. It is claimed that that box was stuffed on the day of the election?— 
A. So I was informed. 

Q. Have you any opinion in regard to it ?—A. Yes, sir; I liave stated 
that 215 tissue ballots came out of it; they could not have been put in 
there lawfully, because I saw every vote that Avent in during the day, 
and until after half past five, and there was no one voted after I left. " I 
will state*that they Avere not laAATully voted, and if they AAmre in they 
could not ha\"e got- there laAvfidly in my opinion. They AA^ere certainly 
not there when the box was opened in the morning. No man could haA^’e 
voted a tissue ballot A\dthout my seeing it. Our ticket Avas larger, that 
is, the Democratic ticket Avas larger than the Kepubliean ticket, and I 
voted that large Democratic ticket myself, and no other; I saw no other 
ticket used that day except the Eepn'blican, Avhich AA^as on inferior paper, 
and I thought I could tell every kind of ticket that Avent in. Those are 
the only two I suav there that day. 


MAEION MOISE. 

Charleston,* S. C., Friday^ January 24, 1870. 

Marion Moise SAvorn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—AnsAver. Sumter, S. C. 

Q. Where Avere you on the day of election last November ?—A.'I was 
at Stateburg, 12 miles from Sumter. 



Conaty.] TESTIMONY OF MARION MOISE. 313 

Q. When did you go there ?—A. I arrived in Statebiirg about four 
o’clock in the inoriiiiig. 

Q. In what capacity di^l you go there that dayf—A. I acted as 
cihallenger. 

Q. At what time were the polls opened that morning ?—A. They were 
opened at six o’clock. 

Q. Do you know a colored man by the name of James Edgar Dan¬ 
iels f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he there that day !—A. He was. 

Q. What time did he come there ?—A. About half past six. 

Q. How long had the polls been opened when he came there!—A. 
About half an liour before the polls w ere opened, I think. 

Q. Was there anything done with the box to see Avhether it was all 
right!—A. It Avas opened and exhibited to all who w ere present. 

Q. Did you see the inside of the box !—A. Yes, sir j it Avas empty. 

Q. Did you remain there until the ballots Avere counted out!—A. Yo, 
sir; I did not. I remained there until the polls closed, and I Avent from 
there to the adjoining precinct and returned about ten o’clock that night. 

Q. Were you there Avhen the tickets in the box Avere counted to ascer¬ 
tain the number !—A. I Avas not; I left as the polls closed. 

Q. Did you see any tickets of this kind at the election on that day 
(exhibiting a tissue ballot) !—'A. I did, sir. 

Q. Did you see any A^oted !—A. I did, sir. 

Q. Ey Avhom w^ere they voted!—A. I didn’t see any of these tickets 
except about the middle of the day. I then saw them on the table Avhere 
the box Avas, and saAV them a oted. 

Q. By wdiom Avere they voted!—A. I saAv them generally—the larg(‘ 
tickets being nearly out. I remember that John Kichardson \mted the 
first one I saw. 

Q. Were there many colored votes receiA^ed there that day!—A. I do 
not think there was a great many. 

Q. What was the general appearance of the regular Democratic 
ticket as compared with the regular Kepublican ticket!—A. The gen¬ 
eral appearance Avas the same. If you fold them you Avill see. They 
appear about the same when folded. 

Q. Were those called the regular tickets!—A. Those Avere tAvo of the 
tickets; and they Vere about the same in size and color. 

Q. They Avere most generally voted !—A. Yes, sir; those tickets, when 
folded as small as they had to be, AA^ere hard to tell apart. 

Q. Did you give any tickets out that day !—A. I AAms challenger, and 
handed them OA^er the desks. 

Q. Did you give out any number of Democratic tickets to colored 
men that day !—A. I did. 

Q. About' Avhat number did you give out!—A. I suppose I handed 
over the desk that day probably 50. 

Q. Were there any colored men there that Avere distributing Demo¬ 
cratic tickets or voting Democratic tickets!—A. They Avere both dis¬ 
tributing and A^oting. 

Q. Was there any disturbance of any kind at the polls that day !—A. 
Y'es sir. 

q! state the fa^;ts connected with it.—A. The first occurrence was 
early in the morning near the polls at six o’clock. There was not a col¬ 
ored man to be seen except a very fewv who w^ere knoAvn to be Demo¬ 
crats. Later in the day, about eleven o’clock, colored men came up in bod¬ 
ies. We didn’t knoAV w^hether they Avere Bepublicans or not, but siij)- 
posed them to be. Then some young men there played drunk, but no 


314 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Suintcf 


one was hurt. After tliat lasted a little wliile, Jolin J. Dargan, who was 
there, and who was a candidate and was rather in charge, he himself 
called these young men off and let the colored men come up to vote. 

Q. Were there any colored men cut, or stabbed, or wounded, or any¬ 
thing of that kind there that day?—A. I have heard since that one or 
two were slight!}^ cut or stuck, but I didn’t see anybody cut or stick 
them. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What do you mean by ^Cstuck”?—A. With a knife. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did you hear of anybody being stuck at the time ?—A. N'o, sir; 
one or two days after some colored men came down to get a warrant for 
sticking them, but it was not done. 

Q. On the ground did you hear of it ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. When the election was going on ?—A. i^'o, sir. 

Q. No complaint was made that knives were used or anything of that 
kind ?—A. None that I heard. 

Q. I lid you know about the presence of those tissue ballots before you 
went out to this precinct ?—A. Before I went there I heard of a variety 
of ballots, but I had not seen any. I heard that there was a variety of 
ballots to be voted. When I arrived I saw no ballots at all. 

Q. Were they known publicly to be used just.as other tickets?—A. 
Not by that name—our regular ticket was confined to this—samples 
that I saw [producing a ticket]. There is a tissue ticket that has not 
yet been here. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Where did you see them—on the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir; at 
my poll. 1 saw the red printed ticket and the regular Kepublican and 
the small ticket voted. I only brought those to show you that there 
was more tickets out that day than tissue tickets. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Were you familiar Avith the condition of politics in that county 
lireceding the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State Avhat you knoAV, if anything, in refe.reime to any division 
among the colored people—Avhether there Avas any increase of colored 
A'oters attending Democratic clubs and taking xiart'in Democratic meet¬ 
ings.—A. Of course I can only state my opinion. 

Q. Well, from what you saw.—A. My oi)inion is, if I understand you 
correctly, that a large number of colored men in the county desired to 
support the Democrats; but they Avould not let that be knoAvn even to 
those of their oaaui color, for fear of bad treatment ; and I therefore ex¬ 
pressed the opinion that at the election Ave Avould get a good many col¬ 
ored votes. The appearances shoAved that we Avould get them. " Pre¬ 
vious to the election I may say that Avas the appearance, in a negative 
sense. Formerly the colored people had exhibited animosity to the Avhites, 
and openly declared their ])urpose not to support the Democratic ticket, 
but at the election they did not express that avowed purpose, and I 
thought from that negative action of theirs that a large number of them 
Avould vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. For the last year or eighteen months what has been the state of 
feeling between the Democrats or Avhite people and the Bepublicans or 
colored people?—A. I am satisfied for the last twelve or eighteen months 
the feeling has been good, has been friendly. That has not ahvays been 


GoMjity.] TESTIMONY OF MARION MOISE. 345 

the feeling, but since the election of 1870 the feeling has gradually be¬ 
come more ameliorated between the two races. 

Q. Have you in that time known or heard of leading men among the 
colored men coming out for the Democratic party!—A. Yes, sir; in my 
county and Sumter County. 

Q. I will ask you if any objection or hostility was exhibited, so far as 
you know, toward any of the Kepublicans in that county except Lee ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know why it was that a bad feeling was exhibited toward 
him !—A. I will say this: that this ill feeling existed toward Lee and to 
three or four others. The others I could name if I could see the Eepub- 
lican ticket. I am satished that no ill feeling existed toward any col¬ 
ored man in the county, unless it was Henry W. Mackey, Kobert M. An¬ 
drews, Z. E. Walker, and Sam Lee. 

Q. Now state the cause of the personal ill feeling that existed against 
these men.—A. I will state that as to these first men, Henry Mackey, 
Kobert Andrews, and Walker, a feeling of cohtemi)t existed toward 
them by every intelligent man in the county, especially the whites, and 
I believe the hatred of many intelligent colored men and disinterested 
men, and they are the meanest men in the county. The leeling against 
Lee is because he is a man that for years, ever since he took any part 
in the politics of Sumter County, has shown a disposition to treat his 
opponents without respect. He has a vile tongue, and I have heard him 
speak in the most disrespectful language. I think from that an ill feel¬ 
ing existed toward Lee on account of his tongue. 

Q. His personal conduct and bearing!—A. Yes, sir; and his want of 
respect for anybody, no matter what was their age. 

Q. Are there other Kepublicans in that county as decided in their 
views as Lee that have the respect of the people!—x\. YYs, sir; with¬ 
out doubt. A relation of his, a man by the name of Jack Singleton, 
obtains and has as high a respect there as any man in the county. He 
is a Kepublican there and always has been; but he is a different man, 
and always treats others with respect. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How far is the poll situated from Sumter !—A. About twelve miles 
out. 

Q. At whose request did you go there!—A. At the request of Mr. 
Dargan. 

Q. He resides where !—A. He resides at Sumter. 

Q. Did any residents of that precinct invite you there!—A. Yes, sir; 
I was invited first by Dargan, and then by several gentlemen to come 
there and stay the night before, and remain there until the day of elec¬ 
tion. 

Q. That was after they knew you were going out there !—A. I can- 
]iot say; it may have been so. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You voted out there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you well acquainted with the voters in that precinct!—A. 
Not well acquainted except with the white voters. 

Q. Were you with the colored voters !—A. No, sir; not very well. 

Q. You would not expect to challenge the white people!—A. Well, I 
cannot say we expected to challenge tliem. 

Q. Did you challenge any!—A. No, sir; I do not think I did—well, 
I recjollect'having challenged several, and Mr. Douglass here will bear 
me out in that. 


346 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. Democrats or Republicans —A. They were Democrats under age, 
and I knew it. 

Q. You were not well acquainted with the colored voters?—A. I was 
not. 

Q. And yet you were selected as challenger!—A. There were several 
challengers, and I was one of them. 

Q. About what time did Lee commence the agitation of political mat¬ 
ters last summer!—A. I heard it was about August. I was then in 
Charleston. 

Q. Did you understand that everything was peaceable and quiet until 
he commenced his agitation !—A. There was no trouble of any kind 
until politics was inaugurated. I was not there at the time. 

Q. AVhat did you say was the objection that is made to Lee in that 
county!—A. I say the principal objection is that he is a man who is 
very unpopular. 

Q. AYith whom !—A. Well, he is an unpopular man with the whites 
and blacks. 

Q. From what does his unpopularity arise, in your opinion!—A. It 
arises from several reasons. Heretofore the politics in the State has 
been such that any man who undertook to revive or keep up with the 
Republicans would, intentionally or unintentionally, antagonize the 
races, because they were not voting together, and if he undertook to 
keep the party together, the effect of that was to cause ill-feeling be¬ 
tween the property-holders and the labor of the State j no matter if in 
the same house or same x)lantation, that was the effect; and, that being 
the effect, the men that undertook to keep up that division between labor 
and capital created bad feeling wherever labor and capital are pitted 
against each other. In regard to Lee, black men don’t like him; they 
don’t think he is a colored man; and, if I am not mistaken, Lee has lost 
every election since the Avar, and therefore he is not accomi)anied Avith 
any prestige which colored men, as an ignorant class, like. 

Q. What is your age!—A. Twenty-three; I will be 24 next June. 

Q. How many times lias Lee run for office in that county !—A. I only 
recollect that he run for office against Rainey. Wlien I saj^ unpopular, 
he is alAvays in the A^an as a man of intelligence; but when I say he has 
been defeated, I mean that in the Green campaign, for instance, AAdiere 
Green ran against Chamberlain. I do not think he will deny that when 
he ran against Rainey he was defeated, and has been uniiopular eA^er 
since. 

Q. Was he or Avas he not supported by the whites in 1874!—A. Y^es, 
sir; he was. 

Q. He Avas then popular enough to receiA^e many Azotes. Did he not, 
as a matter of fact, recede a large majority of the Avhite Amte in 1874!— 
A. I expect he receiA^ed a majority. 

Q. Did he not receive a large majority of the black A^ote at the same 
election!—A. Well, he may have. 

Q. Is not that the only time he has run for office?—A. The election aa’us 
A^ ery close; and as a matter of course he didn’t receiv^e a majority of the 
blacks and Avhites, because he Avas not elected. 

Q. In your county!—A. O, yes; he did there. 

Q. Then he ran for probate judge in 1870!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Avas elected!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So he has only run twice since reconstruction; the first time he 
ran for a Congressional office, and the second time he ran for a county 
office and Avas elected. You conclude from this he Avas unpopular, do 
you!—A. Well, I- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF MARION MOISE. 


347 


Q. You say lie has always lostf—A. Well, he could not have lost after 
he was iiondiiated for probate judge. After lie got the nomination he 
was all right. Everybody thought it Avas necessary to elect Lee. That 
inkstand Avould not have been lost if it had been nominated then. 

Q. He was nominated and elected, yet you say he was unpopular ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

(vl. Well, that Ave understand. 5^^ow you 5>ay Walker is a Amry miser¬ 
able fellow; Avhat has he ever done that entitles him to the statement 
that you ha Am made ?—A. Well, my o])inion is that he is unpopular there. 

Q. You said he Avas a miserable creature.—A. I didn’t say he was a 
miserable creature; I said he was not liked there because he was a mean 
old character. That is my opinion, too. 

Q. What has he eAmr done to show that ?—A. He has not been con- 
A'icted, but there is uoaa’', for instance, a charge in the shape of an ath- 
daAut against Walker for malfeasance in office as county commissioner; 
and then, in my opinion, he is incapable, and misused the public, even 
the county commissioners. 

Q. Are you under indictment yourself?—A. ^N'o, sir; I am not. 

Q. Is there any charge against you?—A. There is a charge against 
me. 

Q. What is it ?—A. I think it is conspiring to break up the office of 
United States commissioner and to run Sam Lee from the State. 

Q. Then Walker is a miserable wretch because somebmly tiled an affi¬ 
davit against him, and it seems an affidaAut has been made against 
you '?—A. Yes, sir. If he had been convicted I could have said he Avas 
a dishonest man, but I did not state that. 

Q. Why Avere those other men on the ticket men of bad character ?— 
A. WYll, Kobert Andrews—I can say in regard to him that a colored 
man on one occasion indicted him for stealing cotton that he had left 
AAuth him. I think some compromise Avas made, but the ignorant man 
left some cotton with him, and he stole it and Avas indicted for it. 

Q. There Avas indictment in the courts ?—A. Yes, sir; it AA'as a good 
many years ago, and I was quite young. 

Q. Is that tlie only charge you have against him ?—A. Uo, sir; I am 
not here to bring charges against him. I Avill state it as my opinion 
that he is not an honest man. He has contracted debts, and has got uj) 
a A^ery bad name for being a dishonest man. 

Q. Contracted debts that he has not paid?—A. He is in bad odor 
from his course of business, coupled Avith the fact of this indictment 
Avhich I recollect. If I had understood the manner of my examination 
I might haA"e prepared myself. I judge these men as a bad character 
because they Avere not considered men of good character. 

Q. AndreAvs Avas not couAicted ?—A. No, sir; there Avas a compromise 
of some kind, and so Avith the other meii. Well, Henry Mackey is thought 
to be totally dishonest in his business transactions. 

Q. By wiiom ?—A. By white or black. The expressions on the street 
Avill lead a dishonest man to suppose that he cannot be trusted. He gets 
credit Avheii he can, and don’t mind subjecting friend or foe to his ca¬ 
prices if he can get money. 

Q. IlaA-e anyAAiiite business men failed in Sumter during the last five 
years?—A. A good many. 

Q. A great many have not paid their debts ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I presume a good many luiA^e been accused of dishonesty?—A. I 
presume so. 

Q. Is it not usual that A\Uen a business man is unable to pay he is 


348 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


accused of dislionesty?—A. sirj not where I live. It sometimes 

liappens, but not generally. 

Q. Why do you think so many negroes desired to vote the Democratic 
ticket last summer?—A. I think because of this fact: Tlie llepublican 
])arty Ims ruled for some years, and the State and county were in con¬ 
stant turmoil and trouble, and peojtle taken away from their homes to 
Amte. llIoAV these people are peaceable, and they are an agricultural 
l)eople, and they disliked turmoil and trouble. Well, the lleraocrats 
carried on the State, and I think the negroes were very Avell satisfied 
that they controlled the State well, and 1 think they would be A^ery glad 
to let politics alone if it was not for the few leaders among them that 
keep them excited. I think the mass of people—those people being in 
my opinion.honest people and an agricultural people—desire to live with 
the Aviiite people if they can. 

Q. (Jrixe the names of colored people aa Iio told you they desired to 
A'ote the Democratic ticket last fall.—In our toAvn Eobert Iloss was one. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. How long has he been a Democrat?—A. Well, I think before 187G. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You need not go back to that. GiA^e us the names of those Avho 
(‘.hanged this last year, 1878. 

Q. I AAould not like to state what these men told me; for instance, one 
of the members of the board of county commissioners, AAdiose name is 
AVestberry, a brotlier of J. AY. AYestberry, he had said he Avas going to 
A^ote Avith us, and I do not knoAv but what a good many Avould if it had 
not been for their leader. This man is looked upon as a leading man. 

Q. There is a man by the name of AA^estberry on the Democratic 
ticket.—A. AAYll, it was not that man. 

Q. Is he a man of excellent character or not ?—A. He is a man that 
stands A^ery well. 

Q. Some of his intimates say that he took a bribe from the Demo¬ 
crats ?—A. I do not knoAV; he was accused of that. I think that if it 
Avas true he aa ould be couAdcted of it. 

Q. They accused him before he Avas nominated on the Democratic 
ticket?—A. AA^ell, yes; I heard it stated, but I cannot say I belicA^ed it. 

Q. When was he coiiA^erted to the Deuiocracy ?—A. AVhen the Mackey 
house and AYallace house were in session, he went over from the Mackey 
house to the AYallace house. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. AA"as that the reason he Avas supposed to liaA^e taken the bribe ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. He was nominated last fall, I belioA'C, by the Democrats, for repre¬ 
sentative.—A. Yes, sir; for a Democratic representative. 

Q. AAAs he elected last fall?—A. Yes, sir; he AAms said to be elected. 

Q. That is A’^ery safe clown here, ‘^said to be.” And he is now a Dem¬ 
ocratic member of the legislature of tliis State?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he not addicted to the excess of intoxicating liquors ?—A. He 
is at times. 

Q. However, that is not supposed to disqualify him to be a Demo¬ 
cratic representative?—A. No, sir. 

By Air. McDonald ; 

Q. Do you know a colored man by the namt? of Armacy ?—A. YYs, 
sir; AYarren.Armacy. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHNSON HAGOOD. 


349 


Q. Was lie not tlie leader among the colored people?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he come out in favor of the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; 
he came out and supported the Democratic ticket oxienly^; I think it was 
since 1870, bnt I may be mistaken. 

Q. He had been a liepublican ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. While this man Westberry went to leave the Mackey legislature 
and went to the Wallace legislature, the Republicans charged iiim with 
being bribed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that denied?—A. I think it was; no such charge was ever 
made to his face. 

Q. Was it believed generally up there, to your knowledge, that he 
had been bribed?—A. Ro, sir; I do not think it was believed as a 
fact. 

By Mr. Kiekwood : 

Q. It was not believed by white men ?—A. I^o, sir. 

Q. Do you know^ whether it was believed by the black men or not ?— 
A. I am certain I heard some of them say so. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I suppose among them some of them believed it and some did not ? 
—A. I suppose so. 

Q. The parties that your attention has been called to—is not their 
common reputation in that community that of bad character?—A. A^es, 
sir. 

Q. That is the common report ?—A. A"es, sir. 


Mr. Moise, Sr., recalled. 

The Witness. I want it understood that the charge implied in this 
testimony, that the names of the so-called three sheets of voters w ere 
taken from my books, is not true. I wish to say that the books w ere in 
my keeping ,and that I kept them in my office, and that they could not 
be taken down without my knowledge and consent, and that the names 
on those three sheets were never taken from my books. Ko such propo¬ 
sition was ever made to me. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. My recollection of Lee’s testimony is that some one told him ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I will ask you if your books contain the names of all the voters, or 
of those liable to pay taxes ?—A. My books contain the names of people 
and voters up to tlie age of sixty. There are men there over sixty 
wdiose names 1 have. 


JOHNSON HAGOOD. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1870. 
Johnson Hagood swmrn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. What position do you hold in the State ?—Answer. I am 
comptroller-general at present. 

Q. Where is your official residence ?—A. At Columbia. 

Q. You Avere requested by General Hampton to attend a political 
meeting at Sumter about the 12th of October; did you go there ?—A. 



■ 350 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Y(\s, sir; I was requested by the j^overnor, T think, on tlie Otii. I was 
sent for by liiin and informed, for tlie first time to my knoAvledge, tliat 
tliere was to be a meeting at Sumter on tlie 12th of October, of both par¬ 
ties; the committees of eacli party had ordered meetings tliere on that 
day. 

Q. lie kind enough to state to the committee whether you went, and, if 
so, whatoccurred.—A. Yes, sir; 1 went there. Governor Hampton stated 
this fact tome, and said he was compelled himself to meet some engage¬ 
ments in other counties which would iirevent his going to Sumter. He 
seemed to regret very imuth that two meetings Avere called to be h(‘ld on 
the same day. He told me also that there Avas great excitement in the 
county. He may, perhaps, Inwe mentioned Avhat caused the excitement, 
but, if so, I have njiAv forgotten it; at any rate he deiirecated very much 
tlie excitement, and urg(Ml me to go there and use my personal exertions 
to })reserve the peace and])romote harmony as much as possible betA\aKm 
tlie citizens of the State Avho might be there, and to impress most decisively, 
uj)on the Democratic managers of the (iounty particularly, his disap])roba- 
tion of anything like Auolence or unlaAvful interference Avith the political 
liarty. I consented to go. I think GoAmrnor Ilanqiton Avent off that 
very night to the counties where he Avas engaged. The following even¬ 
ing 1 Avent over to Sumter; the eAxning of the 11th, as Avell as I remem¬ 
ber. On the day of the lOtli, or of the 11th, I forget Avhich, Mr. Fraser, 
the county chairman of the Democratic party in Sumter, came to Colum¬ 
bia to my office. I told him I Avas coming to Sumter. I also told him 
Avhat GoA^ernor Hanqiton had said to me. He expressed his satisfac¬ 
tion, and told me he had sent a reipiest to Columbia to get some pieces 
of ailillery to be taken doAvn to Sumter and fire a salute, Avhich is 
caistomary at all our meetings; Ave rarely haAX a imlitical meeting Avifli¬ 
mit tiring a salute, if a cannon can be obtained at all. I Avent Avith Mr. 
l^h'aser up the street to the office of Captain LoAvrance, a merchant of 
<h)lunibia, captain of a Amlunteer comi^any. While on our way up the 
sti'cet, AA'C met Cajitain LoAA'raiice, and asked him to send OA*erto Sumter 
1 Avo pieces of artillery, Avitli a sipiad of men sufficient to fire a salute Avitli 
blank ('artridges. Cajitain LoAAU'ance (consented to do so. When I got on 
the cars to go over to Sumter, I saAv these tAvo ])ieces. There Avere in the 
car four or five young gentlemen belonging to Ca|)tain Lowrance’s volun¬ 
teer comiiany, going along Avith the (*annon to lire the salute. I got to 
vSumter after dark. I Avas met by Mr. Fraser, and was taken by him to 
his hiAv office. There Avere assembled there about half a dozen gentle¬ 
men, leaders of the Democratic party in that county. I communicated 
Governor Hampton’s A ieAvs to them, and told tlienl in Avliat capacity I 
had come re])resenting him. They very readily acquiesced in his views, 
and ])romised heartily to carry them out. They told me, though, that 
they anticipated some difficulty in doing so, and gave me their reasons 
tor expecting difficulty. Their i-easons served to shoAV the temper of the 
])iM)i)le of the county of both jiarties. They told me that Sam Lee, a 
jirominent Feimblican of the county, had been knocked doAvn by some 
one—a Democrat—at a meeting happening some little time before that, 
at some other locality in the county—I forget noAV Avliat locality it Avas— 
in consequence of a ])ersonal indignity that he offered to a Democratic 
sjieaker. They told me that Lee also complained of an illegal arrest and 
detention on tlui highway in returning from that meeting. They said 
that Lee had gone to Washington and returned Avitli instructions from 
Attorney-General Dewens; that he had called his meeting by a notice 
framed in accordanee with the United States statutes, and the impres- 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHNSON HAGOOD. 351 

sioii i)revailerl among’ tlie colored peojde that General Grant and General 
vSherman wonld be there next day. 

Q. At the meeting?—A. Yes, sir. I am only giving Avliat was told 
me. They also said that the white people were aware of these facts. 
They also told me, in connection with General Grant being at the meet¬ 
ing, that the colored i)eo])le were excited to gather, arm, and ])repare for 
anything that might occur. They said that the white people were in¬ 
formed of all these matters that I have mentioned of this condition of 
tilings; that they would come there armed more or less, and in a bad 
frame of mind, disposed to- 

By the CnAiiiMAN: 

Informed of these facts, and believing them to be facts, would 
come to the meeting armed more or less ?—A. Upon this state of tacts 
as represented, it was agreed in that Democratic conference that night 
to order that every jilace in town where liquors Avere sold should be 
shut uj) and guarded. It Avas said that there Avas a society in that town 
dcA'oted to temperance, Avho Avould make this order elhcient, and set a 
guard so that liquors should not be put out surreptitiously at the back 
Avindows of the saloons. It Avas agreed also to meet these parties of 
Democrats as they came into toAvn. The population in that county was 
very sparse, and persons came from a long distance to public meetings. 
Some of them came forty miles to get to their court-house, and A'ery fre¬ 
quently persons have come from adjoining counties to public, meetings. 
It Avas agreed among us to meet tliose clubs as they came iiito toAvn, 
and inform them of the Democratic programme and to take their 
guns from them. A committee Avas appointed, consisting of tAvo of 
the gentlemen present, Ex-Governor Manning and Adjutant-General 
NIoise. Tliey were appointed a (jommittee to communicate Avith the Ke- 
])ublicans early in the morning, requesting, perhaps, a joint committee, 
and suggesting a joint discussion upon fair and equitable terms. It 
Avas also agreed that thej^ did not expect to meet again; that if the 
Bepublicans rejected the pro])osition for a joint discussion that Ave Avere 
to organize these clubs as soon as they got in toAvn and prevent them 
from attending the Bepublican meeting, and hold our meeting entirely 
separate and distinct Iroin the Bepublicans, and then adjourn and go 
home. The next morning in AA^alking doAvn the street I passed the ofii<*e 
tliat I supposed Avas the office of General Moise; but I Avas not certain, 
for I never Avas in the toAvn before. When I went in I saw Mr. Moise 
and Governor Planning, and a colored man AAms introduced to me as Mr. 
AndreAvs, and the three were engaged in perfecting a proposition to be 
made by the Democrats to the Bepublicans in regard to a joint discus¬ 
sion. Mr. Andrews Avas a Be])ublican. Whether he came of his OAvn 
accord or not I donT knoAv; but I understood he came by himself to 
meet them. They had completed draAAung up the paper, and Mr. Moise 
asked me Avhat I thought of it, and I thought it Avas a very fair paper to 
send them. The details of that paper you aauII find—of course, I can’t 
I’emember it. JMr. AndrcAvs left, I tliiidv, with the paper. I Avent on 
the street and saAV the croAvd coming in, and numbers of people Averc 
assembling, and as they came in they Avere generally kept back. They 
(rame on horseback and as is the rule in our country, for but very fcAV 
travel by railroad. I observed the clubs in the streets held together by 
their leaders, all dressed in red shirts—composed of Avhite and black 
men. There Avas a A'cry large nund)er of black men AA'ho Avere Avearing 
red shirts; they vran) intermingled with the Avhites on the cross¬ 
streets, and perhaps some on Main street. U^p on Main street there 



352 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 878. 


[ Sumter 


was a mass of white men moving about. I saw no guns whatever, 
except one colored man went by me with a gun—a common fowling- 
piece. I am now speaking of that i)articular time of the day. If they 
had guns with them at that time they had been taken from them, as I 
am informed they were. It is going back a little, but I will say here, 
that before the meeting referred to, some one came in and said the Ee- 
publicans were storing guns in a church where they were to have their 
meeting the next day. I received it as a rumor. This report said they 
were drawn in by some conveyance and stored in the church. After a 
considerable while, for there was some delay, Mr. Eraser, chairman of 
the county committee, came to me and said that Andrews could not find 
the leaders of the Eei)ublican party to make the i)roposition to; that he 
intended to organize his meeting and adjourn it, and tell it to go home. 

Q. That is the Eepublican meeting?—A. Yes, sir; Mr. Fraser told me 
that. I didn’t see Andrews. I said, “Well, let us bring the men to¬ 
gether at once or they will straggle over the town and get out of our hands.” 
He form ed the m oun ted procession on Main street. I took my ] dace at the 
head of the procession with the understanding that I was to be a sort of 
assistant to him (Fraser), and rode by his side. I was on horseback, and 
everybody else was; the procession marched, as usual on such occasions, 
around the town on various streets, and then proceeded to the depot, where 
we had arranged to have our meeting. Now, to understand the localities, 
you must know the town is on the north side of the Wilmington and Co¬ 
lumbia Eailroad. On the south side of the railroad is a common. Main 
street runs almost directly down to the depot, and south of the depot, 
250 yards, wms a church that I w^as told was a negro church, against ^vhicli 
a platform Avas erected, Avith flags, &c., adorning it, and the usual para¬ 
phernalia Avas visible. The procession moved around the town, and con¬ 
siderable time was Avasted Avhen they arrived at the depot, where the 
pieces of cannon Avere. They had been firing* before the procession 
moved, and after the procession moved they^ fired at intervals of fifteen 
or twenty minutes. When we got to the depot, the cavalrymen and 
the mounted men Avere massed around the speakers’ stand, and the 
Democratic meeting Avas organized. I took my position upon the plat¬ 
form, standing upon it so as to raise me aboA^e the crowd, and was in 
full view of the Democratic meeting and the Eepublican meeting. I 
don’t think the distance Avas more than 250 or 300 yards. I Avatched 
the meeting very carefully in the interest in Avhich I had gone there to 
keep things quiet and avoid a collision. There Avas a good many 
speeches—I declare I don’t knoAv^ how many—and I saAr a man speak¬ 
ing at the Eepublican stand; there AAwe four or five short speeches 
made, and considerable enthusiasm preAmiled. There AAms considerable 
enthusiasm also at the Democratic meeting—cheering, &c. I made a 
very few remarks myself, and some half-dozen others spoke and made 
short speeches, and guns were fired all the time at intervals betAv^een 
speeches. The guns were right at the Democratic meeting. The Ee¬ 
publican meeting adjourned first, and in returning to toAvn they passed 
Avithin 100 yards of the Democratic meeting, and Aveut on up Main 
street. As they passed, I watched them very closely; there Avas no 
interference with them or they with the Democrats. There was abso¬ 
lutely, you may say, no communication as I observed. Shortly 
after that the Democatic meeting adjourned, and started to go 
back into the town, but not by Main street, but up a parallel 
street, intending to march around the town again and disband. 

I Avas again right at the head of it, and this time by myself, but one or 
two messengers arrived from the town in great haste and excitement, 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHNSON HAGOOD. 353 

and came nx) to me, and said there was a riot going on nx^ in the town. 
You understand the liex)ublicans liad gone up ahead of us and ux) 
another street. These messengers were very much excited, and about 
tlie time they arrived the common fire-bell of the town rang. That, of 
course, added very much to the excitement. The procession was dis- 
l)osed to go at sx)eed to the x^oint of trouble 5 but I kex)t them at a walk 
I knew if they went ux) there on the gallox) they could not be controlled. 
I was trying to keep x^eace. I did not carry them directly to the x>oint 
of trouble; I knew there was xdeiity if there Avas an outbreak. We went 
apx>roaching Main street at right angles, and turning uj) the street to go 
toward the court-house (still at a walk), I observed ahead of me about 
fifty whites or more, and a crowd of colored men on foot, and two or 
three mounted wiiite men—half a dozen, x^erhaps, of white men—in 
angry talk, the negroes jamming the streets and gesticulating violently, 
and x^i'Stols were drawm on both sides. I halted the column immediately, 
so as not to let them get into this thing, and w^ent forw^ard myself and 
caused the white men to stox’^. One of the x)rominent ones was an old 
acquaintance of mine wdio had served with me in the army, and through 
hiui I caused these others to cease. I then told the colored men in sub¬ 
stance about this: Said 1, “ You have had your demonstration and have 
not been interfered with; now get on the sidew'alk and alloAV this x^ro- 
cession to x^ass, and don’t interfere Avith it, for if you do there Avill be 
trouble.” I axq)ealed to them as common citizens of the State to aAmid 
anytliing that Avould give rise to bloodshed. They listened to me very 
politely, and some said, Don’t you see General Hagood is talking 
to yolif’ And after I got through they said they would gh^e 
way, but they didn’t give way. I wmited a few moments and then said, 
‘^Do you mean AAdiat you say; are you going to get out of the Avay'?” 
They said, “Yes, yes.” I then said, “Do it,” and they got on the paA^e- 
ment then on different sides of the street. I then beckoned to the per¬ 
sons I had left under the control of the column. I told General Eich- 
ardson, who had been riding AAuth me, to leaA^e two or three men at a 
certain xH)int until our x^rocession passed, so as to keep those on the 
sidew^alk from jibing or jeering at them. I was still at the head, and 
AAdien I got bae.k on the Main street I then observed that the court-house 
lay betw^een these streets, and I observed four or five hundred around 
the court-house, on the steps and in the street in front of it, clamorous 
and riotous. I sawy for the first time, white men with guns that day. I 
must say, how^ever, that I suav one or tw o Avhite men before that in the 
procession Avith guns. I spoke to some authority an(j asked him why 
these guns Avere not taken away, and he said it Avas too late then; but he 
came back and said, “I have instructed them to hold them low dowm 
by their horses, so as not to give offense.” But noAV I saAV, standing 
by the court-house, next to the sidewalk, a number of men, perhaps 
40 or 50 white men in citizen’s clothes, avIio were drawui up in line, 
Avith guns, watching the riot. They Avere eAudently under command of 
an officer. I noticed they were Army guns, muskets or riffes. By 
this time the head of the procession Av^as just on Main street, and at 
a glance I saw that and I stopped the procession there, AAhere it re¬ 
mained the balance of the day. The men Avere kept together m the 
jnounted procession, 800 or 1,000. They were kept together by their 
club leaders. I noticed later in the day that when they got tired of 
sitting on their saddles they got off and stood by their horses, and 
they didn’t mingle with the mob. Several times during the day messages 
would come fKom them to me—for up to this time I had more or less 
taken charge of the matter—asking to me let them come to me, but I 

, 23 S C 



S54 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


said, 1^0, stay where J'oii are.^^ When I got in I saw the attention of 
the crowd was attracted to a man upon the i)orch—one was an elderly 
man—^whose name I learned was Goughian. There was a young man 
in a red shirt talking to him, and another young man near him talking 
th him also. I think there were two of them. The attention of the mob 
\tas directed to them again, but what they said I could not hear, as it 
Was very noisy and I was seventy-five feet from them. This white man, 
at that time, was standing on the head of the steps. The porch, I should 
suppose, was at least twenty feet wide. He was at the head of the steps, 
and these young men were standing below, speaking to him. About the 
whole porch was covered with colored people. I didn’t see any white 
men there at that time, except these I have spoken of. Some man in 
the crowd said one of the men was Mr. Goughian, and I don’t know 
now the names of the men in red shirts. I asked what was the matter. 
They said Goughian had used some language that was insulting to Gov¬ 
ernor Hampton, I understand, at the church; that was my information. 
I don’t know for certain whether it was at the church or there on the 
steps with these men. At any rate, Goughian had used some disrespe(it- 
ful language of Hampton, and these men had demanded retraction, and 
Goughian would not give it to them. I saw there was some danger, and a 
few minutes after this I saw Goughian draw his i)istol, and for a moment or 
iko alterwards there seemed to be no increase of excitement between 
him and the young men he was talking with, but still I was Avatching. 
Goughian drew his pistol with difficulty; he was tremulous and drew it 
out nervously, when something was said that had the appearance of en¬ 
raging these young men, and I saw these young m^n draw a pistol. 
Goughian retreated towards the middle of the stand—he Avas on the 
porch—and gaA^e way before this advance six or eight or ten feet— 
altogether not exceeding that—and the croAvd began to scatter away 
right and left on the steps—to make Avay for the balls, for it looked 
like shooting. I immediately jumped my horse on the sidewalk, 
to get closer to them, and shouted ‘‘Stop,” but I don’t sui)pose they 
heard me; but I succeeded in attracting their attention by throw¬ 
ing my hat at them. That checked them, and I jumped off my horse, 
rhn up the steps, which was cleared by this time, and got one of the 
young men by the collar of hig coat and jerked him back, and asked 
him if he didn’t intend to mind me. I said he should stop right away, 
and he said he Avould do so, and I went on then to Goughian, who was 
backed up by the croAvd of colored men, and importuned him to liaA^e 
no disturbance; and I said, “Gontrol your people now, and I will control 
niine.” I don’t remember now Avhat Goughian said. I remember one 
cblored man fumbled with great excitement at his vest-pocket, I thought 
to get a razor to cut me, but I saw none; but it occurred to jue from his 
fumbling in his pocket that it Avas a razor and not a pistol that he was 
about. When I got on my horse again, some one said that a man had 
been knocked down here. I asked how, and they said a policeman had 
endeavored to arrest a negro who had tried to shoot a white man, and 
that another negro had attempted to arrest him, and that the policeman 
hfid knocked him doAvn, and they said he went off' staggering. After that 
I Saw the danger was all over. * It was one of those sudden reA^ulsions 
that persons who have seen mobs can realize. They began to gibe and 
jeer and cut their Avit, and I saw that all appearances of a fight was 
over. When I got downstairs 1 saw that another company of dismounted 
men, all in citizen’s dress, but with arms, had formed across the street. 
I cannot say, but they may have been a portion of the same I had seen 
bdfore, I understood there had been guns presented, but I did not see 


C'mnty.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHNSON HAGOOD. 


355 


that, as I was on the court-house steps trying to avert this outbreak, 
(general Thompson and Major Moise, I had understood, had knocked 
their guns up as tliey were presented and i)revented them from firing. 
In a very few minutes afUn* I had gone down I saw some men joking an 
old man, trying to draw or tie up a piece of old flannel around his head; 
but he resisted it, apparently, however, in good humor. It may have 
b(‘en the same young men. In a few moments Ex Governor Manning, 
who had been i)resident of the meeting, went up on the steps and or¬ 
ganized a sup])lementary Democratic meeting there; and immediately 
the Democratic speakers came forward, colored and white. I remember 
llichardson s])oke, and, perhaps, Daniel Moise, and one or two colored 
men. One was Mr. AVestbury, a colored Democratic representative, and, 
perhaps, John Lee, spoke. I remained sitting on my horse in the street 
until the crowd began to disperse and then I left. There was no collision 
afterwards, and the only collision that occurred during the day is the 
one I have stated. I would like to call the attention of the com¬ 
mittee to that communication to Governor Hampton. I think it is 
but fair to bring it out that there were but two political meet¬ 
ings held that day—one at the church and one at the depot. The 
one at the church was an advertised meeting, called to promote 
the election of Kainey to Congress. It was absolutely not interfered 
with, not even attended by the Democrats. I saw this. I have under¬ 
stood that day, and understood since, and was credibly informed, that 
the Republican meeting adjourned sine die, with the advice of the 
speaker to his meeting to go home. That is hearsay, however. The 
riot described, in the street, was a riot of the members of both parties. I 
was at the head of the Democratic procession, and don’t know; but I 
don’t believe that there were any men on foot in the procession at all. 
When I began to inquire where these armed white men came from I 
was told that they were citizens that belonged to the volunteer com¬ 
panies of the State; that their armory was close by the court-house, 
and that they did not join the procession because they were uneasy and 
fearful of a riot during the day, and that they had stopped in the vicin¬ 
ity of the armory with the view that, if a riot broke out, they could pro¬ 
tect the peace of the town. Before the riot at the court-house, it was 
either this company or some other that rang the bell, and they 
immediately rushed in and took the guns out of the armory, and formed 
on the street; but they took no earthly part in the riot, l^ow, I am 
told that some individuals leveled their guns at the crowd on the steps, 
and which Avere knocked up. But they stood there apparently like a 
squad of policemen under control. The Democratic procession of clubs 
remained there during the whole day on the cross street. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. That is substantially your narration A. Yes, sir; and I reported 
the same to Hampton, and I Avill be glad to put it in my testimon^r. 

Q. You have narrated the important part of this letter, I think; did 
I understand you to say that the colored people were ordered to come 
armed to that "meeting?—A. I was so informed. I don’t vouch for any 
of these Democratic statements made at that meeting. But whether 
true or not, they had all the force of fact because they were believed by 
both sides, and" I think liad a great deal to do with the excitement the 

next day. . , . . . « 

Q. There Av^ere many colored men with red shirts in the companies?— 
A. Yes, sir; I suppose one-fourth or one-fifth of the whole number. 
They Avere A^ery enthusiastic. 


3o6 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. There were several colored Democratic speakers that day ?—A. 
Yes, sir; at least three. I recollect Westbury and Lee, and a colored 
man who I did not know, and I think three more. In fact I rememlter 
an admirable speech made by a colored man at this depot, and up at the 
conrt-honse, and there was mnch enthusiasm over it. 

Q. Yon have attended very many political meetings in tlie State ?—A. 
^^ot very many. I sni)pose ten or a dozen dnring the last canvass. 
There were about thirty in the comity. The State officers were all de¬ 
tailed where they were obliged to go. 

Q. Have yon not seen the American flag at Democratic meetings in 
this State*?—A. I don’t think I have been at one in the canvass or in 
’7G that I did not see it, if one conld be got. It is sometimes liard to 
get them. I have seen a United States flag imxnovised there made of 
bnnting. I have always noticed the United States flag wherever it conld 
be obtained. 

Q. Do yon recollect whether the United States flag was in the Demo¬ 
cratic procession at Sumter ?—A. I can’t say positively; it is not a mat¬ 
ter to attract attention, because it was very common. 

Q. I ask it becanse it has been said yesterday that it was not; Mr. 
Moise said so.—A. I cannot state about it, becanse it is so common a 
thing that its absence or presence does not attract yonr attention. As 
for any feeling against the flag, why, that sort of" sentimentality has 
perished long ago. 

By Mr. Caaieron : 

Q. What are the general duties of the comptroller-general in this 
State ^—A. Collecting the taxes first; no money can be drawn from the 
State treasury except on his warrant, except the pay of members of the 
legislatnre. They are paid by pay certificates issued by the presiding 
officers; but every other payment is made by the comptroller’s warrant. 

Q. He has nothing to do directly with the military ?—A. Yot in the 
least. There is an adjutant-general in charge of the militia. 

Q. When you were requested by Hampton to proceed to Sumter, 
did he inform you which meeting, the Kepublican or the Democratic, 
had first been called !—A. Uo, sir; I don’t know that he knew, but he 
certainly did not inform me which was called first. Perhaps I had bet¬ 
ter state that when I went into Hampton’s room his private secretary 
came to me and asked me to come in, and when I went in I met General 
Kennedy, who was chairman of the Democratic State organization, ami 
who was in conversation with the governor, and I saw I was sent for in 
consequence of their conversation. All that Hampton said Kennedy 
acquiesced in and agreed to, and I was very particular, because I saw 
from Hampton’s uneasiness that he anticipated trouble. I wanted to 
know what they wanted me to do before I went, and we went into de¬ 
tail about it. When I got up to go, I think I said, “Kow, gentlemen, 
do I thorougly understand you?” and they both said Yes,” and I re¬ 
peated what they wanted me to do, to see if I understood their instruc¬ 
tions. Hampton spoke of it particularly. He said there was excitement 
in the country, and it would be very disastrous to us as a party and in¬ 
jurious to us as a State to have any disorder. 

Q. You say Hamilton knew that the meeting was called ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear any firing of cannon, at Sumter, in the evening or 
night prior to the 12th ?—A. I spent the night with Mr. Fraser, chair¬ 
man of the county committee, who lives about a mile or more from the 
depot, and I do not remember any firing before day. But early, about 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHNSON HAGOOD. 


357 


dayliglit, my recollection is that they commenced firing, and at long in¬ 
tervals yon would hear the discharge of pieces of artillery down there. 

Q. Did Hampton or Kennedy inform you that the military from Sum¬ 
ter and adjoining counties would he present at this meeting ?—A. Ko, 
sir; and they were not present. This company that I spoke about were 
evidently the military that were there under the circumstances I have 
described. But the mounted procession was composed there as any¬ 
where else in the State 5 ours is an equestrian people from the necessities 
of the country. They are fond of horses. It may seem ridiculous, for on 
fete days they get to running races with horses that are not fit to walk. 
At every Democratic meeting they are mounted, and they sit for hours 
upon their horses instead of on benches. 

Q. Mr. Moise testified yesterday that there were companies of mili¬ 
tary from that and the adjoining counties j that there were 400 or 500 
belonging to the regular State organization.—A. It may be so. 

Q. That they were under command of their officers, and that Ool. 
Brown Manning was in command of all the military that day, and that 
subsequent to that day he issued a complimentary order to the troops 
who accompanied him to Sumter.—A. It may be true. You will under¬ 
stand the difficulty in my speaking positively on that subject. These 
militia-men, you know, all have titles whether they are commissioned or 
non-commissioned. When you find a colonel you hardly know what his 
capacity is. I was under that imimession, however. I thought they 
were ordinary clubs of the country, and were in red shirts, which is the 
badge of Democracy. Every one who puts on a red shirt acknowledges 
allegiance to the party. 

Q. I think the complimentary order he issued Avas put in evidence.— 
A. It may be true. I came away that night, and I have not heard it 
since. The impression produced upon my mind was that it would seem 
they had no drums or anything of that sort. They had no flags, but 
had transparencies, &c.—gamecocks i)ainted on homespun. I saw noth¬ 
ing to indicate the military. Again, the difficulty of answering posi¬ 
tively is that the very individuals that composed these clubs composed 
the militia of this State, white and colored, and you will find the inili- 
tiamen serving in the club, and you hardly know whether to call it a 
club or the militia. We have a fine militia club here now. They call 
them the National Guard. 

Q. Are not the white military companies and the Democratic clubs 
frequently nearly identical!—A. They are identical in the exact propor¬ 
tion that the miiitia bears to the armed people of the State. We have a 
volunteer militia in this State, sir, and I suppose it is onedenth part of 
the people of the State that are capable of bearing arms, and there are 
not any more of the political clubs than in the proportion they bear to 
the general population. The number of young men,therefore may be 
above the proper proportion. 

Q. Were you informed at Sumter, on the 12th, that the cannon, or one 
of them, had been loaded Avith nails !—A. Yes, siiq I forgot to mention 
that. That is also from information. I did not see that piece of artil¬ 
lery, but it was undoubtedly there. I asked the captain atter that how it 
came there, and he said that after the procession left he had left his two 
ineces of artillery, and when the alarm bell rang, which Avas alter the 
procession started to move, one of these young men had seized one 
piece and run it up where the riot was, and it stood there all the time. 
I never saw that piece of artillery, but it must have been within 40 or 
50 feet. I mention it to shoAv that it must have been utterly useless, 
and anybody Avould haA^e been crazy to haAX fired it. I asked this 


358 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Captain Lorantz about this story of the nails, and he said that one of 
the young men ran into an adjoining shop, and that he gathered a 
double handful of tenpenny nails and rammed them down the gun. 

Q. You stated that you were informed that the colored people were 
depositing guns in the colored church?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I Avill ask you if when the colored i)eople left the church they car¬ 
ried, to your knowledge, many guns away with them?—A. I was never 
closer to the church than the railroad depot. 

Q. If they had armed themselves with guns could you not have seen 
them at 250 yards '?—A. Well, if every man was armed, 1 might, but t 
saw none. The rumor was that they were carrying guns secretly and 
putting them in the church. The next morning I asked Mr. Fraser 
about that rumor last night, and he said it was so, but I never saw 
them. The weapons I saw in the hands of the niggers were pistols. 

Q. You saw no guns at all?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Is it not usual for nearly everybody, white and black, to carry a 
pistol in this country, if they can get one?—A. It is, unfortunately, too 
common a practice, but I don’t think the gentlemen commonly carry 
pistols—that is, the better class of people. The negroes imitated tlie 
whites in that as they do in many other things. 

Q. How many negroes did you see on that day armed with xustols?— 
A. I could not tell you. I saw pistols displayed, from time to time, by 
many on both sides. 

Q. Was the Democratic meeting at the depot interfered with by the 
Eepublicans?—A. No, sir. Between those two meetings there was no 
intercourse except by stragglers. I took it that they were all Democrats 
at our meeting. 

Q. About what number attended the meeting at the depot ?—A. I 
expect there was COO or 800, or may be more. There was about 800 
mounted men in the procession, and they were all at the Democratic 
meeting. There were some more, but I could not say how many. 1 
suppose a couple of hundred more. 

Q. About how many were at the Eepublican meeting held at the 
church ?—A. It was about the same size. It is hard to estimate them, 
for they went to the meeting confusedl}^ 

Q Were the colored people mounted or on foot?—A. They were on 
foot. 

Q. How were the whites ?—A. All in the procession were mounted, 
and I suppose nine-tenths of the Democrats were in the procession. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you saw an altercation between the whites and blacks. 
About how many colored men were there?—A. I suppose 100 or 200. 

Q. Where were they; in the center of the street ?—A. They jammed 
the whole street. 

Q. How many white men ?—A. Six or eight. They were mounted 
and the negroes were on foot. Their pistols were drawn. 

Q. You say you knew one of these white men?-^A. Yes, sir; he 
served with me in the army. 

Q. Was he a young man ?—A. He was a man of about 35 or 40 years 
of age. 

Q. Now, you addressed the crowd, and you asked them if they were 
going to stay there in the street?—A. My hrst effort was to stoj) these 
white men, and I succeeded in doing it. 

Q. From doing what?—A, From pointing their pistols and from 
violent talk. 


County.] TESTIMONY OP JOHNSON HAGOOD. 359 

Q. Were they threatening the negroes ?—A. Yes, sir; and the negroes 
were tlireatening tliein, too. 

Q. Do 5 ’ou know what started tliat?—A. No, sir; it appeared to me 
that they were trying to get a way made for the procession, but I don’t 
know that. 

Q. When you first heard of this difficulty, when these messengers 
came, how far were you from this point?—A. Probably 350 yards, 
granting that the depot was a little over a quarter of a mile, and we 
had moved 100 yards from the dey)ot. 

Q. These were the pioneers you liad sent out?—^A. No, sir; I didn’t 
send them. 

Q. They were volunteers ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Was this the point at which you proposed to move your proces¬ 
sion ?—A. Yes, sir; they were directly in our way. 

Q. It would have been time enough for them to move out after you 
got through ?—A. No, sir; I was afraid, they were so violent. 

Q. If these white men had not interfered would there not have been 
time enough for the colored people to get out of the street by the time 
the proijession itself arrived ?—A. They would have had to get out quic^i;. 

Q. Before the messengers came to you, were you on the walk?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You continued on the walk?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you got near them you halted the main column ?—^A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You went on?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Any other white men there besides yourself and these red shirts?- 7 - 
A. No, sir; I don’t think there was. If there was I did not observe them. 
It was a crowd of negroes. 

Q. How many were in that crowd ?—A. I think there was 200 or more. 

Q. How wide were the streets there?—A. I suppose 45 feet or there¬ 
abouts, as well as 1 remember. 

Q. T suppose a cavalry regiment like this, 800 strong, could walk 
through Iiundreds of them?—A. That is what I wanted to avoid. 

Q. Did you suppose the negroes would have stood there and been run 
over?—A. Yes, sir. I considered that both sides were very much ex¬ 
cited. 

Q. There were 200 negroes there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With pistols? How many pistols?—A. A few dozen. , 

You Imd 800 well-mounte(l and well-armed men behind you?—A. 
Tliey were armed with guns, and they were armed well. I suppose they 
had pistols. 

Q. Do you know that fact?—A. No, sir; because I did not see them. 
They did not draw the pistols. 

Q. How many guns did your men have?—A. There were five or six 
that I saw in tlie procession. . 

Q. Do you not know that after the bell tapped they all got their 
guns?—A. No, sir; because they could not do it, because 1 had them 
with me. I understood their guns were stored higher up in town. 

Q. How many pistols did they each have ?—A. I could not say. It 
is the custom in this country for a man to carry one pistol—a six-shooter, 
I never saw a man carry two revolvers in my life; not when they go out 
on such expeditions. They may do it; but I never saw it. 

Q. Well, six shots apiece?—A. Yes, sir; so I supiiose. 

Q. Four thousand eight hundred shots ?—A. Yes, sir; I supiiose that 
is so. 


360 


SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. Do you think all these 200 negroes were armed ?—A. No, sir. I 
doubt if the negroes were as well armed as the whites. 

Q. Are they ever as well armed f—A. I don’t think they are as a gen¬ 
eral thing, at the best, anyhow. 

Q. Are not such pistols as the negroes have such as the whites aban¬ 
don?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Second-class instols ?—A. No, sir. You can get a good pistol now 
for $5. 

Q. A good ^^navy”?—A. No, sir; but such as will kill people. 

Q. But what kind did these people have ?—A. I think “ navies ” are 
going out of use in this country. 

Q. What did you use?—A. I don’t know; I am not a pistol man. I 
remember of seeing a beautiful pistol here at the hotel that a man 
showed me, and it was really quite cheap. 

Q. You don’t know what the make of these pistols is that are usually 
carried here?—A. Well, I imagine that they are of the large imi)roved 
make. 

Q. Is ^t not a fact that the whites have the best pistols ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And many fine pistols ?—A. Yes, sir; where men have money they 
will clothe themselves better than men without money, whether it is 
clothing or pistols. My going forward to have those people get out of 
the way was not that we might ride over them, but that we might ride 
over that street in safety. 

Q. Was there not another street where they could go?—A. No, sir; 
not very well. 

Q. You did not send these messengers ? A. No, sir; they were just 
stragglers or volunteers. 

Q. You say word came to you that there was a riot ?—A. Yes, sir; 
that was all, and that there would be bloodshed. 

Q. Do you know who started the riot ?—A. No, sir; I did not see it. 
You could not see them rising. 

Q. You say you can’t say whether there was a flag there that day or 
not ?—^A. No, sir; I can’t recollect whether there was a United States 
flag or not. 

Q. You spoke about the flag. Do you usually carry the State flag ?— 
A. Well, the volunteer companies usually do. 

What is it?—A. Well, it is a palmetto on one side and the coat-of- 
arms on the other. I have seen ijolitical meetings drained with both 
flags. 

Q. How do you mean ?—A. I mean to say the stand was draped with 
both of them. 

Q. Did you have a band with your troops ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From what point did it come ?—A. I could not tell you. 

Q. You went down on the train with these cannon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the size of these cannon ?—A. I did not examine them 
carefully, but my impression is that they were 6-pounders. 

Q. Was not one of them a 12-pounder?—A. No, sir; I think they 
were of the same caliber. 

Q. Were they brass or iron ?—A. Iron. They were very clumsy little 
pieces; I saw that. 

Q. Did they have horses ?---A. They may have had, but I did not see 
any horses. The cannon did not move with the procession. They 
staid at the depot all the time until this one was run up. I don’t 
know whether it was run up with horses or not. 

Q. When they marched up through the town did not the cannon fol¬ 
low?—A. No, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT ROSS. 


361 


Q. Are you positive about tliat^—A. Yes, sir 5 1 am positive. 

Q. They remaiiied at the depot all the time?—A. No, sir: not until 
one was taken up. 

Q. One remained there all the time?—A. Yes, sir 5 that Avas my ob¬ 
servation. 

Q. Where was this firing during the night ?—A. At the depot. 

Q. From these cannon ?—A. I suppose so. I heard those guns. I 
did not hear them in the night, although they may have fired, but I 
know I heard them in the morning firing an occasional shot. 

3>y JVIr. Cameron : 

Q. Bid you observe the inscription on the banners?—A. No, sir; I 
did not. I saw one called the ‘‘ Gamecock County,” and whenever you 
go to Sumter County at a meeting you will see the gamecock banner 
with trimmings around. 

Q. Bid you observe on one of the banners or transparencies carried 
in the Bemocratic procession the words ‘^Eemember Cainhoy”?—A. I 
did not see it. I saw by the iieAvspaper that it was on one of them, but 
I did not see it. 

By Mr. McBonald : 

Q. Sumter is called the ^‘Gamecock County”?—A. Yes, sir; it is 
named after Tom Sumter of the Eevolution, and lie was called the Game¬ 
cock. Some Palmetto regiments went to the Mexican war and carried 
a gamecock. The Eepublicans call it so, and tlie negroes call it so. 

Q. You were asked in regard to the character of the organizations 
composing this procession; you were asked if they Avere not military 
comiianies. Bid they have to you any a])pearance of military organiza¬ 
tion, or did they have simply the appearance of iiolitical clubs?—A. 
Well, I haA^e not made myself clear, if I Inwe not made you understand 
that. It is the first time I eA^er heard that they were not political organ¬ 
izations. They were not uniformed, those that I saAv, and they had no 
military arms, and did not move Avith precision. Military organizations 
usually moA^e in columns of tAAms. 

Q. You spoke of colored men being in the uniform of red shirts?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that the uniform of political clubs?—A. Yes, sir; undoubtedly. 

Q. It is AAmrn by both Avhites and blacks of that party?—A. Yes, sir, 
in the red-shirt campaign of ’7(3, and it AA^as Avorn not so much then, but 
in this cami)aign everybody wore it. Ladies wore vests of it. 

Q. That is not a political uniforin?—A. It is a i)olitical uniform en¬ 
tirely. It is not a militia uniform. 


EOBEET EOSS. 

Charleston, January 25, 1879. 
Egbert Eoss sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McBonald : 

Question. Where do you liA^e ?—AnsAver. In Sumter. 
il. How long have you resided there ?—A. Ever since I was born, 
sir. 

Q. HaA^e you taken any part in the politics of Sumter County since 
you have been a voter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To what party did you belong ?—A. To the Eepublican party. 



362 


SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1878. 


[ Snratw 


Q. How long did you continue with that party —A. Up to the time 
of Green’s election. 

Q. You voted for Green at the time he was a candidate?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Since that time with what party have you acted ?—A. With the 
Democrats, solid. 

Q. In 1876 and 1878 you acted with the Democratic party?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did you take any part in the political canvass in Sumter last sum¬ 
mer and fall?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you belong to any political club at Sumter ?—A. I did. 

Q. Were there many colored men belonging to the club of which you 
were a member ?—A. There were a good many, sir. 

Q. State the number as near as you can.—A. We had a meeting every 
Thursday night; there was always a committee of twenty to bring in 
names. On every Thimsday they reported fifteen or twenty names. 

Q. How many names of colored men do you suppose were attached 
to that club during the canvass ?—A. I suppose, as near as I can come 
to it, there must have been 701) or 800 colored men. 

Q. At the time of the election, how many colored men were members 
of the club ?—A. I could not say as to that. 

Q. Did you attend meetings any where in your county besides at Sum¬ 
ter in the last campaign ?—A. Only at Sumter, sir. 1 did not go out in 
the countr^^ during the last campaign. 

Q. You did in the campaign of 1876?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any clubs in other i)arts of the country to whic^h 
colored men belonged?—A. Yes, sir; there was a club at Bishopville, 
and one at Mechanicsville, superintended by Westbury. There was one 
at Wedgefield, State’s Bridge, and Mount Clio. 

Q. Are you acquainted with John W. Westbury?—A. I am. 

Q. Where does he live ?—A. At Mechanicsville, I believe. 

Q. Do you know whether he was i)resident of the club at his place ?— 
A. I heard so. 

Q. Where were you on the day of the two meetings, Eepublican and 
Democratic, at Sumter on the 12th of October ?—A. I was in Sumter. 

Q. Did you take any part in that meeting ?—A. 1 was compelled to 
attend them both. 

Q. How were you compelled to attend them both?—A. In the dis¬ 
charge of my duties. 

Q. What were your duties ?—A. To keep the peace and quiet of the 
town. __ _ — 

Q. Did you belong to the police force of the town?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what time was the Eepublican meeting organized at the 
church?—^A. As near as I can make it out, Lee and Spears took the 
crowd from the court-house with a band of music between 12 and 1. 

Q. Was Lee with it?—A. Mr. Lee was not there; they were looking 
for Eainey that day and he didn’t come. 

Q. You didn’t see Lee that day ?—A. Ho, sir. Mr. Spears went along 
in a buggy, and the crowd followed behind with a band of music. 

Q. Did you go down to the meeting at the time if organized?—A. Ho, 
sir; I did not. 

Q. At what time were you first at the meeting at the church ?— A. 
Before the meeting took place my attention was called to the fiict that 
some one was selling whisky. I was on horseback and rode down to 
the depot. I spoke to Langdon Davis, and asked him did he know of 
anybody distributing whisky down there. He said he did not. I said 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT ROSS. 


363 


I had been told there was, and if he found anybody selling whisky to 
arrest and bring them to the guard-liouse, be they Republican or Demo¬ 
crat. He repeated that he knew of none. I turned back then. The 
meeting Iiadn’t begun yet. 

Q. When were you at the meeting itself?—A. After the crowd went 
down toward the meeting—in fact, I didnT go to that meeting at all. I 
stopped near the depot, at the corner of Liberty street and the depot 
square. The Democrats were marching around town after the Republi¬ 
cans got there. They formed their meeting about the same time at the 
dei)ot. 

Q. Did you see the Democratic procession that came down to the 
depot?—A. Yes, sir j I stood there and looked at it. 

Q, Were there any colored men in it ?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. W ere they Avearing uniforms? —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of what kind?—A. Red shirts. 

0. Did you see Mr. Westbnry there that day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he at the head of his club?—A. T think he was, sir. 

Q. Were his company uniformed with red shirts?—A. Yes,sir; I re¬ 
member seeing one of them who, not satisfied with the red shirt, had 
on flannel breeches—red imnts—too. 

Q. He put on red breeches as well as a red shirt?—A. Yes, sir; what 
made me notice him more i>articularly was that his brother, who had 
been a straight Republican the last campaign, was with him in red and 
blue. 

Q. From the best judgment you could form, how many colored men 
in that county were acting with the Democratic party in the last can¬ 
vass and election?—A. There were a great many, sir; I am at a loss to 
say just how many. 

Q. Give the best judgment you can.—A. There were a good many; 
probably, if I was going to say, I might put it at over one-third, and 
maybe one-half, of all in the county. 

Q. According to your best judgment, one-third or one half of the 
colored men of your county acted with the Democrats in the last elec¬ 
tion?—A. I know I had the promise of one-half of them to vote the 
Democratic ticket. 

Q. Where were you on election-day?—A. In Sumter. 

Q. After the meetings closed at the church and depot, what did you 
see of the disturbance near the court-house?—A. I had stopped up 
about the town-hall. The Democrats were coming up from their meet¬ 
ing. After the Republicans had adjourned their meeting, the Democrats 
started 'to turn down the corner of Main and Liberty streets. The place 
was so crowded that they could not well get along. They met the col¬ 
ored i)eople in the street, extending across from sidewalk to sidewalk. 
One of the Democrats rode against a man and struck him with his horse; 
the man turned around and struck the man or horse with a stick, or 
something. That resulted in a little stir there on the corner. Some 
cursing was going on, the Democrats and Republicans, colored men and 
white men, being all mixed up together. It was pretty hot around there 
for awhile. There were sticks used and pistols drawn. I went up with 
my force and tried to compel a peace. The colored men began to get 
very raging and rambunctious. They said if the police couldn’t i)rotect 
them they would protect themselves. I said, “I am doing my duty all 
1 can. If you will listen to me, and do as I tell you, you will have no 
trouble.” Then I told the policemen to go back, and they Avent back. 
Afterwards the colored men came to me for protection again. I said, 
‘‘Gentlemen, you must stop this fuss.” I was talking to the whole 


364 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ SuDctor 


crowd, Eepiiblicans and Democrats. About this time General Hagood 
rode up on that corner; he had something to say in regard to \yliat was 
right and wrong. Tlien Major Johnson—elolin Johnson, I believe, liis 
first name was—said, “General, I can do more with these people than 
you can; they know me, and don’t know yon; what you say is making 
them worse than what they would be if you didn’t say anything.” 
Major Johnson said to Hagood, “You just hush, and have nothing to 
say, and I will settle this affair.” Major Johnson told the colored men 
they had no business in the middle of the streets, and must go back to 
the dividing line. They did so, and the streets were made clear. 

Q. Who was Major Johnson, Eepublican or Democrat !—A. AEei)ub- 
lican. 

Q. He spoke to them and they went back !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And after that everything was peaceable and qniet!—A. Yes, 
sir; on that corner. They went on around the square; the colored voters 
all stood on the pavement. 

Q. There was an effort made to arrest somebody later in the day; 
were you present when that was done ! 

The Witness. At what time do you mean ! 

Mr. McDonald. At the time of the trouble on the court-house steps, 
or about the time it was over. 

A. I do not know but there was one or two arrests. 

Q. Do you recollect a man being struck by some of the police force 
for interfering !—A. I am not sure. 

Q. You were not present!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you see anything of the trouble at the court-house porch ?—A. 

I saw a little of that. 

Q. Where were you on the day of election—at what polls !—A. First 
at one and then at another. 

Q. Were you acting as policeman that day!—A. No, sir. 

Q. What were you doing !—A. Trying to get as many people as I 
could to vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How did you succeed; did you get a good many to vote the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Colored men !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To what number did you giv’-e out tickets that voted them !—A. I 
don’t know; a good many Eei)ublicans promised me to vote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket if they could do it and the Eepiiblicans not know how they 
voted. I gave them green tickets and blue tickets and red tickets— 
different colored tickets, but all of them Democratic. 

Q. To what number of colored xieople do you think, to the best of your 
knowledge, you gave Democratic tickets to vote!—A. I think I must 
have issued out about 150 or more; besides I had three colored men 
helping me. 

Q. Who were helping you !—A. There was Witherspoon—gentlemen, 
I don’t know about letting out on the men that were helping me that 
day. 

Q. Was Matt Brooks one of them! 

Mr. Cameron. No ; he stuck to his restaurant. 

Mr. McDonald. He was speaking of the day of the meeting. 

A. I think old man Brooks was working there that day, and there 
was some other colored men working. 

Q. Were you at both polls!—A. Yes, sir; I had a man working at 
No. 1 xioll; then I would go down to No. 2. 

Q. You kept at it all day!—A. I kept at it all day. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF ROBERT ROSS. 365 

Q. At wliat time did you commence in tlie morning'?—A. Between 
six and seven—as soon as the polls opened, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How long have you been a policeman in Sumter?—A. Off and on 
for about five years, I reckon. 

Q. When were you last api)ointed ?—A. On the 27th or 20tli of last 
April. 

Q. By whom were you appointed?—A. I was elected by the town 
council. 

Q. Is the town council Democratic or Bepublican ?—A. One member 
is Bepublican, the majority are Democrats. 

Q. Then you hold your office under the Democratic town council of 
Sumter ?—A. Yes, sir; it always has been Democratic, the council has. 

Q. Was the council Democratic when the Kepublicanshad a majority? 
—A. The Democrats always had a majority in the corporate limits of 
the town. 

Q. When were you converted to Democracy?—A. Well, directly after 
Judge Green run. There Avere two parties at that time; one was called 
straight-out Republican and the others Avere called bolters. 1 took sides 
for Judge Green. 

Q. After that you found yourself in the Democratic party ?—A. I 
always belicA cd Judge Green was elected governor and they stole it 
from him, and I came to the conclusion not to go with a party that would 
do such things any more. 

Q. Give tlie name of the first man who has been a Republican that 
A^oted the Democratic ticket that you gaA^e him that day ? 

The Witness. The first one ? 

Mr. Camehon. YYs; the first one. 

A. I think his name Avms Peter Ivens. 

Q. At AA hich poll did he vote ?—A. I think I voted him at the Planter 
warehouse. 

Q. At what time of day did you Amte him?—A. I hardly knoAv. 

Q. I Avant the A^ery first one you Amted that day.—A. The first one I 
voted was myself. 

Q. I am talking about Republicans—men aaJio had been Republicans 
prior to the last election.—A. And I name Peter Ivens. 

Q. At Avhat time in the day did he A^ote ?—A. I cannot say whether 
he Avas the first one or not. I know he Avas one. 

Q. I asked you to giA e me the name of the first one you Amted.—A. I 
could not tell you. 

Q. Give me the name of the second one.—A. I cannot. 

Q. Is Peter I\"ens the only one Avhose name you can gWe?—A. He is 
the only one Avliose name I remember now. 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted Avith the colored iieople of that 
town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You swore you Amted 150 men that day aaJio had been Republicans 
before?—A. ]S^o,"sir; I did not; I said I gaA^e them tickets and they 
promised me to A^ote them. 

Q. You don’t know whether they did Amte them or not ?—A. l!7o, sir. 

Q. Can you give the name of anybody but Peter Ivens who had before 
been a Republican and voted the bemocratic ticket on that day ?—A. I 
knoAv^ there were several of them. 

Q. Give me the name of one more ?—A. I think, if I am not mistaken, 
a man named Albert Brunson—I don’t know now really, sir, for certain, 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Sumter 


3()6 


whether it was Albert Bronson or not. I think that Mr. Epperson voted 
him- 

Q. I am talking abont those that yon voted.—A. I think I cannot 
give the name of anybody bnt X^eter. 

Q. At what time did you vote Peter?—A. I cannot say; some time 
during the day, sir. 

Q. At what time did you A^ote the first man who had been a Eepubli- 
can prior to that election?—A. I don’t know; I was ghing out tickets 
all day. 

Q. You told us that before. How many, do you know, voted the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket, that before had been Eepublican ?—A. I wouldn’t like to 
say; if I should say seA^en or eight or nine, probably I might, be stating 
to you a lie. 

Q. You cannot give the name of any but I^eter Ivens ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. When you said that you voted 150 men that day, did it occur to 
you that that would be one man every fiA^e minutes ?—A. That could be 
Awy easy, because you see people would come I’ight in and A^ote and go 
right out. There was a continual crowd, and they had to go right be- 
liind one another in single file; as fast as one voted he would go away, 
and another Avould go right in and A^ote. 

Q. The polls were open from six in the morning until six at night ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In order to A^ote 150 men that day you would have had to AU)te 
twelve men every hour.—A. I didn’t make any calculation about that. 

Q. If you A^oted one eAwy five minutes all day, in twelve hours you 
could have A^oted only 144 men?—A. Well, sir. 

Q. Now, don’t you think the number Avas a little too high when you 
said that you had A^oted 150 men there that day?—A. I said, I think, 
that I gave tickets to 150 men to A^ote. 

Q. You don’t know Avhether those tickets went into the box or not?— 
A. I know I gin them out. 

Q. You only know you ^^gin” them out?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many colored jnen did you say were members of the Demo¬ 
cratic club of which you were a member?—A. I don’t know exactly the 
number; it has been a good while since I seen the list. I used to be 
vice-president of the Democratic club, and I used to could tell at one 
time how many there was, but I couldn’t now. 

Q. How many colored men Avere members of the political club of 
which you were a member—of that one club, the Sumter club?—A. 
There Avere at least—altogether—probably—about—probably—I should 
say—these were on the books—probably—about—two or three hundred. 

I know Ave had a good many. 

Q. Did you ever look at the lists and count up the number of colored 
men in the Avard ?—A. No, sir; the secretary probably might. 

Q. Did the secretary ever give you a list of the colored men who were 
members of that club ?—A. He did not. 

Q. Did the secretary ever tell you how many colored men Avere mem¬ 
bers of that club ?—A. I do not remember whether he ever did or not. 

Q. Did any officer of the club ever tell you how many colored men 
were members of the club ?—A. I was an officer myself, and it was not 
necessary for anybody to tell me. 

Q. That is not Avhat I asked you; I asked you if any of the other 
officers ever told you how many colored men were members of that 
club?—A. [After long hesitation.] I am not able to answer that ques¬ 
tion, sir. 

Q. Give the names of all the colored men that you can remember who 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBEET ROSS. 


367 


were members of that club.—A. There was myself, and Matt Brooks, 
and Julius Edwards, and Joe Levan, and John Craig, and several 
others—I cannot call their names now. 

Q. Is that all you can remember of colored men Avho belonged to that 
club?— A. That is all 1 can think of now. 

Q. You have given the names of five.—A. I could probably call more 
if I liad time to think. 1 cannot think of them right now. 

Q. I wish you would think of all you can.—A. There was Kit Davis 
and Jim Gibbs belonged to that club; if I am not mistaken there were 
others that I cannot think of now. I cannot study up all their names 
in a minute. 

Q. You have given the names of seven; canT you possibly run the 
number up to ten ? You say that there were 200 or 300 of them all, and 
that you were well acquainted in that town.—A. Yes, sir; very well 
acquainted. 

Q. Now, try to run the number up to ten.—A. There was Cyrus- 

somebody, I forget his name; he drives for Beaubien. 

Q. I am satisfied^with Cyrushe makes eight. Now try to make 
out the ten. [No reply.] 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted with the colored voters of the town 
of Sumter?—A. Tolerably, sir. 

Q. How long have you been policeman there?—A. Four or five years 
in all. 

Q. You say there are 300 or 400 colored members of the Democratic 
club there ?—A. No, sir; I said there were 200 or 300 names enrolled on 
the list; that is, I supposed so. 

Q. Why did you suppose so ?—A. Because a long list of names were 
brought in; at every meeting the committee would bring them in, and 
they would attend probably once or twice, and if they diduT attend any 
more their names would be still on the roll. 

Q. How many colored men who were members of that club voted the 
Democratic ticket at the last election?—A. 1 told you just now that I 
cjould not tell exactly, but 1 gave out a good many tickets to them. 

Q. I ask how many colored men, who were members of that cluby 
voted the Democratic ticket?—A. I couldn’t tell how many, sir. 

Q. About how many colored voters are there in Sumter County?—A. 
I could not tell that even, sir. I never went to the auditor’s ofiice to 
find out. 

Q. Have you no idea of the number of colored voters in that county?— 
A. No, sir; I never interested myself enough to find out. 

Q. How many white voters are there in that county ?—A. I could not 
tell. 

Q. How ifiany voters are there altogether, white and colored, in the 
county ?—A. I couldn’t answer that, either. 

Q. You said on direct examination that you liad assurances that one- 
had* the colored voters in the county would vote the Democratic ticket.— 
A. Well, they promised me- 

Q. Who made you all these promises ?—A. The county people would 
come in, and would ask me how things were going on, and what was 
my oinnion, and I \vould say things were going on all right. They 
would ask who was running, and who ought to be elected, and I would 
give them my advice, and they would say, “I reckon we had better try 
and get good ofiicers this time.” We had plenty of promises; if i^rom- 
ises conld have carried the election we could have carried it easy, with¬ 
out voting at all. 




368 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[ Sumter 


Q. With how many people from the country did you talk ?—A. I don^t 
know; I was continually talking every chance I could get. 

Q. To how many did you talk ?—A. I didn’t keep any particular ac¬ 
count. 

Q. Grive the names of any that you t dked with.—A. Well, there were 
several men in the country that I talked with. 

Q. Give me the name of any one of them.—A. I could not give you 
their names. 

Q. Can’t you give the name of one ?—A. I think I could not. 

Q. Did you go outside of the toAvn into the country for the purpose of 
talking with colored men on political subjects during the last canvass— 
that of 1878 ?—A. Let me see. I did not go out in 1878. In 1870 I went 
out 5 I took the stump then, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood: 

Q. Let me understand this thing about your club. You said you had 
a committee whose business it was to bring in names ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the committee bring in the men themselves, or only their 
names ?—A. They brought in the names j not the men. They said that 
so many men authorized them to sign their names to the roll. 

Q. But the men were not there?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. In that way you got the number of those that belonged to the 
club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And if they had the same luck that you had—got promises instead 
of votes—they might have been deceived as to what these men were 
going to do, might they not?—A. Just as likely as not, sir. 

Q. You were appointed policeman in April last ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you in Sumter when Lee was brought in in a buggy by some 
white people ?—A. I was there. 

Q. Were you acting as policeman then ?—A. I was. 

Q. Did you see that occurrence ?—A. I got there while it was going 
on. 

Q. Did you arrest anybody for the outrageous attack on Lee ?—A. I 
did not. 

Q. You did not ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Why didn’t you, when you saw them treating Lee as you did see 
them—you saw it yom’self, I understood you to say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You saw what went on after they came back with Lee in the 
buggy?—A. They had come out of the"buggy, into the town. I saw 
them, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I saw Lee jump 
out of the buggy. There didn’t"anybody say what Avas the matter, any 
more than they said they Avere going to carry Lee to the court-house. 
Lee said, “I demand protection.”' I said, ^‘You ought not to hurt this 
man.” ‘AYell,” they said, “all we Avant is for him to go to the court¬ 
house.” The chief of the police came there. His name Avas Mr. Toomey. 
Lee asked, Avas he to be treated that way ? There Avere only two police¬ 
men around there, and Lee himself knew they couldn’t do anything. 
They was only a drop in the bucket, and Toomey adAused Lee—and 
Toomey Avas the chief of police—that they Avould protect him, and asked 
him to go as far as the court-house. Lee’s Avife and sister had run out, 
and were crying and making a great ado about it. Lee said, “ I will go 
with you, but I will not go Avith these men.” 

Q. What I asked was, did you arrest any of these men aa ho so handled 
Lee that day ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Suppose that Lee had been a white man, and had been treated by 
a lot of colored men as he was treated by the Avhite men, Avould you not 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT ROSS. 


369 


have considered it your duty to arrest the colored men who were treat¬ 
ing him that way ?—A. I would not consider it my duty. I would con¬ 
sider it the duty of the sheriff. 

Q. Ah! So we see what the policemen of Sumter amount to. At the 
joint meeting- on the 12th of October did you see Mr. Coghlan there on 
tlie steps of the court-house ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has Mr. Coghlan lived long in your place ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he a citizen of good character ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see the attacks made on him that day ?—A. I saw a great 
deal of fun poked at him. 

Q. Did you attempt to arrest any of the men who were doing it ?—A. 
Xo, sir. 

Q. On the day of election I think you said you were not acting as 
policeman ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Why not ?—A. It was not my day for being on duty. 

Q. Are you not on duty every day ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Xor any part of every day ?—A. Xot in the day-time. One week 
I am on duty during the day, and at night I am at home, a privileged 
character to go where I choose. Then it comes my turn to go on in the 
night and I am off during the day. 

Q. As I understand you, one week you are on day-duty and the next 
week on night-duty ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And on election-day you were off duty that day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When you went up to those people who had Lee in charge were 
they beating or abusing him in any way ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Just detaining him ?—A. That was all, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Mr. Lee wanted to go home, did he not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. They were not beating or abusing him in any way?—A. Xo, sir; 
they only said that they were going to carry him to the court-house. 

Q. You didn’t see anybody strike him ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. You say that when they cheated Green out of the governorshii) 
you left the Eepublican party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You believe he was elected?—A. Yes, sir; and I always will be¬ 
lieve so until the day of judgment. 

Q. The other side had the machinery of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Those white men were forcibly detaining Lee, you saj^ ?—A. They 
had hold of him, and toM him he could not go home, but he must first 
go to the court-house. 

Mr. Cameron. Mr. McDonald asked you whether these men were 
abusinghim ? 

Mr. McDonald. My question meant just what he answered. 

Mr. Cameron. You questioned about abusing him. 

Mr. McDonald. I asked him with reference to mere detention. 

By ]\fr. Cameron : 

Q. You say they were forcibly detaining IMr. Lee ?—A. They had hold 
of him and told him he must go to the Court-house before they would 
let him go home. 

24 s c 


370 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Sumter 


Q. Do you mean to say tliat that was not abusing him —A. I wouldu’t 
call it so. . , , , 

Q. AVhat do the police of Sumter call it ?—A. I never asked them 
what they would call it. 

Q. That would not be abusing him'?—A. Not in my judgment. 

Q. Did you see him when they threw him out of the buggy *?—A. No, 
sir 5 they didn’t throw him out of the buggy j I saw him when he jumped 
out of the buggy. 

Q. Did they attempt to prevent his jumping from the buggy *?—A. I 
don’t know whether they did or not; I know he jumped out. 

Q. You say that Green was cheated out of the election *?—A. I always 
will believe it. 

Q. What makes you believe it 1 —A. Sumter County went solid for 
Green. 

Q. What do you mean by solid for Green ?—A. They cast the majority 
of votes for him. 

Q. What makes you think so 1 —A. Because the campaign was solid 
for Green. 

Q. Sumter County went very strongly for Green, you think ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Do you know how any of the other counties went % —A. I could 
not swear as to any other county. 

Q. Tlien you have no information as to other counties “?—A. I have 
my belief. 

Q. I want to know what your belief is founded.on.—A. Well, sir, I 
believe that Green was the choice of the people of the State of South 
Carolina. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How many votes did he get in Richland County'?—A. I don’t know, 
sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many votes did he get in Sumter County % —A. I cannot tell 
exactly, but he was pretty solid there. 

Q. How many votes did he get in the town of Sumter ?—A. That went 
solid for him. 

Q. What do you mean by going solid % —^A. Pretty much every yote 
there was for him, except eight or eighteen, I disremember which. 

Q. I asked how many he got'?—A. I cannot give the exact number. 

Q. Do you think he was cheated out of any votes in Sumter County'?— 
A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. You know whether you think he was?—A. He was iirobably 
cheated out of those that the people didn’t care to vote for him. 

Q. You don’t know the majority for Green in any county except Sum¬ 
ter ?—A. I shall always believe- 

Mr. Cameron. You have said that before, often enough. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. Who was governor at the time of Green’s election ?—A. Governor 
Chamberlain, I believe. [Laughter among the bystanders.] No, it was 
Governor Moses; the contest was between Green and Chamberlain. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did not Governor Moses support Green ?—A. I do not think so, 
sir. 

Q. Do you know anything about it?—A. I know I was a Green man, 
and I think our leaders at that time was against Moses. 


<^onntj.] TESTIMONY OF JULIUS EDWARDS. 371 

Q. I asked, did uot Moses support Green durius;’ that time ?—A. I don’t 
think so, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Would you have believed him if he had said so ?—A. 'No. sir; I 
wouldn’t have believ'ed him any way. 

By Mr. CaivieroN': 

Q. Would you have believed him if he had said he wouldn’t A. No, 
su"j I wouldn’t have believed him any way. 


JULIUS EDWAEDS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1879. 

Julius Edwards (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question.' Where do you live^—Answer. In Sumter. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. Since December 3, 1872. 

Q. Have you taken an interest in the political campaign out there ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What are your politics I —A. Well, when I first went there I affili¬ 
ated with the Eepublican party. 

Q. During what canvass ?—A. That was in 1874. 

Q. In the last canvass, with which party did you act?—A. In 1876 I 
acted with the Democratic party; and also in the last election. 

Q. State what part you took in it. Go on and give a brief statement 
of your own action, what you saw, and what you know about the colored 
people uniting with the Democratic party, and generally about their 
clubs and wearing the club uniform, &c.—A. Well, I voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket at the last election. 

Q. Where?—A. In Sumter. 

Q. Did you take any part in the canvass, such as attending political 
meetings, &c.?—A. Yes, sir j I attended a few of them in the town of 
Sumter. 

Q. Were you a member of any political club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many colored persons were members of clubs that you be¬ 
longed to ?—A. There was a great many. 

Q. WeU, give us the number as near as you can remember ?—A. Well, 
I believe about 200 in my club. 

Q. Do you know of any other clubs in the county ?—A. Yes, sir; I 
believe there was a club at Mechanicsville, called the Hampton Club, 
composed mostly of colored men. 

Q. Do you recollect any other club?—A. Yes, sirj there were other 
clubs around in the county. 

Q. From your best opinion, how many men wer^ members of colored 
clubs in the last canvass ?—A. Perhaps about 1,500. 

Q. Were you at Sumter on the 12th of October, at the time of the 
great political meetings there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which meeting did you attend?—A. I did not see either. 

Q. Did you see any number of colored men in the Democratic proces¬ 
sion there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were any of them wearing uniforms?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of uniforms ?—A. Eed shirts. 



372 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. Was that a common uniform in the Democratic clubs in yoiu’ 
county?—A. Yes, sir; that was the common uniform. 

Q. You say you did not attend either meeting on that day ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Wliat did you see of the meeting on the 12th of October; where 
were you during the day ?—A. I was up town during the day. The 
Republican meeting took place at the church, across from the depot; 
and the Democratic meeting at the depot, on the platform. 

Q. You know those two points '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far are they apart?—A. About 100 or 150 yards. 

Q. You say you remained up in town?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any part of that disturbance in the town, or later in 
the day after the meeting was oxer ?—A. I saw a commotion; I was not 
on the spot; I was sitting on the step of my shop, and I saw a commo¬ 
tion when the crowd was coming from the depot. 

Q. What took place on the court-house steps ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. On the day of the election where were you ?—A. I was in Sumter. 

Q. At which one of the polls did you vote?—A. Over the Planter’s 
warehouse, I think at precinct Yo. 2. 

Q. Were you there any portion of the day ?—A. Not long at a time; 
I believe I went there three times during the day. 

Q. At what time did you go there first ?—A. I went there about half 
past eight or nine o’clock on the morning of the election. 

Q. Was there much of a crowd around the polls when you went there ?— 
A. Yes, sir; there was considerable of a crowd. 

Q. Were there many clubs there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any colored persons that you knew ?—A. Yes, sir, 

Q. Did you see any other Democratic colored men there besides your¬ 
self?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any of them active in the election?—A. Well, I can¬ 
not say they were very active, more than going up to vote. 

Q. Were any of them distributing Democratic tickets among the col¬ 
ored people ?—A. I did not see any colored men distributing tickets. 

Q. Do you know Mat. Brooks ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Was he there ?—A. I recollect seeing Mat. Brooks on the streets. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Ross ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see him ?—A. I was with Mr. Ross a portion of the day. 

Q. Now I will ask you whether at any time you have been interfered 
with or interrupted by colored Republicans on account of your politics; 
if you have been, just state the circumstances.—A. Well, no more than 
in passing along the streets I was abused by parties saying there was 
that “ damned Democratic nigger,” or something like that. 

Q. Did they assemble around your shop and make a noise on tin pans 
or anything of that sort?—A. I believe the first meeting they held in 
Sumter, they assembled around the door and beat their drums and 
whooped. 

Q. Did they say anything to you ?—A. No, sir; I was inside of the 
door. 

Q. Did they make any threats against you or your house ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Do you recollect whether any persons had to come to your rescue 
that day ?—A. There were two gentlemen came into the shop running 
from across the street, and asked what was the matter. I told them, 
nothing, only they were just making a noise out in front of the door. 

Q. That was not a usual place for people to assemble to make demon¬ 
strations ?—A. No, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JULIUS EDWARDS. 


373 


Q. Do you belong to the Democratic club ?—A. I do. 

Q. Does that club meet in the town hall ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of a flag did you have over your meeting ?—A. The 
Dnited States flag, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a barber. 

Q. Do you keep a shop ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. In Sumter. 

Q. On what street?—A. On Main street. 

Q. You spoke about the colored people assembling there in the neigh¬ 
borhood of your shop. Was it not in fact an assemblage simply of per¬ 
sons who came to that place and stopped?—A. Yes, sir. They assem¬ 
bled in the middle of the street, came up to the sidewalk, and com¬ 
menced hooting and yelling in front of the door. They ran from across 
the street and came over. I said that no door was shut, that if they 
wanted to come in they could come in. 

Q. They did not ofter to come in?—A. IMo, sir. 

Q. That is the only time you have had any trouble ?—A. Yes, sir j 
they have been passing on the streets and made remarks. 

Q. Such as to call you ‘^a damn Democratic negro”?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who ever said that?—A. Well, Alex. Wilder said that, for one. 

Q. Is he a colored man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you connected with the Democratic club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With what club ?—A. With the Sumter club. 

Q. Who is president of that club?—A. I believe Dr. J. J. Bussard. 

Q. How many men have you in that club ?—A. I douT know for cer¬ 
tain, sir. 

Q. How many men are there in it, all told ?—A. Four or five hun¬ 
dred. 

Q. Can you not tell how many colored men there are in it?—A. I have 
heard there were two hundred. 

Q. Did you ever attend a club meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many colored men were there when you attended ?—A. A 
good many. 

Q. About how many, ten or twenty or thirty ?—A. There were be¬ 
tween one and two hundred present. 

Q. Did they have red shirts on?—A. ]N^o, sir; they did not attend in 
red shirts. 

Q. Is not that the uniform of the Democratic club ?—A. Yes, sir. I 
never wore a red shirt, though. 

Q. Did any of these colored men wear red shirts ?—A. IS'o, sir; only 
on the occasion of a large turn-out. 

Q. How many times did you see one or two hundred colored men at 
the club?—A. Two or three times. 

Q. Mention some names of the colored men you saw there.—A. I can 
mention the names of Boss, Eiittin, Brooks, Flowers, and Levan. 

Q. Can you not recollect any more ?—A. There are others, but I can¬ 
not call their names. I am not so well acquainted with the others. 

Q. Did these men all vote the Democratic ticket?—A. I cannot say 
exactly. I believe they all voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How many white men were there present at this meeting where 
there was a couple of hundred of colored men?—A. A great many. 

Q. That is too indefinite; state about how many.—A. Four hundred, 
I should say. 

Q. There were six hundred present at the club, then ?—A. Between 
our and six hundred. 


374 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Sumter 


Q. Where was the club held ?—A. In America Hall. 

Q. You think that at Mechanicsville there is a large club; were you 
ever over there?—A. ^^" 0 , sir. 

Q. Did you ever attend that club ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you ever seen the club come out?—A. Yes^ sir; they came 
out at a large meeting in Sumter. 

Q. How many came out?—A. About a hundred. 

Q. How many colored men were there in the Democratic procession 
on that day ?—A. There were fourteen hundred or fifteen hundred col¬ 
ored men. 

Q. In that Democratic procession ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What day was it?—A. On the 12th of October. 

Q. Were they mounted?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On horseback ?—A. Not all. 

Q. How many of them were on horseback ?—A. Seven or eight hun¬ 
dred. 

Q. Were they armed ?—A. I didift see any arms. 

Q. How many white men were there ?—A. A great many; fifteen or 
sixteen hundred of them, or more. 

Q. Where were you ?—A. I was in my shop. 

Q. Where did you see all these colored peoi)le ?—A. They were pass¬ 
ing by my shop. 

Q. Were they in the front or rear of the Democratic procession ?—A^ 
They were mixed in; they were in line according to their clubs. 

Q. Did you hear of any trouble that day ?—A. I did. 

Q. Where were these colored men when that trouble occurred ?—A. I 
heard that they staid in. 

Q. Do you know how many there were in that procession?—A. I 
don’t know precisely. The j^rocession stopped down on- 

Q. Did you hear General Hagood’s testimony ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Now, you are confident there were fourteen or fifteen hundred col¬ 
ored men ?—A. Between fourteen and fifteen hundred. 

Q. Would you not fall any on that?—A. No, sir; to the best of my^ 
knowledge, there were between fourteen and fifteen hundred. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Would not you drop one ?—A. I might drop one, or ten. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You think there were fifteen or sixteen hundred whites ?—A. Yes,, 
sir. 

Q. Then there were only a few more whites than blacks; do you mean 
to say that there were nearly as many colored men mounted on horseback 
in that procession as there were white men ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You did say so. What do you mean ? You say there were between 
fourteen and fifteen hundred colored men, and fifteen or sixteen hundred 
white men; that would make almost as many colored men as white men 
in that procession; is that the way you mean to be understood ?—A. I 
expect there were about two thousand white men. 

Q. How were those white men dressed ?—A. Some of them in red 
shirts, and some of them in every-day apparel. 

Q. With these fourteen or fifteen hundred colored Democrats up there, 
there is no trouble about a colored man being a Democrat ?—A. I don’t 
know, sir. There is danger in difierent ways. I know I was mighty 
skeart many times myself. I live in a portion of the town where there 
were a great many Eepublicans. 

Q. None of them ever came to disturb you at night, did they?—A.. 



Couuty.] TESTIMONY OF JULIUS EDWARDS. 375 

They held their meetings right on my street; in passing by, would shoot 
off their pistols. 

Q. They did that in passing by other places, did not they ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Did yon ever go to a Eepnblican meeting ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did yon associate 'with any colored Kepnblicans A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. How did they treat you % —A. Pretty kindly. 

Q. Did yon belong to any colored organization in the county ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. To what!—A. To the Masonic fraternity. 

Q. What are they 5 mixed, or composed entirely of colored people ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are they mostly Kepnblicans or Democrats I—A. Mostly Republi¬ 
cans. 

Q. They have not turned yon out for being a Democrat ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. HaA e yon held any position in the Masonic fraternity ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Yon have been elected to office by the members of your lodge ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Since yon have been a Democrat?—A. No,sir 5 before. 

Q. When was that?—A. In 1874, I believe. 

Q. How many members have yon in that lodge ?—A. About between 
forty and fifty. 

Q. How many of those are Democrats now ?—A. About thirty-five, I 
think. 

Q. Thirty-fiA^e out of forty ?—A. No, sir; about thirty-fiA^e out of fifty. 

Q. Do yon belong to any other association or colored orgauization ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I belong to the Good Templars. 

Q. How many members are there in that organization ?—A. A hun¬ 
dred and some odd. 

Q. What are their politics ?—A. Mostly Kepnblicans. 

Q. Are men and women both admitted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have yon belonged to the Good Templars ?—A. Six or 
seA^en months. 

Q. You have joined them since yon have been a Democrat?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Have yon been elected to any office in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon get along well associating with the colored people ?—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. Do you belong to any other organization ?—A. I belong to the 
Good Samaritans. 

Q. What is it composed of?—A. Men and women, sir. 

Q. Is that a temperance organization or a benevolent organization ?— 
A. Benevolent one, sir. 

Q. When did yon join that ?—A. Two years and six months ago. 

(i. Since yon became a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is the majority in that association—Republican or Demo¬ 
crat?—A. Among the males ? 

Mr. Cameron. Include the females. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Tiie women are all Republicans, are they not ?—A. (Slowly.) No, 
sir 5 not all. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Are there any women wlio are Democrats ?—A. Some of them 
sympathize in that direction. 


376 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. N^ame one.—A. There are two Eiiffiii women who are Democrats. 

Q. Do they belong to this association ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who else ?—A. My wife j she is a member. 

Q. She has joined since yon became a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. She belongs to the Good Templars, too ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And she joined that since yon became a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon belong to any chnrch ?—A. Yes, sir. 

i). What chnrch ?—A. To the African M. E. Chnrch. 

Q. How long have yon belonged to that ?—A. About two years. 

Q. Have yon joined that since yon became a Democrat ?—A. Ho, sirj 
before. 

Q. Yon were a Democrat in 1876, were yon not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon joined chnrch before that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon hold any position in the chnrch ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were yon elected to that after yon became a Democrat?—A. Yes, 
sir; about a year ago. 

Q. They have not turned yon out of the chnrch ?—A. I never attend. 

Q. Why not ?—A. Politics got so raging that I never attend chnrch 
at all, or very seldom. Tliere was a lectnre delivered there, and I went; 
the preacher preached politics so much and browbeat the colored Dem¬ 
ocrats till I got disgnsted and wonld not go any more. 

Q. They are almost all Eepnblicans in the chnrch, then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there any other colored Democrats except yonrself?—A. 
Y^es, sir. 

Q. Who ?—A. Abraham Enffin. 

AYho else ?—A. I don’t think of anybody else. 

Q. They have not chnrched yon for voting the Democratic t cket ?— 
A. Ho, sir; I have not attended j they were satisfied, I suppose, by my 
non-attendance. 

Q. And did not take any notice of yonr being still a member ?—A. 
YYs, sir. 

Q. Is there any other organization—religions, benevolent, social, or 
otherwise—that yon belong to ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. How many of these fifteen hundred colored Democrats that yon 
saw on that occasion to which yon have referred, had red shirts on ?— 
A. Most all of them had red shirts on. 

By Mr. Cameron ; 

Q. Have yon not got the nnmber in that procession too large ?—A. 
Ho, sir. * 

Q. Yon know General Moise ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. If he said that there were bnt eight hnndred persons in all in that 
procession wonld yon not think yon were mistaken ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Do yon know who General Hagood is ?—A. Yes. 

Q. If General Hagood, who was present that day in that procession 
himself, were to say that there were bnt six or seven hnndred in the 
procession, colored and white all taken together, wonld yon not then 
come to the conclusion that yon had put the nnmber a little too high ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I suppose I shonld. 

Q. Yon wonld have confidence in his estimate ?—A. Yes, sir: he 
wonld have a better chance to see than I. 

Q. Yon are not very good at estimating numbers, are yon?—A. I 
might over-estimate; I wonld not be very certain. 

Q. Yon did not join the procession yonrself that day ?—A. Ho, sir : 
I was pretty busy that day. 

Q. What is yonr business ?—A. Barberizing. 


(bounty.] TESTIMONY OF JULIUS EDWARDS. 377 

Q. Are there any colored Republican barbers in your town ?—A. Ko, 
sir. 

Q. Are yon the only Democratic colored barber in town ?—A. ^^" 0 , 
sir ; the other barber is a Democrat, too. 

Q. All the colored barbers in that town are Democrats ?—A. Yes, 
sir; there are only two of ns, that is all. 

Q. Are yonr customers mostly Democrats or Republicans ?—A. Mostly 
Democrats, sir. 

Q. Of course yon would not refuse to shave a man if he should hap¬ 
pen to be a Republican !—A. Not if he would pay the regular ten cents, 
sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The colored people generally shave themselves, don’t they ?—A. 
They did start a shop there, but they could not keep it up, and it fell 
through. Colored barber-shops in a place like that are not very suc¬ 
cessful. 

Q. What is your age ?—A. Twenty-six. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You made your estimate of the number of persons at Sumter, 
that day, from the length of the procession as it passed your door, did 
yon not —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon shave colored as well as white persons, do you!—A. No, sir. 

Q. Your customers are all white persons ?—A. Exclusively. 

Q. You say you never had any difficulty in the Masonic Lodge or 
Good Templars on account of your being a Democrat I—A. No, sir. 

Q. These are both non-political organizations, are they not!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Politics are never discussed in them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You quit attending church because of their violence and political 
abuse?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then the church is more political than the Masonic Lodge or Good 
Templars ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Or the Good Samaritans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. None of those are proscriptive at all in the matter of politics ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. A member is at liberty to believe what he pleases, so his conduct 
is right ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. Are you a Mason?—A. I am. 

Q. How much of a Lodge is there in your town—how many mem- 
t)ers ?—A. Between forty and fifty. 

Q. Is it a colored Lodge ?—A. Yes, sir. I would say there are fifty 
members confidentially- 

Q. Do you know J. W. Westbury ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Is he president of any Democratic club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where does he live ?—A.^ In Mechanicsville. 

Q. At the day of the Sumter meeting—the 12th of October—do you 
remember seeing him there, marching at the head of his club ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. He is a colored man, is he not ?—A. Yes, sir. 


378 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Your only reason for not attending tlie church of which you are a 
member, is because your preacher insisted upon talking politics ?—A. It 
was not my preacher, it was the preacher who occupied the pulpit when 
he was not present. 

Q. And that practically drove you from the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But politics are not introduced in either of the other societies. Ma¬ 
sonic or the others to which you belong ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. When did you commence the business of barber at Sumter ?—A. 
On the 2d or 3d of December, 1872. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Was there any difference in the custom that you had there from 
the Democrats when you were a Eepublican and since you became a. 
Democrat"?—A. No, sir; I don’t know that there was any. 

Q. Are there any white barbers there?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. How long has your barber-shop been running ?—A. I was in part¬ 
nership with another man, but about ten months ago I quit and went by 
myself. 

Q. Were you both Eepublicans when you first worked together ?—A. 
I cannot say that I know what his politics were, sir. 

Q. When did he first come out as a Democrat ?—A. In 1876,1 believe. 

Q. The same time that you did"?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. In 1874 there was a fusion ticket, was there not !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. You supported the Green ticket, did you not!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no Democratic candidate for governor in the State that 
year, was there !—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you support Lee for Congress!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. You and Lee worked together, politically, in 1874!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He was supporting the ticket the Democrats voted for in 1874 !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. When did you last vote the straight Eepublican ticket!—A. I 
never did vote the straight Eepublican ticket, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. You are only 26 years of age!—A. That is all sir. 

Q. Then you have voted for only 5 years !—A. Y"es, sir. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Are not nearly all the barbers in this country Democrats!-A. I 
don’t think so, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any colored barber that is not, in the South!—A. 
Yes, sir; I know a great many. All of them are Eepublicans in Wil¬ 
mington. 

Q. In this section of the country are not all of them Democrats!—A. 
I don’t know the politics of all the barbers here, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF MATTHEW BROOKS. 


379 


MATTHEW BEOOKS. 

Charleston, January 25, 1879. 

Matthew Brooks (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

(Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. In Sumter. 

Q. How long have yon resided there f—A. Forty-five or forty-six 
years. 

Q. How long have you been a voter in Sumter; ever since the eman¬ 
cipation?—A. !No, sir 5 I was not there then j I staid two years in Mary¬ 
land, and then came back to Sumter. 

Q. How long have you lived in Sumter since your return ?—A. Since 
1870. 

Q. With what party have you acted ?—A. With the Bepublican party. 

Q. For what length of time ?—A. Clean up till Judge Green came out 
as a candidate; then I first went against the Eepublicans at that time. 

Q. You went for Green f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Since then you have been voting with what party I—A. With the 
Democratic party. 

Q. Were you in Sumter County during the last canvass ?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. Did you take any part in the canvass ?—A. I did. 

Q. State [what part you took in it, and your personal knowledge of 
what occurred.—A. I did what I could for the Democratic party. 

Q. Did you go around into the county and talk to your people ?—A. 
I didn’t go esiiecially for that; I did speak some in favor of the Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Q. Did you attend no political meetings that year ?—A. Only at home. 

Q. Are you a member of any political club ?—A. I was a member of 
the Democratic club, at Sumter. 

Q. Where did your club hold its meetings ?—A. In the town-hall. 

Q. Did you attend its meetings frequently ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of a flag was over your meeting-place !—A. United 
States flag. 

Q. What number of colored men were members of the club ?—A 
There were a good many; I cannot exactly state how many j but there 
were a good many. 

Q. State the number as near as you can.—A. There were so many of 
them I could not tell; at one time I thought all of them were going to 
vote the Democratic ticket. I thought that I was right, and so many 
of them agreed with me that I thought they were going to vote with me, 
but after that they went back on me, when the voting time came. 

Q. They did not all go back on you ?—A. Xo, sir j a good many of 
them voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. What was the uniform of the club, when they went out in uni¬ 
form ?—A. Eed shirts. 

Q. Were the red shirts worn by colored men and white men alike ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know any other clubs organized in your county in which 
there were colored men ?—A. Yes. 

Q. Where ?—A. In Mechanicsville, and in Bishopsville. 

Q. Was there a pretty large club at Mechanicsville ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is where Westbury lives, is it not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He is president of the club '?—A. I think Westbury is. 


380 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. Were you at Sumter on tlie 12t}i of October^ when two political 
meetings were held there ^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did a good many colored men attend the Democratic meeting there 
that day —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many?—A. That day I was particularly busy, and don’t 
know exactly how many ; but there were a good many there altogether. 

Q. What were you engaged at that day ?—A. I kept a restaurant. 

Q. There were a good many in the restaurant ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there a good many colored Democrats in there?—A. Yes, 
sir. My restaurant is right oi)i)osite the court-house, and a good many 
of them came in there. 

Q. You saw the i^rocession as it formed and went down to the depot, 
did you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long was that procession ?—A. It was a good large procession. 

Q. Did you see many colored people in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see Westbury with his club there that day, in the proces¬ 
sion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see colored men in his club with him?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How were they uniformed?—A. They w^ere wearing red shirts, on 
horses, mules, &c. 

Q. From your knowledge over the county, how many colored Demo¬ 
crats should you say there were in Sumter County at the time of the elec¬ 
tion, making allowance for the shrinkage which took place ?—A. I can¬ 
not tell to save my life; but there were a good many. 

Q. Have you ever suffered any insults or anything of that kind from 
the colored people on account of your politics ?—A. Yot much; I never 
paid any attention to it j they have said a good deal, but I have never 
minded it. 

Q. What did they say ?—A. They told me several things. They said 
I would not have anybody to bury me when I was dead. My wife is 
an awful Eepublican. They would come to her and talk to her and cry 
over her, and she would come and cry over me, and told me, “ Old man, 
you woift have anybody to bury you when you are dead.” I said that 
after I was once dead 1 would not care whether anybody buried me 
or not. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did not you think that there would be plenty of colored Democrats 
to bury you ?—A. I was not troubled about it any way. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was there any attempt made to take your uniform off ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. State the circumstances.—A. I went out one day—it was the day 
Governor Hampton was there and General Butler—I went out to the 
stand where Governor Hampton was. That was the day they took my 
shirt off. I had my red shirt on. They said it was pretty warm. Saiii 
Lee was in danger. I thought I would go to Lee’s and talk to his wife, 
and have her try to make him quit his foolishness. She told me not to 
come in, but I paid no attention. His sister and another woman who 
was there came and said, We told you not to come in.” Then they 
took hold of me and unl)uttoned my vest, and then got hold of my red 
shirt, one on one side and the other on the other, and they just tore that 
shirt span off of me, and they tore it all to pieces. 

Q. What did you do with the fragments ?—A. They are up to my 
house there, to show what they done to me. 


County. ] 


TESTIMONY OF MATTHEW BROOKS. 


381 


By Mr. Caimeron : 

Q. Did not Lee’s sister and that other girl do that in a sort of playful 
way, and did not you rather enjoy it yourself !—A. I didn’t care nothing 
about what they were doing. It was all fun for me. I just thought I 
would see how far they would go. If it had been anybody else, or if 
they had been men instead of women, somebody would have dropped. 
To tell the truth, they did not like it because I was a Democrat. They 
said I was trying to put their children back into slavery. That is the 
way they talked, but I paid no attention. 1 Avent on in to talk to Lee’s 
wife, and I said, ^^ow give me a drink of water.” I got a drink of 
Avater and then AATiit back home, and did not mind it at all. 

Q. When did you begin to vote the Bepublican ticket!—A. I com¬ 
menced with the lirst one. 

Q. And kept voting until Green was a candidate !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Lee a oted for Green also !—A. Yes, sir j he a\ as a strong Green 
man at that time. 

Q. Did you call yourself a Democrat or a Eepublicau then ?—xV. I 
don’t know what they called me; 1 voted for Green against anything 
that came along, Avhatever it amounted to. I just Av^ent for him because 
he was a home man, and 1 AAms doAvn on these Northern people anyhoAv, 
to tell the whole truth. 

Q. You hated carpet-baggers, did not you ?—A. I did indeed. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. Why were you down on them ?—xV. Because I thought they had 
done a great many wrong things. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. When !—A. Why, the whole time, to tell the truth about it. 

Q. What sort of things ?—A. Well, lots of things. First, I was a 
doorkeeper in the legislature and Avhen pay-day came they paid them 
that didn’t do any work, and I who did the work, I got no pay. That 
was the first thing they did that was a\ rong. They paid others because 
they said others were good workers in the party. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. Did the Northern men liaA^e control of the legislature !—A. Wasn’t 
Whatmore and C. P. Leslie and all them in the legislature at first, and 
wasn’t they Northern men ? 

By Mr. Oaaieron : 

Q. So it Avas all right until they did not pay you ?—A. No, sir j it was 
not all right that they did not pay me. 

Q. How much did they agree to pay you ?—A. Three or four dollars 
a day. 

Q. Hoav much did they pay you ?—xV. They did not pay me nothing. 
They gaA^e me paper, and I am doAA n on them for that more than for 
anything else. 

Q. That made a Democrat of you, did it?—A. That had a heap to do 
with it, sure. 

Q. What is your business ?—A. I keep a restaurant. 

Q. Hoav long haA^e you been engaged in that business ?—A. Ever since 
emancipation. 

Q. Are your customers mostly Democrats or Kepublicans ?—xV. Mostly 
Democrats; but I take care of Republicans too, if they have money. 

Q. But Republicans don’t generally have as much money as Demo¬ 
crats ?—xV. No, sir. 


382 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. Aucl your customers are mostly Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you go in auy Democratic processiou duriug the last cam¬ 
paign?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Why not?—A. I was busy; them are my big days, sir. 

Q. You are busy feeding Democrats?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. And Eepublicans too ?—A. And Eepublicans too. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. If they have money ?—A. Yes, sir; if they have. 

Mr. Cameron. I suppose you don’t feed Democrats unless they have 
money ?—A. Yes, sir, sometimes; for I have a little more confidence in 
Democrats than I have in Eepublicans. 

Q. Do Democrats ever disappoint you ?—A. Yes, sir ; sometimes. 

Q. How does it happen that you have never succeeded in converting 
your wife to be a Democrat ?—A. O, my God! she belongs to the church. 

Q. You don’t belong to the church ?—A. I did; but I have not been 
to church for two years. 

Q. Your wife goes?—A. She is a strong member of the African M. E. 
Church. 

Q. You stated that the American flag floated over the Democratic 
club-room m your town?—A. I believe so, sir; to tell the truth, I never 
noticed much about the flag. The night we were to hold meetings, they 
put up a flag in the evening, and of course I always looked out for it, 
so as to know when we were to have meetings; but I didn’t pay particu¬ 
lar attention as to what flag it was. 

Q. You don’t know whether it was an American flag that was put up, 
or some other flag ?—A. I only took notice that there was a flag up to 
show that there was going to be a meeting. 

Q. To the best of your recollection what sort of a flag was it ? What 
was on the flag?—A. It was a flag saying, Democratic meeting to¬ 
night.” 

Q. That is what you call an American flag, is it?—A. That is the only 
flag I took notice to. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You said something about inviting people to your restaurant on 
the day of the meeting there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you have your restaurant running free that day?—A. Ko, sir; 
but I had everything prepared, in case anybody came in and got hungry. 

Q. At the same time Mr. Green was a candidate and you voted for 
him, was not Mr. Lee a candidate for Congress or something?—A. I just 
disremember whether it was at that time or not. 

Q. If he was, did you vote for him?—A. Well, I suppose I must, if he 
was a candidate at that time. 

Q. About this Democratic club that you belong to—are they all colored 
men?—A. It was a Democratic club, and colored men were connected 
with the same club. 

Q. Was it a club of all colored men or of colored and white men both 
together?—A. Of colored and white men together. 

Q. Of which was the greater part?—A. Mostly white men. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. This flag that was put up on the night of Democratic meetings, 
did it not have stripes and stars on it ?—A. I disremember anything 
about any stripes and stars. 


Coluity.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. SOUDER. 


383 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Mhat did it liave on it?—A. It had on it, Democratic club meet¬ 
ing to-night.’^ 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was it a transparency—lit up?—A. K 05 that was on a staff. 

Q. M as there not a flag put out of the window of the Democratic 
club-room?—A. I don’t know but there was; I don’t recollect now. 


A. W. SOUDER. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27, 1870. 

A. W. SouDER (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live?—Answer. In the town of Sumter. 

Q. How long have you lived there?—A. Seventeen years, about. 

Q. AVhat position have you held there?—A. I have held the office of 
intendant of the corporation. 

Q. What are the duties of the office?—A. To attend to the adminis¬ 
tration of the duties of the town. 

Q. Mayor, I suppose?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To which party do you belong?—xV. To the Democratic party. 

Q. Did you take any active part in the last canvass?—A. Ko, sir; not 
directly, not actively. 

Q. Were you an observer of the canvass?—A. Yes, sir; I was very 
busy during the campaign attending to my private interests. I was an 
observer, though. 

Q. Are you a member of a political club ?—xA. I am a member of the 
Sumter Democratic club. 

Q. Where does this club hold its meetings?—A. In the town-hall, 
right opposite the court-house. 

Q. What flag do you fly over your headquarters ?—A. The American 
flag. 

Q. The Union flag?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that kept up as a usual thing?—A. In the canvass of 1876 the 
Hon. John Kelly, of Kew York, sent us a couple of flags in response 
to a letter which I wrote him, and one has always been suspended from 
the club-room, and the other was from various meetings, demonstrations, 
&c. 

Q. In the last canvass of 1878 how was it ?—A. They were used con¬ 
tinuously. 

Q. On the occasion of the meeting in Sumter the 12th of October, 
were you in Sumter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At both of those meetings ?—A. Yes, sir, I was in town; but I was 
sick at the time, and did not take any active part. I was out in the 
morning, about 12 . 

Q. Did you see the Democratic procession that day as they went to 
the depot?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the conduct of the procession as to order, &c. ?—A. It 
was peaceable and quiet. They seemed to conduct themselves very or¬ 
derly, as far as I could observe. 

Q. Were you near the court-house at any time during the difficulty 



384 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878. 


I Sum tor 


after the meeting had closed?—A. No, sir; I Tvas there shortly after it 
opened. I was not there after any difficulty. 

Q. State if there as any niimher of colored men in the Democratic 
procession.—A. There was a good number on foot and horseback. 

Q. Acting with the Democratsf—A. Yes, sir; with the Democratic 
club. 

Q. Do you recollect any Democratic colored speakers who spoke that 
day ?—A. I was not at the meeting AYhen tlie speaking was going on 
on the 12th. I was so unAA^ell I left the meeting just as Governor Hamp¬ 
ton began speaking. 

Q. I am speaking now of the 12th of October, when the second meet¬ 
ing took place.—A. Inhere Avas, 1 think, some difficulty at one of the 
meetings; and there Avere two or more- 

Q. Did any in your Avard or club uniform themseHes in red shirts?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat number, in your opinion, Avere Avearing the uniform of the 
Democratic clnl> ?—A. A good number of those procured red shirts; I 
could not say how many. 

Q. What Avas the general character of the caiiA^ass in your county last 
year as to its peaceableness and quietness; hoAv Avas the election con¬ 
ducted?—A. Well, from my observation it Avas A^ery quiet. I could not 
say exactly from my knowledge, from the fact that I attended no polit- 
cal meeting in the county, but I did in the toAvn. I was then engaged 
in putting np a residence, and did not attend much to the canvass. But 
from what I could see everything was quiet, except a feAv little disturb¬ 
ances in the county, Avhich I did not see. 

Q. Who was the person particularly obnoxious to any portion of the 
Democrats ?—A. Well, Sam Lee seemed to be the most obnoxious to 
the most of the Democrats, from what I could learn. 

Q. Can you state what was the cause of his personal unpopularity ?— 
A. I could not directly state that fact. 

Q. How long has he liA^ed at Sumter ?—A. I think he has been ever 
since I haA^e. 

Q. Do you remember anything about the difficulty when he claimed 
to be elected probate judge of the county, a difficulty in AAffiich he set¬ 
tled the matter by contesting the election ?—A. Tliat was in 1876. 

Q. Was it not-?—A. I don’t remember the year. I think there was 

some difficulty that occurred about his taking possession of the office. 

Q. Do you remember anything al>out his taking possession and his 
attempt to hold it by force ?—A. I recollect I came down the street from 
my office at that time, and some one told me that the locks had been 
taken off the door of that office, and that Sam Lee had taken possession 
of the office. 

Q. Who was judge of probate at that tiine?—A. C. M. Hurst. 

Q. Did that cause any difficulty, the fact of his taking possession in 
that Avay ?—A. I think after that that parties Avent in there to eject him 
and the court was in session, and Judge Shaw came down and ordered 
the sheriff to take possession of the office until the matter could be set¬ 
tled by a judicial decision. 

Q. Who Avas Judge ShaAv?—A. He was the circuit judge of that 
county. That is my recollection of the circumstances. 

Q* Do yon recollect whether Lee undertook to hold possession by 
force, andAvhether he aa as armed?—A. I was not present at the diffi¬ 
culty, but, from information I could receive, he had found a pistol in the 
office and resisted the persons who attempted to eject him. I got that 
tact from talking, not from my observation. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. SOITDEK. 


^85 


Q. What is liis reputation in that county for turbulence and violence? 
—A. It seems if he undertakes to do anything’ he carries it out at all 
hazards. He seems to be pushing. 

Q. What seems to be his character for turbulence and violence?—A. 
Well, politically I am not a judge. He is pretty violent in the way he 
conducts his campaign. He goes in with great energy and pushes it, 
and sometimes vdolence resnlts from it. 

Q. Is there any other RepTd)lican in that county that has excited the 
same enmity towards himself as has been excited towards this man ?— 
A. Well, in past years there was. In the last campaign there was not, 
I don’t tliink. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say he is somewhat obnoxious ?—A. From general re])nte. 

Q. What makes him obnoxious ? Suppose you state Avhy ?—A. Well, 
his political course seems to be objectionable to the people. 

Q. Explain why his political course is objectionable ?—A. I could not 
say exactly why. I could not say why those prejudices exist. 

Q. He is a sort of leader among the Ilepnblicans; he is the most ac¬ 
tive man of his party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is that the reason he is obnoxious?—A. I presume so. 

Q. You say he is pretty active and pushes things there?—A. Yes, 
sir; he does. 

Q. Hid he ever run for office there?—A. He ran for judge of probate. 

Q. Hid he run against Eainey once?—A. Yes, sir; for Congress. 

Q. Hid you vote for him?—A. I don’t recollect whether I did or not. 

Q. Hid not all the white men in your county sui)port him as against 
Rainey?—A. I don’t know that all did; I heard some say they did. 

Q. You don’t know ?—A. I don’t know that I voted at that election. 

Q. You did not vote for Rainey ?—A. Yo, sir. If I voted at all, I 
voted for Lee. He was the least objectionable. I would not have voted 
for Rainey. 

Q. Where was he in ’74?—A. I think he was in AYashington. 

Q. AVere you then majmr, or intendant, of the town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid yon not write a letter to Lee asking him to come home to run 
for office?—A. I asked him to run. 

Q. You wanted a good government?—A. Yes, sir; and he was dis¬ 
posed, I think, at that time, to be a fair Republican. 

Q. That is the time he came home to run for office?—A. Yes, sir; in 
1874. 

Q. You thought well of him at that time ?—A. I thought well of him. 
He has always lived there since he was a child. I have known him for 
about seventeen years. 

Q. He has been there since that time—four years ago?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yow, what has he done since to forfeit the esteem of the com¬ 
munity in which he lives? Just mention anything if you can?—A. I 
could not state positively on what ground. His action in canvassing 
and in j)olitics seems to be objectionable. 

Q. That is the only thing you know, is it not, that he is an active 
Republican ?—A. He is an active Republican and pushes things there 
energetically, whatever he undertakes. 

Q. He doesn’t allow anybody to frighten him or to elbow him off the 
track?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Seems to have some nerve about him; that is all you know against 
him?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have been mayor of the town?—A. Yes, sir. 

25 S C 


386 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. Lived there six years?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you not on friendly terms with Lee?—A. I have always been 
friendly iii a passing way. I never had any very intimate acquaintance 
with him. He has always been polite to me, but I never had much in¬ 
tercourse with him. 

Q. Who was the leader of the Eepublicans in your county in YG, two 
years ago?—A. There was Mr. Slieriff, Mr. Johnson, and several others. 

Q. Was not the colored man, W. E. Johnson, rather regarded by the 
(colored men as their leader ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he not excessively unpopular with the Democrats at that 
time? Did they not hate him?—A. Yes, sir; very much. 

Q. They did not hate Lee at that time as much as they do now"?—A. 
I don’t think the prejudice was as strong against him then as now". 

Q. Since he has become a recognized leader of the Eepublicans of the 
(‘ounty the hatred against him has been intensified, has it not?—A. I 
don’t know that that is the cause, but it results from his political affilia¬ 
tions. 

Q. You state that from your opinion, not from your own know"ledge, 
that Lee took forcible possession of the probate office, and that he wms 
armed and fired a pistol ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now^, I will ask you if, from any information, you are not aware 
tliat the men w"ho came to eject him from the office were also armed ?— 
A. They may have been. 

Q. Have you not learned that they were?—A. I think they were 
armed. I heard so. I heard nothing of it until afterwards. 

Q. You don’t know" that Lee w"as armed, except from information ?— 
A. I heard that he had fired a pistol. 

Q. You don’t know that they w"ere armed, except from information ?— 
A. That is all. I heard they w"ere, too. 

Q. Have you not heard that the Democrats took forcible possession of 
the county office in Colleton County in 1876 ?—A. I don’t know- any¬ 
thing about tliat. I could not testify in regard to it. 

Q. Have you heard that the Wallace house of legislature attempted 
to take forcible possession of the legislative hall in 187G ?—A. I only 
saw" that in the papers. 

Q. Is it not a common thing w"hen there is a squabble for office in this 
State for one party to take forcible possession of the office, and thereby 
assume it until the matter is decided ?—A. I don’t know" much about it. 

Q. So fiir as you know, it is not regarded as disgraceful to do it ?—A. 
I could not say. 

Q. Have you ever heard that any w"hite man w"as ostracized because he 
took forcible possession ?—A. I don’t know of any other instances. 1 
merely saw" those things in the paper. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. x\t the time you were giving attendance, if not support, to Lee, he 
was a bolter from the Eepnblican party, w"as he not?—A. Yes, sir: he 
was at that time, at the time of the Green campaign. 

Q. He Avas a Green man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you in common with many Democrats upheld him as a bolter 
from his party ?—A. Yes, sir*; that Avas the position. 

Q. You Avere asked if Mr. W. E. Johnson was not the leader of the 
Eepublicans in the canvass of 187G. Is he the man that Avas charged 
with taking bribes, and resigned his seat on account of the charges ?— 
A. Yes, sir; the investigating committee’s report made that statement. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. SOUDER. 


387 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. AVlieii Avas lie ejected from the senate ?—A. He was not ejected, 
but he resi^^ned the office. 

Q. When did he resipi ?—A. Shortly after Hampton was elected. 

Q. He has resigned since the political campaign of 187(1?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tlien the hatred that the Democrats entertained toward him in 
1870 was not in consequence of his liaAing taken a bribe in the legisla¬ 
ture, because it Avas not known at that time?—A. No, sir; but the ani¬ 
mus against him was from the Auolent speeches he Avould make against 
the AAdiite people on the stumi). 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Say, here, what kind of speeches did the Democrats make about 
the Beimblicans? Were they gentle, or did they call them thieA'es?— 
A. They called them thieA^es a good deal. 

Q. Scoundrels?—A. Yes, sir; they were pretty Auolent. 

Q. And other pet names ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That AA^as held as in good order ?—A. That Avas approA^ed. When 
a man gets upon the stump and attempts to establish a bitterness 
between the races, Avith a aucaa^ to his oaaui political aggrandizement, he 
AAmuld not naturally be regarded Avith any great favor in the coininunity 
in which he bves. 

Q. A colored man in addressing colored people thought they were 
naturally Bepublicaus, would he not ?—A. Generally so. 

Q. Did not some of the colored Democrats address colored Democrats 
in the same manner ?—A. 1 do not knoAA\ 

Q. Is not the point this, that Avhen a, Republican, colored or AAffiite, 
addressed a colored audience, and urged them to stand by the Repub- 
lican party, that Avas considered as in bad taste and feeling against the 
Avhites, or Avas it not?—A. If that Avas the only language, that miglit be 
used by Republican speakers at any time. The blacks Avere \"ery hot¬ 
headed, and they would often use other language that Avmuld excite ani¬ 
mus against them. 

Q. What ?—A. Well, it would simply embitter them in various Avays. 

’ Q. Well, would it not embitter Republicans to be called thieves and 
scoundrels ?—A. Well, that was in ’71, AAdien they had proof ot it. 

Q. But don’t you suppose that those names AAmuld tend to irritate Re¬ 
publicans ?—A. 'Well, I IniA^e no doubt it Avoidd. 

Q. Do you think the Democrats ought to have the monopoly of irri¬ 
tating language, and the Republicans not talk back ?—A. No, sir. There 
is generally a free fight on both sides AAffien they go into a campaign. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. Well, AAhen the Democrats spoke of the Republicans as thieves 
and scoundrels, they brought forAvmrd the facts relating to the State and 
local goA’crnments.—A. Yes, sir; that was the point. 

Q. About the robbery at the State legislature ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. About the robberies of Auirious kinds ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About bribing members of the legislature ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About frauds in the administration of county affairs ?—A. Y^es, 
sir. I Avould state that I took an active part in the ('ampaign of ’70, and 
1 stumped a large proportion of Sumter County, and I based my whole 
arguments upon the results of the Republican government of previous 
years. I took that as a text before the people, and those proofs are 
A^'ery accusing, and they are based upon a judicial iiiA’^estigation ot the 
facts. 


388 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Sumter 


Q. You spoke of Eepublicans in tlieir official capacity, and of those 
who adininistered the State and local governinents '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yon stated what yon deemed to be proof of the fraud and ras¬ 
cality of these peo^de ?—A. Yes, sir; that is the point. 

Q. And it was in that sense that yon spoke of Kepnblicaii inauag’ers 
as thieves and scoundrels ?—A. Yes, sir; that is exactly the view I took 
of it. I was in the canvass for three months in ’70. I was a member 
of the county executive committee at that tiiiie, and also secretary of 
the committee, and the material point in the organization of the party 
was the arguments used during the canvass based ux)on these facts. 

Q. At the time you and the Democrats in Sumter were sup]>orting 
Lee, did not Lee himself with other Eepublican si)eakers denounce the 
rascalities and robberies of a certain i)ortion of the Eepublican party ?— 
A. Yes, sir. I heard that myself. 

Q. That was very commonly done l)y both the Democrats and that 
wing of the Eepublican party —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that the denunciation of the Eepublicans of this State was not 
confined to Democrats alone"?—A. Yo, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Chamberlain was candidate for governor in ’7G ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He had been elected in ’74 and served two years ?—A. I believe so. 

Q. Kow is it not true that in the Democratic convention in ’76 he 
came within one vote of not having any democratic opposition for gov¬ 
ernor ?—A. I never heard that fact. 

Q. Is it not known generally throughout your State as a matter of 
histoiy that at the time of the Democratic convention in ’76 where Gov¬ 
ernor Hampton was nominated, the resolution not to nomiiiate at all 
only failed by one vote, the intention being if it had not failed to sup¬ 
port Chamberlain ?—A. I never heard that. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You spoke about the character of the Eepublican speeches that 
^ere deemed incendiary; I will ask you if they were not of this kind: 
That if the Democrats got into power in this State they would put the 
colored people back into slavery f—A. That was the hue and cry in 1876. 
That was in my county. I don’t know how it was out of that. 

Q. Was not that the objectionable matter f—A. It was, because that 
was what they said. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you ever hear a Eepublican make that statement in a speech ?— 
A. I have heard them talk it on the street. 

Q. Did you ever hear a public speaker, in a public S])eech, use that ?— 
A. I don’t recollect directly on that point. I heard a good many 
remarks to that effect on the street, that they would go and put them 
back into slavery; and wherever I would talk to the colored people they 
Avould tell me that if they voted the Democratic ticket they would have 
to go back into slavery. 

Q. Now, the question I ask you is, if you ever heard any public 
speaker make that statement in a public speech "?—A. Not to my knowl¬ 
edge. 

Q. At what time did you write to Lee, asking him to come home and 
assist '?—A. I think it was in ’74, or ’73; things were being agitated 
about that time. 

Q. Was it not before the Green and Chamberlain split took place in 
the Eepublican party ?—A. I don’t recollect as to what day. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. W. SOUDER. 


389 


Q. Now think; was it not before that ?—A. I don’t recollect. 

Q. Had Lee at that time taken a part in the bolting movement f—A. 
I think he had. 

Q. What part had Lee taken in particnlar in it at that time ?—A. He 
came home. 

Q. What I want to get at is this: at the time yon wrote to Lee had he 
taken any active part in this Eepiiblican bolting movement?—A. I 
don’t know that it was inaugurated at that time. 

Q. Do you not know that it Avas not very thoroughly or inaugurated 
at all at that time ?—A. I think it Avas projected. 

Q. Then did you write to him because you understood it Avas inaugu¬ 
rated !—A. I think so. 

Q. Do you swear that it Avas so ?—A. I think it Avas projected. I 
thought he had a good deal of influence with the colored people and 
that he could do some good, and I asked him to come home and put his 
energies in that direction and show that he was^ in favor of good gov- 
eminent. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. How do you know that he was in favor of good gOA^ernment; he 
was in Washington then?—A. Yes, sirj but he AA^as always in favor of 
that. 

Q. He was still a good Eepiiblican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say Johnson was so obnoxious to the Democrats—*so A^ery 
bitter in his speeches?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you eA^er hear him make a speech?—A. I heard him. 

Q. What did he say about it ?—A. He would speak about the party, 
and what they would do Avith the colored people if they got into power. 

Q. Did he say that Avhen they got into power they would use tissue 
ballots ?—A. I don’t knoAV. 

Q. What did he say they Avould do ?—A. Well, in general terms he 
would speak of the party and denounce the party. 

Q. You did not consider that a proper thing to do?—A. It may have 
been i)roper. 

Q. Do you assume that he had no right to denounce the party ?—A. 
Well, that is a matter of opinion. 

Q. Well, a man will naturally become unpopular Avith the Democrats, 
will he not, if he urges men here to adhere to the Eepiiblican party ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Suppose a man making a speech in this State called attention to 
the fact that more than half the voters in this State had once been held 
as property, and their rights trampled upon and universally denied, and 
that the Democratic party, Avhich Avas in power when this Avas done, 
would not sympathize Avith them Avhen it was done, or give them free¬ 
dom; would you call that bitter ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Of Avhat kind must it be?—A. Well, not to speak against the in¬ 
terests of the Avhites directly. 

Q. How against the interests of the whites?—A. Well, in various 
Avays. I could not ex[)lain. A speech is made in Amrious Avays. 

Q. There seems to be a very indefinite idea in your mind as to Avhat 
an objectionable speech is, unless because it is simply a Eepiiblican 
speech.—A. I suppose you might construe it so. 

Q. Did you ever hear a Eepiiblican speech that was satisfactory to 
you?—A. Not as a general thing. 

Q. Did you?—A. No, sir; I cannot say that positiA^ely. 


390 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


I Sumter 


WILLIAM M. SIKGLETOil. 

Charleston, January 23, 1879. 

William M. Singleton sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon reside !—Answer. In Sumter County. 

Q. Were yon there during* the campaign !—A. 1 was. 

Q. At what voting place!—A. At Swimming Pens. 

Q. Were yon an officer!—A. Yes, sirj I was supervisor of election at 
that place. 

Q. State what occurred, as briefly as possible.—A. The polls opened 
at () o’clock, and the people commenced voting, the white Democrats 
])articularly. Of course I could not discharge my duty as I should be¬ 
cause of their not allowing me to go to the table. First, they refused to 
let me see into the box, as the law reqmres; secondly, they refused to 
let me keep a poll-list. I asked that I be allowed to do so, telling them 
that I was United States supervisor; I placed my badge showing that I 
was a United States officer in front of my coat, but I did not get any 
admittance to the box yet, and along in the day I asked that I be allowed 
to take the names oft the poll-list, but they refused to allow that; there¬ 
fore I couldn’t keep the poll-list as the law recpiires, according to my 
instructious. That evening, after 0 o’clock, we commenced counting the 
votes. Everything went on very nicely until we commenced to count 
the votes. After we went to canvass the vote it turned out that the 
names on the poll-list were 404, but the box turned out 558 votes. We 
proceeded to stir the votes all up in the box again, and the question 
arose what should be done with the votes in excess. Some said let them 
be destroyed. They asked me what I thought ought to be done. I said 
I thought they should count the votes in the box and find out the excess 
and destroy them. They said no; under the State laws, if there were 
more votes in the box than on the poll-list, they should be drawn out. 
With that they stirred up the poll-box and emptied the votes out on the 
table. When the votes were turned out there were two or three big 
blocks or packages of these tissue tickets came out of the box. When 
I saw that, I didn’t know what to make of it. I think I have one of 
these in my pocket. [The witness produced a tissue ticket.] The tickets 
were like these. They were in packages about a half an inch thick. 

Q. How many in each package !—A. I could not see how many. The 
packages were so thick that they never could be admitted in the hole in 
the ballot-box cover Avliere we poked our tickets in when we came to 
vote. This led me to the belief that these tickets could not have been 
put into the box without the knowledge and consent of the managers. 
After I went to work to make out my returns- 

Q. Did you count the tickets!—A. Yes, siiq we counted them all. 

Q. The excess and all!—A. Yes, sir. These packages were so arranged 
and so big that when they were poured out they slipped right down in a 
mass ofl* from the pile of other tickets. The chairman would rub against 
them with his sleeve and try to scatter them out, but he could not move 
them to get them loose from each otiier. Kow and then he would take 
up one of these packages and count ten or fifteen of the tickets in it and 
then stop counting from that pile and lay down the package and count 
other tickets, and then come back to the package that he had laid down 
and count off more of them; and so on. I thought he was ashamed to 
count these tickets all at once. 

Q. Did they count them all in !—A. Yes, sir. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. SINGLETON. 


391 


Q. And put them back again into tlie box ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then did they draw out and destroy the excess —A. Yes, 
sir. ’ 

Q. How did they draw out and destroy A. Captain Hazle Dick was 
clerk ot the board, and he proceeded to draw them out. They asked 
him to be blindfolded or turn with his back to the box. He stood up 
in this position [witness illustratingj. Another young' man stood be¬ 
hind him, sortol in this position [again illustrating], so that he could see 
into the box j and I thought from the appearance of things that this 
young man was telling the other just when he had hold of a Republican 
ticket, from the way he drew them out. I know that he drew out a 
great deal more Republican tickets than Democratic tickets. Five or 
six tickets in succession would be Republican tickets, while it was only 
once in a good while that a Democratic ticket would come out. 

Q. Do you know how many Republican tickets he drew out in all ?— 
A. ^^o, sir. 

Q. He drew out an excess of Republican tickets over Democratic tick¬ 
ets f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you sign the returns ?—A. ^To, sir; I did not. 

Q. What Avas the return as to the Republican vote from that dis¬ 
trict ?—A. Eighty-four. 

Q. And the balance DemocraticA. Yes, sir; 320,1 think; I can¬ 
not state precisely. 

Q. Were you present in the county during the campaign ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did you attend any Republican meetings f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What political meetings did you attend!—A. All that the Repub¬ 
licans had there in town. 

Q. Were you there at a meeting held on the 12th of October !—A. 
Yes, sir; I was there. 

Q. Did you see any cannon at the time of that meeting on the 12th!— 
A. I did. 

Q. Where was it when you saw it!—A. I saw it parading up Main 
street, and again going down to the depot. I saw it going towards 
Avhere the Republicans had a meeting, and I saw it when it Avas coming 
back. It went around there on Sumter or Washington street and 
faced doAAui the main street toAvard the dei)ot. 

Q. Were you present Avhenit Avas loaded!—A. No, sir; 1 knoAV noth¬ 
ing about its being loaded except from hearsay. 

(^. What was it reported to be loaded Avith!—A. With tenpeiiiiA 
nails. 

Q. Was it loaded in Sumter !—A. Yes, sir ; from Avhat I heard it Avas 
loaded just before or just after the Republicans came from the depot. 

Q. Did you hear any alarm-bell rung !—A. I did. 

Q. What was the reason of that alarm!—A. Just after the Rei)ubli- 
cans came from the depot, there came up the street more than a hundred 
Democrats on horses. They came up Liberty street and Avent around on 
to another street. The conrt-house is situated between these tAvo streets. 
Just as soon as they got this cannon ranged that alarm-bell struck. It 
struck six times—probably more. 1 thought there AAms a tire. I Avas 
going home, for I had heard several remarks on the street about shoot¬ 
ing. 1 had no arms, and 1 didn’t care about being on tlie streets. After 
the alarm-bell rung, 1 saw these men run out, especially the Sumter mil¬ 
itary company. Then I kneAV that something Avas up, and I Avent home. 
I didn’t tarry on the street at all any longer. When I saA\^ the men had 


392 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Sumter 


arms and were drawed up in line of battle, I thought the best thing I 
(‘ould do was to get home. 

Q. Do you know Butler Spears ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any men after him ?—A. That evening, between six 
and seven o’clock—I don’t know exactly the hour—I had been down 
town. I was sitting by Music Hall. Colonel Dargan and several other 
gentlemen were on the streets, when Spears rode up. I heard Colonel 
Dargan say, There is the fellow that made that speech.” I didn’t know 
who lie had reference to, until afterwards I met Spears, and he told me 
that the Democrats were after him. I saw a buggy go off after him, but 
I didn’t know what his name was then. 

Q. How many men were after him “?—A. Three or four. 

Q. Armed men—A. They must have been armed, for I heard firing 
a little afterward, and he told me that they fired at him. I didn’t see 
them have any arms. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Do you live in Sumter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. Yearlj^ all my life. 

Q. At what poll were you supervisor ?—A. At Swimming Pens. 

Q. Is that at Sumter or in the country f—A. It is in the county of 
Sumter. 

Q. How far from the town of Sumter !—A. About twelve miles. 

Q. Who were managers of election at that poll ?—A. Y. S. McLeod, 
James Rembert, and John Gordon. 

Q. Were they all white men 1 —A. Yo, sir; John Gordon was colored. 

Q. Was he a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir.- 

Q. A colored man a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The other two were white ineii*?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which one kept the tally?—A. Captain Hazle Dick, the clerk, 
kejit it. 

Q. Where did you stay the night before election ?—A. In Sumter. I 
started away about twelve o’clock to go to the place where I was to act 
as supervisor. 

Q. Were they voting Avhen you got there ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Had any votes been received?—A. No, sir; it was not yet six 
o’clock. 

Q. Was the box not opened?—A. No, sir; it Avas not yet six o’clock. 

Q. Wasn’t it opened and exposed before they commenced voting ?— 
A. I can’t say as i o that. 

Q. Was it not opened and exhibited, and then locked up before the 
voting commenced?—A. No, sir; not so that I could see. The clerk sat 
back here; there was a railing out there [Avitness described at some 
length the ])osition of the ballot-box, managers, clerk, &c.]; but I Avas 
not alloAved to go uii there. 

Q. Did you try to get up there ?—A. I did. 

(^. Did you ask to get up there?—A. I asked several times, sir. 

Q. And were refused?—A. The chairman said afterAvards that he had 
held up the box for me to see into ; if he did I never saAv it. The hiAv 
requires that I should see into the box, and I could not do it. 

Q. Had it not been locked up before you asked to see into it?—A. I 

<lon’t knoAv hoAv long it Avas held open, if he held it open at all at the 

time he said he did. 

Q. AVhen the voting closed they took out and counted all the ballots 
found in the box?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you say you saAV packages or blocks of tissue tickets—blocks 


County.] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM M. SINGLETON. 393 

SO thick that they could not go through the opening in the box f—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And they still remained in that shape?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you inferred from that that they ^yere in the box when the 
voting commenced ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you explain why the peison who put them in the box tbd not 
scatter them out ot their packages ?—A. No, sir; uidess it was because 
I was standing around there, and so he didn’t have time to scatter them. 
They had a stick in there about this length [marking on his arm a space 
a little longer than a lead-pencil]; they were stirring in the box with 
that all day; Avhen the managers Avere not doing it some one else Avas; 
but those blocks were tied up so solid they couldn’t nioA^e them. 

Q. They put in a stick through the hole in the top of tlie box ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And stirred the ballots with that stick all day long?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The judges were there Avhen you got there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Could they not have xuit those tickets in the box Avithoutyour see¬ 
ing him, and have sepaa^ated them before putting them in?—A. They 
might if they had started to do it in time; but I think they did not 
start in time so that they were able to do it Avithout being afraid that 
I AAmuld see them. 

Q. You think the tickets Axere put in in packages, and the box locked 
up without separating them?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Before the voting commenced?—A. Yes, sir; for I knoAv I staid 
there and kept so close a Avatch of the Avay in whicli matters Avere going 
that it could not have been done afterwards. 

Q. After the Acting commenced you are sure that none Avere put in ? 
—A. No, sir; I carried my lunch with me, and staid right there all the 
day. 

Q. You think they did not have time to take them out of the pack¬ 
ages ?—A. Yes, sir; that was Avdiat I think. 

Q. How long Avould it haA^e taken them to take them out of the pack¬ 
ages ?—A. I don’t know. 

(^. Could they not liaA^e put them into the box out of packages as 
(piickly as in?—A. I don’t think they could. 

Q. You say you think that all day they Avere trying to stir them out 
of packages with that stick?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that when one of the managers dreAV out the ballots that 
Avere in excess of the number of names on the poll-list, he stood with 
his back to the box ?—A. That was the clerk of the board did that. 

Q. You said that a young man stood so that he could see into the 
box, and that you thought he told the clerk what tickets to pull out ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I thought so. 

Q. What young man was that ?—A. His name was Burt BroAvn. 

Q. Did you hear him say anything to the clerk ?—A. I did; seA^eral 
times. 

Q. Where AA-ere you ?—A. [The Avitness again explains how the differ¬ 
ent parties were located.] 

Q. What did tlie boy say ?—A. I couldn’t hear what he said. I could 
tell from his actions that something was said betAveen liim and Captain 
Hazle Dick about the Amtes. 

Q. You say you saw him speak ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At the time the clerk Avas drawing those ballots ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You didn’t hear what he said ?—A. No, sir; lie spoke so Ioav. Of 
(iourse, it would not liaA^e been wise for them to let me know Avliat was 
going on. 


394 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Sumter 


Q. How could lie tell the other wliat tickets to draw?—A. The box 
Avas open. One of the managers Avas holding the box partly open. It 
was so arranged that anybody standing in front of it could look 
into it. 

Q. AVhere did the boy stand ?—A. liight on the opposite of the table, 
so that he could look into the box. 

Q. Was the boy anyAvhere near the man drawing the ballots ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he any nearer than you ?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. How much closer ?—A. O, a great deal closer. 

Q. Hoay far AA^ere yon from him ?—A. I suppose not qidte as far as 
from here across the length of this table. One of the managers was 
betAveen me and Capt. Hazle Dick, and then he was about the space 
of the breadth of this table from Mr. Dick. That thro wed me still far¬ 
ther from him. 

Q. As the ballots Avere draAvn out they Avere destroyed, AA^ere they 
not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon keep an account of the number draA\ni out ?—A. My 
clerk did, that I AA^as instructed to take along AAnth me. 

Q. Did you see any of the ballots that aa ere draAAm out ?—A. I saAA' 
them all. 

Q. Did you see the names on them ?—A. I did not liaA^e time to read 
them all. 

Q. Were they not folded ?—xV. They had all kinds of tickets j and 
then they placed them in the box before draAAung them out. 

Q. They aa ere not folded ?—A. No, sir; they had unfolded them and 
placed them back in the box again, so that Avhen they come to caiiAmss 
the A ote there Avould not be any trouble. 

Q. Do you know how many Eepublican tickets were draAAm out ?— 
A. No, sir; but I am satistied that there aa ere- 

Q. You do not know hoAA^many Republican tickets AA^ere draAAm out ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. On the 12th of October, at Sumter, you say jmu saAA^ this cannon 
as the procession AA^ent doAAui toAAard the depot?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are certain about that ?—A. lam. 

Q. Where did you see it ?—A. On Main street. 

Q. Were they taking it doAAui in the direction of the depot ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. OiiAAdieels?—A. On AAdieels. 

Q. When did you first know a cannon AA^as there ^—A. The eA^ening 
preAuous to the meeting. 

Q. Is there not a small iron cannon there at Sumter that is usually 
for tiring on public occasions ?—A. There Avas, but it Avas burst. 

Q. Was there notone there that day?—A. No, sir; it burst before 
that; at any rate, that was only a little bit of a felloAA^, not more than 
six indies long. 

Q. Y"ou are sure there aa^s none there then ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You are quite sure that this iron cannon had been burst before 
that time ?—A. Ea'cii if I am not certain- 

Q. Please imsAver my question; are you certain that it had been burst 
before that time?—A. I cannot say 1 am certain; but it AA^as too little 
to be draAAUi by horses, or mules. 

Q. At Avhat'time of day did you see the cannon first ?—A. Some time 
that morning, on the academy green; they started firing it the morn¬ 
ing jirevious to the meeting, about tAvo or three o’clock in the night, and 
continued firing until they got ready to go in procession. 




County.] 


TESTJMO.NY OF J. A. STAGERS. 


395 


J. A. STAGEKS. 

(Charleston, S. Jannar'y 24, 1879. 

J. A. Stagers sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

(Question. Yon were a supervisor ?—AnsAver. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what place I—A. Gonrdirn’s precinct. 

(^. Were you there Avhen the vote was canvassed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav was it done !—xV. At the close of the polls, at six o’clock, the 
managers said they had to go to Pitman’s for supiter; about one liun- 
dred yards from the polling place. I didn’t say anything about that, 
and they closed up the boxes and shut the house, and went to Pitman’s 
for supper. I Avent to Pitman’s store, fifteen or tAventy steps, and I saw 
they went into the house, and they staid there I don’t knoAv hoAV long. 
In an hour, or a little OA^er, they returned, and first of all they counted 
the lists, and the two lists tallied. Three hundred and ten Avas the Avholc 
number of A otes cast. 

Q. Three hundred and ten on tlm poll-list!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Both lists agreed ?—A. Yes, sir. After sui)per they said they 
would count the Amtes, and I Avas right there aiid saAV them as they 
Avere taken out, and there aa as 307. Then they made out a list, and on 
Congressman they AA^ere given out as they counted them out of the box. 

Q. That Avas after they came back from supper!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIoAv many did they give to each Congressman ! — A. They gav(‘ 
Joseph H. Eainey 183, and Kichardson 124. 

By Mr. IMcIIonalh : 

(^). Hoav many Amtes had the Democrats at that place !—A. I could 
not tell you the" exact number; but before the last election they divided 
the polls, and made a poll at Graylesville, and that gave them a portion 
of our A'ote. 

Q. Hoav did it use to be !—A. 1 don’t know the exact number; but 
I know the Kepublicaus alwTiys had a large number OA er the Demo¬ 
crats. 








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WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY. 


FIRST CONGRESSIONAJ. DISTRICT. 


ELBCTION" OP 1878. 









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WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY. 


E. M. PINCKNEY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 22, 1879. 

E. M. Pinckney (colored) sworn and examined. 

By tlie Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. I reside at Kingstree, in 
Williamsburg County. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. I have been laboring as 
a minister there of the Methodist Episcopal Church for three years. 
That is my occupation. 

Q. With which political party have you affiliated ?—A. With the Ee- 
publican party, sir. 

Q. AVas there, to your knowledge, any effort made by the Democracy 
to intimidate the colored Eepublican voters in that county, in order to 
prevent them from exercising their right of suffrage If so, describe 
what was done.—A. The Democrats organized in our county some so- 
called “ Eed Shirt” organizations, which went from one part of the 
country to another, wherever they heard Eepublican meetings were to be 
held. I inferred from the character of the men who would go, from their 
number, and from the manner in which they went, carrying arms, that 
they intended to intimidate the Eepublicans. In fact, tliey would go to 
these meetings under the pretext of a division of time. As soon as they 
were seen approaching, the Eepublicans, in order to prevent any trou¬ 
ble, would close their meetings. They would make threats that if the 
Eepublicans would not acquiesce in their demands they would have 
“time” any way. Seeing they were armed, not only with pistols, but 
with double-barreled guns, muskets, &c., and were carrying cartridge 
boxes around with them, the Eepublicans thought that bloodshed would 
result uidess they agreed to their demands and closed their meetings. 

Q. About what time in the summer were these Eed Shirt organizations 
formed in your county ?—A. I cannot remember exactly" j some time 
before the opening of the campaign. 

Q. How numerous were these organizations, from the best informa¬ 
tion you had ?—A. I know of three bodies in that county. 

Q."Where were they located?—A. At Graham’s Cross-Eoads, which 
we regarded as the Ku-Klux headquarters Arhen the Ku-Klux predom¬ 
inated. Another was formed at Indian Toavii, and another, and the 
principal one, at Kingstree. 

Q. Of about how many members did each of these companies con¬ 
sist ?—A. They averaged about one hundred men, sir. 

Q. AA^hen they traveled through the country Avere they usually 
mounted and armed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How AA^ere they armed ?—A. AA^ith State arms, until Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral DeA^ens’s order came out, and then they carried pistols, AAdiich Avere 
only seen AAdien they took them out to threaten anybody. 

cX AA^ere they uniformed, and, if so, Iioav ?—A. They would aa ear any 
kind of pants, but their shirts Avould be red. 



400 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[■VTilliamsburg 


Q. Were yon present at a Eepnblican meeting’ which Congressman 
Eainey was expected to address ?—A. I did not go to the meeting at 
wliich he was expected to speak. There were several meetings held at 
which his advocates were to speak. 

Q. Describe what occurred at those meetings, so far as yon can.—A. 
So far as I know—and when I say so far as I know I mean all except 
one. (^nite a large body of these armed men came to the meeting- 

Q. Where was the meeting held to which yon now refer?—A. At 
White Oak. Qnite a large number of armed men went to that meeting 
and demanded time.’^ 

Q. Were they white men or colored, Eepnblicans or Democrats ?—A. 
They Avere AA^hite men, and Democrats. 

Q. AVhat do yon mean by •Dlemanding time” ?—A. By that I mean 
they said they must have an o])portnnity to speak for the same length 
of time that the E(‘pnblicans did. 

Q. Tliat was a Eepnl)licaii meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Called as a Eepnblican meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the Democrats came in armed and demanded that they should 
haA"e an opportunity to address the meeting?—A. Yes, sir; their de¬ 
mand Avas refused. Another man came in ayIio Avas intoxicated, or 
partly so, and made the same demand. This time, also, the demand 
AAms refused. He said he AAmnld liaA^e ^Hime” anyhow, and he turned 
aA\my, going to AAdiere the body of armed men AA^ere gathered. The presi¬ 
dent then proposed to close the meeting, and then the meeting adjourned. 

Q. How many armed men were there ?—A. Between one and two hun¬ 
dred. 

Q. How many Eepnblicans had assembled there ?—A. About 75 or 80. 

Q. AVhat further occurred ?—A. The meeting adjourned. Air. SAvails, 
who had gone down to speak in the interests of Air. Eainey, started 
home. After a few moments’ ride from the place of meeting, he and a 
man avIio was riding Avitli him were surrounded by these armed men and 
told that they must consider themselves under arrest. They were then 
taken to Kingstree, AA’here Air. SAAmils Avas rescued from the Eed Shirts, 
AA’ho, after shooting one of the men that assisted in rescuing SAAmils, 
were advised by their friends to leave, and did so. 

Q. AVho AAms it that AAas shot?—A. His name aatis Boston Hanna*, he 
has tAA’o balls in him iioav. The object of the rescue AA'as that these men 
had 15 miles more to go, and it Avas belieA^ed that the Eed Shirts intended 
to take them out and them to sleep,” as they call it sometimes. 

Q. AA^ere you present at another meeting ?— A. l attended one or tAA O 
other small meetings held by Eei)ublicans,"Avhich AA’ere interrupted. The 
convention that AA^as held after Air. SAvails Avas ordered aAvay- 

Q. Please state, right there, avIio ordered Air. SAvails aAA*ay.—A. On 
the 8th day of October some citizens—1 can give their naines if you 
wish. 

Q. Yes; gi\^e their names.—A. Air. Lampson, chairman of the Dem¬ 
ocratic committee for that county, AVilliam Lee, AVilliam Kinder, Dr. 
Sessions, Air. John Kelly, a gentleman aaJio took quite a delight in giAung 
me a beating because I Avould not retract a certain article l\vrote, Avhich 
Avas published in one of the papers. 

Q. Were these all Avhite men and Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Go on and state AAdiat occurred.—A. They came in. I met them 
at the door and asked them into the parlor. They waited aAvhile; they 
did not seem to like much to go in ; but I insisted on their going in 
until I could call Air. SAvails. AVheii he came in his wife and child and 
two or three ladies Avere with him. As soon as SAvails reached the par- 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M. PINCKNEY. 


401 


lor^ Mr. Kelly, wlio served as spokesiiiaii on the occasion, said that at a 
meeting held a short time before the following resolutions had been 
dra\vn n]>, and then he read four or live resolutions—one charging Mr. 
Swails with being a robber, ^fec.; another telling him that unless he left 
\\ illiamsburg inside of ten days he would forfeit his life; another tell¬ 
ing him he woidd beheld responsible for all the incendiarism and blood¬ 
shed that might happen, unless he left; and two or tliree other resolu¬ 
tions. These resolutions I copied the substance of while they were read¬ 
ing them. I carried the coi)y to Judge Wallace, who was then holding 
court there, and asked his advice in the premises. Judge Wallace took 
that copy of tlie resolutions to most of these same men, a short time 
after court adjourned that afternoon, and they did not <leny the correct- 
]iess ot the coi)y, as Judge Wallace told me that night in an interview 
he had with Swails and myself. SAvails was a strong Reimblican, and 
the object in ordering him away was to silence one of the leading Ivei)ub- 
lican advocates. 

Q. Have you a copy of the resolutions ?—A. Kot with me. 

Q. AVhat did Swails do ?—A. In reply to a telegram from District 
Attorney N^orthrop, he came down here, and from here he went to AVash- 
ington, where he has been ever since. 

Q. And has not since returned to his homef—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Is Mr. Swails’s family in your county still ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he an owner of ])roi)erty there ?—A. He has a home and a small 
tract of land surrounding it upon Avhicli he lives—or did live until he 
was driven awaA. 

What, if anything, did the Democrats do in your county during 
the last election-day, or prior thereto, to prevent the United States super¬ 
visors of election from exercising their power and authority under the 
law—A. On tlie morning of election I went down to the court-house, our 
poll, and I found Mr. Samuel Hanna, the supervisor, on the outside of the 
court-house door; one half of the door was shut; there was an obstruc¬ 
tion across the entrance, formed by the table; the three Democratic 
managers Avere behind thei-e, all white men. We could not get a Kepub- 
lican on the board, because the commissioners refused those who were 
recommended; in fact, Kepublicans were refused being ]>laced at any 
polls in the county. I thought then that something wrong was coming 
up. It was arranged like this (witness described the shape of the room, 
i the location of the commissioners, the managers, the table, chairs, bal* 

! lot-box, «S:c.). You have to go up the ste]>s under a porch. I said to 
i Mr. Hanna, ^AVhat are you going to do out here ?” He said, ^‘They 
I won’t let me go inside.” I said, “ Did you show them your authority f’ 
He said, ‘‘Yes.” I asked, ‘‘And did they refuse?” He said, “They 
did.” I at once said to him, “ RemendAer your instructions; you are to 
have egress and ingress to the room in Avliich the poll-box is ke])t, and 
this refusal to let you into the room is a positive a iolation of the United 
States hiAV.” He said he had recpiested admission, and showed his au¬ 
thority, and had been refused. He undertook, AAdiere he Avas, to keep a 
list of A oters, but the croAvd was betAA^een him and the ballot-box, and 
the books and the men Avho kept the list AA ere behind the door that Avas 
shut on the inside, so that Hanna could not see either the man or. the 
books, and had no means of knowing whether he put down a hundred 
more names than there were ballots — Avhich Avas a thing aa oII knoAvn to 
liaA'e been done in that city before. In short, he could not tell anything, 
scarcely, that Avas going on. 

Q. Where Avere you on the day of election ?—A. I Avas in the town. 

Q. All day ?—a" Yes, sir. 

20 s C 




402 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Did any ditticulty occur ?—A. There did. 

Q. Describe what it was.—A. About 3 o’clock I went home to my din¬ 
ner ; my lioiise stands between the court-house and the depot. Al)Out 
o o’clock the train came down—the northeastern train, from Florence to 
Charleston. 1 liad been lyin^' down and resting for a little while. When 
the train arri^'ed I got up. I said to my wife that I would go down to 
the court-house and see what kind of count they were going to have 
there. 1 had not g<me far before I lieard a considerable amount of con¬ 
fusion, yelling, and so on 5 I looked back and saw, 1 suppose, about 40 
men, firing pistols and wliooping, coming down through the court-house 
yard. I stopped before going to tlie court-house, and looked back. I 
made out that they Avere from Graham’s Cross-Koads. They Avere led 
by Dr. S. D. ^I. Byrd, a man aa4io seems ever ready to lead men into 
such braAA ls as this. 

Q. Is Byrd a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 1 said in my mind, “ This 
means trouble.” I stopped just in front of the court-liouse; the super- 
Ausor liad come out on tlie porch to see AA'hat was the matter; I told him 
to stand there as near the box as he could. The managers had by this 
time gone aAA ay; not one aahs there. 

(). AYre none of the managers in the room Avhere the box aa as ?— A. 
INo, sir. I said to the supervisor, “ Stand there as long as you can.” 
One of the marshals Avent in there to stand by him. Just then a Avhite 
man, a Democrat, came in and touched me and AA'hispered to me, Mr. 
Pinckney, take my advice, and get out of tlie Avay as (piickly as you 
can.” As he aa’US a Demoi'rat I concluded that he knew AAdiat AA as going 
on, and that it Avas best for me to go. I had been threatened up there 
before, so 1 did get out of the way. 

By that time the croAvd of men had got up to the court-house. I 
heard a terrilile yelling and tumbling, from aa here I had concealed my¬ 
self. Shortly after that the supervisor came up AAdiere 1 Avas and found 
me. 1 said, IIoaa' is it ?” He said, staid as long as I could; they 
knocked me doAvn, and they knocked the marshal down, and took the 
ballot-box, and aa ent into the (*ourt-room aa ith it, boasting that they had 
A'oted at two other polls, and that they intended to a ote again; they 
made a general stuffing of the surplus votes that lay around into the ' 
ballot-l)ox.” 1 said, Go back and see what further they do.” He aa ent 
back. 

Q. Go on and state aa hat further occurred AAdthin your oath observa- - 
tion. — A. I remained aa here I had gone till after the supeiwisor came 
and reported the condition of affairs; and about 12 o’clock, in company 
with a tew friends, I managed to get to my home. This mob of men ! 
was still hooting and yelling about the village. I 

Q. At 12 o’clock in the night ?—A. Yes, sir. I bad not been home | 
long before a friend came and said to me, Mr. Pinckney, they are after 
you. A body of men have gone doAA 11 to the depot, and they made me 
assist in digging a graA^e; then I managed to get aAA ay from them. They 
are divided into scpiads and are looking for you." I liaA'e just come 
along with one S(piad of men; T escaped them but a feAv moments ago. 
They made me bring them to your house, but you had not got home 
yet^ and they left to hunt for you elsewhere.’^ Tlie mob staid until the 
approach of the train from Charleston which was to take them back. : 
Before the train came, I could hear a considerable amount of mock j 
preaching, praying, and moaning, Ac. Next morning a colored man,' 
who had remained near the depot the night before, said that when the I 
squad came after me and failed to find me, they took a block represent- 



County.] TESTIMONY OF E. M. PINCKNEY. 403 

ing me, and covered it iij) iu the grave and had a mock funeral; and 
that was the preaching and praying and moaning tliat I had heard. 

Subseciiiently 1 came to Charleston, having been siibp(enaed before 
the coiirt here to gi^■e my testimony in regard to some of these same men. 
Myself and three or four others were arrested and taken to jail. 1 had 
got home to my father-in-law’s, Alderman Holloway’s. About 10 o’clock 
at night there came a tap at the door. When the door was opened the 
parties asked for Mr. Holloway. He went to see what was wanted of 
him, and then they asked for me. I heard my name spoken and went 
to the piazza; there 1 found two black men, one of them a detective; 
his name was John Mitchell, I think. He came in Avith another black man 
and said, ‘Ms this Mr. Pinckney?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “I am an 
officer from Kingstree, and I have called to see you on some business.” 
I said, “Come outside; I will speak to you there.” (I didn’t want to 
disturb the family.) Adieu I got on the stoop 1 said, “My attorney, 
Mr. Northrop, lives just around here; 1 would like to see him in regard 
to the business to vhich you refer.” They said, “No; there is no call 
for you to see him.” Then one of them seized me here and another there, 
and John Mitchell drew his pistol; and 1 said, “What do you want?” 
And he said, “I am going to take you to tlie station-liouse.” I said 
“I have on a cap belonging to a friend in the house; I Avould like to 
get my own hat and an overcoat.” He said, “No, you can’t go.” 1 was 
brought down to the station-house, and cariied before the lieutenant 
who had charge of it at that time; and he asked this John Mitchell 
what I was brought there for. ^Mitchell said I was brought there on 
the charge of perjury. Then a policeman of Kingstree, who at that time 
was under indictment to appear before the United States (‘ourt, came 
in. The lieutenant said, “ Ha^ e you a warrant for him ?” He said, 
“ Yes.” 1 looked at the warrant, and I saAv it Avas made out by tliose 
same parties against Avhom I had made affidavit for coming to Swails’ 
house and ordering him off under threat of death. The lieutenant told 
me to go into the office. He came into the office after a little, and after 
he had been there aAvhile he said to me, “You may go up to the tire.” I 
Avent up nearer the stove. When the time came for relieving guard, I 
AA’as instructed to go back into the office. I thought that Avas to cut me 
off from seeing tlie policemen, some of whom aa ere colored friends ot 
mine. One of the policemen was kind enough to bring me his overcoat. 
Aliout half past 0 in the morning one of the men came and said, “ We 
are ready for you.” T folioAved across the room to the door opening into 
the yard. There I found a one-horse carriage, and he said, “ Get into 
it.” I said, “ I prefer to wait and go before the mayor.’’ He said, “ No, 
you cant go before the mayor; get in there.’’ I thought best not to 
oppose anything having the semblance of laAv; so I got into the car¬ 
riage, and found in there George Arms from my place. He drove toAAvard 
Kingstree, going the South Carolina road. I said, “Are you taking 
me by Columbia?” He said, “Yes.” 1 asked him Avhy; he said, “I 
have instructions to do so.” I aa ^s taken to Columbia and placed in 
the station-house there. I was kindly treated. I Avas locked up for a 
AAdiile; then I was brought out to the fire. 1 sat there till about half 
past 11 that night, Avhen 1 aa as taken to Florence, aa here the officer ex¬ 
pected to make connection Avith the train going doAvn to my place that 
niglit; the trains, hoAvever, failed to make connection, and 1 remained 
there till next day. 1 felt \'ery ap])rehensive jn passing Graham’s Cross- 
Koads, AAiiere those tAA O men lived. As it Avas, as I passed there in the 
day time, 1 was concealed in the conductor’s cab. Before getting there 
I had said to the officer that had me, “ Do you knoAV Avhether there is 





404 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


going to be any e^ il played with me in passing Graliands Cross-Hoads'?^^ 
He said, ‘‘ ^^obody sliail hurt yon in passing Crahands Cross-Hoads, so 
long as you are in my hands.” I did not know how long I might be in 
his hands; I could not understand why he should take me by tliere, 
for it Avas a A^ery roundabout aa ay. 1 had a promise from him that he 
would not wait for the passenger train, but come on tlie freight train; 
that gaA^e me a chance to go in the conductor’s cab, and nobody knew 
AAiio I Avas or that I was on the train. AVe got doAAui to Kingstree safe. 
There I telegraphed to parties here, and Avas released that niglit. 

Q- Were you taken before an officer to be examintHl ?—A. T aa as car¬ 
ried before Trial Justice Steele up there. He asked me if 1 saA\" the 
charges that had been made against me. I told him I just glanced at 
the ])aper containing them, and 1 saAA^ that I was charged Avith jieijury 
for having made affidaAuts against the men aa ho had ordered SAvails to 
leaA^e his home. He said, “ Well, you will gAe bonds.” I said, 
sir.” Then, said lie, ‘‘ I aa ill liaA e to commit you.” He wrote a commit¬ 
ment and 1 went to jail. 1 did not feel like binding myself before a 
State court for ])erjury, AAiien, if 1 had committed iieijury, my trial should 
take place before a United States commissioner. 

Q. You were arrested for perjury on a warrant issued by a State court, 
when, if the case was tried, the trial must come before a United States 
court ?—A. Yes, sir; and these men aaUo made the affiduAut were not 
there to hear me swear. 

Q. Hid no jiarties appear against you before the trial justice ?— A. 
No, sir. 

Was any examination had before the trial justice ?—A. No, sir; 
but he simply asked, “ IlaA^e you seen the charges?” And 1 ansAvered, 

I only glanced at them.” I looked at the names of the jiarties to see 
Avho it was had brought the charges against me. 1 saAv that I Avas 
charged Avitli peijury, and that those men T haA^e spoken of Avere the 
ones Avho had brought the charges. The trial justice said, “ You can 
gWe good bonds.” I said, ‘‘No, sir.” I had just secured a Avrit of 
habeas corjms for three men aa Iio liad been arrested in the same way I 
AA^as, and I kneAA^ it AA^as a Aiolation of the United States hiAv to arrest me . 
or any other man in that way; but I did not feel like binding myself 
OA^er to a court that I kneAV had no jurisdiction in the c'ase. So I went 
to jail, and remained there until I was released, about half past tAveh^e 
or one o’clock that night. I telegraphed to United States attorney 
Northrop, and the same marshal that brought Mr. Lee from Sumter 
met the sheriff of AY ill imsburg Avith me at the train, and Ave (*ame doAvn 
together. 

Q. Hid the officer or any other person explain to you Avhy you Avere 
carried in that roundabout way, by Columbia, instead of being carried 
directly home ?—A. No, sir; the officer only said he Avas instructed to 
take me that aa ay. AYhen aa^c got almost home he said he thought that 
some attempt AA ould have been made to release me if I had been alloAA ed 
to remain in the city later. 

Q. What is the difference in the distance ?—A. It is about (>() miles 
from here to Kingstree by the direct route. Hy the South Carolina 
Railroad, by which I Avas taken from here to Columbia, it is about 130 i 
miles, I belieAX. From Columbia doAAui to Florence is something over 100 
miles, and from Florence doAAUi to Kingstree is about 40 miles. 

Q. Then hj the direid route it is about 40 miles, and by the Avay they 
took you it is about 170 miles?—A. Yes, sir ; as near as I can calculate. 

Q. Hid anything else occur in connection Avith the election or the cam- I 
paign iirior to the last election Avhich you desire to state ?—A. After i 



TESTIMONY OF E. M. PINCKNEY. 405 

Mr. S^^ ails was driven away, several eftorts were made to i^reveut the 
marshals in that county from exercising' their authority. 

Q. hat ettorts were made and by whom ?—A. At Kingstree Mr. 
Kelly went up to Mr. Dent and told him- 

Mr. McDonald. AVere you ])resent, sir ?—xV. Yes, sir; and told him, 

It you ari est anybody here to-day I will have you arrested. You have 
no authority.’’ He tried to frighten him a good many times. Another 
marshal informed me that he received the same treatment. 

The OnAiRMAN. Had any ])rosecution been commenced in the State, 
court against those men who weiit to Swails’ house and drove him off ?— 
A. Xo, sir ' none whatever. He knew that it was useless to do so, from 
the very fact that since Governor Hampton’s inauguration- 

Air. Ale Donald. 1 object. Y^oii need not give reasons. You can go 
on and state what facts you know.—A. I was going to tell about the time 
when I was assaulted by Air. Kelly because I would not retract an article 
pul)lished in the Xational Kepublican, in AATishington. Air. Kelly came 
in tlie office where I was serving as assistant postmaster. I was not 
ex})ecting an assault. He took a bludgeon and struck me on the head, 
and blooded me from my head to my feet, so that I had to be in bed for 
four or live days. In fact, I have not really recovered yet in this left 
arm ; I held that up to protect my head from the blows of the bludgeon, 
and received several blows on it; 1 held it up as long as I coidd; I had 
one or two gashes cut in my head, which felled me to the ground and 
rendered me nncons(*ious. I thought it not worth while to enter another 
prosecution, because since Governor Hampton’s inauguration there has 
been something wrong about the Jury arrangements; we have had but 
one or tA\ o Kepublicans on our juries 5 and in some cases none at all. 
Sometimes one or two colored men, who are regarded as Democrats, 
Avould be allowed on the Jury. I saw that in connection Avitli Air. 
SAvails’s case and my oAvn. It Avas of no use to resort to the law, for 
Governor Hampton, aa hen informed in regard to these matters, said the 
courts were open to us, and expressed his regret at this kind of thing, 
and adA ised us to take our cases to the courts. A\^e had had sufficient 
experience to lind out that it AAOuld not amount to anything if Ave did; 
and AA'hile saying this I do not mean to reflect on the white men of prin¬ 
ciple, some of AA horn may be found in the Democratic party; but they 
hardl.A' get those men on the Jury all the time. 

Q. Are the trial Justices in your county Democrats or Eepublicans ?— 
A. Democrats, sir. 

(^. Is the circuit Judge of that circuit Democratic or Kepublican f—A. 
Democratic, sir. 

(y Are tlie Judges of the siiju’eme court Kepublican or Democratic !— 
A. Democratic, sir. 

Q. Then the entire Judiciary of the State is in the hands of the Demo¬ 
crats !—A. A^es, sir. 

(^. Is the district attorney, or prosecuting attorney of that district, 
Air. Hirsch, Democratic or Kepublican!—A. At one time he professed 
to be quite an affectionate Kepublican; he aaus partner Avith Swails in 
editing a Kepublican paper, and partner in hiAV ; but he is a Democrat 
noAA. 

Do you recollect his first name !—A. I believe it is Alelvin Hirs(;h. 

(]. In the gubernatorial contest betAveen Hampton and Chamberlain, 
wliich of the tAvo candidates did Hirsch support ?—A. I think it AAns at 
that time that he Avas elected solicitor for the circuit on the Chamber¬ 
lain ticket. 



406 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[AVillia)nsbur<? 


Q. Wlioiii <lid lie siii)])()i*t for piveriior at tlie last election ?—A. Haiii])- 
ton ; lie made several sjieeehes in favor of Hampton. 

Q. He made several s])eeelies during’tlie eami)aign f—A. Yes, sir; I 
miglit remark furtluT tlnit Avhile at rlie court in rolumhia my life Avas 
tlireatened if 1 should return. 

Q. l>y wliom ?—A. l>y Dr. Jlyrd. 

(Y What did he say?—A. He said if ever 1 put my foot on the soil of 
Williamsburg’ again I would be fixed. 

Q. Is 1 )r. Ilyrd a ]>rominent 1 lemocrat ?—A. He is, sir; very prominent. 

(j). And is considered a A’ery respectable man, is he not t —A. Well, 
by some. There are some Democrats, such as Dr. Hroi'kerton, who do 
not countenance these things, and regard such threats and scenes of 
violence as lamentable. We Imve some gentlemen in South Carolina 
who, Avhile they are Deinoi'rats, do not countenance the extreme meas¬ 
ures to Avhich a set of Ioav Avhite men are dis]iosed to go, and in AAdiich 
they are encouraged by some cd’ whom better things might be expected. 

l>y .Mr. IvANDOLrii: 

Q. Of what State are you a native ?—A. Of South ('aroliua; I Avas 
born in this county. 

Q. Hoav long IniAm you li\’ed iu Williamsburg ('ounty ?—A. For three 
years. 

Q. Is that your residence hoav ?—A. I liaA c been virtually driA’^en from 
there hoav, and live here. 

(}. Where did you last vote ?—A. In Kingstree. 

(,>. Did you liaA’e any difiiculty in A’oting ?—A. 1 had none myself, 
but- 

Q. That Avas all I wanted to knoAv about this. Y^ou said a little Avhile 
ago that Mitchell, an ofiicer from Kingstree, arrestml you in this citj" ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

(>>. Abni said tlien, if my memory seiwes me, that he arrested you at 
your home here ?—A. A'es, sir. 

Q. XoAV, sir, Avhich is ycmr liome, or liaA'e you two homes ?—A. Yes, 
sir; 1 claim to liaA’C tw<> homes. 1 call lieaAmn my home. 

(Y 1 hope you may get there.—A. i trust so, sir. 

(»). You say tliat the red shirt organizations are thi’ee in number ?—A. 
So far as I know, there are. 

Q. I understood you to say that you inferred they meant mischief?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that they intended to do Avrong ?—A. 1 thought so, sir. 

Q. When they asked for a diAusion of time, Avas that an uncommon 
request in this State ?—A. Well, yes, sir, if Ave ri^gard it in connection 
with the history of ])olitics in this State. 

Ibis it not been quite common in this State for a long time for the 
two parties to meet on the same hustings ?—A. In these latter days, but 
not in earlier days ; not if Ave go back to the days of (hilhoun and Olay, 
and such men. 

Q. Your memory is not as good as mine, then.—A. When I speak of 
^Hatter days” I mean siiu'e rei'onstruction. 

AYere there not joint meetings in 1S70, by arrangement betAveen 
the tAvo parties ?—A. AYs, sir. 

Q. You said tliat these organizations, Avhich you looked upon as hos¬ 
tile, Avere armed Avitli State arms?—A. Yes, sir." 

C>. AYere they organized under any authority of the State ?—A. I lie- 
lieve they Avere. 

Q. Then they had some right to jmssess those arms ?—A. They had 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M. PINCKNEY. 


40T 


the rigl)t to possess those arms, Imt I did not consider that they had a 
ri.i»ht to go out to Eepuhlit'an political meetings and threaten violence. 
1 regard it as a violation ot law foi* men to take State arms and go out 
on other days exce]>t when they are called out by tlie proper officer. 

(^. \ oil have jiositive knowledge that they had no authority to go out 
on tliis occasion ?—A. I have, sir. 

How do you derive such ])ositive knowledge ?—A. From the law 
just referred to, sir. 

Q. At what place was Mr. Hanna su])ervisor ?—A. At Ivingstree. 

Q. You say he was not able to get to the polls ?—A. He did reach the 
polls in the morning when he went^ as all supervisors are expected to do, 
to take his place in the room where the ballot-box was ke])t; he did 
reach the poll, but was refused admission Into the room. 

Q. 1 think you said the difficulty occurred about four o’clock in the 
afternoon f —A. About five, 1 think I said, sir. 

Q. About that time you went down ami saw Hanna standing on the 
porch '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How high was that ])orch above the ground ?—A. About as high 
as the top of that door, sir. 

Q, Were you in the room at any time between twelve and five o’clock f — 
A. I could not have access at all, sir; no one could but the managers, 
and this mob that rushed in and carried out the l)ox. 

Q. You said that at a given time between twelve and five o’clock yon 
saw that there Avas no manager in the room ; now, how could you haA^e 
seen into a i‘oom that Avas tAA clve or hfteen feet higher than tlie street 
u])on Avhich you stood, and to which you had no a(‘cess f—A. I don’t 
think I said that I saw into the room, and saAv that there Avere no man¬ 
agers there. I saAv Hanna on the porch. I saw one of the managers 
on the ground with the door-key mid another outside of the court-house. 
I asked Hanna Avhether there Avas anybody up there, and he said “no.’’' 

Q. Your previous testimony Avill show that you have said you kncAv 
positiATly that there Avere no managers in the room.—A. Saying that I 
saAv there were no managers in the room do(‘s not imply oculai' demon¬ 
stration. 

Q. When this difficulty occurred you AA cnt down and smav Hanna on 
the porch and advised him to remain ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he did remain ?—A. Yes, sir; as long as he could. 

Q. And Avhile you stood there some Democratic friend came u[> and 
touched you upon the shoulder and advised you to go, and you Avent ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. 8o you adA'ised Hanna to remain, but did not take the advice 
yourself f—A. Well, nobody had advised him to go aAvay. Besides, I 
did not thiidv the mob Avould be as ready to hurt Mr. Hanna, the clmii*- 
man of the Eepubli(‘an committee of the county, as they would me. 

(,). Y^ou thought that Hanna Avas safe and that you were not?—A. Had 
I had a commission as supervisor I Avould have remained too; but not 
having a commission for that particular post, I thought it advisable to 
take the advi(*e of tliis Democratii* friend. 

Q. You said, in ansAver to a question by Senator (,’aineron,.that the 
trial-Justice, all the justices in this State, under the present adminis¬ 
tration, AAere Democrats ?—A. Xo, 1 didn’t say all in the State; all in 
my oAvn county. 

Q. Prior to the administration of (TOA ernor Hampton, Avhat Avere the 
politics of the trial-justices in your county?—A. 1 knoAvof oneat Kings- 
tree who Avas a Ftcpublican; at least he Avas called a Kepublican, but 
he is noAv regarded as a full-tiedged DemocTat. 


408 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1^76, 


I Williamsburg 


Q. 1 am speaking- of them as they were then.—A. I know of anotlier, 
a colored man, who was a Kejinblican, but I am satisfied that there were 
several Democrats; I may be mistaken, bnt 1 don't think tliey were all 
Kepnblicans, sir. 

Q. Were not the trial-justices throughout the State generally, under 
Governor Chamberlain, Heimblican in politics ?—A. Must 1 answer that 
as coming directly from yourself ? 

Q. Certainly; I put the (piestion.—A. I think they were, sir. 

Q. Were not the ofticers generally throughout the State, under all 
previous administrations, for three or four terms prior to that of Go^'- 
ernor Hampton, Kepublicans ?—A. The majority were regarded so; a 
good many liave been found out to be otherwise since; a-good many 
whom we thought were lleimblicans, we find out now wer(‘ lle])ublicans 
oidy for what they could get. 

Q. I can very easily understand that. Was there any opposition to 
Governor Hampton in your county at the last election ?—A. No, sir; 
there was no candidate put up, ami I do not think the name of any man, 
in opi)Osition to Governor Hampton, Avas put ui^oii any ticket in that 
county. 

There is an item in reference to challenging voters which, I think, 
may be in this connection. 

l>y Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Go on and state Avhat it is.—A. W'hile I Avas at the polls cpiite a 
number of men came up to me and said ‘‘ Mr. Pinckney, they aauU not 
allow us to VO te.^’ I asked ‘AVhat is the trouble ?’’ They vsaid “ We were 
not of age at the last election, two years ago, but we have groAvn to be men 
since that time.” On going to the polls aa c Avei e asked Avhetlier A\'e had 
paid taxes.” We said No,” we huA^e not paid taxes, because AA-e did not 
haA e anything to pay taxes for.” Some had not paid the poll-tax, be¬ 
cause the time for paying the poll-tax came after they became of age. 
Quite a number were turned off from a oting who were of age, but who 
had not paid taxes. I said to the manager, ‘‘ Gentlemen, are you mak¬ 
ing a decision that these men cannot vote ?” 1 AAms told, Yes.” I said 

That is not the laAV here, although it is in North Carolina ; in this State 
no man is (piestioued aa ith reference to his taxes.’’ I su(‘ceeded in get¬ 
ting many of our men to Amte Avhose A otes had been twice refused. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Those Avhom you took up Avere allowed to A ote ?—A. Yes, sir; but 
others went away before I got there, because their votes had been re¬ 
fused oil the same ground. 

Q. At what time did you go before the United States commissioners 
to make an affidavit against those parties aaTio had ordered Mr. Swails 
to leave the State ?—A. I don’t remember the exact date. 

Q. Against AAffiat parties did you make affidavit ?—A. Against Mr. 
John Kelly, also William Lee, Walliam Kinder, Dr. Session, and J. K. 
Lamiison, the chairman of the Democratic executiA^e committee. 

Q. What did you charge them Avith in that affidavit ?—A. X don’t le- 
member Just at this time the number of the section under which the 
affidavit was draAAui. 

Q. What offense were they charged Avith ?—A. With coming to Mr. 
SAvails’s house and ordering him to leaA^e the State Avithin 10 days^or 
forfeit his life. 

Q. How long after you made that affidavit aa^is it that you were ar¬ 
rested in the manner you state ?—A. Sometime aftei Avards, sir; that 


' TESTIMONY OF E. M. PINCKNEY. 409 

Avas about tlie Stli of October, and 1 was kidnaped about the 1st No- 
veiidau*. 

Inoiii tlie time you made the affidavit against them, charging- them 
with giving- this threat and warning- to Mr. SAvails, how long was it until 
you were arrested in CMiarleston foi* perjurv —A. Perhaps twenty or 
thirty days. 

0 - \ on say tliat wlieii tlu* warrant was shown you at the station- 
houso you looked to see who had sworn it out; Avhose name appeared 
as making the affidavit ?—A. I saw the names of Kelly and Lee. I 
don't rememl)er any otliers. 

riiose wer<* two ot the i)aiti(*s wlio had made oath against you ?— 
A. Ves, sir. 

(»>. And tliey swore you had committed perjury ?—A. Yes, sir. 

.Vnd on tliat chai-ge you were arrested ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(,>. Had they made tliat charge on oath before a trial-justice ora State 
magistrate ?—A. Hefon^ a trial-just ice, J. J. Steele. 

(}. \ ou say that 31 r. Swails was a leading ])olitician in the county ?— 
A. 11(‘ was the chairman of the Republican county committee. 

He had also beiMi a member of the State seiiate, had he not ?—A. 
Yes. sir. 

Had he not, as a member of the State senate, been charged with 
bribery and corruption ?—A. He had. 

(>. Had he not resigned his place in the State senate on that account ? 
—A. He had resigned; 1 don’t know on what a(;(‘Ount. 1 understood 
he was not tritMl nor convicted. 

(j. He resigned after that charge was made ?—A. I believe he did. 

i). Those parties who arrested you and took you by that circuitous route 
to Kingstre(‘ did not in any way misuse you ?—A. ^Yell, 1 think they 
did. sir. When we reached the South Carolina depot some of my friends 
were on the i>latform, and I desired them to come up to me so that I 
might send a message home by them to state something about the cir¬ 
cumstances, and these friends were refused access to me. 

(C Who had charge of you at that time ?—A. An ex-policeman from 
Kingstree. 

(C Was he white oi- (‘olored ?—A. He was white. 

(,). You said you were arrested by a colored policeman ?—A. By a 
colored detective. He only brought me to the station-house. 

(C How many (*olor(*d men were with him Aviien you were arrested ?— 
A. Two colored men arrested me. 

(C They tin ned you cn er to the officer at the station-house, and then 
the two Avhite men who had you in charge would not allow you to com¬ 
municate with your fi iends at one jioint ?—A. At no point, sir. After I 
J left Chai leston a friend of mine got on the train and sat down by me, 
and the man in charge told him to get np. I had an article tor the 
National Rejudican, which 1 gave to my friend so that he could send it 
off for me, and he did so. I just had time to give him that article when 
he was told to get up and go way. 

Q. M"efe you not treated ])ro])erly and with respect while in charge 
of those men ?—A. I was treated jirecisely as if I had murdered a man. 

Q. Treated like a prisoner under arrest ?—A. Part of the time; at 
Brown ville the officer having me in charge said he Avanted something’ to 
eat: J felt like eating, too; 1 went aa ith him into the hotel; we got 
breakfast tliere. At Columbia I Avas taken to the station-house; the 
offi(‘er at the station-house Avanted to knoAv if I should be locked up; the 
officer in charge of me said, ‘^No; you need not lock him up.” The 
station-house officer said he AAOuld not be responsible for me unless he 


410 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Willianisbnrg 


locked me up; after a while lie came to me and got into conversation, 
and said, “Yon may come out to the lire, and have the privilege of the 
office the balance of the evening.’’ They found out who I was, and the 
Lord softened tlieir hearts, and T enjoyed a good fire until it was time for 
me to leave. 

Q. You s^ioke about having a difficulty with Dr. Byrd; was it he who 
gave you a lieating for an article ])ublished in the Washington Kepub- 
lican ?—A. No, sir; that was John Kelly, a lawyer up there, who had 
recently moved there. 

Q. It was an article refleiding on him ?—A. I did not regard it that 
way. 

Q. Did not he regard it that Avay ?—A. IYrha])S if 1 state the (fircum- 
stances you may understand it. 

The Chairman, (to on. 

The Witness. I went one morning, as chairman of the Bepublican 
committee of Williamsburg County, to confer with the chairman of the 
Democratic committee. I said, “Mr. Lampson, you are now acquainted 
with my situation, so far as matters in this county are concerned; T 
don’t desire any turbulence wliateA^er; if yon Avill Amnch for quiet and 
fair dealing on the ]iart of the Democrats, I will Amuch for the same on 
the part of the Ee])ublicans.’’ “ Well,” he said- 

The Chair:vian. AVhat has all that to do AAith Mr. Kelly an<l your 
difficulty with him?—A. Kelly was present. Kelly said, “That is as¬ 
suming considerable responsibility.” I told him I Avas Avilling to take 
the responsibility; I (‘ould control the colored people in that county. 
IVIr. Kelly said, “ We intend to go to these Kepublican meetings and be 
heard. If Swails returns to this countj" he Avill be killed.” That eA^ening 
I wrote a letter to Mr. Swails at Washington, in Avhich I stated the re¬ 
marks made by Air. Kelly. SAvails, in connection with an article in the 
Wasliington Repulfiican, published that statement. Air. Kelly got 
hold of the paper containing it and saAV the statement; it stated that 
Kelly had said that GoA-ernor Hampton sanctioned just what they aa ere 
doing. Kelly said to me “AYe intend to go to the Kepublican meetings 
and to be heard, and if SaamIIs comes back he Avill be killed, and Goa^- 
ernor Hampton sanctions AAiiat Ave are doing.” ^Yhen Kelly read this 
in the Kepublican, he came to me and said, “ A"ou made me conspicuous 
in this paper.” I said, “A"es.” He said, “It places me in an aAA^kAA^ard 
position with the governor; 1 want you to prepare an article that aa ill 
throw some different light on the matter.” I AAent home and wrote two 
articles, one of them to the Kephblican and one of them for Kelly, to 
send to the News and Courier. I said that in regard to that inter- 
vieAv before referred to. Air. Kelly noAv said that he meant something 
else—I don’t remember the exact Avords noAv. I shoAved to Air. Kelly 
the articles I had prepared. He did not like them. He did not want 
me to say that Air. Kelly meant so and so, but he Avanted me to Avrite a 
complete denial, saying that Air. Kelly did not say so and so. I told 
him I could not prepare anytliing more than I had. He came to the 
post-office tAvo or three times that day, where I was serving as assist¬ 
ant postmaster, to get me to come to his office; but 1 would not go. 
Later he came Avith a reply prepared by himself, and said, “ I want you 
to sign that.” I looked at it, and said, “ 1 can’t sign that without sac¬ 
rificing what little honor I have; I will not do it.” He then stepped 
behind me; I thought lie Avas going to look into the office; the first I 
kneAv he gave me a heavy blow on the head, then tAvo on my right arm, 
then another on my head, until all my clothing aa as blooded". 

Q. You haA^e told us all that once. I AAish to ask yon noAv, did not 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. S. HANNA. 


411 


Kellj" insist that you hatl luisrepresented him in that article pnhlished 
ill the Republican; and did he not insist on your making a retraction f— 
A. Yes, sir; he charged me with that, but it was not true that I had done 
so. He virtually acknoAvledged my statement to be correct. 

Q. How ‘‘virtually acknowledged V'~A. In a letter in Air. Dawson’s 
l)aper, the Yews and Courier. 

Q. But in that article which he brought for you to sign, did he not 
insist that you had misrepresented him ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. In whose presence was that lirst conversation held, in which it 
was claimed he made the remarks you attributed to him !—A. In pres¬ 
ence of Air. ,1. R. Lam])son. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. AVhen did Swails resign liis seat in tbe senate ?— A. I don’t know 
(‘xactly. 

Q. About what time ?—A. Shortly after the organization of the Hamp¬ 
ton government. 

Q. Then perhaps it was a year ago last summer ?—A. I think about a 
year ago last fall. 

Q. AVhere did Swails reside from, the time he resigned his seat in the 
senate until the time he was expelled from his home—A. in Kiiigstree. 

Q. Did those gentlemen who came there and ex])elled him reside in 
Kiiigstree during that time also ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that it was a year, or more than a year, after he resigned his 
senatorship, that they came and expelled him ?—A. I am not exactly 
sui*e about the length of time; it may not have been so long; it was 
some time after his resignation. 

By Air. AIcDonald : 

Q. The ex])elling that they did was as you have stated; they read the 
resolutions and told him Avhat had been passed at that meeting ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 


S. S. HAYYA. 

(biAKLESTON, S. (’. January 21, 1870. 

S. S. Hanna sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AVhere do you reside ?—Answer. In AAblliamsburg County, 
in the town of Kiiigstree. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. All my life. 

Q. How old are you ?—A. I am 23 years old. 

Q. AATth which xiolitical party do you act ?—A. AA^ith the Rei)ublican 
party. 

Q. AAdiere were you on the day of the last eleidion ?—A. At Kiiigstree 
precinct, AA^illiamsburg. 

Q. In what capacity did you actf—A. As United States supervisor. 

Q. Go on and tell what occurred in your jirecinct that day in connec¬ 
tion with the election.—A. I Avas appointed as siipeiwisor by Chief Siiper- 
Aisor Poinier. On the day of election I left my house about four o’clock. 
I live about a mile out of town. I arrived at the place where the Amtiiig 
was to be done about five o’(dock in the morning. I Avas told that the 
poll had been o]iened about an hour before I got there. I proceeded 
to the ]iolling jilace, showed my commission as supeiwisor, and asked 



412 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williaiosbur* 


admission ; the managers said they would uot admit me nor any one else. 
I said, ^‘My instructions were to go inside/’hut that mad^ no difference 
to them; they would not admit me. 

Q. Who Avere tlie managers?—A. G. AV. Arms, M. II. Lofton, and 
Eohert Hurst. I showed them my commission and asked admission; 
they told me 1 could not go in; they said the Democratic sn])ervisor 
Avas not there, and that he Avould not be there that day, and that if he 
came they AA^ould not admit him. I said I could not keej) a ])oll-list 
properly outside; the voting aaus d<me in the court-house u]) stairs; 
there AAere stei)s running u]) to the room—narroAA' steps between the 
railing and the door; the table Avas situated in the door, and they Averc 
inside. 1 had to station myself outside; 1 endeaAored to kee]) a ])oll- 
list, l)ut 1 could not keep one, nor (‘ouhl I supeiwise the election, 
stationed where I Avas. Everything Avent on all right, so far as I could see 
during the day, until fiA^e o’clock in the cA^ening, Avhen forty Democrats 
from Graham’s Cross-Iioads came. This AA^as about a half an hour before 
the polls AAere closed. 1 Avas standing as near as I could get to the box; 
A oters AAere rushing in between myself and the door; I could not super- 
A'ise the election at all, because I aa as rigid in the aa ay of eA^erybody and 
eA'erybody was right in my aa^j , so that I could not s(*e anything con¬ 
siderable of the time, though I had stationed myself as close as 1 could 
be to the l)ox. That morning, before I got there, seA eral A'oters had 
A'oted; I endeaAored to get their names, but the managers Avould not let 
me haA^e them. As I Avas going to say, about half an hour before the 
polls Avere about to close that evening, about forty I )emocrats (;ame up 
to the polls and asked me Avhat business I had there; I said T AAas 
LTnited States sui)eiwisor, and my business is to su])ervise the election; 
they told me I had no business there; seA^eral pistols AA ere draAvn on me 
ami I AA^as driA en aAvay; Dr. IJyrd, aa Iio Avas captain of the ('om])any, 
told me to leave the place; I came aAvay, and after I ('ame aAA^ay and 
they had a oted they came doAA ii, and there came a ery near being a 
collision there near the polls. I Avas not alloAA ed to go back there any 
more. When the A^oting had got through, the managers sent Avord for 
me to come back up and help them canvass the Azotes; 1 asked if those 
men had taken the pro])er oath ; I asked that because, before 1 left, 
they had commenced Acting Avithout any oath being administered; 
they had voted regardless of the oath or anything else. I aa ent back 
up and helped canvass the Aotes. 1 asked the Democratic managers— 
they were all Democrats—AA'hat AA^as the number of Amtes on the poll- 
list. I could not keep a list. I had asked the jnen as they came up to 
vote, or after they had Aa)ted, Avhat their names Avere, so that I could 
put them doAAUi on the list, and come as near making a full list as I 
could; the colored men generally gaAe me their names; I think all of 
them did; the white men generally AAumld not give me tlieij’ names at all; 
they told me 1 had no business there, and had no right to kee]) any 
poll-list, therefore I liad to do the best 1 could under this disadvantage. 
1 saw before 1 Avas driven aAvay that they had commenced stuffing the box. 

Q. What did you see ?—A. 1 saAv men rushing right up and A'oting 
without taking any oath, nor Avas it required. I staid on the steps 
as long as I could to see AA hat Avas going on. They said they intended 
to carry that precinct no matter hoAv folks A oted. 

Q. You said you asked the managers Iioav many names there were on 
the poll-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they inform you?—A. No, sir; they said I ought to ha\'e been 
there. 1 left home in ample time to get there before the ])olls should 
have 0 ]>ened. 


(^oxmty.] TESTIMONY OF S S. HANNA. 413 

Q. At what time did you arrive there ?—A. About five o’clock in the 
morning. 

Q. And found the polls opened ?—A. Yes, sir j and voters told me 
the polls had been opened an hour before I got there. 

Q. What does the laAV require as to the opening of the polls ?—A. The 
hiAv says the polls shall be opened at six o’clock. 

Q. Were you present when the Azotes were counted out of the box ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you remember the number of A Otes taken out of the box I— 
A. The\' would, not let me see that; they told me there were about a 
thousand names on the ])on-list. After tiie votes were can\mssed there 
Avere a great deal more than that. 

Q. What did they do Avith the excess ?—A. Where tliey found one or 
two Azotes, or three or four, togethei*, they sometimes thrcAv out one or 
two, and sometimes the.v didn’t; sometimes a Kepublican A^ote was 
thrown out, sometimes a Democratic. Tliere were not a ery many of 
them throAvu out. 

Q. You stated that they told you there Avere about a thousand names 
on the poll-list ?—A. Yes, sir; that was Avhat they said. 

Q. Did they tell you how many ballots they found in the box ?— 
A. They didn’t tell me ; but there were more than that in the box. 

Q. How many Azotes have usually been cast at that precinct ?— 
A. Well, sir, as near as I can remember, the Kepuldicans have alwa^^s 
had a majority of about thiee or four hundred at that precinct. 

Q. What Avas the result this year ?—A. The Democrats claimed about 
twenty-six majority; to tell the exact number T could not. 

Q. Are you pretty Avell aexpiainted Avith tlie colored a oters in that 
precinct ?—A. I am. 

Q. From your knoAvledge of the colored a oters are you satisfied that 
they were as strongly in faA'or of the llepublican party at the last elec¬ 
tion as they ever Aveie ?—A. Tliey exhilnted greater zeal at the last 
election than Ave liaA^e CA cr seen before ; a great many that had A^oted 
the Democratic ticket at the previous election came out squarely and 
A'oted the Itepublicaii ticket this time. 

Q. Hoav do you know that?—xV. They showed their tickets, some of 
them. 

Q. Do you know of any colored men being converted from Republi¬ 
canism to Democracy ?—A. I don’t knoAv of one, sir—^not one; instead 
of that I know of colored people being com^erted from the Democratic 
party to the Republican partj . 

Q. Did you take any ])art in the political canvass prior to the day of 
the last election ?—A. I did, sir. 

Q. Were you x>resent at any political meeting during the canvass ?— 
xV. I was. 

Q. Where?—A. On the nth of October, at White Oak. 

0. Did anything unusual occur, or Avas any Auolence ottered by the 
Democrats ?—A, I was present at that meeting at White Oak on the 5th 
of Oidober; I Avas iiiA ited there by the precinct chairman. 

Q. A Republican meeting, was it?—A. Yes, sir; a Republican club 
meeting. 

Q. Was it called as a Republican club meeting?—A. Yes, sir; it was 
called as a Reiniblican club meeting. I left my home about nine o’clock 
that morning; T liA^e about seven miles from town; I got doAvn to White 
Oak about ten o’clock, or between ten or eleven; when I got there I 
found that the meeting had been broken up; I asked the colored men 
I met around there the reason ; they told me that Democrats had come 


414 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[■Williamsburg 


there and asked for a division of time; that the chairman woidd not 
consent to that; that then the Democrats said they would have it; the 
Eepublican chairman saw that they intended violence, for they had 
guns—eight or ten of the Democrats had guns. 

Q. Did you see any Democrats with guns there ?—A. 1 was not there 
in time to see them at the meeting, for it was broken up before I got 
there. After the meeting was broken up I saw Democrats around tliere 
with guns. The colored men said these Democrats that had guns were 
the men who had interrupted the meeting, and threatened \dolence if 
they were not allowed a division of time. I staid there about half an 
hour; then I and a number of other men who had come there to the 
meeting mounted and set out for home. After we had advanced about 
half a mile from the place of the meeting, we looked back and saw about 
150 red-shirts behind us, whooping and yelling; we rode on till we got 
within three miles of home, when we were overtaken; we tbund that 
the company was under command of Dr. Djrd. Dr. Dyrd rodejip to 
Mr. Swails and told him he had done so mucli harm and mischief in the 
county that he wanted him to ride up to town in his ranks and with his 
men. Swails said he would not. lie saw that they intended to use vio¬ 
lence, and refused to ride to town with them; he said he had come from 
home peacefully, and was returning home peacefully. The company of 
red-shirts still remained behind, and we rode on till we got about two 
miles from home, when a portion of the Democrats lode by us, until 
they got in front of us, and left a portion of the company behind us. 
This put us between two companies of men. Then they vstopped us, 
and Dr. Byrd told Swails to ride up in his ranks. Swails said he would 
not consent to ride up with them unless the rest of his men would con¬ 
sent also to go Avith him; they would not consent for us to ride up with 
him, but simply Avanted SAvails; SAvails said, Gentlemen, am I to con¬ 
sider myself under arrest ?’’ they said, “Yes, you are under arrest; we 
are going to force you to ride up into toAvn with us.’’ SAvails said, “If 1 
am under arrest I Avill have to do it.” The Democrats sIioaa ed no war¬ 
rants nor anything else. They rode on, yelling and Avhooi)ing, till they 
got up toAvu. On reaching toAvn Swails made to go right to his OA\m 
house, but they ordered him to ride around tOAvn; he refused to ride 
around the town with them, and tried to break from them; the men 
got after him, and caught him right in front of the court-house, and col¬ 
lared him; some of them hollered, “ Shoot him, shoot him.” The rest 
of us all made right for the court-house. Some colored men asked 
Swails to get down from his horse and go inside of the court-house to 
keep from being hurt. My father AA^as along aa ith us also; he managed 
to get Swails aAvay from these men and pushed him inside of the court¬ 
house. As lie A\as going towards the court-house they said again, 
“Shoot him, shoot him!” and they did shoot, and hit my father; we 
appealed to the peace officers to protect us, but they paid no attention. 

(^. The peace officers are Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir, except the sheriff: 
we sent for him as (piick as possible ; he came and (piieted the men, and 
made them disperse. 

Q. Did you Avitness any other violence during the (campaign ? —A. ^STo, 
sir; there Avas only one meeting at which they served us that Avay. 

Q. Was the club meeting of Avhich you have spoken a public meeting 
or a private one ?—A. It Avas a private club meeting, sir; aa e had organ¬ 
ized Eepublican clubs in various precincts, holding our inivate meetings 
as the Democrats did. They had their clubs organized. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. IlaA’^e you been arrested since the election!—A. I have been, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. S. HANNA. 


415 


Q. Give US the history of it.—A. The IJiiited States commissiouer 
eaine around and sent for me to make out affidavits about what occurred 
at the election. 

Q. About the A hite Oak riot 1—A. !No, su*; about the election j I did 
so; after the commissioner left, warrants were issued for us, saying* that 
we had committed perjury. 

Q. ^Yho caused warrants to be issued against you A. G. W. Arms. 

0. One of the managers ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A hat was the result ?—A. I was placed in jail for four days j then 
I was released by the United States marshal; 1 was brought down here 
and brought before the court here, and got rid of the charge. Mv father 
also was imprisoned on charge of perjury. 

Q. Is it a fact that all the other witnesses Avho testified as to the oc¬ 
currences at that White Oak precinct Avere arrested upon charge of per- 
jury, or some other charged—A. Yes, sir; that is, warrants were issued 
lor them, and the only Avay that any of them could aA oid being arrested 
was by keeping out of the way. 

Q. Warrants were issued for all of them, were they not I —A. Yes, 
sir; but they did not get hold of all them. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The affiduAuts upon Avhich they charged you AAuth peijury were 
made before the United States commissioner f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The warrants upon which you were arrested a\ ere issued by what 
authority ?—A. By the trial justice. 

Q. Is he a State officer ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. CAiviERON: 

Q. And Avarrants Avere issued against you and other a\ fitnesses upon 
affidavits made by the men aaUoiii you had charged AAfith committing 
these frauds in the election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You first made an affidavit before the commissioners ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And subsequently, parties charged you before the trial Justice with 
perjury, and they made the affidavits, not before the commissioners, but 
before the trial justice!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did you sas ear to any of the affidaAfits you made !—A. I simply 
told the truth as to what occurred. 

Q. W^hat was stated in the affidavits !—A. I stated how I was treated 
at the poll, and what else occurred there. 

Q. And other parties made affidavits that AAUat you swore to Avas 
false!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And therefore charged you with committing peijury!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. So they denied in their affidaAfits Avhat you swore to in your affi¬ 
davits!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That had not anything to do aa ith the White Oak meeting !—A. I 
Avas only a witness in the White Oak case; I made out affidaAfits in the 
White Oak case also; but this charge of iierjury against me was for the 
affidaAfits I made before • the United States commissioner in regard to 
what ha])pened at the election. 

Q. Did you make affidavits before the commissioner about the W^hite 
Oak case!—A. I only testified in that case. 

Q. Before the commissioner !—A. Yes, sir. 


416 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[AVi]liHni8burg 


Q. It was not for that that they took out the waiTants a^^ainst you 
for perjury, hut for the affidavit in regard to wliat took place at the 
election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who made affidavits about the White Oak difficulty'?—A. Well, 
sir, my father Avas called uponj he was the one that was sliotj he made 
out the affiduA it. 

Q. He was shot at the court-house!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In the melee at the time Swails got into the court-house ?—A. He 
Avas shot before Swails got into the court-house. 

Q. But during that difficulty ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you knoAv by whom he aaiis shot'?—A. Yes, sir; 1 was Avithiu 
ten steps; he aa as shot tiAice. The first ball came from the i)istol of Dr. 

S. D. Byrd; the second from the pistol of Mr. DaA'is. 

Q. Was it not for SAA^earing as to Avho had shot your father that Avar- 
rants were taken out against those avIio swore that Dr. Byrd and this 
other man had done the shooting?—A. Yo, sir; a warrant Avas taken 
out for my father for making out that affidavit, but no AA arrants AA^ere 
issued against the Avitnesses, except one or tAvo. 

Q. What one or tAAO ?—A. I belieA^e A. J. McDill was one. 

Q. Was it not for preAiously charging these ])arties Avith <loing the 
shooting that your father Avas charged with ])erjury ?—A. I didift see 
the warrants, but I heard that Avarrants aa ere issued. 

Q. For statements that your father had made Avhich they charged 
were false ?—A. That is my belief, sir. 

Q. Where Avas this precinct that you attended as su])ervisor ?—A. In 
Williamsburg, at the county seat. ! 

Q. You say you got there about fiA^e o’clock in the morning ?—A. I 
left home at four; I had only a mile to travel, and I got there i>recisely 
at fiA"e. 

Q. Did you ask anybody aa hat time it Avas, or did yon take any means | 
of knoAA ing the time !—A. 1 asked Avhat time it AA as, and they said it 
AA^as six o’clock before I got there. i 

Q. They claimed that it AAms after six o’chx'k when you got there ?— 

A. Yes, sir; but I Avas certain it Avas not. , 

Q. That Avas Avhat Avas claimed by the managers ?—A. Yes, sir. ■ 

Q. And you said it aa as not ?—A. I told them it Avas not, sir. 

Q. Were there any watches or time-pieces exhibited to determine the ' 
time ?—A. Yo, sir; none at all. If they had them they did not exhibit ; 
any. 

Q. Where was the election held? What kind of a building ?—A. In 
the court-room, upstairs. 


JOHY H. PEYDEGIIAST. 

Charleston, S. C., Jannarij 21, 1871). ' 

John H. Pendegeast SAvorn- and examined. ' 

By the Chairman : I 

Question. What position did you hold on election day ?—AnsAver. I 
Deputy marshal. " I 

Q. Where ?—A. In Kingstree. I 

Q. Were you present AAdien those votes Avere counted ?—A. Yo, sir; ' 
1 was not there Avhen they Avere counted; I Avas at tlie court-house, but 
not in sight, as they didnT allow me in sight. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN H. PENDEGRAST. 


417 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Where were you on the day of election ?—A. I was at the Kings- 
tree poll. 

Q. Acting deputy marshal ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any difficulty that day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Go on and describe it —A. In the morning I got there before five 
o’clock. I had a little shop on the riglit, about three-quarters of a mile 
from the village. When I got in there it was just a little light. When I 
went to the poll the box was in the door, and one portion of the court- 
liouse was closed and one i)ortion open, and the managers were inside. 
It was not quite five o’clock then, and I went on down town as far as the 
pump, about forty yards. I came back, and when I returned there were 
one or two men who had already voted. I went to the i)oll to vote. I 
had my ticket, and went to put it down in the box, and they had a 
little flat stick to push the tickets down in the box. I had to push my 
ticket in the box when I put it in. I thought it was very strange, but I 
didn’t say anything, and they went along voting all through the day. 
The tax-book laid right at the polls, and every Republican that cameun 
to vote could not vote unless he paid his taxes, or something of that kind, 
and thus they went on. Mr. Kelley was there, and the manager was in¬ 
side, also the supervisor, and whenever a Republican came up to vote, 
if he didn’t have a big mustache and beard, he had to go through that 
book and pay his tax before he could vote. At that time Mr. Kelley was 
standing right up at the box and Mr. Hanna was standing near, and I 
asked him to give me th#^ names to give to Mr. Hanna. 

Q. AYas he the United States supervisor ?—A. Yes, sir. He stood there, 
and as they were pressing back on the right-hand side of the house, I 
could not get in to get the names; but such as I could, I would speak 
them. 

Q. When the names were called out you would give them to Hanna ! — 
A. A^es, sir; that was on the Republican side. They voted until three 
o’clock, and my commission had just come then from Charleston, and 
it was too late then to get into the poll to discharge my dutyj and the 
chairman said I could get there as marshal. Mr. Kelley was saying, all 
the time, “Well, you can go on ; the bosses will be here directly; there 
will be somebody here directly to rule you.” He asked me what was 
my authority, and I said I am United States deputy, and he said, “Who 
gave you a commission?” I said, “Judge Wallace,” and he said, “ He 
had no more right to give you a commission tlian a cat,” and said he 
would see about it before sundown. Well, we had lively voting, and 
before sundown I never saw such a Republican vote at Kingstree as 
long as I have been there. They voted lively at one time. There were 
four hundred voted at one time just as fast as they could go up and 
vote. Late in the afternoon they kept saying what they were going to 
do, what would become of us, and that we would “catch it” before sun¬ 
down. I told them I would discharge my duty to the best of my abil¬ 
ity, and about six o’clock, as near as I can remember, in the evening, as 
the train came up, then we heard great hollering and shouting at the 
depot, and I came down the court-house steps and went down on the 
street, and saw a great crowd coming from tlie depot and there was a 
crowd standing on the bridge. ^ o 

Q. Were they white men!—A. Yes, sir; and I saw Dr. Byrd, borne 
colored men were playing music on the bridge, and when these men 
came up they said, “Now, stop; not another damned word of it here; 
you have been ruling Kingstree long enough, and we rule it now.” 

27 S C 


418 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Williamsburg: 


Some of the men stopped and got scared. Then they marched down 
and came by the court-house and hollered, ‘‘File left,” and they filed left. 
I was in front of them. They marched up the steps, and as they got up 
there Mr. Hanna Avas sitting on a box, and they said, “Get away from 
here, God damn you; what business you got here V And this man who 
spoke to Hanna looked to me and said, “ You one of the United States 
marshals, eh!” “I said, “Yes, sir; I was.” He said, “God damn you, 
your time is out here,” and I was told to get down. Dr. Byrd said, 
“Damn you, get down,” and brought out his pistol, but I still would not 
move. Then another young man knocked me and struck me, and as I 
turned round a cooper struck me and knocked me down the steps. 
They had knocked Hanna down the steps bodily, and by that time they 
had jumped up on the box that Hanna had and commenced taking out 
tickets. They run over the box and took out numbers of tickets, and 
said, “God damn it, now men vote; we put Graham’s Cross-Boads 
through, and now we will put Kingstree through.” I am certain that 
some of the men had two or three tickets and voted them at once. They 
just went right on voting and hollering. 

Q. How many of those men were there !—A. I think there was about 
45 or 50, more or less. 

Q. Did Byrd vote for them ?—A. Each man came in and he gave them 
out tickets, and said they had put Graham’s Cross-Boads through, now 
we will put Kingstree through; and they commenced voting and voting, 
and after they got through a man run down and said to us, “You must 
get down or these men will hurt you.” I went down the steps and 
Hanna was half-way down the steps standing there, and some more 
young men run down the other side while we run down on this side, and 
they formed a line and said, “ Now, God damn you, prepare yourselves.’^ 
We were then on one side and they were on the other. One young man 
by the name of Sam Fulton came to Hanna and knocked Hanna and 
cut his foot, and they blinded him, and the men drew their revolvers 
and said, “ Now form a line and we will shoot you pretty quick.” I 
went to Captain Steel, who is the trial justice, and said to him at the 
time, “ Captain, I wish you would try to stop these men”; and he said, 
“ I cannot do anything with the men.” He went to Mr. Fireson and 
said, “ Let us have peace ”; and Fireson made an oath and went back 
on the other side and commenced rearing and tearing, and they drew 
their pistols, and Dr. Byrd said to the colored men, “We will give you 
five minutes to leave Kingstree.” While they were going on that way 
I saw our men were going back and getting scared. I did not know 
what to do, and I ran to the book and sent a telegram right down 
to Mr. Wallace asking him, “What must I do!” He sent word 
back to me asking A\ hat I Avanted, and to report to-morrow. They 
Avent on shooting and charging and rearing around here, and they 
came oaw on our side of the street and said, “What! didn’t I tole you 
all you must leave in five minutes!” We said Ave had a right to stay 
there, and several men came there and said to us at the time, “ Why, Av'e 
have Amted at Graham’s Cross-Boads, and now we are going to put 
Kingstree through; and now, damn it, I want you all to help your¬ 
selves.” AYell, Ave could not do anything. They AA eiit on that" way 
some considerable time that night, but didn’t hurt anybody particularly. 
When they marched from us they went down to the depot yelling and 
hollering, and they dug a hole at the depot—making a colored man dig 
it—and pretended to bury Mr. Swails; and Dr. Byrd, who was the 
preacher, attended the funeral over it, and tlien thev shot over it a vol¬ 
ley or so, and went off when the train came. Then I sent a private 
letter to Mr. Swails, and sent a letter to Washington stating some 


County. ] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN H PENDEGRAST. 


41 ^ 


things. I swore before tlie commissioners; tlien they took out an 
indictment against me that I swore to a lie. Before they indicted me 
Mr. Nelson came to me (lie is a Democrat) and spoke to me on the 
street, and said, Now, captain, you had better, damn it, take that 
back; if you don’t take it back, damn it, if you don’t catch it before we 
get through. We are not after you, but we "are after Swails.” He said. 

You people don’t know much, and I know you would all vote with us 
if it was not for such people as Swails.” And he said, “You had better 
take it all back, or you will be indicted.” I said I didn’t send a letter 
with the intention of having it published, but it was a private letter; 
and I said, “What I said in it was the truth, and I ain’t going to take it 
back.” I told him I had not sent the letter to be luiblished, and I didn’t 
think it would be doing right to take it back. 

Q. You wrote a private letter to Mr. Swails in Washington ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Of the occurrences that took place at Kingstree on election-day ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Mr. Swails published that letter in the Washington Kepublican !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you tell Mr. Swails about his funeral?—A. No, sir; I just 
told him what a good election we had, &c., and I told him if justice was 
done we had a better election than they had in Williamsburg County, 
but that we were robbed of it. They said, “ You can’t stay here and 
testify here against us, and if you do you will account for it.” They 
said, “ Since you—now jmu are into it—testified what was done, now 
you will have to account for it. We didn’t intend to do anything with 
you at first, but you have got yourself into it now.” 

By Mr. CA^IERON: 

Q. Well, they indicted you for libel!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were arrested!—A. Yes, sir; before I went to Columbia I 
was arrested, and after I came back from Columbia there were several 
friends sent to me. The only way I can do now is not to go to the April 
term of the court, else I will be put off like Swails, and it will be worse 
than Swails. A man sent word to me Saturday before last that I had 
better leave or I will be put off just like Swails. 

Q. Who sent that message!—A. A man by the name of James Flute. 

Q. Is he a Democrat!—A. Yes, sir. He said I would not have any 
place to go like Swails, but I would go under the ground or go to hell. 
He sent that word by two different persons. Those same Democrats 
have been at my house since, but my family could not tell who they were. 
They came and told my wife and children that all they wanted was me. 
They told some men if they would tell them where I was they would 
I)ay them. I didn’t stay home; I staid with my neighbors. I haven’t 
been staying in my house since the election, but with my neighbors. 

Q. Wiiy did you not stay there !—A. Because I have been threatened 
so much I dare not go in kingstree and do my buying now. 

Q. What is your business !—A. Well, a merchant last year; but since 
the election I liaven’t done anything. The people just help me along; 
I can’t stay with my family at all; I had to leave them. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Is not the reason why you do not go back there because you are 
indicted by the grand jury there for libel!—A. That is the reason I am 
threatened, and I am afraid to go back. 

Q. You are afraid you will be arrested and put in jail!—A. Yes, sir; 
and they make threats. 


420 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Is not the danger of going to jail the principal fear with you ?—A. 
Yes, sir; that is one of the reasons, too. 

Q. Yon are a captain of a company up there !—A. No, sii'. 

Q. Were you not a captain during the camiiaign!—A. No, sirj I 
never was a captain. 

Q. You were an officer of a company!—A. No, sir j I never had a 
company in my charge; I was not elected. 

Q. You were a candidate, were you'?—A. That was about three or 
four years ago. 

Q. Were you not the lieutenant of the comi)any ?—A. Yes, sir; three 
or four years ago, or more. 

Q. Are you a lieutenant yet ?—A. No, sir; the company is broken up. 

Q. When was it broken \ip ?—A. Well, it never was organized. The 
company never did get together; they never drilled one day. 

Q. Then you got the commission of lieutenant without the company 
being formed—an officer of a company that never was organized—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You were getting it up, and only got as far as appointing the com¬ 
mittee to get it u})?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did not the colored liepiiblicans come to Kingstree with arms on 
the day of election ?—A. Not one that I saw. 

Q. Do you not know that they had a large quantity of arms in Phil. 
Fulton’s house?—A. No, sir; not that I know of; and I don’t believe 
that they did. If they did, it was a private thing. 

Q. Did you not hear a great many of the colored people say, on the 
day of election, that they had arms at Fulton’s house !—A. No, sir. I 
believe if they had arms there when Byrd came in and commenced fighting 
us at the court-house, that it would have been very good for him and 
the rest of them. 

Q. Did not the colored i>eople have arms that night, and were they 
not firing around the town that night!—A. No, sir; there was a good 
deal of firing there, but it was all done by that Byrd crowd. 

Q. After Byrd and his men went away, was there not firing kept up 
all night by the colored people ?—A. No, sir. When they went away, 
I went to my shop outside of the village. 

Q. You were near enough to hear the firing?—A. Yes, sir; I heard 
that firing from those men. 

Q. Did you not stay ?—A. I didn’t stay any longer than they went to 
the depot and commenced their funeral. 

Q. You do not know who fired after you went home !—A. No, sir; 
I don’t know; but there was not much then. 

Q. At the election poll you say you gave Hanna the names of the 
Eepublicans, as far as you could get them!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you did not give the names of any Democrats !—A. No, sir; 
some, but not all. 

Q. Then he did not get down on the list all that voted that day !—A. 
No, sir; I don’t think he did. I didn’t know them all. I didn’t even 
give him the names of all the Eepublicans, as I didn’t know them all. 

Q. Were there any colored men there who voted the Democratic ticket 
that day!—A. I did know some one or two. 

Q. Were tliere not a good many colored votes received there that 
morning !—A. No, sir; not to my knowing. 

Q. AYas not the very first colored vote that was received there that 
morning a Democratic vote, given by a colored man who had been a 
colored Eepublican before !—A. No, sir; I think not. 

Q. Do you know Mr. McKnight!—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN H. PENDEGRAST. 


421 


Q. Was not liis vote the first colored vote?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he not vote the Democratic ticket?—A. I don^t know j I un¬ 
derstood he did, hut I don’t know it. 

Q. He had been a liepublican before that time?—A. Well, yes, sir; 
he had called himself a liepublican. 

Q. You understood he voted the Democratic ticket?—A. I under¬ 
stood so. 

Q. Did you see him?—A. ^^" 0 , sir; he got through before I got there. 

Q. You went away ?—A. Yes, sir; for a few moments. 

Q. He may have voted before you got back ?—A. Yes, sir; he must 
liave. 

Q. When you got bacik they were voting ?—A. Yes, sir; they were 
voting. Some few had voted before I went away. 

Q. Did not Mr. Fulton vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. No, sir; I 
remeniber now he didn’t. I gave him a ticket, and he voted the ticket 
I gave him. 

Q. Did you see him put that ticket in ?—A. I saw him vote; he didn’t 
vote the Democratic ticket; it was a straight-out Republican ticket. 

Q. You say there was a book brought there from the auditor’s oflice? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was not that a book that contained the poll-list of persons whO’ 
were liable to pay poll-tax ?—A. They said it was a return-book. 

Q. Well, it had the names of those who were liable to pay poll-tax?— 
A. Yes, sir; as far as I saw. 

Q. And it was supposed to have in it the qualified voters of the county 
under sixty years of age ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, was not that book referred to when persons were chal¬ 
lenged ?—A. Yes, sir; that wa i what they did. 

Q. It was referred to where persons were challenged because it was 
claimed they were under age ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And if the name was not found on that book, then they would 
have to produce other evidence?—A. Yes, sir. There were a great 
many that had paid the poll-tax, and they could not find it on that 
book. 

Q. How do you know ?—A. They went down and found it in the 
treasurer’s ofiice. 

Q. Found it entered on the book ?—A. Yes, sir; several of them did. 
I can’t give their names. 

Q. Then they were allowed to vote when that fact was shown to the 
managers, were they not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, was it not the object in liaAung that book there to see who 
was of age and who was not?—A. If you didn’t pay your tax you could 
not vote. 

Q. Do you not know that every male person from twenty-one to sixty 
years of age is required to pay a poU-tax?—A. Yes, sir; but they never 
said that. They would say, If you don’t pay your tax you can’t vote.” 

Q. Did they not say this: “If your name is not found on this book, 
you must produce proof that you are over twenty-one years of age”?— 
A. They said, “You must pay your tax.” 

Q. They never made any exception to the age?—A. Thetax was what 
they were after. 

Q. Now, you tell me of some men who were over twenty one years of 
age who were refused to be allowed to vote because they did not pay 
the poll-tax ?—A. One was Harry Braley. 

Q. Name some other.—A. There was Sam McCleery. 

Q. How do you know that he was over twenty-one years of age ?—A. 


422 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


His father was right there, and his name was not on the book, and he 
went to the treasurer’s office. 

Q. Did not Mr. McCleery say he was not twenty-one years of age ?— 
A. I don’t think he said a word that day. 

Q. Did not Mr. Fulton say so there that day, and say that he had 
known him from his youth up?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Well, the question was raised before the managers whether he was 
twenty-one years of age or not?—A. No, sir; no question was raised. 

Q. Why did you say that the young man who was there said he was 
twenty-one years of age ?—A. His father said so. He had paid his tax, 
and they examined the books, and they could not find where he paid his 
tax f and they went to the treasurer’s, and found a paper that proved 
that he had paid his tax. 

Q. Did they not let him vote then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did the election managers inquire of the white men when they came 
up if they had paid their taxes ?—A. Didn’t ask one. I asked one, and 
there was nobody else that asked them. When I asked the man, it was 
because I knew him from a boy. 

Q. What did he say when you asked him ?—A. He asked nie what 
the hell it was my business. Another said, ^‘How dare 3011 ask a 
white man if he is old enough to vote?” 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. I thought you said the question was not about the age ?—A. I told 
you in my first testimony that unless they had a great moustache, they 
were not considered old enough to vote, and they would make them 
pay their taxes. 


H. W. G. WILSON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

H. W. G. Wilson sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Where do 3 "ou reside ?—Answer. At Indiantown, Williams¬ 
burg County. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Two and a half years. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What part ?—A. I was chairman of the club at Kingstree. 

Q. A Republican club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you have any trouble during the campaign there ?—A. No, 
sir; I had no trouble. 

Q. Was there any that came under your observation ?—A. Not 
directl^^ 

Q. Were you an officer or supervisor of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what precinct ?—A. At Indiantown precinct. 

Q. Now go on and state what occurred there.—A. At Indiantown I 
asked for admission in the room where the box was and I was refused 
admission, and I erected a box on the outside of the window as near 
the poll as possible; a dry-goods box had been placed out there, so I 
might see by standing on the box where the poll-box was and the 
voting. But I could not stand on the box very long on account of the 
crowd—the people of course came there very much—so I merely used the 
box to write upon ; but I could not then see the ballot-box. The voting 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. W. G. WILSON 


423 


went on all day witliont any interruption, except some difficulty some¬ 
times in getting to the window to vote. I noticed some rather back¬ 
ward about coming. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Colored men?—A. Yes, sir; well, there were some told me that 
there were several standing around that were afraid to come on account 
■of the guns that were there. There were a great many guns. 

Q. State where these guns were.—A. In the hands of white men. 

Q. How many?—A. I do not know, but it varied from fifteen to 
twenty during the day, sometimes more and sometimes less; but I was 
situated so that I could not see all around. The window where the 
voting was going on was out of the way. Several persons came to me 
and urged upon me to go into the room where they were voting. Con¬ 
sequently, after the voting was over, I told the managers that the peo¬ 
ple required me to go in, that they were urging me to go in and I could 
not stay outside; that I would insist on going in as I had done in the 
morning, and now that there was a crowd of people there I told them 
I had to be admitted, and that there was no way to keep me out. So 
after a consultation these managers said they would let me and another 
man go in. 

Q. Now, what time of day was this?—A. This was after the close of 
the polls—after six o’clock in the evening. They commenced the can¬ 
vass or the count of the ballots after a fashion; the managers took the 
ballots out of the box and counted them, and I also kept tally of the 
number of votes for each officer—the Congressmen and the county and 
State officers. The votes were not counted exactly in accordance with 
the law, according to my understanding of the law. 

Q. State how they did it.—A. The ballots were taken out of the box 
and examined by one of the managers, and when he would find some¬ 
times two ballots together, he would ask the other managers what to 
do, and sometimes they would tell him to leave one aside and count the 
other, and sometimes without examining them would say, ^^That is not 
the way I understand the law to direct.” The manager, if he took out 
one ballot, would count it, whatever it was, and then if there were two 
together, he would consult with the other managers, and lay aside one 
and count the other. 

Q. Just state what they did.—A. There was nothing else further than 
oounting in that way. After we had taken a tally I noticed the list was 
not anything like my list, or my list was not like theirs, according to 
their statement, although I never saw their poll-list at all. 

Q. What was the result of the canvass?—A. The result at that poll 
was—according to the memorandum I have here they counted 449 votes. 
There was five over the poll-list—444 is what they said they had on their 
poll-list. I had on my poll-list 347. 

Q. How did the vote stand between the parties. Republican and 
Democratic?—A. I have forgotten, further than the Republican party 
had a majority of 70 votes. 

Q. You were not inside where you could see the ballot-box during 
the day?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You demanded it in the morning?—A. Yes, sir, when I first went 
there; but seeing the numbers of the opposite party, of course, could 
not do anything more than they said, and they told me to stay outside. 
From the statement that I wrote out the next morning, 1 am now 
enabled to remember it. There is one thing about the county conven¬ 
tion that I would like to speak about. At the county convention there 


424 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


were a ^reat many that were nominated, hut we could not do as we 
wanted to there. There were a great many memhers of the convention, 
delegates, all from different parts of the county, but they were afraid 
to do anything on account of the red-shirt men up there. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. They stated they had on the poll-list 444 names, and of the votes 
counted out they had 449 j how was the difference between their state¬ 
ment of the list and the number of votes corrected ?—A. They drew 
out. 

Q. They drew out the number above 444 f—A. Yes, sir j and one or 
two more were found folded together. 

Q. One was counted and the other was thrown away ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you were standing on the box looking in, who kept your tally 
book for you ?—A. I kept my paper all the time. 

Q. When you were standing up as well as sitting down?—A. I didnT 
sit down until toward evening when there was nobody voting. 

Q. I thought you had to get off ?—A. The box stood on the ground 
and I used the box to write upon. 

Q. Who kept the list for you while the polling was going on ?—A. I 
kept it myself. 

Q. Were you there when the voting began?—^A. No, sir. 

Q. They had been voting before you got there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you lived at Williamsburg?—A. About two and a 
half years. 

Q. From what place did you come from ?—A. Mississippi. 

Q. Are you a native of Mississippi!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say at the county convention you could not do as you wanted 
to, because a number of red shirt-men were in your convention ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they say they could not do anything ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They didn’t create any disturbance ?—A. They were making a noise 
and some of the members told me they were afraid of them. 

Q. But there was no interruption of the business of that convention?— 
A. No, sir 5 no more than just noise passing in and out and the noise of 
hollering; there was not very much disturbance any more than some 
members said that they were afraid to do as they would like. 

Q. Where was the convention held ?—A. In the court-house. 

Q. The doors of that court room were closed, were they not, when the 
meeting was commenced?—A. No, sir; they were open. 

Q. How long did your convention remain in session ?—A. From about 
three o’clock until the night the first day, and then the next day until 
about three or four o’clock. 

Q. You had a two day’s convention there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the business of the convention ?—A. The purpose was 
to nominate officers for the county, and senator and representatives. 

Q. Did you attend to that business ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Nominating the men you wanted to ?—A. Not exactly. 

Q. You were a candidate yourself, wern’t you?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say you nominated a ticket that the majority of the convention 
was in favor of?—A. I could not say. 

Q. Well, don’t you know that they got a majority—there was a divi¬ 
sion, was there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It finally ended in their nominating a ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were all satisfied but you, was that the trouble ?—A. I didn’t 
say that they were all satisfied. 

Q. Were tliey all satisfied now ?—A. No, sir. 


County.] TESTIMONY OP H. W. G. WILSON. 425 

Q. They nominated some men you didn’t want nominated ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. Did they nominate some you did want nominated f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that you got a part of your choice and part you did not?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, that is doing about as well as people generally do at conven¬ 
tions?—A. I believe so. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who were the managers at that poll?—A. I do not know. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did not the clerk tender you the courtdiouse to hold your conven¬ 
tion in?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He is a Democrat, is he not?—A. Yes, sir, he is. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were those managers Democrats?—A. Yes, sirj William Cooper 
was one. 

Q. Was their clerk a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir; there was four persons 
present. I cannot give the names of all of them—I cannot say which 
was clerk and which three was managers. 

Q. The managers refused to recognize you as supervisor?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You asked for admission, did you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What reason did they assign for excluding you?—A. They said 
they could not let everybody in, and if I tried to get in, the United 
States deputy marshal would also want to get in, and they could not let 
any more in. 

Q. How large was the room in which the box was placed?—A. I think 
it was about the size of this room—nearly as large as this room. 

Q. Did the managers exclude the United States deputy marshal from 
the room ?—A. I do not know that he tried to get in. 

Q. He was not in ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Who was your Republican candidate for Congress from that dis¬ 
trict?—A. Joseph H. Rainey, and the Democratic candidate was Mr. 
Richardson. 

Q. Were the Republicans united in their support for Rainey?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. And the Democrats were united in their support of Mr. Richard¬ 
son ?—A. I do not know. 

Q. You didn’t hear of any Democrats voting for Rainey?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were there any persons about the table except the officers of elec¬ 
tion during election-day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who?—A. Well, there were several came in, but I could not say 
who they were. I was in a position so I could not see the door or the^ 
tables. 

Q. Then how did you know they were in ?—A. I could hear them talk- 
mg and see them after they were in. 

Q. Who was the Democratic United States supervisor?—A. There 
was no one attending there that day. Mr. Cooper received the appoint¬ 
ment, I believe, and he didn’t serve. 

Q. The only failure to recognize you as supervisor was simply that 




426 


SODTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


they would not allow you upon the table where they were receiving the 
votes % —A. I was not allowed a position to see the voting going on. 

Q. Well, they allowed you to take up any position in front of the polls 
that you pleased?—A. Well, no, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. They gave you permission outside of the building ?—A. Yes, sir; 
they did, but I could not see the box from morning until evening. 


S. W. MAUEICE. 

Charleston, January 27, 1879. 

S. W. Maurice sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Williamsburg. 

Q. Do you hold any pohtical position in Williamsburg ?—A. I am at 
present State senator. 

Q. Were you elected at the last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you lived in WilUamsburg?—A. I was born and 
raised in that countj^ 

Q. You are well acquainted there, then ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To what political party do you belong !—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. Were you actively concerned in the last campaign?—A. Yes, sir; 
I was. 

Q. State whether that political campaign was peaceable or otherwise; 
if there was any disturbance of any kind, state what it was and how it 
originated.—A. There was no disturbance of any kind that I remember. 
I entered the campaign early in the summer and canvassed the entire 
county, making speeches to the people. 1 do not remember a disturb^ 
ance of any kind. 

Q. Do you know the number of polling places in that county !—A. I 
think there are fourteen precincts. 

Q. Do you know the number of v^oters ?—A. I do not recollect accu¬ 
rately. I think there were somewhere about 5,000 at the election of 
1878. 

Q. At the election of 1876 how many were there ?—A. I do not remem¬ 
ber that, sir. 

Q. Can you state about the proportion of colored and white voters in 
the county ?—^A. Judging from the preceding election I would suppose 
that there were not to exceed 600 majority of colored persons. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of the formation of Democratic clubs 
throughout the county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of what are those clubs composed ?—A. Mainly of voters. 

Q. Of what color?—A. Mostly of whites, but some of the other color. 
I would state that prior to the last campaign I had been chairman of 
the county for eight or ten years. I ceased to occupy that position in 
May, 1878. I had myself, as county chairman, organized pretty nearly 
all the Democratic clubs up to May, 1876. There were a great many, 
however, of both colors who were Democrats, although not members of 
any clubs. There were a great many of both colors who objected to 
joining any clubs, but who would vote with the Democratic party at 
elections. 

Q. From your best judgment and information from visiting through 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE 


427 


various parts of tlie county, and from your intercourse with tlie voters of 
1 county, what would you say as to the number of colored men who 
; belonged to, or attached themselves to, or voted with the Democratic 
j party!—A. I would not say that there were more than 150 or 200 who 
actually joined the Democratic clubs; but there were a great many more 
who were willing to go with the Democratic party, although unwilling to 
I take such a conspicuous position as they would to join the Democratic 
clubs, thereby publishing to their friends and former political associates 
their position. To join a Democratic club was, of course, to publish 
themselves as Democrats, and had the effect to cause them to lose the 
good opinion of their former associates. The result was that some of 
them were turned out of church there, their wives quit them, their sweet¬ 
hearts denied them, &c. Therefore there were many of them who 
quietly voted the Democratic ticket, but did not unite themselves pub¬ 
licly with the Democratic clubs. 

Q. Do you know of any colored men who were turned out of church 
or denied their rights in church on account of voting the Democratic 
ticket?-—A. Yes, sir; I know at least one man who is now ])resent here. 

Q. Living in your county?—A. Yes, sir; 1 do not know the facts 
myself, but as he is here you can easily arrive at them. 

Q. How was the Eepublican party as to its unity or its dhdsion at the 
last election ?—A. About the time of their county convention there was 
considerable division. It was expected that there would be a bolt. 
There was not actually any bolt; they did not get up a new ticket, 
but there was great dissatisfaction, owing to the character of the men 
who had been nominated. 

Q. Are there many white Eepublicans in your county ?—A. At the 
last election there were very few. 

Q. Can you tell about how many there were ?—A. I do not suppose 
that at any time during the Eepublican administration in the State there 
have been exceeding twenty-five white Eepublicans in the county. At 
the last election, owing to the dissatisfaction that was felt, there were 
not a half dozen white persons who voted the Eepublican ticket. 

Q. What action did they take at the last election; for which party did 
they vote ?—A. They supported the Democratic ticket, sir. 

Q. For what length of time has the Eepublican party been in the ma¬ 
jority in your county ?—A. Since 1868. That was when the new consti¬ 
tution was adopted; from that time to the last election the Eepublicans 
have been in the majority. In 1876 Grovernor Hampton had a majority 
in that county, but the Eepublican county ticket was elected. 

Q. Was there much dissatisfaction in regard to the way in which your 
coiudy affairs had been conducted up to that time?—A. Yes, sir; there 
was very great dissatisfaction. 

Q. Of what kind ?—A. On account of the corruption and extravagance 
of the party in power, of the use that had bet n m ide of public moneys, 

! and the high taxation that had resulted. 

Q. Was theie any complaint in regard to the manner in whijh the 
public-school moneys had been disposed of ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had any prosecutions been instituted against county officers ?—A. 
Yes, sir; numerous ])rosecutions had been brought against the commis¬ 
sioners for various grades of official misconduct. 

Q. Who had been the Eepublican leader in that county for some years 
past ?—A. Tlie most prominent Eepublican leader in our county was S. 
A. Swails. 

Q. What was his character in that community ?—A. It was bad, sir; 




428 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Wiiliamsburg 


very bad; I always regarded it so. It was generally so regarded among 
tlie white people. 

Q. What has been the administration of county affairs in regard to 
expenses, the conduct of schools, the expenditure of the public moneys, 
&c., since the change from Republican to Democratic administration I— 
A. There has been considerable improvement, though not so much as it 
would have been but for the fact that there has been a very large debt 
hanging over the county, made by the Republican county commission¬ 
ers previous to the incoming of the Democratic administration. 

Q. What kind of a debt ?—A. Principally a school debt; a consider¬ 
able debt against the county school fund. 

Q. In your canvasses previous to this last canvass what was the usage 
as to joint discussion and division of time f—A. There never has been 
any refusal on the part of the Republicans, that I can now remember, 
to a division of time and a joint discussion, until the last campaign. In 
1870, when Scott, on the Republican side, aild Carpenter, on the Demo¬ 
cratic side, ran for governor, I was the candidate of the Democratic 
party for senator; and I and Swails canvassed the entire county, and it 
was agreed between us that we should so conduct the campaign—hav¬ 
ing joint discussions and division of time. Sometimes he would make 
the first speech and I would reply; at other times I would make the first 
speech and he would reply. We usually talked about two hours apiece. 
In that way we went all through the county during the campaign of 
1870. The campaign of 1872 was one in which the white people of Wil¬ 
liamsburg County took very little interest. It was a contest between 
Moses and Tomlinson for governor; both belonged to the Republican 
party. In 1874, Green and Chamberlain were the opponents, and in 
that we took considerable interest, and I canvassed the county with 
Swails again. In 1876, there was some little opposition manifested to di¬ 
viding the time. That was the first that I saw of any opposition to that 
method of conducting a campaign. In 1878, that opposition had become 
stronger, though, really, in 1878 the Republicans made hardly any can¬ 
vass at all. I did not attend a Republican meeting in Williamsburg in 
1878. There were only two held there that I remember now. At the 
time of one of these meetings I had official business in Columbia and I 
was away; at the time the other meeting was held we had a Democratic 
meeting appointed at which I was one of the speakers. I went to the 
Democratic meeting while the other si:)eakers went to the Republican 
meeting. Those are the only two meetings that I remember in Williams¬ 
burg, except some little precinct meetings of inconsiderable proportions. 

Q. What were the charges made against Swails —A. Princii)ally of 
bribery in the legislature while he was senator. 

Q. Was there any proof made of that in the canvassf—A. Yes, sir; 
the original checks were produced for the money which he had receiv^ed. 
I saw the checks myself, althougii I did not see them when originally 
produced. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you see the checks!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything as to why they were given, except what 
you heard !—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did not Swails resign his seat in the senate on account of that? 

The Chairman objected, on the ground that it was not the place of 
this committee to enter into any assaidt or defense of Mr. Swails’ con- 




TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 429 

duct and cliaracter. If Mr. Swails' character was allowed to be assailed 
in committee he would have a right to demand that it be defended. 

Mr. McDonald. If the chairman will remember, a large amount of 
the testimony from this county related to the hostility to Swails, and 
proof was submitted to show that he was driven away from the county; 
now we intend to show that he was not driven away on account of poli¬ 
tics, but that there was some other cause for it. 

The Chairman. It seems to me that if you open up this matter there 
will be no end to it. If you prove that the check was publicly shown 
it 'would involve our bringing proof that the check was given for some 
1 purpose which did not in volve the charge of bribery. 

^Ir. Cameron. Another cause of his unpopularity, I notice, has been 
given by the News and Courier, which says that his unpopularity was 
caused by his having been on the Potter raid through that county. 

Mr. McDonald. I think that what we are endeavoring to introduce 
is proper rebutting testimony, since the evidence in regard to this mat¬ 
ter given before the committee heretofore has been of a kind to repre¬ 
sent Mr. Swails as the victim of political persecution. The principal 
. part of Mr. Pinckney’s testimony went to show that Mr. Swails is a 
i greatly persecuted man. I wish to show that it was not on account of 
his politics that Mr. Swails was persecuted. 

The Chairman. I do not think it right for you to try to prove brib¬ 
ery, and to try Mr. Swails on that crime, without his having any chance 
to defend himself. 

Mr. McDonald. I propose to prove by this witness that the prime 
cause of Swails’ leaving that county was the charge of corruption and 
! bribery. 

The Chairman. You have proved that he was accused of bribery— 
your witness has already stated that; but now you propose to go on and 
prove that he was guilty of the bribery, and that, I think, is too much. 
But go on. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. State whether it was publicly charged that Mr. Swails had taken 
. bribes, and whether what was claimed to be evidence of his corruption 
was given to the public?—A. I did not see the presentation of the 
. checks, but I saw the checks; the charge was made public; I have 
I made the charge public myself on the evidence of those checks, and the 
i report of the committee that made the investigation was made public. 

1 Q. Do you know whether Governor Hampton made the cliarge also?— 

I A. I understood so; I was not present at the time when he made it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say that 150 colored men belonged to the Democratic clubs?— 

! A. I should sui)pose so. 

I Q. To what clubs did they belong ?—A. They were distributed about 
! the county. 

Q. How many clubs were there in the county?—A. Twenty-one or 
twentv-two. 

Q. Were they numbered?—A. No, sir; they went by the names of 
the localities in which they were. 

Q. AVhat knowledge did you have in reference to this matter ? how 
many of these clubs did you attend ?—A. I suppose about two-thirds of 
the whole number. 

Q. Two-thirds—that would be fourteen or fifteen; you attended tour- 
teen or fifteen of the clubs, did you ?—A. Yes, sir. 



430 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. What clubs did you attend?—A. Well^ I attended first the one at 
Black Mingo. 

Q. How many colored men belonged to that ?—A. I do not know the 
exact number. 

Q. Do you know that any belonged to it?—A. I am very well satis¬ 
fied that some did. 

Q. About how many?—A. I do not suppose over ten. 

Q. Every club has a record of its proceedings and a list of its mem¬ 
bers, has it not ?—A. Yes, sir; but whether they would distinguish be¬ 
tween white and colored members or not, 1 do not know. 

Q. The officers of the club woidd be able to tell, would they not?—A. 
Yes, sir; the officers could tell, I should say. 

Q. Can you give no estimate as to how many colored men attended 
the clubs when you \dsited them ?—A. I do not know; 1 would go there 
for the purpose of making a speech, and white and colored would at¬ 
tend all together. I never looked carefully to see just how many of 
each. 

Q. In what proportion would they attend ?—A. Really, I do not think 
that I could say. 

Q. Woidd not others than members of the club attend your speeches?— 
A. Yes, sir; I have no doubt they did. 

Q. Can you state the number of colored Democrats in any of the 
clubs?—A. Not by reason of personal knowledge, nor from any exami¬ 
nation of the records. 

Q. Can you, from any other knowledge ?—A. No, sir; not fi'om any 
other personal knowledge. 

Q. How do you arrive at the fact that 150 or 200 colored men belonged 
to these clubs ?—A. Just from what I have heard. 

Q. You say that a great number of Democratic colored people did not 
join the clubs because they did not like the notoriety of it and the abuse 
that they would receive on account of it, because they would be turned 
out of church, &c.; to whom do you refer as having been turned out of 
church ?—A. I referred particularly to Jack Ejips. 

Q. Have you personal knowledge of the fact that he was turned out 
of church on account of being a Republican ?—A. No, sir; that does not 
come within my own personal knowledge, but it is a well-known fact. 

Q. Is he a minister?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For what was he turned out of church ?—A. For not voting. 

Q. He was not expelled, then, for voting the Republican ticket ?—A. 
No, sir; for not voting at aU. 

Q. How do you know ?—A. He infonned me himself. 

Q. Is that the only charge made against him ?—A. It is the only one 
that I ever heard. 

Q. Wha^ kind of a church is it that he belongs to ?—A. I don’t know 
the denomination. I never saw the men until this morning. 

Q. When did you hear of the fact?—A. Just after the last election. 

Q. Because he refused to vote he was turned out of church ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. Do you know of any other instance of colored men being turned 
out of church for not voting or for voting the Republican ticket?—A. 
There was a colored man named Lewis Ward, a preacher, perha])s a local 
preacher, at Kingstree, where I resided. He voted the Green ticket in 
1874. Soine time after that Fie people there refused to hear him preach, 
because he voted the (ireen ticket. He had been in the habit of ringing 
the bells and doing other things around the church, and that position 


eoimty.] TESTIMONY OF S. W. M4URICE. 431 

was taken away from him. There was a very bitter feeling against him 
for a time, bnt I think that wore arway after a while. 

Q. Do you not know that thousands of colored men voted the Green 
ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And that in some counties a large majority of the colored men 
voted the Green ticket'?—A. I do not know that I know that^ in Will¬ 
iamsburg they did not. 

Q. Swails supported the Chamberlain ticket, did he not!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What others do you know that were turned out of church for voting 
the Republican ticket “?—A. I do not know that I can name any other by" 
name. 

Q. Of the 200 that belonged to the Democratic clubs in your county 
how many were turned out of church ?—A. I do not know of any. 

Q. How many were there whose wives left them because they voted 
the Republican ticket!—A. 1 heard from common rumor of many cases. 

Q. Give the names in any one case.—A. I could not give the names. 

Q. How many were there whose sweethearts refused to marry them 
because they voted the Republican ticket!—A. I have heard of such, 
cases. 

Q. Give the name of one.—A. I could not give the name. 

Q. Not the name of a single one ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket in your 
county !—^A. A considerable number. 

Q. That is very indefinite.—A. I could not say, it would be pure con¬ 
jecture. 

Q. Were there a thousand !—A. I could not possibly say. 

Q. Can you not say whether there were 200 or 500 ?—A. I am sure 
there were more than 200 j I think there were over 500. 

Q. Where did they vote the Democratic ticket!—A. I did not mean 
to say they all voted it at one poll. 

Q. Where did they vote it!—A. At various precincts over the county. 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket at the pre¬ 
cinct where you resided !—A. I could not say to save my life. 

Q. You were present on the day of election !—A. Only long enough to 
vote. 

Q. What negroes at your precinct voted for the Democratic candi¬ 
date!—A. Of my own personal knowledge I do not know of any. 

Q. Are you well acquainted in that town !—A. Yes, sirj I have lived 
there all my life. 

Q. Do you know of any colored man who voted the Democratic 
ticket that day !—A. Of uiy own personal knowledge I do not know of 
any. 

Q. Do you know of any colored man prominent among them who 
you understood voted the Democratic ticket!—A. There was Joseph 
M. Murray; he was a prominent colored man, and he voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. 

Q. When did he become a Democrat!—A. He has been a Democrat 
for six or seven years. 

Q. Now name some other one.—A. There was Cyrus Tisdale. 

Q. How long has he been a Democrat!—A. I do not know of his ever 
su])porting the Republican ticket. 

Q. Who else !—A. There was Newton Singleton. 

Q. How long has he been a Democrat!—A. Four or five years. 

Q. Who else!—A. There was Gadsden McKnight, he has been a Re- 
]>ublican heretofore j and Lewis Matthews, he has been a Republican 
heretofore, and quite prominent among them. 


432 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamaburg 


Q. Do you know that Matthews voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. I 
only say that he told me he did. I did not see him vote. Then Sumter 
Keepers voted the Democratic ticket, as he himself told me not many 
days ago. He said to me that he had been a Kepublican up to the last 
campaign. 

Q. Were there any others !—A. There were quite a number, if I could 
think of their names. 

Q. Is it not rather an unusual thing for a colored man to come out 
and support the Democratic ticket ?—A. In that notorious way it is, for 
the iiressure upon them is all the other way. 

Q. Then all that you can name who came out in this public way and 
voted the Democratic ticket in this camx)aign is five f —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And of these, two had heretofore been Democratic ?—A. Two. 

Q. How did Epps vote at this last election ?—A. He didnT vote at all. 

Q. Was it at this election that they turned him out of the church?—A. 
Yes, sir 5 at this election. There were a great many colored men who 
told me when I appealed to them to vote the Democratic ticket that they 
were afraid to do so. 

Q. When was the first Democratic ticket elected in your county ?—A. 
At this last election. 

Q. And you say there has been a very great imi)rovement in county 
affairs since then ?—A. Yes, sir j at least there would have been excei^t 
for the debts hanging over us. 

Q. What is the amount of the county debt ?—A. I could not say; it 
was some $35,000, but a commission was appointed to investigate the 
matter, and they reduced it to $17,000. They found claims against the 
county amounting to $35,000, and the commission allowed $17,000 of it; 
then those to whom the debts were claimed to be due brought their 
cause before the judge, and he issued a mandamus, and the matter was 
brought before the county board of commissioners, who ordered about 
half the remainder to be allowed. 

Q. The present Democratic commissioners allowed it !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Allowed a portion of the rejected $18,000 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is, they allowed about $9,000 ?—A. Probably so. 

Q. Then about $9,000 of the $18,000 rejected is regarded by the Demo¬ 
cratic county board of commissioners as an honest claim ?—A. It would 
seem so. 

Q. Have the board of commissioners completed their labors ?—A. No. 
sir. 

Q. Then they have the remainder of those claims still under consider¬ 
ation ?—A. I suppose so. 

Q. You cannot say whether what is left of those claims are legal and 
valid or not?—^A. Ko, sir; I have quite a number of them in my hands 
to bring suit upon before the court of common pleas. 

Q. You know their character, then?—A. Yes, sir; partly. 

Q. Those in your hands are some of those not yet allowed by the 
board of commissioners ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who held those claims ?—A. Various parties. 

Q. What are they for ?—A. Mostly for county officers’ services during 
the radical administration. The sheriff* has the largest account. 

Q. What is the amount of his account ?—A. Some $10,000 or $12,000. 

Q. What is the nature of his account ?—A. It is for fees as sheriff. 

Q. Is there any trouble to arrive at a knowledge as to whether those 
fees were properly charged or not ?—A. There is some, because the books 
are defective. The books were not kept in the manner they should be. 

Q. There was a statute giving him those fees ?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 


433 


Q. He lias rendered tlie services which entitled him to the fees; the 
only trouble is that the books which should show those services are not 
properly kept*?—A. That is all. 

Q. Are there any charges of false entries ?—A. I have heard rumors 
of that kind. 

Q. Has there been any investigation ?—A. The board appointed an 
attorney to make such an investigation. 

Q. Whom did you appoint ?—A. John A. Kelly. 

Q. Is he a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And an honest man ?—A. I think so, sir. 

Q. And at his recommendation the board allowed $9,000 of it ?—A. 
Yes, sir, about that amount; maybe not quite so much. 

Q. Was there any dissatisfaction on account of the rejection of a large 
amount of the claims ?—A. There was, sir, among claimants. 

Q. Was there any Democratic dissatisfaction?—A. There was when 
Democrats were claimants. 

Q. There were Democrats among the claimants, then?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. AYere there any Democratic officers heretofore?—A. Ko, sirj but 
the claims were for building bridges, &c. 

Q. Then Democrats helcl a portion of the $18,000 rejected claims?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhat proportion ?—A. As the sheriff’s claim is some $10,000 or 
$12,000, I think the proportion held by Democrats cannot be over one- 
third. 

Q. The dissatisfaction that you speak of grew out of the debt against 
the county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Kow, you say there was very high taxation 5 what was the taxa¬ 
tion of your county 5 the percentage ?—A. I cannot give the mills dur¬ 
ing the various years. 

Q. What was it during the last year the Eepublicans had the power 
in ygur county ?—A. I think it was twelve or fifteen mills. 

Q. Do you know upon what basis the valuation was made in your 
county j was it on the full valuation or less ?—A. It was very largely 
over the value. 

Q. More than the property was worth ?—A. O, a great deal more. 

Q. This includes State, county, and school ?—A. It is inclusive of aU 
of them; probably the taxation is higher than I stated. 

Q. How much do you think it is ?—A. I think on reflection the last 
Eepublican taxation we paid was seventeen or eighteen mills. I remem¬ 
ber the last levy made by the Chamberlain administration during the 
time he and Hampton were in controversy; the levy made by Chamber- 
lain was twenty-Dvo mills. 

Q. But that was not paid ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Then it is not worth while to go into that; you did not pay any 
tax that Chamberlain and his government levied ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. What was the taxation under the Hampton administration ?—A. 
The first levy of the Hampton administration was lOJ mills, inclusive 
of everything. 

Q. TVTiat proportion of that is State tax ?—A. I think eight or ten 
mills. 

Q. Tlien for county and school purposes how much was it ?—A. Five 
or eiglit mills, I am not certain which. To pay current expenses three 
mills ; then usually two mills to pay past indebtedness. 

Q. Is the scliool tax included in the State levy ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then the local taxation is five mills ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the State ten ?—A. Ten or eleven, or in that neighborhood. 

28 s C 


434 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Was it not more than that ?—A. It may have been more than that. 

Q. Is the assessment to pay past indebtedness a county assessment ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Y ou say there has been some dissatisfaction about school money 5 
please explain that.—A. Well, a very large levy has been made. Until 
the Democratic administration there was no specific levy made for 
schools 5 each year so much was apjiropriated out of the general State 
levy; usually $150,000 to $300,000 was approiiriated for the schools, of 
which Williamsburg got its proportion according to the number of pujiils 
in the schools; besides that, the iioll-tax was exclusively api^ropriated 
to the public scliools. Williamsburg County’s proportion was usually 
from $7,000 to $ 10 , 000 . The result was, usually, the schools, which are 
required by law to be kept open six months during the year, liave, in 
fact, been kept open not more than a month and a half or two months. 

Q. Why not ?—A. Because the money to support them was exhausted. 

Q. How long were they kept open ?—^A. Scarcely ever more than two 
months; the money is subdivided among the school districts in propor¬ 
tion to the number of cliildren; some school districts continue their 
schools longer than others, but two months would cover the whole, and 
some schools were not kept open so long as that. 

Q. You say there was dissatisfaction about the use of the school 
moneys f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You mean the Eepublican officials had appropriated the money ?— 
A. That was the general supposition. 

Q. Was there any evidence of it?—A. Yot such as would convict in 
court. 

Q. You have lived in Williamsburg for a long time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You liave been a in^ominent Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a member of the State legislature ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A property-holder in that county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have been interested in its general welfare as much as any¬ 
body in it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you say that it has been a misappropriation of the school 
fund, but there is no proof of it ?—A. To my personal knowledge there 
is no proof such as would convict in court. 

Q. Has any effort been made to obtain such e^ddence; has there been 
any prosecution against any of the school ofiicers f—A. I do not think 
so; if so, it has escaped my recollection. 

Q. Then you do not know whether there has been any misappropria¬ 
tion of a single dollar of the school fund ?—A. Yo, sir; not of my own 
knowledge. 

Q. What court would have cognizance if such were the case ?—A. The 
superior court has cognizance of all cases above the jurisdiction of a jus¬ 
tice of the peace, or trial justice, as we call them here. 

Q. Is that a Eepublican or a Democratic court ?—A. Up to the present 
administration it has been Eepublican. 

Q. But since 187G it has been Democratic?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was the prosecuting attorney there?—A. Mr. Hirsch has 
been solicitor since 1876. 

Q. What nre his politics?—A. He has been Eepublican up to—what 
particular time I cannot say ; I do not think he gave in his adherence 
to the Democratic party until the last campaign. 

Q. He has been acting with the Hampton administration since Hamp¬ 
ton came in?—A. I do not know about that. I know he took a promi¬ 
nent part in the last campaign. 

Q. Acting with the Democratic party in that campaign?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 


435 


Q. Can any citizen institute proceedings if he thinks there has been 
a misappropriation of funds ?—A. Any. citizen has a right to do so, sir. 

Q. Have any proceedings been instituted ?—A. I know the gih-nd jury 
at one time reported the county treasurer, the school trustees, and school 
commissioners for a number of irregularities. 

Q. Irregularities or frauds ?—A. I do not know of anything that 
would amount to fraud, sir. 

Q. If there was proof of misappropriation of funds it would have 
been called a fraud, would it not'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The treasurer of your county was a Eepublican?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What had he done that he was indicted for ?—A. Yarious things. 

Q. When?—A. At various times along during the Kepublican admin¬ 
istration. 

Q. While the Eepublicans were in power?—A. Yes, sir. 

I Q. While the Eepublicans were not in power he was indicted by Pem- 
E ocrats?—A. Yes, sir. 

j Q. But he never was convicted ?—A. I^o, sir. 

I Q. Why not ?—^A. The indictments were quashed on some technical 
I ground or other. I recollect I was attorney in some of the cases. I was 
I appealed to to renew them. 

Q. Did you renew them?—A. I examined into the matter, but I do 
not recollect that I renewed them. I may have renewed some of them. 

Q. What became of them then ?—A. They have been disposed of in 
one way and another. 

^ Q. Have any of the cases resulted in conviction ?—A. Eo, sir. 
i Q. But they are all off the docket now?—A. Yes, sir. 

■ Q. And nobody was convicted ?—A. I^o, sir. 

Q. That is the history of the financial operations of your county 
! officers up there?—A. Yes, sir. 

: Q. How long has Mr. Swails lived up there?—A. I suppose since 

[ about 1865. He has been there ever since the war, or very soon after 
[ the war. 

j Q. He is an unpopular fellow?—A. Yes, sir. 

!; Q. When did he commence being unpopular there?—I think he was 
j unpopular from tlie beginning—from his first entrance in the county. 

= He came there as a bureau officer. 

I Q. That was not calculated to make him popular?—A. No, sir. 

I Q. Before that he had been in the Army?—A. I understand he had. 

1 Q. He had been through that section of country while he was in the 

! Army, had he not ?—A. I understand he was on the Potter raid. 

j By Mr. Kirkwood : 

j Q. That raid was rather unpopular among your people, was it not?— 

I A. Yes, sirj certainly it was. He and the men with him came through 
there destroying crops, burning houses, outraging women, and mal¬ 
treating children j some of the most respectable women in our county 
were outraged. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you see’that done yourself ?—A. No, sirj it was on the other 
side of the river that they burned houses j they were all through there 
burning houses. 

Q. There was no doubt of their burning houses?—^A. No, sir. 

Q. Swails was not accused of outraging the women?—A. No, sir; but 
he was with that party. 

Q. You say he was unpopular from the beginning?—A. Yes, sir. 




436 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Wliat caused liiiii to be unpopular?—A. I do not know of auy 
cause of liis being uiipopularj except his being on that raid and being 
with that Freedman’s Bureau that came down here distributing provis¬ 
ions to the colored people. 

Q. And being a government officer tended to make him unpopular ?— 
A. It certainly did. 

Q. And his distributing provisions to feed the hungry and starving 
colored people made him still more unpopular ?—A. I think his coming 
down here as a government officer did not make him so unj)opular; but 
his distributing jirovisions among the colored iieople, so that tlie negroes 
lay around and wouldn’t work, thereby causing great demoralization of 
labor throughout the community, That certainly rendered him very un¬ 
popular. 

Q. When did he first run for office?—A. I think he first ran for office 
as a member of the convention which made the constitution. 

Q. He was elected?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By colored votes ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. When did he run again?—A. 1 think he held the office of school 
commissioner. 

Q. How long did he hold that?—A. I think during his first term as 
senator. 

Q. When was he elected senator?—A. In 1868; immediately after the 
constitution was adopted. 

Q. When he first went there was he not about the only colored man 
who had education enough to hold office?—A. Yes, sir; but Swails 
could hardly be called a colored man; he was about seven-eighths white. 

Q. The native-born colored population had very little if any educa¬ 
tion, had they not ?—A. Some of them could read and write. I have seen 
negro preachers who could read the bible;, and explain it very well, too. 

Q. Hid Swails run for any office in 1874?—A. Let me see; in 1874, I 
think it was, he ran for the senate. 

Q. Was he elected ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he get any white votes ?—A. Very few, I think. 

Q. For whom did the white people vote ?—A. For James Harper. 

Q. Was Hari)er a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then Swails’ unpopularity does not entirely grow out of the charges 
of bribery against him?—A. No, sir; I think not entirely. 

Q. Who charged him with bribery in the first instance ?—A. I expect 
I charged him as early as anybody did. . 

Q. Who are the men who are said to have bribed him ?—A. I do not 
know, sir. 

Q. You saw the checks—who paid out the checks ?—A. They were 
paid out by one of the banks in Columbia. 

Q. For what purpose ?—A. I understood that one of them was for 
what is known as the printing swindle.” 

Q. What bank paid that out ?—A. I cannot remember the bank; one 
of the banks in Columbia. 

Q. Who drew that check?—A. I really do not know,; oue of the gov¬ 
ernment officers. 

Q. What government officer?—A. I do not remember; I saw two or 
three of the checks. 

Q. Did the government officer bribe him ?—A. I think the Eepublican 
Printing Company was charged with bribing him. 

Q. Were not Democrats connected with that printing company?—^A. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S W. MAURICE. 


437 


There may have been Democrats in it for aught I know: it was called 
the Eepnblican Printing Company. 

Q. Yon have not much knowledge on the subject ?—A. My personal 
knowledge is really very little. 

Q. You were a representative A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And Mr. SAvails resigned ?—A. He resigned. 

Q. He was given his chance to resign or to be prosecuted!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the understanding was that if he would resign and get out of 
the senate he would not be prosecuted ?—A. I do not really very well 
understand- 

Q. That is the common rumor ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That if he would resign, the prosecutions against him Avould all be 
stopped f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon have no doubt he would have been couAucted if he had been 
tried ?—^A. I have no doubt of it. 

Q. He hadn’t any doubt of it either, had he i —A. I do not know 
whether he had or not. 

Q. He denied the charge ?—^A. O, yes, sir j of course he denied the 
charge. 

Q. Then why did he resign"?—A. I do not know why. 

Q. But he did resign ?—A. Yes, sir; he did resign. 

Q- And yon assume that his resigning under those circumstances was 
proof of his guilt f—A. That is presumptAe. That, of course, would be 
the natural inference, though perhaps it would not be enough in itself. 

Q. He Ih ed in your county !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He had some property there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. XoAV, do you suppose if he had not been running for office there 
would haA^e been any trouble in regard to his remaining there ?—A. I 
think there wmuld perhaps haA^e been trouble, but not to the same ex¬ 
tent. 

Q. Why ?—A. On account of the course he had taken in this bribery 
matter. He AA^as regarded by our people as a dangerous, bad man. 

Q. In what way was he a dangerous, bad man ?—A. By filling the 
minds of the colored people with such ideas, inflaming them by speeches 
that were inflammatory. I do not mean that I heard him adAuse any 
one to destroy and burn property, or kill anybody, or anything hke 
that. 

Q. Tell us what you did hear him say ?—A. I have heard him talk to 
the negToes and tell them of the aa rongs they had suffered from the 
white people in days gone by; tell them to remember these things, and 
never to trust the white people; to hold themseHes together, and go 
together, and Amte together, and not wmrk for the AA^ite people- 

Q. And to work for themselA^es ?—A. Yes, sir; I cannot specify, of 
course, the exact language. 

Q. That is what you mean by inflammatory speeches, is it ?—A. Yes, 
sir ) it was calculated to arouse the race feeling in the minds of the 
negroes,against the white people, to make dmding lines, and to set the 
colored people against the white race. 

Q. Do you say it made trouble because your people didn’t allow that 
kind of talk to the colored people ?—A. O, every man has a right to 
talk. 

Q. But you went on to diWe him out of the community; you said it 
would cause trouble for him to talk as he did, eA^en if he had not run 
for office?—A. I didn’t say it would haA^e caused troublej if I did I did 
not mean ‘Hrouble,’^ I meant dissatisfaction. I didn’t mean to say they 




438 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[TVilliamsburg 


would have run him out of the community. I do not know whether 
they would have done that or not. 

Q. How would they have exhibited their dissatisfaction ?—A. I don’t 
know that they would have exhibited it in any way excei^t by speech. 

Q. You have heard him speak to colored people"?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You ol)jected to his going back to ante helium times'?—A. I think 
that it was very impolitic, imprudent, and inflammatory. 

Q. If a speaker says tlie colored men ought to buy their own land and 
try to make themselves independent, do you think that alone would be 
objectionable ?—A. Yot if he stopped there. 

Q. But if lie went on to say that these people, from whose labor the 
white people had Lived all their lives, had better buy their own land and 
live on their own jiroperty than to be living on and working the lands 
of others, that would be inflammatory ?—A. Yo, sir, not alone. 

Q. Then be so kind as to tell us what would be inflammatory.—A. 
Well, to tell the negroes that the white people were their enemies and 
not their friends; that they must not trust the white people; that the 
white people were trying to reduce them to slavery again. I never heard 
Swails say in so many Avords that the Avhite people would bring them 
back to slavery, but I did hear him say that the Avhite people Avould take¬ 
away their rights and place them in a condition which Avould be similar 
to slaA^ery 5 that what the Avhite people said to them was false. He said 
it all in a A^ery respectful AAmy, of course. 

Q. Did he refer to Avhat he called the black code” of your State as 
a proof that the Avhite people would do this?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid he read from the black code?—A. Yes, sir; and he went fur¬ 
ther, and said the aa hite people aa ould do more in that direction. 

Q. What did he say about it'?—A. He said, You cannot trust the 
white people.” 

Q. Were you in the legislature that made the black code?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. When AAms SA\mils ordered to leaA^e ?—A. Some time in October. 

Q. By what authority?—A. It was a sort of impromptu moA^ement on 
the i)art of the people. 

Q. You mean the AA^hite people?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did it originate?—A. I supi^ose in Eangstree. 

Q. With whom did it originate?—A. I do not think I know. 

Q. Hid it not originate in the Hemocratic club?—A. I cannot say that 
it did. 

Q. Ho you not know that it did?—A. I certainly do not, sir. 

Q. Hid not the order for him to leaAX emanate from the Hemocratic 
executive committee?—A. It originated on the i)art of the people. 

Q. How AAms the meeting gotten up there ? How was this communi¬ 
cation made to Swails?—A. I understand that some gentlemen called 
on liim at his house and invited- 

Q. Who called on him ?—A. There were five of them. 

Q. What were their names?—A. Their names were J. A. Kelly, Will¬ 
iam Kinder, J. K. Lampson, Hr. P. W. Sessions. / 

Q. Who was the other ?—A. I do not recollect the name of the other 
just now—and yet I knoAv him well, too. 

Q. Were any of these men members of the committee?—A. I think 
they Avere. 

Q. Yow, were not all of them members?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Who among them was not a member?—A. Hr. Sessions I know 
was not. 

Q. Were the rest of them members of the Hemocratic executive com¬ 
mittee?—A. I think they were. 






County.] 


TESTIMONY OE S W. MAURICE. 


439 


Q. Did not tliese gentlemen call upon Mr. Swails in the capacity of a 
committee?—A. I suppose it might have been regarded as a committee, 
sir. ^ 

Q. When, where, and by whom were they appointed?—A. There was 
a meeting of citizens that day which I did not attend myself. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. Yon mean of white citizens ?—A. Yes, sir; there was a meeting at 
the office of a lawyer not far from the court-house, I suppose about 11 
o’clock. The court was in session, and I was in the midst of an im¬ 
portant case. I was a member of the executive committee myself, and 
had been taking a pretty prominent part in politics, and I was invited 
to attend this meeting of the citizens. 

Mr. Kirkwood. White citizens, you mean? 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Was it a meeting called for white citizens” or citizens”?—A. I 
do not know 5 I only know that when the court adjourned I was asked 
to attend the meeting. The question was being considered when I ar¬ 
rived what should be done about Swails. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Where was this meeting held?—A. In a room near by the court¬ 
house—a lawyer’s office. 

Q. How many were present ?—A. I should say between forty and fifty. 

Q. Had any handbills giving notice of it been published?—A. O, no. 

Q. Thmi you had a personal invitation?—A. Yes, sir; that was the 
only invitation anybody had, I suppose. 1 went there and I found there 
a number of citizens. 

Mr. Kirkwood. AWiite citizens ? 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Were there any colored men there?—A. I do not recollect that any 
colored men were present. 

Q. How many Eepublicans were present ?—A. Kone, that I remember. 

Q. How many members of your executive committee were present?— 
A. I do not know; the committee consists of seven. I do not remem¬ 
ber whether all of them were present or not. 

Q. Who was the chairman of the meeting?—A. I do not know who 
was the chairman of the meeting. Mr. Lampson was chairman of the 
executive committee. 

Q. Who seemed to have charge of the meeting ?—A. When I went in 
Mr. Lampson was up addressing the meeting. 

Q. The chairman of the Democratic executive committee was address¬ 
ing the audience ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did he say ?—A. He was ^peaking of Swails; he said that 
the meeting had been called with the object of consulting together as to 
what should be done regarding him; he repeated what Mr. Swails had 
been saying. 

Q. What did he complain of that Mr. Swails had said ?—A. He spoke 
of the feeling that had been aroused; he said they had been talking of 
getting up a fund to prosecute Swails on account of charges of bribery. 
Swails had made a speech, saying that the day that he was arrested 
damnation would come to the white people of Williamsburg County, and 
similar harsh expressions. The fact was, negroes had been seen, large 


440 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsliurg 


numbers of them, armed, around the tillage late at night. We were all 
in a state of great excitement, not knowing at any moment when our 
houses would be burned or our blood shed. The question was brought 
before the audience what would be done with S wails; should he be held 
responsible for any houses that might be burned or any blood that might 
be shed by the colored people, or should he be ordered to leave town! 
Large numbers of negroes had been seen by various persons around 
there, armed, as if gathering for some bad purpose; in fact, I saw some 
of them myself. This meeting was on Tuesday. On the Saturday im¬ 
mediately preceding, the White Oak meeting had occurred, when it was 
said Swails was brought in under arrest and a colored man had been 
shot, which, of course, created some excitement. This was on the Tues¬ 
day immediately succeeding that. Mr. Lami)son said a good deal which 
I cannot remember. The question was raised wliether or not it was pru¬ 
dent for the citizens to take some steps for their own safety. 

Mr. Kirkwood. White citizens, you mean? 

The Witness. Yes, sir; for we never went to bed knowing whether 
our houses might not be burned or our lives and those of our wives and 
children taken before morning. 

Q. What was the result of the meeting?—^A. I did not stay there five 
minutes. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Did they dispose of the matter while you were there ?—A. Ko, sir. 
The court had taken a recess for an hour, and I had to go to my house^ 
some distance away, and get dinner, and get back again to attend to the 
case In which I was engaged. 

Q. The result was, you determined Swails must leave?—A. Ko, sir^ 
I was not present; I did not know what was done. 

Q. You know from general hearsay?—A. As-1 heard that, the decis¬ 
ion was not that he must leave, but that he was adwsed that he must 
leave, or he would be held responsible for any trouble that might follow f 
any bloodshed or burning of libuses. 

Q. Did Swails leave?—A. lie left, as I understood, that night. 

Q. He had been nominated for the State senate, had he not ?—A. Ko. 
sir; the convention had not yet met; he was nominated subsequently to 
his leaving. 

Q. He was a candidate?—A. I do not know that he was. Swails’s 
usual plan was not to announce a candidate, either himself or anybody 
else, until the convention met. I had heard rumors that he spoke of run¬ 
ning, but that was all. 

Q. You say that you had heard rumors of threats that houses would 
be burned or people killed, and all that. From whom had you heard 
these rumors ?—A. I could not state exactly from whom I heard them. 

Q. Did you hear them from white people or from black people ?—A. I 
heard it was advised even by Swails that they shoidd use the torch. 

Q. I asked from whom did you hear it?—A. It was but a common 
rumor. 

Q. In that county there were more white people than black, were 
there not, by GOO?—A. I suppose so. 

Q. How many white men were there?—^A. I could not say. 

Q. What was the white vote?—A. I cannot say. If my recollection 
serves me right, there were 1757 Democratic votes in the campaign of 
1876. 

Q. Were they all white?—A. I suppose there may have been some 
colored men. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 441 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket f—A. Perhaps 
50 or 100. 

Q. Is it not safe to say that 1,700 of those votes were white votes'?— 
A. I do not know j I think that would not be hir out of the way. 

Q. How many colored men voted at that election ?—^A. The Eepubli- 
caii vote was 2,400. 

Q. Were the white men pretty well armed?—A. ilot generally. 

Q. Were the colored men armed'?—A. They were not generally armed j 
some of them were. 

Q. Wliich have the best arms ?—A. I think, except some few arms 
issued during the last campaign by the State government, they were 
about equal. 

Q. Were there any improved rifles among the white people during the 
last camj)aign?—A. I think there were. 

Q. When were they issued?—A. I do not remember. 

Q. It was in the early part of the summer, was it not?—A. Yes, sir; 
I have forgotten the exact time. 

Q. About how many were issued in your county ?—A. I think not to 
exceed 150. They were issued through me, I remember. 

Q. What were they ?—They were Eoberts rifles. They were issued 
from the State adjutant-generars office. 

Q. Were any issued to the colored people ?—A. Not that I know of. 

Q. When a man went to bed at niglit he didn’t know whether his 
house might be burned or his life taken before morning?—A. Yes, sir j 
that was the way we felt about it then. 

! Q. Were you ever burned out by the negroes?—A. No, sir; but I 
I have gone to bed many and many a time with that fear on my mind. 

' Q. You are a member of a military company ?—A. No, sir. I hold 
I the position of aid to the governor, that is all. 

Q. How man military comi^anies are there in your county?—A. I 
think there are four. 

Q. How many men are there in each company ?—A. I think about 
fifty, sir. 

Q. How many rifle-clubs are there in the county ?—Those military 
companies are the only rifle-clubs there are, sir. 

Q. How many political clubs are there armed?—A. Only these, 
j Those Democratic clubs are not armed, except by private arms, such as 
pistols, &c. 

Q. And nearly all of them have arms of some kind ?—A. No, sir; 
a great many white men have no arms at all. i 

Q. Is it possible that with all those threats of burning and murder 
they lived without arming themselves ?—A. Yes, sir. I have even 
heard them say that if anything of that kind should happen they would 
not have anything to fight with at all. 

Q. In all the time you have lived among the colored people have you 
known of any attacks being made by them upon the whites, of the burn¬ 
ing of any houses, or of any bloodshed ?—A. There have been quite a 
number of houses burned, sir—gin-houses, &c. 

Q. Have you ever known of an organized raid of colored men to bum 
houses ?—A. Not since the war. 

Q. Did you before the war ?—A. I did, during the war; there was 
Potter’s raid, sir. 

Q. That was a military affair, was it not?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With the ’exception of organized military assaults, did you ever 
know or hear of any such attacks as those of which you say you were 
in such daily dread?—A. No, sir; and I don’t think they would do it if 






442 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


they were let alone j hut with these iinscruiiulous white men constantly 
inflaming their jiassions there is no knowing what they might do. 

Q. Yon say there are a large number of the colored men in full sym¬ 
pathy with the Democratic party ?—A. There are a great many. 

Q. And at the last election there were a great many more than ever 
before*?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was your majority this time ?—A. 700 or 800. 

Q. Then there must have been a change of 1,400 or 1,500 in that 
county ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That would indicate that 700 or more of the colored men had come 
over to your side ?—A. Either that or a larger number of white votes. 

Q. Had there been any great white immigration into your county re¬ 
cently ?—A. IsTo, sir; I mean a larger number of white persons came 
out to vote. There has in the past Ibeen a great deal of trouble in get¬ 
ting white people to come out and vote. 

Q. When you have never seen negroes burning houses, destroying 
lives, &c., why do you expect it now, when so many more negroes than 
ever before are in sympathy with you politically ?—A. Well, Swails saw 
the waning away of his influence and power, and being indicted- 

Q. But he was not indicted.—A. A warrant was issued. 

Q. The warrant you refer to was an old warrant issued two years 
ago.—A. There was a threat on our part to renew the prosecution. 

Q. And you think that because there was a threat to renew this prose¬ 
cution, and because his i)ower was waning away, he was likely to arm 
the negroes and urge them to murder and destroy; is that it *?—A. Yes, 
sir. He made a speech, in which he said that the day he Avas arrested 
damnation Avoidd come to the white people of Williamsburg County. 

Q. Do you not know that a pledge had been made to him that if he 
would resign he should not be prosecuted ?—A. I saw a published 
card in the Yews and Courier that he had iieA^er been before the com¬ 
mittee, and knew nothing of any charge of bribery haAung been brought 
against him. 

Q. I doiflt care about the card. Do you not know that such an ar¬ 
rangement had been entered into f—A. I don’t know anything about it. 

Q. Then he didn’t resign to aAmid i>rosecution, so far as you know ?— 
A. It has always been my impression that he did, but he stated in his 
card that he liad nothing to do with the committee, and if any immu¬ 
nity had been granted him, it was more than he knew. 

Q. A few days before this meeting that you attended there had been 
a Eepublican meeting at White Oak?—A. Y"es, smj the Saturday 
before. 

Q. What had been done to Swails at that meeting?—A. It was 
claimed that he was put under arrest and brought into Kingstree. 

Q. What kind of arrest ; by Aurtue of a Avarrant or any legal action? — 
A. Yo, sir • I do not think it was any arrest at all, but it was so claimed 
by his friends. 

Q. He was brought into Kingstree?—A. He came in company with 
the redshirts. He escaped from them and ran for the court-house. 
There was a fight between him and some of his friends, and a colored 
man was shot. 

Q. How many days was that before this meeting that you attended, 
where they were counseling what to do with him ?—A. That meeting at 
White Oak was on Saturday; this meeting was on Tuesday. 

Q. You say a colored man was shot?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where Avas that ?—A. At the court-house, on Saturday. 




County.] TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 443 

Q. Did Swails slioot him ^—A. No, sir; he was one of Swails’s friends, 
the man that was shot was; I don’t sni)])ose that Swails shot him. 

Q. Then how conld SAvails be responsible for that bloodshed ?—A. I 
do not know that he was; he had been to attend a Eepnblican meeting’, 
and Avhen he came back he came in company with the redshirts; he ran 
away from the redshirts, and that caused some considerable confusion. 

Q. Was it considered wrong and inflammatory and violent for him to 
try to get away from a set of men avIio were taking him into town in 
that Avay ?—A. I understood that he had agreed to it when the red shirt 
men had proposed that he shoidd ride into town in company with them. 

Q. They had not arrested him f—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were they acting as an escort of honor to him !—A. I think not. 

Q. Did yon understand it that way —A. I did not hear that explana¬ 
tion. I only heard that they asked him to come into toAvn in company 
with them, and he agreed to do so, but afterAvards broke away from 
them. 

Q. He was guilty of the impoliteness of parting company with them 
without first asking their permission ?—A. Yes, sir; and some of the 
colored men Avho were disposed to befriend him knocked down a Avhite 
man and Ids horse, and on that the colored man was shot. 

Q. Was that regarded as an outrageous proceeding on the part of the 
black men?—A. I do not exactly understand the state of the .case; I 
was not there; if it was done- 

Q. Wasn’t it regarded as an outrageous thing for the redshirts to 
take possession of Mr. SAvails and compel him to come to town with 
them ?—A. No, sir; I don’t think that AAms considered outrageous. 

Q. Supposing there Av^as a Democratic meeting, and a negro man had 
treated a A\diite man as the AAddte man treated Swails, AAdiat aa ould be 
thought of it!—A. That is owing largely to the political complexion of 
the parties aaTio miglit think on tlie subject. 

Q. I asked, su])])ose that there were a Democratic political meeting, 
and negro Republicans sliould arrest the most prominent white Demo¬ 
crat in the county, and force him to come into town with thein, and he 
should attempt to get aAv ay, and one of his white friends should come to 
his assistance, and should be shot by a colored man, what Avould you 
think of it!—A. I do not think Ave would like it very well, sir. 

By Mr. Caivieron : 

Q. Would not more than one person have been killed ?—A. I think it 
might juake some fuss. 

Mr. Kirkwood. This man that Avas killed- 

The Witness. He was not killed. 

Mr. Kirkwood. O, he didn’t die, then ? 

The Witness. No, sir; he was better and able to be out in a week or 
two. 

Q. This- A. It was agreed that if anybody else was killed except 

Swails, that Mr. Swails ATould be held responsible for it. That Avas in 
reference to those negroes lying around there armed. 

Q. Do you knoAV whether this treatment of SAAmils had anything to do 
with the black people being out there armed?—A. It Avas presumed that 
that might have something to do Avith it. 

Q. Was it not natural that the black people should be someAYhat ex¬ 
cited under such circumstances ?—A. Yes, sir; but I thought that was 
going too far—for them to arm themseh^es and lie around in that AYay. 

Q. Was there any excitement there on account of the Red Shirts go¬ 
ing out, and taking Mr. SAYails as they did, and compelling him to go 
home with them, and shooting the negro AYho accompanied him ?—A. I 





444 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[■Williamsburg 


tliink it was a very different case, sir; that was all open, and everybody 
could see what was going on; but these night men, arpied, and keeping 
around our houses when we could not guard ourselves against it unless 
we staid watching all night, was a different thing. 

Q. How long had it been that Swails had been living quietly there 
among you without any excitement or disturbance, previous to that 
time ?—A. I do not know how long. 

Q. You can tell how many weeks or months or years—A. There had 
been no trouble before that, that I remember, from the time of his coming 
into the county in 1865 or 1866. 

Q. He had lived there during all the preceding winter and spring 
and summer, and everything was peaceable and quiet ^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And there was no stir made until Mr. Swails went out to organize 
a Eepublican meeting?—A. I think he did not goto organize it; it was 

ust a Eepublican club meeting and he went out to address it. 

Q. And just as soon as he did that, trouble arose ?—A. If you will 
allow me to state how this came about: there was a company of Eed 
Shirts there, and- 

Q. I think we have had sufficient evidence about that, and do not care 
about ha\dng it repeated again. This was the first disturbance of this 
season ?—A. Yes, sii*. 

Q. And then on the next Tuesday, this meeting of white men was 
held to determine what should be done with Stcails ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had any meeting been held in that town, to which yon had been 
invited, to take into consideration what should be done with the men 
who had taken Swails and forcibly compelled him to ride home mth 
them ?—A. I did not hear of any. 

Q. Was any meeting called to determine what should be done Avith 
the white man who had shot the colored man who had befriended 
Swails ?—A. 1^0, sir; not that I know of. 

Q. The question was, what should be done with Stvails ?—A. Yes^ 
sir; what should be done on the part of the citizens of the place to de¬ 
fend themselves against the men whom Swails was exciting to violence. 

Mr. Kirkwood. White citizens, you mean ? 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. I think that I understand it now. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You speak of a correspondence yon had with a committee of the 
legislature in Columbia, regarding Swails; was the correspondence, to 
which you refer, that with Mr. Dibble?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you in that correspondence insist that they should proceed 
against Swails.?—A. Before engaging in that correspondence, I went to 
the attorney-general’s office, and found that immunity had been granted 
Swails—not by the attorney-general then in office, but by his predeces¬ 
sor, General Connor; the correspondence was gotten up by me ^vith this 
member of the committee. 

Q. By whom was immunity granted to Swails ?—A. It was recom¬ 
mended by the committee, and approved by the attorney-general in pur¬ 
suance of the general policy pursued or approved by Governor Hamp¬ 
ton. 

Q. You understand that the committee recommended that immunity 
be granted Swails, and that the recommendation was approved by Gen¬ 
eral Connor; and yon were dissatisfied with that arrangement?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What did Mr. Dibble say to you in this correspondence ?—-A. That 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 


445 


correspondence was more personal than otherwise. He said hrst it was 
done in pursuance of the general order of Governor ITain])ton to grant 
immunity to these people; of course he took the ground that it was 
proper. Some of our ])eople had been trying to ascertain for months 
what was the status of the case against Swails, and I thought that if 
he had done tliese things he ought to be prosecuted, and if not he ought 
not to be saddled vdth the deeds. We had some correspondence with 
Dibble tor three months before he and I had any ])ublished correspond¬ 
ence. One of my principal causes of complaint was that he did not tell 
us at the outset that immunity had been granted to Swails. In this 
correspondence he liad said that he would aid us in every way that he 
could to bring about a prosecution, &c. What 1 complained of was. 
tliat he had not told us that this would be impossible on account of the 
immunity granted Swails. To this extent I was dissatisfied with his 
course. 

Q. Did not Dibble in substance speak of you or of the white peoi)le 
of your county as cowards, or something of that sort, for not getting 
rid of Sw^ails yourselves?—A. Not exactly that; I thought what he 
meant to say was that Swails Avas but one "man, and that Ve ought to 
overcome him politically; that Ave ought not to alloAV him to overrule 
our people in that way. I did not understand him as meaning that he 
should be forced to leave or be killed ; not that Ave were cowards, but 
that Ave were not politically as efficient and energetic in the cami)aign 
as Ave should be. 

Q. It seems that the meeting of AA^hich you haA^e spoken, AA-hich was 
held to consider what you should do with SAvails, came to the conclusion 
that the only Avay to dispose of Swails was to compel him to leaA-e the 
country ?—A. I did not hear the final result. I understood that it seemed 
to be decided that he must leave or he would be held responsible for 
any injury that might be done by the colored people. 

Q. What justice was there in holding Swails responsible for that ?— 
A. Because it Avas a notorious fact that SAvails had such influence and 
power among these colored people that he could have made them bium 
up the whole town in a moment if he desired. 

Q. He had IIa ed among you for years and never had done so!—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. He had property there of his OAvn, had he not ? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What property did he liaA^e there ?—A. He had two houses of his 
OAvn, in one of Avhich he resided; and other property in another part of 
the town. 

Q. Did he run for the office of intendant in the toAvn some little time 
before he Avas expelled?—A. Yes, sir; the election of intendant was held 
in September, and he left in October. 

Q. Was it reported rlint he received a majority of Amtes ?—A. No, sir; 
I do not think he received but one Amte in the election; the Democrat 
was elected. 

Q. Is it not quite a common thing to accuse a person of fraud and cor¬ 
ruption in your State hi connection with political campaigns ?—A. Yes, 
sir; we have had so much fraud and corruption that it is a very com¬ 
mon thing to accuse people of it—and that rightly, I am sorry to say. 

Q. Has not Governor Hampton himself been accused of fraud ?—A. I 
do not knoAV that he has been accused of fraud. It was said during his 
first campaign, in 1876, that he had been accused of taking advantage 
of the bankrupt act. 

Q. Of borrowing $90,000 of the State of South Carolina and never 





446 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 3878 


[’Williamsburg 


paying it ?—A. I do not know. I heard of some charges being made 
about his getting out of pa;ying his debts in that way. 

Q. You know, as a matter of public notoriety, that he did take advan¬ 
tage of that act ?—A. I saw it so charged in the papers. 

By Mr. Oa^ieron : 

Q. You remember that his liabilities were considerably over $1,000,000 
and his assets about $100,000 ? 

Mr. McDonald. Is not this examination taking a very wide range f 

Mr. Cameron. I do not know that it is. The point in this case is that 
on account of the charges made against Swails, he was expelled from the 
county without any conviction. ISTow, I want to show that others have 
been accused of fraud as well, who have not been driven from the county 
on account of it. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. What has been the amount of the school-fund in your county since 
the political management of the county has changed?—A. I do not know, 
sir, in figures, the exact amount; I would have to guess. I know that 
the levy for school purposes is about two mills, and all the poll-tax, too, 
goes to the school-fund. 

Q. How have the schools been kept since 1876 ?—A. A little longer 
than before. I think between two and three months has been the usual 
period since the Democratic administration. 

Q. You were asked if you had any doubt if Swails had been tried 
whether he would have been convicted. I ask you have you any^doubt 
about his guilt ?—A. I have not, sir. 

Q. You spoke of arms being sent some time during the last year ^ 
state to what kind of an organization.—A. The regular militia organ! - 
zation, sir. 

Q. Had there been any colored militia in your county before that 
time ?—A. There were some organizations, but they were mere skele¬ 
tons ; I think they elected officers, and that was all. 

Q. Did they receive arms ?—A. I think not as organizations, sir; in¬ 
dividuals may have received some armsj some of them had these Win¬ 
chester rifles; I issued some^f them myself j but as a body I do not 
think that any of them received arms. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Does Swails own a residence in jout town ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A fine residence ?—A. Yes, sir; it was originally an ordinary small 
building, that cost about $900; but he added about $3,000 improvements 
to it; it is now a flue, two-story building, well finished and furnished. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. You have a constitutional amendment regarding the school tax; is 
that of recent date ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhen was it ratified by the legislature ?—A. In 1877. 

Q. Since Mr. Hampton became governor ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The school-tax money raised under that amendment is about one- 
third the amount raised for State purposes, is it not ?—A. More than 
that, sir; the levy of the past fiscal year was 4^ mills for State pur¬ 
poses; of this the school tax was two mills—which, you see, was nearly 
one-half. This present fiscal year the levy is 2f mills for other pur¬ 
poses, while the school fund is nearly as large as the State levy for all 
other purposes. 

Q. The school fund is nearly half the entire levy ?—A. Yes, sir. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF S. W. MAURICE. 


447 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. So the school levy has heeu kept up and the State levy has been 
reduced !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. The amendment to this effect was inaugurated and passed under 
the Hampton administration ?—A. That is my recollection, sir. 

By Mr. Oameron : 

Q. Is it your under standing that it was inaugurated under the Hamp¬ 
ton administration'?—A. It was ratified by the legislature since his ad¬ 
ministration, anyway. 

Q. Is it not a fact that it was ratified by the people ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not a fact that in this State a proposed amendment must be 
voted on favorably by two successive legislatures, and then submitted 
to the people ?—^A.- Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. This proposed amendment of two mills school-tax was first sub¬ 
mitted to the Eei^ublican legislature of 1875 and 1870, was it not!—A. 
I believe it was. 

Q. You know whether it was or not j was it not inaugurated in that 
legislative body ?—A. I think it was. 

Q. Do you know it was ?—A. I don’t remember exactly. 

Q. Didn’t the people Amte on it in 1876 !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And could they have voted on it unless the preceding, legislature 
had first submitted it for a vote ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. The people had to Amte upon it before it became a constitutional 
amendment?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the majority in its favor?—^A. I cannot say. White 
people and Eepiiblicans all voted for it, I understood. 

Q. Then all the Democratic legislature did was simply to ratify what 
the people had determined should be their constitution by the vote of 
1870 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you think the legislature is entitled to very great credit for 
passing a law which the people by a large majority had demanded ?—A. 
Well, I don’t know, sir. 

Mr. Eandolph. He did not say that the legislature was entitled to 
any great credit for it. He had another object in Anew which you eAU- 
dently did not discoA^er. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. You say the State levy has been decreasing under Democratic ad¬ 
ministration ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hasn’t your State debt been decreasing under the preceding Ee- 
pubhean administrations ?—A. I do not know as to that; there has been 
something jiaid on the interest of the back debt,. I belieA^e; there has 
been considerable tangle as to the Amlidity of the State debt; in fact, 
I understand that it has not yet been finally determined. 

Q. Is not a considerable portion of the decrease of tax attributable 
to the fact that you are not paying interest on as much State debt as 
before ?—^A. I think that some'of the State debt has been paid, and 
some of the decrease in taxation is undoubtedly owing to that fact. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. You speak of military companies in your county; how many of 
them are there at present ?—A. I think not more than four or five. 


448 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


I'Williamsburg 


Q. Do you recollect anything about military organizations in your 
county in 187C f—A. I do not know that 'we had any. 

Q. Of either sort ?—A. Of either sort. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Are there any colored military companies in your county —A. 
Yes, sir; a few. There are some at Black Mingo, I know, for I saw 
them there when I addressed a meeting there; we invited them to come 
to our meeting; they came, and held their arms in their hands. 

Q. How were they armed ?— A. With old muskets and double-bar¬ 
reled shot-guns; some had single barrels. 

Q. W^ere they uniformed ?—A. The officers were uniformed. 

Q. Do you know whether the majority of the Democratic members of 
the legislature of 1875-’6 voted favorably on the proposed school 
amendment to the constitution ?—A. I do not remember. 

Q. Do you know wliether a majority of the Deni(5cratic members of 
the legislature of 1877-8 voted in favor of the amendment?—A. Yes, 
sir; I am certainly confident they did, for that was the time it was 
adopted, and it takes a two-thirds vote of the legislature to adopt an 
amendment. 

Q. Was there, or was there not, a strong Democratic opposition to 
the adoption of the amendment in the legislature of 1877-’8 ?—A. I do 
not think there was, sir. I was not a member, but I do not think there 
was. 


G. W. AEMS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27, 1879. 

G. W. Arms (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Kingstree. 

Q. Were you holding any position there during the recent canvass ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I was manager of election. 

Q. W^ere you holding any position before that ?—A. Yes, sir; I was 
deputy sherilf of the county. 

Q. What office did you hold in the town organization ?—A. I was 
marshal of the town at one time. 

Q. Do 3^011 know Mr. Pinckney^, a colored man, there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As an officer, did j^ou have anjThing to do with his arrest ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. State the circumstances.—A. There was a warrant taken out for 
Pincknej^ He was over at a station called Salter’s. There was a mes¬ 
senger sent with a warrant for him, and he came back to Bonneau’s 
Station, and went from there to Charleston, and I was sent after him. 

Q. AVhere did j^ou find him ?—A. 1 sent a detective around to his 
house, and he got him. I had a warrant countersigned as the law di¬ 
rects. 

Q. Where did you take him ?—A. I took him to Kingstree. 

Q. How did you treat him in taking him there ?—A. He was placed 
here in the station-house until the next morning, and then I got a ba¬ 
rouche and took him to Columbia, and furnished him his meals at Colum¬ 
bia at his own request, and waited in the court-house till the sergeant let 
him return. He promised to wait in the court-house. I told the ser- 



CoTiDty.] TESTIMONY OF G. W. ARMS. 449 

^eant to let him remain at the fire, and the sergeant said he would not 
be responsible for him. 

Q. Wiat then ?—A. He was removed to the court-house first, and 
when I returned I found him by the fire. 

Q. Why was he taken by Columbia to Kingstree ?—A. I had orders 
to bring him there 5 but at that time they were serving writs on i^arties 
to be brought before the United States court, and I had taken him that 
way to prevent him being taken out of my custody. The warrant was 
made returnable. 

Q. Did you treat him civilly and well while he was in your charge !— 
A. Yes, sir; several said so, too. 

Q. Was there anj^ unnecessary restraint exercised over him ?—A. Xo, 
sir. 

Q. You say you were manager of election!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what poll !—A. At Kingstree i^oll. 

Q. State how the election was conducted on that day.—A. Very 
quietly and’ according to law. 

Q. As to fairness.—A. It was fair. I opened the polls by a Repub¬ 
lican watch and closed it by a Republican watch, and the Republican 
supervisor did not come until two hours after the election was opened, 
and did not commence keeping a poll-list until it was some time after. 

Q. W^hat was the action of the board in regard to challenges ?—A. If 
the parties were challenged, and they could not prove their age, they 
were asked to step aside. 

Q. Was there any reference made to the assessments in the poll-book 
for the purpose of ascertaining the ages!—A. That was spoken of to 
the super\dsor. 

Q. Was any persons rejected because they had not paid their poll- 
tax !—A. Ko, sir; if any person was found to be 21 they voted, if they 
gave proof of the fact. 

Q. When you opened the box, after the voting had closed, what time 
i was it ?—A. Six o’clock. 

i Q. Did you count out the tickets then!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did tlie tickets in the poll-box correspond with the poll-list ?— 
i A. They corresponded exactly. 

^ Q. Youthen counted the tickets!—A. Yes, sir. 

; Q. Was the count conducted fairly and honestly!—A. Yes, sir. 

1 Q. And the result declared!—A. Yes, sir. 

» Q. How was tlie crowd about the polls that day!—A. It was a gen- 
era! rush to and fro during the day. 

i Q. How was it after the general rush was over!—A. They would 
come in slower. 

Q. Every ten or fifteen minutes !—A. About that. 

Q. Were you there that day during the whole time the polls were 
open!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no difficulty during the day!—A. I never saw any. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What office did you hold in your county during the month of No¬ 
vember last!—A. During that month I took a position as State officer. 

Q. What office !—A. Deputy chief constable. 

Q. When were you appointed to that place!—A. My appointment 
shows on September 10. 

Q. Do you still hold that office !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You stated you were a manager of election.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you receive that appointment!—A. I was appointed by 

29 s C 



4f>0 


SOUTiI CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


the commissioners of election; I think it was about the second or third 
week before the election. 

Q. Were you deputy chief constable and manager at the same time ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did Pinckney make an affidavit setting forth substantially that 
you had not fairly conducted your proceedings ?—A. ^iTo, sirj not against 
me. 

Q. Against some of the managers ?—A. He made an affidavit so far 
as the White Oak trouble was concerned, that I saw in his own posses¬ 
sion. This man Hanna was the one that made the affidavit against the 
managers. 

Q. Was not Pinckney a witness before the Hnited States court ?—A. 
ISTo, sir. 

Q. What was the charge made against Pinckney upon which you ar¬ 
rested him ?—A. I think it was iierjury or libel. 

Q. Which do you think it was ?—A. I think it was libel because of 
corresiiondence with the ^^'ational Eepublican of Washington. 

Q. That was so I—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you indicted by the United States court?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Have you been arraigned under the indictment ?—A. I have been 
put under bond. 

Q. You have not fled yet ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. For what are you indicted ?—A. For interfering with the super¬ 
visor. 

Q. When were you indicted ?—A. I think it was a week or two after 
the election. 

Q. Has there been a term of the United States court since that time?— 
A. Yes, sir ; at Columbia. 

Q. Did you attend that term ?—A. No, sir; I diduot. I had my lawyer 
there. 

Q. You understood that an indictment was found against you by the 
grand jury?—A. No, sir; if there was, then I would have been tele¬ 
graphed, and I would have come to Columbia. 

Q. Have you understood that there was an indictment fonnd against 
you by the grand jury or not ?—A. There has not been. 

Q. You were proceeded against by information instead of by indict¬ 
ment ?—A. I have not heard of any, and I don’t think I was, either. 

Q. If you will examine you will find an information filed against you.— 
A. There may be now. 

Q. Who was the clerk at the poll ?—A. Mr. Laughton. 

Q. Who was the United States supervisor ?—A. Sam Hanna. 

Q. Did the poll-list kept by Hanna and the poll-list kept by the clerk 
agree ?—A. No, sir; I cannot tell you by what difference, but I heard 
it rumored on the streets afterwards. They never explained it that 
night. 

Q. How many ballots were cast ?—A. I think nine hundred and some 
odd. 

Q. Do you know exactly ?—A. I am certain it was nine hundred and 
some odd. 

Q. And the poll-list kept by your clerk corresponded with that ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How many Republican ballots ?—A. I could not give you any idea. 

Q. How many Democratic ballots ?—A. I could not tell you. 

Q. Which party had the majority ?—A. The Democrats had a ma¬ 
jority of twenty-two or twenty-three. 

Q. Prior to that election, which party usually had the majority?—A. 


<^oixnty.] TESTIMONY OF G. W. ARMS 451 

The Eepiiblicaii party. They ran it under their own machine at that 
time. 

Q. You were running* it under your machine this time ?—A. Well, we 
had our own Democratic managers. 

Q. You were running it under your own machine—I mean you had 
control of the ballot-boxes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you had control of the ballot boxes at the last election, did 
you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were the managers at your poll?—A. Myself, Mr. Hirsch, 
and Mr. Laughton. 

Q. You Avere all Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was the clerk ?—A. Will Laughton, one of the managers. 

(^. Who were the managers at that poll in ’7G ?—A. I could not tell 
you. 

Q. Were they all Ke])ublicans ?—A. I could not tell you that. 

Q, Who were the commissioners of election for that county in 1876 ? 
—A. I think, if I am not mistaken, Swails was one, and E. W. Ferris 
and Colonel McKutchiu. 

Q. Were they all Kepublicans?—^A. Two of them were, and one was 
a Democrat. 

Q. Do 3 oil know whether all the managers were Republican or not ? 
—A. ^7o, sir; thej^ were not entirely. 

Q. What do j^ou mean bA^ this statement of running it under their own 
machine?—A. Well, T knew the^^ had been charged sometimes. I was 
not around there much. 

Q. How man 3 * Azotes were cast at that poll in 1876?—A. I could not 
tell 3 ou. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was Hanna there Axhen 3 DU closed 3 'our count that night ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What did he sa 3 ^ as to the fairness with which it had been done ? 
—A. He remarked that it was fair, but if w e had left him to go off with 
his ideas about it he wanted to giA^e us some three hundred majority 
there. 

Q. Do you remember who the commissioners of election were last 
year ?—^A. I think, sir, Colonel McKutchin was one of them. 

Q. What were their politics ? Were there not two Democrats and 
one Republican?—A. Yes, sir; last 3 "ear; I believe so. 

Q. And how^ was it the election before ?—A. Tavo Republicans and 
one Democrat. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who was the Republican commissioner last 3 ^ear?—A. Jim Single- 
ton, or something like that. He w^as a colored man. 

Q. Do you know him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can he read or wTite ?—A. I can’t tell that. I don’t know any¬ 
thing about his business qualities. 

Q. Did 3^011 receiA^e 3 "our appointment from that board?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By whom Avas it signed ?—A. By the three commissioners. 

Q. It was signed by Mr. Singleton. I suppose it was signed by his 
cross-mark. 



452 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


M. J. HIKSCH. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27, 1879. 

M. J. Hirsch (wliite) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. At Kingstree. 

Q. How long have you lived there?—A. About 15 years. 

Q. What official position do you hold in that county or district ?—A. 
I am solicitor of the third district. 

Q. What are the duties of that place?—A. I am the prosecuting officer 
of the State. 

Q. What counties are embraced in that district?—A. Sumter, Claren¬ 
don, Williamsburg, and Georgetown. 

Q. With what political party have you acted heretofore in this State 
or county ?—A. With the Bepublican party. 

Q. Up to what time ?—A. Up to a month or two after the campaign 
of 1876. 

Q. Since that time with what party ?—A. With the Democratic party. 

Q. Were you in the county in the last political campaign?—A. I was 
through several counties. 

Q. And through the county of Williamsburg?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What part did you take in the campaign in that county ?—A. I 
took a very active part as a canvasser. 

Q. At political meetings ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Are you well acquainted with the population of that county ?—A. 
As a general thing. 

Q. Are you acquainted with a good many colored people in it ?—A. 
I am. 

Q. What division, if any, was there in the Republican party in that 
county ?—A. It originated in a dissension as to the choice of individuals 
for office. 

Q. Was there any division among the Republicans on account of that? 
—A. Yes, sir; some leading Republicans left the convention on account 
of the nominations. 

Q. Do you know what number of Democratic club organizations there 
were in the county ?—A. I don’t. 

Q. Do you know if they were attended by colored people to any ex¬ 
tent ?—A. I don’t. 

Q. What were the meetings you addressed ?—A. They were mass 
meetings. 

Q. Of what were they usually composed ?—A. Both white and col¬ 
ored citizens. 

Q. What indications did the colored people give in that county of 
dividing on politics this last year?—A. Well, sir, I used all the zeal I 
was capable of to induce them to divide, and the result was I was suc¬ 
cessful. 

Q. At these meetings was there any number of colored people that 
seemed to take an active part ?—A. A'es, sir; for instance, at one meet¬ 
ing the Republican chairman of the precinct, after I had gone, openly 
announced his affiliation with the Democratic party, and made a speech 
to that effect. 

Q. Was he a colored man ?—A. Yes, sir; a black man. 

Q. Do you know about what number of voters there are in that county, 
as shown by the last election ?—A. I think that the Republican majority 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. HIRSCH. 453 

of that county, up to the election of 1878, was between six and seven 
hundred. 

Q. What was the whole vote of the county, or about ?—A. I could 
not say for certain, for I have forgotten the figures. 

Q. In the last canvass and election, from your knowledge of the people 
of the county, what number of colored voters do you say acted with the 
Democratic party f—A. I could not say. 

Q. Give your best judgment about it?—A. The result of the election 
shows it. 

Q. Have you any means of verifying that from the public feeling of 
the county ?—A. Well, I will say this as an indication, that theretofore 
it has been very seldom that the colored people would, as a general 
thing, attend other than Republican meetings. During the canvass of 
1878, however, there was not a meeting I attended but that colored Re¬ 
publicans largely outnumbered the white citizens. That was an indica¬ 
tion, if not of a change of sentiment, at least of a desire to hear. Also 
in Georgetown, on the Waucommon River, where it has not been known 
for other than Republican meetings to be held, yet upon my canA^ass I 
was receiA ed there by 80, I think, colored men, aa ith red shirts on, typ¬ 
ical of theii* change of political sentiment. 

Q. That was your club uniform ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it worn by colored and AAhite alike ?—A. Yes, sir; that is, all 
members of the clubs. 

Q. You say that until the last election the county had been controlled 
by the Republican party ?—A. Yes, sir; between six and seA^en hundred 
majority. 

Q. Had any dissatisfaction grown up in that county for the manner in 
which the Repubheans conducted the business of the county ?—A. Dis¬ 
satisfaction had groAvn up in this for instance, I, being a prominent 
man, took part in the convention of 1876, and I was anxious that the peo¬ 
ple should haA^e good officers. I was anxious that the county should be 
controlled by good officers, men who were competent to discharge their 
duties. My choice was taken up. The result was that I was disgusted 
myself. The county commissioners’ office is at the head of the machin¬ 
ery, and they control things as they j^lease. 

"Q. They leA^y the assessments ?—A. Yes, sir; and the disbursement 
of the county funds. 

Q. What class of men had been holding office up to that time ?—A. 
jVIen of a A^ery inferior quality. 

Q. Could they read and write ?—A. I judge they could, because they 
would not have ])ut any one in office unless they could liaA^e done so. 

Q. How does tlie present administration of county affairs compare 
with what it was before the Democrats came into power there ?—A. I 
can only speak as far as my own knowledge goes, and to this extent, that, 
as the prosecuting officer, ITiave prosecuted some of the old officials on 
the charge of corruption and connivance with others in corruption, and 
I haA’e coiiA icted them. 

Q. Republican officials ?—A. Yes, sir; some of them. I haA^e now 18 
or UO imlictments in my hands to prosecute others. As far as the pres¬ 
ent board is concerned they are under legal adAdsement and I have no 
right to speak of their actions until I inA Cstigate them. 

Q. What kind of cases are instituted against the county officers ?—A. 
Many kinds. 

Q.^Atwliat time did they begin ?—A. Within the last six or seA^en 
years back, some of them. In fact, I know indictments presented by 
the managers a good while ago. 


454 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsbnrfi: 


Q. It is your duty to present them in court after they present them?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you acquainted with Mr. Swails ?—A. Yes, sir; I was. 

Q. For what length of time have you known him ?—A. Ever since he 
has been in the county. 

Q. What was his character as to being peaceable or violent 
Well, sir, up to the canvass or a short time after the canvass of ^70— 
after the election—I regarded him no more than any other. 

Q. Did any i)olitical difterence exist between you ?—A. None at all that 
I know of. We canvassed the counties generally together. He had one 
portion of the county and I had the other. After the committee on frauds, 
however, had made their report, I then cut adrift from him, and that 
was what caused my action in endeavoring to enlighten the people of 
the county. 

Q. With what did the committee on frauds charge him ?—A. With 
various offenses. One charge was of bribery as a senator of the legisla¬ 
ture. Now, even then I might have taken those as ex-parte statements 
and not believed them, but the fact of his resigning was presumptive 
evidence to me that he could not stand an investigation. 

Q. Were those charges made publicly against him in the county ?—A. 
They were. I made them myself. 

Q. Were there any proofs?—A. I exhibited the proofs of them. I had 
the checks in my possession. 

Q. Were those checks drawn on the bank in Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir j 
with his indorsement on the back of them. 

Q. By whom were they drawn ?—A. I don’t remember the name. 

Q. What was the charge ?—A. If I am not mistaken, that they were 
drawn by Mr. Woodruff. 

Q. What claims or charges were made against him ?—A. Some print¬ 
ing claim—the Eepublican Printing Company. 

Q. Was that institution a Eepublican institution ?—A. I do not- know 
as to that. 

Q. It was called the Eepublican Printing Company”?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was it not understood to be owned principally by the colored house 
and colored senate ?—A. I don’t know that. 

Q. What was the general character of the canvass and election in 
your county last year to as being disorderly or orderly?—A. Every meet¬ 
ing I attended was an orderly one. Every mass-meeting I attended was^ 
orderly. 

Q. How did the election pass off?—A. Peaceably and quietly. 

Q. Was there any interference with voters at the polls ?—A. I did not 
see any, if there was. 

Q. What knowledge ha ve you that colored Democrats were interfered 
with by colored Eepublicans?—A. Well, sir, my attention has been 
called to the fact that an ordained minister was ejected from his church 
because he did not support the Eepublican ticket, although he was a 
Eepublican. 

Q. Any more instances brought to your attention ?—A. Not that I 
can recollect. 

Q. How have peace and order in that district been since it came under 
Democratic control compared with what they were before ? How has the 
criminal calendar compared with the criminal calendar before?—A. 
Well, sir, I take the circuit around, and where I used to have 20 cases 
to conduct I do not have two. 

Q. And as to peace and good order?—A. My attention has not been 
called to anything against it, as an officer. 


CDnnty.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. HIRSCH. 


415 


Q. I will ask yon if the allegations of Swails as to his iiiistreatment 
ill the county were referred to yon by authority, and if yon made an in¬ 
vestigation of them ?—A. I was absent from the comity at the timetliese 
alleged olienses were said to have been committed. Shortly after my 
return I received an official commnnication from the governor, referring 
the Swails charges to me, with directions to investigate them. I did so. 

Q. Was this commnnication accompanied by a copy of the charges ?— 
A. No, sir 5 Swails’ own commnnication was referred to me by the gov¬ 
ernor. 

Q. What investigation did yon make ?—A. I summoned every one 
whom 1 conld ascertain was present at any of the jilaces where these 
offenses were said to have been committed. For instance, the White 
Oak meeting was said to be called in the interest of Joseph H. Eainey, 
the Republican candidate for Congress. That was one of the charges. 
In that case I examined the president of the clnb and I examined 
several of the attendants on the meeting, and the proof was taken in 
sworn statements that it was not a meeting called to advocate Rainey 
or any other man ; it was simidy a Republican club meeting. 

Then another charge was that he was arrested by Doctor Byrd and 
others on account of liis advocacy of J. H. Rainey. I will say this, that 
the men I examined were residents. I examined those parties who were 
present with Swails on that occasion, and their sworn statements were 
that there was no arrest made; that those parties rode up to Swails on 
the public road after the meeting had adjourned, he riding with his little 
son and others, and that he voluntarily agreed to ride into Kingstree 
with them. 

Q. Tliese parties had not been there at all ?—A. No, sir j they had 
not been at the meeting, that I know of. I am giving you the state¬ 
ments now of those parties who were with Swails at the time of the 
alleged arrest—that he agreed to ride in witli them and go to the court¬ 
house Avith them, and there had, therefore, been no arrest made. 

The tliird charge was that after the arrest in tlie town he had made 
his way to the court-house and called upon a trial-justice, one of Gov¬ 
ernor Hampton’s appointees, for protection, and he refused to go out to 
him. In investigating that charge I examined none but Republicans, the 
sheriff and the school commissioners, and the testimony elicited from 
them Avas that SAvails Avas not arrested at any time until after the affray 
Avas over, and that he did not call upon the governor’s appointee for 
protection. 

The fourth charge Avas that a committee had waited upon him at his 
house and ordered him to leave within 10 days, under pain of being 
killed or murdered. In iiiA^estigating that charge I examined some men 
who Avere there, and I Avould say that I Avould not have done it if I could 
haA^e got Republican testimony. Pinckney, whom we called upon, Avas 
sick in bed. I sent him word that I would go around to his house with 
the trial-justice and take his testimony from the bed. I went around 
and Avlieii Ave got there he said his head a\ as in such a condition and he 
Avas sick, and he (‘ould not giA^e any testimony. So 1 had to take what 
testimony I (*ould because I had no other. Some of the gentlemen who 
waited upon liim testified before me, and they said that no set of reso¬ 
lutions Avas read to Swails; that tliere was no desire upon the part of 
the committee that he should leaA'C the county, under penalty of death; 
but they did say this: that he, liaAung made certain incendiary speeches 
in the court-house as to burning and killing, if any one was killed or 
blood Avas spilled, or any residence or building was burned, that he 
would be held responsible, and to aA^oid that they advised him to leave. 


456 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsbarg 


Those were the statements, and I incorporated them in my report to the 
governor. 

By Mr. CA:vrERON: 

Q. What is Swails’ profession ?—A. He is a lawyer. 

Q. Has he practiced his profession ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYho was his partner !—A. I was, to my blushing shame be it 
said. 

Q. How long were you his paitner!—A. For two or three years. 

Q. When did you dissolve!—A. In Columbia. 

Q. At what time ?—A. When he was in Columbia attending the ses¬ 
sions of the legislature. I took the office- 

Q. I don’t want that. Tell me the time.—A. I think it was in the 
spring of 1877. 

Q. Did Swails control a newspaper any time !—A. YY^s, sir, be did ; 
of which I was the associate editor. 

Q. How long were you the asvsociate editor of that paper?—A. For 
three or four years, and perhaps longer. 

Q. When did you commence acting in that capacity?—A. When the 
l)aper was first originated. 

Q. When was it?—A. I cannot say exactly; three or four years ago. 

Q. I want to find the time if I can.—A. I don’t remember. 1 don’t 
think it was any earlier than 1871. 

Q. Who was the irhicii)al editor of the paper?—A. I did the princi¬ 
pal writing. 

Q. Well, nominally, he was. You were called the principal editor, 
but really he was?—A. Yes, sir; on certain matters he was principal 
editor. 

Q. When did your connection cease with him?—A. About the same 
time—in the spring of 1877. 

Q. Then you had acted as editor for six or seven j ears?— A. If the 
paper started in 1870 or 1871. 

Q. Did you have occasion to denounce Swails during that time ?—A. 
17o, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You knew about the Potter raid?—A. Ko, sir; I never heard of it. 

Q. When did you become a resident in that county ?—A. After the 
war. " . 

Q. Al)out what time?—A. In 1800 or 1807. 

Q. Are you a native of this State ?—A. I am a native of Georgetown. 

(^. Where were you in the war ?—A. I was in the Confederate service. 

Q. Have you ever examined the report made by that Committee on 
Frauds,” as it was called?—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Were any charges made against you in that report?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Were you not charged with having bought lands and sold them to 
the State at a high price?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Has no such a charge been brought against you ?—A. It has. 

Q. By whom?—A. By public rumor. 

Q. Was it charged that you did that while you were acting with 
Swails as his partner ?—A. Ko, sir; I was not then. 

Q. Was the charge made, that while you were Swails’s partner, and 
the associate editor of his paper, you purchased land, and sold it very 
high ?—A. Ko, sir. ’ 

Q. When was it charged that you did purchase that land, and so sold 
it?—A. I think in 1870. I want to make an explanation here, to the 
effect that there was no charge made against myself. The charges were 



TESTIMONY OF M. J. HIRSCH. 457 

t 

made against him as subland commissioner—against him^ not against 
me. N^o charges were ever made against myself. 

Q. Were they true or false ?—A. They were not true, so far as I know, 
and I think I do know. 

Q. For what office were you nominated in ’7(> ?—A. Solicitor of the 
third district—third judicial circuit. 

« Q. By which party were you nominated ?—A. By the Bepublican 
party. 

Q. Were you nominated at a convention ?—A. I was, sir. 

Q. At wliat time, as near as you can fix the time, were you nomina¬ 
ted ?—A. In N^ovember, I think, or perhaps a month or two prior to that. 

Q. Did you canvass the circuit that year ?—A. I think I made two 
speeches. 

Q. In which county or counties ?—A. I think I made one in Sumter, 
and perhaps one in Williamsburg. 

Q. Which party did you support in those speeches ?—A. I supported 
the Bepublican party. 

Q. Did you support the Bepublican ticket that year?—A. I did. I 
seconded the nomination of Daniel H. Chamberlain for governor. 

Q. You stated in rei)ly to a (piestion that when you first entered upon 
the duties of your office you had occasion tO prosecute a great many 
people charged with offenses. Now you have a much smaller number ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When you first entered upon the duties of your office, was the 
office salaried or feed ?—A. Both. 

Q. For what did you receive fees at that time ?—A. At that time the 
State paid $1,000 a year for salary to the prosecuting officer, and that 
officer was allowed a fee of $10 for every case that was docketed. 

Q. Is it changed now ?—Y. Yes, sir; it is salaried now, and no fees; 
and let it be understood that I found the law in that condition when 1 
went in. 

Q. And the cases have fallen oft since that time?-^A. Yes, sir; but I 
want to say not from the salary. 

Q. O, no; no one would ever suppose that, of course. Then you say 
you investigated the matter of Swails’s alleged arrest ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you came to the conclusion that he was not arrested at all?— 
A. I did not come to a conclusion at all. As a matter of course, in 
making a final report, I based it upon their statements. 

Q. How did you understand that he was induced to ride into town 
with the red-shirts ?—A. They rode up to him and asked him to ride 
into town, and they all agreed to that. 

Q. What did the testimony show was said ?—A. Merely that they had 
ridden up to him and said, “Mr. Swails, we want you to ride into town 
with us,” and he said, “Very well; 1 will go with you.” 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you reported on this matter to the governor ?—A. I did, sir. 

Q. You then reported all the cliarges to be false ?—A. Yes, sir; from 
his own witnesses. 

(^. For instance, the White Oak meeting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was a meeting called for Bainey ?—A. They held it was- a 
meeting called for general matters. 

Q. You tliought it was a meeting for Bainey, who was the nominee 
on the Bepublican ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You thought that the only thing in dispute was not whether the 
meeting was disturbed, but whether it was for Bainey or not?—A. No, 


458 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


['Williamsburg 


sir; the statement is this: that the meeting was called to order and 
Swails had made a speech, and that after he had got througli, Mr. Nel¬ 
son came in the church where they were holding the meeting and asked 
if they would be allowed to divide time with the Kepublicans, and they 
refused to do it; and that Nelson then went out and the meeting ad¬ 
journed. 

Q. Now, what was there in Swails’s charge before the governor that 
was not true ?—A. I don’t know that any of the charges were true. 

Q. Did you jiass upon any other point than that regarding Jiainey f— 
A. I passed upon the whole thing. 

Q. Who called the investigation '?—A. 1 did, at the instance of others. 

Q. You have not heard any witnesses before this committee testify 
about that ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say no arrest was made. Did you treat that in its tecdini- 
cal meaning ? Do you mean that there was no compulsion on his part; 
that he willingly followed with the crowd ?—A. No, sirj he was not 
forced. 

Q. Did you report, and do you now say, that the evidence before you 
showed that he voluntarily accompanied them back to town ?—A. Yes^ 
sir. 

Q. Willingly ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there no comjmlsion ?—A. There was no show of any. 

(^,. Was there any proof before you that when he got to the court¬ 
house he did not run away ?—A. The proof was that when he got to 
the court-house he got olf his horse and claimed protection. 

Q. What was the proof ?—A. That he got off his horse and went in. 

Q. There was no proof that he got away from them ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did he attempt to go away ?—A. lani telling you now that he did 
attempt to go away. 

Q. You have no doubt that he was willing ?—A. 1 said he agreed to 
go into town. 

Q. You said he voluntarily went.—A. Well, he did not object. When 
he got into the town instead of going with them as he had agreed to do, 
as the statement is, he left the puni]) right at the corner and went for 
the court-house. They did not deem that he had (*arried out his agree¬ 
ment with them, and when he attempted to get off' his horse to evade 
them, then the general melee ensued. 

Q. Then he did attemi)t to evade them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. That was a breach of good faith on his part.—A. They thought so. 

Q. You reported the whole thing, on all the charges *as made by 
him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were a late partner of his ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And editor of the paper ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Partner in the real-estate business ?—A. I did not say that. 

Q. The paper was owned by a company ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you derive any profit ?—A. No," sir; itwasmoney out of pocket. 

Q. Did you get a salary ?—A. No, sir; I got nothing. 

Q. You were in politics from 1871—or how long ?—A. I think 1 was 
waited upon in ’69 for an office. 

Q. You dissolved partnership with Swails in ’77 ?—A. I think that 
was the time. 

Q. When did you join the Democracy ?—A. I don’t know that I have 
ever joined the Democra(*y. 

Q. You have voted their ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 


Connty.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. J. HIRSCH. 


459 


Q. Did you ruu for any office at tliis last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You made a speech f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Actuated by a desire to help the Republicans ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t think you are a Republican ?—A. I don’t think there is 
any diffierence of principles between the Republicans and the Democrats 
of the State. The difference is among the men. 

Q. You think you were successfid in getting a large number of colored 
people to vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. I think so. 

Q. How many people were at your i)recinct ?—A. I was not up at the 
voting place. 

Q. Did you not vote?—A. I did, but I came down. 

Q. How long AY ere you at the polls ?—A. Not very long. 

Q. Did you see any colored men voting ?—A. I can state that the 
very first man that voted there was a colored man who Amted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. 

Q. Who Avas he ?—A. Gleason Knight. 

Q. Who else was up there ?—A. 1 don’t know. 

Q. You think 700 or 800 A oted it in the county ?—A. I didn’t say so. 

Q. There must have been something of a vote ?—A. Some may not 
haA^e A'oted at all, and then it would haA e been changed. 

Q. What was tlie Democratic majority ?—A. If I am not mistaken, I 
think it Avas between 700 and 800. 

Q. What was the Republican majoritv in ’70 ?—A. Between GOO and 
700. 

Q. You account for that on the theory that the colored people Amted 
the Denuxtratic ticket ?—A. I accounted for it this Avay; that A^ery 
many Amted that ticket or else many did not vote at all. 

Q. Did you haA^e anything to do with Swails’ going away?—A. No, sir; 
I was not tliere in the county. 

Q. Was there any difference between the principles of the Republican 
party and of the Democratic party from 1870 up to 1877?—A. Yes, sir; 
I think there Avas a difference in their party AYeapons. 

Q. What AYas that?—A. I don’t remember, but I think there was a 
difference. 

Q. Did you support the Republican party during that time ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Because the principles adAmcated by the Republican party, in your 
opinion, were better than the Democratic ?—A. I thought they Avere in 
some instaiKjes. I thought they were carried out to the interests of the 
people. 

Q. AMiat principles did the Democratic party adA ocate at that time 
that they haA’e since ceased to advocate ?—A. None at all. It is a (pies- 
tion of the men AYho are to carry out the principles. 

Q. Were the men who were trying to carry out the Republican prin¬ 
ciples from 1870 to 1877 better tlian those ayIio Avere trying to carry out 
the Democratic principles ?—A. I didn’t say that. I think they were the 
same class of men. Up to that time I thouglit they were men capable 
of administering honest gOA ernment, but after the iuA estigation I did not 
so think. 

Q. In reference to this charge which was made against Swails, you 
stated you saAv the checks, and you said something with reference to the 
printing concern—that it AYas a Republican printing institution ?—A. I 
think so; I would not be positive about that. 

Q. Don’t you know that the cliarge was made that the News and 
Courier” in this city was benefited by the steal, and had a part in it?— 
A. The committee didn’t say that. 


460 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Have you not heard it?—A. I have heard that as a public rumor^ 
but the iuvestigation was instituted by Mr. Dawson himself. I merely 
want to say that the charges were rumors. 

Q. So it is not entirely safe to rely upon rumor in this country?—A. 
^To, sir. 

Q. Charges were made against you ?—A. NTo, sir. 

Q. Swails was charged with that of which he was not guilty ?—A. I 
don’t know. 

Q. And there was another charge against the ^^News and Courier” of 
which it was not guilty?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that the charges cannot always be relied upon ?—A. No, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You knew what company it was that did this printing?—A. Yes, 
«ir. 

Q. There were professed payments to the company that had never 
been made ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did Swails get hold of this money ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Who drew the checks?—A. I stated awhile ago that I could not 
exactly remember. I can tell you upon what bank the check was drawn. 

Q. Was it the clerk, Woodruff?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. So you don’t know anything about it ?—A. No, sir; I don’t remem¬ 
ber exactly. 

Q. Nor do you remember for what the check was given, except the 
bare fact that somebody said it was given for corrupt purposes ?—A. 
That is all. 

Q. Did you publish any laws for this State while you were running a 
newsjiaper ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How were you paid ?—A. By a draft to the business manager of 
the paper. 

Q. Who got the money ?—A. He did. 

Q. Who is the present manager ?—A. Mr. Lewis, the sheriff*. 

Q. Who signed that check ! —A. I don’t remember; I have an idea, 
but I don’t know. 

Q. Who do you think?—A. I think Mr. Woodruff did it. I had no 
taking of the moneys; the business manager did that. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You think the Democrats nominate better men tlian the Bepubli- 
cans do, and that is the reason of your change ?—A. I did not say that. 

Q. I think you said there was no difference in the jirinciples, but with 
you it was the men?—A. I meant this, that the men who had been de¬ 
tected in crime were not the men to lead a party, and I could not affiliate 
with them. 

Q. Well, the Eepublicans nominated good men for some offices?—A. 
I suppose so. 

Q. They nominated a good man when they nominated the solicitor of 
the district?—A. Well, I don’t abuse the public trust. 

Q. A good man in ’76, too, did they not ?—A. Well, I am not an ego¬ 
tist. 

Q. You say that it sometimes happens that they nominate good men ? 
—A. Yes, sir; in various offices. 

Q. I want to understand about this White Oak affray About what 
number of Democrats did you say formed Swails’s escort on that occa¬ 
sion ?—A. I think some 40 or 50 men. 

Q. Were they white men?—A. Some were white and some colored. 


GonntY.] TESTIMO^Y OF M. J. HIRSCH. 461 

Q. Of those, who invited him to ride ?—A. He was escorted by both 
colored and white men. 

Q. Were the colored men who were with him invited guests, the same 
as himself?—A. No, sir; they just went with him. 

Q. How many white men were there that escorted him back!—A. I 
think about forty or fifty that I remember. 

Q. Did the evidence show that they had red shirts on ?—A. A good 
many of them had. 

Q. Did the evidence show that they carried arms ?—A. I don’t think 
they had. 

Q. Did you make any inquiry upon that subject !—A. No, sir; I don’t 
think I did. 

Q. Did you not consider that a material point in the subject under 
consideration!—A. Not necessarily. 

Q. And the evidence showed you that these gentlemen had given 
Swails an invitation to ride into town, and he accepted it!—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Anything more than that!—A. No, sir. 

Q. He agreed to ride with them !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And did ride with them until he got to town !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And when he got to town, as the evidence shows, he then con¬ 
cluded he would leave !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they were so much attached to him they did not want him to 
leave!—A. The evidence did not show that. 

Q. W^ell, they were unwilling he should leave!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Thereux)on there was some little trouble; some got shot ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Their anxiety was so great that they shot bim to keep him there!— 
A. I have not investigated- 

Q. What does the evidence show as to what this man who was shot 
was doing !—A. That a mel6e ensued, and during its continuance he 
was shot. 

Q. Did the evidence show that these men were willing and would help 
Swails to get away !—A. The evidence was that upon his attempt to get 
away, a melee ensued. 

Q. Give us the particulars.—A. I cannot go into the particulars of it. 

Q. Now, the question I ask you is this; What was this man doing who 
was shot when Swails wanted to get away! Was he aiding Swails to 
get away, or was he trying to induce him to remain-with these people!— 
A. I don’t know. 

Q. He was a colored man !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the evidence show he was a friend of Swails!—A. Yes, sir; 
I know that of my own knowledge. 

Q. The attentions of these men were so pressing that this friend of 
Swails got shot in their anxiety !—A. 1 don’t know whether he was shot 
by friend or foe. 

Q. Have you investigated that matter!—A. I have not. 

Q. That occurred in October last!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. No arrest has been made !—A. No, sir. 

Q. The man has recovered !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You think that an investigation was made which showed to you 
that Swails was a corrupt man!—A. Yes, sir; the evidence showed 
that. 

Q. Where was this investigation made !—A. In Columbia. 

Q. When !—A. Last year. 


462 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[TVilliamaburg 


Q. At what time ?—A. I cau’t remember. The committee was in cou- 
tinnoiis session. 

Q. It was after the adjournment of the legislature !—A. I canT re¬ 
member the time; I would not state. 

Q. Was the investigation made during the session or after the adjourn¬ 
ment ?—A. O! it was during the recess. 

Q. When did that recess occur ?—A. Between the sessions. 

Q. When did the first adjourn and the second commence ?—A. I think 
it was between the session of’76 and the session of’77-’78. 

Q. Now, can you remember when the session of ’76-’77 ended? Was 
it in February, March April, May, or June ?—A. I don’t think any of 
them beyond March. 

Q. After the adjournment, say in March, this committee on frauds was 
in session, and among other frauds investigated was this alleged fraud 
of Swails in taking a bribe ?—A. Yes, sir; I suppose so. 

Q. Where did you get the testimony ?—A. I don’t know; there were 
pamphlets sent all around the city. 

Q. What time was it ?—A. I don’t remember. 

Q. Was it not some time in the summer?—^A. I could not remember 
the session. 

Q. What is your belief ?—A. That it was received some time during 
the year of ’77. 

Q. But you can’t tell when during that vear?—A. No, sir; I can’t 
tell. 

Q. Did this same committee on frauds investigate the matter of these 
school lands ?—A. I suppose they investigated everything. 

Q. Do you remember what they reported about these lands ?—A. I 
don’t. 

Q. Did tliey report against Swails on this subject ?—A. If they did I 
never saw it. 

Q. That committee, or the majority of them, were Democrats ?—A. 
The chairman was a Bepubllcan. 

Q. Was the majority Eepublican?—A. I suppose all were Democrats 
except him. 

Q. They reported against Swails on this subject of bribery ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that was the report. 

Q. The session here of’76-’77 was the first session after the inaugura¬ 
tion of the Hami)ton government ?—^^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. During this campaign all these charges had been made i)ubUc 
throughout the State?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And this committee on frauds was organized by the first Demo¬ 
cratic legislature under the Hampton government ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they found that Swails was corrupt ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You knew, of your own knowledge, that these charges against 
him as to these public lands were untrue?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he deny the truth of the charges to you ?—A. He never spoke 
to me on the subject. 

Q. You and he were partners?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you dissolved before this report was made?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I thougiit you said it was on account of that report that you dis¬ 
solved.—A. No, sir; I was going to make a statement to you why, and 
you didn’t let me. 

Q. Then you did not dissolve your partnership because of this inves¬ 
tigation?—A. No, sir; it was before that. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Will you state to the committee why you. dissolved your partner- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. S. HEY WEED. 


463 


ship ?—A. Yes, sir; when an officer in this State is sworn into a position 
he takes an oblipition that he shall obey the laws and the constitution. 
In the spring of 1877, I think it was, there was a controversy as to who 
was governor of South Carolina. Tliere is a general provision in the 
constitution as to how that shall be settled. The board of canvassers 
went outside of their duty in endeavoring to entertain a sort of juris¬ 
diction which the law did not confide to them, their duty being a merely 
ministerial one. They have the right to appeal to the legislature. I 
maintained that Hampton was elected governor of the State until the 
legislature decided otherwise. Swails took a difierent view of the mat¬ 
ter, and upon that we separated. 

Q. It was because you differed, then?—A. Y^es, sir; I recognized 
Hampton as governor of the State, and he did not exactly like that. 

Q. He did not like that decision?—A. No, sir; and I did not like 
his. 

Q. And thereupon you agreed to separate?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Precisely.—A. Yes; that is the explanation I proposed to make. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Y^ou thought Hampton was elected ?—A. AYell, sir, the law said 
he was elected—according to the law. 

Q. What law said he was elected ?—A. Well, sir, the provision of the 
law regulating elections in South Carolina, according to my views. 

Q. That is a matter that must be decided by the legislature ?—A. Yes, 
sir; in certain contingencies. 

Q. Well, all such contests are left to the legislature?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. There is no appeal from that?—A. No, sir; I don’t think there is. 

Q. It is final ?—A. I thmk so. 

Q. You proposed to recognize Hampton before the legislature passed 
upon that question ?—A. For the reason that the board of canvassers 
had gone outside of the law which they swore to suiiport. 

Q. Thereupon you split ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When did you announce that you would support the Democratic 
ticket ?—A. I think it was after the fraud committee made their report. 

Q. You don’t know when the fraud committee made their report ?— 
A. No, sir; I cannot tell. I was in Columbia. 

Q. Is that the report to which you have made reference, where Swails 
is‘charged with having received money (showing the report) ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Mr. McDonald. I offer it in connection with his testimony, because 
he has been examined with reference to that report and what it con¬ 
tained ; also as a public document of the State. 


J. S. HEYWEED. 

Charleston, S. C., Jannary 27, 1879. 

J. S. Heyw^erd (white) sw^orn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. At Kingstree. 

Q. What is your occupation at Kingstree ?—A. I am editor of the 
Kingstree Star and Eagle. 

Q. Wliat are the politics of the Kingstree Star and Eagle ?—A. 
Democratic, sir, I believe. 



464 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN I87P, 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Did you know Mr. Swails when he was living there ?—A. I used 
to know who he was; I saw him on the streets and knew him by sight. 

Q. Did you hear him at the Cross-Koads about the time the warrants 
were being issued for his arrest for bribery I —A. Xo, sir j I was not 
present at the meeting. 

Q. What was said in the community there as to what threats he had 
made ?—A. He was reported and currently believed to have said that 
if any interference happened or attempt was made by the Democrats to 
defeat it, as had been done with Sam Lee in Sumter, that hell would 
be raised and damnation w ould fall upon the Democrats of the county. 

Q. Were you present at the White Oak meeting, as it was called ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I think I was the first white man there. 

Q. State what took place at that meeting.—A. I went there to get an 
opportunity to put the Democratic side of the campaign before the col¬ 
ored people. We heard this meeting was going to take place, and we 
drove out there. I got there just after Swails 5 before he hitched his 
horse I got out and drove up. In about five minutes the meeting was 
called, and Mr. Nelson, who had driven there with me, went in and 
asked for permission to divide time. He was refused, and came out. I 
then decided to go in to listen to what they had to say, and I was told 
that we could not go in. I then asked to be allowed to stay by the 
church window to hear, and they told me ^‘No; it is against the law.^’ 
I then went off about twenty steps from the porch, and took a position 
by a tree, where I was leaning, and as I went off (they had established 
police around the building) one man was walking by me and another on 
the other side; and in a moment one of them said to the other, That 
white man has no business here; make him get off.” I said I didn’t 
want to make any interference, and I went off some thirty steps. The 
windows, however, were open, and I accomplished my purpose by listen¬ 
ing to what Swails said; and I heard nearly every word he said. 

Q. State what was the character of his address.—A. I don’t pretend 
to give everything. 

Q. Well, state substantially what he said.—A. Well, he said that the 
time would soon come when the convention would be called to nominate 
their candidates, and he thought it was i)roper for every man who would 
be a Kepublican to vote the Eepublican ticket; and this thing of divid¬ 
ing time could not be allowed, because Kepublicans, if they were true 
Kepublicans, could not sit down and listen to what the Democrats said; 
and they must not be allowed to be addressed by Democrats on politi¬ 
cal questions. That was what he said. I think what he said was very 
much controlled by the fact that as soon as he jumped off his horse I got 
out of my buggy, and he saw Democrats were there, and, therefore, he 
did not make a violent speech as he had been intending. 

Q. Was there any interruption by the Democrats?—A. No, sir, and 
none intended j and I consider that they were treated very well. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was that all the speech?—A. No, sir; I don’t believe it was. 

Q. That was the substance of it?—A. Yes, sir; as far as I can re¬ 
member. 

Q. Then there was nothing very violent in this speech?—A. No, sir j 
it was not violent, but it was calculated to do a great deal of harm, inso¬ 
much as it had a good deal of injustice and tended to strengthen face 
prejudices. 

Q. Which part of it do you think was objectionable?—A. That they 
should oppose the attempt on the Democratic side to dhude time. 


Coiinty.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. S. HEYWERD. 


465 


Q. He said this dividing time could not be allowed!—Yes, sir. 

Q. That is what he said about that!—A. Yes, sir; ‘Hhere is no true 
Republican should listen to Democratic speeches or to what Democrats 
had to say.” 

Q. That is it !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, where is the violence he suggested!—A. Well, I don’t know 
tliat he used any. 

Q. Did he suggest any!—A. Yes, sir; he suggested violence and re¬ 
sistance in case the Democrats insisted on putting their side before- 

Q. Now, what did he say—that they were to resist or that it could 
not be allowed!—A. He said more than that. 

Q. What did he say!—A. 1 can’t pretend to give the exact words. 

Q. Well, yon have given us as nearly as you can what he said ui)on 
the other point!—A. No, sir; I have given about the substance of what 
he said. I can’t give you the precise language. 

Q. You say, ^‘violence.” Had he been making any violent speech!— 
A. No, sir; that is, he didn’t suggest any wholesale condemnation, or 
anything of that kind. 

Q. You had not beard him before!—A. No, sir; but 1 was told by 
those who did hear him that that was the character of his speech. 

Q. How many wliite men besides yourself were present !—A. I think 
six, altogether. 

(). You thinlv the character of his speech was greatly changed from 
what it would have been if you had not been present ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why !—A. Because he thought we would hear what he had to say. 

Q. What, then, when you heard it!—A. AYell, he was getting into 
pretty bad odor on account of the violence which he had suggested. 

Q. In other words, you say he made a violent speecli.—A. No, sir. I 
mean to say that he had himself recognised the fact that he had been 
too violent^—that is, more violent than was sanctioned in politics. 

Q. He was toning down, but he still insisted that he would not divide 
time. Is that all you know of this aifair at White Oak!—A. Yes, sir; 
that was all of the affair at White Oak. 

Q. Do you knoAv anything about any subsequent proceedings grow¬ 
ing out of tliis—about anybody accompanying Swails ?—A. That had 
nothing to do with White Oak. 

Q. Was that afterward or about the same time!—A. At the same 
time. 

(^. Were you one of the parties ?—A. I was one of them; yes, sir. 

Q. How iiiany were there present at that time ?—A. I suppose there 
were about 40 men. 

Q. Where did they come from !—A. From another direction. They 
did not come from Kingstree. 

Q. Where did they come from was what I asked you.—A. You mean 
just immediately to this place ? 

Q. I mean from Avhat part of the county did they come ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. From your own county!—A. Some of them did. 

Q. What'part of that county!—Q. From the ujiper part. 

Q. Do you know!—A. I would be perfectly willing to answer, but I 
have only been there in Williamsburg since July. 

Q. Did you join that party ?—A. I was in the rear; they were on 
horseback. 

Q. Did some of them have on red shirts !—A. Some of them did. I 
don’t know that all of them liad. 

Q. Were they armed!—A. I think so; I don’t know so. 

30 s C 



466 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. What proportion were armed?—A. I think the majority of them 
were armed. 

Q. Where did you next see Swails after this meeting?—A. I saw him 
when the procession stopped. 

Q. When they rode past ?—A. Ko, sir; I was not there at all then. 

Q. When did they ride up ?—A. They rode by the meeting when he 
stopped. They did not come up until after. 

Q. Now, these men inter\iewed Swails; where was it ?—A. 1 will tell 
you. 

Q. Well, go ahead.—A. The meeting was broken up and these men 
rode up to the church. 

Q. I understand that.—A. I think then they took the road to Kiugs- 
tree, and Swails was a mile and a half ahead of them. They on horse¬ 
back rode on. I got in the buggy, of course, and was clear in the rear. 
They overtook Swails, and, as I understand, rode along with him. 

Q. Were you not there when they overtook him?—A. No, sir j I was 
not. 

Q. How far behind were you?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. In sight?—A. No, sir; but after they overtook him we slowly rode 
along, and the procession was halted before they got to Kingstree. I 
got out and went up ahead of the procession to see what was going on, 
and Swails agreed to ride through the town. 

Q. Who appeared to be in charge of these men seeing he should not 
be hurt?—A. 1 don’t know. 

Q. I want to hear what occurred.—A. He simply agreed to ride with 
them through the town. 

By Mr. CAMERON: 

Q. What did Byrd say to them in reference to riding through the 
town ? Swails must have said something to them before he agreed to 
it ?—A. He just stopped the procession and rode in front, and told Swails 
that he wanted him to ride through the town with him. Swails said, 
don’t like to do it.” Byrd told him there would be no harm happen 
to him. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. That he must do it?—A. I don’t think he said he must do it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How long did that party continue?—A. About five or ten minutes. 
They halted themselves, and the proposition was made that if he would 
assent they would start off. 

Q. Did I understand you that there was some little urging to make 
him go ? He didn’t willingly consent to ride ?—A. He made no objection. 

Q. None at all?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You are confident of that?—A. I was there and heard him. 

Q. He said he would like to ride back ?—A. Yes, sir; he did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. A moment ago you said he objected ?—A. To what—^to ride through 
the town ? 

Q. You said a moment ago that Swails said, I don’t like to do it,” 
and Byrd told him that if he would go, no harm would happen to him. 
Now you say that he did not make any objection at all, but went will¬ 
ingly.—A. I say that as soon as he found there was no harm coming to 
liim he assented perfectly and readil;y. 

Q. Then he did object to going in one instance ?—A. He did object, I 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JACK EPPS. 467 

believe, but 1 suppose under the impression that some harm would come 
to him. 

Q. Then he assented ?—A. Yes, sir; just the same as if I asked you 
to take a ride with me. 

You followed along’ to the court-house ?—A. I got to the rear 
again when the procession came up. 

Q. Did you see Swails leave the company I—A. I did not j I was in 
the rear. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Mr. Byrd said to Swails that he wanted him to ride to the court- 
hou.se with him ?—A. Ko, sir; through the town. 

Q. Did he say he wanted him to ride through the town —A. Yes, su\ 

Q. Swails objected at first f—A. He wanted to know what they were 
going to do with him, and Byrd said, ^^Ko harm will happen to you, I 
promise you that,” or words to that effect. 

Q. You considered that was an invitation from one gentleman to an¬ 
other?—A. I don’t know about the gentleman,” but it was not at all 
wrong. 

Q. Such as you would give to a neighbor if you wanted him to ride f 
—A. Ko, sir j I can’t say that. 

Q. It was rather too polite?—A. Well, I don’t think I would care 
about Swails riding with me. 

Q. Do you know they wanted him to ride with them ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Was it a compliment to him ?—A. I think it was. 

Q. You think.” Have you any doubt about it ?—A. 1 don’t know 
anything about their intention. 

Q. You think, however, that the riding with him was a compliment ? 
—A. Pretty much so, sir. 

Q. You don’t think it was intended that way ?—^A. I don’t know any¬ 
thing about their intention. 

Q. You said you thought it was a compliment; do you think it was 
intended as a compliment ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. You think it was his impetuosity that prevented him from accept¬ 
ing in the first place ?—A. I think not; I think that as soon as he 
thought he was safe he was willing. 

Q. Did you ride through the town with them !—A. I rode at the end 
of the procession. 

Q. You continued on up to the time the trouble occurred ?—A. Yes, 
m\ 

Q. After he had ridden to the town he changed his mind and he de¬ 
cided to leave ?—A. He was induced by others. 

Q. They insisted upon his continuing with them ?—A. I don’t know, 
sir; I was not there. 


JACK EPPS. 

Charleston, S. C., 

Monday^ January 27, 1879. 

Jack Epps (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Williamsburg. 

Q. What is your calling ?—A. I just preach. 

Q. What denomination ?—A. Free-will Baptist. 


468 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williambbur 


Q. How long have you been a minister in that (lenomination ?—A. 
About two years. 

Q. Where were you duiing the last political canvass in tliat county ? 
—A. I was at home in the county. 

Q. What are your politics, or what have they been ?—A. I belongs to 
the Kepublican party. 

Q. Hid you vote at the last election!—A. No, sir. 

Q. State why you did not vote, and what trouble you had about it, if 
any.—A. Well, I did not care about going that day to the polls, and I 
staid home. 

Q. Why did you not care to go to the polls !—A. Because I wanted to 
see which was the best, and I didn’t go. I didn’t want to vote any harm; 
I wanted to do all the good I could, and I staid at home. 

Q. Was there any comidaint made about your staying at home!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. State what took place afterward.—A. Well, they came to my 
house. 

Q. Who came to your house !—A. The members of the church. 

Q. Colored people!—A. Yes, sir. And they had heard before they 
got there that I hadn’t went out to vote, and they came and asked me 
my reasons why I did not go; and I said I did not feel like going to vote. 
They talked to me very much about not going, and said I was bribed. 
I told them they did not know. I told them that Mr. Staggers, the man 
they said had bribed me, did not know I was at home. I said he knew 
nothing at all about my staying at home until he heard the fuss about 
it, that I did not vote. After that, as quick as I commenced to })reach 
to them they would take their hats and leave the church. Mr. Jones, 
the local preacher, came there and asked me the same question, and I 
told him the same. ‘AVell,” he said, ^^we are not done with you yet, 
and we will talk it over at church.” I went to the church, and the 
preacher took me off and told me he did not want me to have anything 
to say here to-day. 

Q. What was the preacher’s name !—Mr. Wash Burgess. My wife 
was there, but I started home. I thought 1 would wait down in the 
woods until the preaching was done, and when my wife came along we 
would go home together. Some few came along and talked with me, 
and after church they met me in the path and said that they did not 
think I was the man I was, to not go and vote; and they said the men 
have laid so much faith in me, and I had deceived them veiy much, and 
I had been leading them down to hell, they said. Well, I thought that 
was very bad. They talked a heap. I did not mind that still, for I 
thought they would soon quit it. I went back to the church the next 
Sunday, and sat on a log outside until they got ready to preach, and 
then I went in the pulpit, and the preacher ordered the deacon to keep 
me out of the pulpit. 

Q. Was that Mr. Wash. Burgess!—A. Yes, sir; and told me to go 
and take a seat with the rest. I came out and sat on the log, and asked 
one of the deacons if I didn’t have a right to the house of God, and he 
said, “ Yes,” 1 had a right. I then went back and sat down. I was not 
going in at first, but a man persuaded me, and then I went in and I 
talked with them and showed them that I was a free man and had a 
right to vote as I saw fit and proper, and if I did not want to vote I had 
a right to stay at home. I heard speeches from both parties, some say¬ 
ing do as you please, and if you don’t want to vote leave it alone. They 
wanted me then to confess that I had done wrong and committed a sin. 
I told them that I could not do that, that 1 did not think I had com- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JACK EPPS. 


469 


niittcd a sin, and 1 said if I had committed a sin to the church, had com* 
mitted adultery, or stole, that it would be right for me to confess and 
ask pardon, but 1 did not think it was a sin for me to stay home and not 
vote. But they are holding me on that yet. We have been up to the 
churt'h last Saturday. They threatened to put me out again. 

Q. Was this the church where you had been x^reaching before?—A. 
Yes, sir ; 1 was the standing x^reacher. 

Q. But since that they have not liked you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they bring any excuse against you excex^t that ?—A. No, sir; 
there was no more dihiculty f they made no more charges against me. 

Q. Tliey made no charges against your moral character?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did not say you were preaching a wrong doctrine ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. The only offense was that you did not go and vote the Eex)nblican 
ticket ?—A. That was all. 


Q. When did you commence x>i'^^w?hing ?—A. I was local preacher 
first in the Methodist Church. 

(^. III the African Methodist ?—A. No, sir j in the Methodist Episco* 
X)al Church; I was there in 1875. 

Q. How long did you stay in the church?—A. I have been there with 
some of the leaders ever since freedom. 

Q. Have you been always ?—A. No, sir; I came out and joined the 
Bax>tist Chm’ch two years ago. 

Q. What for ?—A. Because I have been preaching and xu'eaching the 
doctrine, and I saw it called me to that church. 

Q. You concluded you were called there ?—A. Yes, sir j I have 
X>reached Jesus Christ "and the baptism, and they did not altogether 
agree with me. 

Q. So you went and joined the Bax>tist Church?—A. Yes, sir; I be¬ 
lieved in immersion. 

Q. How long have you been preaching in the Baptist Church?—A. 
Some little time. 

Q. Have you had a regular churcli aud salary ?—A. Yes, sir ; I had 
a regular chundi. 

Q. Were you the regular preacher, or did they have some one else?— 
A. They had old Wash. Burgess. 

Q. He is your uncle ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did he say to your x)reachiug ?—A. He did not say anything. 

Q. Did he object to your preaching ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is he the regular x^reacher there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you kinder fill in ?—A. He first preaches and then I come up 
and talk to the peoxffe after he gets through. 

Q. He is the regular x^reacher ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Now, after the election, he objected to your preaching?—A. 


Q. Why did he say you could not preach after the election?—A* Be¬ 
cause I did not go to the poll, and he said I was against him, and he 
said I must beg their x)ardon. 

Q. Did all those people vote the Eepublican ticket?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did they stav at home?—A. Y'es, sir. , 

Q. What did they do with them ?—A. They did not do anything. 
They simxily said they were sick. 


Q. How about old man 


Burgess; didift he vote the Democratic 


ticket ?_A. Somebody said he did vote the Democratic ticket year 

before that, and some say he did not. , , i v 

Q. How was it at the last election ?—A. He voted the Eepublican 


ticket. 


470 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsburg 


Q. In 1870 they said he voted tlie Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir; 
they said so. 

Q. Did he keep on preaching?—A. Yes, sir; the members of the 
church they did not know it until tliis election, and then he denied that 
he voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. jS^ow, how many members of the Baptist Church there voted the 
Democratic ticket this year ?—A. I do not know—there Avas elim 
Staggers. 

Q. Did they turn him out?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Did they do anything AAuth him ?—A. No, sir; not tliat 1 know of. 
I know one or two that did not go to the polls. 

Q. They have not turned them out of the church ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Some of them said you couldn’t preach?—A. Yes, sir; old man 
Jones said I could not preach to him and his children. 

Q. Did they say you did not know hoAv to preach ?—A. 1 believe so. 

Q. Did you haA e large congregations AAdien you preached ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. But you only assisted Burgess ?—A. Yes, sir; but when he ain’t 
there I preach myself, and sometimes he comes behind me wlien he is 
there. 

Q. Do you read and write?—A. I read and write a little. 

Q. They have not turned you out of the church?—A. Well, they liave 
dropped me from preaching. 

Q. They have not hurt you ?—A. Only my feelings. 

Q. Well, if they let you i)reach you Avould not care what tliey did ?— 
A. No, sir; but it makes me feel very bad when I go there sometimes 
and desire to preach and they Avill not let me. 

Q. They Avill let you listen to your own uncle ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, they let you pray and sing ?—Yes, sir. 

Q. They do not Avant you up in the pulpit ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you go to another church ?—A. Yes, sir; another one. 

Q. Who is the preacher there ?—A. JMr. Parker. 

Q. Is he a Eepublican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not pretty rare to find a colored Democrat there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many there A’oted the Democratic, ticket ?—A. I remember 
Staggers and two others. 

Q. All belong to your church ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What church did they belong to ?—A. Some belong to the Methodist. 

Q. Which one belongs to the Metliodist Church ?—A. Pace Bradley. 

Q. Did they drive him out ?—A. No, sir; they tried it once but they 
dropped it—they talked about it. He sliOAved" them he A\^as not well 
that day. 

Q. But lie did not vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. No, sir; he did 
not go. 

Q. He said he Avas sick ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he was sick ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q; There are only three doAATi there that you knoAV of ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Any Democrats at Parker’s church ?—A. Yes, sir, some ; thev are 
most all. 

Q. How is Mr. Parker ?—A. He is a Beiiublican. 

Q. He will let you preach AAith him ?—A. Yes, sir. He did not a ote 
this time himself. I went up the first Sunday after the election to Shi¬ 
loh, and Burgess said I could not preach until I begged the people’s 
pardon. 

Q. You won’t do that?—A. No, sir; 1 cannot do that. 

Q. Did you want to vote the Democratic ticket?—A. No, sir. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JACK EPPS. 


471 


Q. Are you a Democrat ?—A. ]N^o, sir. 

Q. Why did you not want to vote the Eepublican ticket I —A. Because 
I voted it already, and I see it did not do any good. 

Q. Why did you not the other ticket'?—A. 1 told them I was not 
going to vote. I said the year before, when I voted, that I would not 
vote any more; that 1 did not believe any good come from it, and I said 
I would not vote any more. 

Q. Your complaint is that they do not let you preach f —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say they took their hats and went off ?—A. He told me they 
would do that if I did not beg their pardon. They said if I got up to 
preach they would take up their hats and walk off. 

Q. Did you not have some trouble with the church I —A. i^'o, sir. 

Q. Did you not have a httle church of your own f—A. That is so, 
when I drew off, wlien they would not let me pfeaoh the baptism—then 
I went to the Baptists. 

Q. Do not the Methodists baptize sometimes by immersion ?—A. Ko, 
sir ; not about there. 

Q. Did you ever read the Methodist code?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What does it say ?—^A. It says whatever a member wants him to 
do he must do it. 

Q. And if he wants to be baptized he can be ?—A. Yes, sir; but they 
do not do it about there. 

Q. You came to believe that no person could be properly baptized 
unless baptized by immersion ?—A. Yes, sir; I cannot say that is ex¬ 
actly true; but every man must be persuaded by his own mind. I 
thought as Jesus said “follow me,’^ “and after he went down to the 
river Jordan to John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, 
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? 
And Jesus answering said unto hhn. Suffer it to be so now, for thus it 
becometh to fulfill all righteousness. And then he suffered him.” I 
thought it was right, but they would not let me. I had trouble in the 
church after that. 

Q. Did you have any trouble in the Baptist Church about your preach¬ 
ing until after the election ?—A. ^N^o, sir; it was because I did not go to 
the election; that was the cause of my trouble there. 

Q. You say this congregation where you are preaching now occasion¬ 
ally are mostly Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is a model church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

How many have you of your congregation ?—A. There ain’t but 
three men’s families. 

Q. How many of the three are Democrats ?—A. There are two of 
them. 

Q. Does the Republican come to hear you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He did not take his hat and leave ?—A. Xo, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. There are others that attend that chm’ch Ibesides these three fam¬ 
ilies f—A. Xo, sir; it is a little small congregation; sometimes there 
ain’t nobody there liardl}. 

Q. How much is the salary ?—A. I don’t ask them any pay. 

Q. You preach for nothing ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were asked by the chairman if they did not say you could 
not preacli—they did not say that with reference to your doctrine but 
because you had not voted tiie ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; they said I must 
beg their pardon for not going out to vote. 

Q. Then you could preach if you would do that ?—A. Yes, sir. 


472 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Williainahurg 


j. B. oha:n^dlek. 

Charleston, January 27, 1879. 

J. B. Chandler sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. In the county of Williams¬ 
burg. 

Q. How and where were you engaged on the day of election f—A. I 
was working for the Democratic cause until about tlie usual hour of 
dining; 1 went to my dinner and returned. 

Q. Where were you engaged?—A. At Cedar Swamp precinct. 

Q. State what occurrences took place that day, if any, to interfere with 
election.—A. I got to the polls about six o’clock. Everything appeared 
to be quiet. About eleven o’clock 1 was standing about forty or fifty 
yards from the polling place, when I noticed an old gentleman, and 
heard some loud talking, and saw twenty or thirty colored people en¬ 
circled around a colored man and woman; he was endeavoring to go to 
the precinct to vote, and the woman was i)ulling him back. They had 
him encircled. I said that couldn’t be allowed ; the Democrats didn’t 
propose to interfere with Kepublicans, and if that old man Avished to 
Amte he must. He said he had been endeavoring to quiet the trouble 
and could not. I asked if he wanted to a ote the Democratic ticket. He 
said he did. I went Avith him to the box and he deposited his Amte. 

Q. What Avere the politics of the men surrounding him ?—A. 1 could 
only infer from the circumstances of the occasion. 

Q. Were they trying to interfere AAdth him?—A. They AAere about 
him, and their object Avas undoubtedly to obstruct his getting to the 
polls. 

Q. Who was the woman ?—A. I identified her as his Avife; she was 
trying to keep him from Amting. 

Q. Did anything further take place that day ?—A. Immediately after 
that I saw a group around a colored man; I am unable to say aa hether 
he had deposited his Amte or not; I kneAA him to be a Democrat; he was 
a colored man; he seemed about to engage in combat; T know he could 
defend himself, and I didn’t interfere. After a while they (piieted down. 
He had probably Amted before that. 

Q. Did you see any threatening demonstrations made before that?— 
A. I did; but I was not near enough to knoAv* the cause, and could only 
infer it. This trouble was between a Democrat and a party immediately 
in front of him, who A\ms a straight Kepubliean. I knoAv 1dm to be one 
of the straightest Bepublicans in the precinct. 

Q. Was the Democrat a colored man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any attempt to capture the ballot-box there ?—A. I 
remained there until about one or tAvo o’clock. I asked a neighbor of mine, 
residing several miles o^', to go down with me and see the votes counted. 
I knew we would be in the night coming back, and I spoke to him about 
carrying a gun along. He said yes, it would be best, as there might be 
some trouble. The gun was loaded Avith buckshot. He didn’t carry it 
to the precinct.' He left it at a store about 50 yards aAvay. The polls 
closed at six o’clock, and they proposed to go into a count of the vote. 
The manager AA^ho proposed to act as clerk was very sIoav Avith his pen. 
I said to the managers that if they Avould authorize me to go in and keep 
tally, I could put them through by eight o’clock. They agreed, and I 
Avent ill and kept tally. After the result Avas announced, or just before 


Couuty.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. B. CHANDLER. 


473 


we got tliioiigli, a tall gentleiiiaii, a white gentlemaii, came in and stated 
that the colored men were bringing their muskets from the swamp, which 
was about 200 yards from the i)recinct. AYe thought nothing of that. 
There were not more than a dozen white men there. 1 was engaged in 
keei)iiig the tally; after we got thiough and I came out, I found that 
the licpublicans were very violent. They came there in force, about 
seventy-tive in number, saying that the box should not be counted. 
Others, not knowing the usual course, said Hampton won’t receive it. 
They drew uj) in line in front of the store. We saw their object was 
to get hold of the box. Half or three-quarters of an hour passed, and 
as they were still there, we began to anticipate trouble, and sent a gen¬ 
tleman in charge of the box around by a different route. In about three- 
(piarters of an hour the armed colored men in front, seeing no box come 
out, ga ve a yell and marched off up the road. 1 suspected this was only a 
ruse. 1 told the rest that it was a mere ruse ; so we remained there a 
little while longei’. The gentleman with the box Avent around by a differ¬ 
ent road, seven miles out of tlie way. As we were going home that 
night, live of us in conqiany, we found tliese negroes drawn ui)in double 
tile with their arjns alongside of the road. We agreed to say nothing 
to them, nor to irritate them in any shape or form. AA^e agreed that if 
they made an assault upon us, ea(*h one of us should pick out a man 
with a gun and shoot him down. 1 have seen a great deal of negroes, 
and understand their character i^retty AA ell; and 1 know that unless they 
have a leader or are under the intiuence of liquor they seldom make an 
attack. AA> nearly brushed against them. AA^hen Ave AA cre within fifty 
yards of them I found, by oA erhearing Avhat they were saying, that 
their curses AA^ere principally against me. I heard them say, Damn 
Major Chandler; he is the whole cause of it; he has stolen the box 
from us.” AA^e ])aid no attention to them, said nothing, and went on 
till we reached oiir homes in safety. They followed us at more or less 
distance, till they came in front of my house. 1 IHed 200 or oOO yards 
from the ])ublic road. They came down the road until they came in 
front of my house, and remained there until one o’clock next morning, 
yelling and firing off’ guns. The colored people had a meeting going 
on near there—preaching—but there was so much disturbance that 
they had to discontinue their jneeting and go home. I haA^e no doubt 
that the object of the gang that folloAved us Avas to seize and destroy 
the ballot-box. If I could give hearsay for evidence—Avhat 1 was told 
next day —1 could substantiate it beyond all doubt. 

Q. Did any colored man tell you the purpose of this unusual demon¬ 
stration f—A. The colored man who acted as marshal—I had no talk 
per.sonally Avith any of the men in that crowd, but I AAns told afterwards. 
The marshal didn’t tell me anything he himself kneAv; but that night 
he asked me if I could get home. 1 said, think so; why ?” ‘^Well,” 
said he, you white men better take (jare of yourselA^es.” 

(y AAhis the marshal a Kepublican ?—A. A^es, sir; I a\ as his former 
master. He said, ‘‘ AOu Avhite men better take care of yourseWes.” I 
told him AA'e should try to do that. I understood afterwards that it was 
the intention of these negroes to murder the managers and seize the box. 

I>y the Chairman: 

Q. At AA'hat ])recinct was that I —A. Cedar Sa\ ainj). 

Q. 1 loAv many votes Avere cast at Cedar Saa ampA. We first counted 
out 542. It Avas found that on the list there were 41)2 names, so there 
Avas an excess of 50 A otes. 

Q. Hoav did the votes stand f—A. The tivst thing aa e had to do was 


474 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williania’iiurg 


to get rid of the excess. I told the manager the law ; that the excess 
had to be drawn ont. At first we made onr calcnlation that there were 
23 votes in excess, and the 23 were drawn out. After these 23 were 
ilrawn out and destroyed we proceeded to enumerate the vote, when w^e 
found that there was still more excess ; there was another excess of 27. 
We then had to draw out 27 more. 

Q. You fii st drew out 23 and then 27 ?—A. Yes, vsir; that brought the 
number down to 493. 

Q. What was the result of the (;ount then ?—A. There Avere 219 Re¬ 
publican votes, and 247 lleniocratic. votes. 

Q. What Avere the politics of the 50 votes thrown out ?—A. As to the 
first 23, I could only surmise ; it seemed to me at the time that the ma¬ 
jority of them were Republican. When aa e went to draAv out the other 
27 1 had them laid on a little table where we could see them; I looked 
at them and found that 17 of them were Democratic and 10 AA^ere Re¬ 
publican. 

Q. What has been the politics of that precinct heretofore ?—A. A 
large majority of that country are colored people, and their politics 
have been Re})ublican. 

Q. What has been the Republican majority heretofore at that box ?— 
A. I think it has been something between 100 and 200. 

Q. What has been the entire vote?—A. I do not think Ave have ever 
voted mu(4i in excess of 300 at that point; I could tell you oue rea¬ 
son— 

Q. Kever mind; Ave Avill come to that by and by. How many white 
men A oted ?—A. I am unable to say; I neA^er saw the lAoll-list; I under¬ 
stand there was no distinction made on the poll-list between Avhite and 
black. ' 

Q. How many Avhite men lived in that precinct ?—The precinct 
extends for a circle of eight miles around ; but there being no registry 
law in this State, some go there and some go elsewhere. 

Q. I asked hoAvmany Avliite men live in that ])recinct ?—A. You know 
that under our laAv men vote anywhere. 

Q. 1 liaA^e not asked you how many A^oted there; I asked you hoAv 
many white men live in that precinct.—A. There are no precinct lines. 

Q. Did you not say that the precinct extended for a circh* of eight miles 
around ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then what do you mean by saying that there are no i)recinct 
lines ? How many wliite men, voters, live within eight miles around ?— 
A. About 150. Some of them on that oc(‘asion came farther. 

Q. Did all the men a\ ithin that circle go there ?—.V. I cannot say; 1 
was busy canvassing. 

Q. What Avas the character of those tickets in excess ?—A. They Avere 
about all characters of tickets. There Avere Democratic tickets red ou 
the backs, and Democratic tickets of different kinds. 

Q. Were there any tissue tickets there?—A. No, sir; 1 neAer shav a 
tissue ticket until long after the election. 

Q. How do you account for that excess of fifty a otes in the box ?—A. 
I can only surmise. 1 can give you Avhat the Republicans say about it. 
Their opinion Avas that the clerk, who aa as a very sIoav hand with the 
pen (and they Avere voting very rapidly), had neglected to ])ut down fifty 
names. That must be (correct, or else fifty men "must each liave voted a 
double ticket. 

Q. Were there any tickets found rolled u]) in each other ?—A. None 
that T am aware of. I know I spoke to the manager and told him that 
if two tickets Avere found rolled up in each other, if they Avere both of 



(^oxinty.] TESTIMONY OF J. B. CHANDLER. 475 

tlie same kind one should be destroyed, and if they were of different 
parties both should be destroyed. 

Q. You say you staid there all day, except when you went to din¬ 
ner —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many white men do you think voted there that day f—A. It 
would be the merest conjecture. 

Q. Xevertheless, let us liaA e your conjecture.—A. Probably a hun¬ 
dred. Some may have come that 1 never saw. I heard afterwards that 
such and such men had been the^e. 

Q. But you include these in your estimation, do you not ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Tlien there were a hundred votes cast by white men !—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. How many colored men do you think voted the Democratic ticket 
that day ?—A. Well, sir, it was hard to tell. A great many Avould come 
up with their tickets all folded. 

Q. But you can form some estimate as to the number f—A. In my 
neighborhood there were twelve or fifteen that had always acted with 
the Democratic party. 

Q. Did these twelve or fifteen colored Democrats vote that dayf—A. 
Y^es, sir; I saw them vote, the most of them. 

Q. Then you mentioned another man you saw voting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he included f—A. Yes, sir; I myself gave out 15 to 20 tickets. 

Q. The only interterence, you say, was that which you have already 
mentioned fY_A. That is all. 

Q. Does not trouble result from the colored people voting the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket there'?—A. No, sir; no trouble particularly, but the pressure 
against them is very strong. But as they acquire property and become 
interested in the question of taxation, I think the colored people will 
see that it is to their (3wn advantage to come with us. 

Q. You say there is a strong pressure brought to bear on them ?—A. 
There is no doubt about that. 

Q. So that those who vote the Democratic ticket are pretty well known 
in the community'?—A. Not certainly. My advice to them is to vote 
the Democratic ticket and go out and abuse the Democrats worse than 
anybody else, and then they will not be suspected. 

Q. But they are pretty apt to tell their white friends how they vote ?— 
A. Yes, sir; the colored people living around me don’t hesitate to tell 
me. 

Q. They make a little capital out of it, do they not—not money, but 
reputation among the white people?—A. No, sir; we have got some col¬ 
ored men there that vote the Democratic ticket that are just as grand 
rascals as any in the country. 

Q. You don’t employ them any more because they are Democrats ?— 
A. Not at all; I ha^ e not a Democrat in jny emifioy. 

Q. Why (lid they want to destroy the ballot-box that day ?—A. They 
had been in the habit of carrying the election; and when they found 
they had not done it that time they felt very sore. 

Q. Didn’t thev charge that it had been done by fraud ?—A. The only 
charges 1 heard were, first, that our (derk had failed to register their 
names, and last, that 1, as tallyman, had defrauded them. Those were 
the only two charges 1 heard made. 

Q. You are willing to swear that you did not defraud them ?—A. I 
am willing to swear that 1 kept the tally perfectly correct. 

Q. But they didn’t believe that?—A. They thought the supervisor 
was a fool and I was too shrewd. 

Q. They thought they had been wronged, and became excited?—A. 
Yes, sir. 


.476 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Williamsbarg 


Q. However, they did not get the boxf—A. N^o, sir. 

Q. Were you not surprised to find that you had 174 more votes than 
you had been in the habit of getting ?—A. I thought the vote was going 
to be very close. The supervisor made a statement to me that he thought 
there would be 800 votes in the box; we had only 543. 

Q. What was the politics of the clerk—A. He was a white man and 
a Democrat. 

Q. And an honest man ?—A. He has always been regarded so. 

Q. And the managers were white men and Democrats?—A. Yes, sirj 
they professed to be. 

Q. Thej^ always voted the Democratic ticket?—A. I believe so. I 
never kuew them to vote anything else; if they did I never lieard of it. 

Q. And the colored people thought the box wouldn’t be counted, on 
account of those irregularities ?—A. Yes, sir; some said afterwards that 
if they had come out even they would have been perfectly satisfied, but 
they didn’t like to be beaten; they said they had come out with the ex¬ 
pectation of having a good time, and they didn’t want to be cheated out 
of it. 

Q. How many colored men assembled there with arms ?—A. About 
75, but they were not all armed. 

Q. How many were armed ?—A. Perhaps a majority were armed. 

Q. But they made no attack ?—A. No, sir. As soon as 1 saw what 
was up—there was a military company there that generally paraded, and 
they had some arms in the adjoining store; and as soon as we antici- 
l)ated an attack we directed that the arms should be brought in there; 
they were brought in, and so the colored people saw that we had arms. 
I said, “ Let us go out and let them see ” ; and we went out. About 
twelve of us didn’t have arms and probably about twelve had arms. 
Something was said about burning the store; I understood that a re¬ 
mark was made that the store must be burned. 

Q. You don’t know that anybody said anything of that sort ?—A. I 
give it only from other parties, who said they heard it. 

Q. You have heard frequently, I suppose, of threats of this character, 
of negroes burning property, destroying towns, &c. ?—A. No, sir; in 
this section we have never had any occasion to suspect the colored peo¬ 
ple of doing anything of that kind, unless a man’s gin-honse was burned, 
and then it was' a personal matter. The colored people of the country 
generally have been very orderly and quiet, and if it were not for this 
thing of suflrage there would be no trouble in the world. That breeds 
all the trouble. 

Q. Explain to the committee how this thing of suttrage breeds all the 
trouble.—A. Of course, in our efforts to secure votes we come into hos¬ 
tility with each other, and they say harsh things, and from that our feel¬ 
ing becomes imbittered against each other. 

Q. In other sections of the country the same thing occurs, does it 
not?—A. Generally. 

Q. Then you think that if the colored peoj^le were deprived of the 
right to vote everything would be peaceable ?—A. I have no doubt of 
it, sir. 

Q. Were you sworn to do your duly as clerk at that election ?—A. No, 
sir j they simply asked me to keej) tally in place of the clerk; the super- 
^fisor asked me. 

Q. Did the supervisor’s list and the marshal’s list agree?—A. The 
supervisor said so; he announced what he had, and the other said, You 
are right.” 

Q. Is it customary to call in outsiders to help the board?—A. I think 
it has been done sometimes before. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. B. CHANDLER. 


477 


Q. I asked if it was customary to call in outsiders to assist the hoard 
in the performance of their duties!—A. I think it is usual to have a 
clerk, independent of the managers; hut on this occasion one of the 
managers acted until they got through with the poll-list. It was at my 
suggestion that I was employed. 

Q. You yourself made the "suggestion that you should he employed ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I did not instruct them to take my list; hut when the su¬ 
pervisor saw that my list was correct they accepted my work. 

Q. AYhat list did you keep ?—A. The enumeration list of the votes as 
counted at the tally. I did not keep the poll-list—that was kept hy the 
managers. 

Q. When did you commence keeping the list?—A. When the polls 
closed and we got ready to count. 

Q. Were you employed hy the managers?—A. ^^" 0 , sir j only they con¬ 
sented for me to act. 

Q. How was that brought about f—A. They said they woidd not he 
through until midnight; I said to them if they would put me there to 
keep tally I could put them through by eight or nine o’clock that night. 

Q. What did they say '?—A. They agreed to do it. I took a seat in 
the rear of them and counted. 

Q. They kept no enumeration, but left that entirely to you, did they?— 
A. I think that my list and the supervisor’s were the only two that were 
kept. They accepted mine as correct when they found that mine and 
his agreed. 

Q. The United States supervisor ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. The Democratic supervisor ?—A. No, sir; we had no Democratic 
sui^ervisor. 

Q. What was the name of the supervisor ?—A. T. J. Wilson. 

Q. If his list and yours agreed why should they accept yours rather 
than liis?—A. They wished to retain his, I think. They might have 
accepted it to find the number of votes. 

Q. You were not sworn at all ?—-A. No, sir. 

P>y Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. When you were keeping your tally-list did the supervisor keep a 
tally-hst too ?—A. Yes, sir; we first proceeded to count the votes- 

Q. I understand that. Did you say that he was very slow ?—A. He 
was slower than I was. 

Q. Was he through when yon were ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not true, then, that without your services they would have 
been through in the same time that they were through with your serv¬ 
ices?—A. No, sir. 

Q. If the supervisor kept his tally-list as rapidly as you kept yours 
wliy would they not have been throngh just as soon if you had not kept 
any ?—A. They seemed to be troubled as to how to get through satis¬ 
factorily. We first counted the number of polls- 

Q. I am speaking of the time after you began to count?—A. We 
knew the Kepublicans were running no State ticket. We simply 
marked down “Democrat,” “Kepublican.” Then we went oyer the 
work again and noticed if there were any scratched tickets; if there 
were we noted them. 

Q. The supervisor kept his tally-list up with your tally-list, did he 
not?—A. Yes, sir; after we started. 

Q. Then they might have got along as well without you as with you ?— 
A. Yes, sir; after adopting the method I suggested. 




478 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Williamsburg 


Q. And tlie Republicans kind of suspected that you had clieated 
them ?—A. Yes, sir; I heard so afterward on my way home. 

Q. You had been advising' the colored men there to ^ ote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket- A. 1 had been distributing tickets. 

Q. Wait till I get through my question. You had been advising the 
colored men there to vote the Democratic ticket, and then in order to 
hide the fact that they had done so to abuse Democrats?—A. Yes, sir; 
I advised that to those that hadn’t moral courage enough to come 
straight out and acknowledge that they were Democrats. 

Q. In other words, jmu ad^dsed them to lie about the matter ?—A. You 
are welcome to think as you wish. 

Q. Might not the suspicion have arisen in their minds from your 
shrewdness in that matter that you might possibly be a little too shrewd 
in the matter of the tally ?—A. I don’t know as to that; those who a^)- 
lieared to be abusing me mostly were Republicans. 

Q. I asked, might not your suggestion of sharp practice as to voting 
the Democratic ticket and then abusing Democrats have aroused their 
suspicions that you had been practicing a sharp game ujion them in the 
matter of the tally ?—A. I don’t know as to that. 

Q. Do not the colored people sometimes talk about having voted the 
Democratic ticket when they have not really done it ?—A. No doubt, 
sir; you can get a darkey to assent to almost anything you say. 

Q. And to promise to vote tlie Democratic ticket ?—A. A colored man 
is a perfect enigma in that, sir. He is ai)t to say ‘‘Yes” and “That is 
so,” whether he means anything l)y it or not. 

Q. And so to say that he Avill vote the Democratic ticket whether he 
ever does or not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then careless men, who do not understand the negro character, 
are apt to think they have made a convert of him to the Democracy ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you know better than that ?—A. Yes, sir; we don’t count all 
as sure to vote the Democratic ticket who say they will. If they did we 
should have an overwhelming majority. 

Q. The ]nanagers authorized you to act as clerk of the l)oard in keeping 
the list?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you did act?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you kept a correct tally of the vote?—A. I did. 

Q. And it corresponded with the United States supervisor’s tallv?—A. 
It did. 

Q. You said you would state why the vote was in excess of what was 
usual at that poll. Now state why it was.—A. A considerable number 
of men came there from a distance to vote—a considerable number that 
usually voted at the court-house precinct, but that being a very large 
poll they came to Cedar Swamp, so that they would have less difficulty 
in depositing their ballots. 

By Mr. McDonajld : 

Q. In reference to the negro vote in the neighborhood, had any speak¬ 
ers who before had been Republican, but now were Democratic, been 
there to speak during that canvass ?—A. I do not recollect that there 
had. 

Q. Do you recollect Mr. Hirst speaking there?—A. No, sir; I think 
that Hirst and others spoke about three or four miles off. 

Q. Did his course in voting and supporting the Democratic ticket 
have any influence over the Democratic vote ?—A. I am unable to state 
that for a fact. 



CoTMity.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. J MONTGOMERY. 


479 


A. J. MONTGOMEEY. 

Charleston, January 24, 1879. 

A. J. Montgomery sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Williamsburg'. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. Two years last October. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last election ?—A. I did. 

Q. At what precinct ?—A. At (treen’s poll. 

Q. What position did you occu])y, if ai^y?—A. 1 was United States 
supervisor, sir. 

Q. State what occurred that day.—A. On the morning of the election 
1 got to the ])olls just about a few minutes after the poll had been opened. 
I asked how long the polls had been opened. They told me a few min¬ 
utes. I then asked the managers to give me the "names of those that, 
had voted before 1 got there. They told me they would not unless the 
clerk was a mind to. 1 asked the clerk. He said no, he would not; it 
was my place to be there before that. I said, I know I am a little late; 
I had about fifteen miles to walk, and that made me a little late.” They 
said, 1 want you to understand there is no kindness shown in politics 
here.” As I brought my table along with me, I attempted to go into a 
little space, an inclosure they had made for voting. I was objected to 
by one of the managers. I said 1 was supervisor, and had a right to be 
there somewhere. He said he wouldn’t let the supeiAusor in there; 
there was enough in there now without having me in there. He didn’t 
want to be crowded. 1 then took my table and put it at one side of the 
inclosure and kept my record as well as I could; but it was impossible 
for me to keep a correct one. 1 could not say for (certain that 1 kept 
an exactly correct record, from the very fact that Avhile the voting 
was being carried on there was about a whole company of these 
re<i-shirts there with their arms, with bayonets on their guns, bar¬ 
ring the door. They got right around me and barred me right off 
from the box in the place where the voting Avas being carried on. As 
the colored people came along 1 requested them to come in front of me, 
and asked all I could ask what their names Avere, and AvUich way they 
were going to Amte, or if they had a oted. 1 asked them how they had 
voted—liepublican or Democratic. They all said Eepublican. By and 
by one of the managers saAA^ what I was doing and objected. I said I 
meant no harm, only to keep a correct list, if I jiossibly could, and I AA anted 
to knoAY how many colored persons Amted the Democratic ticket, so that I 
could class them with the Democrats. He said it was his business to 
attend to that and none of mine. There were two colored people that 
voted Democratic to my knowledge, and I classed them with the whites 
along during the day. In the evening aa hen the time came for the votes 
to be canA^assed I went to go in and see the canvassing go on. The 
managers objected again. They said I shouldn’t be allowed in. I said, 
“How in the AAmrld can I perform my duties as superAusor unless I see 
how the Amtes are canvassedU’ The manager said, “1 Arill giA^e you my 
word that all shall be done straight. When I come to a Eepublican 
ticket I AA ill holler out ^Eepublican.’” I said, “ I think I haA^e a right to 
see every Aote that comes out of the box.” He said, “Well, you won’t 
do it here.” I insisted. He said, “You can stand out theve and hear 
the votes, tliough I Avill not promise to let you see the face of the 
Amtes.” 1 (IreAv as near as I could, being yet considerably out at one 
side, being at the side of the door that had been cut in for an entrance; 


480 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 18*8. 


[Williamsburg 


SO I could not see at all. I could reacli up over the slioulders of tlie 
men that were standing between me and the box, and sometimes Just 
could peep at the box^ and that Avas all. I could see him put his hand 
in once in aAvhile and pull out a vote, but what the a ote was I could not 
say. I belicA^e that is the end of my story. 

Q. Did you see the counting of the Amtes?—A. I saw them as far as 
I have just said. 

Q. Did you see the returns made?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know what the return aa as ?—A. 1 asked one of the man¬ 
agers, and he said that Richardson had 155 votes, and Rainey 131 or 132. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots there?—A. If there Avere, I did not 
see any. 

Q. How many of these military men were there ?—A. About a hun¬ 
dred, sir. 

Q. Did they stay there all day?—A. Yes, sirj and Just about noon 
fifty more came in from Graham’s Cross-Roads and got around the })oll- 
box the same as the rest, and I could not tell any more wliat aa'us going 
on there than a man that was in Europe. 

Q. Hoav had the campaign been conducted in that section; ({uietly, 
or otherwise?—A. I could not say it Avas conducted (juietly; I found a 
great deal of difficulty in several of the meetings. 

Q. State what difficulty.—A. 1 did not think they were conducted 
quietly. The Republicans aa ere not allowed to hold meetings. Wlien aa e 
had one meeting, though—I don’t knoAA^ liow they had been in tlie habit 
of doing heretofore—Avhen Ave had our club meeting the Democrats 
would come and ask for a division of time. We said, “ We don’t aa ish our 
time divided.” They A\ ould then come and go right into our meeting 
whether or not. They AA Ould speak there; and for fear tliat there might 
be some accident or bloodshed, our meeting aa as alAA ays dismissed. I 
remember at the princinct Deep Sink, aa hen the (^oiia ention aa as to be held 
for the election of delegates to the Kingstree nominating coiia ention, 
when we got near the place there aa ^s a company of red-shirts AA hoop- 
ing and yelling; and the croAAd met us at Santee; and there aaus one 
crowd behind me and another coming up ahead of me ; and Avhen Ave got 
as near the place for holding the conA^ention as from here across the 
street, ahead of me, I was met by men from the coiiA ention aa ho told me 
that they had \erj hastily brought a few names and made tlie nomina¬ 
tions, and dismissed the meeting right off. 

Furthermore, they disturbed us a great deal at White Oak. On the 
morning of the 5th of October, Mr. SAvails and 1 aa ere iiiAuted to go to 
attend the meeting; and he and I Avent. Shortly after AAe got there a 
lot of the citizens from Kingstree followed right along after us, but Ave 
knew nothing of it until we got there. Soon Mr. Saa ails told the cliair- 
man to caU his meeting together. The chairman called the house to 
order. Mr. Swails got up and made a feAv remarks. PuiAds Nelson 
then got up, when he aa as intbrmed that this Avas a club meeting. Rur- 
Ais Nelson was a Democrat. He said, We are Just here to see hoAA^ you 
are getting on.” He said, “We Avant you to divide time Avith us.” 
Swails said, “Tliis is a Republic^an club meeting.” Nelson said, “ Saa ails, 
don’t you intend to give us any shoAv at all ?” Saa ails reiieated, “ This 
is a Republican club meeting, our meeting. We don’t want you here.” 
Nelson staid there and we had the marshal i>olitely order Nelson to 
leave. Nelson said, “ Y^ou can keep me out of the house, but you can’t 
keep me out of the aa indow.” Then he went and had a consultation Avith 
the editor of the Kingstree Star, James Haynes. Then he mounted his 
horse and Avent aAvay. While he was absent SAvails got up and made 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A. J. MONTGOMERY. 


481 


a very short speech. I was introduced and was making my speech 
when Nelson, who had gone below, came back with re-enforcements, 
and demanded a division of time a second time. Swails went to the 
door and said, We are holding our own meeting and don’t propose to 
divide time.” Then his white people commenced crowding in, saying 
they would have “time.” Swails said, “Mr. President, we will not be 
allowed to have our meeting here, and I guess we might as well break 
it up.” 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. That is all the disturbance you know of in the county?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. The one at Deep Sink meeting and the one at White Oak?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was this the time they took Swails with them?—A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman : Go ahead. 

The Witness. As I started to say, then we came outside, mounted 
our horses, and started home. After going about a mile from the place 
I heard whooping and yelling. I looked back behind me and saw that 
there were a great many red-shirts in pursuit. Said I to Swails, “What 
is this ?” Swails said, “Nothingmuch, I guess.” The company divided 
themselves; one-half staid behind and tbe other half i)assed by us and 
went in front of us. Dr. Byrd led the company that went in front of us. 
Byrd came back from his company and said to Swails, “You have caused 
this county a great deal of trouble, and we propose to take care of you 
to-day; we want you to come and go in front with us.” Swails said, 
“If my men will go with me I will go.” Byrd said, “We don’t want 
your men.” Swails said, “ Then I won’t go.” Byrd went to his company 
and came back a second time, and repeated, “ You have caused this 
county a great deal of trouble, and w^e propose to take care of you.” I 
said, “Dr. Byrd, in the name of God, is this a free country ?” Byrd says, 
“You shut up; I am not after you; I am after Sv^ails.” We then came 
to a place where John Norcross’s store is. Byrd jumped from his horse 
and said to Swails, “I want you to go along with me.” Swails said, “1 
wrill not go unless I am taken by force.” Said Byrd, “ If every man here 
is of the same opinion as I am, you will go.” Swails said, “Am I and 
my men to be considered under arrest?” Byrd said “Yes.” Then said 
Sw^ails, “Bather than to have any trouble w^e A\ill go.” So wx went on 
down town. Byrd wanted us to continue in the same shape, riding- 
through town as w^e w^ere w^hen we came up. Swails says to me, “Take 
that road”—a road around. Swails started to go in that direction and 
Byrd grabbed him. Byrd said, “ Jump down.” Swmils alighted from his 
horse. Boston Hanna jumped down and took Swails, and Pinckney and 
Byrd grabbed him and shot him. I can’t tell whether Byrd shot after 
Swails or after Hanna, but he hit Hanna. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You were coming from a political meeting?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Called for political purposes?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For the purpose of political discussion ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It was not a secret meeting?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You called that a club meeting because it was called by the mem¬ 
bers of a political club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Everybody was invited to go to it, were they not?—A. I don’t 
know about that. 

31 s c 


482 


SOUTfl CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Williamsburg 


Q. Was anybody told not to go?—A. They could come—those that 
were members of our club could come. 

Q. Was the in^dtation limited entirely to Eepublicans? Was nobody 
to go but Eepublicans?—A. It was considered that whoever went to 
that club were Eepublicans. 

Q. It was a meeting, then, not for the purpose of converting men over 
to Eepublicanism, but for Eepublicans to strengthen each other^s be¬ 
lief?—A. My idea was this, that anybody might come there who wished 
to unite with us. 

Q. Suppose they came simply to hear you—suppose I had been in 
that neighborhood, and had heard there was a political club meeting to 
be held, would there have been any objection to my going and hearing 
you?—A. I cannot say, sir, as there would have been any objection to 
that. 

Q. What you objected to was to having a political discussion by par¬ 
ties of the other side. You wanted to have only one side heard ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And not the other?—A. Well, I do not say as to that. I suppose 
the reason why we didn’t want a division of time—I asked Swails about 
that, and he said it wouldn’t be best, for it might create a disturbance 
and cause bloodshed. 

Q. It was not for fear that your people might be convinced that the 
other was the better side?—A. No, sir j I suppose that course was taken 
just to save bloodshed. 

Q. Did it not result in more trouble and dithculty than the other way 
would—than it would if free discussion had been allowed?—A. Well, 
sir, I don’t knowj I have seen, I guess about ten years ago, when Green 
was first elected, both parties would come together and make speeches, 
and the Eepublicans would say something that the Democrats didn’t 
like, or the Democrats would say something the Eepublicans didn’t like, 
and somebody would shoot, and that would cause bloodshed. 

Q. You are old enough to recollect election times before the war?—A., 
I don’t know anything about election times before the war. 

Q. Your first knowledge of elections has been since the war?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You say you asked Mr. Swails why it was that he was not willing 
to have public discussions, and he told you the reason was that it might 
cause disturbance?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Swails was a leader among you ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you followed his direction in matters of politics ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were governed by his judgment rather than by your own in 
that matter ?—A. I could not be governed by my own judgment when I 
wasn’t a leader, and had no influence, sir. 

Q. At this election-precinct at Green’s Poll you say some votes were 
cast before you got there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many votes were cast at that poll in all?—A. The whole 
number, according to what was told me, was 286. 

Q. And of that Eichardson received 185, and Eainey 131 or 132 ?_A. 

Yes, sir. 

Q. There were that many voters there that day, were there not?—A. 
I could not swear as to that, sir. 

Q. That didn’t seem too many votes for the number of persons there 
that day ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You do not know of anything wrong in receiving the votes or in 
counting them out ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. The only thing you complain of is that you didn’t have an oppor- 


County. J 


TESTIMONY OF A. J MONTGOMERY. 


483 


tunity to see what was going on ?—A. Yes, sir. I thought when we had 
been rejoicing so much, saying that we were going to carry the election, 
because we knew we were in the majority there, I said to one of the elec¬ 
tion managers, I don’t see how you have got so many votes for Demo¬ 
crats, and the men were not here to vote them votes.” 

Q, Do you not think there were as many as 28G voters there that 
day ?—A. I do not think so; there may have been ; I could not see where 
the people came from. 







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GEORGETOWN COUNTY. 


FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 







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GEORGETOWN COUNTS. 


GEORGE HERRIOTT. 

Charleston, S. C., January 29,1879. 

George Herriott (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Georgetown, 
county of Georgetown. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. For 12 years. 

Q. Were you present at any voting-place in the county on the day of 
election ?—A. I was. 

Q. At what precinct ?—A. At the Chawpee precinct. 

Q. State what occurred there.—A. I was supervisor at Chawpee pre¬ 
cinct at the last election, and served as such from the opening to the 
closing of the polls. The election was quiet and peaceable. There were 
197 votes cast. Of these, the Democrats received 15, and the Republi¬ 
cans the remainder. Before the polls opened the managers said they 
were qualified. After the polls closed they said they were not qualified, 
and the board of county canvassers threw out their votes on that ac¬ 
count. 

Q. Who were the managers ?—A. Henry Monlin, Henry Miller, and I 
don’t recollect the name of the other just now. 

Q. Were they Democrats or Republicans?—A. They were all Demo¬ 
crats. 

Q. How do you know that the vote of that iirecinct was thrown out?— 
A. It is generally known throughout the county, sir. 

Q. What other precincts were thrown out for the same reason ?—A. 
Grier’s poll also w^as thrown out, and Sandy Island and Santee. 

Q. What were the majorities at these polls—Republican or Demo¬ 
cratic ?—A. At each of these i)olls there was a large Republican ma¬ 
jority. 

Q. Do you recollect what the majorities were?—A. At Grier’s poll 
there was about 250 majority. At Sandy Island 50 Republican votes 
were cast; only 53 votes were cast in aU. At Santee there was 600 Re¬ 
publican majority. 

Q. You are speaking now not of the last election, but of the previous 
election?—A. Yes, sir. At the election previous to the last there were 
600 odd votes at Santee; at the last election the vote was 230 Republi¬ 
can to 20 Democratic, giving 200 Republican majority j but they were 
not counted. 

Q. Was any other poll thrown out ?—A. I don’t recollect any others. 

Q. Why were these polls thrown out ?—A. All for the same reason as 
Chawpee. ^ 

Q. These polls are in the county of Georgetown ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And they were thrown out on the ground that the managers had 
not qualified ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The managers served throughout the day?—A. Yes, sir^ at my 
poll I know they did. 



488 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


[Georgetown 


Q. They all acted f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Aii(i the commissioners threw the polls out?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How did the county go ?—A. According to the count, without these 
votes that had been thrown out, it went Democratic by 120 majority. 

Q. How has it usually gone in years past?—A. It has usually gone 
from 1,500 to 1,600 Eepublican majority. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You live in Georgetown ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You served as supervisor at Chawpee i^recinct?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you present when the commissioners of election canvassed 
the polls of the county ?—A. I was not. 

Q. Then you do not know of your own knowledge what polls they 
threw out or did not throw out ?—A. Hot of my own knowledge. 

Q. You speak simply from information derived from others?—A. Yes, 
sir; by information given me by one of the commissioners. 

Q. Which one of the commissioners ?—A. J. A. Baxter. 

Q. What information did he give you ?—A. That these polls had been 
thrown out, and the reason why they were thrown out. 

Q. You say he told you that the commissioners of election threw out 
these polls because the managers had held the election without being 
qualified under the law ?—A. That is what he said. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were all the managers at the different polls in that county Demo¬ 
crats?—A. All but one single manager in one of the polls in that 
county. 

Q. Which poll was that ?—A. The Georgetown poll. 

Q. That was not thrown out ?—A. Ho, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was there not a division in the Republican party in that county 
at the last election, and two or more Republican tickets running ?—A. 
Ho, sir; the county was more solid than ever before. 

Q. You say there were no opposition Republican tickets running ?—A. 
Hone at all. 


J. E. COLLIHS. 

Charleston, S. 0., January 29,1879. 

J. E. Collins (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Georgetown. 

Q. Were you present at any voting-place in that county ?—A. I was 
present at the Georgetown court-house. 

Q. Do you know anything about throwing out the returns of different 
precincts by the county commissioners ?—A. The votes of five precincts 
were thrown out. 

Q. What were they ?—A. Those at Santee, Chawpee, Sandy Island, 
Brown Ferry, and one of the polls on the Peedee—I don’t know whether 
it was the upper or the lower poll. 

Q. Do you know the number of votes at those precincts ?—A. I might 
m^ e a pretty close calculation from the voting done at the different 
pla o es in other years, having been a manager of election several times. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. E. COLLINS. 


489 


Q. You don’t know wliat they were this year ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know the aggregate of the Eepublican votes thrown out?— 
A. I should suppose, judging as I have said from previous years, that 
at Santee the Republicans would have about 700 majority. There are 
only between 30 and 40 white people there. 

Q. You base that calculation on the elections of former years?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you heard what it was this year ?—A. I have heard, but sim¬ 
ply in conversation, and I did not charge my memory particularly 

Q. How do you know that the commissioners threw out these five pre¬ 
cincts ?—A. It is a current report all over the county, and it has never 
been denied. 

Q. Never denied by the commissioners ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know the reason that the commissioners gave for throwing 
out the votes from these polls?—A. I have heard that it was because of 
informality, the managers not being qualified; one of the managers at a 
Ijoll would qualify and the others would not, and then they would throw 
the boxes out. 

Q. Have you ever talked with the commissioners about it?—A. I 
talked with one. 

Q. Which of them ?—A. His name is Baxter. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. No, sir; he is a Eepublican. 

Q. He gave you a statement of what the board had done ?—A. Yes, 
sir; he gave me an account of the number of boxes thrown out. 

Q. He told you that they had cast out these five precincts ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. That was th^ reason he gave—that the managers were not quali¬ 
fied ?—^A. Yes, sir. 


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ORANGEBURG COUNTY. 


SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION- OF 1878. 











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ORANGEBURG COUNTY. 


WILLIAM E. BEOWK. 

Charleston, S. C., Januanj 28,1879. 

William E. Brown (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. At Orangeburg, in Orange¬ 
burg County. 

Q. Were you at Orangeburg on the day and night of election?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you present at the count?—A. I was. 

Q. Did you have any official connection therewith?—A. I was United 
States supervisor. # 

Q. State what you observed as briefly as you can.—A. On the night 
of the counting otthe votes, after the polls were closed, my poll-list and 
that of the Democratic managers were compared. The Democratic 
managers’ poll-list was kept by a clerk. They would not allow me a 
clerk, and I had to keep my poll-list myself the best I could. When we 
came to compare our poll-lists, I cannot say now whether they tallied or 
not. To the best of my recollection they did. After that we went into 
the count of the votes. They were taken out of the box and counted. 
As they were taken out they were placed on the table in piles of 100 
each. When we got through counting, it was found that the number 
of votes in the box was in excess of the names on the poll-list by 324 
votes. It was then decided to return the ballots to the boxes, and one 
of the managers or the clerk drew out the number of ballots that were 
in excess. I think the ballots in excess were drawn out and destroyed 
by one of the managers, Mr. Cohen. The 324 votes in excess were 
drawn out, and the ballots were counted again. The total number of 
votes in the box before the excess was taken out was 1,442. The num¬ 
ber of names on the poll-list Avas 1,118. The other 324 votes were de¬ 
stroyed. When the count was again resumed and finished it was found 
that there were, for Mr. O’Connor, 742 votes; for Mr. Mackey, 370, I 
believe. At least the other votes besides the 742 were for Mr. Mackey. 

Q. Were there any tissue tickets in that box?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. A great many more than I saw voted during the 
day. 

Q. Did you take any notice of the 324 votes that were drawn out, to 
see what kind of tickets they were ?—A. Yes, sir. I noticed they were 
all white tickets; there were none of the small ones—the tissue tickets— 
drawn. 

Q. Were they Eepublican or Democratic or both ?—A. I hate to say 
it,.but I think the majority of them were Eepublican tickets. 



494 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


Q. Is this a sample of the tissue ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 
(Tlie ticket was put iu evidence as follows:] 

Orangeburg County* 


FOR GOVERNOR, 

Wade Hampton. 

LIKUTKNANT-OOVKRKOK, 

W. D. .Sinip.son, 

8ECRKTARY OF STATE, 

K. M. Sim.s. 

ATTORNEY-OENEKAL, 

Leroy F. Youmana, 
COMPTKOLLKR-Ol'iVEKAL, 
Johnson Hagnod. 
TREASURER, 

S. L. Leapliart. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION, 
Hugh Thompson, 

ADJUTANT and INSPECTOR-GENERAL, 

E. V\'. Moise. 

Congress—Second District, 

M. P. O’Conner. 
Representatives, 

Morgan .1. Keller. 

Ira T. Shoemaker. 

.John S. Bowman, 

W C. Hane. 

B. G. Frederick. 

School Commi.ssioner, 

D. L. Connor. 

County Commissioners. 

L. S. Connor 
Ephraim Cummings. 


By Mr. Eandolph: 

Q. You say a good many tissue tickets were voted that day?—A. Yo? 
sir; I did not say a good many were voted —1 said a good many were 
counted. 

Q. How many kinds of tickets did" you see at the i)olling-place that 
day?—A. Three, sir. 

Q. Not more than three?—A. Not that I remember, sir. 

Q. Did you see the tickets as they were laid out after the count was 
ended?—A. Yes, sir; I helped to take out a part of them myself. 

Q. How many kinds of tickets came out ?—A. Three kinds. 

Q. Only three kinds ?—A. Only three that I can remember. 

Q. And you think that of this overplus of 324 votes that were de¬ 
stroyed the majority were Republican tickets?—A. I think so, sir. 

Q. Did you keep any account of them, so as to know?—A. No, sir; I 
could not see them as they were drawn out and destroyed. 

Q. Then how do you know they were Republican ?"—A. Because ac¬ 
cording to the size and their looks as they came out, and the manner in 
which tliey were drawn, I think tliey were Republican tickets. They 
were taken from the box very sloAvly. 

Q. Still you say you didn’t see them drawn?—A. I did see them 
drawn, sir. 

Q. You did not see the tickets themselves ?—A. I saw the tickets 
handed to another man. 

Q. Why couldn’t you tell what kind of tickets they were?—A. Well, 
sir, I could see the size of the tickets, and their general appearance; 
but wliat was printed on them 1 could not see, because they were not 
taken up and held up. 

Q. But you just believe that a majority of them were Republican 
tickets?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you join the supervisor in the returns ?—xl. I did. 

Q. You signed the returns ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you make any objection to it?—A. I did not make objection 
to it; I did not swear that it was correct. 

Q. But you were sworn to administer the duties of your office faith¬ 
fully f—A. Yes, sir. 






County.] 


TESTIMONY OF MR. WEBSTER. 


495 


Q. Then why did you sign that return if you thought it was incor¬ 
rect ?—A. I thought it was my business to sign the list and I did so. 

Q. You thought it was your business to sign the list, correct or incor¬ 
rect'?—A. Just so, sir. 


MR. WEBSTER. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27,1879. 

Mr. Webster, sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Orangeburg. 

Q. How long have you been there ?—>A. Eight years. 

Q. Did you take any part in the last election ?—A. I was a candidate 
on the Republican ticket, and had general supervision over the arrange¬ 
ments of the campaign, with several other leading Republicans. 

Q. What office were you running for % —A. County commissioner. 

Q. How you may state the character of the camiiaign as briefly as you 
can 5 w here you were on election-day, &c.—A. The campaign in our 
county dates from the meeting of the State convention. There is one 
fact here that I desire to call your attention to; A committee consisting 
of Mr. Duncan and Mr. Streeter waited upon Governor Hampton, as it was 
understood he would appoint one Republican commissioner of election, 
to see if he would appoint the man they would recommend. They 
recommended a man, and the governor said (so the committee reported 
back) that he would appoint him; he said he would do it then and there 
Avere it not for the fact that his iirivate secretary was absent. The dele¬ 
gation went home expecting they would have some representation on 
the board of commissioners. When they got home the man whom the 
governor said he would appoint they ascertained was not appointed— 
all three Avere Democrats that were appointed. One was a colored 
Democrat who was regarded as a very bitter foe, and very obnoxious; 
more so than any other Democrat,’however ultra he might be in his 
views. Early in the campaign, from local items in the press, from gen¬ 
eral reports through the State, from editorials in the Charleston Hews 
and Courier, Ave became convinced that as Republicans we could not 
carry on an acthx campaign in the county, so we dispensed with our meet¬ 
ing and adopted a sort of ’possum policy; we appeared to be doing noth¬ 
ing while we were working all the time. I suppose it is known that 
the colored people know very well hoAv to do that—they can pass the 
AAmrd along the line. There were several meetings that they were 
obliged to adjourn on account of the Democrats. 1 was not present, 
but the Republicans Avaited upon me and asked me what they should do 
in the matter. I gaA^e them the best ad\ice I could. I have one of the 
local papers here which contains some of these items—the Orangeburg 
Times, a Democratic paper published in the county at Orangeburg 
Court-House. 

Q- M^hat is the date A. September 28, 1878. On the local page is 
this : Red shirts! red horses! red riders! bloody, red-hot Democrats! is 
the motto of the Times.” Somebody clipped that from the paper, to 
make it personal, inclosed it in a letter to me at the post-office. 

Lower doAvn is this local item: Our young Democrats keep an e.^e 
on Radii^al meetings of any kind, and ^vatch them day and night.” This 
was on Saturday, the 28th of September. Tavo days after this, on Mon- 



496 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


day, Senator Duncan was arrested. Tliat day there was to be a meet¬ 
ing. He liad already called a meeting of the executive committee of 
the Republican party, and he was arrested on that day. The first I 
knew of it, he came to my office and told me he was under arrest. I 
told him I would do what I could to secure a bond for him. As soon as 
I went upon the street I was arrested. The charge on which he was 
arrested was bribery. It was substantially, this: That in the campaign 
of 1876 he had entered into an agreement that he would use his influ¬ 
ence with Governor Chamberlain to have me appointed county treas¬ 
urer, and that I had accepted the agreement, and that I was bribed, he 
being the briber, and that I had voted for him in accordance with this 
agreement. I was immediately taken to the office of Mr. Gribble, he 
being the chairman of the Democratic committee of the county, as also 
the &feated candidate for senate. 

Q. Defeated when!—A. In 1876, when Mr. Duncan was elected, he 
was the standing candidate for the opposition. I went in there and 
found in the office among them a trial-justice from Elsener, about twelve 
miles above Orangeburg. They had imported him for the occasion. He 
asked me if I would have a preliminary examination. I knew it was 
no use to enter into a preliminary examination, and I told him no, that 
I would endeavor to get ui) a bond, and he gave me a blank for a bond, 
and gave me half an hour to attend to it. I was arrested at two o’clock 
at that time. At that time I found that those who would go on my 
bond had gone to dinner. I drove out about a mile to wliere I had a 
friend whom I thought would favor me, and when I found him he said 
he could not do that; that he was a business man and he could not go 
on my bond, it would afiect his interests too much. I was told that 
word had been sent to my friends that if they went on my bond they 
would get into trouble. Later I got back in the street, and I met a doctor 
who stopped and asked me if he could do anything for me. I told him 
I wanted to get up a bond, and he said, ‘‘Well, I will go on your bond.” 
He is a Democrat. He took the bond, and I said to the constable who 
was with me, “Can I step ov^er to the court-house, and you come over 
with me and he vdll sign it?” He said no, that I must go right back to 
the office. I went back to the office, and in the mean time the doctor 
took my bond to the court-house and signed it, and secured the signa¬ 
ture to it of another gentleman of property. When I got to the office 
I was asked if I had my bond. I said I hadn’t, but I expected my bond 
over in a moment. They had the commitment made out and gave it to 
the constable, and told him to take me to jail. I had $300 in my x)ocket 
and I offered that. 

Q. What was the amount of the bond ?—^A. Seven hundred dollars, 
on an action which never required more than three or four hundred dol¬ 
lars. I offered him this three hundred dollars until I could get up a 
bond as security for my appearance. But the whole object, of course, 
was to disorganize the Republicans by getting rid of some of those who 
were looked upon as leaders. They refused the money, and as L stepped 
to the door I met a colored man bringing over the bond. I offered it to 
the trial-justice and he refused to look at it, and said he was in a hurry; 
that he must go home, and that I must go to jail. I went over and found 
Senator Duncan, who had already been in jail. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Right there, I will ask you if Senator Duncan was not the chair¬ 
man of the Republican executive committee of the town ?—A. Yes, sir, 
and he had called a meeting of the committee at Orangeburg Court- 


TESTIMONY OF MR. WEBSTER. 


County.] 


497 


House on tliat day. That was all of any special importance that oo- 
curred there previous to the election. 

Q. How did you get out of jail?—A. I was confined to a cell, and the 
sheriff was sent for and instructed them not to put me in a cell. 

Q. Was he a Repuhlicaii ?—A. Yes, sir; he was instructed to put me 
in a cell, hut he didn’t do it. 

Mr. Kirkwood. Good for him. 

The Witness. The clerk let me out of jail. I put money up, and hy 
the law of the State the clerk can release when the money is put up. 

Q. How much money did you put up ?—A. The whole seven hundred 
dollars—it amounted to that. 

* Q. How did Mr. Duncan get out?—A. He was kept in jail about two 
days. During this time my father, who was a property-owner in that 
locality, had returned from the Korth (he was absent in theKorth at the 
time I was arrested) and he stood Senator Duncan’s bond. He was re¬ 
leased about two days after my arrest. The editor of the Democratic 
paper there came to me and gave me some good advice, and asked me 
to be allowed to announce my name in the paper and say that I would 
remain perfectly neutral. By so doing, he said, I would get the good¬ 
will of the Democrats and get along pleasantly. He said I had many 
good friends that didn’t dislike me personally, but didn’t like my i)olitics. 
I didn’t consent. He detailed some particulars about the campaign, 
which was told me in confidence, and, therefore, I would not state them, 
many of which proved true. On the day of election, when I came to 
the polls, I found the United States marshal had been arrested. It was 
done under what is termed a decision of Judge Mackey. I have in my 
pocket a copy of that so-called decision. It is nothing but a political 
speech that iie made, in which he made this announcement—that the 
United States marshals Avere not legally serving in cities of less than 
twenty thousand inhabitants, and that should any attempt be made to 
interfere with the election in his county, he would see that they were in¬ 
side of the county jail before six o’clock. 

Q. HaA^e you that decision ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Cameron. I think that had better go in as a monument of ju¬ 
dicial Avisdom. 

The Witness. This was published in the Courier on the day before 
the election: 

THE RIGHTS OF THE STATE.—JUDGE MACKEY PRONOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF 
DEPUTY MARSHALS OUTSIDE OF CHARLESTON ILLEGAL AND A'OID. 

[Special dispatch to the News and Courier. J 

Chester, S. C., November 2. 

Ad(lressiu,o- a large Democratic assemblage here to-night, Judge T. J. Mackey, re- 
ferriiio- to the election on Tuesday, said: “The appointment of the United States 
deiiuty marshals for any point outside of Charleston is without authority of law, and 
I pled<«-e von my honor*that in case of the interference of such marshals in Chester, 
before 7 o’clock a. m. the offender will find himself an inmate of the county jail. 

JUNIUS. 

Mr. Cameron. Just state who Judge Mackey is. * 

The Witness. He is one of the circuit judges. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You can go on noAV and finish your statement. —A. Well, the ar¬ 
rest of these marshals had an influence on the Kepublicans. They 
seemed to be very timid. There Avere a feAV determined to vote at all 
hazards. 

Q. And seA'eral were arrested ?—A. I remember some were arrested 
32 s C 



498 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


and relieved during tlie day. One man Avas arrested and kept in jail 
about forty-eigbt hours. I Avaited on him in the jail the next day. He 
Avas arrested because they said he had Amted someAvhere else; but he 
Avas Avilling to take the oath that he had not. About tAv^o o’clock in 
the day I discoAxred hoAV" the Democrats Avere A^oting; that is, I didn’t 
discoA"er it of my oa\ui accord; but a Democrat had told me—folded ui) 
the ballot and shoAv^ed me hoAV they put it in the box. 

Q. Well, shoAv [us.—A. They folded up a large ticket A\dth the little 
tissue ticket put in betAveen the thumb and fingers, and Avhen the A^oting 
took place a stick Avas put in and stirred around, and that separated 
the ballot. I tried my best to have it detected at the box so as to e:|- 
pose them, but could not succeed. About tAVO Aveeks after the election 
threats Avere made against the Eepublicans, and A\^e Avere in daily appre¬ 
hension that our liA^es Avould be taken, until the next Monday, I think 
it Avas, after the election, the United States commissioner came there 
and eighteen i^arties were arrested for Adolation of*United States laws} 
arrested on the aifidaAfits of Sandy Kitt. The next day after these ar¬ 
rests, Avhich I think \A^as Mondajy they made an assault on Kitt on the 
streets. I A\\as then in my office; while I conld not distinguish the par¬ 
ties particularly, I saAv the fight myself, and a great hubbub there Avas. 
The next day the tactics seemed to liaA^e been changed. It was reported 
as soon as I got on the streets in the morning that all the leading Ke- 
publicans Avere to be arrested, and during the day seA^eral arrests were 
made. I think the first arrest was Mr. Miller, one of the United States 
marshals. Later, Mr. LiAungston, sheriff of the county, and myself were 
arrested. We were arrested on the charge of conspiracy to obstruct the 
counting of the votes. Noav I will go back to the day of the election, 
and ex])lain that conspiracy. After the polls had been closed at night, 
I went to tliem. It was tlien about half past six. There was eAudently 
something going on. I could see that there Avas an effort to conceal 
something. These State constables and one of the managers had their 
hands on the box, and I could not get within two or three rows of men 
from the box, but I could see those about the box. I got as near as I 
could and met Mr. Livingston, and asked him if he had made any appli¬ 
cation to be admitted to witness the count for us, and he said he had, 
and had been refused. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. Was he a United States marshal —A. lie was. I then asked a man 
if he would not reach over and touch another man for me that I kneAV 
and tell him to look around, which he did, and I sent word to the man¬ 
agers if Mr. Livingston and myself could not come in and witness the 
count for the Eepublicans. He said, Ko,” and he turned aAvay, and as 
he passed out, I spoke to Kitt, and he went aside with LiAungkon and 
myself. I told Kitt to take his commission in his hand and go up to the 
managers and tell them as a United States officer togHe him permission 
to witness the counting of the votes. He did so. I saw him take his 
commission out^of his pocket and go there, and then I heard somebody 
cry out, ‘ Arres't him,” and there was a general hubbub, and I heard 
bloAvs, and he was carried off to jail. Mr. Livingston and myself, not 
considering it safe to remain there, left, and didn’t go near the box any 
more during the rest of the count. These are the grounds for the charg^ 
of conspiracy. 

By Mr. Kirkavood: 

Q. To prevent a count?—A. Yes, sir; to piwent the counting of the 
votes. This was the charge against me and Livingston and Sandy Kitt. 


€ounty.] 


TESTIMONY OF MR. WEBSTER. 


499 


I was arrested, and gave bond for a preliminary examination. During 
the pendency of the trial i^ropositions of compromise were made to onr 
lawyers, that if we wonld drop onr cases in the United States courts these 
cases wonld be dropped, and if not they wonld go on; and for every one 
we arrested, they wonld arrest two. I was at the preliminary examina¬ 
tion, and the trial-jnstice decided that I should give bond. I gave bond 
in the sum of $500 for my appearance in court at the court which oc¬ 
curred recently. A true bill was found, and the indictment is now iiang- 
ing over myself, and Mr. Kitt, and Mr. Livingston. That was on that 
charge. On the other charge, of bribery, for some reason I was not sent 
before the grand jury at all, and no bill put in by the grand jury except 
the charge of bribery. I suppose they thought it was too trifling to put 
it before the grand jury. Now, that is all I think of now. There were 
other Kepnblicans arrested. The Itew. Mr. Arthur was arrested on 
two charges. One charge was intimidation of voters, and the other Avas 
assaulting an officer while on duty. All these charges were groundless, 
and were so proved. True bills were found in both of these cases, and 
are now hanging over him. Something has been said about a compro¬ 
mise ever since the true bill was found. 

That was all as to the general management. Now as to the Eepubli- 
cans in the county; they never were any more determined to vote the 
Eepublican ticket than at this election. A very few (I judge from many 
facts) voted the Democratic ticket. In 1870, when a most desperate 
effort Avas made to make votes for the Democratic ticket, oidy 288 in the 
county, out of about five thousand, could be induced by all manner of 
means, intimidation, fraud, and bribery, to Amte the Democratic ticket. 
Tliis campaign Avas not near so bitter; they didn’t make near as much 
effort; there Avas a great deal of apathy on the part of the Democrats, 
and I don’t think there were one hundred men in the county voted the 
Democratic ticket, and yet the county Avas reported to have given 1,500 
Democratic majority. 

Q. In 1874 they had Democratic managers ? 

(Objected to by Mr. Eandolph as calling for the opinion of the witness.) 

The Witness. Well, J can giA^e yon the official figures as follows: 
The total white vote given is 2j552; the total colored vote of the county 
4,801. Mr. Hampton received 2,840. Now I aa411 take from what Hamp¬ 
ton received, 2,840, the total white vote, Avffiich was 2,552, and that gives 
the number of colored people that Amted for Hampton, providing no 
white men A^oted for Chamberlain, which leaA^es 188. I will say that at 
this last election tliat was not done. In 187G two separate colunnis AAmre 
kept—one for white and one for colored. At this election (it is a fact 
that I cannot state of my own personal knoAvledge, but I knew from 
parties that saw it) they Avere first instructed to do this; but afterwards 

their instructions AAmre changed. ^ -r 

Q. They put black and white together ?—xV. Yes, sir. In 18/4, when 
they liad Democratic managers, Mr. Chamberlain’s majority AArns 1,765; in 
1876 Chamberlain’s majority was 1,599 ; in 1878 the general majority for 
the Democrats Avas 1,500 in round numbers. There were just two polls m 
the county Avhere these frauds were not perpetrated, and there were only 
tAvo polls "in the county Avhere the excess of ballots in tlie box Avas not 
A-ery much greater than the number of names on the poll-list, and those 
tAvo polls were alAA^ays Democratic. They relied upon their Democratic 
managers and therefore they thought there was no reason for frauds. 

Q. Wliat polls were tliey!—A. One was Brown’s poll, which for the 
first time gaA^e a Eepublican majority of elcA en, at this election. The 
other polf Avhich was ahvays Democratic was Greton’s. That is the 



500 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878, 


[Orangeburj 


strongest Democratic poll in the comity, and at this election the Dem 
cratic majority of that poll was reduced more than one-halt from the 
Democratic majority of 1876. 

Q. Were all the managers in the county Democrats, as far as you 
know ?—A. As far as I know, they were. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How was it on previous elections ; were they exclusively Eepuh- 
lican?—A. In 1876 a Democratic commissioner was aiiiiointed, at the 
suggestion of the Democrats, by Mr. Chamberlain. 1 was one of the 
board myself, and that Democratic manager appointed others at each 
poll, and in 1874 the commissioners had charge of theiiolls on account of 
the venality of Moses, and they appointed Democratic managers. 

Now as to the counting of the votes two years ago: We took the bal¬ 
lot-box into the court-house. Everybody came in there that wished to j 
there was a large number there, and a great many kept tally. All the 
interested iiarties were there. Persons from both jiarties looked at it 
openly. But at this election nobody could get in, even those who had a 
right; they were kept out, although by the laws of the State they had a 
right to witness the count. 

Q. Did you see the tickets at your place after they were voted ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. What tickets did you see at the polls during the day j did you see 
any of those tissue ballots ?—A. I didn’t see any at the poll, but I got 
one or two, and I was told how they were voted." 

Q. They were not being distributed"?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What tickets did they distribute A. They distributed the regu¬ 
lar Democratic ticket of which there was no trouble in getting. I saw 
hve tissue ballots, I believe, on the day of election, and that is all I 
could get hold of. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. How long have you lived at Orangeburg A. For eight years my 
home has been there. My parents lived there in 1870 when I was North 
attending school, and I regard that as my home. 

Q. Where were you born —A. In Montpelier, Yt. 

Q. You first came South in 1870 A. No, sir; I came South in 1866. 

Q. Your parents came in 1870?—A. No, sir; they went to Orange¬ 
burg in 1870. I resided here for two years. 

Q. What was your business here ?—A. I taught school here. 

Q. What is your business at Orangeburg now ?—A. At the present 
time I am in the post-ofiice there. 

Q. Are you postmaster ?—A. No, sir; I am deputy postmaster. 

Q. What ofiice were you a candidate for at the last election?_^A. My 

name was put upon the ticket for commissioner of elections. I was 
simply a candidate. I cared nothing for the ofiice. I was first nomi¬ 
nated for the legislature. 

Q. Were you originally arrested for bribery ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were 5 "ou committed to jail ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long were you in jail ?—A. I was in jail, I should judge 
about four or five hours. I was put in jail a little before four o’clock 
and I was arrested about two, and staid there until about eio^ht. ’ 

Q. You had the freedom of the jail while you were in there: you were 
not in a cell ?—A. No, sir. ^ 

Q. Who went upon that bond ?—A. The bond that was not received? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. Dr. Eoderick. 


Connty.] 


TESTIMONY OF MR. WEBSTER. 


501 


Q. was tlie otlier on the bond?—A. Mr. Livingston. 

Q. What are they politically?—A. I don’t know; I think Eoderick is 
a Democrat, and Li\ingston is a Kepnblican. 

Q. The clerk of the court released yon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Upon your furnishing substantially the seven hundred dollars 
required ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon said that was not all in money?—A. I didn’t say it was not 
all in money; I said that I paid that substantially. 

Q. Was it all in money?—A. It was not; three hundred dollars in 
money, and the rest was in equivalents of money. 

Q. What do you call the equivalent of money, what was the other 
four hundred dollars made up of?—A. Well, sir, the other four hun¬ 
dred dollars was made up of my own obligation. 

Q. So the clerk received three hundred dollars in money, and your 
personal obligation ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your general treatment by the Democrats there, outside of these 
matters that you have related, has been of what character ?—A. Ho 
fault to find with my general treatment outside of politics. Many of 
them expressed their regrets for what has occurred and denounced it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Many Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; many have expressed that to me 
personally. We have a great many Democrats in that county that have 
been good friends of mine. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Well, the majority of the Democrats in that county have treated 
you well?—A. Yes, sir; the majority or a large proportion of them. I 
have received some rough treatment from the Democrats all through 
when I was acting two years ago as commissioner of election. 

Q. But your general treatment has been good ?—A. Yes sir, it has; 
I have no fault to find. 

Q. You consider this statement of Judge Mackey’s in the light of a 
decision ?—A. Ho, sir; I do not. I S])oke of it because it was generall}^ 
spoken of. If I had been writing it I would have inclosed it in quota¬ 
tion marks. 

Q. Judge Mackey was a judge appointed under the Eepublican ad¬ 
ministration, was he not ?—A. I think, sir, he has been recently elected 
by the Democrats. 

Q. And he was judge under the Eepublican administration, and was 
considered a i^rominent Eepublican at that time ?—A. I think so, sir. 
He is a man that is prominent anywhere and under any circumstances. 

Q. How, you described to the committee a little while ago the way in 
which some Democrat showed you how these tissue ballots were being 
put in the ballot-box ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you were i)articular to notice how it was done ?—A. Yes, sir. 
I did not see them vote the ballots; I saw none of them voted, but I en¬ 
deavored to have it discovered at the polls. 

Q. It could not be done ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. How what Democrat was it that told you how the thing was done ? 
—A. That is a question that I would prefer not to answer publicly; I 
can give you the name in confidence. I know it would hurt the man 
and bring down upon him Democratic vengeance, and I would rather not 
give the name publicly; but I would give it to you in confidence if you 
desire it. 

Q. You are now under indictment in the State court ?—A. I am. 

Q. You are under bond for five hundred dollars ?—A. Yes, sir. 


502 


SOXJTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


Q. Who are your bondsmen?—A. My father and Dr. Eoderick. 

Q. What are the politics of the doctor ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. Your father is a Eepnblican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So yon seem to have some Democratic friends down there who 
were willing to go bail for yon in emergencies ?—A. Yes, sir. I have 
letters from three Democrats in my pocket speaking of taking nomina¬ 
tion on the Eepnblican ticket. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Why did they not do it ?—A. One of them did do it. Before the 
election we addressed letters to several Democrats there stating that 
we desired to get nii a good ticket, and asking if they would accept 
nominations on the Eepnblican ticket, for the sake of the Eepnblican 
ticket. They answered in the affirmative in Avriting. There Avere three 
of them nominated, but two of them declined after they were nominated. 
One of them remained and said that they could not make him decline. 

Q. What did they say they would do Avith him ?—A. They said they 
would haA e nothing to do Avith him if he didn’t take his name offi the 
Eadical ticket, and that their families Avonld haA^e no intercourse with 
him. Yo Auolent measures were taken. 

Q. You say Judge Mackey has been the leader of the Democrats ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Since he became a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhen Avas he elected, at this last election f—A. Yes, sir; he Avas 
elected A^ery recently; that is, it must haAx been a year ago. When 
under the decision of the supreme court the judges Avere thrown out of 
office, then he Avas re-elected. 

Q. You say there are some respectable Democrats?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Which iiart of the Democratic party control about there, the men 
you call respectable or the Adolent men ?—A. The Auolent men control 
them. I think the respectable men are in the majority; but I think 
there is no chance for them; they have not the courage of their own 
opinion. They told me that they are Eepublicans, and talked good 
Eepnblican doctrine j then they go aside and converse Avith the Demo¬ 
crats, and, I suppose, they con Averse as though they Arere good Demo¬ 
crats then 5 I don’t knoAv. 


SAMUEL KITT. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28,1870. 

SA3IUEL Kitt (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you liA^e ?—Answer. In Orangeburg County. 

Q. Were you present at the polls on election day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What Avere you ?—A. Deputy marshal. 

Q. Were you in attendance all day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yow you may state Avhat you know about that election, and state 
it as briefly as you can.—A. During that day I kept as close to the polls 
as I could, all day. In the morning the Democratic challenger got to 
challenging people and objecting to their A^oting, and one of the other 
deputy marshals also. He said, “ You must not do that unless you liaA'e 
official cause to do it.” Then he ]mlled out his pocket some papers and 
showed he had a right; and with that he was arrested, and myself and 
Mr. Josephus Miller, and they started off AAuthus to the court-house, and 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL KITT. 


503 


before we ^N’ere turned loose we had to promise that we would not inter¬ 
fere at all when anything went wrong at the polls. I told them that if 
that was what they arrested me for they might as well carry me right 
on, for I would not agree to that, for if anything went wrong I was 
bound to interfere. I went back as tliey let me loose, any Avay. Well, 
tliey took sticks in their hands, and if a man came up there, it did not 
make any difference where he came from, lie could vote as long as he 
had a Democratic ticket in his hands. A Democrat was allowed to vote 
and no questions asked. But not so with the rest. I interfered two 
times and said, “ That is no Avay for you to object to one side Acting and 
to make no objections on the other side.” I iieA^er saAV the Kepublicans 
croAAul around to vote as they did that day. Well, during the day Mr. 
Kae raised up his stick and struck at meAvith it. I said, “You liaA^e no 
right to knock me aAvay from the poll; I have a right here.” He said, 
“ Yo United States deputy marshal has business here unless there is 
20,000 people or more inhabitants in toAAui.” And he said, “ If-you don’t 
keep away from here some of you Avill get your hide knocked off.” Well, 
I Avas satisfied as I am setting here that 75 or 100 Avere rejected from the 
polls AA ho should haA^e Amted. One old man, named Horn, had to go 
clean home a mile or two and bring his bible so that the manager could 
let his son Amte. He swore his son was of age, but they Avould not take 
his Avord. 

When they commenced counting at 6 o’clock, as soon as they were 
satisfied it was 6 o’clock, some one said, “ Close up,” and the constables 
got around the polls as close as they could, and the Eepublican super- 
Ausor and the clerk and the managers were comparing the poll list; and 
Stephens said, “Lookout; these men are going to do something wrong.” 
Then I squeezed up to Jack Thompson, and he said, “ Get aAvay, you 
damned black son of a bitch.” I said, “ I have a right here, Mr. Thomp¬ 
son.” Then a man came up and asked permission to be in the house to 
keep a tally. He Avas refused. They said, “ No, you can’t come in here ; 
none of you Eadicals can come in this house.” Well, in a short time. Mr. 
Webster came up and he was refused the house. Then I spoke up to 
Stephens, and I said, “ Lookout,” and I turned back to the table, and there 
was nothing else on the table then but the tickets, and I noticed a man 
say, You take your hand away from that box,” and another said, “ You 
take your hand aAAmy”—just making sport of each other. There was 
large 'Democratic tickets on the table. They kept making a noise and 
keeping the attention of the people away so that they would think eAxry- 
thing AAms going on right. I asked permission to go in the house, as 
that Avas my only chance, and I says, “ I demand my right to go in the 
house here as United States deputy marshal, and a man says, “ No, you 
sha’n’t go in,” and I said, “ Well, I will try and go in,” and then I Avas 
arrested; and some beat me with sticks, and hit me with their fists, and 
I Avas taken aAvay, and what happened after 1 Avas arrested, beat, hit, 
and carried to the court-house, I don’t knoAV. 

Q. Who else Avas at the pollsA. Mr. Miller was there and Mr. Web¬ 
ster and several others. They let the constables in, and the Democrats 
they all could go in any way they wanted. 

Q. Have you been indicted ?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. F.or AAdiatf— A. The first indictment was for interfering and con¬ 
spiring to break up the election. The last one was for conspiracy. 

Q. That is interesting.—A. O, yes, sir; and they found a true bill, 
so they say. 

Q. Have they arrested you on the indictment ? Did they take out a 


504 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


warrant, or have you given bail ?—A. Yes, sir; I have given bail, and 
then it was transferrecl down here—the first one was. 

Q. Are you living up there now ?—A. O, Lor’, I dassn’t go there. 

Q. Why not —A. Because men of that character are just low down 
enough to do anything, and I know they would kill me. The morning 
after the election I was attacked down the street by old man Sally, with 
brass knuckles, and his son, Mike, and the “Queen.” I saw they were 
going to kill me, and I started for the court-house, and I heard some one 
say “Look out, they are going to shoot,” and then I turned and ran for 
the house. Then I was cut by George Moss and Mike Sally, and they 
struck me in the head with a brass knuckle, and then one came up and 
hit me with a piece of something j and the policeman, instead of sto})- 
ping it, came up and reached over the man and hit me with a club, and 
pretended he was taking the other fellow off; and then I was arrested 
and carried to the court-house for making a disturbance. 

Q. Dkbthey keep you there?—A. Until the next morning. I was 
told then, that same day, by the mayor of the town the way things were 
going, and that that was the condition of things, and I had better leave. 
That is what he told me, and I thought I Avould leave. 

Q. Were these men who told you that Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir 5 all 
Democrats. 

Q. Have you been here since that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What are you doing ?—A. I am not doing anything because I can’t 
get anything to do. 

Q. iVhy can’t you get anything to do !—A. Why, there is very few 
Eei)ublican men who can get work, and if it is known, he can’t get any¬ 
thing to do. I know hundreds that have been turned off the railroads, 
and every one because they would not vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Off* what railroad?—A. Off* this South Carolina Eailroad here. 

Q. How many ?—A. I don’t know how many, but I can call some of 
them. I know ten I am certain of. They were working on the railroad, 
and Bob McQuinn, who was foreman, was going to carry them to Co¬ 
lumbia to keep them from voting because they would not vote the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket. He carried them to Cainsville and left them there. 
Tliey walked from there to Orangeburg just to vote. 

Q. Is it 20miles?—A. O, Lor’, man, more than that. 

(»>. How much do you think ?—A. I don’t know the distance. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When did this difficulty occur of which you last spoke ?—A. With 
the Sallys ? It happened on Tuesday. 

Q. On Tuesday, when the vote was declared, you said you had been 
indicted twice ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And what were those indictments for ?—A. I can tell you. The 
first one that they had against me was of conspiring to break uj) the 
election. 

Q. What was the rest ?—A. It was for conspiracy. 

Q. Were you ever charged with having been an accomplice in killing 
a man ?—A. Of course I was charged with that, and it was proven that 
it was a lie. 

Q. Who was the man that was killed ?—A. Jeffrey Hussey. 

Q. How was it proven that it was a lie ?—A. Well, it was just proved 
that it was a lie. Mr. Buttz, who is here, can testify to that, 

Q. Did you swear that you were not taken as state’s evidence in that 
trial ?—A. In the beginning I was taken as state’s evidence. 

Q. What was the man’s name who was convicted ?—A. Russell Wilson. 


County. J 


TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL KITT. 


505 


Q. He is now in tlie penitentiary ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were yon ever charged with collecting taxes before they were 
due !—A. If I was, I don’t know anything about it. 

You swear to that ?—A. ISTo, sir; I don’t know anything about it. 

Q. Ho you know whether any warrant is out for your arrest?—A. I 
don’t know anything about a warrant out for me. 

Q. Were you keeping away from that county since they had that 
warrant out for you for collecting money illegally !—A. ilo, sir; there 
has been so many wrong things done for the last two years that a man 
is not safe there so long as he is a Republican now. 

Q. How long were you at Orangeburg after the election ?—A. I don’t 
think I was there over a week and a half. I don’t think I was there 
that long. I was there a week and two days after the election, and if 
I am not mistaken, the same man that brung you that paper now is the 
man that I have a warrant against in the United States court. 

Q. You think the Republicans have a pretty hard time with it up 
there ?—A. Yes, sir 5 indeed they do. 

Q. Are there not a good many Republicans in the employment of 
Democrats there ?—A. I don’t say there is not some, but very few 5 in 
fact, many of them have been turned off just for their politics that I 
know. 

Q. What do you say was the name of the man that was killed ?—A. 
Jeffrey Hussey. 

Q. Had you nothing to do with the killing ?—A. Ro, sir; nothing 
more than you. 

Q. Were you arrested at all for the murder?—A. I was carried there 
as a witness. 

Q. Were not you handcuffed?—A. Yo, sir; I never was handcuffed 
in my life. 

Q. You know nothing about the murder ?—A. Ro, sir. 

Q. Then what did you testify?—A. I knew nothing more about the 
killing the man than what he said the next morning himself. 

Q. What did you testify ?—A. Why, just that I testified in the court 
that I saw Russell Wilson on the next morning, and he asked me if I 
had heard the report; and I said no, and asked what it was; and he 
said he had put things through with Hussey. That is all I know. There 
was a fuss about a woman. 

Q. You had nothing to do with that murder?—A. !No, sir; nothing at 
all in the world. 

Q. What were you there to testify for ?—A. Me and Russell Wilson 
used to be pretty good friends, and it happened that evening that he 
came where I was sitting, and he asked me if I would ride with him, 
and I said no, I would not; that I had to stop and kill hogs. He didn’t 
tell me where he was going then. That is what I testified to in the court, 
and that is all. I was not arrested for any complicity in the murder. 
I was simply called there to testify to that fact. 

Q. At what time was this man killed ?—A. He was killed in the night. 

Q. Russell Wilson asked you to take a ride with him?—A. Yes, sir; 
he lived below me, and in coming over he would come by my house and 
ask me to go with him, and everybody knew it. 

Q. Russell Wilson was convicted of killing that man that night ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And Russell Wilson asked you to ride with him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you didn’t go ?—A. No, sir; I didn’t go. 

Q. Were you arrested the next day?—A. No, sir; not the next day. 
I was arrested at least two or three months afterwards. 


506 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


Q. What ^ere 3^011 arrested for then ?—A. I was arrested because 
they thought I knew something about it, and I was asked to give a bail, 
ami I could not give bail. They wanted to hud out whether I knew any¬ 
thing about the killing this man because me and Eussell were friends— 
that is all. 

Q. Were 3-011 not tried for the murder ?—A. l!To, sir; I was not tried 
for it at all. 

Q. Were 3-011 not charged with it?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. E'er indicted for it ?—A. Eo, sir 5 not at all. 


J. J. MAYS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1870. 

J. J. Mays (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do 3-011 reside?—Answer. Orangeburg. 

Q. How long have 3 011 lived there ?—A. About eight 3 ^ears. 

Q. Were 3 - 0 U present at an 3 ^ polling place on election day ?—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. Mdiere?—A. At Eoseville, in the county. 

Q. Hid you have airy- position?—A. Yes, sir, I was supervisor. 

Q. Tell 11 s what occurred.—A. AYell, nothing occurred as I knoAv of 
during the time, except the counting of the votes in the evening after 
the polls closed. The votes were counted and they found an excess in 
the box over the poll-list. 

Q. How many- names were on the poll-list?—A. 214 on the poll-list. 

Q. Hid 3-011 keep a list?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid y-oiirs and the managers’ agree?—A. Y'es, sir, they found in 
the box 291 votes after they- were counted. They- were turned back into 
the box, and one of the managers, without being blindfolded and without 
turning his eyes from the box either, drew out the excess to make the 
(iontents tally with the poll-list, which I think was 77 drawn from the 
box. 

Q. Mdiat tickets did he draw; did yon notice?—A. I could not say 
exactly those he drew, because he destroy-ed them as fast as he took 
them out, but I suppose they were Eepiiblican tickets principally-. 

Q. Why do 3-011 suppose so ?—A. Because I saw them after they- were 
torn up and they were headed “ Eepublican tickets.” 

Q. What did they declare the result to be ?—A. I think 136 votes for 
O’Connor and 88 for Mackey-. 

Q. What Avere the kind of tickets 3-011 found in the box?—A. I didn’t 
find any tissue ballots, but they were three kinds of tickets that I saw in 
the box, two of which only I saw during the day. But AA-hen the box Avas 
opened, there were three kinds of tickets. There was oiie in the box 
very- near the size of this (showing one of the Eepublican tickets) made 
of paper thinner than the regular Hemocratic tickets. 

Q. Hid you liaA^e any conversation with the managers as to the method 
of drawing?—A. When they attempted to draw the Azotes out of the 
box, Mr. EeeA-es read a passage of the constitution Avhich showed hoAV 
he should take the votes from the box when there was an excess after 
the election was over and the A-otes were counted. There was some 
inquiries about the election result, but I didn’t say much. They- said, 
is nothing but a swindling game.’; There was a good many-there, 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. J. MAYS. 


507 


and they kept up the talk. I retired from the house with the managers 
about the same time. Among them was Mr. Walth, and I said, “Yes,” I 
knew it was really a game played, although I could not understand it, 
and 1 said I could have extricated the ballots from the box in a like 
manner—like he did (he was the gentleman that drew them out), and 
he asked me how that was, and I said any one could tell the Eepublicau 
tickets without examining them, by just feeling them, and could leave 
the others. He said I could not do it, and I told him I could do it. He 
argued with me, and after awhile he said, “Well, I will bet 10 cents that 
you can’t do it,” and I said, “All right, I will bet you.” Then he asked 
me to turn my back to the hat and let him put some ballots in the hat, 
and I should draw out a certain number from the hat. I drew out, and 
I said which one it was before I took it out, and I dreAv out the one I 
wanted every time. After that, he said nothing more about the matter. 

Q. How did you do it !—A. It was by feeling. 

Q. Was there sufficient difference in the texture of the paper to allow 
you to do it?—A. Yes, sir; I noticed tlie Eepublicau ticket was of much 
stiffer paper than the Democratic ticket, so that any man even in the 
dark could tell the difference. 

Q. Did this manager ai)pearto feel when he was drawing?—A. Well, 
he felt in the box and fumbled around. I was right near him. 

Q. You say you had not seen one class of tickets at the time?—^A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What were they ?—A. They were Democratic tickets. 

Q. How many were in the box?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Do you know they were counted altogether ?—A. The total num¬ 
ber in the box was 291. 

By Mr. Eandolpii : 

Q. You w^ere United States supervisor of election ?—A. YTes, sir. 

Q. At the Ellsner precinct ?—A. YTes, sir. 

Q. What other office did you hold?—A. I held no other. 

Q. You have never held any other office there ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Everything was quiet all day ?—A. Yes, sir; veiy quiet, I thought. 

Q. There was no riot ?—A. Some talk, but nothing done. 

Q. You said the manager who took the tickets out was not blind¬ 
folded?—A. Ko, sir; nor did he have his back turned to the box, but 
shut his eyes and took them out. 

Q. Did you see him take the tickets out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Could you distinguish the tickets as they were taken out ?—A. INo, 
sir; I could not. 

Q. You really don’t know as to what were taken out ?—A. Yes, sir; 
I saw them on the floor. He destroyed them as ffist as he took them out. 

Q. Were there not a great many kinds of tickets about there that 
(lay?—A. Ho, sir; they were very scarce. The Eepublicans, I think, 
liad their tickets, and the Democrats liad theirs out of sight. There 
were not many tickets on the table; not more than what the managers 
required as specimens to examine; some even of those were voted. 

Q. Do you read and write?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You spoke of some smaller tickets which were in the box, which 
you did not know about. When the votes were counted, did you see 
any smaller tickets of that character (showing) ? Just read that to me. 
—A. (Beading). “ James B. Campbell, for house of representatives; An¬ 
drew Simmonds,” &c. 

Q. Did you see any tickets of that description ?—A. Ho, sir; none 
like that. 


508 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


Q. You don’t positively know wlietker tliose tickets drawn out by the 
manager were Eepnblican tickets or not. Yon only saw some tickets 
that were lying on the table?—A. ^^o, sir; I saw some that were torn 
underneath, that he had taken out, and I knew them to be Itei)nblican 
ballots. I knew it. 

Q. Did yon not join the Democratic managers and supervisor in their 
return ?—A. Yes, sir; I signed it. 

Q. Did yon make any report as to any irregularities or wrongs ?—A. 
^J'o, sir; because I understood they were to sign mine if I signed theirs, 
and I signed theirs, supposing it was my duty to do so after tliey signed 
mine. 

Q. Then you signed the report with the Democratic supervisors ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You made no return of any irregularity ?—A. No, sir; because I 
did not have anything to write, but I thought I was obliged to sign 
their return and give the number of votes they had counted in the box, 
and I did so supposing that to be my duty. 

Q. Well, if you believed that to be wrong, why did you sign ?—A. 
Well, I thought I had to. They signed mine and I thought I had to 
sign the returns that they made out, and I did so. 

Q. You knew they were wrong ?—A. Yes, sir; I knew they were. 

Q. And yet you made no written protest ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Are you pretty well acquainted with the voters of that county ?— 
A. Yes, sir; with a number of them. 

Q. Are they generally Eepublicans or Democrats ?—A. They are gen¬ 
erally Eepubiicans. I think there are none but Eei^ublicans in the pre¬ 
cinct among the colored people. 

Q. How many white men voted there that day ?—A. An even 60 
white men. 


JOHN L. WILLIAMS. 

Charleston, January 28,1879. 

John L. Williams (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Orangeburg. 

Q. AVere you present on the day of election?—A. I was. 

Q. In what cai)acity ?—A. United States sui)ervisor. 

Q. State what occurred that day, as briefly as you can.—A. On the 
morning of the 5th I reached the poll at a quarter before six o’clock. 
The first thing I did I regulated my watch with that of the managers. 
After being there about half an hour the voting commenced rajiidly. I 
was about twenty steps from the house where the Democrats had been 
issuing tickets. I noticed that men came from the house with their 
tickets all folded. I saw one of these small tickets that they call tissue 
tickets, about twelve o’clock. I saw that men would come in with the 
larger tickets already folded; I did not understand what was going on. 
At the closing of the poll I found tliat the number of names on my i)oll- 
list and on the poll-list kept by the clerk agreed; there were 800 names 
on our poll-lists. But when the box came to be opened, the number of 
ballots in the box was found to be 1,111—an excess of about 287 votes. 
The excess was drawn out and destroyed. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN L. WILLIAMS. 


509 


Q. Were tliere any tissue tickets in tlie box?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many?—A. There must have been 170 or 200 of them in that 
box. 

Q. Did you see any of them voted during the day?—A. I saw one. 

Q. Who voted it ?—A. A colored Democrat voted that. 

Q. Did he vote it openly ?—A. Yes, sir; at first j then he folded it 
and put it in the box. 

Q. Did you keep a list of the men that voted ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Both white and colored?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you keep them separate ?—A. I marked the colored by a let¬ 
ter ‘‘C” against their names; the white I did not mark at all. 

Q. How did the list stand in that respect?—A. Six hundred and 
eighty of the voters were colored; the balance were white. 

Q. You mean 680 of the 824?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How was the vote declared?—A. They opened the box and counted 
the votes; then they put the ballots back into the box, and they blind¬ 
folded a man and he drew out the extra tickets. 

Q. What was done with them when they were drawn out ?—A. They 
were torn up. 

Q. Did you see them drawn out and torn up ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of tickets were those which were drawn out of the box 
and torn up ?—A. They were mostly long tickets—Eepublican tickets. 

Q. In what proportion were they to the Democratic tickets ?—A. I 
should say there were 4 or 5 Eepublican to 3 Democratic. 

Q. Were any tissue tickets taken out ?—A. Yes, sir j a few. 

Q. What did they declare the result to be ?—A. They said O’Connor 
had 392. 

Q. And Mackey how many ?—A. Four hundred and thirty-two. 

Q. Had you any knowledge as to how the colored people generally 
voted—Eepublican or Democratic ?—A. During the election of 1876 I 
was there as clerk j then the number of votes in the box tallied exactly 
with the poll-list, and we had 701, of which the Eepublicans had 547, 
and the Democrats 154, leaving a Eepublican majority of something 
over 390. 

Q. How did the colored people vote at this election ?—^A. They voted 
more solid than ever, more so than they did in 1876, on account of two 
polls being abolished—one above and one below—and the voters at 
those polls had to come here this time to vote. 

Q. What ticket did they generally vote?—A. The Eepublican ticket, 
of course. We had a few Democrats among the colored people. 

Q. How many colored Democrats are there there whom you know ?— 
A. I know fifteen or twenty. 

Q. Eot more than that ?—A. l^ot to my knowledge. 

Q. Have they become Democrats recently?—A. Yes, sir] the most 
of them. 

Q. Were the tissue tickets Democratic or Eepublican ?—A. They were 
Democratic. 

Q. Did you see any tissue Eepublican tickets there ?—A. 17o, sir. 

By Mr. Eandolph: 

Q. Is there any Democratic colored club in your neighborhood ?—A. 
Eo, sir. 

Q. Has there ever been one?—A. 'Not that I know of, sir. 

Q. Were you at the ballot-box all day ?—A. Yes, sir] from six to six. 

Q. Could you see every vote that was put into the box ?—A. Yes, 
sir ] I took the names of each voter as he voted. 




510 


SOUTH CAKOLINA IN 1678 


[Orangeburg 


Q. And yon saw tlie ballot of each as it was put in!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Conld yon distinguish each ballot as it went in !—A. ]!^o, sir 5 not 
certainly. 

Q. Conld yon see the piece of paper that was put in when a voter 
came np with a ticket and held it in his hand—conld yon tell what he 
wms putting in !—A. Yes, sir; he held it in snch a w ay that 1 conld tell. 

Q. Every one of those 800 !—A. Almost every one, sir. 

Q. Thej’ were certainly a very accommodating set of men. Yon think 
there are not more than fifteen or tw^enty colored Democrats in this 
neighborhood!—A. There are about fifteen or twenty that I know per¬ 
sonally ; there may be more. 

Q. It is not very po])nlar to be a colored Democrat there, is it!—A. 
Yot very, bnt there are some. 

Q. Do yon not think there may be some colored Democrats there that 
would not like to have it known that they voted the Democratic ticket!— 
A. I have not seen any of that kind 5 them that I saw voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket square and openly. 

Q. And yon say yon know^ of only about fifteen or twenty !—A. There 
may be more than I know^ 

(^. Did yon ever see colored men wear the red shirts about there !—■ 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At x)olitical meetings !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon attend Democratic meetings yourself!—A. I was at one. 

Q. Yon have seen colored Democrats wearing the red shirts as Demo¬ 
crats!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yon say it is not very popular for a colored man to be a Demo¬ 
crat; now, it is not very popnlar for a wdiite man to be a Eepnblican np 
there, is it!—A. I know more of them than I do of colored men being 
Democrats. 


BEKJAMIX BYAS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28,1879. 

Benjamin Byas (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Question. Where do yon reside!—Answer. In the village of Orange¬ 
burg, same county. 

Q. IIow" long have yon lived there !—A. For the past eight years. 

Q. Have yon taken some part in the politics there ?—A. Yes* sir. 

Q. What ticket have yon generally voted !—A. Well, at the first elec¬ 
tion after I went there, in 1870, I voted what was called the regular Ee- 
iniblican ticket. 

Q. What is your business!—A. I am a lawyer by profession—when I 
can get anything to do. 

Q. Is there any feeling among the colored Eepnblicans in your county 
against colored Democrats!—A. Yes, sir; there is considerable. 

Q. Can yon give the committee any instance !—A. I have heard threats 
made to this effect—not that I ever saw anybody hurt—that if a negro 
voted the Democratic ticket he was declared an enemy of the negro ; 
he ought to be dead. Bnt I did not pay much attention to snch talk, 
for I didn’t think the parties who used it meant anything. In fact I 
used to say snch things myself when I was a Eepnblican. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN BYAS. 511 

Q. When were you a Eepnblican ?—A. I don’t know, in South Caro¬ 
lina, as I liave ever been really a Eepnblican. 

Q. What have yon been?—A. Well, there has been neither Eepnbli¬ 
can nor Democrat here 5 it is what we may call anomalous; so I voted 
just how it happened. 

Q. Did yon ever hear the colored people make speeches ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Were their speeches violent in their character?—A. Not generally, 
sir; no, sir. 

Q. Have yon ever heard any colored Democrats speak openly in hivor 
of the Democratic party ?—A. Yes, sir; in favor of what is called here 
the Democratic party. 

Q. Can yon tell me anything of the treatment of Mr. Charles Sassporter, 
at the last election ?—A. I only know that he was emploj^ed by a store¬ 
keeper in Orangeburg. I ain not telling yon what I know of my own 
knowledge; only what I heard, and what he told me himself, lie was 
employed by a storekeeper to give out red shirts. Eed shirts were the 
order of the day there, and everybody who considered themselves Dem¬ 
ocrats were wearing red shirts. He was employed to give out red shirts, 
and a party of colored men took him in the night and gave him a whip- 
])Uig, because he was giving out red shirts. He went and had these men 
indicted—some 25 of them. But he compromised the matter with them 
afterward, and did not prosecute them, because he said he thought that 
they were ignorant people, and that when they came to their right 
senses they would know better, and not do such a thing again. He 
said he was. willing to forgive them. That is his own statement to me. 

Q. What was the character of the campaign at Orangeburg at the last 
election?—A. It was the most quiet that I ever saw or heard of in the 
State. 

Q. Did you see any colored men wearing red shirts ?—A. Yes, sir; 
I saw a great many wiien the general parade was. I didn’t count them, 
but I saw a great many. 

Q. And there were a great many who talked as though they intended 
to vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; they talked so, and I suppose 
they intended to, but they didn’t put on the red shirt. I know I intended 
to vote the Democratic ticket myself, but I did not go x)arading around 
in a red shirt; I went to the i)olls and voted without much parade or 
making any fuss about it. 

Q. Were you at the i)olls much during the day ?—A. I was about 90 
or 100 feet from the polls. 

Q. Yot close enough*to the polls to see the votes go in?—xY. Yo, sir. 

(^. What is your impression as to how many colored men voted the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. I don’t know how many voted it. 

Q. On the night of the election at Orangeburg Court-House were there 
any speeclies made by colored people declaring their allegiance to the 
Democratic party ?—A. Yes, sir; several spoke. A large crowd ot 
colored and white persons all mixed up together were there. I know ot 
one colored man who made a speech. I remember it particularly, for 
I felt very much elated over our success. He was a black man by the 
name of Grant. 

Q. Did he come out in favor of Democracy ?—A. Yes, sir; I made a 
Democratic speech and he spoke after I did. 

Q. Did the colored people participate in what was considered a sort 
of Democratic jubilee on election night?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were yon present at a Democratic mass meeting at Orangeburg 
on the 23d of October ? You will remember Mr. O’Connor spoke there 


512 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


tliat day.—A. sir; I was not in tlie county. I was down in the 

country some thirty miles from there. 

Q. On which side is there the most feeling; by the whites against the 
colored Kepublicans, or by colored Eepublicans against the colored Demo¬ 
crats, as a general thing ?—A. Well, I went to Orangeburg in 1870. I 
was a candidate, on what was called then the Eepublican ticket, for the 
legislature. I was elected to the legislature and served in the legisla¬ 
ture two years, during that campaign and the campaign of 1872. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. I do not see what that has to do with the matter.—A. What I want 
to say is—to make a long story short—I have been in Orangeburg since 
1870, and I don’t know of a single colored man being hurt in Orangeburg 
on account of politics, or hardly for anything else. 

By Mr. Bandolpii : 

Q. How has it been on the other side?—A. W^ell, you know it is only 
during the last few elections that any colored men have come into the 
Democratic party. I have never known any colored man to be hurt in 
Orangeburg up to the present hour on account of his political affiliations. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. When were you a member of the legislature ?—A. In ’70 and ’71. 

Q. Of what committee were you chamnan ?—A. Of the committee on 
claims. 

Q. Were you chairman of the committee on ways and means ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Did you report that fraudulent furniture bill ?—A. If I reported a 
fraudulent furniture bill I don’t know it. 

Q. What amount of the pay certificates did you get ?—A. From whom ? 

Q. As your share of the steal ?—A. I did not get any share of any 
steal. 

Q. Did you not get certificates amounting to $12,000?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did not the committee on frauds, which sat within the last year or 
two, show by their report that you were one of those that were bribed ? 
—A. I desire to say, sir- 

Q. Does not the report show that you received a $12,000 bribe ?—A. 
I don’t know what the report shows, sir. 

Q. Were not those pay certificates carried before a commission that 
was engaged in investigating the steal, a commission known as the Big 
Bonanza Commission”?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. Did not Judge Wright put in one of over $1,000 that came from 
you?—A. Yes, sir ; and $13,000 more besides that. 

Q. How many of them did you get in all ?—A. I don’t know, sir. 

Q. How many do you think?—A. I don’t know j I knoAV the Eepubli¬ 
cans stole all that I didn’t get, but I didn’t get any part of any steal. 

Q. What did you get ?—A. I had some certificates that I bought. 

Q. They were made out in your name ?—A. No, sir, I think not. 

Q. They were payable to your order ?—A. I bought them the same 
as I do other floating paper. 

Q. How did they happen to be in your name ?—A. They were not; 
they were indorsed “ Pay to Byas,” when I bought them. 

Q. Did not the reporter of the “News and Courier” write you up 
when you were a member of the legislature ?—A. I don’t remember, sir. 

Q. Were you not charged with fraud ?—A. The committee reported— 
if you will give me leave I will try to explain this matter. There was a 
man by the name of John Dennis. He had been a general in the 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN BYAS. 


513 


United States Army. He was employed by tlie bouse to furuisli tlie 
bouse of representatives. It happened to be my misfortune, as I have 
found out since, to be appointed on tbat committee. Because I bad a 
little more aptness in some ways tlian some other men, I was made 
chairman. Dennis came, saying tbat be bad bought this and tbat and 
the other furniture. I questioned the sergeant-at*arms and asked him, 
^‘llave you received these goods!” He said, “Yes.” Then I said, “Is 
Dennis’s account all right!” He said it was; and it was paid, and tbat 
is all there was to it. This is the brst time I have been called before a 
body of authority to answer. When I had asked the sergeant-at-arms 
if he had received the goods, and if the bill was all right, and he said, 
“Yes,” then I said to the committee, “What will you do with this ?” 
and they voted unanimously to pass it. I indorsed it as chairman of 
the committee. Since that, tliis gentleman, Dennis, says that I made a 
report whereby he robbed the State out of $50,000 or $100,000. How¬ 
ever that may be, I never received the first dollar for it. I never 
received any such certificates, and I know nothing of any such certifi¬ 
cates. 

Q. What was the amount of the bill!—A. I think in the neighbor¬ 
hood of $100,000. 

Q. What was the furniture for !—A. As near as I can remember, it 
was goods for the house of representatives, and some 18 or 20 different 
committee-rooms. I tell you, gentlemen, you are Senators of the United 
States, but you don’t sit in any better rooms than those were. 

Q. How many of these certificates did you subsequently buy !—A. I 
don’t know. I was generally dealing in State certificates. There were 
no bonanza-warrants at that time. I bought and sold legislative certifi¬ 
cates, “Blue Ridge” scrip, and all sorts of paper that was afioat. 

Q. How many of the certificates that were issued in payment of that 
furniture bill did you subsequently purchase!—A. I can’t answer that, 
for I don’t know. I bought them as they were brought to me. 

Q. You bought them for yourself!—A. Yes, sir; and sold them for 
myself. I sold them for whatever I could get, when 1 found that I was 
not going to get anytliing for them. 

Q. You lost money on them!—A. I did; I lost everything I had on 
them. 

Q. I ask yon if the reporter of the “N'ews and Courier” did not charge 
you with fraud while you were a member of tlie legislature, and did not 
you make an attack upon him, and did not he draw his i)istol, and did 
not you run, and did not he shoot you in the behind while you were 
running !—A. No, sir; a fellow from New Y^ork was there. By the way,, 
he was another anomaly. He got into the legislature as a reporter. He 
made a statement which I considered disrespectful to me as a member 
of the legislature. I didn’t care about the individual who made the 
attack. He came out and boasted and villified me because I was a 
Republican at the time; and I was a bitter Republican, and made bitter 
speeches against the white men ot this State. I said to him when I met 
him, “Did you make this report about me! ” He said he did. “Well, 
sir,” said I, “I demand that you take it back.” He refused to do so. 
Then I drew my cowhide. Then he drew his pistol and tried to shoot 
me, and did shoot me, and I ran. I don’t know of anybody that won’t 
run from a ball when he sees it coming. It was a scandalous report 
about a man having attacked me on the street, who struck me and drew 
his pistol on me. 

Q. It put you in a ridiculous light!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. And he refused to take it back !—A. Yes, sir. 

33 s C 





514 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Orangeburg 


Q. Yon striiclv him with a cowhide, and he drew his pistol and shot 
you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did lie hurt you?—A. Yes, sir; and I had the hall cut out of 
me afterwards by a South Carolina doctor. 

Q. You say you reside in Orangeburj;^?—A. Yes, sir; since 1870. 

Q. Did you state what was your business ?—A. I am practising law, 
when I can get anything to do. Considerable of the time I am down 
here. I am right in the same judicial district, you know. I can do 
better down here, and very often stay down here. 

(^. Have you an office at Orangeburg ?—A. Yes, sir ; in my house, in¬ 
somuch as I am too poor to have a separate office, and don’t hold any 
United States office, sucli as postmaster, or anything of that kind. 

Q. Do you keep a room in Charleston?—^A. My clients come to the 
room that I keep as my office when here. 

By Mr. KiRiavooD: 

Q. From wliat county were you elected to the legislature?—A. From 
Orangeburg. I forgot to say that I was elected before to the constitu¬ 
tional con^'ention which formed the constitution of this State, from a 
county that don’t exist now. It has been consolidated with others. 

Q. When were you engaged in buying State certificates of different 
kinds ?—A. When I was a member of tlie legislature, and afterwards , 
when I was not a member. 

Q. Did you buy them in Columbia, where the legislature met ?—A. 
Sometimes 1 did, sometimes not. Whenever attaches came to me and 
said they could not get money on their certificates, and wanted to sell 
them, I Avould buy them and let them liaA^e the money. ’ 

Q. Do you remember Avhether you bought any certificates of this bill 
of furniture in Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir; I did. 

' Q. 1 )id you buy tliem Avliile you were attending the legislature there ?— 
A. I think, sir, I didn’t buy them a\ Idle I Avas a member of tlie legisla¬ 
ture. 

Q. You think you did not?—A. I am pretty certain I did not. 

Q. Did you come back to Columbia to do business after you ceased to 
be a member of the legislature?—A. Yes, sir; being a kind of a “curb¬ 
stone broker,” as it is called, Columbia was the place for me to stay at. 

Q. You can’t speak certainly as to the time when >’ou did buy those 
certificates ?—A. Most of the certificates were bought in Columbia in 
1872. 

Q. Some of them were bought Avhile you Avere a member of the legis¬ 
lature?—A. Yo; not of these furniture certificates. 

Q. You bought other certificates besides furniture certificates_certifi¬ 

cates issued by previous legislatures?—A. Yes, sir; I Avould not buy 
anything except AAiiat I kneAv to be genuine. 

Q. You said something about a man employed in gAing out red shirts 
from a store up at Orangeburg?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What AAuis his name?—A. Charles Sassporter, sir. 

Q. Why Avere those red shirts given out ?—A. General Hampton Avas 
going to speak at Orangeburg. This colored man Avas employed as clerk 
in a store. While acting in that capacity he gave out red shirts to men 
to Avear. I don’t knoAv Ayhether they Avere given to Avhite men or to 
colored men. Understand, that I didn’t see'this. I give it only as a 
general rumor up there. 

Q. Were those red shirts gWen to the men or sold to them ?—A. I 
understood that they were giving them; my understanding AA'as that 
they were paid for from , a general Democratic fund of some kind. I 
Whether this Avas true or not, I don’t knoAv. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN BYAS. 


515 


Q. Did it ever strike yon that some colored men mi^lit he willing' to 
take a shirt and wear it, and still after all vote the Kepuhlican ticket 
when election day came round I —A. That might be, for I will say for 
the negro race that there is nothing more cnnning on the face of the 
earth. 

Q. Are yon a native of this State ^—A. i^^o, sir. 

Q. O, then yon are a cari)et-bagger ?—A. Yes, sir.^ I am sorry I am 
not able to speak as favorably of all carpet-baggers as I wonld like, but 
some of the cari)et-baggers were gentlemen, 1 think, and men of some 
character. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Did they figure in this legislative report ?—A. Yes, sir. John 
Dennis figures there. 

Q. 1 mean, did any of these gentlemanly carx)et-baggers hgnre there? 
—A. I have not read the report, sir. E. K. Scott I consider a very fine 
gentleman, and he figures in it. 

Q. Yon say yon have not read it ?—A. Eo, sir; I have not paid atten¬ 
tion enough to it to read it. I saw they said something about me, and 
I said it was a lie. 

Mr. Cameron. I ad\dse yon to read that report; there is a great deal 
of yonr i)ersonal history in it that I think might interest yon. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. When did yon become a Democrat ?—A. I don’t take it that I ever 
became a Democrat. 

Q. When did yon cease to become a Eepnblican ?—A. In ’73 I ceased 
to act with the Eepnblican i)arty. 

Q. When did yon serve in the legislature ?—A. In ’71 and ’72. They 
used to have lojig sessions. We were good fellows, and held good long 
sessions. 

Q. As soon as yon got throngh with the legislature yon quit voting 
the Eepnblican ticket ?—A. Ko, sir; I voted Avhat they called the Ee¬ 
pnblican ticket, at least for some of the candidates on it. For instance, 
at the last election- 

Q. But yon ceased to vote the regular Eepnblican ticket, as a ticket, 
after yon ceased to be a member of the legislature ?—A. I never voted 
the whole Eepnblican ticket, because I never did believe in a man that 
conld not read or write holding office. 

Q. Yon were only a sort of “cross-eyed Eepnblican,” then?—A. Yes, 
sir. I don’t know- 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Yon agreed with the Democratic party on that point?—A. On 

what point ? ^ ^ i ^ 

Q. In holding that no ignorant man shonldbe a rnler. Mas not that 
the theory of the Democratic party ?—A. I don’t know what they thonght. 

Q. Di(i not they say so ? Did they not say that these negroes were too 
ignorant to vote, and onght not to be allowed to rnle over them ?—A. I 
don’t remend>er about that j I don’t know but they did. But I thonght 
that, sir, before ever I was a Democrat in South Carolina. 

Q. Then yon agreed with the Democrats on this subject ?—A. Yes, 
sir: and on several other subjects besides that. 

(). That is what I supposed. Were yon a candidate for renomination 
to the legislature?—A. Ko, sir; I Avas a candidate in 1872 for the sen¬ 
ate ; I didn’t get a nomination, but I Avas promised by certain men who 
rilled the comity at the time—Avhen I say certain men ruled the county, 




516 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


there was not lyore than one oa’ two of them—they said if I would go 
with the regular Eepuhlicans for Frank Moses for governor I should 
go to the legislature. I said, “ I don’t want to go to the legislature if 
Franklin Moses is governor.” I told them I would never go under such 
circumstances. I could have gone if I had Avanted to, for there the men 
that have the money have the power, and these men had it j money was 
the order of the day. 

Q. You did not run for the senate?—A. Yes, sir j I did run on the in¬ 
dependent ticket. 

Q. But were not elected ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Were you voted for by the Democrats?—A. Yes, sirj all that 
Amted for me in 1873 were Democrats. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. \Yhy did you not want to be in the legislature if Moses was gOA"- 
ernor ?—A. Because I knew that no administration of Avhich he was 
the head could succeed; he was too corrupt. Venality may succeed to 
a certain extent, but he was too A^enal altogether for success. 

By Mr. KiRKAVpOD: 

Q. His furniture bills were beyond all reason.—A. I am talking of 
Moses now. 

Q. So am I.—A. O, yes, sir; his furniture bills were too large. You 
asked the reason why I ceased to act Avith the Eepubhcan i^arty; the 
reason was this- 

The Chairman. I don’t think it is Avorth while to inirsue this topic. 

It is lAcrfectly immaterial Avhat his reasons were. If he joined the Dem¬ 
ocratic party, that is enough. 

Witness. I don’t know that I joined the Democratic xiarty. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You are a natWe of Yew York ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You AA-ere a Amter there before you came here ?—A. Yot unless I 
owned $250 of real estate. 

Q. A property qualilication Avas required in that State was it ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. When you came here you had formed some notion in regard to poli¬ 
tics ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With which party did you affiliate?—A. I could not affiliate, be- , 
cause there was only one party here. Under Johnson’s order Mr. Perry i 
was appointed provisional governor, and I could not Amte at all because i 
I had negro blood in me—not until reconstruction. j 

Q. You say you bouglit certillcates in 1872 and 1873. Under whose I 
administration of State government Avas that ?—A. A part of them un- | 
tier the administration of Governor E. K. Scott, and a part of them under | 
the administration of Franklin J. Moses. ' ! 

Q. Those Avere Eepublicaii administrations ?—A. What is called Ee- 
lAublican. 

Q. You say you were offered the election of State senator in 1872 if 
you would support Moses against Tomlinson ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was Tomlinson, Democratic or Eepublican ?—A. Eepublicaii. 

Q. He Avas the Eei)ublican candidate opposed to Moses ?—A. Yes, sir. ' 

Q. You thought lie Avas the more honest of the tAvo ?—A. Yes, sir; in i 
every way, morally and mentally; I thought he Avas then, and I think 
so yet. , 

Q. When did you leaA^e Yew York ?—A. In I8G5. 

Q. Did you come here then?—A. Yes, sir j I got here in 1865. ' 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF JAMES J. CANNON. 


517 


By the Chairman : 

Q. Did I miderstaud that you did not vote in New York?—A. I was 
a voter there, sir. 

Q. I thonght yon said yon did not vote because yon liad not a prox)- 
erty qnalilication f—A. No; the geiitleuian asked me if I was a voter 
tliere, and I said not unless I owned $250 of real estate. I did own 
more than that, and voted there j I voted there for Lincoln’s administra¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Kirkwood. That is right. 

Witness. The first time, and also the second time that he Avas elected. 

Mr. Ejrkavood. That is better yet. 


JAMES J. CANNON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

James J. Cannon sworn and examined. 

By Mr. E andolph : 

Question. Where do yon reside?—AnsAAw. In Orangeburg. 

Q. Were yon present there on the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State the general character of that election ?—A. It Avas very 
peaceable and quiet; eA^erything AA^ent oft‘ nicely, so far as I know. 

Q. Hoav many kinds of tickets did the Democrats haA^e at the elec¬ 
tion on that day ?—A. They had tAvo. 

Q. Of AAdiat sort ?—A. One Avas a small ticket, ])rinted on tissue x>a- 
per; the other Avas iirinted on iiaper like that I think, sir [indicating a 
piece of ordinary xirinting paper]. 

Q. Did yon giA^e out tickets that day ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did yon hold any office at the x)olls ?—A. No, sir; I am marshal of 
the town. 

Q. Yon gaA^e out some tickets that day, yon say ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did yon giA^e out tissue tickets as aatII as others ?—A. I did; I 
gaA^e out both. Some of the colored x>eoxfie Avonld not vote the large 
ticket, yon knoAV. 

Q. So yon gaA^e some of the tissue tickets to colored xieox)le ?—A. I 
did. 

Q. Was that in order that they might vote them secretly?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. And you belieA^e they did Amte them that day ?—A. I saw them 
vote them. 

Q. And yon say there was a considerable number of colored men Amted 
the Democratic ticket at Orangeburg that day?—A. I do; there are 
seAwal Democratic clubs, comxiosed of colored x>ersons, avIio came in 
there on the railroad that day and Amted there. 

i},. Where did those chibs belong ?—A. In the vicinity. 

(^. Where were they located, or AAhat were they called?—A. There 
was the Donnelly club doAvn there. 

Q. That Avas a colored club?—A. Y^es, sir. There was another—I 
forget its name; it is named for a man aaIio liA^es jnst aboA^e the village 
there; and there was Marshal Jones, his club was there. 

Q. Is tliat a colored club?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. Were there many members of these colored clubs who voted there 
that day ?—A. Yes, sir; they numbered a great many. 



518 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Orangeburg 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many men did you arrest on election daj^?—A. I assisted in 
arresting tliat gentleman there, Mr. Keitt, who wouldn’t go Avitli the 
State constable we had out there, and I assisted in carrying him to the 
court-] louse. 

Q- Were you not reprimanded by the mayor of the town for arresting 
men on the day of election'?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Hid he not say anything to you about it?—A. on the day of 

^election. 

Q. Hid he at any time?—A. I was reprimanded before that. 

Q. AVhen?—A. For arresting a man that was crazy. I didn’t know 
that he was crazy, and he stru(;k me, and I struck him with my club; 
that was some time before—no, come to think, it was some time after 
election. 

Q. What did you know about the Honnelly club that you have spoken 
of?—xA. I know it is a pretty good club; I know it is headed by Webster 
and his crowd. 

Q. Of liow many members does it consist?—A. Of about seventy-five. 

(^. How far is it located from Orangeburg?—A. It is about eight 
miles; I own a piece of land- 

Q. 1 don’t care about your piece of land. Where did that club vote 
on the day of election?—xA. Some of them voted in Orangeburg. 

Q. How many?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. How do you know that any of them did?—A. I gave some of them 
tickets. 

Q. Clive the names of those whom you saw vote at Orangeburg on 
that day ?—A. I cannot do it. 

Q. Cive the names of any of those that belonged to Honnelly’s club 
that voted in Orangeburg on the day of election.—A. I cannot think of 
any; I know Myers was there, but I don’t knoAV whether 1 gave him a 
ticket or not. 

Q. Hid you see any members of that club actually i>ut their ticlvets in 
the box?—A. They were all in town that day; I don’t know whether 
they voted or not. 

Q. I will ask the question again: Hid you see any member of the Hon¬ 
nelly club actually vote at Orangeburg on the day of election?—A. I do 
not know that I (lid. 

Q. AVhere is Marvslial Jones’s club located ?—A. At Cuaco Swamp. 

Q. How far is that from Orangeburg ?—A. About three miles. 

(i. Hid you ever attend a meeting of that club ?—A. I never did. 

Q. Of how many members does tliat club consist ?—A. From the looks 
of the club wlien in procession I should say forty or fifty. 

Q. AVhen did you see them in .procession ?—A. On the day of Hamp¬ 
ton’s speaking at Orangeburg. 

Q. Hid any of that club vote in Orangeburg on the day of election?— 
A. I do not know. 

Q. Hid you see any of them in town on that day ?—A. Of course 
Marshal Jones Avas there liimself. 

Q. It is not of course; there is no of course about it. The question is 
did you?—A. Tiiey Avere there, but I don’t knoAv whether they voted 
or not. 

Q. Are you acquainted Avitli Marshal'Jones?—^A. I am. 

C^. Hid you see him in the procession the day Hampton Avas in toAvn ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. GHe the names of anybody belonging to that club that you saAV? — 
A. I don’t knoAv any of them. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF JAMES J. CANNON. 519 

Q. How do you know that they belonged to that club ?—^A. I was told 
that that was Marshal Jones’s club. 

Q. Is that air?—A. That is all. 

Q. You are a Democrat, are you ?—A. I am, sir. 

Q. And an Irishman, are you iiot^—A. About half, I think. It is good, 
too, isn’t it ? 

Q. How long have you been marshal of the town ?—A. For a year, 
now, this last time. I have been marshal several times, under several 
mayors. 

Q. By whom were you last appointed?—A. By Mosely. 

Q. Is he a Democrat?—A. I think he is a Democrat. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. What position do you hold?—A. Marshal of the town. 

Q. Is it in accordance with your duties as marshal to be around ped¬ 
dling tickets and electioneering on election day ?—A. Ko, sir; I just 
took those tickets and handed them around to the parties that said they 
would vote them. 

Q. You did peddle tickets, then?—A. I did, if that is what you call it. 

Q. You asked the men to vote them?^—A. Ko, sirj I asked them if 
they wanted tickets. 

Q. Did you offer all kinds ?—A. Ko, sir j not all kinds; I didn’t offer 
Kepublican tickets to anybody. 

Q. You went around with Democratic tickets, and offered them to per¬ 
sons, and went with persons to the polls?—A. Yes, sir j and if they didn’t 
want them I wouldn’t insist on their taking them. 

Q. Certainly you were very kind; but did you not consider that incon¬ 
sistent with your duties as marshal on election day?—A. I was acting 
as marshal, and I Avas working too, at the same time, for the Democratic 
party. 

Q. So I understand. What I want to come at is, whether that is in 
accordance Avith your duties as marshal ?—A. Ko, sir, 

Q. Why did you do it, then?—A. I just picked up the tickets off from 
the table- 

Q. So you have told me before. If you kneAV it was not right, why 
did you do it?—A. I didn’t know that it Avas wrong; I didn’t think it 
was Avrong. 

Q. I thought you said that your duties as marshal didn’t allow you to 
take part in an election contest ?—A. I did not say that I did not know 
as they would allow me to, or whether they would or not. I only took 
the tickets up and gave them to parties, and if they wanted to vote them 
I AA^ent with them to see them vote them. 

Q. And you don’t knoAV whether that was in accordance A?ith your 
duties as marshal or not? —A. Ko, sir; I don’t knoAv whether it was or 
not. 



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RICHLAND COUNTY. 


THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OF 1878. 












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HIGHLAND COUNTY. 


PEESTOX M. E. THOMPSO:^'. 

Charleston, S. C., Jmmary 25^ 1S71?. 

Preston M. E. Thompson sw^orn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. Colunihia. 

il. Were you an officer at the late election ?—A. I a\ as, sir. 

(^. Where ?—^A. At ward one, in the city of Columbia. 

Q. What office do you hold f—A. United States deputy marshal. 

Q. State what occurred there.—A. Well, sir, in the morning' I was 
there about twenty minutes before six by my watch. I stood there until 
the polls were opened, and the managers of election stated the hour had ar¬ 
rived for the ox)ening of the ]>olls. Well, sir, I was standing uj) tliere when 
they commenced voting, and one or two of the ralliers commenced to x)ull 
and haul those old colored i)eoj)le as they came up, and tried to bulldoze 
them. I said, You ought not to do that, for they are going to vote their 
tickets ^ leave them alone.’^ This man Ludwig said, \\ffiat are you, what 
is your business and I said to him, am herein authority.” He said, 
“ What authority?” I said, “ United States deputy marshai.” He said, 
“ By God, just what I expected ; I exx)ected some of you damn fellows 
were around.” And he said he was just feeling around to see who Avas 
there. I said I Avas going to stay there. He said, If you dare open 
your mouth around here, AA^e will fix you in two minutes.” I told him 
I AAmuld stay there anyAA ay. They commenced to curse and swear, and 
I remonstrated and said, “We must not have any cursing.” The Dem¬ 
ocratic suxiervisor came ui) there and said no- more cursing should be 
done around there, and it should be stopped. Mr. Ludwig said, “By 
God, this United States deputy marshal shall not stay here.” I said I 
was going to stay. Five minutes after that the trial-justice, Mr. George 
B. Marshall, came doAAUi, and they got to AA'hispering to him that I Avas 
there, and Avanted to know AAdiat could be done about it. As he AA^as. 
coming out, he said he Avas informed that there was a man there acting' 
as United States deputy marshal, and he Avanted to know if he w as do¬ 
ing any of the duties of United States marshal, and if he Avas, he would 
have him in jail in fiA^e minutes. Mr. LudAAUg said, “Yes, sir, here is the 
damn rascal”; and he also said, “If you come Avith me and make the 
affidaAfit, I AAill take him right aAvay.” They AA^ent aAvay and staid 
about half an hour before coming back. I supx^osed they wmuld bring 
back a wmrrant. They commenced to haul and inill people around, and 
I Avent to them and stoi)ped them. Judge Dogan came in, and they 
Avent to him and wanted to knoAV if they could take me away from the 
polls. Judge Dogan made a speech, and said that he Avas an old law- 
.> er, and he found no Iuav w here a United States deputy marshal had 
any right around the polls, unless it was in a city that had so many 
thousand inhabitants, and that they ought to arrest that man and take 



524 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Eicliland 


him right away. Some one told him my name, and he said he ordered 
his arrest as Democratic chairman of the comity executive committee, 
and he wanted me arrested and taken away; that I was down there,and 
had no business there. Finally, they commenced whispering around 
there, and it looked like they Avere getting back of me, being as I was 
so positive; and finally one of the committee came np and said, “ Have 
you any more ^ little Hamptons’?” and the superAdsor handed out a lot 
of those little tickets (blue ones). He took them and started oft', and 
came back and said, I Avmnt some of tliose small ones,” and he went 
off. I Avail ted to see Avhat they were going to do with them, and I fol¬ 
lowed. They stood down on a stoop of the door, and commenced folding 
them in the larger tickets. I saw them fold ni) some seven or eight and 
put them in, and then tliey Avonld lash some India rubber around them 
to keep them from coming out, and they kept folding them up in that 
AAmy, and folding them np. Finally they came doAvn to the poll, Avhei’e 
they had a lot of Amters, and they got an old colored felloAv there, and 
got him pretty demoralized, and got him to Amte the package. Idiey 
said to various colored people, “Are yon going to vote that ticket ?” 
Some man said, “ Do not intimidate liiiii”; and some one said, “ If tliat 
man is going to Amte the Democratic ticket, let him Amte.” LudAvig 
said, “ Let him alone, he is going to vote right.” 

Q. Did tliey have these small tickets rolled in another ticket ?—A. 
Yes, sir; they folded np seA^eral and kept them in another, and Avhen 
they got in the box, of course they AAmuld be joggled out. Well, they 
arrested me and took me to the trial justice, and i)nt me under bonds, 
and said I must go to jail right oft*. I got an attorney, and got the bail 
reduced, and the moment I got free I Av^ent back to the polls again. They 
were still voting and pulling and hauling, and eAmry time I would speak 
about it they AAmnld tell me to leave. I staid there until night. At night 
they opened the box, and when they opened it, there was more tissue 
ballots there than any other kind of tickets—more tissue ballots than all 
the Eepnblican tickets. I did not see a man Amte one of those little 
tickets at all during the day. When they commenced counting them 
Mr. Sloan’s clerk Avonld pick them np and shake them, and if he saw a 
number of large ballots together he would shake them. He AAms a shreAvd 
little fellow. I said, “That fellow is sliaking more tickets out of another 
one than you can imagine.” “Well,” he said, “I havm nothing to do 
Avitli it.” Sometimes somebody would catch him and he would shake 
them loose, and they would fall out, like heAvas shaking apples out of a 
basket. Finally, they closed np, and he counted them OA^er. I said. 
My God, there is no use of Am ting any more; Ave are gone np.” I Avas 
sick when I saw these tissue ballots. 

Q. What haAm they done Avithyon since ?—A. I am bound over to the 
March term of court. 

Q. What for ?—A. They said I was using intimidation, because I Avas 
trying to prevmnt them from using intimidation. 

Q. What ticket do the colored people there generally desire to Amte ? 
—A. In that Avard yon cannot get ten men that would vote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. 

Q. Are you acquainted Avith the people of the ward—their Auews ? —A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What would the Amte naturally liaAm been this time ?—A. Well, 
they voted more solidly as Eepnblicans than ever before. Old men 
would hire Avagons and come in, and those that did not have wagons 
would walk in, and men Avoidd leaAm work and come in. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF PRESTON M. E. THOMPSON. 525 

Q. Hainpton^s government did not win them over A. Ko, sir; it 
was a bad government. 

Q. You say they called the tickets “little Hamptons”?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Who did yon say it was that inquired for “little Hamptons”?— 
A. Mr. Pitman, member of the police force. He is always on the rally¬ 
ing committee. 

Q. Whom did he get them from ?— A, From one of the managers in¬ 
side of the house. 

Q. From wliat man ?—A. I do not know as I can tell. It was Mr. 
Wallace or Mr. Morrison. It was one of the managers in there. I never 
knew they Avere about the place until I heard 1 dm ask for them. 

Q. Where was Pitman when you saw liim i>ut up these tickets ?—A. 
About thirty or forty yards from the place, right near my door; he was 
sitting right on the cellar-door. 

Q. He was tliere in public, was he not ?—A. Yo, sir. The committee 
who issued the tickets never came nearer the polls than there. 

Q. Tliat was a public place?—A. They went oh' to come out of the 
people’s way. 

Q. AYhere were you when you saAV them ?—A. I got off to one side, 
and got near the side of a drain. 

Q. How far were you away from them ?—A. About fifteen feet. 

Q. You looked at them ?—A. Yes, sir. They were so busy they did 
not see me see them. 

Q. You staid there and saw them put these tickets up in packages, 
and put gum-elastic bands around them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many tickets did you see them put up ?—A. Ten or tweHe; 
and then imt elastics around them, and continue the folding. 

Q. Hoav long did you look at liim folding them up ?—A. Till he had 
folded up enough, and when some Alters came ui>. 

Q. Tills man they gaA^e one of the iiackages of tickets that were fixed 
up in that way; where did this man give aAA^ay the package of tickets 
after it was folded up ?—A. Up near the polls. 

Q. Did you see him ?—A. Yes, sir; the croAvd Avas around them.. The 
man he gave it to himself did not knoAV what Avas in it. 

Q. IIoAv did you know lie did not ?—A. Because I saAV him AChen he 
came there from a square oft'. 

Q. The man started to Amte it and you stopped him?—A. Some of the 
croAvd in there, and wanted to know if he Avas going to vote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket (they could see the brown paper). 

Q. How did you know there aa as more tickets there ?—A.* Because 
they found more in it after they took off the elastic. 

Q. You did not see Avhat kind of tickets the man had in his hand?— 
A. I saAV the tickets that Pitman gave him. 

Q. You say he Avas folding up these tickets on a door-sill ?—A. Yes, 
sir ; right near my house. 

Q. It Avas a place Avhere people pass along?—A. Yes, sir; then there 
was no one passing. 

Q. You AA^ere passing there ?—A. Ko, sir; I got near enough to him 
to see; but I iieA^er passed him. 


526 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


{Elcbilaiid 


BIOHxAET) WILSOK 

Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1879. 

Bichard Wilson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Where do yon reside A. In Bicliland Comity, in the upper por¬ 
tion, above Columbia. 

Q. Is Columbia in Bichland County f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hold au 5 ^ position on the day of election?—A. Yes, sirj 
position of sujiervisor. 

Q. AVhat place ?—A. Camp-ground precinct. 

Q. AVhere is that ?—A. xVbout 15 miles from Columbia. 

Q. You may state what occurred there on election day.—A. On the 
morning of election I got there about two hours before day. I had 
to go a good ways, and I got there to the camp about six o’cloclv and 
went to the polls Avhere had to vote. They liad a place built up be¬ 
tween 10 and 12 fee^ high under the shed. It was made pretty close so 
that nobody could see througii hardly, and a hole was made where the 
voters could vote in through the shed. I said, What sort of a place 
is this ?”—it was a very curious place. Tliey reared around and cussed 
a little. One stood inside to take the ballots in. Tliey had shoved the 
box overhead. I had to climb over the pen to get in, for they had no 
door cut. Me and the managers were in at that time, and the marshals, 
too. I voted and the marshal went out. I could not see out what was 
going on. Finally one of the supervisors had his badge taken from 
him. Tliey said if the constable had been sworn in sooner they Avould 
have taken him to jail. About six o’clock in the evening we all got 
supper 5 then we proceeded to count. They opened the box and lit up 
the lamps—they had one candle—^and brought the kiver off the box. 
One fellow had the light and they blowed it out. The candidate for 
senator at that time was standing right before me. 

Q. Democratic candidate ?—Yes, sir; his name was Kinslee. The 
box was wide open when the candle was bloAved out, and Kinslee said, 
“ I wish I knew who blew the lights out and I would blow their heads 
off'.” They proceeded to count. xVfter a Avhile there were 750 lying there, 
more or less, of tickets. They put them back in the box again, and then 
they said it AVas right that one of the managers should be blindfolded to 
draw out the excess. 

Q. IIoAv many names Avere on the polldist ?—A. On my poll-hst there 
Avas 340; 

Q. Hoav many others ?—A. FiA^e hundred and thirty-two on the man¬ 
agers’—I didn’t see the poll-list after night. 

Q. And the ballots were 750?—A. Yes, sir', 750. Well, they had imt 
them back, and one of the managers was blindfolded, and he draAA ed out 
all the Bepublican Amtes but 8. 

Q. Kow, how many votes did they draw out in fact?— A. Something 
over 200 . 

Q. Hoav many Democratic votes did they diaw out ?—A. I do not know 5 
but it Avas very feAV. 

Q. Did you keep a tally-list during the day?— -xV. I had a clerk, aaTio 
took doAvn every name. 1 kneAV pretty much all the people in that pre¬ 
cinct, Avhite and colored. 

Q,. Was 340 the real number that voted ?—A, That was the real 
number. 


TESTIMONY OF ElCHARt) WILSON* 


County.] 


527 


Q. They had 532 on their i)oll-list, and 750 tickets were polled?—^A* 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any suri)rise expressed when they opened the box?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. What did they say?—A. They said it was more than the poll-list 
called for. 

Q. What explanation did they give ?-—A* Kone at all. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots?—A. Yes, sir j a good many. 

Q. How many ?—A. I think about 200. 

Q. What were they; Democratic?-—A. Yes, sir 5 they were little blue 
Democratic tickets. I didn’t see them until about ten o’clock. 

Q. So that thej returned the Eei)ublican candidate 8 votes ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. What was the supervisor; Eepublican or Democratic?—A. He is 
always Eepublican. There was one. or two colored Democrats voted. 

Q. How many wliite men ?—A. Seventy-five white men. 

Q. All the rest were colored ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How has it been lieretofore there?—A. They have always voted 
the straight-out Bepublican ticket; never voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Now, how were they in this election ?—A. The Eepublicans w ere 
the strongest I ever saw them. 

Q. Any disposition to vote the Democratic ticket?—A. O, no, sir; 
they would not do that. Some of them on Gensil’s place voted the lie- 
publican ticket, and he was Democratic and has since turned them off 
for it. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Does that seem to be the understanding among the white people, 
that they will not employ a man that votes the Eepublican ticket?—A. 
Some do, and some do not. 

Q. Have you had any trouble growing out of this matter?—A. Some. 
I have had a good many threats since. 

Q. What has been the character of the threats since ?—A. They have 
said that I would not be able to testify at the courts. 

Q. Is there a case pending ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were these managers Democratic?—-A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the clerk was Democratic ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. How far did you say this Camp Ground precinct was from Colum* 
bia?—A. Between twelve and thirteen miles. 

Q. You live near Columbia?—A. About four and a half miles away. 

Q. How far from this precinct?—A. About six or eight miles. 

Q. What time did you start to go there?—A. I started in the night, 
and I got there two hours before day. 

Q. Is that your place of voting ?—A. Yes, sir. I have always voted 
there since emancipation. I was raised four miles from the place. 

Q. Who were the managers there of the polls?—A. J. B. Frost, 
David Moore, and W. P. Booktler. 

Q. Who was clerk?—A. Mr. Matthews. 

Q. Tliey are citizens there?—A. Yes, sir; they live there. 

Q. How long have you known them?—A. I have known them all my 
life. Me and John Frost were raised together. I used to belong to him. 

Q. You say John Kinslee was a candidate for senator in that district ? 
—A. Yes, sir. 


628 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Ricliland 


Q. Where did he livef—A. He lives about Camp Ground, near the 
line of Fairfield. 

Q. Wliat kind of a place do you say this was where the polls were 
opened in"?—A. It was in the pen that they had built ui) the day before 
that. 

Q. There is no town there!—A. ISTo, sir. 

Q. This voting place is in the country!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They had erected a kind of shed there to hold the election in!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do you say the ballot-box was placed !—A. It was on a kind 
of shelf to vote thi'ough. There was an open window-just a hole where 
the nianagers stand. They were inside, behind that table. 

Q, How high was this place before the box !—A. Higher than a man’s 
hand. 

Q. What did the managers look out at!—A. To see who came up to 
vote. 

Q. How could the managers see the voter when he came up!—A. I 
do not know. The books Avere inside just below the window, and the 
hole was perfectly clear, and the managers could see out of the hole. 

Q. How did you get into that place!—A. We dumb over. 

Q. Was there any door to it!—A. Ho, sir. They cut a door about 
eleven o’clock; it was just a hole so a man could creep out. 

Q. How!—A. They cut it right aboA^e the ground. 

Q. You had a clerk with you!—‘A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid he keep a poll-list!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any coA^er to the shed !—A. There A?as no coA'eron top. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Hid your clerk remember the names on his poll-list!—A. Yes, sir; 
as fast as they came down he would number them. He Avould number 
them 1, 2, 3, 4, up to 100, and then AVeiit on to 200, and kept on. 

Q. You numbered them consecutiA^ely !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hid the names on your poll-list correspond Avith the names of the 
poll-list kept by the managers!—A. Yes, sir; they run inetty well to¬ 
gether. 

Q. Hid the managers’ poll-list ha\-e a page or two that you didn’t have 
at all!—A. Yes, sir; names that AAe didn’t know anythiiig about—John 
Spanks and Jones—and there are no such names as that in Kichland 
County. 

By Mr. McHonald : 

Q. Hid you look over it!—A. My clerk compared it. 

Q. Hid you do it yourself!—A. Yes, sir; 1 looked it over. 

Q. So far as making this list is concerned, you depended upon him for 
that!—A. Yes, sir; and helped him. 

Q. HaA^e you looked over it since!— A. Ho, sir; I didn’t see it any 
more after six o’clock that eA^ening. 

Q. It was returned in, was it!—A. Ho, sir; I iieA^er saw it. Mine Avas. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Have you heard the names on the managers’ poll-list read out in 
the United States court!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you are satisfied that there are several names on it that are 
parties that did not Amte at all that day !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the names of persons that did not reside in that precinct!— 
A. Yes, sir; I am satisfied of that. 





County.] 


TESTIMONY OF NICHOLAS S. SHELDEN. 


529 


NICHOLAS S. SHELDEN. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25,1879. 

Nicholas S. Siielden sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside I—Answer. Columbia, S. C. 

Q. Were you an officer of election ?—A. I was supervisor. 

Q. Wliat i)recinct?—A. AVard 1. 

Q. State what occurred at ward 1 on election day, commencing at the 
beginning, if there was anything occurred worthy of note?—A. In the 
morning, when I got there, I went up to the poll Avhere the managers 
were, Mr. Williams being chairman of the managers’ board, and he re¬ 
quested me to show him my commission before he would allow me to 
enter. Immediately after I had shown it to him he let me in. I Avffiit 
inside, and then a Mr. Morrison, one of the managers, said to me that I 
had no right at the table, and that I must tal^e my ])osition back in the 
hall there. I told him I thought that 1 understood my business, and I 
Avould choose any stand I wanted, so Ave got on peaceably until about 
ten o’clock, AAdien Mr. Morrison said to me that I had no right to take 
the names of the Amters. I told him again that I understood my busi¬ 
ness about as Avell as he understood his. He didn’t say anything more 
to me then, and there was no disturbance just then. A little after ten 
o’clock, that is Avhen they interfered outside with the United States 
deputy marshal. 

State Avliat they did.—A. Mr. LudAvig stated to the United States 
marshal, ‘ AAdiat are you doing here ? ” He said, “ I have business here.” 
LudAvig said, “What are you ?” He said, “I am deputy United States 
marshal.” LudAvig said, “ I thought there Acere some of you around here.” 
After that statement Mr. J. Q. Marshall, a trial justice of South Caro¬ 
lina, came inside of the precinct. He said, “I am informed that there is 
a deputy United States marshal liere. If so, he is liable to arrest, and 
if any one Avill coine to my office and make the affidavit I Avill haA^e him 
arrested immediately.” Mr. LudAvig says, “ I Avill make it.” He went oft, 
and Avas gone about half an hour, or perhaps a little longer, and during 
his absence, or about the time he came back, Mr. Bacon said, “ I am chair¬ 
man of Ward No. 1 Democratic Club, and there is a man here aeting as 
deputy United States marshal, and outside of a city ot tAA^enty thousand 
inliabitants any one acting as deputy United States marshal is liable to 
be arrested”; and at that they arrested the inarshal and took him oft*. 
They said to me once in there (I fhinlv it is the same United States mar¬ 
shal, for he is the only one that interfered Avith me during the day) that 
if I didn’t get back on the box he Avoidd call on the constable to take me 
out. I tolil him, “All right,” he could do so. AVe ncA^er had any more 
disturbance there that day until night came, and then they opened the 
box. They called a man in to help them by the name of TreadAvell. I 
asked them if I could not call in some one to help me, and the chairman 
said “No.” There ^yQTe then live Democrats in the hall to take part in 
the counting of the vnites. This man they called in kept the tidly, and 
the three managers and the clerk Avoiild take thp ballots out of the box 
at one time. AVell, I had to Avatch all those men, because there was some 
small tickets in the box. I noticed that day small tickets lying on the 
table, and I noticed to see if any one Avould vote them, but I didn’t see 
but two A'oted that day. So AAffiile Mr. Alorrison Avas taking out the tick- 
ets from the box he Avould unfold them, and wheneAxr I would catch him 

34 s C 


530 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Richland 


with two or three together he would throw them out—if I spoke to him 
he Avould throw them out. If there were seven, he would throw out six 
and retain one; hut if I did not see him he would not throw baek any. 
Then I ealled attention to the clerk, that he was shoving up some Eepuh- 
liean tickets together, and when I could catch him unfolding tickets he 
would throw them out, otherwise he would not. I kept a x^oll list, and 
the whole uumher of votes cast that day was 540, and according to the 
managers’ poll-list 3,610. I Avatched his poll-list all difring the day,'and 
noticed whenever I put a man’s name down he Avould i)ut doAAm a man’s 
name; but when night came he had more names on his x)oll-list than I 
had on mine. According to that count they had 245 more ballots than 
their jioll-list called for. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Their x)oll-list was larger than your xioll-list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the number of votes Avas 245 larger than their i)oll-list?—A. 
Yes, sir. Well, the fraudulent Amtes that we claim were folded up to¬ 
gether of the tissue ballots aa^ctc 170. They then i)ut the tickets back 
in the box. After they had taken out the ti(jkets and counted them out 
again, they found that time that they had 37 OA^er the i)oll-list. They 
blindfolded the clerk, Mr. Sloan, and he drcAV out 36 Bei^mblican \mtes 
and one Democratic Amte. They put them iii the hat and counted them 
OA^er, and the second time they counted them they had 38 OA^er; so they 
blindfolded Mr. Wallace then, one of the managers, and he drcAV out 37 
Kepublican Amtes and 1 Democratic vote. I saAV two of these little 
tissue ballots were Amted that day. 

Q. When they were Amted!—A. Yes, sir. But Avhen they opened the 
box (I don’t kuoAv hoAv they got there, Avhether they growed of not) the 
box Avas packed AAuth them. I spoke of it, but they didn’t say anything 
about it. I am sure there Avas not oaw two Amted. 

Q. How many BexAublican AXAtes did they return after they got througii ? 
—A. After .they got through throwing out the Amtes and drawing them 
they gave 258 Amtes to the Eepublicans; the balance AA^ere Democratic. 
Tliey gaA^e for Aiken 346, and there Avere but six Azotes tliat liad Aiken 
scratched out. At our i^recinct the A\4iite Democratic Amte ncA^er 
amounted to over 200. 

Q. What does the Eepublican A^ote amount to?—A. They had usually 
a majorUy of about 400. 

Q. They told you the Democrats had a majority?—A. Yes, sir; a 
majority of about 70. I don’t believe that they counted 300 Avhite 
Democrats in that precinct; they never did vote over 200,1 don’t think. 

Q. They counted these small tissue ballots that aawc left ?—A. Yes, 
sir; they counted them. I stated to the Democratic supervisor there, 
Mr. M. K. Parry, that they ought to throw out tliose I'randulent tissue 
tickets in the box, and not take the Eei)ublican tickets Avhich Avere fairly 
A’oted. He replied, ^‘That is the advantage aa'c have by your haAung 
such large tickets.” I didn’t say anything more to him. 

Q. Were these managers Deniocants ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was the clerk a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say Mr. Perry Avas the Democratic supervisor there?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You kept a list that day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There Avas no one tiiat undertook to prcAxnt you any further than 
as you have already stated?—A. Yo, sir. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF NICHOLAS S. SHELDEN. 531 

Q. Was it part of your business to keep a list?—A. It was. What I 
before stated was, that when I first went in they threatened to call in 
the constable to take me out: One of the men did not want me to stand 
near the box. 

Q. Well, did yon stand near the box?—A. I had a table which stood 
about as far as from here to the end of this table (about ten feet) from 
the box, where I could see every vote that went in the box. 

Q. Did yon see every vote that went in the box?—A. I don’t say that 
I saw the votes tliat were folded up together. 

Q. Did yon see every ballot that was put in there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are yon sure of that?—A. Yes, sir; from six in the morning until 
six in the evening there was not a ballot that I didn’t see. 

Q. Yon are sure of that?—A. Yes, sir; I staid there all day. 

Q. Yon were keeping a list a good portion of the time?—A. Yes, sir; 
all day. 

Q. And then yon were talking ^yith these persons now and then who 
were talking to yon ?—A. Yes, sir.' 

Q. Yon spoke to one or two that were keeping the list?—A. Yes, sir; 
that was Mr. Morrison. 

Q. And yet yon saw them all vote?—A. Yes, sir. That would not 
I)revent my seeing them vote; and if I didn’t catch a man’s name when 
he voted, I would ask—I would ask Mr. Williams, the manager, what 
his name was. 

Q. They would always give yon his name?—A. Yes, sir. The clerk 
was sitting right opposite me, and I could see and hear every name that 
was given to them. 

Q. Yow, yon looked over the clerk’s list while he was making his 
list ?—A. iTow and then I would. 

Q. How did it happen that his list and yours did not agree?—A. That 
1 can’t tell. 

Q. Do yon think yon got down all?—A. I thiidv so; in fact, 1 know x 
did. 

Q. Did yon see him write down names when yon Avere not writing ?^ 
A. No, sir. He may have been, and perhaps kept that concealed; but 
still I don’t charge him Avith doing a thing of that kind; but I took every 
name, and I noticed his list all the way through, and numbered eA^ery 
man that A^oted, and alAA^ays looked to see if he had the last name I took. 

Q. And notwithstanding that he had nearly one hundred more than 
your poll-list?—A. Well, 370 difference. 

By Mr. 0 a3IEKON : 

Q. There Avere just 70 names yon say?—xl. Yes, sir. The managers 
prevented 4 from voting. 

Q. Why? _ A. Well, they were willing to SAvear, and Avoiild have 

taken the oath that they Avere over twenty-one years of age, but the 
managers didn’t belieA'e that themselA^es, and wouldn’t allow them to vote. 
There was a man named Beeves standing up with the Eepnblican ticket 
folded, and a man came up and spoke to this man AAuth a Eepnblican 
ticket and gaA^e him tAvo tickets by mistake, which were right together, 
and the manager said, Yon haA^e two tickets in your hand.” The 
managers then Avonld not alloAA' him to Amte. Some one asked him AAdio 
o'aA^e it to him, and some one said, Edward Eeed.” Then they arrested 
Eeed. 

Q. Did yon see the tickets ?—xA. Yes, sir. All of ns saAv the tickets. 
If I had tA\m pieces of paper I could fold them and yon could see hoAv it 



532 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kichland 


was. This man that took tliem was innocent, as he had no idea there 
were two. 

Q. Did not every i)erson who voted there have to swear that tliey 
were qualified?—A. They liave to swear if you will allow them. 

Q. Does not every i)erson that votes have to swear before he can 
vote ?—A. Yes, sir j but if a man is not allowed to be sworn he can’t 
swear, and can’t vote. 

Q. If his vote is cliallenged, and if the managers decide he is not 
qualified, he is not sworn f—A. No, sir. 

Q. And on the statement of the case to them as it was presented to 
them they decided that these three men were not old enough to vote ?— 
A. The managers challenged these men themselves, and disputed their 
age. I know them, and can call their names if you would like to hear 
them. In fact I know when one of them was born. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Was he of age?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then all offered to swear that they were of age ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. This man to whom two tickets were handed was not allowed to 
vote one ?—A. No, sir; he was not allowed to vote at all. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. What was the man’s name?—A. It was Jefferson Beeves. 

Q. Was that the sole ground on Vv^hich he Avas refused?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did you number your poll-list consecutively, one, two, three, four, 
&c. ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the clerk of the managers number his?—A. I suppose he 
numbered until he got up to two oi three hundred. 

Q. Then quit ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You continued to number until the poll closed ?—A. Yes, sir. I 
took each and every man’s name that voted. And I remember now the 
last man that voted. 

Q. What explanation, if any, did the managers give to the fact that 
there were so many ballots in the box in excess of their OAvn poll-list ?— 
A. They didn’t explain it at all. 

Q. They didn’t seem to take any notice of these little tissue ballots in 
the box?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They took notice of them and counted them for the Democrats ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 


BENSON EDWAKDS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1879. 

Benson Edavards (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Eichland County, in 
the city of Columbia. 

Q. Were you an officer at any precinct at the late election ?—A. I A^as 
Dnited States supervisor at the Jd Avard. 

Q. State Avhat occurred there.—A. Well, sir, about half past five 
o’clock in tlie morning I went to the poll and remained there until six 
o’clock. By my Avatch and that of the chairman of the board of mana- 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF BENSON EDWARDS. 


533 


gers we opened at six. All tlieir watclies Avere fast a little, that is, the 
city bell did not strike six yet, but I consented, and Ave opened tlie poll. 
I took a seat at the table and Ave examined the boxes. I had taken my 
blank sheets to keep a poll-list. They asked me what I Avas going to 
do. I said I was going to keep a poll-list, and that I kneAV my busi¬ 
ness, and that I had my instructions and proposed to carry them out. 
The clerk of the boai d asked me to gh^e him the position I had. It 
AA^as pretty dark and he wanted the position so that he could see. I 
told him I had candles back there, and told him that my instructions 
Avere to be as near the box as possible all day, and that I did not care to 
moA'e. He said he did not think that my instructions meant for me to in¬ 
terfere with him. I said I didn’t propose to. All the managers were Dem¬ 
ocrats and he Av^as a Democrat, and the other supervisor AA^as a Democrat, 
and he could remain AATiere he Avas. There Avas enough of them there¬ 
to see the box and they could gAe him the names. He submitted the 
question to the chairman of the board; and he told him he thought it 
Avas best for me to light a candle back there. Then it went on quietly 
until about 10 o’clock, AA^hen one Martin li. Suman came up to a ote and 
the managers challenged his Amte on the ground of minority. I told 
them the man was of age, that I kneAV him since he was ten years old, 
and to my imrsonal knoAAdedge he Avas of age. Then they said, “ Well, 
Ave challenge him.” I decided he could vote subject to the challenge; 
and consequently he voted. We Avent on that way for an hour or more, 
and a white man came uj) to Amte. He AA^as challenged for non-resi¬ 
dence by the deputy United States marshal. The challenger for the 
Democratic party ordered an athdaAit to be made out for the arrest of 
the United States marshal, saying he had no right to challenge and that 
he must be arrested—that he must be arrested anyhoAA\ He had two 
or three constables around there, and anyhoAV they sent off for the 
chief constable. Colonel Trueman. I told them that I kneAv of no laAV 
by AAdiich he coidd be arrested, unless they wanted to cause a row, be¬ 
cause he was sent there as an officer to assist me. I sent a note doAvn 
for the Eewised Statutes, and James II. Scott, the other supervisor, AAffio 
Avas anxious to have him arrested- 

Q. That is the Democratic superAusor!—A. Yes, sir. I referred him 
to the Statutes, and asked him to find the hiAv aa hereby he could be 
arrested. He failed to find it, and I Avould not consent to having him 
arrested. That ended that charge about the marshal. The constable 
came down there to arrest him, and I told him he could not do it unless 
he produced his authority. I found he had no authority in the lleAused 
Statutes, and I Avanted the man to assist me, and so far as the challenge 
AA^as concerned I accepted the responsibility of the challenge, as it Avas 
my instructions that I had that power. They did not arrest him. There 
AAvas a feAv challenges made and that raised some disturbances. EA^ery 
party that Avas cballenged, and unless it Avas for non compos mentis, I 
Avould decide that they had no right to vote; otherAvise, unless it AAaas 
for minority or something I AAmuld decide that they had a right to vote. 

Q. Were any men prohibited from voting!—A. Yes, sir. One Mr. 
Miller Avas proliibited from voting on the ground that ha had been in the 
penitentiary. He claimed to liaA^e been pardoned. 

Q. Did he produce any statement ?—A. No, sir; but he proved that 
he had been pardoned. He had lost the original pardon, but he brought, 
the attorney Avho had prosecuted him, and it AA^as shoAvn that he had got 
a i)ardon at one time. 

Q. Noav, come doAvn to the canvass in the eA-ening.—xV. In the even¬ 
ing the United States marshal asked to bealloAA'ed in the room, but they 






534 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Richland 


would not allow liim. They went on to canvass the ballots, and when 
they opened the ballot-box, and the tickets were taken out, I then insisted 
that the tickets should be brought to the top of the box for fear there 
might be some of them together. I insisted they should come to the top 
of the box, and a few of them were brought to the top, and they found in 
one batch live, and in one batch six together. 

Q. What kind of tickets ?—A. These little tissue tickets or kiss-jokes. 
They were folded in the large Democratic tickets, and they were thrown 
away. After the wliole box was canvassed there was found to be 875 
ballots in the box and only 709 names on the poll-list. Then they went 
to reduce this excess by iiutting the ballots back in the ballot-box and 
draAving the overjilus. The manager Avas blindfolded, but he did not 
draAv according to laAA^—that the ballots should be thoroughly mixed and 
he should draAV them as he came to them—but he Avould feel and fish 
around in the box until he Avas conlident he had a Eepublican ticket and 
then he would draAv. I objected to that, and said I did not think it Avas 
in accordance AAuth the Iuaa', and that I should insist that he should draw 
them according to laA\^ He insisted that it Avas his prerogatiA^e to get 
them out as he Avanted to. I told him I did not think it Avas a matter of 
prerogative; that it Avas a matter of laAv to draAv them out as he came 
to them. He contended that he could draAV them out as he saAV fit. In 
that AA'ay there were 70 llepublican tickets draAvn out, and G Democratic 
tickets. After the draAv AA\as made and the canvass Avas finished, the 
Eepublican nominee had 212 Azotes, and Mr. Aiken, the Democrat, had 
582. 

Q. How many tissues did you see? —A. Well, sir, there Avas a lot of 
them. I could not tell hoAv many there Avas. I suppose there Avas nearly 
500 of them, if not more. 

Q. Did the}^ count them ? —A. O, yes, sir, they counted eA^ery ticket 
in the box after drawing tliese tickets that Avere Avrapped togetlier, ex¬ 
cept that there AA^as a feAv Avritten tickets that Avere not Avritten properly, 
and them dreAv them out. These AAnfitten tickets had only the man’s 
name Avritten on them AA ithout the title of the office he was nominated 
for; and they Avere draAA'n out. 

Q. Did your poll-list compare AAfith their poll-list ?— A. My poll-list 
was less than their poll-list by about 150 names. I had to stop once or 
tAAUce during the day, and I suppose there Avas tAA^o hours when I didn’t 
take the names; Avhen they Avere deciding the question as to the right 
of arresting the marshal, and I and the democratic super\fisor Avere in 
consultation as to the measure of authority. And then at one time 1 
had to go out and I could not get him to keep the poll-list for me, and 
he said he Avould not; that it Avas only a request, and that he Avould not 
be compelled to do it. So I kept it all myself, Avhat Avas kept. 

Q. Did you concede that their poll-list Avas right ?—A. Yes, sir, I 
had to. 

Q. That Avas 799?—A. Yes, sir; but that AAms far in excess of AAdiat 
had been A^oted there during the previous election. 

Q. Ho AY many did you haA^e on your list as far as you got ?—A. I had 
525, I think. 

Q. You had about 274 less ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. That was not an unusual number of votes to be given when you 
AA’ere out? Was not that an unusually busy time ?—^^A. When these 
questions came up I Avas at- 

Q. What time of day Avas it ? — A. It Avas along about 10 o’clock. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF A W. CURTIS. 


53o 


Q. xVloiig in the middle of tlie day, tlien, you did not keen a list ?—A. 
Yes, sir, it was between 10 and 12 o’clock. 

Q. There was found to be an excess and they were put back again !— 
A. Yes, sir, and thoroughly mixed, but I did not see any necessity of 
mixing’ when they were drawn out in the manner they were. 

Q. But they were put back and thorouglily mixed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That has been the way of reducing the number Avhen they are 
above the poll-list everywhere ?—A. Yes, sit. 

Q. You liave acted as an officer at difterent times !—A. No, sir, only 
twice previous to this. 

(^. hat times were these ?—A. In 187G I acted as clerk, in 1877, and 
I acted in a municipal election as clerk and tallier in the 3d ward. 

Q. That is the way you had drawn them out of the box ?—A. Yes, sir ; 
but we did it according to Luav. We mixed them and then took them as 
we came to them. We did not feel and fish for them. 

Q. How do you know that! Did you ever draAv tickets out!—A. No, 
sir; I never drew tickets out, but I saw the others. 

By the Chaiuaian : 

Q. You say you think you had 525 names on your list, and they had 
709. Noav, that Avill lea\"e 271'?—A. I am sure they had 799. 

Q. Well, how about your 525!—A. I am sure of that. 


A. W. CUETIS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25,1879. 

A. W. Curtis sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside !—Answer. In Richland County. 

Q. Were you an officer at the late election!—A. No, sir; I Avas can¬ 
didate for the legislature for re-election. 

Q. Were you present at any of the ])olls !—A. I was at seAwal. 

Q. Upon which side Avere you a candidate !—A. On the Republican 
ticket. 

Q. State what you saw on election day, commencing at the beginning 
and going through as briefly as possible.—A. At first I went to the dif¬ 
ferent polls in the city—the city of Columbia. I live in the country, not 
in the city proper. I went to Avards one, tAvo, and three. I did not go 
to Avard four until late in the eAxning. My attention was called to the 
fact of a ticket being given to an old colored man, by a man named 
Riser, a photographer in Columbia; the ticket had a number of small 
tickets in it. I AA^ent to ward tAvo and staid there quite a while. There 
they Avere Acting pretty often. The managers had a wire which they 
kept putting in tlie box all day eA^ery iioav and then, and pushing around 
in the box. They kept shaking the box up. I spoke to one of the men 
there about the matter, and asked Avhat they Avere shaking the box 
for,, and pushing this Avire backwards and forwards for, all the time. 
Said I, ‘ H belieA^e they are AuRing these cumulated tickets.” He said, no; he 
guesseil not. AfterAvard, from Avhat I heard from the difterent aa ards, and 
from Avhat I saAV afterwards, for I didn’t really knoAV this was going on 
until I saAV this old man Riser Avith his big ticket full of little tickets; 
after that I Avas at the third Avard; the place where I saAV the Avire Avas 
the second Avard. At the third Avard 1 met a man that I had knoAvn 



536 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Eicliland 


A 

from my boyliood. He went up to vote, and tliey refused to let him 
vote. They said he had voted. Then they said he was under age, too. 
I asked him if he had voted, and lie said no. One of the rallyers said 
that I needn’t say anything, for I couldn’t stay in the legislature any 
more. I told him I could get votes enough, whether I staid there or 
not. He said, votes or no votes, I wouldn’t stay there. There were 
more words passed between us, which it is not necessary to repeat. Af¬ 
terwards I was sent for to come to ward 4, by the supervisor of that 
ward. Up to that time I was satisfied that we would carry the county j 
after I went up there and saw the number of these small ballots that 
were put in the box, I ga^ e up the matter. I knew that Ave could not 
be successful, though I was satisfied Ave had a majority of the Alters. 
They AA^ere sorting out the small ballots in all four of the Avards. All 
the wards Avith the exception of one liad a majority of 150 to 200 on a 
fair count. I AA^ent back to the second AA^ard, and they Avere doing the 
same thing there—sorting out these small tickets. 

Q. Hoav many small tickets did they Amte at Avard four ?—A. I couldn’t 
tell; I AAms not on the inside; they didn’t alloAV any of us im I didn’t 
see the superAusor until later in the eA^ening. He said there were a feAv 
of these small tickets A^oted in that Avard. Altogether there were tAvice 
as many Democratic ballots in the box as Eepublican ballots. The 
Republicans had hardly any Amtes. The exact number I have forgotten. 

Q. What has been the Republican majority heretofore ?—A. Something 
over a hundred at Avard four. Ward three Avas nearly on a balance. In 
AA^ard tAAm Ave ahva^^s had a majority. 

Q. Hoav did the vote stand at Avard four, last election ?—A. I cannot 
say exactly. 

Q. Was there a Democratic majority ?—A. Yes*, sir. 

Q. A large majority'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav aa^s it at Avard tAvo'?—A. The same way. 

Q. Hoav Av^as it at Avard three ?—A. The same AAmy. 

Q. And at AA^ard one ?—A. The Democrats hardly ever polled over 
twenty-five or fifty Amtes there before, and this time they had a majority 
there. 

Q. AYhere did you see the tissue ballots ?—A. I saAv them at all the 
polls. I did not see them counting out at one ]>oll. 

Q. You understood that they had tissue ballots there?—A. Y^es, sir, 
the supervisor told me so; besides, I knoAv they could not have beat us 
unless they had done it in that Avay. 

Q. Why not ?—A. Because we had a majority. It is really a slander 
on our people to say they Avould vote a niajority of Democratic Azotes. 
The Democratic majority is more than all the Azotes they could get. 

Q. What is the Democratic majority according to the count?—A. Taa*o 
thousand eight hundred and tAvelve. In the most hotly-contested elec¬ 
tion that we evex had, that of 1870, the Democrats only got 2,400 and 
odd. It is not true that enough of our people Amted the Democratic 
ticket to change the result. 

Q. What is the Republican niajority in that county ?—A. From 1,700 
to 1,900. ' ’ 

Q. Did the colored people generally turn out and A*ote?—A. They did. 
I canvassed the county and knoAv pretty well hoAv the matter stood. 
The Democrats just previous to the election tried, at several precincts, 
by speaking and persuading, to get them to vote otherAvise; but the 
colored people told them right u]) and doAvn that they Avere not going 
to Amte the Democratic ticket. I told the people I didn’t think Ave 
Avould be allowed to take our seats, but that I thought Ave better haA*e 



Coiiiity] TESTIMONY OF A. W. CURTIS. 537 

the ballots in the box^ and if there was anything wrong we conld show 
that we had voted. 

Q. Yon say yon supposed yon would not be alloAved to take your 
seats; wliat made you suppose so ?—A. Many things. The general un¬ 
derstanding was all that Avay; a great many things were said that led 
us to that belief. One day G-eneral O’Oonner came to me on the streets. 
He asked me if I was going to run again. I said “ Yes.” He said, 
“ You won’t go to the legislature this time.” I said, I can if I can 
have a fair vote.” I told liim that I had been elected three times, in 
fact four times, but I had been stuffed out tlie last time. He said that 
the Democrats had determined that they wouldn’t allow us to liold the 
offices. Frank Hanna told me the same thing; and it was tlie general 
understanding and talk everywhere. I was friendly with them all, and 
they in friendly conversation with me told me that they was tired of our 
holding the offices; that they intended to rule in that county and in the 
State hereafter. 

Q. Whom do you mean by ‘Hhey”?—A. The Democrats that were 
speaking to me. On the night of election John Stirling came to the 
corner of Main and Ashton streets, and said that lie had voted twenty 
votes against me. Mr. Pradon was present, and others; they said 
they’d be damned if we should have the election. 

Q. What kind of votes did he say he had voted ?—A. Tissue votes. 
Nobody said anything. 

Q. He voluntarily made that statement ?—A. Yes, sir. I spoke to other 
gentlemen who said they had done these things. I said there was no 
occasion for doing it in Eichland. He justified it by saying that we 
cheated them at Lancaster several years ago. 1 said Ave didn’t, and Ave 
had no interest to, for on a square Auite AAe could.beat them anyhow. 
He said Ave had had the offices long enough, and this AAms the oidy Avay 
they conld get them aAAaiy from ns; that they couldn’t persuade the col¬ 
ored men to Amte the Democratic ticket, and if they couldn’t get the 
offices in one AAmy they AAmuld in another, and AA^e might as Avell under¬ 
stand that first as last. 

Q. Did you see anybody Ante tissue tickets —A. To say that I saAA^ 
them doing that I could not. I didn’t knoAv really that the thing Avas 
going on until it Avas told to me. I had some hopes of beating until I 
saAV those tickets. 

Q. How many did you see ?—A. There were three little tickets in¬ 
closed in an ordinary Democratic ticket. The larger ticket Avas printed 
in red, and the little tickets were folded inside. I thought they Avere 
going to do something to beat ns in the election, but when I saA\' how 
the people Avere coming out and Anting the Eepnblican ticket, I thought 
^A¥e are going to liaAn it yet”; but I didn’t think so any more AAdien I 
saAV them Voting these small tickets. Dent said to me, “Do you know 
they are Anting these small tickets?” I said to him, “Yes, sir.” 1 told 
the*people to continue to Ante, and they did, just the same. 

Q. Was there a general tnrn-out of the colored people on that day ?— 

A. Yes, sir. , 

Q. As large as there usually had been?—A. les, sir; as large as in 
1870. There AA^as less hinderance even to our voting than there Avas then. 
When AAn found out hoAV things Avere going we threAv some slurs on them 
for the way they AA cre doing. They didn’t resent it. They didn’t say 
anything’ back.’ They acknowledged, in substance, that they had taken 

that AA^ay to beat ns. . 

Q. Eefore election they didn’t interfere Avith you in any Avay A. 

No, sir; in onr county they could not. 



588 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[KicLland 


Q. They behaved well up to the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They didn’t interfere during the day "?—A. Yo, except one man in¬ 
terfered Avith me ; he did really threaten to shoot me, but I don’t much 
think he meant it. We had had our meetings during the canvass, not 
A'ery oi)enly. For a good Avhile it Avas generally understood that Ave 
AA’ere going to liaAX a meeting at Hopkins. One of the Democrats said 
to me “ We are going to come to your meeting, not Avitli the intention of 
making any disturbance, but Avith the intention of forcing a division of 
time.” They came there, and one of them, John C. Hopkins, wanted a 
diAusion of time. I said, Let him speak, or they Avill go back and say 
Ave Avere afraid to meet them.” We Avere not so small and so low-cul¬ 
tured as that. Tliey might speak better than we could, but Ave could 
])resent the facts so that the people could understand us. It AA^as tinally 
agreed to alloAv them to speak. Some said, no, they didn’t want them 
to speak, because they would abuse us—colored people. They kncAv 
that all tlie Democrats did it. One or two made a practice of always 
doing it. Some of them Avere really bitter on us. 

Q. Were all the managers of the election in Columbia Democrats I— 
A. Yes, sir. In the hrst part of the summer Mr. Conmer and Judge 
Boone and myself asked them to gwe us a Eepublican manager. This 
gentleman presented a list of Eepublicans. He was a commissioner on 
the part of the Democrats. Mr. Weston, a Democratic manager, said 
Mr. AgneAv Avas a Eepublican. He said that GoA^^rnor Hampton said 
he put him on there as an eAudence of fair dealing, but the majority 
AAmuld rule, and they Avere going to put in two Democratic managers. 
]\Ir. AgneAv said he would not serA^e, and did not; and they Avoidd not 
allow us any manager. We Eepublicans ncA^er had failed to giA^e the 
Democrats a representative on the board if they AAX)uld serA^e, except pos¬ 
sibly Avith one exception. The commissioners ahvays appointed the 
managers, and they didn’t allow us a manager. 

Q. Did they anyA\Jiere in the county ?—A. Yo, sir; noAAdiere in Eich- 
land County. We had always gHen them one manager, and we our¬ 
selves had a clerk and tAvo managers. . AYe did that as an evidence of 
fair dealing. AA^e kneAv that Ave could carry the county, and didn’t feel 
any objection to their seeing how the thing AA^as conducted. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say possibly with one exception.” AA^hen AA^as that ?—A. I 
think it Avas in 1870. 

Q. You think in 1870 there were no Democrats on the election mana¬ 
gers ?—A. Eo, sir, on the board of commissioners, I said. 

Q. On all the boards AAdien you Avere in poAver there Avas a nuajority of 
Eepublicans?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And a Eepublican clerk'?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the majority of election commissioners Avere Eepublicans ?— 
A. I think in 1870 all were. I AA^as one myself at that time, and I re¬ 
member it. 

Q. Alight there not liaA^e been other elections AAdien all three were 
Eepublicans ?—A. I think not. ^ 

Q. Do you remember the election commissioners in 1870 ?—A. I think 
they were Colonel McAIaster, U. P. Johnson, and J. T. EnsaAv. 

Q. AA^hat AA’-ere their politics?—A. Ensaw and Johnson were Eepub¬ 
licans ; AIcAIaster AA^as a Democrat. 

Q. Up to 1876 the Eepublicans held tlie machinery of election?—A. 
Yes, sir. Air. AgneAV, in 1871, AAais the Democratic commissioner, and 
Solomon and Johnson were Eepublicans. ' - 


County.] TESTIMONY OF A W. CURTIS. 539 

Q. Then, while the Reimhlicans held the machinery of the election, the 
elections went Kepiiblicaii ?—A. Yes, sir; for it really was so. 

Q. As a fact, while the Republicans Avere in power in the State and 
held the machinery of election, the elections Avent Republican ?—A. Yo, 
sir; I do not say so; that aatis not the reason; the elections Avent Re¬ 
publican because there was a majority of Republicans to do the Acting, 
and not because the Republicans held the machinery of election. 

Q. Did the Democrats carry Richland Oouiity while the Republicans 
held the machinery of election ?—A. Not as a consequence of that, but 
as being really a fact. If you aauII excuse me, you are trying to make 
out as a necessary thing the result from one cause Avhat realiy resulted 
from another. 

Q. What cause ?—A. Not because the Re])ublicans had the machinery 
of election, but because Ave had the a otes, sir. There A\ms iie\"er, so far 
as I knoAV, and I luiA^e been acquainted Avith the matter for some time, 
any unfair dealings charged upon the Republicans in Richland County 
about the elections. 

Q. Then it is a fact thatAA hile the Republicans held the machinery of 
election the elections AA^ent Republican ?—A. Yes, siiq because we ahvays 
got our Amtes counted AA’-hen we put them in the box, and so rightfully 
carried the election. 

Q. You said you neA^er did unfairly because you had a majority Avith- 
out it ?—A. I said we had our votes counted as they were put in the 
box; but in 1878 AA^e did not liaA^e them counted, because the ballot-box 
AA^as stuffed with tissue ballots. The Democrats had more majority than 
they had Amtes, and that preponderance of votes Avere tissue-ballots; the 
larger votes Avere taken out and the small ones left in the box. They 
took out Republican Amtes and left in Democratic ones. 

Q. AYere 5^011 present at the draAAdng ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AA'hile they were drawing out those votes ?—A. Yes, sir. I went 
from place to place. 

Q. AA^hile they Avere drawing at each of these wards were you pres¬ 
ent?—A. Yes, sir; at different times. 

Q. AA^hile they were drawing the surplus ballots found in the box were 
you at Avards two, three, and four?—A. Yes, sir; at different times. I 
would leaA^e at one Avard after they had begun to draAv and get to another 
before they were through draAAing out there. 

Q. And" you saAv them draAvn out at three different AA^ards ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How far were those Avards apart? —A. From ward tAA^o to Avard 
three Avas about three sides of a square. The AAurds are laid out there 
more regularly than here. 

Q. AYere you inside of the room so as to see Iioav the draAAung Avas 
carried on?—I saAv from the AAundoAv; I Avas not inside. 

Q. Do you not get your information mainly from others? —A. I saAv 
by looking through the Avindow as directly as I am looking at you. 

"Q. Could you tell Democratic from Republican tickets by looking 
through the AAdndoAV in th^t Avay ?—A. I could tell the size of them, and 
I could tell the large Republican ticket from the little tissue tickets by 
the size. Tliey didift make any denial of this matter; they acknoAAd- 
edged and justified it. i ^ 

Mr. McDonald. I am questioning you now, and the best aaix> tor 5011 
is to anSAA^er my questions, and not go off* to make speeches. AAY Avill 
get along faster and Avith less confusion. 

The AYitness. All riglit, sir ; I Avill try and ansAA^er your questions. 

No 



540 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


/ [Richland 


Q. Who was this old man that you saw have this first ticket?—A. I 
could not tell you his name. 

Q. Was lie colored or white?—A. He was a black man, sir. 

Q. He was voting the Democratic ticket?—A. He had it j he did not 
want to vote it. 

Q. He took it for the purpose of voting it?—A. Yes, sir5 in fact, Riser 
persuaded hiip to vote it. 

Q. You don’t mean by actual physical force compelled him to?—IS'o, 
sir. 

Q. And he did take it, as you understand, with the intention of vot¬ 
ing it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Had lie opened the ticket when you first saw it ?—A. It was open 
when I first saw it; I didn’t say that 1 saw him with it first. 

Q. When you saw it it was open, unfolded ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you got your information of the tickets being together from 
others?—A. Yes, sir j the man said Riser gave it to him. 

By Mr. Ca^ieron : 

Q. You were going on to state that the Democrats did not deny at 
Columbia that at the election they had voted these cumnlated tickets?— 
A. Ro, sir. 

Q. What did they say ?—A. The direct words they said I could not 
give. They said they had tried to persuade us to vote their way, that 
they failed to bring us to that, and they would resort to other ways to 
get control of the government. They had tried to persuade our people 
to vote the Democratic ticket and they would not, and they had tried 
to control this election in another way. 


DICK WALLACE. 

Charleston, S. C., Monday^ Jcmuary 27, 1879. 

Dick Wallace (colored) SAvorn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. AVhere do you live?—AnsAA^er. In Columbia. 

(h Hoav long have yon lived there ?—A. I have lived there eleven 
years this March. 

Q. Hoav long have you been voting ?—A. Ever since reconstruction. 

Q. What party have you acted AAith ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. Did you conmience Acting the Democratic ticket in the first 
place ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And continued on ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What ticket did you vote last fall?—A. The Democratic ticket. 

Q. At Avhat place ?—A. In Colund)ia, at the court-house. 

Q. Did you take any part in the canvass lastfiill?—A. No, sir; no 
part at all. 

Q. Did you belong to any political club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where Avas that club ?—A. It Avas Captain Idle’s club at first. 

Q. Where Avas it organized ?—A. It Avas organized on Canvas street, 
by the express office. 

Q. What kind of a uniform did they wear on parade ?—A. They Avore 
red, white, and blue shirts; there was three stripes to it. 

Q. Hoav many colored men belonged to that club, as near as you can 
recollect ?—A. One hundred was in first. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF DICK WALLACE. 541 

Q. How many colored men belonged to Democratic clubs ?—A. Be¬ 
tween oOO and 400 in the city. 

Q. Of Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir ; and around there. 

Q. Were you out in different i>arts of the county during the canvass! 
—A. Ko, sir ; I did not have time. 

Q. At what poll did you vote at the election!—A. At the court¬ 
house. 

Q. That was at ward 2 !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any trouble or difficulty at the polls there!—A. No, sir; 
I voted between 10 and 11 oYloch, and everything was peaceful; it ap¬ 
peared like Sunday. 

Q. Did you see any of these tissue ballots that have been spoken of 
that day !—xA. No, sir; 1 did not see one. 

Q. Have you sulfered any abuse from your colored Bepublican friends 
on account of your politics !—A. They threatened me a little, but I got 
no abuse. 

Q. State what threats have been made against you, and at what 
times.—A. Well, on that election-day some came.in on the street, and 
said they wanted me to vote with them this time, and I asked them what 
they meant, and they said they wanted me to vote the Republican ticket 
with them. 1 said to them, ‘‘ You know I do not vote your ticket,” and 
they said, “Well, go on; you can’t be anything but a Democrat, any 
way.” I was living by Governor Hampton’s residence, and when 1 went 
there 1 met some gentlemen—colored men—and they asked metlie same 
question, and I said 1 expected to vote the straight-out Democratic ticket, 
and no further questions were asked me. 

Q. Well, at any time before that, had you been threatened on account 
of your politics !—A. Yes, sir; I was. 

Q. What threats have they made against you before this time!—xA. 
Tiiey said if it was in their power they Avould kill every one that voted 
the Democratic ticket; so I thought I could qualify their minds to keep 
them out of fusses. 

A. And you alwa^^s “ qualified” their minds by talking to tliem!—xA. 
Yes, sir, if they would listen. 

Q. xAbout wiiat number of colored men in the city of Columbia voted 
the Democratic ticket at the last election, as near as you can judge ?— 
A. All kinds—yellow, bright, and black. 

Q. AYell, how many would you say, from your best information and 
knowledge, voted the Democratic ticket at the court-house that day!— 
A. About one hundred that day, of colored people; they may have been 
more, but I tliink about that many. 

Q. At tlie other i)olls liave you any idea how many voted there !—A. 
No, sir; I did not visit the polls until 5 o’clock, and then I went down 
to ward 3 and to Avard 4. 

Q. You say there were some 400 Democrats belonging to the clubs in 
Columbia!—A. Yes, sir; I said between 300 and 400. 

Q. Did tliey remain attached to the clubs up to tlie election and re¬ 
main members of the clubs after the election!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is your business !—A. Most any kind of AAmrk I can do to 
make an lionest living. 

Q. What do you do !—A. Well, I go from one thing to another. 

Q. Are you em])lo 3 ’ed about the State-house!—xA. No, sir. 

Q. Did you ever get any there !—A. No, sir; I never sought to get 
any. 



542 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Eichland 


Q. Do you know Coleman Batief—A. Yes, sir; ever since this club 
was organized—ever since before the other campaign in 1870. 

Are yon a member of his clnb ?—A. 17o, sir. 

Q. How many members in his clnb ?—A. I could not say; I suppose 
there was 40 to 50. 

Q. Who Avas the captain of your clnb ?—A. Henry Kershaw, a man 
who is out of the penitentiary now. 

Q. Where did your clnb meef?—A. At Janey’s Hall. 

Q. How often do yon meet ?—A. Once a month. 

Q. AVhen did yon first meet with them?—A. In 1875. 

Q. How many members did yon liaAX in 1870?—A. We had 80 some 
odd members in 1870 in onr clnb. 

Q. How many have yon now ?—A. Well, some of them have died— 
fiA^e or six haA^e died. There are now betAveen 00 and 70. 

Q. It has not grown any since 1870 —Iaa^o years ago?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. It is smaller?—A. lYs, sir. 

Q. Koav, Avhat are the clubs in Columbia?—A. Well, there are dif¬ 
ferent clubs; the cajhain in the other clnb was Aleck Foster. 

Q. Which Avard is he in ?—A. In ward 4. 

Q. Where does the clnb meet ?—A. At Monument Hall. 

Q. Do yon meet Avith them ?—A. Sometimes. 

Q. Hoav many members in Iiis clnb ?—A. I could not say. 

Q. Yon do not know ?—A. No, sir ; I do not knoAV how manj", but I 
knoAA^ he had a i)retty large clnb. 

Q. What other clnb was there in Columbia ?—A. That is all I knew, 
I believe. 

Q. There Avas 40 or 50 in Batie’s club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. About ()0 in your clnb, and yon do not knoAv hoAV many in Foster’s 
clnb ?—A. Ko, sir; there Avas another clnb OA^er in Green Creek, in the 
country. 

Q. A good many colored men Amted for Hampton tAvo years ago ?—A. 
Yes, sir; that Avas their business. 

Q. Do yon think moreAmted the Democratic ticket tAvo years ago than 
last year ?—A. Well, I think some Amted this year that didn’t two years 
ago. 

Q. How many voted in Columbia two years ago?—xV. I knoAV there 
Avas one hundred of them A^oted on the day of the election; there was 
one hundred of the clnb that Amted. 

Q. Tlien two years ago yon think one hundred colored men Amted the 
Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir; that Avas in one clnb. 

Q. Do yon tldnk tAvo years ago any colored men Amted the Democratic 
ticket, except the clnb men?—A. Yes, sir; I am certain of one hundred, 
but I could not say liow many outside of the clnb. 

Q. Hoav many voted this last year ?—x\. I saAV them Amting at the 
l)oll, tAAmnty-five or thirty at the time. 

Q. Do yon think one hundred Amted at that poll this last year?—A. 
Yes, sir; more than that. Yon asked me before how many, and I said 
one hundred. 

Q. Why did yon not get more men in your clnb this year ?—A. Be¬ 
cause the Hep nblican party did not get so red hot; eA’^erything was quiet 
on that day; but, of course, there Avonld have been a difference if any 
more clubs had been there. It AAms a (piiet and peaceful election. 

Q. Yon think if tAvo or three more colored men had been in there 
would Inwe been a roAV ?—A. Ko, sir ; I think they Avonld have gone in 
as they did tAvo y ars ago. 



County.] TESTIMONY OF COLEMAN BATIE. ,^43 

Q. Why do yon think there was no row this year % —A. It was because 
it was peaceable; they liked the last governor. 

Q. No Kepublican has ever made an attack on yon because yon were 
a Democrat f—A. No, sir. They knocked down a small building I had 
after the election. 

Q. Did yon see them doing it?—A. I did not; but I was living in the 
house I rented, and the men came there the next day to tell me, and did 
tell me that the house w^as knocked down. They knocked the four pillars 
from under it. I said that did not amount to much. They destroyed 
about 400 feet of lumber by doing it. 

Q. You said you lived near Hampton’s residence"?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far from him?—A. About 300 or 400 yards. 

Q. Does he employ you ?—A. No, sir; I am not employed by any¬ 
body. 

Q. What do you work at ?—A. I work at all kinds of work. 

Q. You must be employed by somebody then?—A. No, sir; I go and 
get jobs. 

Q. What kind ?—A. Whitewashing and brick-laying. 


COLEMAN BATIE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27, 1879. 

Coleman Batie (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Bandolph : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Columbia. 

Q. How" long ha\"e you lived there ?—A. About four years since last 
October. 

Q. Are you a native of this State ?—A. Yes, sir; I was raibed in the 
State. 

Q. How did you vote at the last election ?—A. The Democratic ticket. 

Q. Are you connected with any Democratic club ?—A. Yes, sir; I w-as 
chairman of the colored Democratic club in Columbia in the last cam¬ 
paign; that is, I was president of it. 

Q. Are there quite a number of colored Democrats there?—A. Yes, 
sir; all the members of my club w"ere colored. 

Q. How many of them are there ?-—A. In the club that I was president 
of there ^vas upw^ards of 40 names enrolled on the roll. 

(»). You w ill be asked a question as to the names of these men, no doubt, 
and therefore I w"ould like to ask you to be particular as to the names of 
some of them.—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are there Democratic clubs in the towm ?—A. Yes, sir; a great many 
of them. Each Avard has one besides ours; that is, each w-ard has a Dem¬ 
ocratic club. 

Q. With more or less members?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many Avards are there in the city ?—A. Four. 

Q. Eacli w-ard has a colored Democratic club ?—^A. No, sir; I did not 
exactlj^ mean that. There Avas only one Democratic colored club in the 
citv to my knoAving. ^ 

Q. Was there any difficulty on the part of Democratic colored men in 
belonging to the Democratic party; do they liaA^e any trouble Arith the 
other colored men; do the Bepublican colored men make any luss about 
it?_A. Yes, sir. I haA"e not seen much trouble, but the members of my 








544 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kichlancl 


club very often tell me Avliat liad been stated to tliein, and that some had 
said to them on a few occasions, “Yon Democratic niggers ought to be 
hung and burned to death”; and such things as that have been used to 
me myself by colored Ee])ublicans. 

Q. Because of your politics !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tliey thought you shoidd be hung or shot because you voted the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. One man said one evening that if he 
had his way about it, he would tar and feather me and burn me to death. 

Q. What is his name?—A. His name was Eichard Wilson. 

Q. To what church, if any, do you belong ?—A. I don’t belong to any 
church. 

Q. Was there any intimidation used by any of the colored people there 
in the churches regarding political matters ?—A. Eo, sir; not to my 
knowing. I had one colored man say to me—he used to work in the 
State-house before the election, and they had a Eed-Shirt x)arade and 
n^emocratic speaking on the Saturday in the park, and a few days before 
that he said to me that he was coming out in a red shirt in the parade 
on Fiiday. On Friday he refused to come out in a red shirt, and a few 
days after that he was telling me and some others that the reason he 
did not come out was that it was against the rules of his church. 

Q. But you, not being a church-member, did not know anything about 
the church rules ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you belong to any military organization ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Are there any military organizations in Eichland County?—A. 
Yes, sir; I believe there are some few. 

Q. Under the State ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have lived there several years, you say?—A. I have. 

Q. Do you know anything about the military organization of the 
State prior to (lovernor Hampton’s election ?—A. No, sir; I don’t know 
much about it, only I have seen them out in the streets at times. 

Q.' Do you not know that all of the militia at that time were colored 
men uiideF Governor Chamberlain ?—A. No, sir. I think there were 
white companies and colored, both, but the militia, I think, were all 
colored men. 

Q. You have seen Democratic processions ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not quite common for them to display the United States 
flag?—A. Very common, sir. 

By the Chair3IAn : 

Q. What is your business?—A. I work in the State-house. 

Q. How long have you worked in the State-house ?—A. Well, off and 
on ever since Governor Hampton became governor. 

Q. When did you first become a Democrat?—A. When I first became 
free. 

Q. Ever since you have been a voter ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then this last fall you organized a club ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What did you call it ?—A. We called it a Democratic club. 

Q. Where did you meet?—A. We had an empty store underneath 
the opera house, between Simmons’ grocery store ami Mr. Eobson’s dry- 
good store. 

Q. How did you organize your club?—A. We advertised by the 
morning paper for a colored Democratic club at this place, to meet that 
night, and the doors would be open free to everybody. 

Q. It did not cost anytliing—no fee to join ?—xV. No, sir. 

Q. AYho paid your expenses ?—A. xAfter we got the club organized 
we charged each member of the club. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF COLEMAN BATIE. 


545 


Q. AAliat (lid you charge?—A. Ten cents a night, once a week. 

Q. Did yon ever x)ay any rent?—A. We did not have any rent. 

Q. How did yon get tlie hall without any rent ?—A. Well, the city 
had charge of that hnilding, and they let me have it free of charge. 

Q. How often did yon meet ?—A. Once a week. 

Q. Did yon have red shirts?—A. We did not have red shirts to meet 
in in the hall. 

Q. Did yon have red shirts ?—A. We had red shirts on the day of the 
procession. Some of them did and some did not. 

Q. Where did yon get those; did the clnh furnish them ?—iV. Onr 
clnb did not. 

Q. AWiich (dnb did ?—A. I think the executive committee furnished 
them. All the white clubs had them. 

Q. On what night did yon meet ?—A. Sometimes on Wednesday and 
sometimes on Thursday night. 

Yon had 40 men on the roll?—A. Yes, sir; some 40 odd. 

Q. Yon cannot remember how many?—A. No, sir; not precisely. 

Q. How many did yon usually get to come out to the meeting?—A. 
Thirty or forty. 

Q. Did yon make speeches to them?—A. Sometimes I would, and 
sometimes other members of the clnb. 

Q. Yon say yon have not had any trouble yourself for being a Demo¬ 
crat?—A. No, sir, not much; some little threats made to me, but I 
didn’t pay much attention to them. I did not try to build up any 
trouble on myself. In many cases, if I had made assertions, they would 
have returned against me. 

Q. Did yon belong to any society, except this club?—A. No, sir; I 
did not belong to any society. 

Q. No secret society?—A. No, sir; nothing. I don’t belong to any 
secret society. 

Q. Do yon ever go to church?—A. Yery often. 

Q. What church do yon attend ?—A. Well, different churches in this- 
city. 

Q. Colored or white?—A. Both. 

Q. AYhere do you generally go?—A. To the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Q. Zion Baptist Church?—A. The Washington street Methodist 
church. 

Q. Do you go to places of entertainment, i)arties and balls?—A. Not 
very often. I don’t remember of going to one but once in the city. 

Q. You are not out much in society ?—A. I am on the streets every 
day. 

Q. You have not been disturbed in any case except what you have 
stated?—A. Not except what I have stated. 

Q. Yours is the only colored Democratic club in the city?—A. Yes, 
sir; all I know of. 

(^. Well, if there had been another, would you have known it?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did all the colored employes of the State-house put on red 
shirts?—A. I don’t thiidv: all of them did. 

Q. Did any refuse ?—A. Some could not get red shirts to put on. 

Q. Well, (iid anybody working at the State-house refuse?—A. Only 
one man, I told you about. 

Q. What is his name?—A. Bobert Scribner. 

Q. Was he discharged?—A. Yes, sir; he was discharged shortly 
afterwards. 

35 s C 




546 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Riclilaud 


Q. AVas it on that account?—A. I don’t know whether it was or not. 

Q. Was it not the next day?—A. I don’t know. He was either dis¬ 
charged or quit. He left there some little time afterwards. 

Q. l)o yon know how he voted?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Don’t yon know that he was promised a reappointment if he would 
wear a red shirt and come out 5 did yon hear that?—A. No, sir 5 I did 
not. 

Q. What was your business about the State-house?—A. I am messen¬ 
ger of the court of claims, and of the railroad commissioner’s office. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Don’t yon know that Scribner was discharged the next day after 
he refused to wear a red shirt?—A. It was some time soon after. 

Q. Don’t yon know that it was the next day ?—A. No, sir j I can’t say 
that I know positively. 

Q. Hoav many members of your club are employed about the State- 
house and other government buildings?—A. Well, a great many mem¬ 
bers of my club are employed, some at the State-house, and some at the 
asylum. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Are they not all employed at some of those places ?—A. Not all. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Do you knoA\^ of any colored men being discharged from the asy¬ 
lum because they did not vote the Democratic ticket, but voted the Be- 
publican ticket?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Have you not so heard ?—A. I have not heard of anybody being 
discharged from the asylum on account of their vote at all. 

Q. Don’t you know that a number of colored men have recently been 
discharged from the asylum ?—A. I know some of them have. 

Q. Do you know how they voted?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You say you have been a Democrat since you were free ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You joined that party because they gave you your freedom ?—A. No, 
shj I didn’t say that. 

By Mr. Eandolpii : 

Q. Did you ever know of Democratic colored men employed at the 
State-house while Governor Chamberlain Avas in office?—A. Not one. 

Q. Did you know of any Democratic colored men employed in any of 
the departments of State under Eepublican management ?—A. Never 
did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. State as nearly as you can how many of yonr club are employed 
nbout the State-house or in any other of the State departments at Colum¬ 
bia ?—A. I think about tour members of my club are employed at the 
State house. 

Q. Hoav many during the session of legislature?—A. Well, the most 
of the employes during the session of the legislature are from different 
counties. You mean employed in the legislature during the session ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. I don’t remember but two, myself and one other. 

Q. Is John Lee a member of your club?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he employed at the State-house or is he not?—A. Yes, sir. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF PAUL LUDWIG. 


5il 


PAUL LUDWIG. 

Charleston, January 27, 1879. 

Paul Ludwig sworn and examined. 

By Mr. AIcDonald : 

Question. Where do yon liv^e !—xAns\yer. In Colninbia. 

Q. How long- liave yon lived there ?—A. Since 1870. 

Q. With what political party do yon affiliate ?—A. The Democratic 
party. 

Q. Did yon take any part in the last election canvass ?—A. I did. 

Q. For the Democratic ticket f—A. Yes, sir. 

(J. Did yon attend any political meetings ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what place did yon attend i)olitical meetings in Eichland 
County ?—A. Only one in Eichland County, at the park. 

Q. Are yon a member of any military organization f—xA. Yes, sir. 

AVhat organization !—A. The Coiumbia Flying Artillery. 

Q. Were yon in Columbia on the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what transihred there in regard to the manner in which the 
election was conducted ?—A. I was a challenger at the polls in ward 1. 
I went to the polls about half past live in the morning and staid there 
until six in the evening. Breakfast and dinner we got sent to ns. 

Q. State how the voting was conducted at that ward ?—A. The place 
where the box was was an old store; the door was open; the table was 
set in front of the door: the box was set on the table. Jin the morning, 
at six o’clock, .the managers opened the box and sliowed everybody that 
there were no tickets in it. Then they closed the box. At six o’clock 
a colored man named Press. Thompson was standing there. The voting 
w^ent on until half past eight very slowly. About nine they commenced 
to pnsli in quite heavily. Eight in front of the door, wdiere the box 
was, w^e had a railing. Voters came in at one end of the railing and 
went out at the other end. A man stood right inside of the railing. I 
asked liiin to i)lease step ont. 

Q. Did his being there interfere with persons passing around ?—A. 
Yes, sir j he was blocking up the way. Before, when very few" w"onld 
come in to vote, we didn’t object 3 but w"hen the crowd came in heavy I 
objected, and asked him to come out. He said he would not. I said 
the board of managers had given the order that nobody should stay in¬ 
side, and again asked him to come ont. He said lie had a right in there. 
I asked him on wdiat ground. He said he was United States deputy 
marshal. I said, The United States has no right to a deputy marshal 
in places cont-aining less than 29,000 inhabitants.” I said, “ Yon can stay 
as a private citizen, and look at the election going on, but yon cannot 
blockade the wTiy.” I told the chairman of the ward that here was the 
deputy marshal interfering w"ith the election. He asked me to take 
ont a wmrrant for him. I did so. I challenged during that day eleven 
votes; one of the voters, Warren Marshall, I challenged on the ground 
that he lived in Charleston. The board of managers decided that he 
had a right to vote, and he did vote. I challenged three colored men’s 
A'otes—two of them because they were convicts out of the penitentiary 
w"ho had served their full time, and had never been pardoned. One w"e 
Avere doubtful of; so we went doAvn to the State office, and looked over 
the records, and found that he had been pardoned, and he voted about 
4 o^clock in the afternoon. I challenged three other men who were 
paupers. Besides that, the election was very quiet. 


548 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[KicMand 


Q. Were you one of tlie artillery company tliat went down to Sum¬ 
ter?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where Avere your guns kept after you got down to Sumter ?—A. 
In the engine-house that belonged to Sumter. 

Q. When was it that you went down to Sumter with those guns?— 
A. We started on the 11th of October, at half past eight. 

Q. At what time were these pieces fired oft* first?—A. Half past fiA'e 
in the morning. 

Q. You started at half past eight in the evening?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And started the firing at half past five in the morning ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Yot earlier than that'?—xA. Yot a shot was fired any earlier than 
that. 

Q. Where were the pieces at the time of the Democratic meeting at 
the dei)ot?—A. Only one piece was there at that time. 

Q. Where Avas the other ?—A. Standing on the grounds. I forget 
the name of the park. There was h monument right there. 

Q. You had one piece at the park and one at the depot ?—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. Which one of these pieces was afterwards run up into the street ?— 
A. The piece from the park. 

Q. When the rioters came out, the piece from the park was drawn up 
into the street ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AYhat kind of ammunition did you take down from Columbia ?—A. 
Blank cartridges. 

Q. If anything was put in those cannon that Avere taken out at the 
time of the threatened riot, what Avas put in them ? 

The AAYtness. A^ou mean the piece that we ran up from the park? 

Mr. McDonald. AYs, sir. 

A. Yails. 

Q. At Avhat time was that done?—A. About half past one or two 
o’clock, possibly as late as half past tAvo. 

Q. AYhat was the condition of affairs in the streets at the time?—A. 
The streets were filled by a mob. We were assured by a good many that 
they were going to take our pieces from us. 

Q. And what you did Avas done to protect yourselves?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no effort made to fire it?—A. Yot the least. 

Q. At Avhat time did you return?—A. AVe returned that evening. 
Some part of the company returned, but a part of them did not go till 
the next dayj we could not arrange for the pieces to go until the next 
day. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who loaded the cannon with nails?—A. I did. 

Q. AAYre you a member of the company ?—A. I am ordnance sergeant 
of the company. 

Q. AA'here did you get the nails ?—A. I do not know, only I got them 
out of a store there; I Avas a stranger in the city, and cannot tell the 
name of the man who kept the store. 

Q. By whose order did you load it with nails ?—A. AAYll, sir, the 
thing looked so squally- 

Q. Yo matter whether things looked squally or not. Who ordered 
you to load the cannon AAuth nails ?—A. I did it on my OAvn responsibility. 
Yo officer was there, and I Avas next in command. 

Q. Did you travel in the Democratic procession that day?—A. AYs 
sir. ’ 



County.] TESTIMONY OP PAUL LUDWIG. 549 

Q. ^^^lere did tlie procession start from ?—A. From the park where 
they had our piece. 

Q. Did you carry your pieces with you iu the procession ?—A. ]S^o, 
sir; only one. 

Q. How far did you travel iu the procession with your cannon ?—A. 
Only to the depot. 

Q. What distance is that ?—A. About a mile, I should say; I could 
not tell exactly. 

Q. How many of the coiapany were along with the piece iu the pro¬ 
cession ?—A. Only one half of them—nine men. We did not have the 
Avhole company, only two pieces. There were nine men went in the pro¬ 
cession, and the other nine staid with the piece that we left behind ns. 

Q. Who ran the cannon up in front of the court-house f—A. I did. 

Q. By whose order ?—A. By nobody’s order. 

Q. You did that on your own responsibility ?—A. On my own respon¬ 
sibility, sir. 

Q. \Yere you near the cannon ?—A. Yes, sir; I Avas on the cannon. 

Q. Were horses attached to the piece at any time during the day ?—A. 
No, sir; we had two mules there. 

Q. Did the mules go in the procession ?—A. No, sir; the piece from 
the park we ran up by hand. 

Q. But Avhen you started in the morning AA^ere mules attached ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You ran the piece from the park to the court-house by hand ?—A. 
Yes, sir; by hand. 

Q. Did you load it after you ran it up to the court-house or before ?— 
A. It was loaded after. It Avould be dangerous to liaAT- a cannon loaded 
and run OA^er the rocks and paA^ement. 

Q. You loaded it after it Avas brought up in front of the court-house !— 
A. Yes, sir; Ave staid there about fifteen minutes in front of the court¬ 
house before Ave loaded it. Then, seeing how squally things looked, I 
did load it, after hearing the threats made that they AA^ere about to take 
the piece. 

Q. What did you ride up in front of the court-house for ?—A. I heard 
the fire-bell. 

Q. Did you liaAm any orders to run the piece up to the court-house if 
you heard the fire-bell ?—A. No, sir; not the least. 

Q. What Avas your object in running it up ?—A. Very close to the 
court-house there was a house there Avhere the different clubs got their 
lunches. 

Q. The Democratic clubs ?—A. Yes, sir; I was up there going to get 
a small luncli, AAdien the fire-bells started. I asked AAliat was the matter. 
They said, “ Some colored men are coming to take the arms.” A com¬ 
pany had about 40 stack of arms there, and I Avas told that the colored 
population Avere trying to take possession of the arms. 

Q. Who told you that ?—A. I heard it from some colored men. 

Q. What colored men"?—A. Hoav do I know AA^hat their names Avere 'I 

Q. I don’t knoAV; that is tlie reason I am asking you. Where Avere 
the men that had the arms ?—A. I suppose- 

Q. Do you know anything about it ?—A. I don’t knoAV Avhere they 
Avere right at that time; I saw them afterwards. 

Q. Saw AAdio afterwards ?—A. The men to whom the arms belonged. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. I heard that they were members of the Sum¬ 
ter Liglit Infantry. 

Q. Did you hear that the unarmed colored men Avere going to take 



550 


SOUTH CAKOLINA IN 1878. 


[Eichland 


arms belonging to some white companies ?—A. The colored men were 
not nnarmed. 

Q. You heard that the colored men were going to take the arms be¬ 
longing to some white companies, and thereupon you ran the cannon up 
there?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many men had you with you?—A. Nine men. 

Q. Where did you place your men?—A. Kight in front of the court¬ 
house. 

Q. How.near to the court-house?—A. Very close; the street is close 
to the court-house. 

Q. Which way did you point the cannon?—A. Towards the court¬ 
house. 

Q. How many ballots were polled at ward number 1, Columbia?—A. 
I do not know; I staid all day till six o’clock, then I a\ as tired out and 
went home. 

Q. AYho stuffed the ballot-box there that day?—A. Nobody that I 
saw. 

Q. Don’t you know that there were more ballots in the box than there 
were names on the poll-books of that ward?—A. Only 32. 

Q. Who i)ut those ballots in the box?—A. I don’t know; I had no 
right to ask men who deposited ballots whether they put in one or two. 
I had Nat. Eeed arrested for voting two tickets at a time. 

Q. Did he vote them?—A. No; I saw what he was trying to do in 
time enough to stop it. 

Q. You said a moment ago that you had no right to ask whether a 
man put in one ticket or more.—A. If a, man was putting in a big 
ticket, it might have a smaller one inside of it, and I Avould have no 
right to ask him whether he was putting in one or more. 

Q. Did you carefully examine the Democratic tickets to see whether 
they were big or not?—A. Every challenger looks out for his oavii party. 

Q. You didn’t think it your business to look out for frauds perpetrated 
by the Democrats?—A. I would stop a Democrat as well as a liepubli- 
can if I saw him committing a fraud. 

Q. Then you Avere not correct when you said every challenger should 
look out for his own party?—A. No, sir; not (piite. 

Q. That was a mistake ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you vote?—A. At ward 1. 

Q. How long since you became a citizen of the United States?—A. 
Since 1869. 

Q. Where were you naturalized?—A. In New York City. 

Q. When did you come to this country ?—A. In 1864. I arrived on 
the 10th of January. 

Q. When and where did you declare your intention to become a citi¬ 
zen?—A. To the clerk of the court in New York City. 

Q. You never went before the court but once?—A. Yes, sir; I went 
before the court tAvice. 

Q. When did you declare your intention to become a citizen ?—A. I 
got my first papers out AAdien I had been three years here. 

Q. You came in 1864?—A. Yes, sir; in January, 1864. 

Q. When did you declare your intention?—A. In 1867. 

Q. And got your next papers when?—A. In 1869. 

Q. You i)robably did not knoAv that you Auolated the law?—A. No, 
sir; I was five years in the country before I got my second i)apers. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots at Avard No. 1?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any of them A^oting?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Did you yourself A’ote one ?—A. I did. 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN LEE. 551 

Q. When did you first see tissue ballots?—A. About a quarter i^ast 
six o’clock in the moriiiug’. 

Q. ^\ho had them?—A. They were lying on a little table right close 
to the ballot-box. 

Q. Oi)euly exposed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You said you challenged three persons who were paupers?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Supported by any i)ublic charity ?—A. Yes, sir; supported by the 
city; we had a list of all the paupers who were supported by the city, 
made out by the clerk of the city council. 

Q. By whom were you appointed challenger?—A. By the chairman 
of the Democratic executive committee. 


JOHN LEE, 

Charleston, January 2G, 1879. 

John Lee (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you ^live?—Answer. In Eichland County—Co¬ 
lumbia. 

Q. How long have you lived there?—A. I was sold into Columbia in 
1858. 

Q. And have lived there ever since ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are you a native of this State ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of Avhat part of tlie State?—A. I was born and raised in Sumter 
till I got to be twelve years old, then I was sold into Columbia. 

Q. And have lived there ever since?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Haye you taken any part in the politics of the State and of Eich¬ 
land County?—A. Yes, sir; I stumped the State for Hampton. 

Q. Before that time with what imrty did you affiliate?—A. I have 
always been a Democrat. I never voted a Eepublican ticket in my life. 

Q. Was the election of 1876 the first time you ever took an active 
part in politics?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What part did you take in the last election?—A. I worked for 
the same party, for Hampton. 

Q. Did you canvass through the State any?—A. I was in several 
counties. I did not go through the State. 

Q. Did you make any speeches in Eichland County ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you organize any political clubs in that county?—A. Yes, sir. 

il. State your experience in Eichland County in organizing political 
clubs, and state what number of colored persons joined the political 
clubs that you assisted in organizing, and what resistance you met with 
ainoiig people of your own color.,—A. I got up a Democratic club, and 
during the time I was getting it ui) whenever I asked a man to join, 
somebody would interfere; somebody would say, ^Hlon’t listen to that 
damned Democratic nigger; the Democrats want to put you back into 
slavery.” I said, “We depend on the Avhites, and the whites depend on 
us; we ought to have a right understanding with each other and to 
work together.” Anderson Sherber said tliat my wife ought to be 
burned until every thread was burned off from her for living with me 
wlien I was a Democrat. Others said I ought to be hung. 

Q. What number of colored men, so far as you can judge, united with 




552 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1873. 


[Kicliland 


the Democrats in Kichlaiid County f—A. I cannot tell you noTV all of 
them to save my life. There were 300 or 400 of them, sir, helongetl to 
the Democratic clubs. 

Q. Did you know of any members of clubs being persecuted by men 
of their own color on account of politics!—A. Yes, sir; a good many. 

Q. AVhat was the character of the persecution !—A. Threatening to 
kill, telling their wives to leave them; sometimes their red shirts were 
torn off from them in the streets; some were pulled off from their horses 
when they were riding in the procession. 

Q. What was the uniform of the Democratic clubs!—A. Red shirts. 

Q. AYere they worn by colored Democrats as well as Avhite !—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. AYere you in other counties besides Richland!—A. I was. 

Q. In what other counties !—A. Sumter, for one. 

Q. AA^ere you at Sumter on the 12th of October last!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. That Avas the time of the two conventions there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you speak at either of them !—A. I spoke the daj' the Radicals 
had a big meeting there; I spoke at the court-house. 1 saAV the riot 
about Air. Coghlan. 

Q. Did you see the difficulty between Air. Coghlan and a young man 
there!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you hear any threats made there by the colored ineii against 
the Democrats !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYhere did you hear these threats made !—A. Right in front of the 
court-house and at the depot. The Republicans liad a meeting at the 
church. AYe all Avent doAvn to the dei)ot expecting to go and diAude 
time. General Ilagood said no, that he had orders from Hampton to 
have nothing to do with any Rei)ublican meeting. AA^e went back to 
the court-house, myself, and Coghlan, and Richardson, and General 
Aloise Avere on the stand. The stand A\ms the court-house steps. Air. 
Coghlan said to the colored people—that was Avhat started the row— 
he said, “You rallying Republicans, you that are not afraid to die, come 
on.” He said Hampton Avas a dog and all his surrounders Avere his 
tail. That caused a dispute betw^een the i)eople there. Some young 
man said that they Avouldn’t alloAV anybody to talk that way. Air. Alc- 
Cutcheon said to Coghlan, “Come down.” Air. Coghlan, on that, drew 
a pistol. The other man drew his. General Ilagood said, “ I demand 
peace; let there be no riotous conduct here this day.” 

Q. When did tlie speaking take place from the court-house porch !— 
A. A little after this difficulty. 

Q. Did Air. Richardson, the Democratic candidate for Congressman, 
speak!—A. Yes, sir; he told the colored people that he didn’t Avantany 
roAv, that he wanted peace. He said Coghlan was trying to raise a 
disturbance betAveen the tAvo races, and that they must not listen to 
him. Tlie colored people opposed him, and said, “ Don’t listen to him; 
he only wants to get us all into slavery again”; and they Avent on AAith 
a great hurrah. 

Q. AA'here were you on election day !—A. In Columbia. 

Q. At AA hat poll did you vote !—A. At the poll at Avard 1. 

Q. IIoAV much of the day Avere you at the polls !—A. All day. I was 
there from the time the polls opened in the morning until they closed at 
six o’clock in the evening; all but about five minutes. 

Q. AYhat AAxre you doing !—A. I was on the rallying committee, hand¬ 
ing out tickets. 

Q. Did you hand out any considerable number of Democratic tickets 
to colored men that day !—A. I did. 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN LEE. 553 

Q. How many ?—A. I could not tell; I was lianding them out all the 
while, almost, from sunup to sundo^vui. 

Q. What number of colored men voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. I 
could not tell now; a great many of them. I had lots and cords of 
tickets, and thej^ voted thein there from sunup to sundown—from the 
time the polls opened until they closed. The colored people w’^ould 
take the tickets. I wmuld talk with them. I told them that the white 
and colored people had to live together, and they better live in 
peace than to be in opposition; that if they wanted to live in peace and 
harmony with the colored people, just vote the Democratic ticket. They 
seemed to believe what I told them; they said they had been voting for 
the Kepublican party ever since the surrender, and had seen nothing 
but bad come ot it all the time, and they w^ere going to change now, and 
see what wmuld come of voting the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Did you find the same disposition to a great extent during the last 
canva^ among the colored people A. Yes^ sir; they said tliey had 
been fooled by Chamberlain, and Scott, and Moses, and any number of 
men; they had been fooled enough for the past ten years, and now they 
proposed to try the other side. 

Q. Did you see any tissue tickets 1 —^A. Yes, sir, a few; but I didn’t 
vote any of them; I voted the regular Democratic ticket. 

Q. With red printing on it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did you commence organizing Democratic clubs ?—^A. Three 
or four months before the election. 

Q. What was the first club you organized ?—A. Dowm in front of the 
Statedxouse. 

Q. What did you call it !—A. The Democratic Club of Columbia. 

Q. Who w as president of it!—A. Isaiah Edw^ards. 

Q. Was he a white man !—A. NTo, sir; a colored man. 

Did you keep a list of members !—^A. I believe there was one 
kept. I did not keep it. 

Q. How many members did you have !—^A. Three hundred or 400. 

Q. Were they all colored men !—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you give the names of some of them !—A. O, yes. 

Q. Name some of them.—^A. There was Isaiah Edwards, and Mr. Cole* 
man, and Mr. Beattie, Mr. Porter, and Charlie Near- 

Q. Is that all you can think off!—A. I forget the names of anymore. 

Q. You are pretty well acquainted in Columbia!—A. Yes, sir; I have 
lived there since I wms twelve years old. 

Q. You say that many colored people came in and joined the club !— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. IIow’' often did your club meet!—A. Every Thursday night. 

Q. In what ward wms that!—A. In ward 1. 

Q. Where wms the next club you organized !—A. Other parties or* 
ganized clubs in different w'-ards. That is the only one I organized. 

Q. Do you know as many men in the other waitls as in ward 1! A. 
I think so. 

Q. Can you name the names of any of the iiersons Monging to the 
clubs in the other wards !—A. I do not think I can. 

(J. You say there w as a general disposition amongst the colored peo* 
]>le to vote the Democratic ticket!—A. Yes, sk. 

Q. Have you anj- idea liow: many did vote the ticket!—A. I do not 
know exactly. I should say 300 or 400 voted that day. 

Hoay many votes did you poll!—A. We poBed a heap. 


554 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Eicliland 


Q, That is veiy iiidefinite. State liow many.—A. I liad a lot of tick¬ 
ets as big as my hat here. 

Q. How many colored people voted the Democratic ticket, all told ?— 
A. Them that I gave tickets to voted in difierent wards. 

Q. They came to you as one of the leaders!—A. Yes, sir: I was the 
first man that ever voted the Democratic ticket there—I and James 
Miner. 

Q. Can yon not mention more names of colored men in that city who 
voted the Democratic ticket!—A. I cannot think of any more. 

Q. These are the only ones you can mention !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You think that 3.00 or 400 came to you for tickets !—Yes, sir. 

Q. And you gave them tickets !—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. How many did you yourself see vote the Democratic ticket at your 
poll!—A. A great many j I never kept the number of how many, but a 
good many. I could not think who all they were, nor anybody else un¬ 
less you kept a? regular list. 

Q. Did you just imss them out openly!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There was no secret about it!—A. Yot a secret. 

Q. Did you hand out any tissue tickets to them !—A. ]Yo, sir. 

Q. Where did you get tissue tickets!—A. I didn’t get any. 

Q. You said there were plenty around there !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where Avere they!—A. Lying on the table in front of the window. 

Q. Did anybody ask you for tissue tickets!—A. Ho, sir; I saAV some 
voted, though. 

•Q,. How many did you see Amtmg the tissue tickets !—A. I do not 
knoAV rightly that. 

Q. Were they voted by Democratic people!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, gi\^e some idea hoAv many voted tissue tickets.—A. I do not 
know; now and then a man Avould come out and take one of them and 
look at it and A ote it. . Some would come to me and get tickets, and 
some would go to the windoAv and get tissue tickets. 

’Q. Who AO ted the tissue tickets; can you name anybody that you 
saw Amte one!—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. They were colored jieople, you say, that you saw vote them !—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were they voted openly!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The same as any other ticket!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You Aventover to Sumter to organize a club!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you organize one there!—A. Ho, sir, 

Q. Why not !—^A. The colored men were all Eadicals there—pretty 
near all—and aa ould not belong to a Democratic club. 

Q. So you could not goon!—A. Ho, sir; they wanted my hfe; they 
said they av ould give me to 6 o’clock to leave toAA n, or they would box 
me U13 and send me to Oohimbia. 

Q. But they didn’t hurt you !—A. Ho, sir; but they would if I hadn’t 
put them in jail. 

Q. Whom did you put in jail!—A. Some men Avho came at me with a 
knife and ax. 

Q. To aaLoui did you complain !—A. To General Moise. 

Q. And afterwards you got along peaceably !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you couldn’t organize a club there !—^A. Ho, sir; I couldn’t 
get the men. There were colored Democrats there, but they didn’t Avant 
their names put on a club. 

<Q. Hoaa" many !—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Whereabouts in Sumter were you!—A. In the town^ I went 
around through, the country a little. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN LEE. 555 

Q. How many colored Democrats are there in Sumter ?—A. I do not 
think I could answer. 

Q. You were one of the speakers ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. Was that after you had heen over there on the club business?—Ao 
rt all happened at the same time, sir. 

Q. How long did you stay there ?—A. About two weeks. 

Q. You remained there trying to g‘et up a club about two weeks?—^A. 
Y^es, sir. 

Q. Who paid the expenses?—A. The Democratic party, su*. 

Q. How much a day did they give you ?—A. They did not give me so 
much a day; they just paid my board. 

Q. How many colored Democrats are there in Sumter?—A. A good 
many, but I didn’t particularly notice to keep count. 

Q. Were there five, or twenty-five, or fifty ?—A. There might be more ; 
there might be less. They told me there were Democrats there. I didn’t 
know how many there were. 

Q. These colored men don’t always vote as they talk, do they ?—A, 
!N‘o, sir. 

(i. Some of them will take your ticket and talk as if they were going 
to vote it, and go out to the ballot-box, and when they get there will 
vote a Kepublican ticket ?—A. I suppose some of them do that. 

Q. Which ticket will they pretty generally vote where you live ?—A. 
Mostly, they will vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How do 3 'ou know ?—^A. Because I have seen them do it, right at 
the poll. 

Q. Whom did you see do that?—A. Several of them; colored men 
who had been Bepublicans before, too. 

Q. Who ?—I know one fellow that went with me, and when we got 
to the polls, at the election before last- 

Q. I am talking about this election,—A. O, I don’t know exactly as I 
could say. 

Q. Wiiere did you go next organizing clubs ?—A. Around through the 
State, a little. 

Q. How long were you at it ?—A. Since September. 

Q. In what business are you engaged now ?—^A. I am janitor of the 
State-house. 

Q. What were you before you went into the business of organizing 
Democratic colored clubs ?—A. I wes janitor of the State-house. 

Q. How long have you been janitor ?—x\. Since Haiapton was gov- 
errror. 

Q. What Avas your business before that ?—A. Before that I werked at 
my trade. 

"Q. What w as your trade ?—A. I wes a blacksmith. 

Q. Since Hamptorr came in you have been in office ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is your salary ?—A. About 17 months. 

Q. Do your Avages go on w hile out in the country organizirrg clubs ?—* 
A. Yes, ^r; I left my boy in my place; he got my pay. 

Q. You continued the business of organizing the clubs until election? 
—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Koav, about this meeting at Sumter, w^ere you there the day before 
that meeting ?—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had been there several days, had you not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you tell some Eepublicans that they had better go out of 
tOAAui?—A. ISTo, sir. 

Q. Did you not tell them that a large cornpairy of horsemen were, 
coming, and perhaps it Avould be better for them to go out of toAm ?—A. 



556 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


tEichland 


sir; I never talked witli tliem more than to ask them to vote the 
Democratic ticket. 

Q. How many men did you have put in jail?—A. Three. 

Q. All the same day?—A. I don’t know. I took out the warrants for 
all on the same day; whether they got them all on the same day or not, I 
don’t know. 

Q. Were they all arrested for the same offense?—A. Yes, sir; one 
came at me vith a knife, and one with an ax. 

Q. You were attacked by them?—A. ifo, sir, there was no attack; we 
were talking in front of a doctor’s shop. 

Q. What was said?—A. One man said, “Yon are that damned nigger 
from Columbia.” Said I, “ What is that your business ? ” He said they 
would give me till six o’clock to leave town, or they would send me home 
in a box. I said if I had thought that Sumter belonged to the niggers 
I wouldn’t have come there. 

Q. Is that all!—A. That is about all, till a black fellow said he would 
chop my head off' with an ax. 

Q. Were you afraid he would ?—A. Yes, sir; there was a crowd around 
—a big crowd, 

. Q. How long did you keep the men in jail?—A. Only a few days, till 
I left the cit 3 ^; I was afraid to trust them; I was not afraid of them in 
the dajffime, but in the night I did not know but what they might take 
some advantage of me. 

Q. Did jmu see any trouble between the whites and blacks ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did jo\i see it begin ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who began it ?—A. The black people. I was down at the depot on 
purpose to divide time; they started from the meeting wliooping and 
yelling, and saying, “We have scared the damned rebels; let us go up 
town,” You never heard such whooping and j^elling. 

Q. Did they scare the white people much ?—A. Thej" said they did; 
General Haywood told them they must keep quiet. 

Q. There was no trouble until somebody came after them, was there ?— 
A. Nobody was after them; thej^ had left the stand and went ui> town. 

Q. Where did they go?—A. Up toward the court-house—a perfect 
mass of them. 

Q. Did aiqybod^^ follow them at all ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did no white men follow this crowd at all?—^A. No, sir. 

Q. How could there be an^" difficulty if they went alone; could they 
fight alone ?—A. This man Coghlan called for rallving Republicans to 
come up—all ralljdng Republicans that were not afraid to die. 

Q. But the trouble did not begin there ?—A. It began not far from 
there. 

Q. Did you see where the mounted men pursued these men?—A. If 
it was done I never saw it. 

Q. Did you see tlie cannon brought out?—A. I did not see it. 

Q. Are you sure?—A. I am sure. 

Q. Would you liave seen it if it was brought out?—A. I think so. I 
was standing right in front of the eourt-house. 

Q. How many white men were there?—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Were there one hundred?—A. I could not tell. 

Q. Were there more than one hundred?—A. I could not say. 

Q. Were there two hundred or live hundred?—A. I didn’t notice. 

Q. Did you see any arms—pistols or guns?—A. I saw Coghlan draw 
Ms pistol and McCutcheon draw bis. 

Q. Was that all you saw ?—A. I saw guns and rifles there. 



County.) 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN LEE. 


557 


Q. AMio had them ?—^A. The white people. 

Q. Ho\y many did they havel~A. I could not tell. 

Q. Did the colored people have any?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A\ hat did they ha ve ?—^A. Some of them had shot-guns. 

Q. How many ?—A. Three or four that day. 

Q. Hid you see when General Hagood went around among those 
men?—A. I saw General Hagood wheii. he went up in front of the court¬ 
house to- 

Q. I am not ashing you about that. Hid you see him marching at 
the head of the column?—^A. I didiiT see him. 

Q. Hid these armed men march around town any?—^A. The first thing 
I saw they all came straight up from the depot. 

Q. If they had marched around town any would you not have seen 
them?—A. I might and I might not. You could not see through the 
walls of the houses, and- 

Q. You could see eight or ten hundred horsemen riding around town^ 
could you not?—^A. There was not any such number there. 

Q. Could you see any?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where, and when?—A. At the depot. 

Q. At any other time ?—^A. I saw them up town before the breaking 
up of the meeting. 

Q. What meeting?—A. The Kepiiblicans broke up their meeting 5 we 
was going to have a meeting, and the Eepublicans they rushed right up 
town. 

Q. And then you rushed right up town?—^A. We followed the crowd. 

Q. AVhere did the horsemen go?—^A. Up the next street. 

Q. Were they armed?—^A. I didn’t see them armed. 

Q. Hid they not have any pistols ?—^A. If they did I didn’t see them 5 
I could not see into their pockets. 

Q. Hid they have a band of music ?—A. No, sir j I don’t believe they 
did. I didn’t hear any. 

Q. Hid they have cannon along as they were marching?—^A. I saw a 
cannon in the morning, but I didn’t see it any more. 

Q. Hid it remain at the depot all day?—A. No, sir; I saw cannon in 
front of the court-house where they had it. 

Q. What were they doing with it ?—A. Nothing; it was standing in 
front of the door. 

Q. How many negroes voted the Hemocratic ticket in Eichland County 
at the last election ?—A. I don’t know; only I know a great many of 
them voted it. 

Q. How many do you think ?—A. I can’t tell; but there were a great 
many ; they got tired of their own i>arty and quit it. 

Q. Imu are sure that they never deceived you ?—A, I am sure they 
were not deceiving me; we talked about the matter a good deal; they 
told me that forty acres of land and amide would never catch their votes 
any more; they said they would stick wfith the white people where they 
lived. They saw that Eepublicans, as soon as they could not get votes 
from the colored men, didn’t care anything more about them, but went 
right back up home. 

Q. Up North ?—^A. Yes, sir. I am like Governor Hampton, who says, 
^Hdonest Eepublicans don’t come here to hunt office.” 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were you a witness before the committee that sat at Columbia two 
years ago last Hecember?—^A. Yes, sir; I think I was. 




558 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Richland 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You organized a club in Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In what w ard !—A. In ward 1. 

Q. How many did you say you thought were members of that club ?— 
A. I don’t know rightly, but a good many ; three or four hundred, I said. 

Q. AYas it a club of colored people entirely, or was it mixed, white 
and colored together ?—A. They were all colored iieople; they were not 
mixed. 

Q. How did you manage; did you have a committee to bring names 
and report a\ ho wanted to become members '?—A. AVe would ask them 
on the street or anywhere we met them to come and join us. 

Q. AA'ould the committee bring in names to the club meetings!—A. 
Yes, sir; sometime,s. But a great many would come of their own accora 
and join. 

Q. And others had their names brought in by the committee that yon 
had to solicit names !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Alight not the committee have been deceived sometimes as to the 
intention of those men to really become members ! Aliglit they not 
sometimes want to make themselves popular in the club by bringing in 
a good, big list!—A. I don’t know for certain. 

Q. These three or four liundred to which you have referred were names 
that were brought in, were they !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On tlie 12th of October the Eepublicans had their meeting at the 
church !—A. I don’t know where they had their meeting j I nev^er go 
to them. 

Q. That day of the meeting at Sumter, were not the Eepublicans there 
first'?—A. I don’t know whether they were or not. 

Q. AAYre they not there first; and did they not break up and pass by 
where the Democratic meeting was!—A. AVe didn’t hold any meeting; 
we wanted to divide the time with them and they refused to do it. 

Q. Do you say that you held no meeting ?—A. Kot any regular meet¬ 
ing ; oiie or two got up and spoke. AA"e Avanted to divide time AAuth the 
Eepublicans. 

Q. Did they not stay at the depot until the Eepublican meeting at 
church was opened !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the Eepublicans went down to hold a meeting at the court¬ 
house!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A"ou say the Democrats wanted to divide time!—A. Yes, sir; we 
wanted to do it, but we didn’t do it. 

Q. And then the Democrats organized a meeting at the depot!:—A. 
Ko, sir; we didn’t organize a meeting; one or two men got up and 
spoke, that was all. 

Q. Did they not speak as long as the Eepublicans did at the church !— 
A. Ko, sir; that had been going on a considerable time before any man 
got up to speak to the Democrats. 

Q. How many spoke at the Eei)nblican meeting !—A. The speakers 
were not there. Air. Lee was to be there, but he Avas not there. 

Q. How many speakers spoke at the Democratic meeting at the 
depot!—A. Two or three. 

Q. Are you sure which!—A. I think there were two or three; I am 
not x>ositiA"e. 

Q. Did they not continue speaking until the Eepublicans broke up 
their meeting and went on their way up town !—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. AAYre not the Democrats there Avhen the Eepublicans came by on 
their way up town !—A. Yes, sir. 



County.} 


TESTIMONY OF JOHN LEE. 


559 


Q. AYlien they went up town to the court-house f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then it is true that the Democrats remained at the depot until the 
Republicans left the church and went on their way up town, when the 
Democrats started up town after them —A. A great many Democrats 
went up town before the Republicans broke up. 

Q. Wliy I Could they not hear a Democratic speaker unless they could 
hear a Republican speaker too ?—A. We were too far off to hear the 
Republican spe€?ches. We expected all would come to the depot, and 
we were speaking there for them. 

Q. Yon expected, when they would not divide time with you, that 
they would come over to the depot and hear the Democratic speeches ?— 
A. But they didn’t do it; they went up to the court-house. 

Q. When they broke up and came past the depot on their way to the 
court-house, this crowd at the depot, Avhat was left of it, started up 
toAvn too?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whicli was in front f —^A. A gTeat many whites and some Repub¬ 
licans ; a few had left the depot before the Democrats got through speak¬ 
ing. 

Q. How long did the Republicans continue their meeting ui^ at the 
church ?—Kot long 5 I don’t suppose more than three-quarters of an 
hour. 

Q. Do you know how many spoke?—A. No, sir; I didn’t go there. 

Q. When you went np to the court-house, Avhat did you find tlie con¬ 
dition of affairs ?—There vras a croAvdof people there that wanted to 
hear Richardson speak. 

Q. When the colored people came from the church where did they go 
to ?—A. To the court-house. 

Q. They and the Avhite people were all mixed in together then ?—^A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And Mr. Coghlan was trying to speak there?—xY. Mr. Coghlan was 
trying to raise a row. 

Q. Hoav do you know that he was trying to raise a row ?—^A. I haA^e sense 
enough to know when a man says, ‘^All you rallying Republicans who 
ain’t afraid to die, come here ”5 that is enough for me. 

Q. You SAvear now that Mr. Coghlan called the Republicans there for 
the purpose of making a row ?—A. I don’t SAA^ear to it, but it looks to me 
as if he aa anted to make a roAv. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Coghlan ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is he a man disposed to make a roAV betAveen the black and the 
white people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is lie not as much opposed to Auolence as anybody you knoAV ?—A. 
No, sir; from his moA^ements on that day it looked as if he Avas trying 
to get up a row; AAms calling for rallying Republicans that were not 
afraid to die to come tliere looked like a row. 

Q. Did not things look dangerous about there?—A. Yo, sir. I was 
standing right by him Avhen he drew his pistol right in Mr. McCutcheon’s 
face. 

Q. The first disturbance or difficulty was when he drew his pistol, was 
it?—A. Yo; when he said that Hamilton was a dog and his surrounders 
a tail. 

Q. Did he say that Hampton was a dog and his surrounders a tail ?— 
A. He did. • 

Q. Do you swear that his language was that Hampton Avas a dog and 
his surrounders his tail ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he not explain doAAm at the church what he had said, and what 
he meant by it ?—A. I don’t know; I Avas not at the church. 




.560 


SOUTTI CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Richland 


Q. Did you not learn that he liad spoken at the church, and some 
Democrats had said that he had said that Ilamxiton was a dog, and was 
he not attempting to explain what he had said at the ciiurch f—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Was not what he said at the court-house an explanation of some¬ 
thing that he had said down at the church I— A. No, sir j not that I 
heard. 

Q. You were standing right beside him ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you swear that he said that Hampton was a dog and his fol¬ 
lowers was his tail ?—A. I do. 

Q. If he had attempted to exjilain what he said at the church would 
you have heard it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And what he said at the court-house was not an endeavor to explain 
what he had said at the church?—A. No, sir; he Avas simply trying to 
raise a row. He said Hampton Avas a dog and his surroimders AA^as his 
tail; and he an ent on to say, All you rallying Kepublicans that ain’t 
afraid to die, come here.” Then a young man AA^ent up and said, You 
shall not talk that AA^ay of our governor,” and then Coghlan drew his 
pistol. 


JAMES TAYLOR. 

Charleston, S. C., January 26, 1879. 

James Taylor (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Columbia. 

Q. Hoaat long have you lived there ?—A. All my life. 

Q. What political party do you act aa ith ?—A. The Democratic party. 

Q. HaA^e you been a Democrat from the time von commenced votina- ?_ 

A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you join the Democratic party ?—A. In 1876. 

Q. Before that time what party did you act with ?—A. The Republi¬ 
can. 

Q. In the last election did you take any part in the canvass ?—A. No 
sir. ^ 

Q. Did you attend any political meetings ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you a member of any political club ?—A. I Avas a member of 
the Democratic club. 

Q. Who was chairman of that club ?—-A. Mr. Batie. 

Q. TVhat was the uniform worn by your club AA^hen you were in pro¬ 
cession?—A. Red shirts. 

Q. Was that worn by the white and colored men both?—-A. Yes sir. 

Q. Did Avhite men belong to your club?—A. No, sir. ’ 

Q. Did colored men?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At AAdiat poll did you vote at the last election?—A. In ward 4. 

Q. Where Avas that held—in what building ?—A. I forget the number 
of the street. 

Q. What time did you go to the election?—A. About half past eio'ht 

Q. How long did you stay there?—A. I staid there up to about 
tweHe o’clock, as near as I can guess at it. 

Q. Were you engaged AA*hile there in giving out tickets to any ner- 
sons?—A. No, sir. ^ 




Connty.l TFSTIMONY OF JAMES TAYLOR. 561 

Q. Were you back at the i)olls after you went away?—A. Yes, sir; [ 
was back there off and on. 

(^. Until the close of the poll ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there many colored men voting- the Democratic ticket at the 
last election at ward 4? —xl. When I was there it looked as though 
there was as many voting the Democratic ticket as the Republican 
ticket. 

Q. Have you been threatened and abused by your colored Ivepublican 
friends for ;^our politics?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Just go on and state what threats they have made against you, 
and in what way you have been abused?—A. Well, the Saturday even¬ 
ing that we turned out^—I cannot recollect the day of the month—but I 
had just carried the horse back that I had borrowed. It was about 
eight o’clock, and the young man by the name of Oliarlie Chalk, a col¬ 
ored Republican, asked me what the hell 1 was doing with that red 
shirt on. 1 said because I wanted to. Then he pulled out his pistol 
and tried to make me take it off; and 1 said I would not pull it off*. 
Then I went on, and I met one of the other members that had a red 
shirt, and tasked him to come down Avith me; and he said “Yo.” I 
went on a piece, and it Avas dark before I got home. 1 Avas attacked by 
three men, and they tore the shirt off me and took my hat and gun. 

Q. And the red shirt, too?—xV. Yes, sir; they tore that to ])ieces. 

Q. Hoav long Avas that before the election?—A. Well, I can’t say ex¬ 
actly. It Avas the Saturday just before the election. 

Q. When they Avere tearing that red shirt off from you A\diat did you 
say?—A. Some AAms hollering “Kill him,” and others said “Yo; don’t 
kill him.” One struck me on the forehead and it bled. You can see 
the scar. 

Q. Did they say anything about your politics?—A. Yo, sir. They 
said, “Here is one of the red shirt sons of bitches hoav.” And they 
then lit right in on me, 

Q. Well, at any time have you been threatened by colored persons 
because you AA'ere a Democrat?—xA. Yes, sir. I Avas struck by another 
man nanu'd Cyrus Jackson. He said he Avas intending to cut my guts 
out; and he draAA'cd a AAddte-handled dirk. And I had a stick; and I 
said if he come on I Avould kill him AAith it. 

Q. What did he say he Avould cut your guts out for?—A. He said 
because I aa’us a damned nigger Democrat running round the country, 
and he intended to kill any Avherever he met them. 1 suppose this stick 
kept him uAvay. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. You have stated all the cases in which you have had trouble ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What club did you belong to ?—A. I joined the Idlers’ Club; but 
after I did that Ave got one ot our oAvn. 

Q. Did anv neAV ones join it this year?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who joined it ?—x\. Well, nobody joined it this year. 

Q. Yobody since 1870 ?—xA. Yo one joined it this year. 

Q. Did any one join it last year during the campaign ?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many ?—xA. J couldn’t tell that. 

Q. H,we you’more members uoav, or less, than in 1870?—A. Yell, I 
don’t knoAV whether AA^e have or not, because I Avas not there to hear the 

roll-call. ^ . ■ 

((). You voted at the fourth AA^ard ?—xA. \ es, sir. 

Q, xA great many colored people Amted there '?—xA. Yes, sir. 

30 s C 



562 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[RicLlaud 


Q. And voted tlie Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A good many voted —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many !—A. I can’t state. 

Q. Have yon any idea ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What kind of tickets were they voting ?—A. They were voting red 
tickets. 

Q. Did yon notice any voting tickets vdth red letters on them ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you see any tissue ballots ?—A. Yo, sir j if I did I didn’t know 
it. 

By Mr. CAMERON: 

Q. You belonged to Batie’s club 'I —A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many members are there in that club I —A. I don’t know. 

Q. About how many ; live hundred ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Three hundred f—A. I can’t say; no, sir. 

Q. How many colored meu voted the Democratic ticket on election 
day ?—A. I don’t know ; they lived in various wards. 

Q. How many colored men voted the Democratic ticket in your 
ward ’I —I couldn’t tell that; I didn’t stay round the polls all day. I saw 
some voting at the time I voted. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. In what year were you born ?—A. I think I Avas born in 1851 or 
1852; I think in 1851. 


JAMES MIKOE. 

Charleston, S. C., Monday, January 21^ 1879. 

James Minor (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you liA^e ?—Answer. Eichland is my residence. 

Q. In Columbia City f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have ^mu lived there—A. Twenty years. 

Q. Have you taken any part in politics in the last ibur or five years ?— 
A. 1 have taken an active part in politics from 1868 up to the" present 
period. 

Q. With what political party have you acted ?—A. With the Demo¬ 
cratic party from the beginning. 

Q. During the last canvass were you active in fiivor of the Democratic 
ticket?—A. Yes, sir; I cammssed all the upper counties for the Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Qi. Were you engaged in forming Democratic clubs in your own county 
to any extent ?—A. Yo, sir; all the colored men that were disposed to 
go with the Democratic party joined in Avith the white Democrats. 

Q. Well, I mean in forming Democratic clubs, not colored clubs ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you an ofhcer of any club?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. What club did you belong to in Columbia City ?—A. I did not 
belong to a club in Columbia City; I formed the club in Greenville. 

Q. What is the uniform of your club ?—A. We Avear the red shirt. 

Q. Was that worn by colored and white men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number belonged to your club at Greenville ?—A. One hun¬ 
dred and fifty. 




TESTIMONY OF JAMES MINOR. 5G3 

Q. AVhat proportion were colored men ?—A. Well, I mean loO colored 
men. 

Q. Did white men belong* also to it ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. In yonr canvass this last year did yon have a good many colored 
men turn out to hear yon speak ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon talk Avith a great many colored men on politics'?—A. 
AYs, sir. 

Q. Did yon find any number of tliem inclined to go with the Demo¬ 
crats ?—A. Well, not so many as in 187(3. 

Q. Well, what number in this last election—what nnmber of colored 
men Avent with the Democratic party in this last election?—A. Well, 
about 250 in the county. 

Q. Where Avere yon on the day of the election ?—A. At Greenville. 

Q. Did yon attend the polls on tliat day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of this club you haA^e there how many Amted there that day ?—A. 
ISTot more than tAventy-fiA e. 

Q. Did they vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What Avas the character of the election at Greenville that day ?— 
A. Quiet and peaceful. 

Q. N'o disturbance of any kind ?—A. None at all. 

Q. Noav, do you know anything about the colored Democrats being 
intimidated by colored Republicans or attempt(*d to be intimidated ?— 
A. In the section of the up countries there Avas no intimidation at all, 
more than I was cursed, and colored men were called d—d sons of 
bitches, and I Avas caught in the fence and (tailed a d—d son of a bitch, 
and told that my wife ought to quit me for my political Aiews. 

Q. Was that kind of abuse kept up this last caiiA^ass ?—A. AYs, sir. 

Q. What do you know, if anything, about colored Democrats being 
interfered Avith at the church in Richland County ?—A. Well, I have 
neAxr heard of anything more than me and my children scorned and 
hissed and pointed at. They AAxmld say, “There was those Democratic 
children of old Minor.” 

Q. Yon were not in Columbia City the day of election ?—A. No, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AYhere do you liA-e ?—A. Richland is my home, but I caiiA^assed 
some other county. 

Q. What county?—A. Greenville County. 

Q. AA)u organized a club at Greenville ?—xA. AYs, sir. 

Q. A^ou think you had 150 colored men ?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. Did the Republicans run any ticket in that county ?—A. None at 
all, for the members proA^^ed neutral. 

Q. Hoav many in that county ?—A. I do not knoAv exactly the popu¬ 
lation of colored men. I suppose there are tioin five to six thousand 
colored people. 

Q. Hoav many white men?—xA. AYell, I Avill giA^e you the population 
of the entire city; 6,050 is the population of GreeuAille City. 

Q. Are those Avhite?—A. Well, all are included. 

Q. Yon think there are 5,000 colored people in the entire county ?—A. 
AYs, sir. 

Q. How. inauA' white jieople ?—A. I do not knoAv. 

Q. How many colored people in the city ?—xA. There are about 3,000 
colored. 

Q. AA)u say you haA^e always been a Democrat ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Did yoi/cA^er Amte the* Republican ticket?—xA. NeA^er did in my 
life. 



564 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Richland 


(^. Were you a RepnWican in 1870 ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did not talk Republicanism at all?—A. No, sir; I never had any 
inclination that way in my life since reconstruction. 

Q. A^ou have been a Democrat?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of course you did not take any part before reconstruction ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. Was not allowed to ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. When did you commence making speeches ?—A. Well, sir, me and 
(leneral Wade Hampton commenced in 1868. 

Q. Did you go with the general?—A. Yes, sir; myself and this man 
Lee that you had here first. I first commenced politics then. 

Q. ATou have been making speeches ever since, for ten years ?—A. 
AYs, sir. 

(}. Out of your club, you think 25 voted at the election ?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. What became of the rest of them ?—A. Tliey were persuaded not 
to have anything to do Avith the election, but just to hold themselves in 
resei’A^e until 1880. 

(j). They ba(;kslid?—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Alerel}" 25 out of the 150 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did they come from ?—A. From the suburbs of the tOAAUi 
and in the tOAvn. 

Q. Do you knoAV AALat the Amte Avas in that county?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know which side carried it in the last election ?—A. The 
1 lemocrats. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. That is the only side there AAms ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Now, there is a good many more colored people there than Avhite, 
is there not ?—A. I do not knoAV about that. 

Q. AVhat did the county use to be?—A. Well, when the Republicans 
AA^ere in poAver there Avas a great many loAv-doAvn Avhite men connected 
themselves Avith the negroes, and that Avas the Avay that the Republi¬ 
cans carried the elections there in that county. 

Q. AYould yon consider it very reputable for the AA hite men to join 
with the colored people in that Avay ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you talk Avith these 25 men that voted ?—A. I Avas at the box 
all day, and 1 AAmuld ask the manager e\^ery little while hoAv many col¬ 
ored had come up, and just before the polls closed he said, ^AYell, 
Minor, Ave liaA e not but 25.” He said, “ Is it not strange that Avhen we 
haA e 150 in our club Ave haA*e but 25 that ha\^e come up to Amte ?” 

By Air. Kirkavooh : 

Q. Where do you liA^e ?—A. Richland County is my home. 

(^>. AVhen did you go up to Greenville ?—A. I haA’e been liAung there 
off and on for two or three years, and whenever the election would take 
place I Avould go around and canA’ass. 

Q. A^our home is in Columbia?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long before the election did you go up to Greemille this time 
to set them straight ?—A. About two years. 

Q. Then you luwe come to Columbia since ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say you had to vacate Columbia on account of your political 
views—hoAV long had you been living in Greenville before the election ? 
—A. Backwards and forwards for tAA o year§. 

Q. Where is your family ?—A. They are presiding at Livingston’s. 




County.] 


TKSTIMONY OF ANDREW JOHNSON 


:;65 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What is your business ?—A. I am a hotel servant. 

Q. Where are you now employed ?—A. I am not doing anything now. 

Q. When were you last employed in your business'?—A. Well, 1 was 
working at the Mansion House a month or two before the election, in 
Greenville. 

Q. When did you get out of employment at the Mansion House ?—A. 
In August; then I went down to Livingston’s, and I staid there awhile 
and came to Columbia during the legislature, the same as I had last 
year. 

Q. Were you employed about the legislature?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What position did you have ?—A. I was one of the attachees in 
the senate. 

Q. What was your business?—A. I was just one of the attachees. 

Q. What is that?—A. I clean ui). 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You say it was “ low down” white people that associated with the 
colored people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What colored i3eoi)le are they that associate with white Demo¬ 
crats?—A. Well, I always consider myself a ftrst-class high-toned col¬ 
ored gentleman, sir. 

Q. Where were you born ?—A. In South Carolina, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. Is not Greenville County a county in which there is a large majority 
of white people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you not go up tliere because you were better protected there 
than where there were so many colored people living ?—A. That was 
exactly what carried me there, because I felt I was safer there. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did you go up there—before Hampton was elected?—A. Be¬ 
fore he was elected; I was backward and forward. 

Q. You were not afraid to live in Columbia part of the time ?—A. Kot 
altogether afraid. 

Q. You have stated all the trouble jmu have had as a Democrat ?—A. 
Ko, sir; I have been the worst persecuted man in the whole State, as a 
colored Democrat; I was shot, in that hole there that you see in my 
head. 

Q. You got then into some trouble when you became a Democrat?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Could not Hampton protect you ?—A. Well, they would take charge 
of me when I was alone. 


AXDEEW JOHXSOK. 

Charleston, S. C., Monday^ Jan uary 27, 1879. 
Andrew Johnson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Wliere do you live?—Answer. I live in Columbia. 

(,). How long have you been there ?—A. I have been there about 7 
years. 




SOUTH CAROLINA 1878. 


[Eichlaud 


nCG 


r 


(}. Where did you come from?—A. I (‘ame from Eichmond, Ya. 

Q. So you have not lived in the State all your life?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Ydiat is your business ?—A. I am a cariienter. 

Q. How did you vote at the last election ?—A. I voted the Democratic 
ticket. 

Q. Had you voted it at any previous election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you had any trouble regarding your vote as a Democrat?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what it was.—A. Well, I was in Columbia these last two 
elections and I had a heap of trouble. 

(^. State what it was.—A. I was troubled by colored peoi)le—Eepub- 
licans abusing me, and lighting my children, and driving me almost 
crazy—not the intelligent people, of course, but the low people. 

Q. What did they do to you?—A. They would stop me on the street 
and abuse me and threaten to mob me 5 well, sometimes they did. I 
remember that one night when Governor Hampton was to have a turn¬ 
out the next day, I remember that night three or four x^eqple came to 
my house and ke|)t talking and making threats until they got me out¬ 
side, and one man struck me, and a Avoman near by said keep the d—d 
son-of-a-bitch until she could get there and she would finish him. 

Q. That was a colored Avoinan ?—A. Yes, sir. So that night I staid 
in for a while, but went out finally and I saw the chief of x>olice, and I 
asked him what I would do to keep them from disturbiug me, and he 
said go home, and he would see that they did not trouble me any more. 
About 10 o’clock that night they came u^), this woman and her husband 
and three or four children, and got me outside, and said they meant to 
kill the son-of-a-bitch. 

Q. You went by that name apinarently ?—A. Yes, sir; so I got the 
(diief of police, and they sent some people out and they took charge of 
me that night. 

Q. Now, at Avhat other time did you have trouble ?—A. Of course 
they were always hollering and abusing me, but did not interfere with 
me after that, but they threatened my children. 

Q. What do you mean by that ?—A. They would threaten to beat 
them and did beat some at school, so that 1 had to take them aAvay. 
That was since the election. 

Q. Because they were your children ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And because you were a Democrat ?—A. Yes, sir 5 that is what 
they said they did it for. 

Q. There are quite a number of colored voters in Columbia ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I think there is. 

Q. You said your business was that of a carpenter?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are not then in the employ of the gOA^ernment—that is, you 
are not an officer of any sort at the State-house?—A. Yo, sir; I get my 
living by my Avork. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did you first vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. The first time 
Avas in Eichmond, Virginia. It was not called the Democratic ticket 
then, it was called the ConserAmtiA^e ticket. 

Q. When Axas that ?—A. It was when Governor Walker Avas elected 
governor of Virginia. 

Q. Where were these night attacks and troubles put upon you—up 
tliere?—A. No, sir; in Columbia. 

Q. When did you come to Columbia?—A. I came the same year that 
Governor Walker AA^as elected; some seven or eight years ago." 


(bounty.] TESTIMONY OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 567 

Q. Since that time you have been working at the carpenter trade f— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say some ])eoi)le came to your house and got you out; when 
was that f—A. I don’t remember when it was; it was last fall, some time. 

Q. Up to that time they never had disturbed you ?—A. They had dis¬ 
turbed me all the time 5 nobody could tell how they had disturbed me. 

Q. How was itf—A. By abusing me as a Democrat and calling out 
my name. 

Q. Who did that ?—A. I cannot tell you all of them. One man was 
named Butler Swagger, and then there was Peter Wall and Emmeline 
Wall and Levi Wall and Jane Wall. 

Q. The whole Wall family ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By Mr. Pandolph : 

Q. They drove you to the wall?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. These persons you named, did you have a quarrel Avith them ?—A. 
Y"es, sir. 

Q. Did you have any quarrel about anything except politics ?—A. IS'o, 
sir; nothing but politics. That brought it all on. 

Q. Yon and tlie Walls talked politics, and he got mad and abused 
you?—A. Yes, sir; that is the point. 

Q. What did he say ?—A. He commenced abusing me and calling me 
iiitmes. 

Q. What names?—A. AVell, they were pretty bad. 

Q. Did he hit you, or anything of that kind?—A. Yes, sir; he did 
hit me. 

Q. How long ago was that?—A. It vns last fall. 

Q. From the time you came to Columbia did you haA^e any trouble up 
to last fall?—A. l!lo, sir; eAer since I started to Amte the Democratic 
ticket; I never a^o ted the Democratic ticket in Columbia before two years 
ago. 

(^. Did you liaA^e any trouble then ?—A. Yes, sir; I had a heaj) of 
trouble. 

Q. What AA^as it?—^A. Well, we had a heap of trouble; there was 
abusing and abusing. 

Q. They iieA^er struck you up to last fall ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. What Avas this man’s name that called a^ou out of your house ?—A. 
Peter Wall. 

Q. What did he call you out for ?—A. He pretended to call me out to 
see his wife. 

Q. Had you a row with his Avife ?—A. His wife came up that evening. 

(}. XoAV, AAdiat was the first trouble Avith you and Butler Swagger ?— 
A. He Avas Avith me that evening, and \A"e Avere talking politics, and he 
kept threatening and talking, and said I Avas not a gentleman, but that 
I Avas a rogue, and I followed him out to the gate, and that started the 
fuss. 

Q. You folioAved him out?—A. Yes, sir; that is the way. 

Q. You Avent out to make a fuss, and he knocked you doAvn after you 
folloAved him out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon couldn’t fight?—A. Xo, sir; I Avould not fight. 

Q. Hoav many times did he hit you?—A. I did not count. 

Q: Then the woman said she would come, too ?--A. Yes, sir; she said 
she AA ould come there and help kill the son-of-a-bitch. 

Q. Then the AA^oman came there that night ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did she hit you?—A. Yes, sir; she hit me. 


568 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878. 


[Eichlaud 


Q. You had to get a policeman f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they come to the door and do it ?—A. Yo, sir; I went out. 

(^. Wliat did tlie woman do ‘I —A. She struck me; she looked as if 
she would take my life. 

Q. AVhat did she want to strike you for ?—A. Because 1 was fixing 
my red shiit to wear the next day. 

Q. Did you have it on then?—A. Yo, sir; I was getting it ready for 
the next day. 

Q. She was mad about it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q, When did your children get beaten ?—A. That was since the elec¬ 
tion. 

What was that about ?—A. It was on account of my i^rinciples. 

Q. AVhat family was that ?—A, It was the AValls—the same family. 

(^). Then all the difficulty you had was with the Walls lamily ?—A. Well, 
I have been abused by a great many. 

Q. The teacher did not beat the children ?—A. No, sir; she is a nice 
woman. 

Q. Do you belong to the church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(,?. What church ?—A. Ba])tist. 

Q. How long have you belonged to it?—A. Twenty-five years. 

Q. Are you a member in good standing up there ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Are you an officer of the church ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Never held an office ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. They did not turn you out of the church I —A. Never have yet. 

Q. Do you go to church regularly ?—A. AA^ell, sometimes, since this 
election has been going on. I Avant to wait a Avhile; the women are so 
extreme. 

Q. The women are more Bepublican than the men?—A. Yes, sir. If 
anotlier election comes of in that place I do not think the Kepublicans 
will have a ticket. The AAmmen are Avorse than the men. 

Q. Is your wife a Democrat?—A. She belieA^es I am on the right road; 
l)ut these other AAmmen, if their husbands are inclined to be Democrats, 
Avon’t allow it. AVhen they see one come into church they say, “Here 
comes a Democrat.” 

Q. Do you belong to Coleman Batie’s club ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you belong to any club ?—A. Yes, sir; I belong to the club 
that Avas got up tAAm years ago, called the AVorkiiigmeifs Club. 

Q. Do you belong to any noAv ?—A. I belong to the same club uoaa'. 

Q. Is it composed of carpenters, &c. ?—A. Yes, sir. It was got up by 
Captain Idle tAA o years ago. 

D. Anybody belong except the Democrats ?—A. No, sir. 

(^. Do you belong to any other association except the church ?—A. 
No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You have been pretty actAe as a Democrat for some months past; 
Avent out to meetings and Avore the red shirt ?—A. I Avent out some, but 
1 did not lose my daily aa ork. 

Q. HaA^e not gone to church much since you became a Democrat ?— 
A. I AA’ent all during the campaign, but haA^e not been to church much 
since. 

Q. Since you became so much of a Democrat you are not so much of 
a Christian as before ?—A. I hope I am ; I have studied to do AA^hat I 
thought Avas right and just, if 1 didn’t go to church. 

Q. When colored men become active Democrats do they stay away 
much from church ?—A. I have seen Kepublicans stay aAvay, and they 
belonged to the church. 


Coimty.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. H. LOGAN 


56y 


Q. What I want to know is, when a colored man becomes an active 
Democrat does he stay away from church much—A. I should say not 
exactly for that. 

Q. Well, what for ?—A. Well, staid away for several reasons. 

Q. AVhat reasons ?—A. I had a sick family and I would be at work 
all the week, and then Sundays staid at home. 

Q. Have you generally staid away because you were a Democrat ?— 
A. No, sir; not exacdly. When my friends asked me why I did not go 
to church, I would tell them to wait a while; and I thought I would 
wait a while until they all got satistied. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. You thought you would enjoy reading your Bible at home better 
than going to church and hearing politics ?—^A. AYell, 1 love to hear 
preaching just as much as anybody, but I thought 1 would read my 
Bible a while. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. These Walls are a pretty ordinary set, are they not ?—A. Y^es, sir* 

Q. Some of their children go to the same school as vour children ?— 
A. They do. 

Q. AVas there fighting between your children and their children ?—^A. 
Y"es, sir. 

Q. You think it was about politics ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they fight about anything else beside politics ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you think that was what was the matter with the children ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 


H. H. LOGAN. 

Charleston, Jamiary 25, 1879. 

H. H. Logan sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. AAdiere do you reside ?—Answer. In the city of Columbia 
X)ermanently. 

Q. What office did you hold, if any, in connection Avith the last elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Supervisor of election. 

(^. AAdiere ?—A. At Hopkins precinct, Bichland County. 

(^,. Hoav far is Hopkins precinct from the city of Columbia ?—A. 
Tweh^e miles. 

Q. Y^ou are a Republican ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AA^as the Democratic supervisor present ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. AYhat was his name?—A. English Hopkins. 

Q. AA^ho were the managers, and Avhat Avere their politics ?—A. They 
were all Democrats. Their names AA’-ere Mr. Beck, Mr. Patterson, and 
Mr. Bush. 

Q. AAffis tlie clerk Democrat or Republican ?—A. HeAvas a Democrat. 
His name Avas Cochran. 

Q. State Avhat occurred at that poll; tell the Avhole story as briefiy as 
you can.—A. The polls Avere opened, according to the time of the chair¬ 
man of the board, Mr. Beck, at six o’clock. 

Q. AYere you present ?—A. No, sir; according to the time that I had 
I Avas there on time, but I aams about five or eight minutes behind the 
time of Mr. Beck. AAAhen I arrived he asked me to present my creden- 



570 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN JS78. 


[Richland 


tials, my commission or aiitliority. I did so and he admitted me. I 
found by inquiry that one vote liad been cast, and that was the vote of 
one of the managers, Mr. Patterson. I recorded it. I recorded all the 
other names of persons who voted tliere that day. Tlie election passed 
otf quietly, with the exception of a little excitement outside at times— 
men talking rather rudely. 

Q. Did your poll-list correspond as to the number of names upon it 
with the poll-list kept by the managers?—A. Yes, sir; at the close of 
the poll, u])on examination of the two lists, mine and that of the clerk 
agreed. There were 436 names on the lists ; they tallied exactly. 

Q. How many ballots Avere found in the box on counting the votes ?— 
A. Six hundred and fifty-five votes. The excess, of course, was 219 
over the names on the poll-list. The chairman, Mr. Beck, Avas blind¬ 
folded, and started to draAv them out. I inquired Avhether he Avouldn’t 
consent for some one else—some one of the other managers—to draw, 
as he had been handling the ballots at the first count and Avas familiar 
Avith the size and (piality of them. The managers consulted a little, 
and tlien said, no, they guessed he could dt aAv them. He proceeded to 
draw tliem, and drew out the excess. I think there was not less than 
17.5 Kei)ublican Amtes drawn out of* the excess. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots in that box ?—A. There were quite 
a number, sir. 

Q. State how many, or about how many.—A. I could not. 

Q. Did Mr. Beck draAv out any of the tissue ballots ?—A. He drew 
out a few. He AAms drawing out the Republican ballots so fast that one 
of the managers suggested that, to give fair play, he liad better shake 
the b illots up a little. They Avere shaken u]) a little, and by that means 
Mr. Beck drcAV out a feAV of the tissue ballots. 

Q. Were the tissue ballots all Democratic tickets ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What sort of paper AAms the Republican ticket printed on that Avas 
used at that precinct ?—A. It was rather a common sort of paper, very 
stiff—easily distinguished from the tissue ballot Amted by the Demo 
(‘.rats. 

Q, On Avhat sort of paper Avas the ordinary Democratic ticket 
printed ?—A. On ratlier thin paper; I should call that tissue paper, 
too. I suppose it Avas thinner than that. [Illustrating by reference to 
a piece of Amry tliin paper lying on the table.] It Avas rather long. 
They had three kinds of tickets there. 

Q. What AAas the other kind?—A. Tliey had a long ticket that was 
printed in red; they had another one about an inch shorter, maybe an 
incli and a half or so, that Avas printed on thin tissue paper; and tliey 
had a smaller one printed on blue tissue paper, very thin. 

Q. Could the Democratic ballots be readily distinguished from the Re- ' 
publican ballots by the feeling?—A. Yes, sir; Amry easily. 

Q. State Avhat further occurred.—A. When these \mtes were counted, 
they Avere all taken out of the box, and laid on the table, and straight¬ 
ened out. 

Q. All of'them AAmre first opened, and then counted?—A. In opening 
many of them these tissue ballots fell out. 

Q. When that was found to be the case, what Avas done by the mana¬ 
gers?—A. I called their attention to it. They said, ‘‘O, A\mli, they were 
voted; they are in the box, and they ought to be counted.” Tliey said 
if there Avas an excess, of course the excess had to be draAvn out. The 
Republicans Avere in the majority at that poll; but the Amte stood, Avheii 
the count Avas made, 201 Republican ballots and 235 Democratic ballots_ 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF H. H. LOG\N. 


571 


inakino’ a majority for the Democratic party of 34, when they liad not 
cast during’ the day over 100 votes. 

Q. About how many white men voted at that precinct ?—A. Well, sir, 
not more than 55 or 00; hardly that. 

Q. Are the majority of voters in the precinct colored or Avhite ?—xV. 
Colored. 

Q. How large is the colored majority in that precinct?—A. I su])- 
l)OSe about 235 or 300. 

Q. Did the colored men vote i)retty generally?—A. Yes, sir; they 
Amted regularly, Avith few excei)tions. 

Q. It has been said that in many localities a great many of the colored 
men Avere converted to the Democracy; Avas that so in yj)ur locality? 

The Witness. Do you mean during the caiiAmss or on election day ? 

Mr. Cameron. Either. 

A. During the day I saAv and heard Democrats talking Avith men em¬ 
ployed on their i)laces, trying to induce them to vote the Democratic 
ticket; but, in many instances, I do not think they succeeded. The col¬ 
ored peoi)le seemed determined to Amte the Kepublican ticket, as a gen¬ 
eral thing. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. So you do not think there Avere many Democratic colored Amtes cast 
at your precinct on election'day ?—A. Not many. 

Q. How many do you supi)ose ?—A. Well, sir, I estimated possibly 3G. 

Q. Senator Cameron asked you, just now, whether there were many 
colored Democratic voters. You asked Avhether he meant during the 
caiiAmss or on election day. What did you mean by making that dis¬ 
tinction; Avas there a change ?—A. Well, sir, I knew of colored men 
AAdio during the caiumss Avore red shirts, AAdiich Avas generally considered 
to indicate the manner in aa hich they intended to Amte, Avho, on election 
day, (lid not Amte the Democratic ticket. 

Q. What shirt did they Aveat on election day; they AA’ore some sort of 
a shirt, I suppose ?—A. They wore an ordinary shirt. 

Q. And the removal of the red shirt AA’as an indication of a change of 
heart, was it^—or of politics ?—xV. Not of heart, because at heart they 
Avere Republicans all along. 

Q. It changed their appearance, tliough '?—A. Yes; entirely so. 

Q. The election Avas a (piiet one, you said?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your poll-list corresponded AAutli the one kept by the Democratic 
clerk ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You both agreed as to there being 436 names on the list ?—A. Yes, 
sir. HoAveAmr, at the conclusion of the count, instead of there being 436 
ballots in the box, there Avere 655—1 think there AA^as one ballot more, 
656. There Avas one scratched Republican ballot lying on the counter, 
Avhich Ave thought best to postpone counting until Ave counted all the 
straight ballots. They said they Arould give that ballot to the Repub¬ 
lican side. 

Q. I understood you to say that the ordinary Democratic ticket that 
AATis commonly voted that day at your precinct aatis a thin ticket, a tissue 
ticket?—xV. Yes, sir; there AAwe tlmm kinds of Democratic^ tickets. 

Q. Hoav many kinds of Republican tickets AAmre there ?—A. There Avas 
only one kind "found in the box, and but one kind at the poll to my 
knoAvledge. 

Are you Amry sure of that?—A. Yes, sir, for ! (?amed the Repub¬ 
lican tickets from the city doAAm there myself, and delivered them to a 
man ruiiiiiiig on the Republican ticket to hohl and distribute. 


572 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Eicbland 


Q. But the ordinary Democratic ticket used that day Avas a species of 
tissue ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; I should call it so. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Y"^ou haA'e stated that this tissue ticket ^mu liave mentiouecl Avas a 
large one ?—A. Yes, sir; and in the large one aa^us fre(iueiitly found a 
number of these small blue tissue tickets; and on opening the large 
ticket, many times the small ones AAmuhl fall out. 


I. H. SIMMS. 

Charleston, January 25, 1870. 

I. H. Simms savoiti and examined. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Ausaaw. In the city of Columbia. 

Q. Hoav long have you resided there f — A.' Since infancy to the pres¬ 
ent. 

Q. Were you an officer of election at the last election f—A. I Avas. 

il. What ?—A I Avas superA isor at Cradsden precinct, in Bichland 
County. 

(^). State Avhat occurred there at the last election.—A. The election 
passed off quietly at that precinct. The first thing in the morning I 
asked the managers if they had shoAvii the box, and if the box had a 
key. They said, no. I asked them if the hiAv didn’t require that they 
should exhibit the box em])ty before the first ballot Avas deposited, so 
that eA^erybody could look into the box. They said they had no key and 
they AAmuld seal it. They had some sealing-Avax, and they did seal it. 
The poll list called, after they had closed the polls, for 684 votes. My 
list tallied Avith the Democratic clerk’s list. On counting the ballots, on 
the first count of the managers they found that there AA^ere 1,026 ballots 
in the box; an excess of 342, or about that. Then they blindfolded one 
of the managers, and he i)roceeded to draAvout the Amtes in excess of the 
poll-list. He dreAv out—I don’t think I can giA^e the exact number of 
Bepublican Amtes. At that poll the Eepublican Amte Avas not less than 
520 Amtes; that is under value I am sure. After the draAA ing they gaA'e 
the Ilepublicans 245 votes. So that you can easily ascertain hoAv many 
Bepublican Amtes Avere draAvn out, and how many Democratic Amtes. 
Then, after they had draAvn out the 342 Amtes, they found that they had 
made an error of 30 Amtes in the count. Instead of tliere being 1,026 it 
should liaA^e been 1,056, but they did not discover this until they had 
drawn out 342. They had draA\ n out the Bepublican votes so rapidly 
that I thought they AAmnted to console me someAA hat, for one of the man¬ 
agers submitted this proposition: There are 30 Amtes more to come 
out, and 1 tell you AAdiatAve Avill do; AA^e aauII just destroy 30 Democratic 
Amtes.” 1 told them I had no objection ; so he destroyed 30 Democratic 
votes. I thought that Avas illegal at the time, but I didn’t think it was 
my business to say so, or to have anything to do Avith it. 

Q. Were there any tissue ballots there ?-^A. Y"es, sir ; there AA^ere hun¬ 
dreds of tissue ballots in the box. ■ 

Q. Did they diw out any of those ?—A. They may have draAvn out 
a few. There Avere tAvo kinds of tissue tickets at my poll, long, Avhite 
tissue tickets, and the little blue tissue ticket ’.. 

Q. Both of them Democratic ?—A. Y^es, sir; there Avere three kinds 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF I 11. SIMMS. 


573 


of Democratic tickets. There was one wliite tissue ticket, long—the 
ticket generally seen there during the day. Then there was the large 
white ticket printed with red type on it—that was a Democratic ticket, 
too. Then there were these small tissue tickets, the blue ticket. I 
didn’t see any of these little blue tissue tickets during the day. I was sur¬ 
prised when I saw them. On counting there were found hundreds of 
these little blue tissue tickets in the box. 

Q. Did they count these blue tissue tickets and the white tissue tick¬ 
ets f—A. O, yes, they were all counted. Those that remained in the 
box after they had drawn out the excess were all counted. Many of 
these fine blue tissue tickets were found in the regular ticket that was 
voted. 

Q. p]xplain what you mean by tlieir being found in the regular ticket.— 
A. These fine blue tissue tickets were folded square, something like 
that (illustrating). Sometimes you would find as high as ten in one 
large ticket, folded thus (illustrating). In opening them Ave would find 
them there laid closely together. 

Q. Did they count them all'?—A. O, yes; they said that they Avere 
Amted and it was all right; that Eepublicans, too, Amted more than one 
ticket. But, truthfully speaking, I did not see more than one Republi¬ 
can ticket that I Avould call conspicuous in that AAiiole box. 

Q. What AA'as that ?—A. I saAv tAvo, I think, Amted together—folded 
together closely. I think it Avas Amted that way. By aid of the tissue 
tickets Gadsden precinct, Avhich AAmiild have giAmn a Republican major-, 
ity of not less than 350, gaAm a Democratic majority of 104. 

Q. Why did you say it would have giAmn 350 majority; AAdiat makes 
you think so f—A. Because, as 1 said, there were over 5-JO Republican 
Amtes polled at that place. 

Q. HoAv.do you knoAv that ?—A. Because, sir, they gave us a Amte of 
245. We counted the Re]ud)lican votes in sorting the tickets out after 
the box Avas opened, and Ave suav the nnmber of tickets in there; there 
Avere over 520. I don’t kiioAv the exact number, and rather come under 
it than to go o\mr ; that would be giAung the Democrats the remainder; 
but that is a great deal more Amtes than Avere cast at the poll. The Demo¬ 
crats did not cast 164 Amtes there that day. 

Q. What is the majority of the population there AAiiite or colored ?— 
A. Colored. 

Q. IIoAV many AAddte men Amted there that day ?—A. Xot over a hun¬ 
dred. 

Q. Hoav did the colored men generally Amte ?—A. As a general thing 
they Amted the Republican ticket. 

(^. Was there a general turn-out of the colored i)eox)le ?—A. A"es, sir; 
they turned out well. 

Q. Has that been a Republican precinct heretofore—have the Repub¬ 
licans had a maiority in former years ?—A. Yes, sir. 

* By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. Were you born in Columbia ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have liA^ed there ever since your birth ?—A. YYs, sir. 

1(). You say the election ])assed off qnietly ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With no disturbance at the polls ?—A. Yot that I suav. 

Q. Were you shoAvn the box as United States siiperA’isor prior to the 
beginning of the Amting ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. And AAms it all right ?—A. It Avas all right AA'hen 1 saw it. There 
AAms a question raised before the first regular vote aa as deposited in the 
box, Avhich caused one of the managers to get a little indignant. The 


574 


S )UTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kichland 


United States marslial was standing outside, and he charged one of tlie 
managers with throwing ballots into the box. 

Q. Blit yon were there yourself ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And yon looked at the box and yon saiv that it was all right ?—A. 
I saw it was all right when I looked at it, before- 

Q. That is all I want to know on that point. The managers sealed 
the box, in the absence of any key ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say the Kepnblican vote polled conld not have been less than 
520 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is a mere opinion of yonrs.—A. 1 don’t think it is an opinion; 
I think it is a fact. 

Q. How do yon know it to be a fact ?—A. Because that nnmber of 
Eepnblicans voted there that day. 

Q. Yon conld not very well know that; it is only an opinion, to which 
yon liave a right, of course. After the counting of the votes 245 Eepnb- 
lican votes were found ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then an error of 30 votes was found again ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the managers, in order to console you, as yon think, for your 
disappointment, threw out thirty Democratic votes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And though you knew that to be illegal- A. I thought it was 

illegal. 

(^. But yon made no protest against their action in throwing out votes 
that were all of one party ?—A. I Avonld like to tell yon ivliy- 

Q. Just answei*nny question. Yon made no protest against their ac¬ 
tion ?—I made no protest against it, sir. 

Q. You say there were three kinds of Democratic tickets used ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. One a long tissue ticket, one a small tissue ticket, and one ordi¬ 
nary sized ballot ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many different kinds of Eepnblicaii tickets were used that 
day ?—A. Only one. 

(^. Were there any small tickets ?—A. There was only one kind of 
Eepnl)lican ticket. 

Q. Are yon very sure of that ?—A. I am positive. 

Q. Was only one kind seen when the votes were counted?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did all the colored people vote the Eepnblicaii ticket at that poll ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. There were some Democratic voters?—A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. Quite a number?—A. Yes, sir; a good number. 

Q. Conld yon estimate how many ?—A. I think, sir, that fifty would 
cover them all; I am sure it would. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Yon say the marshal charged the manager Avith stuffing the ballot- 
box; when was that?—A. In the morning. I was inside of the ])olls, 
the marshal was outside. The manager' that had the box in charge 
opened it and exhibited it to ns who were in the rear of him. I was 
back there with the managers. We saAv the inside of the box, and saw 
that it was empty. Then he turned the box outside, for those Avho were 
outside to look into it; and Avhen he turned the box outside he shut 
down the lid. Of course, the back of the box was toward ns and we 
could not me into it then. Then it ivas that the marshal outside said, 
There, sir, yon tlireiv something into that box.” The manager became 
indignant, and said he, “Do yon charge me with stuffing this ballot- 
box ” ? The marshal said, “ Open the box; that will settle the question.” 





TESriMONY OF R. P. HAMPTON 


County.] 


575 


He insisted on the box being* opened^ but the box never was oi)ened 
again until it was opened to count the votes at night. 

Q. Had any votes be^n deposited up to tiiat time?—A. ]J^o, sir. 

Q. But the box was not opened?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How near were you to the manager?—A. As near as 1 am to vouj 
just across the table. 

Q. How near were you to the box ?—A. As near as I am to you. The 
manager held the box; he Avas turning the box around for us to look 
into it. 

Q. How far off was the United States marshal?—A. About as ffir off’ 
as that chair behind Mr. Dawson. 

Q. When you counted the votes, did you count them in such a Avay 
that you could tell whether they were Republican votes or Democratic? 
votes?—A. When tliey came to count it was a Aery easy matter; as 
soon as you took up a Republican A^ote you could tell it. 

Q. You had something besides a mere guess, then; you had counted the 
Azotes, had you not ?—A. We counted all the Azotes before any AA-ere draAAui 
out. 

Q. Do you kuoAv hoAV many Republican Amtes there AA*ere on that 
count?— A. I AAmuld not say the exact number; I liaA^e forgotten the ex¬ 
act number; there Avere at least 520, and I think i)robably more. 

Q. When they proposed to destroy 30 Democratic Amtes, AAdiy Avas it 
that you did not object ? —A. AYell, sir, I am not a laA\\yer, and in my 
instructions that had been gAen me, and that I had remd, I saA\^ the most 
of the instructions Avere to super\’isors in cities A\diere there Avere 20,000' 
iidiabitants and upwards. The instructions Avere really for them, and I 
saAv printed in a book that supervisors in places Avhere there were not 
20,000 inhabitants AAmuld IniA^e no power but to remain “in the immedi¬ 
ate presence” of the ballot-box and see what Avas done. I found it AA'as 
my duty to remain there as a dumb man, and look on and see Avhat AA^as 
done, and make my statement afterAvairds; that is Avhy I didn’t open my 
mouth AA hen I was asked many things. When 1 aa^is asked 1 Avmnld giA e 
my opinion as if I AAwe anybody else, AAdthout thinking it a duty of 
.mine, 

Q. The managers were all Democrats?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were there any other Democrats there?—A. Yes, sir; Dr. R. J. 
Lee AA as the supervisor. 

Q. Did anybody on the part of the Democrats object to destroying 
those 30 tickets ?—A. No, sir; they all seemed perfectly willing that it 
should be done. 


R. P. HAMPTON. 


Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1879. 

R. P. Hampton sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you liA’e ?—AnsAver. In Richland County. 

Q. How long liaA^e you resided there ?—A. For the last ten years. 

(^). Did you take any part in the last political campaign?—A. In the 
last political camx)aign I Avas in the southeastern portion ot the county, 
at Acton precinct; I was United States supervisor there. 

Q. State AAdiat occurred.—A. I left (Jolundna on the eA^ening of the 
4th. The election AA^as on the 5th. When I got on the train and started 



576 


sou i ll CAROLINA IN J878. 


[Richland 


down, several Democrats avIio voted in Acton precinct were on tlie train 
going from Oolninbia to Acton. They came to me and asked me if I had 
any llepnblican tickets; at the same time I liad the Kei)nblican tickets 
in my ])ocket, given me by the county chairman, Mr. (Jnrtis, but 1 did 
not teel dis])osed to let them know 1 liad them, so I did not let Ihein 
have any. I Avent to Acton, got off the train, and went to the residence 
of the Kev. Thomas Brown, and deliAmred to him the tickets. In the 
morning 1 Avent oAmr to the polls. I Avas informed that the polls would 
open at eight o’clock. I got there at half past six. I Avas not there 
Avhen the box AAais ffrst oiAened. Yon Avill notice on the poll-list the mem¬ 
oranda, ‘‘A'oting after eight.” 1 kneAA^ they must go into some kind of 
trickery to beat ns; I didn’t knoAV Avliat tliat trick Avould be, so 1 ad- 
Aised the colored men not to vote until after eight o’clock, and I marked 
on the poll-list, ‘‘ All voting after eight.” Six Amtes Avere polled after I 
got there; all six of those Amtes AAawe Democratic; there AAmre no Eepub- 
licans on the ground; I impiired, and was told that no Eepublicans had 
Amted before I got there, and that all those aaTio had Amted AAmre Deino- 
(wats. IMr. BroAvn and I came together. The Amting Avent on. Every¬ 
thing ])assed off' quietly. AVhile the Axffing Avas in progress, seAmral 
Eepublicans AA^ere not alloAA^ed to Amte. One of these, I remember, had 
formerly been in the employ of Mr. Eagan, liAung in the precinct; Eagan 
said if he Avould Amte the Democratic ticket he could liaAm a mule 
to ride to the polls; if he Avould not he could get there the best 
way he (*.ould. This man c.alled u])on Eagan to ask him AAdiether he 
Avas entitled to A^ote or not in that ])recinct. Eagan said that the man 
Avasn’t entitled to A'ote. The man said to Eagan, “Didn’t you tell 
me that if I Avould Aa)te the Democratic ticket 1 could liaAm a mule 
to ride to the ])o]]s f’ Eagan made no ansAA'er to that. The managers 
refused to let liim Amte. 1 then said I thought that was not in accord¬ 
ance Avith any hiAv; that in such a case as that, if a man took oath and 
(pialiffed he should be alloAved to vote ; and then, if there Avas any 
Avrong {d)out it, it should be proAmd in huv; the managers said a man 
might Amte aa hen he Avas not entitled to vote, and then, although they 
might take action against him in hiAv, still his Amte Avould IniAm been 
(counted. There were scAXiral other cases Avhere men Avere not alloAved 
to vote because they Avere not known by certain Avhite men in the jire- 
cinct. They also had a list sent from Gardner’s precinct, of men avTio 
came to Acton and Avere employed there in piciving cotton. EAmry time 
one of tliese men a\ ouhl come up to vote the managers would go to tha^ 
list and find out Avhether Ids name Avas on it or not. They Avould ask 
him unnecessary questions, as to tiie year he Avas born in, &c. The most 
of the colored voters are not capable of telling exactly what year they 
Avere born in. Gn tins ground seA eral men AA^re preAxmted from Acting. 
But everything passed off' quietly until they came to counting. I saAv 
but two l)lue ti(*kets Amted tliat day. 

(^. By blue tickets you mean tissue tickets?—A. Yes, sir. Peyton 
Joyner voted one and Joe Bates the other. 1 am (annpelled to say, from 
the size of the blue tickets and the size of the ballot put in the box that 
there Avas more than one. Tlie tickets AATre A^ery small, Avhile the bal¬ 
lots they placed in the box did not appear near so small to me. I Avas 
])laced a distance from the box of from here to the fire-place, and could 
readily see. When they opened the box they found an excess of votes 
ot 150. 

Q. An excess of Amtes over the names on the poll-list? —A. YMs, sir; 
150 ballots above the number that appeared on the poll-list, and I know 
my poll-list Avas correct, because every time they Avould get ahead any— 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. P. HAMPTON. 


577 


and that wasn’t often—I would make them sliow me whatever names 
they had that 1 had omitted. I didn’t see but those two blue tissue 
tickets voted ; and when they came to counting these blue tissue tickets 
Avere far in excess of the regular large wldte ballots which I had seen 
the Democrats voting there all day. They said afterAvards that both 
parties a oted double tickets. I don’t belieA^e anything of the sort. When 
the Republicans came up to vote they got their tickets from Mr. Brown, 
the precinct chairman. On one occasion he accidentally handed out tAvo 
instead of one. As the man stood there Avith the two tickets in his 
hand, about to vote, the marshal stepped up and took one out of his 
hand and said, “Any man aa ho would attempt to A^ote two ballots had 
no right to A-ote at all.” The man said he didn’t knoAv he had tAvo bal¬ 
lots in his hand j he said he was al)out to vote just Avhat had been handed 
him by the precinct chairman. 

C^. Were they together or separated ?—A. They were separate, Accord¬ 
ing to law. You liaA^e to draw out all ballots in excess of the poll-list. 
According to my count, though I might hav e made a mistake, I made 
out that they dreAvout 147 Republican tickets and nine Democratic tickets. 
When I said anything about their drawing out so many Republican 
tickets they would druAV out a Democratic ticket, and the chairman would 
say, “ Now, look but all the rest of the time he would be rooting around 
the ballot-box hunting for Republican tickets; they Av^ere Yerj easily dis¬ 
tinguished ; they Avere on A^ery thick paper, while the Democratic tickets 
were on very thin paper. I liaA^e shut my eyes myself and tried it. 
They didn’t bring out the tissue ballots at all. I knew that if there was 
any excess they could readily get hold of our tickets and take them out, 
and that is just aa hat they did j and all the tickets that AA^eut in aboA^e 
the poll-list were these blue tissue pai^ers of the Democrats. 

Q. How many tissue tickets were there !—A. I think the large white 
tickets numbered 123 j the Democratic supervisor, A. J. Green, counted. 
The Avhole number of tickets in the box aa as 510; of these they claimed 
230 and gave us 280. After deducting the excess in the ballot-box, the 
balance was in the blue tissue strips, making a majority of white tickets, 
when they were not voted there during the day. I did not see but two 
tissue tickets A^oted, but Avdien the box was opened they Avere more 
numerous than the large white tickets Avhich they had voted regularly. 
I say that if the Democratic party polled 100 votes at Acton precinct 
that day, they did well. I think the Republican majority in 1876 at that 
precinct Avas 390, and I would say frankly that this time it was about 
the same, for the Republicans A^oted more straight than they did in 1876. 

By the Chairman. 

Q. Could you tell what tickets the Democrats A^oted ?—A. Yes, sir 5 
they voted the large white tickets with red letters. 

Q. Could you tell what tickets the Republicans voted ?—A. The Re¬ 
publican ticket was printed on rather a stiff material of paper and very 
rotten ; when they went to strip the ballots the Republican tickets Avould 
alAvays tear. He "stripped the ballots while h olding his hand well in the 
box, and the ballots fell into the box. I said, “ You are striiiping the 
tickets. What are you doing?” But it was of no use for me to say 
anything; I had to contend against five. One time I caught him. 
wiieneA^er the ticket was bound on the end—had the end folded over 
the smaller tickets inside—he could not readily unfold it. Generally 
they had every little ticket folded separately and placed inside of a large 
Avliite ticket. "The man who Avas draAving them out would strip out the 
large ticket, and the strips inside AA^ould hill into the box. He held his 

37 8 c 


578 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kichland 


liaiid so low ill tlie box that I could not see wbat be was doing; but one 
time the ticket was bound on tlie end, and as be was trying to unfold it, 
I saw tbe blue strips in tliere. I said, Yon take that ticket and show 
it to the people.” He bad to show it, and there was seven ballots—lit¬ 
tle ballots—inside of that one. I said, That is a nice game to play.” 
He said, That ivas a greedy fellow.” 

Q. Wbat did be do with tbe seven tickets ?—A. I made him tear up 
all but one. I caught him again. He drew nil another ticket with 
smaller tickets in it 5 I couldn’t exactly swear bow many, but two fell 
outside of the box and four fell inside of it to my knowledge. As soon 
as the four fell on the inside be jerked tbe large ticket from the four so 
that they might not be seen. Peyton Joyner was standing there. I 
said, “ Those four tickets ought not to be counted.” Then I said, “ You 
should, take your two lingers and lift the ballots clear of the box and un¬ 
fold them.” But he continued to strip the ballots right into the box. 
They wouldn’t allow the marshal to come in and assist me. 

Q. Were all the rest Democrats !—A. Yes, sir 5 the clerk was not of 
age, but he was a Democrat in principle. 

Q. Were the managers Democrats!—A. Yes, sir; the last one of 
them. 


By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. You didn’t live in Acton precinct!—A. Yo, sir; I lived in Rich¬ 
land. Acton is in Richland County. 

Q. You live in the city of Columbia!—A. Yo, sir; I am teaching 
school in the country. 

Q. Whereabouts ! Anywhere near the part of the county in which 
Acton is situated!—A. IS'o, sir. 

Q. Where is Acton !—A. In the southeastern x)art of the county. 

Q. What is the size of the town of Acton !—A. It is no town at all; . 
it is merely a railroad station. 

Q. A kind of cross-roads !—A. A^es, sir. 

Q. Stores and a few houses !—A. Only one store, sir. 

Q. You say you saw but two blue tissue ballots voted that day !—A. 
That is all. 

Q. Well, could you say that there were no more than two ballots in 
there of this kind !—A. I say, in accordance with the size of the tickets. 
After examining those strips afterwards I am compelled to think there 
was more than two. 

Q. Did you think so that day!—A. No, sir; I hadn’t heard anything 
about these tickets before. Not one was on exhibition there that day. 

Q. Did the size attract your attention any more than that they were 
very much smaller than the others!—A. No, sir; not until after the 
count. 

Q. Which one of the managers took the tickets out of the box as they 
were counted !—A. C. K. Sfngleton. 

Q. You say there was a list there at the polls that was used when 
certain persons were challenged, to see whether their names were on the 
list!—A. Yes, sir; that was a list from Gardner’s precinct, adjoining on 
the north. 

Q. It purported to contain the names of those listed for poll-tax!—A. 
No, sir; nothing of the kind; for on the x>oll-list Democrats were marked 
as well as Republicans. 

Q. I asked if they were listed for i)oll-tax!—A. That list was not 
made public. It was kind of secret; I heard them ask if such and such 


County.] TESTIMONY OF R. P. HAMPTON. 579 

a name was on tlie list; if it was the man was challenged. All whose 
names were on that list were challenged. 

Q. That was a list of names of persons not entitled to vote at Acton I 
—A. I do not know that they were entitled to vote. 

Q. Were they not challenged on the ground that they were not enti¬ 
tled to vote at Acton i)recinct —A. I hold that the managers were not 
entitled to decide any more than I. 

Q. I ask, were they not sent there as a basis for challenging ?—A. I 
guess it was intended for that purpose. 

Q. You say a young man was challenged because he was not of age ? 
—A. I don^t remember of saying that. 

Q. They claimed he was not of age?—A. They claimed that he had 
been a resident of the county sixty days. 

Q. ^^'ow your law requires that every man who votes shall swear be¬ 
fore he votes ?—A. Yes, sir 5 and he was willing to swear. 

Q. Your construction is, if a man offers to swear in his vote, though 
the managers may know that he is not a voter, they are obliged to take 
his vote.—A. The managers didn’t know any more about this man than 
1 did. 

Q. You construe the law that way, do 3 ; ou ?—A. I am not supi)osed 
to be able to construe the law. 

Q. You said the managers were bound to take his ^ ote if he was will¬ 
ing to swear, and if it was afterwards found to be wrong he could be 
prosecuted?—A. Yes; I hold that is the law. 

Q. Your construction is that if the managers know that a person who 
offers to vote is not of age, or has not been in the county the lengtli of 
time that the law requires, or is noyi coynpos mentis^ and offers to swear 
in his vote, they are bound to take it?—A. The fact is just this: In 
this case the managers knew no more about the matter than I. 

Q. You are arguing and not answering the question.—A. I say if 
they don’t know anything about it they are bound to take it if he swears 
it in. 

Q. That is not the way you said you put it to them. You said that if 
a man took the oath and was qualified, he was entitled to vote; and 
then if there was anything wrong about it, it should be proved in law. 
Is that your construction of the law ?—A. He didn’t contradict the man’s 
being of age; he said the man had not been in the county sixty days; 
and the very same man who said that had offered him a mule to ride to 
tlie polls on if he would vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. And because the man had been offered a mule to ride to the polls 
if he would vote the Democratic ticket, you think he ought to vote if he 
iiad not been in the county the length of time the law requires ?—-A; I 
don’t think- Mr. Eagan would have said a word against his voting if he 
had voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Tliat is an argument and not an answer to my question. You 
argue that if Mr. Eagan was willing that he should have voted the 
Democratic ticket wliether he was entitled to vote or not, therefore he 
was entitled to vote the Itepublican ticket whether he was entitled to 
vote or not.—A. I think IVlr. Eagan would not have objected to his vot¬ 
ing if he had voted the Democratic ticket. ^ 

(J. You have said that liefore, half a dozen times, and I have not asked 
that question once. I ask again, whether the fact that Eagan was Avill- 
ing he should vote the Democratic ticket should entitle him to vote the 
Eepublican ticket when he was not a qualified voter A. JMy answer is 
just this: I believe that he was a qualified A'oter. ’ 

Mr. Kandolph. I think Ave liaA'e carried this argument as tar as it is 
Avortli Avhile to do. 





I 

I 


I 









KERSHAW COUNTY. 


FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELEOTIO^T OF 1878. 


































KERSHAW COUNTY. 


E. E. BLAIE. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

E. E. Blair sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. At Camden, Kershaw 
Comity. 

Q. How long have yon resided there ?—A. For seven years. 

Q. Did yon take any jiart in the last election !—A. I was appointed 
supervisor at Market Hall precinct. 

Q. State what was said and done there on that day.—A. I arrived at 
the poU at or about six o’clock; I was detained at the door about two 
minutes after getting there. When I was admitted I found that the 
elerk had taken a half a dozen names or more j I took my blank list from 
my pocket and commenced to make a poll-list myself as the law requires; 
after taking a few names Mr. McDowell, one of the managers or a clerk, 
I believe a manager, asked me what I was doing j I said I was making 
n poll-list; he said I had no right to do so; that I must cease from it. 
I contended with him awliile as to my right there; I showed him my 
papers and instructions, and told him I had a right to do so, or those 
instructions would never have been given me. While I was contending 
with him, Genenal Kennedy came up and asked me what 1 was doing; 
I told him I was making a iioll-list—keeping the names of those that 
voted; he said I had no right to do so, and must cease from it. 

Q. What General Kennedy was that ?—A. General J. D. Kennedy. 

Q. Chairman of the State Democratic central committee ?—A. Yes, 
sir. There was read to me—whether the general read it to me himself 
or some one else I do not remember—there was read to me some docu¬ 
ment contradicting my instructions, and saying that in towns of less 
than 20,000 inhabitants a sui)ervisor had no right to keep a poll-list. In 
consideration of that, and their making such positive assertions, I ceased 
attempting to go any further with that business. I then took my sta¬ 
tion near the box, where I had a view of the clerk. In the early jiart 
of the morning the box was surrounded principally by Democrats, who 
were busily voting all the time; hardly any Eepublicans attempted to 
go to the box, it was so crowded; all the Eepublicans supposed that as 
soon as the Democrats got through they would move away, but it was 
not so; after they voted they seemed to collect around the poll box in a 
semi-circle and staid there; instead of their going away there was 
more and more of them kept coming. The Eepublicans, seeing that the 
Democrats didn’t seem to move away after they had voted, tried to 
squeeze in; this resulted in a general contention as to who should be 
alloAved to go to the iioll-box. At one time the Eepublicans got some 
advantage, and for some time they followed in quite closely one after 
another; then there was raised considerable tumult, great yelling and 
cursing on the part of the Democrats; every time they would do so the 
managers, whether purposely or not, would let down the window, which, 



584 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kershaw 


of course, would close tlie poll. Tliis was done several times. Some¬ 
times the AYindow was kept down for two or three minutes, closing the 
polls. On one of these occasions the managers and others inside urged 
me to go out and try to stop these Eepnhlicans from making a disturb¬ 
ance ; I asked the Democratic supervisor to gg Avith me, and he and I 
AA'entoutj there AA^ere some pieces ot scantling outside; AA’^e took these 
pieces of scantling, and I assisted by taking one end of them and trying' 
to put all, both Avhite and colored, outside of the alley-Avay, so as to keep 
them back enough so that others could come in and Amte and i)ass on 
out AAithout disturbing each other. IlaAdng once cleared the Avay, it 
was afterwards kept clear. The most prominent men in keeping 
the Eepublicans away AA^ere Depas, Nelson, and others. Everything 
AA'ent on orderly then for some time, for an hour or more. When 
that was done the most that came hrst was generally AAEites; the 
Demociats seemed alAAmys to come first, A\iien there aa^ ere any about. 
In about an hour afterAA'ards they all collected up around about and 
surrounded the place, the Democrats did, again. They got in there 
close to the box, the Eepublicans being Avell kept outside of this 
scantling; the Eepublicans ncA'cr AA^ere admitted to come in at all. 
I AA'as urged by the Eepublicans to try and manage it some Avay so that 
they could get to the box and Amte. Tliey conii)lained that those who 
were keeping them behind that scantling Avould not let any colored men 
go up and Amte. I AA'ent out there and talked AAuth them. I tried to come 
in again from the back A\'ay, where it was intended for them to pass out, 
for I could not get in tlie front Avay from this crow'd of Democrats that 
had collected around the polls—principally Democrats. I could not get 
the men to move. I contended with them a AA'hile, but AA'as not able to 
get them to moA'e and let the colored men come in to vote. I told them 
I AA'as United States supeiwisor, and had a perfect right to see after the 
rights of others—to see that they had free access to the place of voting. 
They said they could get into line and come the front AA'ay. Some said 
if they AA'anted to vote the Democratic ticket they could come through 
there. I looked around to see if I coidd find some officer of authority to 
assist me in Avhat I considered to be my duty, f saAV no one but some 
Avliite Democrats. They said they would assist me, and started, but they 
didn’t get to the place. Afterwards I called to ]Mr. Shannon, the other 
supervisor, who was inside, and asked him to please come out and see 
that I AA'as admitted, so that I could, AA'ith his assistance, make a clear 
AA'ay again. I had gone out to try and help the colored people get a 
chance to Amte, and the croAvd Avould not let me back again. Mr. Shan¬ 
non came out, and he tried, and I tried; but Ave could do nothing. See¬ 
ing that the Democrats, principally, surrounded the polls so solid, I AA'ent 
to the front outside, Avliere the colored people were, and told them 1 could 
be of no assistance to them; they must do the best they could. Seeing 
that I could do nothing, I left the place and Avent inside again. The 
Eepublicans conteuded there a good AA'hile outside of the sciantling, and 
became Aveary AA'ith Avaiting, I suppose, for they left—retired to their 
homes without A'oting. 

Q. What was the result of the election at that box ?—A. The entire 
A'ote, as kept, Avas 701, of which the Eepublican candidates receh'ed 59, 
if my memory serves me (I haA'e kept a minute), and the Democrats the 
balance. 

By Mr. CAMERON: 

Q. The Eepublicans were preA'ented from A'oting by the means you 
haA'e described ? — A. Yes, sir. I AA as manager at one of the tOAvn pre- 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. E. BLAIR. 


585 


tlie election before, and in the town there was voted nearly 
-,000 Kei)nbhcan votes at the two polls j and this time, at both places, 
there were only about 120 Eepnblican votes, where there had been 2,000 
the election before. ^ 

By the Chairman : 

Q. What two polls!—A. At the court-house ami at Market Hall, 
iliere wei’e 940 odd Eepnblican votes at the court-house box, at the 
election before, and 870 at the other, if my memory serves me. 

Q. How was it at this box where yon were; was that a Kepiiblican 
or a Democratic precinct!—A. That was Eepnblican the year before, by 
between 800 and 900 votes. 

Q. At the particular box where yon were supervisor, what was the 
vote the preceding year A. The Eepnblican vote was 800 and some¬ 
thing. 

Q. TV hat was the Democratic vote ?—A. I do not remember the Dem¬ 
ocratic vote. 

Q. TTdio had the majority, the blacks or whites ?—A. In that town, 
sir, the blacks have always carried the majority in every prior election. 

Q* Yon didn’t see the canvass of the votes ?—A. Yes, sir j I saw the 
box opened; I could see the votes as they were opened and unfolded. 

Q. TYere they counted correctly so far as yon know ?—A. I could see 
each ballot held np and counted. Generally I could tell a straight out 
Eepnblican or a straight out Democratic ticket. Of (course, I could not 
tell about the scratched tickets. 

Q. They gave the Eepnblicans o9 votes ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Were there any printed Eepnblican tickets on tlie ground ?—A. • 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. There were tickets that they got printed at Co¬ 
lumbia 5 there was said to have been 3,000 of them, but I think there 
was a great deal less than that. 

Q. TTYre there any Eepnblican printed tickets at the polls ?—A. Yo, 
sir; there were none. I was there several times j some Democrats 
asked me E I had one, and I told them I had not. 

Q. Then yon didn’t see any at the polls at all ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Were the Eepnblican tickets that were counted ont of that box 
written, generally ?—A. Some were written and some were printed. 

Q. As they had no Eepnblican tickets there, which tickets did they 
vote—those who did vote ?—A. They were distributed by persons sent 
ont on the street for that purpose j but they didn’t stay aronnd the 
boxes—it wonld not have been very well for them to have done so. 

Q. Yon say the tickets were counted ont correctly, and that there 
were only 50 Eepnblicans and a balance of 791 Democrats ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did not a great many colored people vote there that day ?—A. 
Not a great many, I don’t think, sir. I do not mean to say that there 
was only 59 voted, for I think there was a good many more than that. 

Q. Yon say the vote was counted fairly, so far as yon could see ?—xA. 
Yes, sir. 

Mr. Cameron. He didn’t say it was counted fairly. 

The TYitness. As near as I could see. I could see the tickets when 
they were pulled ont of the box, but what Avas on them I didn’t know. 

I have no right to believe that the manager- 

By Mr. Eandolph: 

Q. You knoAV the man that called them ont ?^A. Yes, sir. 


586 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 . 


[Kersliaw 


Q. AYas there any difficulty iu your seeing them more closely ?—A. 
Yes, sir; there was the pressure hetAveen me and that box- 

Q. Could you not have taken up a nearer position if you had AAushed 
to ?—A. There Avms such a general confusion- 

Q. You didn’t try to get-nearer, did you?—A. The press AA^as so close 
that unless- 

Q. Y^ou didn’t try to get any nearer?—A. I do not knoAA" that I didj I 
thought I AAms as near as I could get. 

Q. Did not this ci’oaatI that you speak of about the polls cease about 
nine or ten o’clock ?—A. Not so early as that, sir. The polls aa ere Amcant 
in the eA^ening, but as early as ten o’clock in the day they were not. 

Q. Do you not remember that General Kennedy AA^ent doAvn there, and 
other Democrats, and had the crowd about the polls dispersed so as to 
open up a AA^ay for the people to Amte ?—A. After the KeiAublicans had 
gone home I knoAA^ the way aa as cleared. 

Q. What time did the Kepublicans go home ?—A. I suppose the time 
to have been about one or tAvo o’clock. It aa us aa ell along in the day; I 
don’t know exactly Avhat time. 

Q. Did not this croAvd at the polls re]noA"e so as to make it easy for 
any person to get in there and a ote as early as nine o’clock in the fore 
noon ?—A. No, sir; I don’t think I could be that much deceKed. 

Q. From that time on Avas it not easy for persons to get up and A"ote 
if they pleased ?—A. Not as early as ninej the ci’oaa cI had not been 
removed as early in the day as that. 

Q. According to your recollection it was as early as tweKe ?—A. It 
might have been tweh^e, but I don’t think it Avas earlier than one or tAVO. 
Being disturbed most of the time I paid but little attention to the time 
of day. 

Q. But you say that most of the colored Amters had gone aAvay before 
the croAA d had been dispersed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Name any one who went aAvay on that account.—xl. Well, sir, I 
have not much memory of the croAvd that was out there. As a general 
thing the most prominent ones among the Eepublicans, if they wanted 
to, coidd A"ote. »They generally did not preA^ent them from Acting; but 
the mass of colored people could not get to the box. I am not able just 
noAv to name one, but if their names are called I think I could get them. 

Q. There were 791 votes receded at that poll; how many were taken at 
that poll at the former election—the AAiiole number of Azotes ?—A. I do 
not remember the whole number of votes. 

Q. How many Bepublican Amtes were polled at this poll at the preced 
ing election ?—A. Something oA^er 800. 

Q. IIoAV many Bepublican a otes Avere polled at the other poll ?—A. 
040 odd. 

Q. How many Amtes aa ere polled in all ?—A. I haA en’t summed them 
up. I think it would be near 2,000, as I said. 

Q. At the election before, where the Bepublicans had these 800 and 
odd Amtes, did not the Bepublicans hold possession of the polls all day ?— 
A. All j)ersons were enabled to Amte, sir, who- 

Q. I ask you again, did not the Bepublicans take possession of the 
poll and hold it all day ?—A. I cannot swear as to that; I belieA'e all 
persons could a ote Avho desired to. 

This day, according to your statement, all persons could A’ote from 
one or two o’clock until six ?—A. Yes, sir; if they had not got discour¬ 
aged and gone away before that, and never come again, because they 
thought there was no chance for them to Amte. 

Q. If the persons had remained or desired to A^ote after one or two 






County.] 


TESTIMONY OF R. E. BLAIR. 


587 


o clock, was there any difficulty in their approaching the polls from that 
time on I—A. I know more persons could have voted, but, as for the 
mass, I could not say they had time to vote. 

Q. Yon cannot say they could not have Amted ?—A. Not posith^elv, 
sir. " ^ 

Q. When the polls closed, how soon afterwards did they commence the 
count ?—A. Nearly immediately. 

Q. Did yon not see large crowds of colored people around the streets 
there up to the time of the closing of the polls, and afterwards ?—A. No, 
sir. 

Q. Did yon not see large crowds of colored people remaining in town 
up to five o’clock in the evening ?—A. I do not think I did 5 for after the 
time I mentioned that the colored people dispersed, the whites went 
off also ; and it was then that there was no Eepnblicans or colored peo¬ 
ple to be seen around there. I remember Captain Oliver asked, “ Where 
are the colored people ? Tell them to come up and vote ”5 but then there 
were no colored persons to be seen. 

Q. There were no colored persons at all to be seen then'?—A. I won’t 
say there wasn’t one, but I didn’t see any about there. 

Q. Is this the law that General Kennedy read to you ? 

Revised Statutes of the Uuited States, Section 2021: Whenever an election at which 
Representatives or Delegates in Congress are to he chosen is held in any city or town of 
twenty thousand inhabitants or upward, the marshal for the district in which the city or 
town is situated shall, on the application in writing of at least two citizens residing 
in such city or town, appoint special deputy marshals, whose duty it shall be, when 
required thereto, to aid and assist the -supervisors of election in the verification of any 
list of persons who may have registered or voted; to attend in each election district 
or voting precinct at the times and places fixed for the registration of voters, and at 
all times and places when and where the registration may by law be scrutinized, and 
the names of registered voters be marked for challenge; and also to attend, at all 
times for holding elections, the j)olls in such district or precinct. 

A. Whetber be read it or not, wboeyw read it read it in sucb a busi¬ 
ness-like way that I haA^e a very slight remembrance of it. I remember 
tbis: that it is said that superAusors bad no right to keep a poll-list in 
towns with less than twenty thousand inhabitants. 

Q. Tbis is the substance of what Avas read, is it not, according to your 
best recollection ?—A. It may be ,* I don’t know what be read, hardly. 

Q. He read from a book !—A. I think he pulled it out from an en- 
A^elope. 

Mr. Cameron. That didn’t prohibit him from keeping a tally-sheet. 

Mr. McDonald. It didn’t authorize him to. 

Q. Wasn’t General Kennedy’s manner kind and conciliatory!—A. 
Yes, sir; he spoke positively; there AAms no unkindness that I know of. 
He spoke positively and demandingly. 

Q. But was not his manner kind and conciliatory; there was nothing 
abrupt and rude in his manner, was there !—A. I cannot say much of 
the kindness of his manner, sir. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You say you saAv no tickets; how had the Bepublican Alters been 
furnished with tickets!—A. They attempted to have their tickets 
printed in town ; but there was a pretense, at least they have had rea¬ 
son since to believe it Avas a pretense, that something was broken 
about the printing-press, and they had to go to Columbia to haA^e their 
tickets printed. 

Q. The printing-press in your toAvn is OAvned by a Democrat, is it!— 
A. Yes, sir. 


588 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kershaw 


Q. Yon had the tickets printed, and they were distributed among the 
Eepnblicaus ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who distributed them ?—A. They were put in the hands of relia¬ 
ble men there to be distributed. 

Q. Into whose hands?—A. They were left at the house of Frank 
Carter the night before election; that was the general place of the 
distribution of tickets. The snpervisors that were going to the conntry 
each one took as many tickets as was supposed to be required at the 
conntry precincts. 

Q. Then there was no lack of tickets?—A. Well, sir, they said that 
they had 3,000 tickets for the conntry; whether there was enough or 
not, I had no certainty. Some persons did ask me for tickets, and com- 
l)lained of not being able to vote because they had no tickets. I cannot 
say Avhether there Avere enough or not. I know tliey had 800 or 1,000 
of those tickets which they got from Columbia, and that they had some 
that had been i)rinted in town, at the office of this Democratic paper; 
bnt I do not knoAV how many they had in all. 

Q. That was certainly tickets enough, if they had only 59 Alters. 
What did General Kennedy say to you Avith reference to keeping a tally- 
list ?—A. He told me I had no right to do so, and must stop immediately^ 
then he read this document, saying what was contrary, in substance, to 
my instructions. I knew that so far as the laAV is concerned he is gen¬ 
erally a man of authority, and he spoke so positively that I did not feel 
as if I had a right to go on. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. You stated that the Democrats formed a semicircle around the 
box in such a manner as to preA^ent the Eepublicans getting to it and 
voting ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long did they maintain that semicircle?—A. For a while. It 
seems that notAA ithstanding their vigilance, the Eepublicans had broken 
their ranks and commenced pressing in and Acting; then it Avas that 
they told me to go out and see could I not clear the Avay. 

Q. They maintained that semicircle for some time, until the colored 
people went aAvay ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. xAiid after the colored people had become discouraged and gone 
home, they broke up ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say an arrangement had been made to haA^e your tickets 
printed in Camden ?—A. Yes, sir; arrangements aa ere made. I did not 
make them. 

Q. And some Avere printed there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you could get no more, because you were told that the print¬ 
ing-press AA^as broken ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know that that Avas not so; that the press was not broken ?_ 

A. I was informed that it was not broken. 

Q. Then you do not knoAV except as some one had told you ?—A. The 
person Av ho made the arrangement concerning the tickets told me so. 

Q. They gave it as their suspicion ?—A. I do not know whether it was 
a suspicion or not. 

Q. All you knoAA^ is what others said about it ?—A. Yes, sir; I Avas 
told about a spring being broken. 

Q. They printed some of the tickets?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many of them?—A. I am unable to say. 

Q. Has not General Kennedy ahvays treated everybody kindly, col- 


County.] TESTIMONY OF J. H. JOHNSON. 589 

ored and white; is not that liis character ?—A. So far as I know; I have 
seen a great many kinder men. 

Q. Is that answering my question? I am speaking of General Ken¬ 
nedy. 

The Chairman. Is it worth while to go into the character of General 
Kennedy ? 

The Witness. I don’t know nothing against General Kennedy. 


Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

K. E. Blair recalled. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Did you see any tissue ballots at the box where you were 
supervisor?—Answer. After the box was opened, and the ballots.were 
being counted, I saw some. 

Q. How many?—A. I noticed as the tickets were held up they would 
call it straight Democratic, about two hundred of the tissue tickets. 

Q. What were they. Democratic or Republican?—A. They were called 
out as being straight Democratic. 

Q. Did you see any around there during the day?—A. Ko, sir; I did 
not see one. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You say you did not count them?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. When you say two hundred, you simply guess at it ?—A. I do. I 
only remember that they would frequently pick uj) one of these, and 
there was seemingly nearly as many of them as of the other kind. 


J. H. JOHKSOK. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

J. H. Johnson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Camden. 

Q. How long have you resided there?—A. That is my native place, 
Sir 

Q. How many voting places are there in the town of Camden?—A. 
Two. 

Q. You are supervisor out there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At which precinct?—A. At the court-house precinct. 

Q. Go on and state what the proceedings were there that day.—A. I 
arrived at the polls about six o’clock. I was detained outside about ten 
minutes by the commissioners and the supervisor of election; then I 
entered, took my list fTom my pocket, and attempted to take a list of 
the voters. General Kennedy came in and asked if I was the supervisor 
representing the Republican party. I told him I was. He said, ‘^AYhat 
are you going to do ? ” I said, I am going to keep a poll-list.” He said, 
“ as chairman of the State Democratic committee, I forbid your keeping a 
poll-list,” and added, “our supervisor keeps none and you cannot keep 
one here.” I said, “I have instructions sent me by the chief supervisor, 
and if he did not mean for them to be enforced I don’t think he would 
have sent them; I think he knew his duty.” General Kenned} said that 





590 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


(Kershaw 


came in his immediate line of business^ and he knew the law on the 
subject. On his insisting that I shonld not keep a poll-list, I left. Find¬ 
ing it vain to attempt to keep a poll-list, I seated myself in tlie window 
by the side of the poll-books. Just then a few Kepiiblicans came in and 
voted. In a short time after, however, the place Avas comi)letely ob¬ 
structed. The Democrats Jiad formed a complete semi-circle there, ad¬ 
mitting only those whom they could force to A ote the Democratic ticket. 
XoAV and then, at long intervals of time, a Eepublican could manage to 
work his Avay throngh, but had considerable trouble to get in. This 
opposition continuecl during the whole day. Several times men would 
attemi)t to force their way througli, but found it difficult. Efforts were 
made to keep them back, and sometimes threats were made. There Avas 
one row occurred. Wlien one A^oter started to come up a AAffiite man pushed 
him back and drew his pistol, telling him to come in farther. The up¬ 
roar became general for a aa hile. General Kennedy and others were out¬ 
side the fence, pretending to be trying to quiet them; but it was said 
that during that time, aa hen he was i)retending to quiet them, he Avould 
giA'e a nod of the head urging them on. 

By ]Vrr. Oaaiehon : 

Q. The authority of the chairman of tlie Democratic executiA^e com¬ 
mittee did not seem to be regarded much ?— A. Xo, sir. This opposition 
AA'as kept up until the Bepublicans found that it AA^as in Amin for them to 
try to get in and A^ote AAdthont great difficnlty, and they kneAV it would 
cause a disturbance if they tried to force their way in, so about twehm 
or one o’clock they thought it was best to leave, and a great many of 
them went away AAithout Acting, and iieAmr came again. About two 
o’clock there was hardly one to be seen. After they left of course the 
Democrats remoA ed the obstruction. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. How many colored people AA ere there that A oted ? — A. SeAmral 
hundred j it is a a ery large Acting precinct. They always poll most of 
the Azotes at that precinct; I liaA^e no idea of the exact number. 

Q. Go on and state Avhat further occurred. —A. At six o’clock the poll 
closed and they proceeded to count the Amte. The managers, after hav¬ 
ing prepared the tally-lists, opened the boxes and began to take out the 
votes, and according to the count of the managers —I AA^as not alloAA ed to 
keep a poll-list myself—there AA^re 888. They did not number the list. 
They first counted the ballots and found 880 , and then they counted the 
list and they had 888011 the iioll-listj they had found some tickets iii 
the box folded together, and the manager Avho was taking them out of 
the box said, ^^Here is another folded one,” and took them apart and 
destroyed one of these. Then they found an excess on the list of eight. 
They said they had thrown out that number, which ought not to luiAm 
been thrown out. I could not say exactly hOAV that AA^as. Several tissue 
ballots were found in the box. Then 1 began to think there aa us some¬ 
thing AA rong about the matter. 

Q. Did anybody attempt to account for the excess ?—A. There were 
eight cases in which they found two together. They took out folded 
ballots eight times. They counted over the poll-list and found they were 
lacking eight votes, and they had destroyed eight votes which they had 
found together. 

Q. Whaf was the result of the canvass of the vote ?—A. There Avere 
found 63 Eepublican votes, and, according to their count, the balance 
were Democratic. There AAmre some tickets there that could not be 
accounted for. 


CoiiDty.] TESTIMONY OF J. H. JOHNSON. 591 

Q. What kind of tickets ?—A. Tissue tickets j there was not one polled 
there that day. 

Q. How do yon know that'?—A. I know that because I heard one of 
the inanagers say, “What has become of the small tickets that were here 
in the morning f” And some one else said, “ I don’t know.” But when 
the count came behold they were there in the box. 

Q. How many tissue tickets were found in the box ?—A. About one 
hundred or more; they were very small ones. 

By Mr. Camron : 

Q. Were the tissue tickets Democratic or Republican tickets?—A. 
They were Democratic tickets j the Republicans had some of theirs 
printed and some written. 

Q. Were the judges Democratic or Republican?—A. Democratic. 

(^. What was the clerk ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. What has been the vote of that precinct heretofore ?—A. This was 
the lirst time I was ever there during the election. I don’t know. 

Q. How many tissue tickets were tliere in the box ?—A. One hundred, 
or more ; they did not take an account of them separately; they were 
counted with the others. I simply judge that there were one hundred, 
or more. 

Q. You said you thought there was something wrong; why did you 
think so ?—A. One thing that made me think so was this: I Avent down 
in the morning ten minutes after time. I iiupiired of one of the man¬ 
agers how many a minute they Avere Acting. He said they had been 
A’oting only one about eA^ery three minutes. As I had not been away 
more than "ten minutes, that Avould not make more than three persons 
AA ho had Amted; but there on the book there was a side or tAAm covered 
AA ith the names of A^oters. 

(^. There was Avhat ?—A. There AA^as a column or tAvo filled with the 
names of A’oters. Of course, according to his statement that not more 
than one person A^oted eA^ery three minutes, in ten minutes there could 
not have been voted more than three tickets. When these tissue tickets 
began to turn up I thought of that again, and Avas more certain that 
there was something wrong about the matter. 

Q. The tissue tickets were counted?—A. Yes, sir; together Avith the 
other tickets—just the same as the others. 

Q. Did you see any of those tissue tickets Amted during that day ?—A. 
Xot one Avas A^oted. I had my seat right by the poll-books from the timo 
I entered, and I stayed there until the polls closed that night. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. What county is Camden in ?—A. Tn Kershaw County. 

Q. How long have you lived at Camden ?—A. Camden is my birth¬ 
place. 

Q. Were you eA^er an officer of election before ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. How old are you now ?—A. I am 23. 

Q. Had yon ever attended an election there before ?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Had you eAxr A'oted there before ?—A. Xo, sir; I Avas aAA^ay last 

Where were you last year ?—A. I was at the Columbia University. 

Q. What did you say the vote at that precinct Avas ?—A. According 
to the count of the managers, it was 880 . There Avere 8 double ones 
throAvn out, because they were found together. * -r 

Q. What had been the vote at that poll in other years ?—A. I don t 

know, sir. 


592 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kershaw 


Q. Do you not know wlietlier it liad been as high as that before ?—A. 
Ko, sir; not to my knowledge. 

Q. You said just now tliat you knew that no tissue tickets had been 
voted that day; do you know of your own knowledge*?—A. I said that 
after I went in the room there was not; but you will remember I also 
said that I was ten minutes late in the morning. 

Q. How do you know that no tissue tickets were voted after you ar¬ 
rived there ?—A. Because I saw none, and I knew the size of the other 
tickets, and the tissue tickets found in the box were very much smaller 
than any that were voted there that day. 

Q. Coidd you see every one that was voted ?—A. I could. 

Q. And you did so ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you see every ticket that was in every voter’s hand as he 
voted?—A. I saw enough to see that they were larger than those tissue 
tickets. 

Q. The count of the vote began promptly at six o’clock, did it?—A. 
Just as soon afterwards as they could prepare the tally-sheets. 

Q. And the excessive vote was only eight ?—A. Only eight. 

Q. And the managers attempted to destroy the excess by taking out 
double ones and throwing one of them out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Y"ou say that being done you suspected something; what did you 
suspect ?—A. I began to suspect something in the morning when they 
would not let me keep a poll-list. 

Q. You said you had a suspicion immediately on the throwing away 
of those votes ?—A. 1 had some suspicion previous to that, sir. 

Q. What time in the day did the difficulty occur of which you have 
spoken?—A. I don’t know the exact time; I think about eleven or 
twelve o’clock. 

Q. After two o’clock you say the polls were quiet up to the close ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 


W. D. TRAUTHAM. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1879. 

W. D. Trautham sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you live?—Answer. In Camden, Kershaw County. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a lawyer by profession. 

Q. What connection had you with the organizatiou of the Democratic 
party in your county diu-ing the last canvass ?—A. I was chairman of 
tlie executive committee. 

Q. What part did you take on the day of the election at Camden ?—A. 
I was present at one polling-place and then at another; principally at 
the market precinct, directing the movements of the party, and exert¬ 
ing myself to preserve peace and order, and seeing that the election was 
conducted fairly. 

Q. State what took place under your own observation during that 
day; what occurred about the polls, the condition of the polls, &c.—A. 
Before the polls were opened I had a large number of Democrats go to 
each precinct. It had been customary for the Republicans to take pos¬ 
session of the ])olls at the time they were opened, or before, and hold 
them throughout the day, thereby enabling them to intimidate colored 
Democrats, make them vote their ticket, and prevent them from voting 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. D. TRAUTIIAM. 


593 


oiir ticlvet; so I liad quite a uuniber of Democrats—a liiintlred or two-— 
go to each precinct before the ballot-boxes were opened, and stay there, 
iny object being to hold possession of the polls until the officers of the 
law could get there, and have the way prepared. I well knew that if 
the Kepnblicans got there they would hold the poll, unless we dis¬ 
lodged them by collision, which, of course, we desired to avoid. Our 
lorces had scarcely arrived on the ground before the Republicans ap¬ 
peared 1113011 the scene also. This was some time before six o’clock. In 
tact, I overheard a conversation among colored .Republicans on the street 
corner before the polls were opened. One said, “ How long before we 
can get the market-hall precinct ? ” Another said, “ The time has come 
noAv, but Ave liaA^en’t got enough men; but Ave will go directly.” We 
had scarcely got in position before they came. Finding the market-hall 
precinct occupied they turned and Avent to the court-house precinct; 
but that Avas occupied also. They then Avaited aAvhile. After six o’clock, 
or as soon as it became light, in fact a little before it Avas quite light, they 
met in front of the court-house and made an effort to croAvdaAv^ay the white 
men aaRo Avere there. I saAV hundreds of colored men going from the 
court-house up the street, and very large numbers of them had in their 
hands bludgeons, hickory sticks, black-jack sticks, and different kinds 
of sticks recently cut, carrying them, in nearly ewery instance, Avith the 
large end down, showing that they meant business. They went to the 
market, and there the pressure began. This Avas a little "after six. I 
afterwards aa ent to the court-house, and the same pressure Av^as being 
made there. The pressure Avas so great that a man Avould be lifted 
off' his feet and raised out of the croAvd. This i3ressure continued for 
some time. The Republicans insisted that they Avere trying to preA^ent 
them from A'oting. I told them, being Avell accpiainted with many of 
them, that such Av^as not the case; Ave proposed that every man who 
Avanted to a- ote should A^ote; no obstructions Avould be throAvn into the 
Avay of any man. I asked them not to crowd, but to Avait until our men 
(^ould A^ote and get aAvay; but they croAAuled so bad that the men who 
had A^oted could not get out to get aAvay. I knoAV of one difficulty that 
occurred betAveen one man who AAms trying to get out and a maiiAvhoAvas 
trying to croAvd his AA^ay in, so as to vote. I urged the men to desist 
from croAvding and let me go in and speak to our i3eople and see about 
clearing the aa a,A\ I then Avent in toAvards the box, around which Avere 
four or fiA^e or perhaps six hundred colored men, but the colored peo¬ 
ple continued to croAA d, and they pressed me right smart, hurting me 
someAAdiat. This convinced me that they Avere not tryiug to get there 
for the purpose of A^oting, but to get possession of the polls. There were 
no officers of the hiAv^ that I could get hold of that Av^ould be efficient. 
This Avent on until nearly half past seven o’clock, (leneral Kennedy 
rode up to a little bridge near by and beckoned to me; I went to him. 
He asked me what time it aa as. i looked up and rem.arked it was seven 
and a half o’clock. He said, ‘‘What do you thiidv of the propriety of 
having the AA^ay cleared 1 said that I Avas just looking for him for the 
])uri)ose of asking the same question of him. He said, ‘H think AA^'e had 
better do it.” We went immediately and secured the seiwices of tAVO 
constables, who called to their assistance a trial justice, Dupas, and they 
AAxait to Avork to clear the aa ay. The croAA d aa ould not move; and they 
had to take a stiff plank, or, as it has been called, scantling, and push 
it against the croAAul, thus ])ushing the croAAxl back, and then admitting 
a number of voters at a time. I suppose about half past eight o’chxik, 
certainly not later than that, the polls weie cleared at the market, and 
from that time until the polls closed at half past six in the eA^ning, any 

38 H C 





594 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kershaw 


mail could have voted without molestatiou. I went sliortly afterwards 
to the court-house, and found that the polls there also had been cleared, 
the colored people having seemingly deserted it. I myself, during the 
day, voted several colored men who voted the Eepuhlican ticket. I did 
this to show them that I was not inclined to discourage them; that I 
was inclined to encourage them in voting whichever ticket they thought 
right. 1 wanted them, no matter what ticket they voted, to use their 
induence with me to help keep the peace at the polls. After the way 
was clear I saw several Kepublican voters, notably Frank Chestnut and 
Jack Peterson, who had been pressing me, and asked them if they had 
voted. They said I said, Go and vote.” They said, “We coidd 

not vote when we wanted to, and we don’t care to vote now.” I urged 
a great many to vote between nine o’clock in the morning and the after¬ 
noon. I suiipose I S]ioke to 15 or 20, but they would not vote. I heard 
one prominent Eepublican leader say he would not vote for a thousand 
dollars. 

Q. What Avas his name?—A. Ilis name was James F. Thompson. 

Q. You say that from nine o’clock to the close of the polls there was 
no such pressure as to i)revent any one who desired to A^ote from Asoting ? 
—A. From half past eight; certainly from nine. 

Q. What is your knowledge of the A^oting of the colored people as to 
whether any considerable portion of them a oted the Democratic ticket f— 
A. A A ery large number of colored people A^oted. 

Q. The Democratic ticket?—A. Well, of course I could not tell what 
ticket they all A^'oted; but I knoAv we haAX a number of colored Demo¬ 
crats in KersliaAv County. 

Q. Were they there that day ?—A. Yes, sir. They aa ere not organ¬ 
ized in this campaign; they said they preferred not to organize into 
clubs or anything of that sort. It was safer for them to a ote quietly, 
without becoming notorious in that way. I know of seA^eral of these 
men who were there. As a matter of fact, I know that a good many 
colored men did vote the Democratic ticket. I judge that they voted 
the Democratic ticket from the fact that it was so returned. 

What AA as the number of Azotes ])olled in Camden that day at both 
polls ?—A. BeiAveen sixteen and sev'enteen hundred. I don’t remember 
the number. 

Q. AVhat AA as the usual number of votes polled at Camden precinct in 
former elections ?—A. Tlie total has Availed from sixteen hundred to 
twenty-tAvo hundred. I suppose that would be about it. 

Q. That has been the usual vote there ?—A. At least sixteen hundred. 
I don’t thiidi it has been oA^er twenty-tAA^o hundred in any election. 

Q. Do you remember the number of votes polled there in 1870 ?—A. 
I Avas not in the State that year. 


By Mr. Caateroj^ : 

Q. What has the Eepubliean vote usually been prior to this last elec¬ 
tion ?—A. The Eepublican vote of 1870 AA as about 2,200 in round num¬ 
bers. 

Q. What Avas the Democratic vote ?—A. About eighteen hundred. 

Q. What AA as the Eepublican vote in round numbers at the last elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Seven hundred and something. 

Q. What AA’as the Dejnocratic vote ?—A. About twenty-seA^en hun¬ 
dred. 


Q. Did you have charge of the tickets of the Democratic 
county ?—A. I received and distributed them, 
v Q. From whom did you receive them ?—xV. From Messrs. 
' wson, of the NeAA^s and Courier. 


party in the 
Eiodan and 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. D. TRAUTHAM. 


595 


Q. Did yon receive any tissue ballots A. I did. 

Q. How did yon receive tliein I —A. I received them by mail. 

Q. From whom ?—A. From the same parties, Messrs. Dawson and 
Eiodan. 

Q. When did yon receive them!—A. About two weeks before elec¬ 
tion. 

Q. \\ hat did yon do with tliem ?—A. I distributed them among the 
peox)le; I xnit some at the box, and I gave them out to other parties, 
either to the supervisor or some of the managers, and put them in the 
vundows with the others for voters who might come up without tickets. 
Some I distributed in the crowd, and some I sent out to other voting* 
X)recincts. 

Q. Did you receive the ordinary Democratic ticket and the tissue 
ticket at the same time ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Which came first ?—A. The ordiiiarv ballot I think a day or two 
first. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Did they come by mail!—A. No, sir; a large package came by 
express. 

Q. How many tickets did you receive for the county ?—A. I think 
six or seven thousand. 

Q. How many tissue ballots did you receive ?—A. Five hundred or a 
thousand, I forget which. I should suppose about eight hundred. 

Q. Did you distribute all the tissue ballots ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How many ?—A. I siip^iose maybe one or two hundred are yet in 
my office. 

Q. What became of the rest ?—A. I distributed, I suppose, about six 
or seven hundred. 

Q. Do you remember the precinct at which you distributed the tissue 
ballots ?—A. I think I sent some to Flatrock and others to Bufialo. 

Q. Did you send any to other places ?—A. I will not be positive that 
I did. I don’t believe that I sent any to Listenby because I did not have 
an opportunity. 

Q. You spoke of voting a certain number of other men; that is an 
unusual ex])ression to me. What do you mean ?—A. Wallace Dickinson 
was making himself very active, so was Harry Kilton, and there was 
another whose name I don’t recollect just now 5 they had Kepublican 
tickets, and they were going to vote them, but could not make their 
way througii the crowd. 1 took them, forced my way through the crowd 
with them, giving them a chance to vote. They went in and voted and 
came out, and I believe they assisted me somewhat in keexiing the 
colored people quiet. 

Q. Tliey wanted to get in but found it difficult, and jmu interposed 
your authority and succeeded in getting them in ?—A. Yes, sir. I Avaiit 
to say that I believe that the Eexuiblicans were crowding and pushing 
tliere, not for tlie xmrpose of getting in to vote, but in order to keex) the 
way crowded so that others could not get in. 

Q. Did you vote a colored man by the name of Frank Carter?—A. 
No, sir ; but I heard that he voted the Democratic ticket. 

(^. Did you not assist in carrying him up ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Did you distribute those ballots the same as other ballots?—A. 
Just the same, sir. 

Q. Without any concealment?—A. None whatever; they were left 


596 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Kershaw 


about there, so that if anybody came up wanting a Democratic ticket 
he could have one. 

Q. Do you know anything about the scarcity of Republican tickets ?— 
A. I didn’t see any Republican tickets distributed. The oidy Republi¬ 
can tickets I saw were those of the men who held them in their hands. 
It was understood that Republican tickets were scarce. 

Q. How many Republicans voted in that precinct at the last election? 
—A. One or two hundred. 

Q. I mean at the precinct where you are.—A. I think a preceding 
witness testified correctly when he said 59; but I woidd not have recol¬ 
lected had he not refreshed my memory. 


J. M. CAXTEY. 

Charleston, S. C., Jannarij 24, 1879. 

J. M. Oantey sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. In Kershaw, in the town 
of Camden. 

Q. Were you at the election i)olls at Camden at the last election ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. In what capacity?—A. As supervisor at the courf-house precinct. 

Q. Who acted on the other side ?—A. James Johnson. 

Q. At what time did you go to the polls that day ?—A. About half 
l^ast four o’clock in the morning. 

How long did you remain there?—A. Until the votes were counted 
that night. 

Q. (live, as briefly as you can, a statement of what occurred during 
the day within your own knowledge, the manner in which the votes 
Avere received, any interference, if there was any, that preA^ented per¬ 
sons from Amtiiig, &c.— A. I was talking with James Johnson, ayIio was 
acting with me, in the morning, when I looked at my Avatch and found 
that it was five or eight, possibly ten minutes after six. AVe Avent in to 
the polling place. There Avere then some fi\"e or six names on the list. 
He pulled out a list and commenced to copy, asking me if I had some 
blanks. I said, no; I did not know I had to keep a list. He said he 
thought Ave had to. I told him I Avould go and see General Kennedy; 
he Avonld know. I Avent and saAv General Kennedy, and he said no, 
certainly I did not liaA^e to keep any. I asked him AYOuld he not Avalk 
in and explain to Mr. Johnson also. I said I did not care to keep a list 
unless I Avas called upon by laAV to do so. He came in and told John¬ 
son that a list had to be kept in cities of OA^er 20,000 inhabitants; but 
in cities of less than 20,000 inhabitants no list need be kept; so I didn’t 
keep any. AAY neither of us kei)t any poll-list that day. I thought that 
we could see the election carried on as fairly by Avatching the clerk as 
by keeping a list, and we did so all day. The polls Avere A^ery much 
croAvded, Avith Democrats particularly, until between eight and nine 
o’clock—not later than nine o’clock—Avhen they began to thin out; the 
polls were then clear, and scar(;ely anybody Avas there; not more than 
one or two at a time Avere present. From about six until half past eight 
or nine o’clock, Avhile the polls Avere croAvded Avith Democrats, the Radi- 

‘1 , ,^Bhed considerably, but there was no quarreling dr angry Avords. 
times General Kennedy rode to the opposite AvindoAV. The box 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. SHANNON. 


597 


was at tlie window nnderneatli tlie court-room. He rode around in front 
of the box and told the people not to crowd ; that there would be plenty 
of time for them to vote. Some leading Kadicals said, “ Come away ; 
let us go home.” I could see this. I didn’t leave the room more than 
once or twice all day. I heard some Eadicals say, Come away; let ns 
telegraph to Washington.” They were making pretend that they could 
not vote. A good many did go olf and went street. From half past 
eight or nine o’clock there was no crowding or pushing at all. 

Q. From that time to the close any one could have voted that wanted 
tof—A. Yes, sirj a great many colored people came up singly and 
voted. 

Q. Did yon see any considerable number of Republican tickets on the 
ground that day ?—A. No, sir. On the window there was a large pack¬ 
age of Democratic tickets. I didn’t see any Republican tickets, except 
in the hands of Republicans when they voted. Sometimes the general 
rode up and said, Re quiet; yon will all have an opportunity to vote.” 
Some asked him to stay there, because when he staid there ever^dhing 
went along well. He was very popular among the colored people there, 
and did much to keep the people quiet that day. 

Q. Gould yon form a pretty good judgment when yon saw a ticket 
what ticket it was ?—A. Very often I coidd; when it was put in the box 
rather openly. The Democratic tickets were red and the Radical tickets 
were bine ; but often a ticket was held in such a way that I could not 
tell what it was. 

Q. Did many* negroes vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. Yes, sir j and 
especially after the crowd went away. They came up singly and voted 
the I>emocratic ticket. 

Q. Did yon witness the count of the ballots after the polls closed !— 
A. Yes, sir; I counted them myself. They were handed to me after 
being counted, and I counted them again myself afterwards. 

Q. State whether the count was fairly made.—A. I think the vote 
was 880; but liow many of them were Democratic and how many Radical 
I cannot tell. 

Q. Were the votes taken out of the ballot-box and counted fairly?— 
A. Yes, sir; they were put on a small table; I was as near to it as I am 
to those books. Johnson was on the left keeping tally; the box was 
in front. The gentleman who counted laid them on the table in front. 
As he counted each pile, I took up the tickets and counted them over 
after him. 

Q. Do you know what the total vote polled at Camden at the previous 
election was ?—A. No, sir; that was the first time I had anything to da 
with an election at Camden. 


WILLIAM II. SHANNON. 

Charleston, S. C., January 24, 1870. 
William H. Shannon, Jr., sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where' do you reside ?—Answer. In. Camden, IveiMhaw 

County. . ^ . T 

Q. Were you at Camden at the last election ?—A. I was. 

(^. Did you hold any official position at that election ?—A. I did; I 
was supervisor at Market precinct. 

Q. Who acted as supervisor on the other side?—A. Mr. R. E. Blair. 



598 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN J878. 


[Kershaw County. 


Q. At wliat time did yon go to tlie polls that morning ?—A. Some¬ 
time before six o’clock. I went into the room and came out on the street 
again, as there was no necessity of my being there until the polls opened. 
I remained on the street until the clock struck six, and then returned to 
the polling place where I remained during the whole day, until the polls 
closed. 

Q. State how the election was conducted as to quietness and order^ 
and how the votes were received and counted ?—A. When the polls were 
opened there was a general rush, as there always is on such occasions. 
The crowd was particularly mixed ; they kept up as much confusion as 
possible, it seemed, for about two hours; then the men seemed to have 
exhausted themselves in pushing and sciouging, &c., and gradually 
gave way and seemed more willing to take things quietly. After ten 
o’clock the polls were not obstructed in any way. On several occasions 
I tried to have the way cleared, but if I had any authority as supervisor 
it was not respected by anybody. Several negro Eepublicans to whom 
I spoke, saying I was supervisor, said that was too thin; that they had 
had that tried on them too often. I could not convince any one that I 
was sui^ervisor. Then I retired to the room and staid there pretty much 
all day. 

Q. By whom was this crowding done principally ?—A. By a mixed 
crowd; there was about as much crowding by one party as the other, I 
think. Not knowing the politics of the persons in the crowd I can’t say 
which did the most pushing. 

Q. What kind of temper was preserved ?—A. Everybody seemed to 
be in perfectly good humor. 

Q. After ten, and iij) to the close of the polls in the evening was there 
any such crowd as to interfere with voting ?^A. From ten o’clock on 
to two the polls were clear; after two o’clock the voting was very light; 
after four o’clock I don’t supx>ose fifty votes were polled in all. Votes 
were polled then singly and at intervals of five, ten, and sometimes as 
much as twenty minutes. 

Q. Did you witness the count of the vote ?—A. I did. 

Q. Was that conducted fairl^^ or otherwise ?—A. It was conducted 
with i)erfect fidrness, sir. We were seated around a table about the 
size of this one; then the gentleman who counted the votes sat at the 
end of the table; the box was in front. As he lifted the tickets he held 
them up to the lamp and read them and put them in a pile on the table. 
The Bepublican supervisor was seated there, and his assistant, a man 
appointed by the Bepublican executive committee, sat just next to him 
between this supervisor and the box. 

Q. Two Eepublicans were seated nearest the box, and between that 
and the Democratic super\dsor ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. From where you were, you could see the count as it progressed ?— 
A.. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you say that it was fairly done ?—A. Yes, sir. 


BARNWELL COUNTY. 


FIFTH CONGEESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTIOI^ OE 1878. 









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B A RN WELr. COIJNT Y. 


FBED BIX. 

. ‘ Charleston S. C., January 28, 1879. 

Fred ^ix (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do yon live ?—Answer. I did Ih e at Blackville. I 
now live at Carolina Court-House. 

Q. Hid you take any x)artin the late campaign?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. State what yon did, and what occurred.—A. Early last spring I 
was appointed to act as chairman of the Bepublic'an execnti\'e commit¬ 
tee that there was there. A short time, four or hve weeks after my 
apiiointment, I undertook to organize the Bepuhlican party in various 
precincts in the county. I commenced in Blackville. I succeeded 
in organizing a club there. I think I organized it before the lead¬ 
ing Democrats there knew of my appointment. I organized that 
precinct very thoroughly. At once I sent letters to the differ¬ 
ent leaders of the Republican party in the county. For some two or 
three weeks, iierhaps four weeks or a month, I continued to communi¬ 
cate Avith them through the post-oftice, as I had done the last six or 
seven years during Avhich I have been a member of the Republican ex¬ 
ecutive committee. I found I could not get any letters through the post- 
office to any of the leading Republicans. I then adopted another plan; 
I sent a courier to the various precincts, instructing the Republicans to 
organize and to prepare for the county convention. Then the Democrats 
commenced to organize, OA^er in Red Oak, this military comiiany that 
other AA itnesses liaA'e testified to, under Captain Peebles and Dr. Miller. 
They rode up to Red Oak—I am sure that Dr. Miller was Avith them, but I 
am not so certain as to Captain Peebles—^ind broke up the meeting 
there; Avould not allow them to hold a meeting. Then the Republicans 
met at a coloied school-house. I AA^ent OA^erfrom Blackville myself. I 
had them moAX their meeting from the school-house up there, Avhere the 
club had been in the liabit of meeting for six or seven years, on to pri- 
.A^ate land, OAvned by some colored men. I had to get off* A^ery early that 
day. Dr. Miller and company came up there to the school-house. The 
colored Siiuday-school children were haAung a celebration. The Demo¬ 
crats thought it Avas a Republican meeting; they shot off pistols and 
carried off’ the dinner-baskets that some of the women and children had 
t^roAUsions in. They did not see any men there; they rode around OA’^er the 
precinct, and finally succeeded in finding Avhere the club met. They 
Avent over there, and there was a tremendous carrying on. They made 
threats Avhat thev Avould do, ])articularly what they Avould do Avith me. 
1 Avas over at the village. They told the club tliat they must stop; 
that tliey could not liaA^e any meetings; that they must not organize. 
Tliey frightened them so that they dare not have any meeting, and I 
neAW succeeded in organizing any colored clubs anywhere in that 
county, except in Blackville. 



602 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[IJarnwell 


Q. Why did you not succeed ?—A. The Republicans were not allowed 
to hold meetings; they were prevented by armed interference. 

Q. Were the colored ])eople desirous of having those meetings!—A. 
They were^ of course. Idie Republican State convention was coming 
off. I went back into the county and prepared for holding a political 
mass-meeting to come off* on the 11th of October. I sent out handbills 
(ialling a meeting. When the day arrived a tremendous crowd of colored 
])eople came to town; 1 suppose there must have beeu 2,500 or 3,000. 
There also came about 500 white Democrats—red-shirts. George Sted- 
man, who has been a witness here, had come home a few days before. 
On the 10th, the day before the meeting, he was talking to me about 
dividing time. He said he had been appointed by the county chairman 
as spokesman of the Democracy to confer with me in relation to divid¬ 
ing time. I said, ‘‘I don’t know as General Smalls would have any 
objection to giving up a ])art of the time if we were sure that we would 
be treated right.” I spoke to Mr. Smalls about it Avhen he arrived on 
the train. I don’t tl ink I returned to gi\"e Stedman any answer; I 
didn’t anyhow that evening. The next morning the red-shirts began to 
come in, in companies, till there were about 500 of them, well armed. 

I went to the colored Baptist church, but the croA\d was so very Ijjrge 
that from there I Avent OA^er to the colored school-house. The day 
before Ave had wanted to erect a Republican stand, but the men who 
owned the lumber refused to sell us any for that purpose. Therefore 
we made a stand of a wagon. As I got up to speak, a croAvd of red- 
shirts commenced riding up on horses, and crying out to the colored 
persons as they Avent by, ^Wou Avill land in hell before night.” This 
Avas before General Smalls got there. 1 had left him and Mr. Wheeler 
oA^er at my house. I went back and got General Smalls and Mr. Wheeler, 
and we returned to where the meeting Avas to take pla(*e. I asked Gen¬ 
eral Sjnalls to get up first, but he did not come ui). When 1 announced 
that Ave were ready to commence the meeting, here come a Avhole 
gang of red-shirts, riding right straight doAAii in front of the stand, 
and firing off* pistols and throAving brickbats and irons on the stand. 
I kept an eye on them, Avithoiit pretending to notice them. I was on the 
stand, and gaA^e directions to put the benches close together, and fix 
them in such a Avay as to keep the men on horses from riding up close to 
tlie stand. The colored men Avere sitting on the benches. The red-shirts 
rode their horses right on OA^er the benches and men, and came close up to 
the stand; 15 or 20 of them dismounted and ran right uj) on to the stand 
with their i)istols and—I don’t know AAliat they did not have. They 
threAV me off* the stand. I got back on the stand again, and again they 
succeeded in throAving me off*. They threw me off* from the stand three 
times. Just after they had throAvn me off* the third time, the Demo¬ 
cratic county chairman. Dr. Lartigue, said to me that if I would do* 
what 1 could to keep my people quiet he AAmuld do Avhat he could to keep 
the others quiet. He succeeded in getting these men off* from the 
stand. They had!dt one colored man with a piece of iron and knocked 
him down, and hurt him considerably. Tliey Avould not hear any¬ 
thing of Dr. Lartigue. They insisted there should be no speaking 
unless they could have a i)art of the time. I ])roposed to go to the 
colored church. Tliey said if I undertook that it Avould be the 
worst thing I exer did. In short, they demanded that the meeting 
should be held there, and not at the church. All this AARile the men 
on horses AAwe riding about, firing off* their pistols and threatening 
everybody. There were 15 or 20 colored men there Avith the red-shirts. 
They came through the croAvd asking AAdiere Avas General Smalls. They 


Couuty.] 


TESTIMONY OF FEED NIX. 


603 


rode lip within 5 or (> feet of liiin, when they fired oft their pistols— 
one pistol I know, for I saw it at the time it was aimed at treneral 
Smalls; and they kept on cursing him, saying that he should not speak. 
Finally, with the assistance of Dr. Lartigue, they were somewhat quieted; 
but they still insisted that they would have a part of the time. I said 
to Dr. Lartigue that I would go on with the meeting if he would guar¬ 
antee that there would be peace and that his party would not commit 
any violence. He then said that he could not give any such guarantee; 
that he Avas unable to control them. Then I said I would not hold the 
meeting. I went to Gleneral Bamberg and asked him to keep the peace; he 
was one of the militia officers there. He said he did not order out these 
men, and had no authority over them; I must go to Lartigue; he had 
ordered them out. I Avent to other leading men, but none of them would 
guarantee peace. But it was finally agreed that we should hold a meet¬ 
ing; that two llepublicans should speak and two Democrats. AVe com¬ 
menced the nieeting. After Major Lartigue had spoken, he got doAvn 
and Avent oft*. Whilst the Democrats were speaking, they all kept quiet; 
AA’hen the Kepublican speaking began the uproar began again, and they 
Avent to throwing brickbats and sticks. Then there came a party of 
about 100, and rushed right upon the stand. They brought u]) a man 
from Aiken, by the name of Gordon, Avho AAmnted to run for solicitor in 
the district; he AAmnted to make himself knoAvn to the people there, and 
said he Avas going to make a A^ery conseiwative speech, but there aa as no 
chance for anybody to say anything, and the meeting was broken up. 
During that evening there Avas a tremendous croAA d on the streets. 
About dark, while General Smalls and AVheeler Avere OA^er at my house, 
some coloi ed men came in Avho voted with the Democratic party. I Avas 
surprised to see them come. I went to the gate, and the colored men 
told me that the Democrats Avere fixing up to come to my house after 
General Smalls. A party of men had held a meeting that day, and had 
arranged something, the colored men Avho had come to warn me hardly 
kneAv AA hat, about General Smalls and Wheeler. The colored Democrats 
went aAvay, and sure enough, in about half an hour I saw a party of 30 
or 40 men at the corner of the street below, at the loAA-er end of the 
block that I lived on. One or two came right up to the gate. It Avas 
betAA'eeii 9 and 10 o’clock, and the moon was shining very bright. They 
came doAvn and stopped their horses at the gate. General Smalls Avas 
the first to see them. 1 closed the door. One of the men got oft*, came 
up to the door, and said they Avanted Avater. I asked him avIio he was- 
He refused to give me his name, but I kncAv him. I told him he must 
leaA^e. He insisted on croAvding his way into the house, but I told him 
for the third time he must leaA^e or abide the consequences. He left,, 
and I afterAAnrds found that lie Avent up toAvn and tried to raise a crowd 
and come again. The marshal of the toAvii could do nothing with them.. 
I went and got the intendant of the town. Major Izlar, to take General 
Smalls to the train. When Ave got there we found the platform so 
crowded that he could not take the train. The major did not go with 
us. He was said to be sick on that day; but he aa as Avell the next day. 
General Smalls could not get off on the train. Wheeler Avent down, 
aAvay beloAv the depot, and took a freiglit-train unobserved. General 
Smalls could not get to the railroad, ami had to come back to my house 
in an indirect Avay. Major Izlar met me on Saturday or on Monday, I 
forget which, ami told me he wanted to talk^Avith me about some mat¬ 
ters. I AA'ent around to his place, and he said to me that he Avanted to 
know the names of this ])arty that carried on in that Avay. He said he^ 
did not Avant such conduct to be laid to the respectable citizens of 


604 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Barnwell 


Blackville. But I kiieAV that tlie major Avas aspiring for some position 
in liis party, and I did not giA^e him tiie names. I did report the names 
to the proper antliority, A\diich I thought A^as the district attorney. He 
said that all the gentlemen of the toAvni A\^ere speaking a ery Avarmly of 
the AN'ay in Avhich the Bepnblicans had behaved themselA'es. Tavo col¬ 
ored men Avere knocked down in the streets by the red-shirts in the 
presence of Smalls and myself. 

On the day of election I AA^ent out Awy early in the morning. The 
colored inen came in very ra^iidly. I began .distributing tickets, Avhen 
the major came to me and asked me to show him the ticket I had. I 
showed him a Bepnblican ticket; he asked me for one and I gaA^e him 
one. He asked me could I a ote his ticket or part of it. I told him 
I thought I could vote for some of them if he could giA^e General 
Smalls a Auite. After a while he said he could not do that. We got 
to talking, and I said if he could vote for General Smalls I would Amte 
for General Hagood. He asked me if I could not Amte for Hampton. 
I said “No, not on any consideration.” I looked upon General Ha¬ 
good as the best man on the ticket, and would liaA^e been Avilling to 
A'ote for him. About 10 o’clock they found the Bepnblicans were 
condng into toAAUi rapidly, nearly three Bepnblicans to one Demo¬ 
crat. Then the Democrats sent out couriers. I saw them going 
out of the village. I have talked Avith some of the gentlemen since. 
They have told me what speed their horses made that day. The Acting 
was done in an old store building. The door Avhere the Amters went in 
stands about here. [Witness proceeded to describe the location of the 
doors, AA indows, ballot-box, managers, supeiwisors, clerks, &c.] By and 
by the men aa ho had gone out on their horses came back AAdtli a great 
many more men on more horses. Then a i)arcel of Avhite men rode right 
up into the door, alloAAung no colored men to get to where the managers 
of election Avere, or to get near enough so that the managers could hear 
them. 1 came up and they kei)t me out for a AA^hile. Finally, there came 
up a croAvd of white men, and I AA'orked my Avay through AAuth them; but 
the moment a Bepublican or a colored man did succeed in getting in there 
the others AAmuld immediately collect around him, electioneering, catch¬ 
ing hold of him, pulling and liauling him, snatching his ticket from him, 
exchanging tickets, and doing eA^erything they could. Mr. Stedman 
Stood at the door; I don’t knoAv what he Avas doing there, AA^hether he 
was a State officer or not. If there Avas one there Avere three hundred 
colored men that Avere not alloAved to get in there at all that day. There 
Avas no x)ossible AAmy for them to get in. 

Q. What AAms the result of the election '?—A. Tlie Bei)ublicans had a 
majority of 30 or 31. 

Q. What AA^as the result in the county ?—A. That AA^as the only box in 
the county that gaA^e a Bepublican majority. 

Q. AVhat AA^as the Amte of that county ?—A. 1 supiAose betAveen 4,600 
and 4,700. ’ 

Q. What was the Democratic majority in that county at the last elec¬ 
tion ?—A. Three thousand one hundred or 3,200. 

Q. What Avas the vote in 1876 ?—A. A little over 6,000. 

Q. Is it a Bepublican or a Democratic county ?—A. It is a Be 4 )ubli 
can County. 

Q. If you can, give me the vote of this county in 1876.—A. I don’t 
think I can. 

Q. Can you tell me aa hat the colored i)opulation is !—A. It is about 
4,500 or 4,600. 

Q. The ])eox)le ?—A. No, sir; the colored A^ote. 


Couuty.l TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM RILEY. 605 

Q. What is the iJemocratic vote ?—A. Three thousand and one or two 
liundred. 

Q. What is the Democratic majority as rei)orted at the last election?— 
A. Sometliing over 4,000. 

Q. While you were around in the county, what was the disposition of 
the colored i^eoide'as to voting the Itepuhlican ticket; were they as 
strongly in favor of the Kepublican ticket as usual ?—A. More so than 
ever, vsir. I could not go all around the county to save my life. 

Q., But, as far as you went, you found them as strongly in favor of the 
Bepublican ticket as usual?—A. Yes, sir; the people, if let alone, would 
have voted the Kei)ublican ticket. The other side might have said and 
done what they pleased, but the colored men Avould have voted the Ke¬ 
publican ticket at the polls. 

Q. Do you know that some witnesses have testified before the com¬ 
missioner?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Do you know that afterAvard they were not allowed to return 
home ?—A. Yes, sir; there were several avIio testified before the United 
States court, and when the court adjourned they could not return home. 

Q. Why not?—A. Warrants were got out against them for perjury 
on account of Avhat they had SAvoru before the United States commis¬ 
sioner. 

Q. At Columbia?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For hoAV many of tliese men did they get out aa arrants ? —A. For 
three or four; the trial justice told me they had out AAnrrahts for more 
than that ; and I knoAV there Avas, for there was one taken out for my¬ 
self. 

Q. Did you make an affidavit?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Before whom ?—A. Before the United States commissioner; I am 
under bonds now. 

Q. Why ?—A. I am charged with perjury in one of these cases. 


WILLIAM KILEY. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28’, 1870. 

William Kiley (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—AnsAA^er. In Barnwell County. 

Q. What are your x>olitics ?—A. I generally Amte with the Kexnibli- 
can party; but I did not at the last election. 

Q. Why did you not at the last election ?—A. I didn’t Amte at all at 
the last election. 

Q. Why did you not vote ?—A. I had tAA o or three reasons. First, 
the night betbre the election came oft' 1 was standing in front of the 
club- 

Q. AVere you president of the club ?—A. Yes, sir. They came up 
that night before the meeting- 

(^. AVho came up ?—A. The Democrats did, and took me out and gave 
me a thundering thrashing; I liaA^e got the scars on me. 

Q. Who took you out ?—A. Some of the Democratic party—some of 

these Ku-Klux. * t i 

Q. I mean what were their names; do you knoAV them ?—A. I tliink 

I knoAV some of them iiretty Avell. 





€06 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Barnwell 


Q. Go on Avitli your story.—A. They rode up to the door of iny place; 
I was out cutting’ some light-wood. As soon as ever I found myself they 
had surrounded me. They asked who lived there. I said, AVilliain 
-Riley.” They said, Does this place belong to you I said, Yes.” 
They said, “You are the very damned rascal we are hunting for.” And 
the next tiling there was pistols all around me, and men threatening to 
blow my damned head otf. Then they took me and carried me a quarter 
of a mile, and tore all my clothes off from me, and tied me up to a tree— 
tied up both hands this way (illustrating). ]\Iy children came after me, 
and they shot at them with a double-barreled gun. 

Q. What do you meanj the men shot at your children, or your chil¬ 
dren shot at the men'?—A. My boys came after me, and the man that 
they had out on picket shot at the boys, and b}" the ffash of the pistol 
the boys saw where they were and shot at them. Then they left, leaving 
me tied; but after a while, thank the Lord, I got loose and my children 
got to me. I went back home and got some more clothes. 

Q. You say they tore off' your clothes ?—A. Yes, sir; they stripped 
me as naked as when I was born into this world. They tied me up with 
my hands to a tree. 

Q. AYhat did they say to you ?—A. They said, “ You want to vote for 
Smalls, to-morrow; but, God damn you, you will vote in hell.” 1 thought 
1 would stay home the next day; but next morning the club said they 
would not go to the polls unless I did, so I went with them. 

Q. How many of them were there ?—A. I suppose I had 00 or 100 
men. 

Q. All colored!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVell, what did you and your men do!—A. We went up as close to 
the polls as we could get, and we staid there until after twelve o’clock. 
I sent one of the boys in to ask whether we could vote or not; the place 
was all covered. 

Q. What do you mean by “ covered”—covered with what!—A. AATth 
people; I suppose there were 300 or 400 of them there. 

Q. AYaiting to vote !—A. Yes, sir. I didn’t count how many. At one 
o’clock, or half past one, I went myself, and I said, “ Gentlemen, are you 
going to let us vote or not!” They said they would let us vote wlieii 
they got ready. Some of them said, “ You may vote at nine or ten 
o’clock to-night, and not before.” Others said that we should not vote 
at all. 

Q. AA"ho said these things to you !—A. AAdiite men. 

Q. AA^ho were the managers of election there !—A. I don’t know. 

Q. AYere they Democrats and white men !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYere white men voting there that day!—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AA^as tliere plenty of room and time for anybody to vote !—A. I 
thouglit there was plenty of time for all to get through*. 

Q.. Did the white men vote Avithout any trouble !—A. Yes, sir; they 
came there very early and calculated to vote first, before us. They kept 
tlie door clogged, and kept standiijg crowded in front of the door. There 
Avere tAvo doors, a back door and a front door; and AA’hen we went to the 
back door tliey told us to go to the front door, and wlien we aa ent to the 
front d()or they kept that clogged so that Ave could not go in; and they 
said, “You shan’t go in.” Tlien tliere AAms a parcel of men on horses, 
Avlio rode up witli their horses’ heads right in the door and their tails 
aAvay from the door, so that AA^e could not get through. 

Q. AA^ere the men armed !—A. They were. Some of them I coidd see, 
and some of them, no doubt, had pistols in their pockets that Ave could 
not see. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM RILEY. 


607 


Q. How loii^ were these men there ?—A. Some ,c:ot there at twelve or 
one o’clock and some before. I set off for home between one and two 
o’clock. 

Q. How lon^ were tlie liorsenien in front of the door ?—A. There was 
one parcel went there in the morning diretdly after the polls were opened 
and staid there all the forenoon, and another parcel came about twelve 
o’clock and staid until I went away. 

Q. How many persons said that you could not vote?—A. The whole 
pai ty said so. 

Q. Did any of the men with you vote ?—A. One man said that he 
voted. When we first went there I sent a man in to ask whether there 
was liberty for us to vote or not, and when he came back he said he had 
voted. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What poll was that ?—A. It was at Barker’s ^Vlill, sir, in Barnwell 
County. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. How far do you live from the poll ?—A. About three and a half or 
four miles. 

Q. How long was it before the election that these men surrounded 
your house and took you out and whipped you ?—A. The night before. 
The election was Tuesday, and they took me out on Monday night. 

Q. How many of them do you think there were?—A. I could not tell. 
It was in the night. I should say there was between sixteen and twenty- 
five. There Avas a good many. I have the testimony that some of them 
were colored; but I haA^en’t yet tested it. 

Q. I Avas going to ask hoAv many of them Avere Avhite? —A. Some of 
them were colored. I haA^en’t piOA^ed it out yet; but I anticipate when 
court calls I can proA^e it. 

Q. Hoav many Avwe colored and Iioav many were Avhite ? —A. I can’t 
tell that. I could not tell exactly aa iio they Avere. 

Q. What kind of a night AA^as it; a dark night ?—A. ^To, sir; the moon 
Avas an hour or an liour and a half high. 

Q. Could you tell a AAdiite man from a colored man ! —A. I think that 
the colored men kept themselves back and the AAdiite men came in front. 

Q. Was it not light enough so as to see whether they were Avhite men 
or colored ?—A. Yes, sir; but I was a mighty scared man, and the way 
that I Avas hampered and dragged along, and with being whipped, I 
didn’t take notice of things as I might. 

Q. Were any of them masked ?—A. I don’t think so. They had on 
some kind of caps, but I think they AA^ere not niasked. While they were 
beating me I looked at them eA^ery noAv and then AAhen the licks would 
be falling, and them that Avas putting the licks on to me was white men. 

Q. You were quite certain that there AA^ere Avhite men among them ?— 
A. Yes, sir; I think so. 

Q. Hoav many did you say belonged to your company ?—A. There 
Avere on the list 85 or 90. I am pretty certain I had 100 in all. 

Q. AVhere did the club meet next morning ?—A. At my house, sir. 

Q. All these people that you spoke of met at your house ?—jA. Most 
of them met at my liouse. Some of them fell in with us as they Avere 
traA^eling on tiie road that hadn’t been to my house before. 

Q. Hoav long after the polls opened before you went to see if they 
Avould let you A^ote ?—A. We went right up to tlie doors. 

Q. Tlie polls opened at six o’clock, dkl they not?—A. No, sir; they 
said the polls aa ere not ready yet AA^hen aa e got there. 


608 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Barnwell 


Q. What time was that ?—A. Between seven and eight in the morn- 
ing. 

Q. The polls were not opened yet !—A. ^To, sir. 

Q. Howmear did yon go !—A. As near as Ave eonld get. 

Q. Ilow near to the i)olls did yon get!—A. Within eight or ten steps 
of the door, sir. 

Q. Were there any ])ersons there then besides the party that came 
A^dth yon !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What number of other people Avere there !—A. 1 could not tell. 

Q. Tell as near as yon can.—A. I did not exactly notice. 

Q. Yon (‘an form some judgment as to Avhether there Avere 50 or 100!— 
A. O, there Avere not that many, sir. 

Q. Bid yon ask the managers if you could A ote there then !—A. At 
last I did. 

Q. But at the first time did yon?—A. Xo, sir; I sent a young man 
in; his name aa as AndreAV Dickinson. He Avent in to see aa hether there 
Avas a chance to Amte. 

Q. And he a oted !—A. Yes, sir; then he came back to me and said 
that they said the polls Avere not ready. 

Q. Wiiat did yon say your company did then !—A. We staid there 
a little piece from the polls. 

Q. At AAliat time did yon go to the polls yourself!—A. Between one 
and two o’clock; a little after one, I think. 

Q. Then from seA^en or eight, to tweh^e or one, yon did not make any 
effort to A Ote!—A. I didn’t. There were many men there that day who 
A\ ere trying to. They Avent and asked leaAx to vote, and they said no. 

Q. Yon did not ask for yourself ?—A. No; not for myself, but I might 
speak names of them that did. 

Q. Yon and your club remained there from seA en in the morning until 
12, and during all tliat time yon made no effort to a ote ?—A. Yes, 1 
did, sir. 

Q. Did yim go up there yourself !—A. I did. 

Q. And asked permission to Amte!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Of AAhom did yon ask permission!—A. Of the poll-holder. 

Q. The manager !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who was he!—A. I don’t kuoAv his name; I didn’t know any of 
the managers. 

Q. Did they not live there in that neighborhood!—A. They might, 
but I didn’t knoAV them. 

Q. What did yon say to them !—A. I just asked, ^‘Hoav long, sir, be¬ 
fore we can Aa)te ! ” 

Q. Yon did not know either of the managers!—A. No, sir. 

Q. They liA^ed there in that neighborhood, did they not?—A. I don’t 
knoAV where they li\xd, sir. 

Q. And the man yon addressed said you could iiotAmte!—A. Y"es, 
sir. 

Q. AVere other colored men Amting that day!—A. No, sir. 

Q. None at all !—A. None but the man I sent in. 

Q. AVas he the only colored man that voted there that day!—A. I 
heard of another, but this man told me to my own hearing that he voted. 

Q. When yon and your club Avere sitting there, did not a good many 
colored men go up and Amte !—A. No, sir. 

Q. I mean colored men that did not belong to your club!—A. No, sir; 
others tried, and came back and said they could not vote. 

Q. Did not these men who took yon out and whipped yon the night 
before election accuse yon of crime !—A. No, sir. 





, Ooiiiity.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM RILEY. 609 

Did they not accuse you of stealiug ?—A. Nary mau of South 
Carolina can do that, sir. 

Q. Did they not say that you had been stealing?—A. No, sir: they 
said, ^AVe hear that you are at the head of a club that is going to vote 
lor Smalls to-morrow, and you shall vote in hell first.” 

Q. Did not these colored men who were along accuse you of killing 
hogs in the range somewhere, or something of that kind A. No, sir; if 
they did I didn’t hear, and I haven’t heard yet, sir. I feel myself too 
much of a gentleman to kill anybody’s hog except my own. 

Q. I did not accuse you of it; I asked if they did not accuse you of 
I these things.—A. No, sir; they never said a thing of the kind. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you own a place?—A. I hav^e a jilantation of my own, sir. 

Q. How long have you lived on it ?—A. For four years. I have owned 
it five years. 

Q. How many strokes did these men give you ; how many times did 
they hit you?—A. 1 don’t know; I didn’t count them. 

Q. I did not suppose you stopiied to count them, but- A. No, sir; 

I didn’t have time. 

Q. You hallooed, didn’t you?—A. Yes, sir; you bet 1 hollered. 

Q. Can you state about how many times they struck you ?—A. I don’t 
suppose they give me more than fifteen or twenty before they ran away. 

Q. Did they draw blood?—A. O, yes, sir; they cut right into my 
flesh. I can pull down my breeches and let you see the scars now, if 
you want to. 

Q. Do you know any of these men who did the whipping ?—A. No, 
sir; but the man that ke])t picket when he fired the pistol at my little 
I boy, my children got close enough to prove liim; he is the one that 
got- 

; Q. Did you know the man who struck you ?—A. I don’t think I could 
qualify and swear to him, sir. 

Q. Were they all white?—A. All the three tliat were whipping me 
were white. 

Q. Wliat did they whij) you with ?—A. With sticks; I have got them 
I home now; if you had said you wanted them 1 would have brought 
' them with me. 

Q. You say you staid out all idght ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Without your clothes?—A. No, sir; when they were skeered and 
run oft‘, I came back towards the house and came tlirough the swamj), 
and my little girl came from the house, and said, Nobody is here to 
hurt you.” I said to her, Give me a blanket,” and she brought it to me, 
and.I wrapped that around me; just then I thought 1 could hear horses 
coming, and I ran and went into the woods. 

Q. Did tliey comeback again that night?—A. No, sir; not that night. 
My boys was all awaked then, and it would not have been well for them 
to come back. 

Q. How old are your boys ?—A. One is married and has a wife and 
young child; one is old enough to be married but he ain’t; he is about 
eighteen; and one is twelve years old. 

Q. What time of night was it when they came ?—A. It was between 
twelve and one o’clock in tlie niglit. 

39 s c 


I 





610 


SCtUTH CAROLINA IN 1H78. 


Bainwell 


J. STEDMAX. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

J. Stedman (wliite) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Eandolpii : 

Question. In what county do 3011 reside?—Answer. In Barnwell 
County. 

Q. How long have you resided there ?—A. About twelve years. 

Were 3^011 present at the meeting at Blackville on the 11 th of Oc¬ 
tober?—A. I was, sir. 

Q. Will yon be good enough to state to the committee, as briefly as 
3 mii can, what occurred that da 3 "?—A. On the morning of the llth, 
about half past ten o’clock. Dr. Lartigue, the county chairman, asked me 
if I would go with a party of gentlemen and ask the chairman of the 
Bepublican meeting to divide time with the Democrats. They selected 
me as spokesman of the committee on that occasion; and he said that if 
we would wait until the train came, about eleven o’clock, we could find 
out more definitely who the speakers would be, &c. After the train ar¬ 
rived we found out those who had come and who would probabl 3 ^ be the 
speakers, and I took the gentlemen with me to the cluirch, where I un¬ 
derstood they were going to speak. When I got inside there was quite 
a crowd of colored people and some few white people there. I saw Fred 
Nix, junior, on the wagon, Avhich was the stand, and he was speaking 
about the time we got there. We found some young men on the wagon 
apparentl 3 " interfering with ^Ir. Nix. We got upon the wagon and asked 
the 3 mung men to get down and not to interfere with the speakers at all, 
and told them that they weie not exj)ected to interfere with the Eepub- 
lican speakers, and we succeeded readil 3 ^ in getting them off the stand. 
We assured Nix on the stand that the white people would not interfere 
with the speaking, and if it had been done as he said it had, it was by 
men under the influence of whisky, and that it was not intended by the 
white people to interfere with the meeting. I said he might go on with 
his speaking. About that time I told him I was selected as spokesman 
by a committee appointed to ask him to divide time, and that we would 
be glad toput iq) speakers upon the occasion, lie said he would let me 
know after a wliile. We got down off the wagon and waited for 
him. Eventually Dr. Lartigue asked me to go and And Mr. Nix. I 
didn’t And him at first in the school house. 1 inquired for Mr. Smalls, 
and he was pointed out to me, and I went to him and I said I understood 
he was to be one of the speakers on the occasion, and that I was spokes¬ 
man of a committee to see if he and the other speakers would divide 
time. He said, well, he had no objections to dividing time; that he had 
been interfered with, and he didn’t know that he would be allowed to 
speak at all. 1 told him I didn’t see much of a disturbance, and that if 
there had been it would not liaiipen again, and that it was by some men 
who were under the influence of whisky. 1 told him I had no idea but 
wliat tlie general feeling of the ])eople present was that they were dis¬ 
posed to hear whoever would speak. He said he would see and let me 
know, and then asked me if I would assure him that he would not be 
hurt. I told him of course I could do that with safety; that I was sati - 
fled there was no intention on the part of anybody to hurt him, but of 
course there were some men 3^11 could not control. Presently Mr. Nix 
came in, and I then asked Mr. Nix a question in regard to dividing time, 
and he objected. I said there was no use of objecting, and that we sim¬ 
ply wanted to do what was right. Mr. Smalls says, Well, Nix, you have 


Coimty.J 


TESTIMONY OF J. SIEDMAN. 


6ll 


the say -80 in tlie matter, but I have no objection at all.” Then the 
question came iq), who were the speakers ? And I named over several. 

Well,” he said, ‘‘we will agree to it if you will keep your men on one 
side, and we will keep the colored men on the other side.” I told him 
certainly; I told them I would go and tell the county chairman, and I 
went ami aiinonnced the fact to him. He got up on the wagon and 
announced it to the people present, and told them what the agreement 
was, and he wanted everybody to agree to it and make no disturbance but 
allow every man to make a speech. They were to have theoi>eningaud 
closing, and two each. Mr. Wheeler got iq) first. Everything x)assed 
oft* quietly daring the speaking, except you always find in a large meet¬ 
ing of that sort some men who would get drunk, and young men would 
question the speakers; but there was no disturbance. The only disturb¬ 
ance during the speaking was that some one threw a small riding switclq 
and the switch hit Smalls while he Avas speaking near by the stand; and 
Ave told the young fneTTTEey must behave themselves. Smalls said it 
didifit do anybody and harm, and went on si)eaking, and got through. 
The croAvd dispersed very quietly, and so far as I saAV during the even¬ 
ing there Avas no disturbance whatever. I did understand that one 
colored man got struck Avith a brickbat. I don’t know aa here or under 
^vhat circumstances. 

Q. But there was no general difficulty or riot!—A. ^^To, sir; nothing 
of that sort, that I saAv. 

Q. No serious injury, so far as you know of, to any man, black or 
white'?—A. None I saAv. 

Q. Did Sm<\lls complain, at and after the meeting, of any serious dis¬ 
turbance f—A. None at all. Smalls made his speech as quietly as a 
man could. 

Q. Did Nix complain of anything ?—A. I think Nix took a seat on 
the Avagon and remained there all the meeting near me; and on one occa¬ 
sion one man came uj) and said something that he took offense at, and 
he got up and spoke to Lartigue, and the doctor made the young man 
get oft* of the stand. 

Q. That is as serious a matter as occurred—A. That is all; but I 
don’t consider it as serious. The only thing I considered serious was 
that those young men got on the wagon; I sui)xmse four or five. 

Q. Tliey had been drinking?—A. Yes, sir; most of them were tight. 

Q. Were you at the polls on election day ?—A. I was. 

Q. Where ?—A. At BlackA ille. 

Q. What sort of day did you have there; was it a quiet day ?—A. 
Very quiet, indeed. 

Q. Did every man liaA^e an ox)X)ortunity to Amte ?—A. Every man that 
desired to do so. 

Q. Were you there all day ?—A. Yes, sir; I Avas not absent more than 
fiA e minutes. 

Q. If there had been any considerable number of voters turned aAvay 
from tliat ])oll Avould it IniA^e attracted your observation ? A. It cer¬ 
tainly AA^ould. • 

Q. You saAv no large number ?— A. I siq)X)ose there Avere five or six men 
that did not get to A^ote. There were some that came doAvn on the train 
Avhich came from DJaAV at 11 o’clock, and quite a number of colored men 
came doAvn from tliat Avay, and some AAdiite gentlemen came doAvn stat¬ 
ing that they had Amted at Lake and Williston, and some were not 
alhiwed to vote because they Avould not swear that they had not voted. 
One man SAVore he had not voted and, was alloAved to Amte ; and one man 



612 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Baruwell 


said lie was willing' to swear that he had not v^oted, and of course the 
managers suffered him to vote. 

Q. Now, it has been stated here tliat a very large number of colored 
voters were turned away from the poll, a number equal perhaps to 300. 
—A. That is not so. T say that under oath, it is not so. I staid in 
the door all day except for half an hour or three-quarters of an hour in 
the morning. There was a considerable of colored people at the door 
in the morning, and no number of white persons at the door at all. The 
colored people got the sfart. 

Q. You are very sure that no number of colored men were turned 
away from the polls that day ?—A. No, sir • no number. I do say that 
two men were not allowed to vote. 

Q. It has been testified that Kobert Smalls was not allowed to leave 
Blackville on the train after the meeting of the 11th. Do you know 
anything about that 1 —A. 1 don’t know anything about it at all. I have 
no idea that such is the case. 

Q. You have no i<lea that he was detained except at his own discre¬ 
tion ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. As to the colored vote of that county, are there many Democratic 
colored voters!—A. 1 suppose so from every indication. There are 
colored Democratic chd)s organized throughout the county, of course. 
I have not been at their meetings and I could not say how many. 

Q. You think a considerable number of them ?—A. I suppose so from 
what I have heard. In regard to Smalls leaving Blackville, I have 
lieard gentlemen say that he was not disturbed, but went rigid off on 
the train asking no one and l^idding x)eople good-by. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. When did Smalls leave ?—A. 1 was told on the train. 

Q. He did not leave in the evening, that you know ?—A. 1 don’t 
know, only from hearsay, when he left. 

Q. Y^ou know only from hearsay that he was not interfered with ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not see him when he left ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. AYhen did you hear that, he went off and took the train ?—A. A 
day or two after he left. He i)ublislied in the iiax)er that some one threw 
a bolt of iron when he left, but I made an inquiry to find out if it was so, 
and I found out it was not so. There were plenty of people saw him 
leave. 

Q. When did the Democrats call the meeting at Blackville ?—A. I 
don’t know, sir. 

Q. Did they give any public notice that a meeting would be held at 
that time ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Have you not ascertained ?—A. I don’t know whether they called 
a meeting or not. 

Q. Did you hear any call for a meeting at that time by the Demo¬ 
crats?—A. Not to my memory. 

Q. Have you any memory "about it ?—A. None at all. I don’t know 
it to be a fact at all. I had nothing to do with the machinery in run¬ 
ning the campaign at all. 

Q. How did so many Democrats happen to come in on that day?—A. 
\Yell, of course, during the canvass there was a good deal of excite¬ 
ment about the election, and each party was watching the other pretty 
close, and didn’t want the other to get the advantage, and of course 
whatever was to be seen, men were anxious to see. 


1 TESTIMONY OF J, STEDMAN. 613 

Q,. Is it not a tact that the llepuhlicans called a meeting to be liehl at 
Black\ ille that day ?—A. I can’t say that I know that to be a fact. 

Q. Wliat (lid yi^u nnderstand about it ?—A. I understood there was 
to be a Uepublican meeting on that day. 

Q. By whom were the Democratic speakers invited to be there that 
dayf—A. I can’t say. 

Q. AVhat Demo(iratic speakers atbmded ?—A. The only Democratic 
speakers who made a siteecli were those who lived there in town. After 
the meeting was adjourned l)y the K(‘publican chairman, a gentleman 
from .yken (Jounty mad(‘ a few remarks, who was not invited to speak. 

You stated in your testimony that you could not get the names of 
the speakers of the Republican party until the train came in?—A. I 
understood that some s])eakers were anticii)ated, and Dr. Lartigue told 
me to wait till after the train came in and then I would be able to know 
what speakers would be there. 

Q. Is it not a fact that the Republi(*ans (*alled a public meeting to be 
held that day ?—A. I understo(nl so. 

Q. And that the Democrats did not call a meeting, but assembled 
there in large numbers?—A. I don’t know whether there was any call 
or not. 

Q. You are a leading Democrat there, are you not?—A. Idcm’tknow. 

Q. Do you consider yourself so?—A. Well, 1 can’t say as I am any 
lemling Democrat. 

Q. You were a spokesman for the Democrats at the time you men¬ 
tioned?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You proposed there should be a division of time ?—A. I asked if 
they would permit a division of time. 

C^. What reply did they make?—A. They consented, especially 
Smalls; and Nix at first refused but finally consented. 

Q. You said in your testimony that when you x)roposed it to Nix he 
did not readily consent—that he objected ?—A. I told jmu that he said 
he was interfered with, and how could we exjiect a division of time when 
they had been interfered with. I told him that was nothing* but some 
boys, and 1 knew the boys would be quiet then. 

You thought it woidd not ann^unt to anything if these young men, 
as you called them, took temporary possession of the stage ?—A. Well, 
1 don’t think they took possession of the stage. 

Q. Did you not state so ?—A. 1 stated they got on the stage. 

Q. What did they do ?—Well, they got on the stage. I oidy got there 
after the meeting (iommenced, and Avhen 1 got there I found the young 
men interfering with him. I told him not to be disturbed ; that 1 did not 
have any idea that the thing would occur again, and that 1 was satisfied 
the peox)le wanted a quiet meeting. 

Did you say to Nix the day before the meeting to this effect, that 
Smalls had apppointed a meeting which he was to address in Hampton, 
and that he (lisappointed the people, and that he had appointed a meet¬ 
ing at Blackville; but that if he would come there a party of whites 
were prepared to meet him; or if he stox)ped at Antondale, or words to 
that effect ?—A. AYell, parties stated that, and saying that Smalls would 
not be at Blackville, but if he was going to be at Antondale and disaj)- 
point the peot)le luire, they said they would not like it. Others said, 
no, Smalls Acould be in Blackville that day. 

Q. Were the Democrats anxious to hear Smalls ?—A. Well, I was. 

Q. You asked him if he intended to disappoint ])eople in that way; 
it seems you were speaking for the j)eople ?—A. No, sir; I asked if 






SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Barnwell 


€U 


Sni'cills was going to speak at Aiitoiulale in jilace of Blaekville—if he 
was going to deceive the peojile in that way. 

Q. How many colored Democratic clubs were formed in the county? 
—A. 1 don’t know. 

Q. Do you know of any ?—A. Yes, sir; some at Bamlierg. 

Q. How do yon know that ?—Well, like 1 know a heap of things—I 
hear tell of them. 

Q. That is all yon know?—A. I never was at any of their organiza¬ 
tions. 

Q. Were yon ever present at any meeting ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did any member of a club ever tell yon that there was such a club 
there?—A. I can’t say that any member of a club did, but we talked 
with our friends visiting from Williston and Bamberg and Blackville, 
and we generally found it out in that way. 


THOMAS H. MOSES. 

Charleston, S. 0., January 28, 1879. 

Thomas H. Moses (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Kandolph : 

Q. Where do you reside ?—A. In Barnwell County, Blackville. 

Q. At what precinct did you vote?—A. Blackville. 

Q. Wliat ticket did you vote ?—A. Well, sir, I voted a sort of a split 
ticket. 

Q. Did you take any special part in the last canvass?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you go about the county at all?—A. During the canvass I 
did, but I was not engaged in the canvass. 

Q. What was your observation of the political condition of the 
county ?—A. So far as I could ascertain I think it was very quiets—so 
far as I could see personally. 

Q. Do you know the colored and white voters of the county pretty 
well?—A. Pretty well. 

Q. Do you know the colored voters particularly ?—A. Pretty well. 

Q, Are there many colored democratic vot^s in the co untv ?—A. I 
think there is a gbOttlilahy^ ^ 

Q. A good many ?—A. Yes, sir; especially on the l ine of tlie Port 
Boyal Railroad. * 

Q. Through what portion of Barnwell does that road run ?—A. Some¬ 
where about the southwest ])ortion. x 

Q. Through what town ?—A. Including lALfudiile, Tialnnls,^ 

Q. And in these towns along that route tliere are many colored Dem¬ 
ocratic voters ?—A. Yes, sir; es[)ecially in the upper part. 

Q. In the upper portion of that county there were not a great many 
Republican voters, then ?—A. I did not hear of any. 

Q. Most of the colored voters of that portion of the county are Demo¬ 
crats ?—A. They so express themselves. 

Q. And you so believe them to be ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There are more colored people than white people in that portion of 
Barnwell?—A. Yes, sir; I think so. 

Q. The most of those people are Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; they voted 
that way. 

Q. Was your election quiet?—A. It was at P>la(*kville, the part I 
witnessed. 






County.] TESTIMONY OF THOMAS H. MOSES. 615 

Q. Have you ever attended any Eeitnblican nieeting' ?—A. I did not 
at the last campaign; I luid not the time. 

Q. Had yon in any previous year attended Republican meetings ?—A. 
Yes, sir, occasionally. 

Q. Yon have taken no very active part in politics, then?—A. sir. 

Q. Well, at the time of tlie Republican meetings yon attended hereto¬ 
fore did yon ever hear any violent speeches made ?—A. No, sir; I have 
heard some rumors of the kind, but nothing personally. 

Q. How did the county go !—A. It went Democratic. 

Q. Do yon think it was a fair election ?—A. It was pretty hard for 
me to tell; but, judging from appearances, it looked like as if people 
voted as they wished to vote. 

Q. Did yon ever know of any colored ]>reachers that were discharged 
from their congregations for advocating Democracy or voting the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket?—A. I don’t know of any, but I have heard such rumors. 
I don’t know whether it was true or not. 

Q. Do you know that they have been censured more or less for taking 
sides with the Democratic party?—A. I have heard they were. 

By ]Mr. Cameron : 

Q. What were yon engaged in doing ?—A. In traveling through the 
county. I was teaching school. 

Q. Where were yon teaching ?—A. At Miletz, Barnwell County. 

Q. How long did yon teach ?—A. From the 1st of July to the 1st of 
November; four months. 

Q. Yon remained there during the time ?—A. No, sir; not altogether. 
My family lived at Blackville. 

Q. How many times did yon go back and forth ?—A. About twice a 
month. 

Q. What distance ?—A. About twenty-five miles. 

Q. How did yon go back and forth ?—A. I generally walked, sir. Oc¬ 
casionally 1 rode. 

Q. How many i)eople did yon talk with ea(;h time on the snl)je(d of 
politics ?—A. Very little. I didn’t talk politics much. 

Q. It was a colored school yon were teaching ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were the trustees of the school colored men ?—A. One of them 
was. 

Q. The others were white ?^—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did any inquire what your politics were ?—A. No, sir; no questions 
at all. 

Q. Did yon talk politics?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Didn’t yon talk i)olitics wdth anybody ?—A. No, sir. That was not 
my mission over there. 

"Q. Yon state that a large number of colored men in a certain part of 
the county are Democrats ?—xA. Yes, sir. 

Q. How' do yon know'?—A. Because they belong to a Democratic 

^^Q.'How' do yon know' that?—A. I attended some of the meetings 
when I wms i)assing, and I saw' them assemble. 

Q. How^ many did yon see assemble ?—xV. At various times, near 
about 200 at one place. 

Q. At w hat place ?—A. At Miletz. 

Q. Did yon attend that club?-A. No, sir. It was near my school- 
house, and I wms ])assing. I did not attend any club but one, and that 

was some time ago. , , , „ a * a 

Q. How' many times did yon say they assemliled there ?—A. home- 

times tw'ice, sometimes only once, a month. 



616 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Barnwell 


Q. What other club did you visit ?—A. EJleatarLiiluJb. 

Q. You say that a majority of the col(y:ml people were Democrats, be¬ 
cause you saw 200 at that ciub f—A. 5^0, sir; because in going to and 
fro I heard them. 

Q. Didn’t you say that you didn’t talk politics?—A. Xo, sir; but I 
heard them express themselves in that way. 

Q. Now, who expressed themselves in that way ?—A. I can name Sandy 
Sanders ' 

Q. Where does he live ?—A. Ak AIiletz^ 

Q. Was he a member of the club?—A. lie vvas president of the club. 

Q. Now, I don’t mean those who Avere there; I mean, as you were pass¬ 
ing back and forth, whom did you hear ?—A. Well, I have heard several. 

Y^es; you haA^e said that. Noav give the names.—A. I don’t know 
who they were, because they were strangers te me. 

Q. How did they happen to express themselves in that Avay in your 
presence?—A. Well, they asked me Avhatl thought of political matters, 
and I told them 1 didn’t interfere Avith politics, as it Avas objectionable 
Avith me, and then they said what they tliought they aa ould do, and hoAv 
many would vote the Jlemocratic ticket. 

Q. Well, how many?—A. 1 don’t knoAV hoAv many. 

Q. Get at it as nearly as you can.—A. 1 can’t tell you—about 10. 

Q. How many colored A^oters are there in that part of the county, as 
nearly as you can estimate the number—in the upper part of the county 
of which you haA^e spoken ?—A. 1 would not be positive. 

Q. Give us your best judgment.—A. Well, sir, I reckon there is about 
900 or near that in that part of the county. 

Q. Did any of tliose colored men tell you they were going to A^ote for 
Smalls for Congress?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did any of them tell you they were going to A^ote against him ?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Did they express a good determination to vote for Smalls ?—A. 
Some fcAv. They said they aa'ouUI A ote all the Democratic ticket, except 
for Smalls. 

Q. Did you, in your Aisits at Blackville during the four months of 
which you haA^e spoken, state to Mr. Nix, or any other colored Eepub- 
lican there, that the colored men in the part of the county Avhere you 
Avere teaching sdiool Avould vote almost solid for Smalls, or words to 
that efiect?—A. I remember saying this: That I heard some of the col¬ 
ored people, even some members of that club, say that they aa ould like 
to vote for Smalls, provided they got up.a good ticket. I heard that, 
sir, and I expressed myself in that direction, sir. I am pretty sure I did. 

Q. Where did you vote ?—A. At Blackville. 

(^. Did you Amte for Smalls ?—A. I did. 

Q. And A^oted the balance of the Democratic ticket ?—A. I did. 

Q. Did you tell Nix, on one of your visits home, that you had attended 
a Democratic club Avhere you were teaching, and that they wanted you 
to speak at their meeting, and that you never saAv at any of their meet¬ 
ings more than 15 or 20 ])ersons present ?—A. I might haA-e said it; but 
I don’t remember it. I don’t remember saying that they wanted me to 
speak. 

Q. Did they want you to speak ?—A. No, sir, not at political meetings; 
but they did at the school meeting. AYhen I hrst Avent there in July 
the club was comparatively'small, but it increased in numbers all the 
time. 

Q. How many colored men resided in that vicinity ?—A. I really don’t 
know. 


TESTIMONY OF M. T. GLASS. 617 

Q. Are there 200 ?—A. I know there were 200, but considerable of 
them moved away the following winter. 

Q. Where have they been going f—A. To Beaufort, they say. 

Q. Why are they moving away I—A. Well, I didn’t ask them. 

They might have told you without yonr asking. Yon didn’t ask 
those men their politics, but they told you.—A. Well, I heard several 
say that the land was richer, and some suggested they were going down 
there to get out of the way of the white people. 

Q. Do you know Felix Bonner ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has he left there f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why did he leave?—A. Well, his reason, that I heard uj) there, 
was—in fact, I heard him say so himself—that the peoi>le were bulldozing 
him there. 

Q. The white people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he thought he would leave?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Bobinson, another Kepiiblican leader ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Has he left?—A. Yes, sir. 

(.^. Why did he go ?—A. Well, he went for pretty much the same 
reason. 

Q. Because the white peo])le had been bulldozing him ?—A. He said 
so, sir. 


M^J\JiLAgS, 

f'liARLESTON, S. C., Janimnj 2S, 1879. 

M. T. Glass (white) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Bandolph : 

Question. W'here do. you reside ?—Answer. Town of Blackville, Barn¬ 
well County. - - ^ 

Q. Do you hold any office there at the present time ?—A. Xo, sir; 
none buk-my4a w offi ce. 

Q. Have you been mi officer of tlie town?—A. Yes, sir; I have been 
iTl±endniitjoLlBe^town.-fwioe-4lunp last six years. 

Q. When were you last intendant ?—A. In 1878, up to about the mid¬ 
dle of Xovember or October. 

Q. Were you intendant of the town when the meeting of the llth of 
October was held ?—A. Yes, sir, I was. 

Q. Were you present at the meeting?—A. I was not at the meeting 
at its opening. My child was quite ill, and I was feeling ill myself, but 
not sick enough to be compelled to remain at home; but the little child 
was quite sick. I did not go to the meeting, but I was there off and on 
during the day. 

Q. Was there anything speiaal to report to you that day as intend¬ 
ant?—A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Your attention was not called to any riotous proceedings in the 
town?—A. Xone whatever, sir. 

Q. Were you at any time ]iresent at any convention of either party 
in yonr county ?—A. I was a memlier of every Democratic convention 
that lias been held in Barnwell County as long as I have been in my 
county. I was at the nominating convention of the Bepublican party 
by invitation of Fred Xix. 

Q. Will you state what occurred of importance at the Bepublican 
convention to which yon were invited, as briefly as possible?—A. AVell,. 





«18 


SOUTH CAROIHNA IN 1678. 


[Barnwell 


wlieii T ^'ot to the convention it had organized, and tliey had ])iit iSOine 
few candidates before the convention to be nominated on the ticket. 
They commenced, 1 think, with the members of tlie House of Iiei)re- 
sentatives, and put a great many names before the convention—the 
majority, or at least a few of them, Democratic nominees. Wlien they 
closed the nominations in reference to the llepresentatives, some one in 
the convention, I don’t remember who it Avas, asked if they should go 
to balloting then for members of the House of Representatives, or con¬ 
tinue to i>ut names before the convention for all of the different offices. 
Fred Nix aa^is chairman of the coiiA^ention, and he, and I think the 
others, concurred in putting the names for all of tlie different nomina¬ 
tions before the convention before they went into the ballot at all. 
That eAmked some comment among the delegates of the convention. Mr. 
Nix, I think, Avas not in faAmr of making any nominations at all—so I 
judged from his coiiA^ersation. But there Avas one member of the con¬ 
vention—I think his name AA^as Robinson— avIio urged that they make a 
nomination. He said that his constituents had sent him there to make 
a nomination, and he thought that somebody had better make a nomina¬ 
tion to satisfy their constituents, if nothing more. He moA"ed that they 
nominate tAvo members for the House of Ifepresentatives, and thus in¬ 
dorse the Democratic nominees. That resolution was carried, and a her- 
niaiffirodite ticket was put up. So the members for the House of Repre- 
sentatiA^es were nominated by the Republicans. Discussions then en¬ 
sued, and the convention Avas qoiiAduced that it was not Avorth Avhile to 
make any nominations at all; that the Republican party Avas disorgan¬ 
ized and without proper leaders, and they knew it aa ould be useless, and 
that the Democratic ticket would be elected in BaruAvell County with¬ 
out any doubt. That seemed far more to exercise the minds of the mem¬ 
bers of the convention—the prominent idea that seemed to prevail—and, 
in fact, about the only intimidation that I know of during the Avffiole can¬ 
vass, or anything that looked like intimidation—they seemed to fear or 
have an idea that if they did not Amte the Democratic ticket or unite 
themselves with the Democratic party as many others had done, i)er- 
haps they might be deprived of employment for the coming year. 
Where they got that idea 1 don’t knoAv, unless it aa us from some expres¬ 
sions of that kind in the campaign of 187G. At any rate, that seemed 
to be their idea, and a committee was appointed to go to Beaufort and 
spy out the land where Nix had reported by a letter that they could get 
land the first year for nothing and the next year for a dollar, &c. 

Q. You have been to Democratic conventions !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. HaA'e you knoAA ii Democratic colored delegates !—A. Yes, sir ; in 
1877 and 1878. 

Q. There are many colored Democratic voters in yonr county!—A. 
I haA^e not the slightest doubt of it. We had between 801) and 1,000 
Democratic names enrolled, and this year they Av^ere much more nu¬ 
merous. 

Q. The enrollment AA^as larger this year!—A. Yes, sir; a great many 
voted the Democratic ticket Avhose names Avere enrolled. 

Q. You speak of enrollment. Were the colored and Avhite voters en¬ 
rolled in yonr county according to politics!—A. 1 mean Democratic 
club-lists in the campaign of 1870. There Avas a comidete census, show¬ 
ing the number of voters, Avhite and black, and residents, and showing 
politics. 

Q. How many Democratic colored persons Avere enrolled in 1878 !—A. 
I could not si)eak of my oaa n knoAAledge. 1 knoAv tins much, that Ave 
had more that A oted this year than last. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. T. GLASS. 


619 


Q. How many do you say in 1870 ?—A. More than 1,000. 

Q. And more tliis year !—A. YcvS, sir. 

Q. What is the total vote of the eounty f—A. Tlie total vote of Barn¬ 
well County is about 7,000. The vote cast in 1870 was 0,000. 

By Air. Cameron : 

Q. How do the white and colored people compare as to number in the 
county f—A. M ell, sir, by the census that used to be taken the colored 
population was in excess by 700 or 800. 1 think j but there was no relia¬ 
bility in the census that was taken. I have never had a census-taker 
come to my house yet. 

Q. Well, for a man that is as consi)icuous as you are it might not be 
necessary for a census-taker to call ou you A. Yes, sir; but they 
didn’t know the domestics in my family. 

Q. It was taken in 1870 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A ou think it was perfectly reliable for that year ?—A. I have no 
doubt it was. 

Q. It was taken and printed so that every one was included !—A. I 
have every reason to believe so. 

Q. Bid you take any portion of that census?—A. Yes, sir; I took a 
])ortion of the town of Blackville. 

Q. hat portion ?—A. I took the southeastern j^ortion of the town, 
from Clark street to fyalhoun street and from Bailroad avenue to South 
Ihirk. 

Q. Bo you know personally anything of the taking of the census ex¬ 
cept that portion of it you took yourself ?—A. Nothing, except that I 
saw the re])orts. I took no other ])art of the census. 

Q. Is there a Democratic club in your precinct ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Whis there in 1870 ?—A. I think there wiis a semblance of one in 
1870. 

Q. Ydiat do you mean by a semblance ?—A. Some few in number— 
not enough to have a delegation to the Democratic convention. 

Q. AVere there 25 f—A. No, sir ; I don’t thiidv they exceeded 8 or 10. 

Q. Tliis year there was not even the semblance of a club?—A. No, 
sir; we didn’t attem])t it. 

Q. You say that at the Be])ub]ican convention those colored delegates 
who appeared to be opposed to making nominations gave as one reason 
that they might lose their employment or be driven from their lands ?— 
A. No, sir; 1 didn’t say that. 

Q. What did you say ?—A. I said that it seemed to be a i>rominent 
idea to ap])oint a committee to go to Beaufort and see if they could not 
get land, <&c. 

Q. Bid they do anything ?—A 1 think they wrote to Mr. Smalls to 
see if they could get land. 

Q. A\'as there anything said in the convention that possibly if they 
])ut a ticket in the field and supported it, they might be deprived of the 
lands they were on ?—A. I don’t remember if there was. 1 don’t remember 
it. Iremember this much, thatone of the prominent delegates to that con¬ 
vention stated himself that it was of no use to put a ticket in the field; 
that the Democrats were going to carry the county and he did not blame 
them foi’ it; that when tliey got into i)Ower they would swear to false 
returns, and he didn't blame them for doing the same thing. 

(>. AVho was that ?—A. His name was Orton Biudjar; he was a dele¬ 
gate. 

Q. Do you remember that ay;olored man some time during t lie polB - 
ical canvass was tarred anineatlnul^dTYHieTTbinity and came into the 



620 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Baruwell 


town with the tar u[)Oii liini f—A. Xo, sir; I never lieanl of any such 
thing. ] 

Do you know that Le^tis A\Mlliains^ a Iv^i^liu]>Lit*iiitAeatler-I 
('ouiity, was taken out of liis house and shot, and tliat lie afterwards 
died?—A. I^o, sir; never lieard of that. 

Q. Did you hear tliat ^fr. tliley was,.take ?—A. F 

heal'd liini say so this niorniiig oii tlie stand. 

By :Mr. Kirkwood : | 

Q. You say there was a, letter from .Mr. Smalls to the ('ouveiitioii ?— 
A. Yes, sir; purporting to he. ‘ ' 

Q. The instruetions of that were that the ])eo])le at Beaufort could i 
get land there on favorable terms ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, how came that letter to be read ?—A. AVell, I read it and 
heard it, too. I don’t know how it came to be read. 1 sipipose it caiue 
out in the speeches. Some one took up the letter and began to read it; 
but I think he said that he himself, who had been appointed a commit- ' 
tee to see to tliis matter, would read this letter upon the subject. 

' Was there no reason assigned by the'persons tliere why they had 
stated this ?—A. I heard none, as well as 1 rememlier. As I said Ixdbre, 
they S(>emed to fear they might be treated as the manufacturers in Mas¬ 
sachusetts treated their employes. 

Q. Do you knowhow they treated them ?—A. From m^wsjiaper n^ports 
and from Jlutler’s speeches in Congress. 

Q. They have been treated here in the same way that Butler says they 
were trcaited there?—A. In the campaign of 1870 there were certain 
parties that had made themselves jiarticnlarly obnoxious. 

Q. AVere there reports in your vicinity that planters there had been 
using the same means to influence the voters that you read of in But- 
hn*’s speeches and the newspapers ?—A. In 1878, no; but in the cam¬ 
paign of 1870 there was. 

Q. Did you get the impression that the ^ iews of this committee that 
liad been sent down to Beaufort to get cheap lands were iutluenced by 
the fact that they were afraid that if they organized in 1878 they might 
lose their lands, and they had therefore been making that impiiry ?—A. 
No, sir; because there was no hinderance to organization that I know of, 
except the Avant of leaders on their part. But my idea is formed from 
the remarks and from what Avas said in the conversation. Parties hail 
becouK^ obnoxious in 1871) and were dismissed and not giA^en enpiloyment, 
and they thought that [lossibly the Democrats might make use of the 
same languag(‘, and these iieople thought they Avonld be iirepared for it. 

Q. These persons that had been dismissed and sent aAvay from their 
ein]doyment, Avere tlnw Beimlilicans ?—A. Yes, sir; so far as I knoAV. 

Q. And they made themselA'es obnoxious by actiA^ely Avorking for the 
Bepnblican party and ticket ?—A. No, sir; by their thefts and disorderly 
(‘ondnct in the community. 

Q. Now, how could men in 1878 fear that they would be excluded 
from their Avork liecause they Avere AAmrking for the Bepnblican party 
for the reason that men in 187(1 had beim dismissed from their Avork 
because of their thefts ?—A. The obnoxious men in’7(1 had been pro¬ 
scribed, and they Avere told that they Avould be allowed to hav^e no em¬ 
ployment at all in the community under any (*ir(mmstan(?(*.s, though not 
because they Avere Be])ubli<*ans. 

Q. It Avas because they AA ere thi(‘AU>s ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Noav, if that Avas the ease then, hoAv did that imiuess the Bei)ub- 
li(*nns in 1878 Avith tlie idea tliat they would be ex’pelled because they 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. T. GLASS. 


621 


< were liepublieaiis'?—A. ]>e(;aiise tlie Kepublican partv ])iit a i»()litical 
anpeet upon everytliiiig’ tliat oetairred. 

Q. Yoii spoke about the iiuiiiber of colored Democrats iu voiir club— 
so many iu 1870 and more iu 1S7<S ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Kow, do you know how the eurollments were made ?—A. Their 
names were enrolled upon the roll of the Democratic' club with which 
they associated themselves, and reported to the county chairman of the 
county executive committee. 

Q. Were those names brought iu by persons a])pointed to i)rocure 
them?—A. No, sir; by active ccdored ])ersons. Whoever hadaftiliated 
themselv^es determined to abandon the llepublican i)arty and take up 
these principles, and organized 'to report to the county chairman, iu 
obedience to the circulars published in the newspapers. 

Q. I expect the individual clubs would send active men to bring iu 
the new recruits and they would be enrolled, or were ])ersous brought 
iu personally to give their own names in ?—A. The colored Democratic 
clubs were organized by themselves, and they would do as the white 
clubs did. 

Q. When they were getting the new members iu a ])articular club 
were the men present?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were their names given in l)y some* recruiting-officer or did they 
givx their own name in'?—A. I don’t know how thev managed that. 


Ily^Ir. Kandolpii: 

(j). Do you want to make a personal statement iu reference to Smalls’ 
meeting?—A. Yes, sir; it refers to a convwsatioii after that in my 
office. 

Q. Please state that.—A. Mr. Nix came into my office on my api)oint- 
ment. I had heard tha t these disturbances had occurred at the meeting, 
and I asked him in; although all the disturbances I saw myself were 
between Democrats themselves. The young men were quareling among 
themselves. 1 told Mr. Nix then that I wanted to see him to get the 
names of these young men, and he did not give me the names, and didn’t 
say who they were. My object in asking him for the names was because 
the disturbance was deprecated by me, and because I was intendant, 
and was revsponsible for the conduct of the town. Also, in the evening 
before the meeting occurred, I had issued a proclamation closing the 
saloons and bar-rooms, knowing that licpior was often at the bottom of 
trouble, and I forbade anybody to sell or give away any liquor. These 
young men were tight, and 1 wanted to get the information where they 
obtained their liquor. 

Q. Mr. Nix never furnished their nvimes from that day to this ?—A. 
No, sir. 


By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. How long have you liv ed iu the county ?—A. I was born ami raised 
in Barn well. 

Q. What is your occupation ?—A. I am a farmer. - 

Q. Where do you farm ?—A. Last year I fanned on my father’s place. 

Q. How tar from Barnw ell ?—A. Four miles. 

(^. You have engaged ])rettymuch in politics, have you not, since you 
became a voter ?—A. 1 guess I liav^e. 

Q. And devoted most of your time to that ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What political ])ositions have you held ?—A. I w^as a mend)er of 
the legislature two years—the only public position I ever lield. 

Q. In what year ?—A. In ’72, sir, I w^as elected. 



622 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878» 


[I'amwe).! 


Q. You say that Barnwell County is a Eepublicaii comity ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did it not go Democratic at a former election?—A. Yes, sir; in 
187<>. 

Q. When did it occur?—A. It went Democratic in 187(), after killing 
50 or 00 colored .men in tha county—more, 1 suppose. 

Q. Did you know any colored men who were killed ? A. O, yes, sir. 

Q. How many did you know ?—A. I don^t know that I can give the 
names exactly. One of them was a delegate to the State convention 
with me, and gotJ^lecLaiAewyhiyS-aitcu gotJiouie. 

Q. What was his name f— A. Samuel Coc iis. 

Q, Can you tell me the names of any more ?—A.. I could give some 
more if I had a few moments to think. I can tell you, however, on what 
plantations they were killed. 

Q. J>id you know the men ?—A. I did, slightly. 

Q. If you knew them, can’t you recollect their names ?—A. I can’t 
say, but I can tell you on what plantations they were killed. 

Q. With what was Coens charged?—A. I don’t know of anything else 
but being a Eepublican. That is about all. 

Q. Do you know of anything else he was charged with ?—A. I don’t 
know, sir; that was about all. 1 had to leave my home at the same time 
for being a Eepublican. I was shot at, and they pitched into my house 
imetty heavily. I don’t think any of them were charged with anything 
else. I am sure I was not charged with more than that. 

Q. Do you know a M r. Flynn , a colored man?—A. Yes, sir; I do. 

Q. Is he a preacher ?^ ATlTe used to preach last year—a ijortion of 
the year, but I think he went over to Band)erg. 

Q. Is he not a man of influence among the colored people?—A. He 
was as long as he was a Eepublican. 

Q. How long was he a Eepublican ?—A. That I am unable to say. 
HeJbought a place on credit at Bamberg, and changed his politics. 

Q. Changed whehEe got credit ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then, when he acted with you he was a i)opular man ?—A. I didn’t 
say that. 

Q. You say he was a popular man as long as he was a Eepulflican ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He is a Democrat now, is he not ?—A. I don’t know what he is; 
he did not tell me. He voted the Democratic ticket. 

■ Q. You know he did act with the Democratic party last election, don’t 
you ?—A. No, sir; I don’t know it. It was very quiet, and he never 
made any public speech. L didn’t know it until just after the election 
that he voted with them. 

Q. How far from you did he live ?—A. I suppose he staid 10 or 12 
miles away, perhaps. 

Q. Were you his neighbor at any time during the canvass ?—A. I 
met him several times when I passed through distributing circulars. I 
l^assed his place often. 

Q. Were you not at any meeting there?—A. No, sir. 

Q. And had no personal knowledge of what his course was in the can¬ 
vass?—A. I have, sir. 

Q. Well, what was it ?—A. He told me he was doing all he could for 
the Eepublicans, and he would take out documents for me. 

Q. When did he tell you that ?—A. I can’t tell, but some time during 
the canvass. 

Q. At wliat time in the canvass did the Eev. Mr. Flynn tell yon 




Gonntx.] . TESTIMONY OF M. T. GLASS. ()23 

lie was doing all he could for the Republican party ?—A. It was very 
late. 

Was it two weeks before the election ?—A. I could not say exactly. 

(^. A month before the election ?—A. A month or live weeks. 

Q. Do you call that very late ?—A. Yes, sir; I do. 

Where was it he told you that ?—A. He told me in the town of 
Blackville. He visited that place and my house two or three times. 

Q. He told you that he was doing ali he could to help the Republi¬ 
cans?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he not tell you to the contrary—that he was going to vote tlie 
Democratic ticket, and he wanted you to go with him ?—A. Xo, sir; he 
never did. 

Q. I )id he not after the election ?—A. He did not. 

Q. Did you not say that you hiarned it from him after the election?— 
A. Xo, sir; I did not say that I learned it from him. I learned it from 
some members of his church. 

How many churches has he ?—A. He has one or two colored 
(churches. 

Q. You learned it from members of his congregation !—xV. Yes, sir. 

Did you learn that they had silenced him from preaching ?—A. I 
learned that they had lost confidence in him because he had voted the 
Democratic ticket. I think he must have told them a lie when he pub¬ 
licly told them that he voted the Republican ticket. 

Q. Do you know the Rev'. Mr. Williams?—A. Yes, sir; I know sev¬ 
eral colored preachers, and two or three of them of the name of Will¬ 
iams. 

Q. You know them all I—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. Do you know one who acted with the Democrats the last elec¬ 
tion?—A. I don’t, sir. Do you mean during the campaign ? 

Q. Yes, sir.—A. I do, sir. 

And voted Avitli them ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, that is the one I am after now. What is his first name ?— 
A. I think his name is frilliert Willia ms. 

Q. Whereabouts did he live?—A. He l ives near Racoo . I think the 
year before last he lived at Blackville. 

Q. Is he a man of infiuence among the colored people ?—A. Xo, sir; 
he is a small fish. 

Q. How long has he been a minister of the church?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. He has heretofore been a Republican, has he not?—A. I don’t 
know. I suppose he has. 

Q. Don’t you know what his politics have been ?—A. Xot exactly. 

Q. Have you a pretty good opinion what they were ?—xV. 1 don’t 
know ; I never asked. 

Q. You know a good many men’s politics without asking them—by 
their actions ?—xV. Well, I would not know particularly about his ac¬ 
tions. I don’t see him very often. I never had any communication 
with him, and he could not have been very prominent. 

Q. The fact that you did not have much communication with him was 
evidence to you that he was not a prominent man in the party?—xV. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. But you did hear that he voted the Democratic ticket since that?— 
A. Yes, sir; I did hear. M just saw it in the Xews and Courier that the 
Democrats were to build him a church as the Republicans didn’t have 
any use for him. 

Q. He would not vote with them any longer?—A. The colored Re¬ 
publicans didn’t have any use for him and the Democrats were going to 



624 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


i 


[Bam well 


build him a church. I meant to say that the Reiiublicaus used to have 
all the money for ])reachers, and they did not have any more money 
than they wanted for Kepublican preachers. 

Q'. Don’t you know thafhejwa&.turned aut-of-the.-4ihurcli for voting the 
Democratic ticket?—A. No, sir. I judge from what I saw in the news¬ 
papers of Blackvi lie. 

Q. Now, you have been in the neighborhood where he lives and where 
he has been preaching ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He would tell you he was a Hepublican and would vote with them ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When he changed his mind and did not vote the Kepublican ticket 
they would not help him anymore?—A. I sujipose so. I take it for 
granted that he was not prominent, because they would all testify to 
that. 

Q. Do you say you have seen the members of his congregation, and 
that they would all testify that he said he would vote tlie Kepublican 
ticket ?—A. 1 said I had seen the man. I said he had said so to me, and 
he said so to others. 

Q. How many of them have you seen who told you that he was going 
to vote the Ivepublican ticket ?—A. Well, a great many of them. 

Q. Name one of them.—A. Well, I am not particular to name them. 

Q. Well, I am. 1 want to test your memory and accuracy, and your 
truth. Now, name any man you talked with belonging to his church 
who told you that he had told his congregation that he was goihg to vote 
the Kepublican ticket.—A. Well, 1 don’t remember but one prominent 
deacon—Deacon Calhoun. 

Q. When ?—A. Well, since the election, a number of times. 

Q. He told you that ?—A. YYs, sir. 

A. Can you name any other to keep him company?—A. T could, but 
I don’t think of any more jbst now. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Is Ellen town in this county?—A. No, sir. 

Q. It is near the county line?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Hhere has been a good deal of division among the colored people 
of your county, has there not?—A. In what way? 

Q. Divided into political factions, divided in regard to men. Has 
there not been a good deal of opposition to yourself among the colored 
’people of your county?—A. No, sir. 

Q. There has not?—A. No, sir. What time are you speaking of? 

(^. During the last canvass and before?—A. No, sir. I might state 
right here that there is no man that stands as well among them as I 
do—^nor no twenty. 

Q. You say that no one stands as well among the colored people as 
you do ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you have no opponents among them ?—A. I think, some. I 
might have. 

Q. Don’t you know that a great many Kepublicans have been bitterly 
against you ?—A. Not in the time you mention—I will say in the last 
three or four years that I know. 

Q. You speak about your going out to attend a meeting in the county. 
AVhat meeting did you attend in person ?—A. The Ked Oak meeting. 

Q. Is that the only one you attended in person ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. What other did you attend in the county?—A. I attended there 
and at Barnwell precinct, and one at what is called the Four-Mile Club, 


County.] TESTIMONY OF CAROLINA HOPKINS. 625 

ten miles olf. Besides, my regular club that I was a member of bad a 
meeting at Barnwell. 

Q. Then there were three points in the county where you attended 
political meetings?—A. Yes, sir. ^ 

Q. And only three ?—A. I believe so, and I attended one mass meet¬ 
ing. 

Q. Where was that ?—A. That was at Blackville. 

Q. The others you spoke of simply from rumor—what was told you?— 
A. That is right. 


CAEOLIYA HOPKINS. 

Charleston, S. C., January 28, 1879. 

Carolina Hopkins (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside?—Answer. In Belldock, Barnwell 
County. 

Q. Where did you vote at the last election ?—A. At Belldock. 

Q. What ticket did you vote ?—A. The Bepublican ticket. 

Q. Tell what occurred at Belldock on the last election day.—A. On 
the election day I went to Belldock in the morning to vote. 1 got there 
at half past eight o’clock. Just as I arrived at that place, and jumped 
down and hitched my horse, two old men came to me for tickets j I gave 
them tickets; then they said, ^^My son, Avhere shall we put the tickets 
in ?” I said, Follow me; I am going right ui) to the polls.” We walked 
right in; they Avalked in ahead of me; the door was vacant; I saw them 
put their tickets in. Then I put my own in behind them. Just as soon 
as we got out of the house and into the yard Captain Bill Peebles made 
right for me. 

Q. Is Captain Peebles a white man ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What are Ids politics ?—A. He is a leading Democrat down there. 

Q. Go on and tell what he did.—A. He came right to me. I saw 
about twenty men around there swearing. I paid no attention to what 
tliey were doing or saying. I went right in when I took those two old 
men up, and then I went right out and said nothing nor did nothing to 
nobody. About the time that I got into the' yard I heard these men 
swearing about something or other, aud then Bill Peebles went right for 
me. I didn’t know for what cause. He said to me Carolina Hopkins, 
I want to know how dare you get that old man ruined ? ” I said, What 
do you mean ? I have not ruined nobody.” But he kept on saying, 

Carolina Hopkins, how dare you get that old man ruined?” I said, 
“ In what way ? ” He said, You gave him a ticket and told him it was 
a Democratic ticket and he has voted it, and you have got that old man 
ruined.” I said, “ I didn’t tell liiin any such thing.” He said I did. I said 
‘‘ You can’t prove it.” “ Well,” lie said, I can prove it by Jim Allen.” I 
said, You can’t prove it by Jim Allen. I will go and call him,” and I went 
to where Jim Allen was and called. Jim Allen came and said, What do 
you want of me ?” Bill Peebles said, Jim, did not these men tell you that 
Carolina Hopkins told them that that was the Democratic ticket. I looked 
atdim andlsawthathewassomewhatscared; hehungdownhis headand 
started to say it was. I stared him right in the face, and said I, Jim, 
I told you my ticket was an indorsed ticket; I told you it was for Eob- 
ert Snialls for Congressman”; and Jim said, ‘Wes, you did tell me so.’? 

40 s C 



626 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


'[liamweTl 


Peebles said, Where is that ticket! I know no other ticket on the 
ground, and I intend to know no other ticket on the ground but the 
Democratic ticket; and no other ticket sliall be voted here to-day than 
the Democratic ticket.” By this time the whole company had come 
around. There were so many gentlemen there I could not get my 
breath. They had come there the night before. Bill Peebles had come 
there with his company that night, and the whole comi)any surrounded 
me, with me in the middle. They annoyed me so I could not tell Avhere 
Captain Peebles ay as, though he and I stood there toe to toe. Peebles 
said, All you colored Kadicals, if you don’t Avaiit a home in South Caro¬ 
lina any more, folloAv Carolina Hopkins, lie is the groundwork of Be- 
publicanism in this county. If you Amte the Bepublican ticket here 
to-day, when you start for home don’t stop at home but go right on, for 
we intend that you shall get out of this country.” He Avanted to know 
of me again, ^‘Hoay dare you give those old men those tickets ? How 
dare you A"ote the Bepublican ticket yourself!” I said I thought I had 
a right to Amte any ticket I desired. He said, God damn you, aaBo 
empoAvered you! How dare you giA^e Bepublican tickets to those 
old men and ruin them!” I said, “ You know 1 AA-as elected precinct 
chairman for scA^eral years, and have had those tickets sent to me, 
and I think I liaA^e a right to distribute them.” By this time there 
came a man right behind me, AAdio took his knife out—a long 
knife, six inches long—and he said to me, “ God damn you, don’t talk 
so long here; say AAdiat you Avant to say 5 I intend to AAwiggle this knife 
in your maAV to-day.” Another man came Avith a razor to cut me. Mr. 
Hill came up and said, “ Carolina Hopkins, the only AAmy you can re¬ 
deem yourself is to have nothing to do with the tickets; tear up all the 
Bepublican tickets you liaA^e got and throAv them doAvn.” I had my 
tickets in my breast-pocket. Cai)tain Peebles said he kneAv no other 
ticket there that day and Avould liaA^e no other ticket A oted there that 
day except the Democratic ticket. I told him that the Bepublicans Jiad 
held a coiiA^ention and had made a ticket, and that their tickets had as 
good a right there as any. He denied that the Bepublicans had held a 
coiiAvuition or anything of that sort. I said, “ I can proA^e it.” He said, 
“ Who can you proA^e it by !” Said I, “ Dr. Warren knows it and Will¬ 
iam Callahan knoAvs it, and you kiiOAv it—that the Bepublicans did hold 
a convention.” Peebles still insisted that no such ticket should be A’oted 
there that day, and SAvore that I must tear up the tickets; and those 
other fellows came behind in such a way, and some of them repeated, 
“ Y^ou all knoAY that Carolina Hopkins and his kind have ruined this 
country.” I said, “Gentlemen, you can’t bring an iota against my 
characteristics. I am a Bepublican, and I do say it.” Then he said, 
“Well, then, if you all don’t Avant to go to hell to-day, don’t you A^ote 
Carolina Hoi)kins’s ticket.” Some said, “ Make him tear up them tick¬ 
ets, captain.” I got excited, and looked around for my friends. I only 
siAv tAYo colored men that I thought was friends to me. Well, they no ay 
closed up oil me and said, “ Don’t go on to talk; tear u]) them tickets.” 
Mr. Willingham, ayIio AYas there, hushed them up a little. He seemed 
not to desire to see me hurt, but to desire to have me to tear up the tick¬ 
ets. Captain Peebles AYanted to see my tickets. I let him liaA^e a ticket. 
He said, “ Great God! what a ticket!” Then one grabbed a ticket out 
of my hand. Then Peebles said, “ Gentlemen, don’t touch a ticket; 
make him tear them up himself.” Then the other man said again, “ I 
intend to run this knife into your maw to-day.” Willingham said, “ Caro¬ 
lina Hopkins, the only AYay you can escape is to tear up those tickets.” 
I didn’t know AYhat in the AYorld to do. It seemed my only chance to 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF CAROLINA HOPKINS. 


627 


live. I saw the men making up to me. Some of the colored men 
there were worst after me—just as had as the whites were—and whilst 
they were clOvSing in on me some of them said, ^^Tear up them tickets”; 
others said, Kill him; God damn him, kill him.” And hearing all this 
I tore up about four of them that I had in my hands and threw them 
down. They said, ‘‘That is not all yon have; tear np the rest.” And 
the only thing I could do was to throw the wliole pile of tickets doAVii 
there. I turned back and was going to get on my horse, A\iien they 
caught me. Some jammed my hat down on my head, some beat me, 
while some said, “Go to those gentlemen, and pull off your hat, and tell 
them you are sorry for the way you have acted.” 1 said, “Sorry for 
what!” They said, “Sorry for the way in Avhich you have acted, and 
go and vote for the Democratic ticket.” I said, “1 have already voted.” 
They still insisted. I said, “Gentlemen I am going home”; but they 
caught me and brought me back. I stood there a little while, and by 
and by I slipped out, led my mule off' a piece, got on him, and went back 
home. That mornipg 1 had tickets enough to serve three such polls. I 
distributed about 300 and more. The men were there lying off in squads 
in every direction Avanting to vote, but dare not A^ote when they saAV 
what Avas done to me. I was the man that got there the first to A^ote 
from my neighborhood. Some said they AA'ould go to Ited Oak, the next 
poll, but Captain Peebles told them if they voted anything but the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket there that day, when they started for home they must go 
right on and go out of the county. 

Q. Did any of the men A^ote !—A. Yes, sir; this old man—his name 
was Kixon—\^oted with me. Another old man tried to A^ote, but they 
would not let him unless he Amted their ticket. He said he AAmuld go 
OA^er to Ked Oak. A croAvd of them did go OA^er to Ped Oak. 

Q. How may colored men voted at this poll!—A. But a A^ery small 
number Amted while I was there. 

Q. Hoav many Avere there !—A. A great many. few of them, I sup¬ 
pose not one-fourth, Amted the Democratic ticket. 

A. Is that a Eepublican or a Democratic county!—A. It has been 
particularly a Eepublican county all the time. 

Q. Hoav was it this time! — A. This time the Democrats claimed it j 
they did not gHe anybody else a chance to A^ote. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Hoav far do you live from the polling place !—A. I live four miles 
aAA'ay. 

Q. At Avhat time did you get there in the morning !—A. I left home 
at half i)ast seven o’clock. I arrived at the polls, I suppose, someAvhat 
after eight o’clock. 

Q. Hoav many persons Avere there when you arrived !—A. A great 
many, because they came there the night before. 

Q. A great many colored people !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When this controA^ersy Avas going on between you and Ca])tain 
Peebles, Avere there many (iolored persons about!—A. Yes, sir. The 
most of the Democratic i)eoi)le a\ ere around there close. The Eepub- 
licans were lying off' a little Avay to see Avhetlier Ave Avould be alloAved to 

A^ote or not. ^ ^ ^ 

Q You say there Avere colored men in the croAvd that made threats 

against you!—A. Yes, sir. , ^ • 

Q. Did any colored men take hold of you that day!—A. IS o, sir; 
they only made threats. 


628 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Barnwell County.] 


Q. You say they were as violent as the white men in demanding that 
you should destroy those tickets ?—A., Two of them were. 

Q. What did they say to you"?—A. They said, You must tear them 
up”; and they said they had no use for anything but Democratic tickets 
there that day. 

Q. What were the names of those two colored men ?—A. Billy Gar¬ 
land and Alfred Hainey. 

Q. Did they say anything more to you than you have already stated ?— 
A. I don’t remember that they did. They said Carolina Hopkins and 
such men as he had ruined the country, and ought to be killed or driven 
out. 

Q. Were not those colored men Democrats ?—A. They said they 
were. 

Q. They said you had ruined the country ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they say how ?—A. They said by trying to carry Eepubiican- 
ism. 

Q. They said the Eepublican administration had ruined the coun¬ 
try?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They said they had no use for Eepublican tickets there that day?— 
A. Yes, sir 5 they said they had no use for any God damned man that 
would vote that way. 

Q. You say that while the white men were talking to you these other 
colored men stood at their back ?—^A. There were so many mouthing 
that actually I did not hear all that they said. I know that one of them 
afterwards came and asked my i)ardon for what he had said. I said, 
“ My friend, there were so many there that I did not hear what they 
said 5 if you said anything against me I never heard it.” He said he 
thought I had heard what he said, and he had come to ask my pardon. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Q. So many of what kind of people were mouthing j do you inejin 
black people ?—A. I mean white and black together. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. How many white people were there ?—A. O, gracious ! I can’t tell 
you. 

Q. There were not several thousand?—A. There were so many I 
could not number them. 

Q. Were there more than a hundred?—A. O, yes, sir. Captain 
Peebles’s company came there over night, and other people from various 
parts of the neighborhood came there with them. 

Q. How many colored people were there?—A. I coidd not exactly 
tell j it might be 50 or 60. 



BEAUFORT COUNTY. 


FIFTPI CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTIO^^ OF 1878. 













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BEAUFORT COUNTY. 


WILLIAM J. WHIPPEE. 


Charleston, January 25, 1879. 

William J. Whipper sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. At Beaufort. 

Q. How long have you resided there % —A. Since 1806, with some in¬ 
tervals ; that has been my home since 1866. 

Q. What is your business f—A. I am a lawyer by profession. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in the practice of law ?—A. 
Ever since I have been there. 

Q. Hid you take any part in the last political campaign in this State ?— 
A. I did. 

Q. Hid you canvass any of the counties in the State?—A. I spoke 
twice in Hampton County. My labors otherwise ivere confined to Beau¬ 
fort. 

Q. Were you canvassing for the Eepublican candidate ?—A. I was. 

(^. State the facts regarding the campaign in Hami)ton County.—A. 
I was sent to Hampton some time in September, at the request of the 
county chairman of the Eepublican party there j I got there in the after¬ 
noon ; the other speakers had gone the night before to Bronson. 

Q. Is tliat the county town of Hampton County ?—A. i7o, sir 5 the 
county town of Hampton County is about six miles from there. Hamp¬ 
ton County is a new county formed from the upper portion of Beaufort 
County. The county seat is about six miles from there. This meeting 
was held there. There was quite a display of red-shirts, mounted, 
riding around there generally at that' time. 

Q. Was the meeting called as a Eepublican meeting?—A. Yes, sirj 
by tlie precinct chairman at Brunson, by order of the county chairman 
at Beaufort; but before that meeting was held I think the county chair¬ 
man of Hampton County was appointed. In either event, the meeting 
was called by Eepublicans. I was not present at the time the meeting 
commenced. The Eepublican speaker, when I got there, had declined 
to speak. 

Q. Why ?—A. In consequence of a show of violence. I do not think 
any violence had actually been committed, but these red-shirts were 
making threats. They were riding about there, and making loud threats, 
at the time when I went up. 

Q. What number of red-shirts were there ?—A. There was a portion 
of two companies 5 neither company was full. There may have been in 
all about a hundred men; I tliink not much more than that in red- 
shirts. They had demanded a division of time, and I believe—I cannot 
speak of my own knowledge, but I was told—that our side had refused 
to allow a division of time. When I got there Mr. Wyman, from Barn¬ 
well, was speaking, and he had about concluded his speech. 

Q. Was he a Eepublican ?—A. IS^o, sir; he was a Hemocrat, a member 



632 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Beaufort 


of the last legislature, but not of the present one. I was disposed not 
to speak, but finally I did speak. 

Q. What occurred after that!—A. While I was speaking, a portion of 
the time there woidd be comparative quiet; a i^ortion of the time the 
red-shirts were very boisterous, and used very abusive language of 
almost every description. During the time I was speaking a man, whose 
name I have forgotton, but I know the man and can identify him, came 
up behind me. The whites were generally on my right side, the colored 
on my left. A crowd began to rush towards me. I found the man in 
the hands of two other men who had grabbed him. It was said he had 
a knife; that I did not see myself. It was said he had a knife. He was 
taken charge of, however, and kept away—he did not get to me. After 
I got over speaking the colored people went home tlie best way they 
could, under disadvantageous circumstances. There was a general rid¬ 
ing around the town and running up against me with horses. Mr. Cull- 
son and Mr. Segrett, from Beaufort County, were actually run against 
by men on horseback, and they run down some colored men about that 
time. I know this of my own knowledge. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were these ^A’ed-shirters’^ armed!—A. Yes, sir; and some took 
great pride in showing they were armed. 

Q. What were they armed with !—A. Bevolvers and knives. The re¬ 
volver was the most formidable weapon I saw. 

Q. Do you know whether Democratic meetings had been appointed 
for that same time and place ! —A. I have no knowledge of it. 

Q. You never even heard it claimed that there was ibr that time and 
place!—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Did you attend any other meeting in Ilanipton County!—A. Yes, 
sir. The next was at Lawtonville. I went there some two weeks later 
in the campaign at tlie request of the cliairman from Ham])ton County. 
Mr. Scott, Mr. Wheeler, and myself started for that place, and when we 
got about half way from the railroad, which is about twenty miles from 
where the meeting was to be held, we found the red-shirts apparently 
assembling; and when we got within about four miles we met a com¬ 
pany of colored men who had come out to meet us, under apprehension 
of some danger, and they were sent out to meet us with this view. 

Q. Were they armed !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were sent out to guard you in !—A. Yes, sir. When we got 
within about half a mile of the place we met a committee of eighteen 
or twenty mounted men, all prominent men. 

Q. White men and Democrats !—A. Yes, sir. There were lawyers, 
merchants, physicians, and everybody of any prominence in that crowd. 

Q. Did they have any chaplain along!—A. I do not think they did. 
When they came up they asked the friends with me and the company to 
ride back with them. They demanded, then, that Ave divide time, and 
asked Iioav many speakers we had, and I said one other besides myself. 
They said it was impossible for him (Thomas H. AVheeler, a colored 
laAvyer of Beaufoid) to be heard at all. I told them I had no particular 
objections to it as to dividing time—in fact, I consented to that, and Ave 
went up to the grounds, and there was five or six hundred mounted men 
around. 

Q. Were they white or colored men !—A. I am speaking noAV of the 
whites. The whites that Avere there, with the exception of this squad 
that came to meet us, formed a circle around the church with horses and 
left an opening, and AA^e rode in at that entrance. There was a hooting 


Coimty.J TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM J. WHIPPER. 633 

and jeering, cursing and swearing, sliooting tlieir revolvers, and all man¬ 
ner of things of that kind. 

Q. a!^ow, what occurred at that meeting?—A. I waited then and just 
about the time that Wheeler came uj) they had agreed to elect a chair¬ 
man on both sides and to proceed with the discussion when Mr. Wheeler 
came. I had been informed then and before that they did not believe they 
could control the men when Wheeler came. When he came they dis¬ 
mounted, and it looked very much as though he would be killed. I 
went to him with difficulty and got him to leave. 

Q. He seemed to be more obnoxious than yon were?—A. Yes, sir. It 
seems he spoke there two years ago, and his speech was very objection¬ 
able, and they had made up their minds that he should not speak again. 
I spoke at that time myself. The local speakers would not speak there. 

Q. Why not ?—A. They were afraid. The candidates for county offi¬ 
cers there would not speak—not one of them; they were afraid of 
their lives. I claimed the right to open and close at this meeting, and 
did open very briefly. Dr. Gilby, from Barnwell, and one colored man 
spoke. I was satisfied I would not get a hearing at all if I allowed 
them all to speak before I spoke. While I was speaking I was heard 
l^art of the time, and at other times I could not be heard. 

Q. Who made the noise?—A. The Democrats and ‘'D’ed-shirts.” 
When they thought I had spoken long enough they told me to get 
down. When I say that, I do not mean all of them, but there was so 
much disturbance that it was impossible to be heard by Republicans or 
Democrats. I continued, having the right to conclude; then I had com¬ 
parative quiet until some one said, ^^Pull him down”; there was a scuffle 
then, but it never reached me. From that out everything was boister¬ 
ous and there was no time in the meeting that a man could look in any 
direction without seeing from a dozen to twenty revolvers on exliibition. 

Q. They were pulled out and displayed, were they ?—A. Sometimes 
they were brandished around in their hands showing’ them to one 
another, and sometimes a man would be sitting with his leg over his 
horse\s neck and showing it during the meeting. There was no act of 
violence than this general show. Quarrels were going on, though, con¬ 
tinually. 

Q. What occurred after the meeting?—A. After the meeting I 
mounted again and was escorted back four or five miles, and I did not 
see what occurred afterwards. 

Q. You know what occurred afterwards from general report?—A. 
Yes, sir; I do. 

Q. You may state it.—A. Well, there has been in my office at Beau¬ 
fort half a dozen men who were rode down, and some were knocked 
down with guns. It seems they had guns, but they were not exhibited 
at the meeting. I was informed at an early stage in the proceedings 
that the guns were liid in the church, and tliis circle of men was right 
around the church. There was guns in the church, and in Wheelock’s 
store, and in Mr. People’s, and in Sloan’s blacksmith sliop. The colored 
people Avere satisfied of that, and in the event of a difficulty they Avere 
apprised of wliat to do. AnyhoAA" they kneAA" that they had guns, and 
certain it is that one or two were wounded AAfith guns by the Avhites; 
those men haA^e been in my office since. 

Q. Do you knoAV anytldng of tlie attack made on Congressman 
Smalls?—A. Only from hearsay; I Avas not at that meeting. 

Q. What was the result as declared of the election in Hampton 
County ?—A. There Avas about 2,000 Democratic majority in that county. 

Q. What had the politics of the county been prior to the last elec- 


634 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Beaufort 


tioii?—A. Republican,. I believe. Those polls iu Hampton County 
would average from five to seven hundred Republican votes, taking the 
average of elections since reconstruction. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. You have resided iu Beaufort since 18GG ?—A. I have lived at 
Beaufort, and have always regarded that as my residence, but I went 
away on one or two occasions. 

Q. So you are pretty well acquainted there —A. Yes sir. 

Q. Have you extensive acquaintance in Hampton County as well ?— 
A. I am pretty well acquainted in Hampton County. 

Q. You have always taken an active part in political affairs ?—A. Yes, 
sir; some. 

Q. How many colored men were there at the meeting at Brunson ?— 
A. I suppose about 150. 

Q. Were any of these colored men Democrats—did any of them have 
red shirts on ?—A. I do not think any of them had red shirts on; there 
were some of them Democrats. 

Q. Do you think there was about a hundred with red shirts ?—A. I 
do not think there was a colored man there or at Lawtonville mth a red 
shirt on. 

Q. Mr. Lamont spoke at the meeting at Brunson ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was his appeal to the colored men as Avell as to white men?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. It was not a violent speech, was it ?—A. It was an appeal to the 
colored people to vote the Democratic ticket. It was very abusive of 
Republicans. I did not regard it as a violent speech. He did not ad\dse 
violence. 

Q. Did he speak of Republican mismanagement in the State ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. He spoke of the past history of the Republican party in the State ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He spoke of the administration of the general and State govern¬ 
ments ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did he show or attempt to show to the voters then present how 
much of taxation and wrong had been put upon the people under Repub¬ 
lican administrations ?—A. He went over all that. 

Q. And then he denounced the Republican party for having inflicted 
such wrongs upon the colored people f—A. Yes, sii\ 

Q. And asked the people to secure a better form of government?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And thought the Democracy might achieve that?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was about his speech?—A. Yes, sir; that Avas about the tenor 
of all his speeches. 

Q. Do you consider that abusive to say that when Republicans have 
done wrong and commit irregularities and robbed the State that that was 
abusive ?—A. I did not say that he advised the abuse of any one. I 
say that he abused Republicans, not simply as a party or party meas¬ 
ures, but abused individuals. 

Q. What individuals ?—A. For instance, he abused Smalls in terms 
that AAuis calculated to arouse the crowd he Avas addressing and bring 
on violence in the shape of an attack upon him. 

Q. Did he make his denunciation of Smalls for specific acts—did he 
point out what he had done ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that it Avas not a denunciation without any facts or statements ?— 
A. Yo, sir; he made statements. 


Cotmty.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM J. WHIPPER. 


635 


Q. lie attempted to prove that Smalls was a bad man?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But you did not agree with him as to Smalls’s character, I take it 
for granted, with him ?—A. With Mr. Youmans—I certainly agreed 
with him that which he had charged Smalls with; he had been found 
guilty of it. 

Q. So, for saying of Mr. Smalls, that he had been guilty of certain 
otfenses, you think that was abusing him, when you yourself believed 
that Smalls had been guilty of those offenses ?—A. I have not stated 
whether I believed he is guilty or not. 

Q. Do you believe him innocent ?—A. I know he was convicted of 
them. 

Q. Have you ever expressed an opinion in reference to Smalls’s guilt 
or innocence ?—A. I do not know that 1 have. I have studiously avoided 
expressing an opinion. 

Q. You spoke at the meeting at Brunson also ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You state a man came up behind you to make an attack on you, or 
you were so informed?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, who was that man ?—A. That man’s name I do not remem¬ 
ber. 

Q. Did you take any interest in the name of the person ?—A. I know 
the nian personally, but when I was summoned here last Saturday I 
tried to think of the man’s name, and my wife too, but we could not do 
it. I intended to go to the court-house to get the name, but I cannot 
think of it now. 

Q. Now don’t you think if I were to take up this knife and attempt to 
make a demonstration against you, you would remember me as long as 
you lived ?—A. Yes, sir; I will remember that man as long as I live, 
but I cannot now remember his name. 

Q. You were speaking of some colored men, that were run down ?— 
A. They rode up against colored men. 

Q. You said they were rode down?—A. Yes, sir; in one instance 
they were actually rode down. 

Q. Then you bring it down to one person; you said that the colored 
men on returning from the meeting were rode down; how many col¬ 
ored men ?—A. What I did say was this, that on returning from the 
meeting, I was informed that they were rode down and compelled to go 
in groups or clandestinely; in one instance they rode some men down, 
and one of them was from Beaufort County. 

Q. Was the crowd very thick in Sumter County?—A. No, sir. 

(^. So that there was plenty of room—people woidd not jostle one 
another ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You think it was intentional ?—A. Yes, sir ; it was certainly inten¬ 
tional. 

Q. You said that at Brunson there were many men armed with 
revolvers ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. White men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Give me the names of some of them.—xi. It would be very diffi¬ 
cult for me to call the names. 

Q. Just give me the names of persons who you say were armed 
with revolvers making demonstrations at the meeting at Brunson’s.— 
A. I would not pretend to give the names of any one of them; I know 
Mr. Tilleson had them on. 

Q. It is not the carrying of the arms, but to the demonstrations with 
them ; I refer to that inore x)articularly ?—A. I could not tell you those 
who were brandishing their arms; they were intoxicated. I would not 
undertake to call their names. I was making a speech at the time. 


636 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


I Beaufort 


[Mr. Cameron called the attention of Mr. Eandolph to a number of [ 
names i^nblislied in the Democratic ne'wsx)aper, who bore arms at this 
time and place.] 

Q. Your next meeting was at Lawtonville ?—A. Yes, sir 5 the next 
one I attended. 

Q. You rode.there in company with Mr. Wheeler ?—A. Yes, sir. ! 
Q. Five miles !—A. Yes, sir; when within five miles of the town I j 
left the buggy and mounted the horse or mule, I believe it was a mule, 1 
and rode in with a i)arty. 

Q. The colored peoi)le met you about four miles from the town ?—A. | 
Yes, sir. 1 

Q. They were well armed f—A. Yes, sir; they were armed with side- S 
arms, such as revolvers. * ' 

Q. Any knives ?—A. Some of them had knives. 

Q. It is customary, is it not, for colored men to use them as well as j 
revolvers, Avhere they desire to do so f—A. I do not know that it is j 
very common for colored men to use them in that country. 1 do not ^ 
know but very few instances where knives were used. , 

Q. But on tliis occasion the colored company that came'out there were ^ 
armed—how many of them do you say there were of them f—A. I sup¬ 
pose there was about three hundred when we got there. Those that | 
came to meet us were not more than fifty or sixty, but they fell in all ] 
along the road as we proceeded. j 

Q. ilow, the committee of twenty white men that came out to see you 
came out for the imrpose of asking you whether you woidd divide time ?— j 
A. They demanded it—tliey did not conceal their desire. j 

Q. They said it was impossible for more than one colored speaker to 
speak f—A. l^o, sir; that was not the idea I intended to convey, if I did 
convey that. 

Q. You said that the committee who met you said that it would be 
impossible for more than one colored speaker to speak at that meeting ! 
—A. Yo, sir 5 but that it was im 2 )ossible for Mr. AYlieeler to speak. They 
assured they Avould do what they could for me to have him heard, but 
that tliey thought it was impossible for him to speak; that the people 
would not allow him. 

- Q. They wanted to divide time!—xV. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many colored xieople were at your meeting!—A. Considering | 
the colored men and women, there was in the neighborhood of 2 , 000 . \ 

Q. Do you count the women as voters !—A. Yes, sir. ! 

Q. Then there were 314 of the colored men that were mounted!—A. | 
Yes, sir; I tldnk there was 1,500 colored men on the ground. j 

Q. Wheeler was objectionable to the x)ersons who conferred with you i 
because he had made violent speeches there before !—A. They did not 1 
hold out the idea that Wheeler was objectionalile to them, but tliat he I 
was to the party, and they thought the crowd would not hear him. I Avas j 
told by Johnson that they did not belieA^e they could keep their men un- ^ 
der control if Wheeler spoke. They said, hoAvever, they Avould do all ' 
they could to keep the men under control. 1 

Q. You said that during the time you were speaking there Avas more ! 
or less confusion, and that revolvers Avere on exliibition frequently and ; 
during the aa hole meeting. ]N^oav, can you give me the names of any of ' 
the persons aa ho exhibited the reAmh^ers and disxdayed them in the ofien- 1 
sive manner you speak of during that meeting at LaAvtonville!—A. 1 could 
not giA^e the names of but feAV. 

Q. I did not examine all the Eepublicans or Democrats Avho carried 
a rcA^olA^er on that occasion, because it Avould seem from your oaaui test!- 





County.] TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM J. WHIPPER. 637 

mony that both sides were well armed, hut I want those who displaj^ed 
their revolvers in the manner yon have described in your testimony ?— 
A. As I stated before, there was a great many displayed their arms, more, 
far more than at Brunson’s. I am going there to court next Monday, 
and I do not wish to call names, and I could not call but a few if I called 
any. 

Q. If you have any apprehensions on the subject, though I do not 
concur with you as to the danger, I Avill not press the question; your 
testimony as to the other matters, about men having been reported as 
ridden down, &c., is a matter of hearsay ?—A. Yes, sir; I did not see 
anything. 

Q. Now, you spoke of a large number of guns being secreted at Law- 
ton ville during the time you Avere there; do you know that of your own 
knowledge!—A. No, sir; I stated I did not. 

Q. You did not see them!—A. No, sir. 

Q. That was a mere rumor that the guns had been placed there the 
night before!—A. I stated that I did not knoAv anything about it. 

Q. You spoke of some men coming to you and telling you that the 
guns were secreted!—A. Yes, sir; I was told that as soon as that come 
out. 

Q. Where Avere you; you took no special pains to see A\diether it was 
true or not!—A. No, sir; but I acted on the presumption that it was 
true. 

Q. Well, from your testimony it would seem that there was a sort of 
arsenal in Hampton County, both white and black people being pretty 
well armed. Do you eAW carry arms yourself!—A. I do sometimes; I 
i had none that day, but it was by mistake that I did not liaA^e any. 
i Q. You think that is the best Avay !—A. No, sir; it so happened that 
I I did not haA^e any. I did not happen to have any that day or in Brun- 
I son, but it is not my custom to go in that country Avithout arms. 

Q. So your custom in that respect differs from the custom of the white 
population, if I can believe your testimony !—xi. In that country we in- 
Amriably go armed. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

* Q. What was the result of the election in Beaufort!—A. I have for- 
gotten. There Avas not a large majority in Beaufort. This Hampton 
: County took off a large portion of the Avhite vote of the old Beaufort 
’ County, Avhich leaves the island pretty strongly Bepublican. 
i Q. Were there any tissue ballots used in Beaufort County!—A. None 
! that I ever learned. 

Q. Have the polling-places, particularly on the island in Beaufort 

I County, been changed since the Democrats have had power!—A. Yes, 
sir; they abolished a great many polling-precincts and rendered it ne¬ 
cessary for colored A^oters to walk a great AA^ay to A^ote. 

Q. About how far !—A. Well, sometimes as far as twenty miles. On 
Beaufort Highway Ave have always had four—one at Gray’s Hill, Myrtle 
Bush, Beaufort, and another—and there is a country there AAdiere there 
is about 300 voters that are ten miles from Beaufort, that before did 
not have to go far to vote. A large number are iioav compelled to 
go over tAventy miles. When I say a large number, I mean there must 
haA^e been over 200. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q- It seems our Democratic friends wanted to have a joint discus¬ 
sion.—xi. They Avent there and insisted on turning it into a joint discus¬ 
sion. 








638 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Beaufort County.] 


Q. Now I want to see bow far that disposition runs among tbem.'^Yon 
bave cliiircbes in tbat county?—A. Yes, sir; tbeybave different kinds— 
Baptists and Presbyterians. 

Q. Does it ever occur tbat a Presbyterian minister calls togetber a 
posse of elders and goes down to another cburcb and demands a joint 
discussion ?—A. These reasons for joint discussion are confined strictly 
to political matters. It is a creature of recent birth. In every cam- 
I)aign until this one Ave liaA^e, AAdien the Pepublicans were in i)OAver, 
always invited the Democrats to join with us; but they studiously re¬ 
fused. to take part ^Yith us. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. When did they commence these joint discussions !—A. This last 
campaign; Avell, I think the campaign of 1870 was the commencement 
of it; at least they commenced to demand it in 1876. 

By Mr. Randolph : 

Q. How old are 3 011 ?—A. I am 35. 

Q. Were there joint discussions before the war between the Whigs 
and the Democratic party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So that was the common practice long j^ears ago and rcAuved in 
1876 ?—A. It was not the practice before the war to demand them; they 
did not come with arms at their sides and tell us that Ave could have a 
ioint discussion Avith them or haA^e no meeting at all. That is the differ¬ 
ence between things before the Avar and uoav. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. The men on the other side before the Avar would haA^e made objec¬ 
tions ?—A. Yes, sir ; it Avas not a choice with us whether we Avanted a 
joint discussion, but it Avas Avhether we would haA^e a meeting or not. 
Without a joint discussion there was no possibility of a man speaking, 
black or AApite, during the last campaign. 


COLLETON COUNTY. 


FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION OE 1878. 











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COLLETON COUNTY. 


WILLIAM F. MYERS. 

Charleston, January 25, 1879. 

William F. Miners, sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Where do you reside !—Answer. At Waterbary, Colleton 
County. ^ 

Q. Whth what party have you affiliated in the past?—A. W^ith the 
Republican party. 

Q. How long have you resided in Colleton County?—A. Since I at¬ 
tained my majority. 

Q. W"hat is yoiH business?—A. I have the honor of representing that 
county in the legislature, and I have been practising law. 

Q. What official relation do you hold to the Republican party ?—A. 
I am chairman of the party in Colleton County. 

Q. How long have you been chairman of the party?—A. About four 
years; not quite four years, l^ut very nearly that. 

Q. On what day was the Republican nominating convention for that 
county held last fall?-. A. In the latter part of October, on the 23d or 
24th, if I remember rightly. 

Q. Hid the Democratic rifle club assemble at the place where the Re¬ 
publican nominating committee was held? Please state the facts in 
connection with that matter.—A. My first knowledge of this assembling 
was about six o’clock on the morning of the convention. The night be¬ 
fore the delegates were uj) caucusing. About six o’clock that morning 
I wms informed that the rifle-clubs were coming. We were very much 
annoyed about it. The delegates began to discuss the propriety of 
holding the convention in the court-house, because they were assembled 
in the court-house hall—something ver^^ unusual. W^e sent committees 
out to ascertain the facts. They could learn from one and another of 
the riflemen that they intended to prevent our holdings convention. W^e 
consulted, and thought that as.it Avas in the towm of W^aterbury, Avith 
prominent Democrats residing there Avith their families, i)robably tliey 
would not regard it safe to interfere with us. W^e agreed to go u}) to 
the court-house anyhoAV and take our chances. As we Avere starting off’ 
I was called to, and on turning around I foiincl it was the Democratic 
county chairman. He said they had called a meeting of clubs there that 
day, but as our convention Avas to meet, they had dicided to postpone 
their drill and ask to be allowed to make an explanation of the matter 
in the convention. I thought it well to do so. When the coiiA^ention 
met he got up and explained that their club meeting was called unfor¬ 
tunately on the same day that Ave Avere to meet, but that they had been 
disbanded on that iccount. But they were all there outside the bar of 
the court-room, standing oaw us. As soon as he made knoAAui his plan, 
which seemed to be new to some of the members of the clubs, many were 
condemnatory remarks made by some of the members. I walked around 
41 s c 



642 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


'Colleton 


and could hear the talking in reference to the change of plans. How¬ 
ever, everything passed olf quietly. We were further advised to get 
through as soon as possible and disperse. We did so. AVe had no in¬ 
terruption. I was reliably informed afterwards that it was through the 
urgent efforts of those wlio Avere a little more discreet that a collision 
was aAmided. 

Q. Of how many members did your covention consist ?—A. Of seA’- 
enty-eight or seventy-nine. 

Q. Hoav many members of the rifle-clnb were there ?—A. Fully a 
hundred or more that I saw in uniform. 

Q. Had the rifle-clnl) been in the habit of assembling and drilling in 
AVaterbnry ?—A. The companies in that Aucinity had, but there Avere 
companies there from some distance—fifteen, tAventy, or thirty miles. 

Q. Did yon knoAV about the Democrats storing arms the night be¬ 
fore ?—A. In the morning, when I Avas informed of the assembling of the 
clubs, I sent parties out to reconnoiter. AA^e found one man who said 
he had assisted in the storing of arms, and Avho told ns where the arms 
were stored in close proximity to where Ave were to hold our couA'en- 
tion. 

Q. AA^hat amount of arms Avere stored?—A. I do not knoAV. This 
man wJio said he assisted in storing them the night before or tAvo or 
three nights before, I am not certain which, told us the arms AA^ere 
stored in one of the laAAyers’ offices right beside the court-house. 

(^. AA^hat did the Democrats do in the matter of polling places on the 
line of the railroads ?—A. Under the amendatory bills they haA^e struck 
off from the belt known as the Kepublican belt of our county seA^eral 
A^ery important polls and consolidated others. There are only three 
polls noAA" on the line of the railroad. I started from EaA^enels on the 
morning of election. 1 sle])t AAuth a friend, intending to be there early 
and .to go from there on to Jacksonboro’ and Hreenpoint. 

Q. AATiat is the distance from that poll to the next one!—A. It is 
about fifteen miles from Kavenels to Jacksonboro’. As soon as we had 
assembled there the most of the Republicans were on the ground—about 
three hundred and fifty—right around tlie place Avhere they were to 
A’ote. It Avas then about six o’clock, the time enjoined by laAV to open 
the ballot-box. I made inquiry as to the cause of the delay. I found 
out they Avould not take the regular box pro Aided by hxAv, but got 
a cracker or biscuit box, and nailed doAvn the top and made a hole 
through it. The regular ballot-box AA^as in Dr. BroAAudee’s office, and 
they could get not oidy the box but the use of the office. The box they 
used Avas Avithout a lock, Avhich is strictly required by laAv. They did 
not open it until it AA^as after half past six o’clock. I know the time, be¬ 
cause they had just started to A^ote as the train from Charleston to 
SaA^annah left the station, and I left there on that train and Avent on to 
Ja(5ksonboro’. 

Q. What l)Ox AAms used there that day?—The biscuit box, got from 
one of the stores; and the poll-list Avas kept on common A\uiting-paper. 

Q. AATiere AA^as the regular polling place?—A. In Dr. Brownlee’s office? 

Q. AA^ere the managers Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir; all of them. I came 
doAA'ii in the niglit again, intending to take the afternoon train back in 
time to represent onr party in the county. When I got there they had 
almost finished the count and Av^ere making up the returns. Tliey had 
.not parti(*nlarized the Azotes receiA'ed for eacli party, but just aggregated 
them—so many votes in that box. After taking out so many tissue 
tickets they found they AA'ere so largely in the majority that they refused 


Coanty.] 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM F. MYERS. 


643 


to count, protested against their own action, and the box was turned 
ont altogether. I was there when the managers were writing out their 
protest. I saw there was no use of my staying there all night the way 
things were going. The train was delayed, taking in water, and I ran 
back and got on the train just as it was starting. 

Q. What was the ground of protest?—A. The confusion during the 
day; the fact that the box had not been opened at the time required by 
law; and that the box was not a legal one. 

Q. ITow many votes were polled in that box!—xV. About six hundred 
and odd votes. Tliere was not more than a hundred Democratic votes. 

I know that country and the people. 

Q. How many tissue ballots were there in that box, as near as you caii 
state !—A. 1 cannot say, sir. When I had gotten there they had not 
been all separated. I received the returns of the sip^ervisor, and as a 
matter of record he recorded a hundred and eighty-three ballots in excess 
of the poll-list; and of those taken out to e(iualize the ballots Avith the 
l)oll-list one hundred and eighty were Itepublican ; but as to the amount 
of tissue ballots in the box, that I cannot tell. I did not see at either of 
the polls any tissue tickets until they began the count. 

Q. Do you know whether any tissue tickets Avere used anywhere else 
in your county!—A. Those were the only tissue tickets used in our 
county; and I Avill state further, that I had a great deal of trouble in 
securing one of these tissue ballots. [Here witness exhibited one to the 
committee, similar, excei)t as to the names of the local officers, to the 
small tissue ballot already introduced in evidence in preceding pages 
of this report. Witness continued:] Green Pond poll is the largest 
Kepublican poll in the county under the existing laAv. There had been 
a consolidation of the Blue House poll ou the south, the Ashepoo i)oll 
on 
tion, 

the , ^ _ 

I expressed my surpiise to him at his being uAvay from the poll. 
From him I receiA^ed the hrst inlormation that the poll A\as not 
yet opened. It Avas noAV about half past seven o’clock. 1 asked him 
Avhere the managers AAcre. Henderson came up and said, 1 ain 
here.” I said, “ You are only one of three. Where are the others!” 
He explained that he AAais there, ready to do his duty, and had been there 
since six o’clock. I said as it AA^as past six it AA^as needless to put their 
votes in; it Avould be like ihroAving so much ])aper on the ground. I 
advised that as many as could should go to another poll. They con¬ 
cluded to go; some started on horses and some on foot; the most ot 
them AA^uit to the Jacksonboro poll. Some of them had already Avalked 
tifteen or tAventy miles to reacli the Green Pond poll, and to go twelve 
or tifteen miles farther to the Waterbury ])oll, or ten nnles to the 
Jacksoid)oro’ poll, after the distance they had come, seemed a physical 
impossibility. Some of them had walked tifteen miles, and must walk 
tifteen mile 
ing from 

to votl^^h'couw'get no^explanatioi'i, only a few gentlemen told me they 
knew nothing abont it. Then the voters who had pthered there had 
a meeting, and some, of them agreed to go to the p ateibm.v poll, 
but more said they would go home and wouldn t vote at all. '' «**!- 

all much disgusted. The manager wanted to laiow vhat I thought )t 
was best to do. I sai<l, “ If yoi> do open tire pll, it will be useless to vote 
He started off, and about a quarter of a mile aAva> fell in aa itli a lot ot 


i consolidation ot tiie Jtsiiie rioiise poii on tne soiitn, me ^A^sneiiou pun 
ui the north, and the Bennett’s Point ])oll in a more easterly direc- 
ioii, into one, AA hich AA^as called the Green Pond poll. When I got oft 
he train, the tirst person I met there aa^vs the Kepublican siiperAUSor. 



G44 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


men mounted, having on red shirts, and he pulled oft his shirt and put 
on his red shirt and pistol, and rode off with the others to the AA ater- 
hnry poll. 

Q. Have yon anything to state in regard to any of the other polls in 
that county A. As to the Jacksonboro’ poll, I cannot state. I was 
there only during the time it took the train to stop to take up passen¬ 
gers and the mail; I stopped only to put my vote in. The box was at 
a little office by the window 5 it was an old box, with the top placed over 
the glass. No one was allowed in the room. We could only feel the 
box unless we stooped doAvn and looked np at it. There were a great 
many tissue tickets found in the box. There was an excess of 190 votes 
taken out. The number of liepublican votes at that poll was 190, and 
there was an excess of just 190 votes. 

Q. Was that box counted ?—A. O, yes; because by the manipulation 
it was made to be largely a Democratic box. I state as an important 
fact that in all preceding elections they have never polled a hnndred 
Democratic votes there. 1 will explain this. This is what is known as 
the rice section; large tracts and valuable plantations are on it. At 
certain seasons of the year the malaria is too great for people to stay 
there; they go in only to carry in their stores; and those are the only 
Democrats there are there. 

Q. They claim that there the colored men vote the Democratic ticket 
largely; is that a fact!—A. Well, sir, I think I am as active a politician 
as any of the local men in their party, and I was much gratified to see 
with what nnanimity the colored people there stood np for the Kepnb- 
licaii ticket. We would go to meetings where Democrats were assem¬ 
bled, and there, in the face of the Democrats, the colored people would 
exiwess their determination to vote the liepublican ticket. What was 
actually done there, of course I cannot say from my own personal knowl¬ 
edge.^ I only take it from the sentiments openly expressed by the masses 
of fthe people. 

Q. State what yon know in reference to the poll established at Lin¬ 
der’s Cross-lioads.—A. 1 heard that no poll was ever established there. 
There was a box returned as coming from Linder’s Cross-lioads. I will 
explain how that Linder’s Cross-lioads came to be on the books. 1 was in 
,the legislature,chairman of the committee on engrossed bills of the State 
senate. When this bill to establish a voting-precinct came in, of course the 
few liepublicans left there were i)articnlarly anxious, and 1 studiously 
went over the bilj to perfect it. 1 found out they had reduced the number 
• of polls; but Snider’s ix)ll, which Avas a Democratic poll, was left intact. 
It was legislated bn as Snider’s Cross-lioads.” The bill went to an¬ 
other committee—the committee on enrolled bills. After the i)rinted 
copies of the hiw came out, instead of “Snider’s Cross-Hoads,” behold 
they had “ Linder’s Cross-lioads.” 1 went over to Columbia and called 
for the manuscript copy of the enrolled act, and 1 saw there “Sinder’s 
Cross-lioads.” In the Avord “Snider’s” the “i” and the “n” had been 
transposed, or the dot over the “i” had been placed right after the letter 
“S.” That 1 saAA" myself on the enrolled bill. 1 sup])ose that AA’hen it 
went to the printer, instead of the letter “S” at the beginning of the 
Avord they put an “L,” which made Lind-er’s of it; and so they estab¬ 
lished this box. They thought they could not afford to lose this poll. 
1 AA’as tax-assessor of that county, and knoAA^ eA'ery important point in 
the county; 1 have talked AAuth the oldest dtizesis there, Avhite and col- 
<ored, and I never found a man who eA’er heard of any such place in the 
teonnty as “Linder’s.” I .took the .polldist inyself m .the day tlie board 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF W1l.LIAM F. MYERS. 645 


of managers inet and looked it over, and I could not find upon it five 
names that I knew. 

Q. How many votes were returned as having heen polled there ?—A. 
T our hundred and odd. There were 400 Democrats and 7 Republicans. 
They vnere so kind as to give us seven votes. 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Is there any such iilace?—A. Ko such place is known in the 
county; i even went to the Democratic county cliairman and inquired 
ot lum, and he knew nothing of it. He said he only saw the place 
marked (town there, and he appointed managers for it. 

Q. Who is the Democratic county chairman ?—A. His name is M. P. 
Howell. 

Q. Did you look at the act filed in the office of secretary of state?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And what did you find it to be in that act ?—A. I found there 

Snider’s Cross-Roads.” The i ” was made before the “ n,” which made 
it read “ Sinder’s Cross-Roads,” wlien it should have been ^‘Snider’s.” 
I am well iiosted in this matter, because I was chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on engrossed bills. 

Q. How many Republican polls were abolished in Colleton County, 
at the time to which you have referred ?—A. Three Republican polls 
were abolished. Wait a moment; I think there were five. 

Q. How many of them were consolidated into one poll so that no poll 
was opened at this place at the last election ?—A. Blue House poll, 
Ashapoo poll, and Bennett’s Point poll were consolidated into one poll 
and called the Green Pond poll. 

Q. What has the relative strength of the two political parties been 
in Colleton County prior to the last election ?—^A. I suppose Ave had 
about 100 per cent, majority. 

Q. Y^ou mean about double the Democratic vote ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was the result as declared at the last election ?—A. After 
the official count was had, the official report was 2,500 and OA^er, a oters. 
I cannot state the exact figures. The first official report was afterwards 
reduced, making 2,100 and odd Democratic majority. 

Q. After the reduction?—A. Yes, sir; after the reduction. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. Did you find out AAffiere this Linder’s Cross-Roads box Avas placed ? 
—A. I never could find out; in fact, I do not knoAV to-day the names of 
the managers. I heard that managers were appointed. I saw the poll- 
list. I Avanted to see what was going on, and having a great deal else 
to do I could not confine my attention to the list very long; and when 
I did luiA^e an opportunity it Avas i)laced in the box and the box locked 
up. I took particular pains to make inquiry of the people liAung in the 
neighborhood of Snider’s Cross-Roads and all that section. 

Q. It Avas not established at the old polling place, Snider’s ?—A. Ko, 
sir; no poll Avas opened at Snider’s; this poll Avasn’t established there, 
nor any other. 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Ymu say you were only at Jacksonville long enough to vote?—A. 
Yes, sir; and perliaps tAVO minutes afterAvards. 

Q. AVhile the train stopped to let off and take on passengers ?—A. 
Yes sir. 

q! Hoav long Avere you there in all ?—A. I should say about five 
minutes. 


646 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


Q. You went on, then, on the same train —A. I did. 

Q. What time of day was it !—A. They cried that the polls were closed 
just as I put my vote in; so it must have been about six o’clock. 

Q. Was yours the last vote!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon didn’t stay to see them counted !—A. No, sir. 

Q. And this report of the result is derived from information received 
from 01 hers!—A. No, sir ; it was a matter of official record. 

Q. How so !—A. Tlie returns of the supervisor of that poll. 

Q. And yon speak of what yon saw in the returns !—A. Yes, sir; the 
returns of the officer charged with that duty. 

Q. Yon say that yon were in the legislature at the'time the bill was 
])assed making the changes in the election precincts and establishing 
the election polls as they now exist!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say there was at that time or before that time a precinct in 
the county of Colleton called Snider’s precinct!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Ami that that precinct was intended to be continned!—A. All the 
legislation had in the senate was regarding Snider’s precinct, continuing 
it as one of the precincts of the county. 

Q. Yon said it was a Democratic precinct!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon remember how the name Snider was spelled in the enrolled 
bill, with an or a ^^y”!—A. Yes, sir; it was spelled with an ^‘i,” 
S-n-i-d-e-r. 

Q. Not S-n-y-d-e-r !—A. No, sir. 

Q. More persons probably spelled it with an “i” than with a “ y ”!— 
A. I presume so, but they say this should be spelled with an i.” 

Q. That is the way it was spelled in the engrossed bill !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And when yon came to examine the bill on tile in the office of the 

secretary of state, yon found the dot was i^nt over the latter part- 

A. No, sir; over the first part, immediately next after the ‘‘ S.” 

Q. In making “ in ” yon might make three strokes and dot either the 
first or the last!—A. That is it exactly, sir. 

Q. In this case the dot was ovei; the first!—A. I am positive that it was 
over the first. The clerk looked at it with me, and Ave talked the mat¬ 
ter over. 

Q. Yon say no poll was opened in the county at the place knoAvn as 
Snider’s poll!—A. No, sir; no such poll A\ns opened anywffiere in the 
county according to my information. 

Q. CJnless this poll of Linder’s Cross-Roads Axas the poll representing 
Snider’s poll, that was never established!—A. No, sir; and at the lak 
election Snider’s poll Avas not in use at all; no returns AAnre made from 
Snider’s poll. 

Q. Yon say that yon asked the chaiinian of the Democratic commit¬ 
tee, and he told yon that managers had been appointed and sent to Lin¬ 
der’s poll!—A. I asked the chairman, Avhen he Avas making the official 
record, Where is this Linder’s Cross-Roads !” And he said, I don’t 
know; all I have to do is to appoint managers, as the place is down on 
the list.” 

Q. All he had to do was to appoint managers !—A. Yes, sir; he was 
a member, I think chairman, of the board of county managers. 

By the Chairaian : 

Q. That is Avhat yon call commissioner!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. And that board appointed the managers for that poll!—A. Yes 
sir; for all the polls. 

Q. When that came to be printed, instead of Binder’s” it was ^^Lin- 



County.] 


647 


TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM F. MYERS. 


(ler’s”'?—A. Yes, sir; t^e “8” was turned into an “L”; you knowthev 
look like writing. Many persons make their “S’s” to 

ti.?i time did you say your convention was held ?—A. In the 

to^the e.vact date. I have do memory of the day, and no records before 


(J. The chainnaii of the Democratic oommittee told you there would 
btluhere—account of your meeting?—A. He did; but they assem- 

(J. Didift he tell you that when the parade was ordered for that dav 
they didn t know you were going to hold a convention that day *—He 
may have told me. I know the convention was advertised ten or fifteen 
(lays before. 

11 that he didn’t know the convention was to be 

held, or the parade wonld not have been called for that day f—A. I 
think he told me so. 

Q. Were the wliite persons that yon saw there armed ?—A. I saw 
small-arms—pistols. I saw no large arms. 

It is not a very nnnsnal thing for persons, black or white, to carry 
pistols, is it ?—A. I saAv very few black men with pistols, even on the 
day of onr convention. 

Q. Yon have seen them, have yon not ?—A. O, yes. 

Q. In whose law office did this inan tell yon he assisted in putting 
away arms the night, or several nights, before?—A. I cannot exactly 
remember the office. I can tell yon whose house the arms were moved 
from. 

Q. Yon said yon were told they were put in a lawyer’s office near the 
court-house ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. Whose office was it?—A. I do not know the office in which they 
were put, but I know tlie place from which the}" were taken. 

Q. Whose place ?—A. Lawyer Berry’s. 

Q. Lawyer Berry’s house ?—A. His house, or office, or yard, or some 
adioining building. 

(^. You don’t remember whose office they were put into ?—A. I do not 
think he named the office. 

Q. Who told you that?—A. Thomas Kennedy. lie also said that 
another man assisted, or a young lady who used to stay with him. 

Q. YVas Thomas Kennedy white or colored ?—A. Colored. 

Q. Whereabouts did he live?—A. He did live in Waterbury, and I 
suppose he does now; I have not seen him for a long time. 

Q. You say you saw no arms ?—A. Only small-arms—pistols. 

Q. Did not the chairman remain in your meeting the most of the time 
your convention was in session?—A. He was there; I recollect seeing 
him several times, but my attention was so taken up with the conduct 
of the convention that I did not particularly notice how long he staid 
or when he went away. 

Q. Did not everything pass off pleasantly at your convention?—A. O, 
yes, there was no collision; there was nothing to complain of, only the 
condemnatory remarks of these men. 

Q. Didn’t they express themseh'es disappointed at being called there 
tona parade when none was to take place ?—A. I do not know how you 

may term it; they expressexl their condemnation- 

Q. Didn’t they express their disappointment at being brought there 
for the purpose of a parade when none was to take place'?—A. I did not 




648 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


particularly hear them say parade”; they exi^ressed their disapxioiiit- 
ment at the change of plan. 

Q. Did you hear them say what plan?—A. No, sir; I did not know 
anything about their original plan. 

Q. What did they say about the plan in that connection?—A. They 
said they were assembled there for a purpose. 

Q. wiiat purpose?—A. That I didiiT hear; I suppose there were two 
causes for that. 

Q. How do you know there were two causes for that?—A. I did not 
say that I knew it; I said I suiiposed so. 

Q. You supposed they were there for some purpose different from 
what they professed?—A. The circumstances implied that. 

Q. And when the chairman came and told you there would be no 
parade, and said that if they had known that the convention was to be 
held no parade would have been appointed—after that do you say there 
was some evil puipose behind it ?—A. I did not say that, only Avhat 
was implied by the circumstances. 

Q. From these circumstances Avhy do you undertake to draw un¬ 
friendly inferences ?—A. I simply state Avhat I understood to be the 
facts. 

Q. Then you understood their pui^pose to be peaceable, as the affair 
passed off peaceably?—A. I do not suppose my suppositions Avould be 
admitted. 

Q. But you have given a good man suppositions?—A. You liaA^e the 
advantage of me here. 

Q. You are under oath and I am not; you are sworn here; do you 
consider that you are sworn here for the sake of obtaining an adAmn- 
tage?—A. I am sworn to defend myself in what I deem my rights. 

Q. Are you SAA'orn to see to A\diat extent you can get the adAmntage 
OA er somebody else?—A. You may call it so if you please. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Are you sworn to say anything but the truth, as you understand 
it?—A. No, sir; nothing but the truth, as I understand it. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. You are a lawyer by profession, are you not ?—A. I practice a 
little. 

By the Chairman ; 

Q. Hoav do you understand those clubs came to be assembled ?—A. I 
do not knoAv, sir; I knew nothing of their assembling there until that 
morning—about six o’clock in the morning of the day of the meeting of 
our couA^ention; the sun had hardly risen A\dien I was informed; a man 
came down to me A'ery much excited about it, and informed me. 

Q. You do not knoAc Avliether the chairman of the Democratic com¬ 
mittee called them or some one else ?—A. No, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were the three election commissioners of the county Democrats ?— 
A. No, sir; one AAms a Bepublican; he didn’t sign the ^returns, though. 

Q. So far as you know, Avere all the managers of the election in that 
county Democrats ?—A. They were all Democrats. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Were tlie clerks all Democrats ?—A. I do not knoAv for certain 
about the clerks; all the appointees Avere Democrats, so far as I know. 


County.) 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


649 


GEOEGE WASHINGTON^. 

Charleston, S. C., January 25, 1879. 
George Washington (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. AVhere do you reside ?—Answer. In Colleton Countv, in 
the town of Waterhury. 

Q. How long have you lived thereA. Since 18GG, when I was mus¬ 
tered out of the Army as a soldier. 

Q. A United States soldier!—A. Yes,sir. 

Q. Were you present at the last election in Waterhury ?—A. Yes, sir; 
from six o’clock in the morning until about ten o’clock- at niglit. 

Q. In what capacity were you there!—A. As challenger on the Ee- 
publican side. 

Q. Tell what occurred there that day.—A. As soon as we got the boxes 
and opened them the voting began, and everything went on all right 
for a while. Mr. Fishman was challenger on the Democratic side; I was 
on the Eepublican side. I proposed to Mr. Fishman, said I, “Mr. Fish¬ 
man, now whenever a man comes up to vote that bears the appearance 
of a man, I shall not challenge him if he comes to vote on your side, and 
I hope you wilDdo the same on our side, so that we can get along quickly 
and pleasantly.” He said that Avas all right; so the voting began. One 
or two white gentlemen voted, after that there came up a colored man 
to vote, and Fishman objected to his vote immediately, saying he was 
not 21 years old. The young man said he Avas. They argued oA^er it 
ten or fifteen minutes, Fishman trying to keep the young man from 
A'Oting. When Fishman got through AAdth liis long talk, I thought it AA'as 
a chance for me to say something too, so I turned to the young man and 
said, “Do you knoAV that you are 21 years old?” and lie said, “Yes.” 
Then I said, “Do you knoAv the nature of an oath?” and he said, “Yes.” 
I said, “If you swear that you are 21 years old Avhen you are not, and 
vote, do you knoAV AAhat will be done AAith you?” He said, “Yes, sir; 
I AAdll be sent to the penitentiary for perjury.” Then I demanded that 
he be SAVorn, but they did not allow it. From that time on, eAxny colored 
man of the whole 150 that came up to A^ote Mr. Fishman challenged his 
vote, Avhoever he might be. Some of them he tried to make appear foolish 
or craz3^; he asked them where their homes Avere—not only in Avhat 
town, but in Avhat county or State. He asked them AAdiat counties 
joined their counties. Some of them did not knoAV. Then I said, 
“Don’t take advantage because they don’t knoAv all about the inap.” 
The managers allowed some of them to Axte and some ot them didn’t 
at all. Another man he challenged he asked had he i)aid his poll-tax, 
and the young man said, ^^Yes.” They denied that, and appointed a 
committee to go doAArn to the tax-books, and I don’t knoA\' AAiiether 
the committee AAXnt doAAUi there or not; at any rate, pretty soon atter- 
wards they came and said that he hadn’t. Tlie committee Avas 
posed of tAvo white gentlemen. A Avhite gentleman Avho AA^as there paid his 
taxes for him, and after that they alloAAxd him to A ote. The thing went on; 
Fishman ballywhacking the colored jieople so badly that some of them 
would actually come up to the i)olls Avith their Axtes in their hands, and 
when thev got to the polls, if they had Eepublican votes, he would say to 
them in a harsh voice, “ What ticket are you going to vote, sir ?’’ Them the 
colored man Avould be so frightened that he AA'ould drop the ticket, and 
I would sav, “Vote; don’t be afraid; exercise your rights as a freeman. 


650 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


and vote the ticket that yon want to.” I listened to that as long as I 
conld stand it, and tlieii I gave Mr. Fishman some pretty short ques¬ 
tions; I told liiin that the way he was acting was too low for a gentle¬ 
man to do. Then he pnt his hand behind him, and I said, “Mr. Fish¬ 
man, pistols don’t scare me; I have faced ride bullets for three years.” 
After that tlie managers seemed to be more liberal in allowing the col¬ 
ored peo[)le to vote tlian before. They were so liberal that Mr. Fishman 
said to the managers, “If I challenge votes and you let everybody vote 
there is no use in my challenging; I will get up and go away;” and he 
got up and went away for awhile, pretending to be angry at the managers, 
but pretty soon he got back there again. The place where they were 
voting was arranged about this way: tliere was a table set back across the 
door. I kept seeing white men coming in and voting while the colored men 
could not get in, or did not get in. I said to myself, “What does this 
mean?” I said to the committee, “There is some arrangement here to 
shut off somebody, and the colored voters are being all shut off.” One 
of the managers said, “O, that is nothing; the colored votes will begin 
to come in presently.” Right by the door, about that distance from the 
door, there was a lot of colored people on the steps, and between them 
and the door there was a lot of white men, and when people came up to 
vote, whenever a white min came, the crowd on the steps would open 
a way through and let him come in through the door and vote, and 
whenever a colored man came they would hold their places, and would 
not let him througii, so it took a long time for them to get through. 

Q. State who lield them back?—A. There were these constables ap¬ 
pointed by the court—constabulary, I think you might call them. They 
were placed on the steps, and some of them at the door; and what 
frightened us more than anything else was, that the judge had not ad¬ 
journed court, saying that he miglithave a call for court again. So the 
constables had very easy power to hold them. They sat there on the 
steps as tight as they could ram, but still once in a while a Republican 
would manage to Avork his Avay to the polls. Then they rigged uj) 
another plan. Tlie judge’s stand was here. (Witness went on to explain 
the shape of the room and the location of sui)ervisors, managers, tables, 
ballot-boxes, &c.) Tliere Avere two doors to the room—this front door, 
Avhere jieople generally put in their votes, and then there Avas a back 
door. Notice had been given in the morning that nobody shonld be 
allowed to come in at tlie back door, and no Republicans Avere alloAved 
to go in at that door; but AAdiite men—Democrats—kept coming up the 
back AA\ay and in at that door. 1 said to the chairman of the managers, 
“ I thought you gave orders very plain that everybody should go in the 
front way, and that nobody Avould be allowed to come" in the back A\my.” 
He said, “I have given orders that none shonld come that back Avay,” 
but still they kept coming all the same. By and by, after a long time, 
the croAvd began to slack aAvay, and then Republicans could come up 
and Amte. I Avas there all day. I just merely Avent out once or tAvice 
not more than fifty yards, from six o’clock in the morning until the poll 
closed at night. 1 Avas the first colored man at the polls to see them 
opened, and after I came np soon others came up. I Avas there to see 
the first beginning and the last ending. 

Q. Did you see any efforts made to arrestpeo]de?—A. Yes, sir; some 
were driven aAvay from the polls. 

Q. How?—A. Hoav? Why, they AAxre just told to leuA-e, or they 
would be sent to the penitentiary. In a certain case there Avas a man 
taken up, and then they told him they Avould giA^e him a drink of Avhisky 
if he Avonld Amte the Democratic ticket. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


651 


Q. A colored man ?—A. Yes, sir; lie was offered 50 cents, and he told 
them that was too small a price. Then they offered him a drinlv of 
whisky besides, and he said he would vote the Democratic ticket. He 
drank the whisky, and after he had drank it he would not vote the 
Democratic ticket after all. 

Q. Yot after he got the whisky?—A. Yo, sir; and wlien he said he 
would not vote the Democratic ticket, they said that if he voted they 
would put him in the penitentiary. I said to him to insist on his right 
to vote; said I, “ Stand right where you are; put in your ballot like a 
free man, and, if it must be, die for your rights to-day.” 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Was that after he got the drink?—A. Yes, sir; he said that if lie 
teas drunk he knew more than to vote the Democratic ticket. Then they 
would not let him vote at all, and drove him off. I made mention of 
this to Mr. Henderson. I said, Is this the way yon intend to ignore 
the rights of ])Oor, ignorant people?” He said—and I was surprised to 
hear it from him, for I had always before thought him a straight, fair 
man—he said, am disposed to stretch the law to-day in order to beat 
these infernal Kepiiblicans.” 1 said, “Well, yon have got the whole 
thing in your hands, and can do what yon are a mind to; there must be 
no chance for ns.” That is about the last of my seeing the vote. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. Did yon see the vote counted ?—A. When it came to the counting 
of the votes, I went to look. I stood np there and kept a good lookout 
at it. Pretty soon I saw them pull out fifteeii votes all at once—out of 
one ticket. They unfolded a big Democratic ticket, and inside of it 
were fifteen little tickets—tissue tickets, 1 believe I have heard them 
called. I looked at that and thinks I, “That is mighty strange,” but I 
said nothing just then. They went on, and went on, and Avent on, and 
pulled out other tickets of the same kind—big tickets with a lot of little 
ones inside. I have been in politics from the beginning, but 1 never 
saw a thing so strange as that The ticket was folded iu this 

way; the big ticket Avas folded up so; the little tickets Avere put inside 
of it, so, 1 got hold of one of those little tickets afteiwards. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. HaA-e you one Avith you?—A. Yes, sir; here is one. 

The Chairman. Hand it to the stenographer, so that a copy of it can 

be inserted in the record. , ^ • m • 

[The folioAving is a specimen of the ticket, as nearly a facsimile as is 
possible to make. It Avas printed on the thinnest possible paper, and 
Avas about tAVO-thirds less in length than the folloAAing:] 

COI..t.ETOIV COUNTV. 

For fjoveiiior, 

AVade Hampton. 

Lientonantgovei-nor, 

AV. I). Simpson. 

Secretary of state, 

U Al! Sims. 

Attorney-ffeneral, 

Leroy F.'Yoitmans. 

Comptroller-.i>ener.al, 

Johnson Hagood. 

Tr(‘asurer, 

S. L. Leajthart. 

Superintendent of education, 
llugli S. Thompson. 

Adjutant and inspector-general, 

E. AV. Moise. 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


602 


Confir<‘8s—Fifth District, 

G. D. Tillman. 

State senator, 
llobert Fishburue. 

Representatives, 

C. G. Henderson, 

J. N. Cumminjfs, 

AVm. Maree, 

W. S. Minus, 

W. G. Smith. 

County Commissioners, 

Jaines Maxwell, 

J. H. Knisrht, 

T. K. Williams. 

Probate Judge, 

E. Stakes. 

School Commissioner, 

A. F. O’Erien. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Go on with your statement.—A. I noticed the manager as he un¬ 
folded the ticket, and I noticed a curious thing about it. Wlien lie 
opened his ticket he did not open it up this way, but he opened it keep¬ 
ing the fold oil the under side. When they kept tinning up large ticlp 
ets with little tickets inside of them I said to William Poole, AVhat is 
up'?” for I thought, “This meaps something ; they are going to put the 
gag and bit on us now.” Poole said it was all right, but I thought all 
the Avhile it was all wrong. Sure enough, when they got through count¬ 
ing there were 280 votes more than the poll-list called for. They drew 
out the 280 tickets, and when they were done drawing out they had 
drawn out and destroyed four Democratic tickets and all the balance 
were Eepublican. They did not have any mercy on us at all. 

Q. Out of 280 torn up all were Eepublican except four !—Yes, sir; 
four or live. After that I got disgusted and come out. I said there was 
no use of looking on any longer; if the Democrats had learned to vote 
lifteen tickets at once the Eepublicans might as well give up, unless 
they learned how to vote thirty at once, so as to keep up with the Dem¬ 
ocrats. 

Q. How many tissue tickets were there in the box in all ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. A good many ?—A. O, a good many. 

Q. Who was the supervisor there ?—A. Charlie Palmer. 

Q. Was he a Eepublican?—A. I don’t know, sir; he claimed to be, 
but he was affiliating with the Democrats very much that day. I thought 
he was affiliating with them too much. I noticed one thing all through 
the day, the Democrats were saying to him, “Charlie, come and take a 
drink of whiskey”; but Charlie didn’t drink any, and kept sober all 
day; but when they began to count the vote, Charlie then went to get¬ 
ting whisky to drink, and before the count Avas tinished Charlie—if it is 
necessary I can bring witnesses to prove it—Charlie Avas completely 
drunk, and put his hat on the back of his head, and Avent out and stood 
under a tree by the side of the court-house as drunk as he could be. 

Q. Was that Avhen he began to affiliate Avith the Democrats ? —A. I 
don’t knoAv exactly Avhen he began to affiliate AAuth the Democrats. 

Q. Hoav many Amtes Avere returned as cast there during the day ?—A. 
I think some thirteen or fourteen hundred in all. 

Q. How many did they return as being Eepublican?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Which had the majority by the returns?—A. Well, sir, I have 
been at that poll at eAUAry election since 1808, the first election after the 
colored people Avere allowed to vote, and Avith every eft'ort the Demo¬ 
crats could make, and they made every effort they could, they never 
could carry a majority. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


653 


Q. Wliicli had the majority in the county ?—A. The Eepuhlicans had 
the majority in the county. When the Eepuhlicans ran two tickets, 
then the Democrats heat them only hy 540 odd, and at this last election 
the people were aroused more than they ever were before. 

Q. Was there any disi)Osition among the hlack Eepuhlicans to vote the 
Democratic ticket ?—A. Only a few. I will tell you how that arrived, 
too. The major, here, and IMajor Burhridge were hoth running for the 
senate; a few voted for Major Burhridge, and others voted for Major 
Myers and some got mad because the major got the nomination and 
Major Burhridge didn’t, and they voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How many ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. How many do you sui)i)ose ?—A. I sui>i>ose, as near as I could 
bring it to save my life, they could not have got more than one liundred. 

Q. How many hlack Eepuhlicans went oft* and voted the Democratic 
ticket? 

The Witness. At the convention ? 

The Chairman. Yes.— A. I should suppose four or five; I think fi\'e. 

Q. You think that the Democracy could not have gotten over one 
hundred colored votes at that voting i^lace ?—A. O, no, sir; certainly 
not over one hundred. 

Q. Were you at this convention?—A. No, sir; I was not a member of 
the convention. 

Q. Did you see any rifle-clubs that day?—A. Yes, sir; hut 1 did not 
pay much attention to them. 

Q. Can you state how many members of the rifle-clubs were there ?— 
A. No, sir. 


By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. You say you have taken part in the elections ever since colored 
men have been allowed to vote ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In 1870 and 1874 you Avent for Mr. Greene and his party?—A. 


Yes, sir. 

Q. And against GoAmrnor Chamberlain?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take a pretty active part at that time ?—A. I did all I 

could, sir. ^ ^ t , x » a 

Q. How did Colleton County go before; for Avhich candidate A. 

Mr. Chamberlain got the most vmtes. ^ . tt x 

Q. Did he get the most votes or the largest count ?—A. He got the 

most Amtes, sir. . 7 x i -x 

Q. You think he got the most votes ?—A. No, sir, 1 don t think it, 

1 knoAV it ; I doifit think anything about it. 

Q. You went for Greene yourself ?—A. Yes, sir. , , • i 

O. Two years ago you worked and voted Avith the Democrats, did j qu 

not ?_A. Yes, sir"^ but I Avant you to understand that I don’t Avant you 

to put me down as a Democrat, though. n x n „„ t 

4 But you ufflliiited with them ?—xV. Yes, sir; I will telljou why l 
done it: the Democrats promised me that they intended to be tiiendh 
to the colored iiieii; that they were disposed to live in union and har¬ 
mony with us, and so we helped them into power; hut just as soon as 
the\4ot in power they took their guns and went down on the Ashapoo 
amoni the ignorant people to gobble them np. I said to 
hand ‘‘ If when you get into power you punish my iieojile and break the 
romises that you have made to us, I will light you o the bitter end ' 
They did break their promises, but I am going to keep imiie. I ain 
Hihting them to-day, and I ain going to keep on lighting them to the 

bitter end. 


854 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Colleton 


Q. But at tlie election of 1870 you went with the Democrats?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Were those colored men on the Kickapoo ? 

The AYitness. Yot Kickup; it is kick down, now, with me and the 
Democrats. 

The Chairman. Ashapoo is the place he speaks of. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Ashapoo he it then. It was on account of those arrests upon the 
Ashapoo that yon affiliated with the Bepuhlicans ?—A. I will tell you 
how it was: when they turned about and Hung- James Martin, the clerk, 
out of his office—that was the first step. When they took guns and 
went down after John Poole—that was the second step. Then I said, 
“Gentlemen, you have deceived mej I will have nothing more to do 
with you.” 

Q. Were not these men prosecuted and convicted by negro testi¬ 
mony ?—A. Yes, sir; by negro testimony just like some that you have 
here to-day, that can be bought to come and tell any sort of a story that 
you want them to, for a little money.. 

Q. That is not answering my question. Were not these people prose¬ 
cuted and convicted on the restimony of negroes, and before negro 
jurors?—A. White people made the affidavits themselves, and then put 
colored people on for witnesses. 

Q. It was by colored testimony that they were convicted, then?—A. 
But Avhite people started the business. 

Q. Can you not ansAver a straight question?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Theii answer Avhether it aams not on colored testimony before a 
colored jury that these men AA^ere coiiAucted ?—A. Some AA^ere white and 
some AA^ere colored, together; tliej" A\^ere not entirely colored, sir. 

Q. Were not those colored people doA\m there beaten and abused by 
the Kepublicans for voting the Democratic ticket?—A. They hadn’t 
voted the Democratic ticket then ; this AA\as done before they had Amted. 

Q. They had Amted before that time ?—A. No, sir; they hadn’t. 

Q. Had they not expressed themselA^es in faAmr of the Democratic 
party ? I ask you if they Avere not beaten and abused by the men Avho 
AA'ere afterAvards arrested, and if the men Avho beat and abused them 
Avere not Bepublicans aaTio beat and abused them on account of their 
])olitics?—A. No, sir; it aams not on account of politics. I Avill tell you 
hoAA^ it AAMs : there were some men that AAmuld A\u)rk for the rice planters 
down there at a \eiy Ioav price, and others formed a society among them¬ 
selves agreeing that none sliould Avork under a certain price, and take the 
bread out of their mouths. They Avent out and stopped these loAv-priced 
men from Avorking under ]nice; that aa as Avhat the trouble aauis about; 
there aa us no politics about it. 

Q. A sort of labor league Avas formed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But these people aa ho Avere beaten had eximessed themseHes in 
faAmr of the Democratic party, had tliey not ?—A. Only a fcAv of them. 

Q. And because these men AAxwe beaten and abused, and because 
the men aaTio beat and abused them Avere arrested, tried, and con¬ 
victed, therefore you left the Democratic party ?—A. Some of them Avere 
put in jail and neA^er tried; some Avere kept there in jail for twehx 
months. 

Q. That is not the question I asked you at all. I asked if that Avms 
the cause AAdiy you left the Democratic party, because these men Avere 
beaten and abused for AA'orking under AA'ages ?—A. No, sir. What caused 
me to leaA^e the Democratic party aa as because these men AA^ent doAvn 


County.] 


I'ESTIMONY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


655 


there on these people and persecuted them in ways and fashions without 
law y a constable could have g;one down—I could have gone doAvii if I 
had been constable—and brought them up Avithout any trouble j but 
these men hunted them as cruelly as if they were so many foxes. 

Q. So because you think that these men who Avere tried on negro 
testimony, and before juries partly Avliite and partly colored, Avere very, 
innocent and persecuted men, you left the Democratic i^arty ?—A. Ko, 
sir; I say I left that party because the Democrats did do AAuoiig; be¬ 
cause they didn’t keep their promises aa hen they promised to do justly 
and honorably by the colored people. I said to them, AAdien I saAA^ this 
mean falsehood, “ Gentlemen, your Avord is AAmrthless, and I leaAm you.” 
I had no more contidence in them, that is, politically: otherAAis^ Ave 
Avould be friendly. ’ 

Q. You say you saw a ticket there that day with—how many little 
tickets in it !—A. Fifteen. 

Q. What Avas done Avith those fifteen smaller tickets !—A. They AA^ere 
taken out—the outside ticket was a large one, and that Avas torn up. 
The laAv says the A\rapped ticket should be torn up. They tore ux) the 
large outside ticket and i)ut in the* little tickets. 

Q. And tore up the balance !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So your complaint is that they counted the small tickets instead 
of the large ones !—A. No, sir; my complaint is that instead of putting 
in the outside ticket, tliey tore that up and i)ut in the inside one, as I 
understood it. The reason why they did that- 

Q. I am asking you simidy for facts, not for reasons!—A. All right. 

Q. Y^ou say that the challenger on the part of the Democratic party 
was Fishman!—A. YYs, sir. 

Q. He challenged a great many j^ersons!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say that any voter Avho offered to take the oath that he Avas a 
qualified Amter at that precinct, and had not A oted at any other luecinct, 
Avas refused by the managers; Avas anyone so refused!—A. Certainly, sir. 

Q. NoAAy give me a name!—A. The name of one is Wesley Jerdo. 

Q. He offered to take the oath that he Avas a qualified voter!—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And had not voted at any other poll!—A. No, sir. 

Q. He Avas rejected !—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. On Avhat ground!—A. On the ground that he Avas not old enough. 

Q. Who made the challenge on the ground that he Avas not old 
enough!—A. Mr. Fishman. 

Q. What statement did Mr. Fishman make in regard to his age!—A. 
Well, Mr. Henderson made an exi)lanation. 

Q. What did he say!—A. He said he Avas not quite old enough; but 
I haA^e found since that he Avas old enough. 

Q. You did not proA^e it that day !—A. No, sir; I told them he aavus 
old enough, but they ruled against me. 

Q. Did they not appeal to the county poll-book to see if his name Avas 


there !—A. Yes, sir. . . . i ^ ^ i 

Q. And they did not find his name !—A. les, sir; but that am t Iuaa . 

Q. Thev did not find his name on the poll-b<)ok, as assessed for poll- 
X;ax !_A." No, sir. They did not go to the iioll-books about him—I just 

0 But on the statement made the managers decided he Avas not old 
eiiousli?—A. No, sir; I claimed he had a right to vote; I asked the 
supervisor to note them doAvn upon his book, because I told hishman 
then and there that if tliey iirevented Wesley from voting, of course 
Wesley would have a right to go before the court and i)ro\ e that he u as 



656 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


old enougli. And then AVesley wrote to his owners, and they gave him 
a statement that he was twenty-one years old. 

Q. Now give me the name of another who offered to take the oath that 
he was a qnalified voter ?—A. Well, there are several others, but I don’t 
know their names. 

’ Q. Yon ought to remember the names of men who went to the tax- 
book ?—A. Well, I told you one. Mr. Black, our sheriff, is one. 

Q. AVas he refused ?—A. I didn’t tell you that *, you can’t wind me, 
sir. I told you that Sheriff’ Black was one of a committee who went to 
the tax-book. 

Q. Whose name did he goto look after ?—A. I don’t know the fellow’s 
name; he was a stranger to me. 

Q. That man and these men you have spoken of are all that you can 
recollect now ?—A. There was a good many parties that was prevented 
from voting that I don’t know their names ; the reason I didn’t get their 
names was because I asked the supervisor to take the names, but he 
didn’t do it; 1 asked him here for the list, but he didn’t have it j I 
wanted a list for reference. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Now you undertook to tell what your complaint was about the tis¬ 
sue ballots ?—/A. Well, the reason I first noticed them was by their fold¬ 
ing them up and dropping them in the box Avhen they Avere counting 
them. If they had held them away from the box I Avould not haAm said 
anything; but in unfolding them they Avould let them drop into the 
box—that is, in unrolling them. 

Q. Noav about these men who Avere prosecuted; AA^ho prosecuted these 
men, wliite or black ?—A. The white men got AAmrrants out for them. 

Q. AVho paid their jail fees ?—A. They kept them in jail, and white 
men paid the jail fees, and Avent down to the store, and off’ered to buy 
food for them to eat, as the sheriff said he didn’t have money to feed 
them. 

Q. You say.one aams kept there six months ? — A. Yes, sir; some AAms 
kept there nearly twelve months, and some was taken up afterwards on 
tlie same charge; there Avas AAaiiTaut after Avarrant for them for one 
Avhile. They said that one of them had killed a man aAAuiy back in 1865. ^ 
Those men Avere all good Republicans. 

Q. That Avas Democratic justice ?—A. I thought it Avas Democratic 
AAToiig, and I don’t Avant any more of it. 


AI. D. CHAAMS. 

Charleston, S. C., Saturday, January S, 1879. 
Al. D. Chavis (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you r6.si(le’—Answer. White Hall, Colleton 
County. 

Q. iloAv long have you lived there ?—A. A little over tAAmlve months. 
I AAms sent there by the conference in 1878. 

Q. AAdiat business are you engage.d in?—A. I am a missionary. 

Q. AVliat denomination ?—A. The African Alethodist Church. 

Q. By Avhat organization?—A. By the conference. 

African Alethodist Episcopal Church ?—A. Yes, sir. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. D. CHAVIS. 


657 


ivitli US tit.; o:.,*! +1 ^ l^emocratio side, of course, came in collision 

They made threats 


tlu-mwi suoceede<r in'ca^ryin^rt 

par t> spoke to me lu the evemu«-, and told me we had better get awat 


- J uuu. X \\ enr mere on tlie mornino- of tlie same dav 

ouputl “’V'i!’®'’ appeared there to vote, but the polls were not 

fnrt t'l^re until about 8 o’clock we were admitted 

nto the room, which was the telegra])h room, and while in there we saw 
several arms concealed under the bed. 

Q. Was tlnat where the voting was taking place ?—A. It was richt 
li.ttf anticipated to vote, but the polls would not be opened. Dur- 
m„ the same day the people returned back home, or a greater iiart of 
them. I counted on the ground 7d() llepublioans. A\'e wandered about 
there some considerable time trying to find out why the polls had not 
been opened, and some of the prominent Democrats tried to explain whv 
It was not opened. ^ 

Q. What explanation did they make ?—A. Tliey said it was some plan 
tormed by the comity cliairman ; he said tliat he refused to swear in the 
mana^>-ers, except one whom he swore in the nio-ht before tlie election 
day j the other two he did not swear in, and told them not to appear. 
Ihe one who Avas sworn in, Mr. Pinckney, appeared; the other two, Mr. 
Aatterson and Mr. Sannders, did not appear. We stood there and talked 
some, and he seemed to be interested and quite in sympathy AAith ns 
pd Avent on to tell ns the plan that Avas laid doAvn by AA^hich they 
intended to carry the election. 

Q. Tell ns Avhat he said.—A. Pinckney seemed to think it AAms a wrong 
and outrage to treat the colored people that Avay, and he said it AAms done 
to keep the Eepnblican A^oters all along the line of the railroad at all the 
large places Avliere the Pepnblicans Avere in the majority from getting a 
large vote; that at all the large polling places in the county they Avanted 
to defeat ns, and that was the plan the}^ made, to SAvear in one and not 
the other two. One of the leading Democrats told me that in the morn- > 
iug, and there AA^ere several others that heard him. 

Q. Hoaa" long did you stay there ?—A. Until about 3 o’clock in the 
afternoon; in fact, 1 staid there and left at half past 5 o’clock on the 
train. 

Q. ]N’o poll was opened on that day ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Tliis manager staid there, but the others did not come?—A. The 
other two did not come. 

Q. Did they tell you of any other method of carrying the election?— 
A. Yes, sir: they said there Avas to be a neAA- poll; some of the old poll¬ 
ing places had been abolished. Within tAvo years there AA^as an old poll 
named Snider’s Cross-Eoads; and they AA^ere adAised by some parties 
therii would be a neAV poll known as Linder’s Oross-Eoads, and thej" put 
3,000 Azotes into it in order that they might liaA^e a majority of the count. 

Q. Where was this iicav poll established?—At Linder’s Cross- 
Eoads. 

Q. Was that established by authority of law?—A. It did not seem to 
be, and I do not understand it was. 

42 s C 


658 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


I Colleton 


Q. How are polls estalilislied in tliis State?—A. Of course, tlie right 
is in the legislature. 

Q. Ho you know anything about their having voted at this place I — 
A. There"was a box that went in from that poll. 

Q. How many votes did it have !—A. A good many. 

Q. Hid they count them ?—A. Yes, sir; they were counted in. 

Q. Ho you"know whether anybody attended there and voted?—A. 
Kot from the Republican sidej there^ms none of our men that visited 
there that day. 

Q. You counted these 750 men at your poll 5 A. Yes, sir, I did 5 some 
myself, assisted by one Hemocratic man on the ground. 

Q. Were there many whites there ?—A. ^^o, sir j there was not a great 
many; I do not suppose there was over 15 or 20 . 

Q.' How long did they stay ?—A. Until about 9 o’clock. 

Q. Was there an attempt made by any of those Hemocrats to open 
the polls ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Were you informed by any one that they did ?—A. Ho, sir. 

Q. Was there any i^lace you could go to vote ?—A. There was some 
of the voters there 15 miles from home, and the nearest iioint from that 
was ten miles hirther. 

Q. Hid the people go home ?—A. Yes, sir; the principal part of them 
went home. 

Q. Was there any comidaint among the men from colored people— 
did they say much about it ?—A. They seemed to be troubled about it. 
Of course, they didn’t say much and did not know what to do, like my¬ 
self; I did not know what to do. 

Q. From what you saw and observed there, what ticket did they pro¬ 
pose to vote ?—A. The Republican ticket, solid. 

Q. Hid you see any Hemocrats there ?—A. I did not see one on the 
grounds. It was reported there was one Hemocrat, and he came uj) that 
day and spoke for himself, and said they had called him a Hemocrat, 
but he intended to vote the Republican ticket as he had done before. 

Q. You have considerable acquaintance with the colored people of 
that section ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How were they disposed to vote in the last election in Colleton 
County ?—A. They were disposed to vote the Republican ticket. I went 
to the largest places where the largest number of people were, and I can 
assure you that I do not believe there could be found half a dozen men 
tliat would say that they intended to vote the Hemocratic ticket. 

Q. Colored men ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is the colored population of Colleton ?—A. Four thousand. 

Q. What is the white ?—A. Two thousand. 

Q. Ho you know what the result of the election was in Colleton—how 
it was declared ?—A. It was declared in favor of the Hemoerats; that is 
they declared it as such. 

Q. How much maiority did they declare they had ?—A. Their num¬ 
bers were various. I think it was once about 3,000, which they declared 
in the newspapers ; the next, I think, was 2,500. 

Q. They cut it down a little, did they ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many voting places in the county?—A. I do not exactly 
know; I could not state, positively. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Was the Green Pond poll visited by a rifle club on the day of the 
election ?—A. Ho, sir; not during the time I staid there. They had or¬ 
ganized there, however, and white people spent the night there. 


County.] TESTIMONY OF M. D. CHAVIS 659 


• A. Fifteen or twenty, I suppose, from wliat they in- 
loinied me. Some prominent men told me about it. 

How long have jmii lived in Colleton County?—A. I was sent 
t leie during the last conference year. I have been just here in the 
county^ and now 1 am in the second year. 

Q. Yon v ent there by the apxiomtment of the conference as Metho¬ 
dist minister ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A on have spent how much time there I—A. I have spent one con- 
lerence year. 

Q. Are yon still a member of the conference ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Ydien did yon become a candidate for the legislature ?_A. Well, 

1 V as oftered about the time it came in contemplation. 

Q. Were you nominated by any convention ?—A. I Avas, sir. 

Q. Did you make a canvass of the county ?—A. Some little, sir. 

Q. At what point did you speak?—A. I spoke at Johnsonborough, 
at Ashepoo, Green Pond, and White Hall. 

Q. At this precinct of Green Pond, Avas there a Aullage there ?—A. 
IS'o, sir 5 some little, few, stores were there—it is just a station on the 
road. 


Q. On Avhat road ?—A. On the Savannah and Charleston Eailroad. 

Q. Did you Amte on the day of tlie election?—A. I did not, sir. 

Q. Y hat time did you say you Avent to Green Pond precinct?—A. I 
was there before tlie election. 

Q. From vdiat place did you go ?—A. I got aboard of the cars near 
about six miles on the other side of Green Pond, and after I got there I 
staid until about 5 o’clock in the evening. 

Q. AYliat is the principal tOAAii of Colleton County ?—A. tYalter- 
boroiigh. 

Q. How far is that from Green Pond ?—A. About ten miles. 

Q. How near is the nearest poll from Green Pond ?—A. About tweh’e 
miles to Jacksonville. 

Q. Hoav near is this Cross-Eoads you spoke of?—A. I do not knoAv; 
I was not there. 

Q. You Avere not there that day ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. You know nothing of what took place there that day except what 
you heard ?—A. That is all. 

Q. All you say of what took place there is from hearsay ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I was informed that by some i)rominent Democratic men. 

Q. tVas it hearsay?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You did not see it ?—A. No, sir; I did not see it. 

Q. What prominent Democrat informed you that there had been polls 
opened there that day ?—A. Dr. H. E. Bissel. 

Q. Where does he liA^e?—A. On the Combahee, about six or seven 
miles from Green Pond. 

Q. Did he say he was there ?—A. He did not tell me he Avas there, 
but he told me that was the place. 

Q. You saw him at Green Pond that day ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AVhat was the distance from Green Pond to this other place ?—A. 
I am unable to state. 

Q. Is it not 20 miles ?—A. I cannot say, I have not been there; I 
haA^e no idea hoAv far it is. I staid at Green Pond during the day, and 
a number went olf. 

Q. You say that of the managers of election appointed for Green 
Pond precinct that Pinckney Henderson was the only one who ap- 
l^eared ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you say that he told you that it had been determined before- 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


660 


liaiid that there was to he no election at Green Pond?—A. !Ko, sir; he 
did not tell me so himself. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. One of the other men told yon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. So he did not tell yon they had any purpose of that kind ?—A. Yo, 
sir; hilt he said that it was very strange, though, that the managers did 
not aiipear, and he thought it Avas very wrong. 

Q. 1 )id he tell yon that Saunders Avas sick ?—A. He said that Saunders 
was not sick, and that they passed Green Pond in the night. 

Q. WlioAvas that gentleman that gaA^e yon this information ?—x\. Dr. 
Bissel told me that. 

Q. All this information yon heard was giA^en yon hy Dr. Bissel?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon say in yonr examination-in-chief there was a hox sent in to 
the Cross-Boads, with hooks, &c. ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon do not knoAA" personally ahont it?—xV. Yo, sir; I knew from 
the neAA^spapers ahont that; the papers said hoA\" many were counted, 
hilt I liaA^e forgotten. 

Q. That is from the newspaper ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was it a Democratic iieAvspaper?—A. Yes, sir; the YeAvs and 
Courier. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Then, it was not from Dr. Bissel that yon got the information that 
the hox had heen sent in from there?—A. Yo, sir; hut he said that the 
plan was to haA^e the poll established at a place not known to the Amters 
of the county, and that there would he 3,000 Amtes put in. After seeing 
that the hox went there, hy the papers, of course it mnst he true. 

Q. Hoaa^ many tickets were receiAxd?—A. I do not know; I am nn- 
ahle to say. 

Q. Yon were advised, then, pretty early in the day at Green Pond 
there would he no other officer of election than Henderson?—A. Yes, 
sir; and they didn’t put in any appearance at all. Pinckney Henderson 
himself staid there until ahont 0 o’clock. 

Q. Yon say that yon were not informed early in the day that there was 
not to he a poll opened there?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. What time did yon haA^e this coiia ersation with Dr. Bissel?—A. 
When Ave went to Green Pond he was there in this room, asleep proha- 
hly, and ahont 9 o’clock I had this conA ersation; he did not explain it 
ali until some of the party had gone. We hoth got on hoard of the train 
together, he liaAnng heen aAvay dnring some of the day, hnt had retnrned. 

Q. AVhat time did yon go together ?—A. Ahont 5 o’clock. 

Q. Who had he gone oif AAdth dnring the day?—A. He went off on 
horsehack. 

Q. With Avhom?—A. I think he went off alone. 

Q. What time did he go away ?—A. I think it was between the honfs 
of 8 and 9. 

Q. What time did he return?—A. It was 3. 

Q. Did not quite a nnmher of Alters that were there go to Walter- 
horongh and Jacksonville after they learned that the polls were not to 
he opened at Green Pond?—A. There Avas some few men there on horses 
and they might have gone to Walterhorongh. There Avas a nnmher that 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF ROBERT GROVER. 


661 


started to go to Jacksonville, but returned again saving that the dis- 
tance was too tar. There was crowds of them that went right back liome. 

1 ask jou if there was not quite a number went olf, starting to go 

^ ^ saying that some started to Jack- 

sonville and came hack. 

Q. Did any go to Walterborongh ?—A. :Nrot many to that place; they 
may have been a few. i ? j 

Q. Did you not know before the day of election that there would iirob- 
ably be no poll opened on the daj; of the election ?—A. sir. 

yon not adopt a resolution in convention warning voiir people 
not to go to Green Pond to vote?—A. Ko, sir; we informed the people 
that were on horses to go to some other polls, as we had been informed 
that the polls all along the railroad would be thrown out if possible. 

1 there Avas of it?—A. We did not adopt anvresolutions 

about It, pd Ave did not say anything about it, and the resolutions did 
not mention anything about it. 

Q. What does the resolution say ?— A. I aauU read it (reading): 

“ AYe declare our condenination of the proposed Democratic scheme of 
throwing out the boxes containing large Pepiiblican ballots, and espe¬ 
cially is this directed towards Green Pond, liaA^euna, and tlacksonville 
boxes.” 


EOBEPT GEOA^EE. 


Charleston, S. 0., January 27,1879. 

Egbert Grover (colored) SAA^orn and examined. 

By the Chairaian : 

Question. AVhere do you live?—AnsAver. Jacksonburg, Colleton 
County. 

Q. Hoav long haA"e you been there ?—A. Since 18G7. 

Q. AYere you present on the day of election?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In AA’liat capacity Avere you acting ?—A. Challenger. 

Q. Eepublican challenger ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AA^ere you present at the counting of the Amtes ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. l!7ow, you may state what occurred at the counting.—A. After they 
got through A'Oting, the box Avas opened and all the tickets AA^ere picked 
out—Democrats here and Eepublicans there. They were not counting 
them then, but just separating them. In opening the tickets (I AA^as sit¬ 
ting right behind the clerk) the A^ery first one he opened I saAV, and as 
he unfolded it I saAV a ticket about the size of this little tissue ballot roll 
out, although this tissue ballot is not one of the same kind as that Avliich 
dropped out. The moment I saAV that drop I was astonished. I Avas 
directed that none of the Eepublican Alters should Amte anything but 
one straight Eepublican ticket. The moment I saAv that drop out I Avent 
OA^er to Captain Grays, and said to him, ‘‘AA^ell, it doift pay us to count. 
If scA^en come out of one, AAdiat in the devil is the use of our counting?” 

Q. What did Captain Grays say?— A. ‘‘Oh,” he said, “newer mind; 
we will bring this out peaceabl}\” “Yes,” I said, “ I want it done peace¬ 
ably, but honestly, and at the same time a friend of mine came to me 
and touched me. As I had instructed the people not to liaAW any dis¬ 
turbance, I thought it AA'ould not do for me to be the first to make a dis¬ 
turbance. The first time I saAv seAwn, and the second time I saw five, 
and aaEcii they opened another I saAV as high as sixteen in one ballot. 



662 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


I said, Jesus! God Almighty! There is no use for me to count.” I 
never got excited until I saw thirty-seven come out of one. I started 
for Captain Grays, and I said I did not blame the Democrats for these 
papers, but,” I said, I believe you are the one that brought these men 
here.” When I first spoke to him it was secretly, for I didn’t want to 
alarm the others. It went on further, and it went as high as fifty-nine 
in one ticket. I said, ‘‘Gracious God! I had better go home.” I said, 
“When you take out this fine silk paper all niglit you will nearly carry 
the election!” Then Ave went on counting. When 1 saw fifty-nine I 
was doubtful immediately. 

Q. Were these tissue tickets?—A. Yes, sir; CAmry one of them. After 
we got through counting I said, “Yoav, Captain Grays, as an honest 
man, you aaJio haAm seAmn times as much honor as me who is as black 
as the ace of spades, AAdiy does this happen ? AAdiy does this hat hatch 
out Democratic tickets and not Eepublican? “YYll,” he said, “a man 
can Amte as much as he Avants to; he can Amte fifty tickets if he Avants 
to.” “Well,” I said, “that is no law for me.” I thought as an honest 
Eeimblican I could imt in one Amte, but that Avas all I was entitled to. 
We Avent on further until Ave got through counting, and when we got 
through counting the Democrats AA^ere 530 and the Republicans were 636. 

Q. How many did you liaAm on your xioll-list?—A. Well, there AAms 
900. In regard to the little Democratic tickets, one of the managers 
said, “It don’t make any difference, ^xe can tear u]) these tickets.” He 
said, “All you do is to put them carefully by themseHes until we count 
them out, and if you are entitled to them you can liaAm them.” When 
we got through there Avas tAvo hundred and something oA^er the x)oll-list; 
I don’t exactly know now AA^hat it AAms. 

Q. Well, they drew out the extra ones; were there more Amtes in the 
box than names on the poll-list?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav many more?—A. There was 900 altogether on the poll-list. 

Q. There Avas 226 extra; now hoAv did they dispose of those?—A. 
The three managers then said, “How shall Ave manage?” It seemed 
they didn’t ask me directly, but I didn’t mind that; I, howcAmr, took a 
part as I took an interest in it. It seems that all the eyes on our side 
were right on me, and I thought it Avas my duty to face 'them. It seems 
like they Avanted me to say or do something in the matter, and I said, 
“Gentlemen, go according to laAv and then it AAdll be all right.” Then 
one of the managers replied that the laAV requires that they must be 
thrown in the box Avhere they can be thoroughly stirred up, and picked 
out one at a time. My reply AAvas, “If you do'it, aaRoii doing it I want 
you to understand that you shall not take any advantage of me, for you 
haA"e done it already.” I said common judgment will lead me to know 
what to do. I took up one of the tickets and said, “You can feel that 
immediately.” “And,” said I, “here is a straight-out Democratic ticket, 
you can tell that at once.” “And,” said I, “here is the Republican 
ticket, put on good paper, and you can tell them too.” Well, they went 
on, as they said, according to laAV. There was one hundred and ninety 
or something torn up of the Republican tickets. Then I called their 
attention to the fact, and I said, “I told you before that that is the way 
it would happen.” The Republicans had no ojAportunity to elect any¬ 
thing. I thought as I had instructed the people not to "make any dis¬ 
turbance it Avould not do for me to create any myself, and so I Avanted 
the result to be made up peaceably. I felt Amry bad, going out as I did 
with a Amry bad cold, but I Avas obliged to go. They were mad, that is, 
my friends, because the tickets were torn up, and I had to talk to them 
to quiet them the best I could. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M. FRAZIER. 


663 


By Mr. McDonald: 

Q. You say there were 59 of these tissue ballots in one of those large 
tickets'?—A. Yes, sir; I counted them. 

Q. Who was the clerk?—A. James W. Grays. 

Q. What did he do with them ?—A. He put them aside with the rest. 

Q. Did they count them too ?—A. They counted every one of them. 

Q. Did you see them in the large ones?—A. Yes, sir; I saw them. 

Q. When the manager took the tickets out of the box to straighten 
them out, did you see these 59 in that large white ticket?—A. Yes, sir; 
I did. 

Q. Yow did they throw away all except one of them?—A. Ko, sir; 
they didn’t do that; they didn’t destroy but three of the small tickets 
altogether. 

Q. When more than one ticket was found folded all together, did you 
not ask that all but one be destroyed?—^A. Yes, sir; I asked that ques¬ 
tion, but they said when they found them in tliere they had a right to 
count them in, for they did not know how they got in. 

Q. You say they were all folded together ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They must all have been put in the box in one ticket ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Well, there was no difficulty, then, in telling how they got in there ?— 
A. They claimed they didn’t know how they got in. 

Q. If they counted 59 tickets out of one ticket, did you not ask them 
to throw away all except one?—A. I told them to act according to law; 
that if they could not attend to their business they had no business 
there; they had the law to guide them. 

Q. What did they do then ?—A. They counted them. 

Q. Wlien these tickets were found folded together thej" were taken 
apart and counted, you say ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In every instance?—A. Yes, sir. 


E. M. FEAZIEE. 


Charleston, S. C., January 2G, 1879. 


E. M. Frazier (colored) sworn and examined. 


By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside ?—Answer. Georgia Station, Colleton 
County. 

Q. How long have you lived there ?—A. About twenty years, I reckon. 
Q. Were you present on the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In what capacity were you acting ?—A. I was United States super- 


Q. ’what time did you go to the polls?—A. I got up about 5 o’clock 
that morning. We got up and waited until the polls opened. I was 
with a friend. I went to the polls and I asked them for a clerk, and 
they give me a clerk. About G o’clock the white people were crowding- 
up pretty much, and but few colored people. At about 7 o’clock the col¬ 
ored people came in pretty well. Nearly all the white people had voted 
by 12 o’clock. The colored people would swear one at a time and vote. 
Sohie would get in the windoAvs, and some got inside of the place. Some 
men would come and they were asked how old they were, and they coiild 
)iot tell exactly, and they said, “ You must get the iiroof; get a white 
man to prove it.” AVcll, some of the men (colored men) went and got 



664 


, SOUTH CAEOLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


the year and what month they were horn in j hut they would not take 
that. They asked geography questions. 

Q. What kind of questions ?—A. What was the capital of the State, 
what county do yon live in, &c. And they went on asking those ques¬ 
tions. That night I stayed tliere nntil the votes Avere counted. I be¬ 
lieve they polled 1,020 votes at that poll. It never did poll over 900 
and some odd before that. Well, I think the liepnblicans polled GOO 
usnally and the white people about 300. At this election they polled 
1,020 Amtes altogether, Avhich made 45 OA^er the names on the poll-list, 
and they then proceeded to draw ont that number. They took ont 37 
Kepnblican Azotes and 8 Democratic votes. I stayed there nntil the iaoUs 
closed. 

Q. Hoav many tissue tickets did yon see ? — A. I AAms close by the box, 
and I could not tell how many; but I judge from seA^on to tiA^e AATapiied 
up in some of those large tickets, and the managers Avonld unroll them 
backwards so yon could .not see how many Avas in there, and I thiidi 
there was five or six in there. 

Q. Did yon call the attention of the managers to those tissue ballots? 
—^A. I didn’t say a AA'Ord, because I saAv there aa as no use to say any¬ 
thing to them. 

Q. Did they count those tissue ballots ?—A. Yes, sir. My poll-list, 
that my clerk kept, had about 600 and the Democratic imll-list’had 975 . 

Q. The votes in the box AAwe hoAv many ?—A. 1,020. There aa us 45 
taken ont and destroyed. 

Q. IIoAv did they take them ont ?—A. One man Avonld stand up in 
front of the box and draAA^ 

Q. Was he blindfolded ?—A. Yo, sir; he had his eyes wide open. He 
dreAv ont 37 Eei>nblican and 8 Democratic, Avhich made 45 j that was 
the excess oaw the poll-list. 

Q. Were the inanagers all Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Hoav Avas that poll l)efore ?—A. It was ahvays Ilepnblican, except 
in 1874 and 1876, when there Avas tAvo factions of the Eepnblican party. 
It went Democratic that time. 

Q. This time the Democratic majority over the Eepnblicans at that 
poll was 475 ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did Chamberlain receive a majority in 1876 ?—A. Hampton re¬ 
ceived 35 majority in 1876. The reason of it AAms that we run two fac¬ 
tions ; a good many of the Eepnblican party Amted for Hampton. 

Q. The Eepnblican party Avas dhided ?—A. Yes, sirj but that poll 
has ahvays heretofore Avent Eepnblican. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Were the Eepnblicans dhdded or iinited this year?—A. They were 
united.. The Democrats beat ns 475, when thev didn’t haA^e that many 
Democrats altogether there ; they didn’t poll over 375 altogether. 

Q. They counted these tissue tickets ?—A. Yes, sir; they counted all 
of thein; didn’t fling out any. Their poll-list was ahead of mine. 

Q. Did yon keep a list ot all the men that A^oted during' the dav*^_ 

A. I could not do it. 

Q. Did your clerk ?—A. Yes, sir j he did. 

Q. Did he keep an accurate and correct list ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How do yon know ?—A. Well, he didn’t move from* the table. 
Every man aa ent and told his name, and he put it down. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Yon don’t think any more tickets were actually polled than there 
were names on your poll-list ?—A. Yo, sir 5 there were no more voters. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF E. M FRAZIER. 


665 


Sir 


Q. many names were on your poll-list ?—A. 600. 

ir T i’’’ voted ?—A. Yes, 

11 , 1 saA\ him, only when I went to eat my lunch. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. How far is it from yonr place to the next polling-place A About 
Steen rnilS*. Georgia Station to the next polling-place is about 

A ^ ^ Station a good many years ?— 

A. les, sir j twenty-four or twenty-five years. ^ ^ ^ 

Q. 1 on have been at elections that were held there before this time ?— 
i es, sir. 

precinct generally poll 900 or over?—A. Yes, sir; I 
said 900 and some odd over. I said that was what they polled in 1876. 
A* a division in yonr party ?—A. Yes, sir. 

• H’ ^ ^ some—that divis¬ 

ion A. Ut course it caused a loss at that time. It really did not cause 
any loss; of course it caused a loss on the governor’s part, but not on 
the part ot the county ofScers. ’ 

Q. Yonr clerk kept a list?—A. Yes, sir; I couldn’t do it myself be¬ 
cause I was supervisor. 

Q. Was he not absent some little time?—A. Yo, sir; he didn’t move 
once, unless he did when I was away; I don’t think he did that because 
he had no assistance. 

Q. He was not away from the polling-place after the voting com¬ 
menced ?—A. Yo, sir. He was there at six and I was there at six. I 
asked the managers for a clerk to keep my poll-list, I got a clerk, and 
he sat down and took the first man’s name that voted there that day. 

Q. He staid there all day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon think yon were not gone over five minutes to dinner?—A. I 
don’t think I was. I didn’t sit down to the table. 

Q. How far did yon go to dinner?—-A. About two hundred yards, to 
my house. 

Q. Is it not more than two Imndred yards to yonr house?—A. It may 
have been a little over two hundred. 

Q. Yon could not tell how many there was on that poll-hst?—A. I 
couldn’t tell exactly. 

Q. Yow, if their poll-list is usually about 900 and over, how do yon 
account for yonr poll-list only having some 600 names on it; was there 
a full turn-out at this last election ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yow, how did it happen that your poll-list only had about 600 on 
it, when there is 900 who usually vote there ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Do you not think there were as many that voted at the last election 
as in 1876 ?—A. Yo, sir; because the Eepublican vote was lost. 

Q. You said there was a full turn-out ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did those who came there vote ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. How many of those who came there did not vote ?—A. There was 
over one-half of them that didn’t vote of the colored people—that were 
prevented. They were prevented from voting by the fact that they were 
compelled to vote so slow, and took up so much time in voting one that 
five or six could have voted. 

Q. You say the polls were kept open from six in the morning until 
six in the evening ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AYas there not a good part of the time that there was not any 
crowd around the i)olls ?—A. The crowd was there from about ten o’clock 
until six in the evening. 


666 


SOUTH CAKOLINA IN J878. 


f Collet on 


Q. You say the people were in fact more earnest about election than 
before?—A. Yes, sir; they staid there but could not get to vote, be¬ 
cause they were voted so slow that they were held back. 

Q. You think there was about half of them that didn’t get to vote ?— 
A. Over half. 

Q. You would not say two-thirds ?—A. I would say over three hun¬ 
dred colored folks. 

Q. You say they didn’t vote because they didn’t have time?—A. 
Well, the Democrats would not give them a chance to vote. 

Q. How many Democrats were there there ?—A. I could not tell; 
there were a good many there. 

Q. About what number; were there five hundred ?—A. There was not 
near that, because they didn’t poll but 375. 

Q. Were there 375 there ?—A. There may have been from the time 
they commenced voting uj) to night, because as fast as they voted some 
of them went home. 

Q. You say you saw the votes when they were taken out of the box ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And counted over to see how many there were ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And then the 45 in excess of the poll-list were drawn out ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you say the man was standing ui) so he could look into the 
box ?—A. Yo, sir; he was facing the box. 

Q. Did he not turn his eyes away?—A. Well, he might. 

Q. Did he?—A. Well, I couldn’t say x^ositively, but I know he run 
his hand where the Eepublican tickets were. 

Q. Did he not turn his face from the box and put in his hand ?—A. I 
would not be positive that he did or didn’t. 

By Mr. Kiekwood : 

Q. But he got the Eepublican tickets anyhow ?—A. 37, and 8 Dem¬ 
ocratic tickets. 

Q. How do you account for his getting the Democratic tickets ?—A. 
Well, I don’t know. 

Q. You attended the Eex^ublican convention that was held in the 
county seat ?—.A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were not x>erfectly satisfied with the nominations ?—A. Yes, 
sir, except one man. 

Q. Did you not say there was one man you did not vote for ?—A. 
Yes, sir; I said it, and I never fall from what I say. 

Q. There was a good deal of dissatisfaction in the last convention ?— 
A. Well, there was no dissatisfaction with me. 

Q. Was there not some dissatisfaction ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Did you not hear of a good deal, ?—A. I heard that some outsiders 
that were not in the convention went home. We wanted Mr. Myers, 
and the others were dissatisfied; that is, a few of them; there are sore¬ 
heads around Walterborough. 

Q. Yes; there are always soreheads, and there was on that occasion ? 
—^A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chaieman : 

Q. You say tlie meu didn’t get done voting when the polls closed?— 
A. Yo, sir; there was about 300 left. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. Yame some of the men who were there who could not vote._A I 

could not give the names; well, I know Mr. Cain Boyd. 


County.] 


667 


TESTIMONY OF M. P. HOWELL. 


Q. ell, Ills name was rejected by the board. I am now inquiriuo- 
tw """"I you name of the 300 who did not get to vote because 
^lere vas no time to vote?—A. I don’t know how many I could give. 
There was a time all day when they could not get in, all of them. I 
could not tell the names, because I did not put them down. 

X oil could not tell any f—A. I have forgotten them. 

By Mr. Bandolph : 


Q. \ oil ha\ e lived there how long !—A. Twenty years, about. 

You cannot recall a single name of those 3001—A. Well, I iust 
put them all together. ^ 

Q. You say there were 309 that could not get up to the polls ?_A. Of 

course I said that; but I mean in my language at that time that all of 
those rejected men were numbered in the 300. 

Q. Cun j ou tell us the names of a few men that did not get up to the 
polls. A. Xo, sir; I could not name them. A great many lived out 
in the country, and I lived right in the village. 


M. P. HOWELL. 

Charleston, S. C., January 26 , 1879 . 

M. P. Howell sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. Walterborough, Colleton 
County. ' 

Q. What is your profession!—A. I am a lawyer. 

Q. Were you present on election day at the polls!—A. I was at the 
Walterborough iiolls. 

Q. Will you please tell what took place within your observation on 
that day!—A. Well, sir, the election was as pcMceable as any election I 
ever saw. There were a good many more voted at that precinct than 
had usually voted there. I learned since that the cause was there was 
no poll at (Ireen Pond open. They came in by squads of 50 and GO from 
that neighborhood and voted there. 

Q. There had been a poll previously at Green Pond!—A. Yes, sir; 
that was the polling precinct of our county. There was a challenger 
appointed I suppose by the Democratic club at Walterborough as a 
challenger of illegal voters. There was one also representing the Ee- 
publican party. They occupied different positions in the court-house, 
and George Washington who has just testified challenged a great many 
voters, and so did the white challenger. I acted as challenger part of 
the time myself; we took it turn about. We had great reasons to believe 
that there would be illegal voting done, and we had a right to be rigid 
in our challenging on that occasion, as we heard a rumor that they were 
going to import voters from Beaufort County and Charleston County, 
and we also heard that the Green Pond people would come there to 
vote. They said they intended to carry the election there or kick up a 
row, and break up the polls. We anticipated trouble that day, but 
nothing occurred; there was no one that I can recollect now during the 
day that was refused the right to vote, except one or two who was chal¬ 
lenged on the ground that they were under age, and a few who were 
challenged as idiots, and it was admitted after awhile by one of the Ee- 
publicans that the man was an idiot. Some little testimony was taken 



668 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


and it was decided by the managers that if any one wonld come forward 
and take the oath he could vote; that was the ruling of the managers 
in the morning, and everylmdy voted that wanted to vote. Everybody 
that was voting during the day got there by four o’clock. From four 
(O’clock until six there was no more than eight or ten votes given. There 
was an increase of voters at that precinct for the reason that no x^olls 
was opened at Green Pond; how many I am not able to say exactly. 
The voting x)assed olf quietly, and the counting was next in order. The 
managers first counted the round number in the box and found it con¬ 
tained 230 in excess of the poll-list. 

Q. What did they x^roceed to do then ?—A. They x>roceeded then under 
the section which directed them what to do when there is an overx^lus 
of ballots, and in accordance with that they emptied out the rest, and 
the excess having been found in the box, they were then returned back 
to the box, and Mr. Eivers, the clerk, was blindfolded and drew the ex¬ 
cess of tickets from the box. I was x^resent, and watched every ticket, 
to see whether it was Eex)ublican or Democratic that was draAVii. I 
counted, as drawn by the clerk, 30 Democratic tickets drawn succes¬ 
sively, and then I counted some GO or 80 drawn together. I could not 
tell exactly the number of Eex)ublican tickets drawn out of the box, or 
exactly the number of Democratic tickets, but I don’t think there was 
much difference. We had a majority, after the official count, of some 
400 tickets. 

Q. The total number was how many?—A. I think it was something- 
over one thousand. 

Q. What did the poll-list show ?—A. It showed less 230. Wherever 
two ballots were found in the same box packed together, or folded 
together, the managers threw them out. 

Q. Both of them?—A. Yes, sir; both of thein. That is, where they 
were found to contain the same kind of vote; that is, they xu’oceeded 
directly under the law in reference to them. I don’t recollect what it 
was, but I think it required, ay here there was one or more of the same 
kind, that one should be destroyed; if both of a different kind, both 
should be destroyed. 

Q. How long haA-e you resided in that Aucinity?—A. Two years. I 
located at Walterborough about two years ago, in the x>ractice of law. 

Q. The colored x)eox)le in that neighborhood liaxe been divided x)oliti- 
cally within your knowledge?—A. I ayUI exxfiain that matter. I was 
elected comity chairman of the county, and after that I max^x^ed out a 
county campaign. I sent to Charleston and got a band of music, and 
had circulars ax)X)ointing meetings x^osted around at nearly all the cross¬ 
roads in the county, and AvhereA^er I had a meeting large numbers of 
colored x^eople came out, though a great many staid at home under in¬ 
structions of Mr. Myers, tJieir leader. But in all of our sxAeeches to the 
colored x><?ox>le in our tour throughout the country we Avould huA^e a 
marked effect uxAon them. There Avas no x^^iblic mass meetings or any¬ 
thing of that character, but this band of music induced a great many to 
come out. We Avould deliA^er our sx^eeches and they seemed A^ery much 
gratified at the manner and course we had adoxited—that it Avas x^eace- 
able and quiet, and many of them expressed their desire to unite with 
the Democratic x^arty. That was x>reAfious to the nominating coiiA^ention 
of the Eepublican party. I understood from some the probable nomi¬ 
nee of the Eepublican party, and learned that such Avould be the ticket, 
and I made use of tlieir names in our sx^eeches, and got a xiersonal x^ledge 
from many of the colored peoxile that if such a ticket was nominated 
they would support our ticket—that is, the Democratic ticket. Many 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. P. HOWELL. 


669 


came to me personally and told me tliat. Tlie Eepnldican conTention 
met and nominated tlie ticket that we expected to be nominated^ on tlie 
followino- day. I will give yon tlie names of leading liepiiblicans wlio 
have led the Eepnblican party there. Mr. Myers is a very unpopular 
man in that county, very unpopular with the colored people, and the 
nomination was very offensive to a great number. A. 0. Shaffer is a 
white man who is an ex-treasurer of Colleton County, and has always 
been a prominent Eepnblican, and is a Eejniblican nowj but when this 
nomination was made with Myers on his ticket, he openly declared his 
avowed purpose that he would not support the ticket, and said to me 
he would do what he could to defeat it. J. K. Terry, a noithern man, 
and leading man of the county, told me the same thing, and told me that 
he would talk with the colored men and see if he could not induce them 
to vote for us, which he did. Mr. A. Driffle, jr., ex-commissioner, is a 
Eepnblican, he also declared his determination to defeat this Eepubli- 
can ticket, and came to us and said he would do everything in his power 
to defeat it. He had it publicly known in all parts of the county where 
he was known that he would not support that ticket, but would supi^ort 
the Democratic ticket; that the Democratic ticket if elected could not 
possibly be as bad as the Eepnblican ticket. Mr. Gates, another Ee- 
])ublican Ihing in Walterborough, also reported to me for duty after the 
Eepnblican convention. Mr. Eichardson, ex-member of the legislature, 
also re])Oi*ted to me after the coin^eution. J. M. Martin, ex-clerk of 
the court, a Eepnblican, reported for duty on the Democratic side after 
the convention. A. P. Holmes, an ex-Eepublican officer, reported the 
same. 

Q. Was Mr. A. Driffle, jr., a prominent Eepnblican of your county 
also?—A. Yes, sir; he reported for duty. Those were in St. Bartholo¬ 
mew’s Parish. Isaac Winningham rei)orted for duty, and expressed a 
determination to win the election for the Democratic ])arty. William 
Fraser, ex-member of the legislature, reported for duty. 

Q. Were all these in the upper part of the county Eepublicans ?—A. 
They came from all parts. W. H. Morris, a prominent white Eepublican, 
reported and made his public speech, and denounced Myers in every 
conceivable manner he could, and denounced the Avhole party, and 
showed up the rascality in every way he could as a Eepublican. We 
had every man at work, and I had the party thoroughly organized, and 
I had a great many colored men upon our list. I think I had numbers 
of them. There were a great many delegates of colored people in the 
Democratic convention. The Democratic ])arty of Colleton County was 
thoroughlv organized from the time the campaign was opened until the 
polls closed, and there was not a man upon Myers’s ticket who had any 
popularity, or who was scarcely known throughout. They didn’t canvass 

the county at all. x-n i i 

Q. These men are all Eepublicans, you stated, and still claim to be. 
Have they in fact united with theDemocratic party ?—A. Only as inde¬ 
pendent men opposed to the present nominations of the last con^ ention 
of the Eepublican party. 

By Mr. McDonald: 

Q Can you tell what transpired at the Eepublican convention ?—A. 
Yes* sir. 'On the morning that the Eepublican convention assembled, 
or aYew da vs previous to the convention, I was informed by the lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel of a regiment that he had ordered his regiment to be 
present on that day. I told him then that I understood the Eepublican 
convention would ineet that day, and I regretted that he should turn 



670 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


out on that occasion, and he said he was subject to my order, because I 
was county chairman, and he said he was subject to my order. My 
meaning- was this, that I thought it was imprudent for him to meet on 
the same day that the convention met. This order was issued long before 
any knowledge was had that the Kepublican convention would meet. 
The Eepnblicans did not make it known when they would meet, and it 
was not known but a few days prior to their meeting. I understand 
that the election of all delegates was made in secret in their own party. 
There were two Avings of their own party fighting each other, and doing 
it secretl3^ On that occasion there were one or two companies that came 
from the" distance of one or tAA o miles Avith their uniforms. Some of 
them had on red shirts, and some of them didn’t. ]Many companies 
have adopted red, blue, and yellow shirts, as they are cheaper. When 
these companies cane in I had a coiiAWsation with the lieutenant- 
colonel, and he said, “ If you think it imprudent, or that there is to 
be a collision, or that there will be any dissatisfaction, Avhy,” says 
he, “you can do just as you x>lease.” A split was going on in the 
Eepublican party. I had been aA^oiding anything like a collision, or 
creating ill feeling, so that in case there was a split I could capture one 
wing, and that really was my object in not alloAving the men to assem¬ 
ble at the court-house. The men were ordered not to interfere with the 
Eepublican convention; though a few moments before it assembled I 
heard that some colored people anticipated that that meeting there was 
for the purpose of disturbing their couA^ention, and I got on my horse 
and rode doAvn and met Mr. Myers, Avho Avas then coming to the conven¬ 
tion. He had brought the delegates out and aa as marching in a column 
down to the court-house. I stopped him and told him AA^hat I had heard, 
and he said he didn’t think anything of that. He said, “ I liaA^e heard 
such rumors, but I haA^e no confidence in these reports at all.” I told 
Myers that I would assure him that not one man or one delegate of his 
convention AA^ould be interfered AAuth; that he should haA^e a peaceable 
meeting ; we would protect them, and I would guarantee them a quiet 
meeting, and told him further that I Avould state it to his coiiA^ention 
if there Avas any apprehension on the part of his delegates. He said he 
would be glad to haA^e me do so. When the conA^ention met he intro¬ 
duced me as chairman of the Democratic party, and I spoke briefly to 
the point. I told them that the lieutenant’s orders had been issued be¬ 
fore it was known that their meeting was appointed, but that everything 
should go on peaceably and quietly. Many expressed their gratitude 
and good feeling towards me as county chairman, and said they kneAV 
perfectly well that I meant Avhat I said. The conA^ention Avas conducted 
that day without any interference. The whites and blacks were drunk 
together, a great many of them. Many colored people got drunk and 
many white people got drunk, but nothing turbulent occurred at all. 
The coiiA^ention made their nominations and adjourned quietly. 

Q. Kow, in reference to any arms being secreted before that conven¬ 
tion met, AAdiat do you say to that?—A. That is false; there is nothing 
in it; there was no arms in that connection. The men aa ho came in for 
trade that day had none except it AAvas pistols, which everybody carries. 

Q. As to arms being carried into this yard or house and secreted under, 
a laAv-office opposite the court-house, was there anything in that?— 
A. Not a thing. There are tAvo cavalry companies at Walterborough 
who have, I think, 80 rifles, or 40—about 40 I think; but from Avhat I 
have learned, part of them are in the hands of the captain, and they 
haA^e ncA^er been given out to the men at all. They are there just as they 
were shipped, and others are in the hands of Captain Bary and Captain 


County.] TESTIMONY OF M P. HOWELL. 671 


Henderson. The testimony here that rifles were brought from Hender¬ 
son’s house is false ; he didn’t have any. 

Q. He did not even take any x)art in i)olitics ?—^A. None at all. 

Q. Well, as to this poll at the cross-roads'?—A. I was appointed by 
the governor as one of the commissioners of election, and at the meeting 
of the board of commissioners I was elected chairman of that board. 

Q. Who were they ?—A. S. J. Jacobe is one: he resides near Somer- 
ville. 

Q. He is a Kepiiblican*?—A. Yes, sir. The other is S. D. Padgett j he 
staid in the upper portion of the county. 

Q. Now about this poll ? state what you know in regard to it.—A. I 
haven’t been, as I previously stated, a resident of that portion of the 
county within the last two years, and I have never been thoroughly 
acquainted v ith all the different localities of the lower part of the county; 
but when we met, that is, the board of managers, we of course were 
guided by the act of the legislature in fixing the number and names of 
the vafious precincts through our county. The matter was brought 
up before the board, and the question was asked where Linder’s Cross- 
Itoads were, and we called in one or two gentlemen and they said Lin¬ 
ders Cross-Hoads were some four or five miles above Snider’s, which was 
the original xmecinct. 

Q. Padgett was also a member of the board of commissioners?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were satisfied there was such a place?—A. I told him lie must 
either appoint managers for Linder’s Cross-Hoads or none at all; that 
Snider’s was not named in the act. Then we appointed the managers 
accordingly^ 

Q. Do you know where that poll was held ?—A. I don’t 5 it was held 
in some portion of the upper part of the county, I think four or five miles 
above the original precinct of Snider’s. Snider’s precinct has always 
been a Democratic precinct, and it was in one corner of the county and 
many had to ride a good ways, and it was recently removed for the con¬ 
venience of voters. 

Q. Well, the poll at Green Pond. Do you know anything about the 
reason why that was not opened ?—A. I don’t. The managers Avere 
duly ax>i)ointed by us, as commissioners of election, and their notices 
wxre duly issued. I heard since that they had already received them. 
It was stated this morning by one of the witnesses that I had sworn one 
of them in, which was not true, as I had no authority to swear them 111 . 
I am not a notary public, and have no authority to swear a man into 

^^.^ Did you not furnish several managers of several precincts with 
ballot-boxes ?—A. Yes, sir; I furnished many of them individually, my¬ 
self; but just at that time, when the boxes were being furnished, I was 
called to Columbia to meet the executive committee, and I left the boxes 
and blanks and returns in charge of Mr. Fishman and Captain Hender¬ 
son. They delivered them to parties when they called. I understood 
since that that precinct was furnished with all the necessary supplies 


V- ^When the returns came in to you, did they come in in proper 
Poxes ?—A. Yes, sir; with one exception. 

O. What exception was that?—A. That was the Havenell box. 

O. Whv was not that?—A. I don’t know; there was no report to us 
as a board of commissioners. It came in four times as big a box as an 
ordinary ballot-box 5 it was sealed up properly, and paper all over it. 


672 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Colleton 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. I believe you stated you were a lawyer ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you ever examined the election laws of this State ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You stated you had no authority to swear in the managers ?—A. I 
did say so. 

Q. Yow, I will read this, section 5: That the commissioners afore¬ 
said and managers aforesaid, at the first meeting, shall proceed to or¬ 
ganize themselves as a board by appointing one member chairinan of 
the board, {\nd such chairman, in each instance, shall be em])owered to 
administer the necessary oaths.”—A. I construe that difterently. There 
are two commissioners that constitute the board, and we met informally 
and selected a chairman. 

Q. You do not mean informally?—A. Well, formally. 

Q. You did not ‘‘select”j you elected?—A. Yes, sir. Then we all 
swore them in. 

Q. Who swore them in?—A. Well, I have forgotten. 

Q. How many Eepublican votes were cast at your precinct in 1870?— 
A. I think there was about nine hundred and some odd votes cast there 
in 1870; but as to how many Eepublicans, I do not know. 

Q. Well, as many as you know.—A. I think the Eepublicans had a 
majority at that poll of about 150 or 175. I am speaking now of Geor¬ 
gia Station. 

Q. I mean Walterborough.—A. I have learned that they generally 
polled there 700 or 800 votes. 

Q. How many in 1870?—A. That is what I am speaking about. 
Between six and seven hundred, I think. 

Q. What information have you in regard to it ?—A. Yothing but gen¬ 
eral information from the people in that vicinity. I moved there after 
the election in 1870. 

Q. How many Eepublican votes in 1870 ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. How many Democratic ?—A. I don’t knowj but I think the Eepub¬ 
licans had 150 or 200‘majority. 

Q. When did you make this list of names ?—A. A few months ago. 

Q. Where does A. C. Shatfer reside ?—A. In the town of Walterbor¬ 
ough. 

Q. Was he a candidate for nomination before the Eepublican conven¬ 
tion held there last fiill ?—A. He was not, to my knowledge. 

Q. Do you know?—A. I mean he was not brought before the conven¬ 
tion. If he was I didn’t know it. 

Q. Do you know whether he was or not ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Was Gates a candidate?—A.’I never heard of him being one. 

Q. Was Eichardson a candidate ?—A. He might have been or he might 
not have been. I don’t know positively. 

Q. What do you know about it ?—A. I don’t know. I mean to say 
that it was not publicly known that he was aspiring to any position. If 
he was a candidate secretly, I didn’t know it. 

Q. Was Martin a candidate ?—A. I think he was a candidate. 

Q. For what office?—A. I don’t recollect. 

Q. Was Holmes a candidate ?—A. I think he was a candidate. 

Q. What for?—A. Eepresentative, I presume. I don’t know posi¬ 
tively. ^ 

Q. You are personally acquainted with Holmes?—A. I am. 

Q. Are you acquainted with his handwriting ?—A. I am not. 

Q. When did he inform you that he was dissatisfied ?—A. A few days 
alter the convention. 




County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. P. HOWELL. 


673 


oplJise dissatisfied ?_A. That he would 

Cougwss Eepublican candidate for 

^ T^rinll5f extended to the county ticket only ?—A. That 

no't „y s,';,: 21"?“"' *‘ ““ ■■'> <“ 

.'f £";;4 ‘ ” -“''I- 

gate. '' iiw'ugliitei a candidate ?—A. I think not. He was a dele- 

Q. Was Fraser a candidate ?-A. No, sir; he told me he was not. 
ImS; caj"li“_A. No, sir; he told me that he had 

date ® position by the Democratic party if he would be a caudi- 

Q. A^^as he a candidate?—A. sir; he was not. 

1 ?* ^ reported to you for 

dnt> -—A. They reported to me, as chairman of the Democratic party, 
ready to do anything that I thought proper for them to do for the elec¬ 
tion of the Democratic ticket. 

Q. For the entire Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir; I mean entire 
county ticket. 

Q. Did those men whom you say stated to you that they were dis¬ 
satisfied with the nominations made by the Itepublican county conven¬ 
tion vote for or against the candidate for senator?—A. They said they 
were going to vote the entire Democratic ticket. What they did I don’t 
know. I didn’t watch them. 

Q. Whom did you desire?—A. They desired to have nominated as 
senator John IV. Bobbidge. 

Q. AYas he a candidate ?—A. I think he was, for intendant of the 
town. 


Q. AYas he supported by those men for that office ?—A. I know that 
Driffle did not, and another man did not. 

Q. AAJiom did they support ?—A. Air. AATttam. 

Q. AA^as he a Eepublican or a Democrat ?—A. He was a Democrat. 

Q. Then they supported a Democrat before ?—aA. Y^es, sir. 

Q. AYliat did you do with that box that came to you?—^A. AAY broke 
it open and found that the managers hadn’t counted the votes; that 
there was no official count made; that they had disagreed, and to my 
best recoljection the United States supervisor had done nothing, and 
there was no way that we could arrive at a true count of that vote. I 
asked the board what disposition we should make of the box, and it was 
agreed unanimously by the board to throw out that box. 

Q. How did the Summer\ille box come, regularly or irregularly ?—A. 
The Summerville box came up with a statement by the managers that 
on the finishing of the official count of the votes of that precinct that 
somebody had either stolen, or they had lost in the excitement at the 
liolls that night, the statement of the number of votes cast for the various 
officers; their return to us had been lost. The box was properly sealed, 
Ac. The United States supervisor gave in as his testimony that it Avas 
so. The United States supervisor duplicated or said he had a correct 
count of the a otes as United States supervisor of that box. He also had 
affidavits of others of the number of Amtes cast at that precinct; and upon 
the sworn statement of the United States supervisor and upon the sworn 
statement of the managers they had kept a correct tally of the count of 


43 S C 



[Colleton 


674 SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 

tlie votes upon wliicli they made tlieir affidavits that that was true, I 
received the box. 

Q. Was the manager in favor of Democratic or Eepnblican candi¬ 
dates?—A. He was in favor of Democratic candidates. 

Q. How was it with the other box—this cracker-box that was four 
times as big as an ordinary—was it in favor of the Eepublicans or Dem¬ 
ocrats ?—A. I don’t know anything about that. 

Q. You did not count them ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Was the United States supervisor at the Somerville poll a Eepub- 
lican ?—A. He was a Democrat. 

Q. Did you take the affidavit of the Eepublican supervisor ?—A. I 
didn’t get it, although I made an effort to. 

Q. Who was the Eepublican suiiervisor at that box ?—A. His name 
was Maddox. 

Q. Did yon apply to him?—A. ]!!^'o, sir. 

Q. Then what effort did you make to get it ?—A. I asked the United 
States supervisor, who lives near him, to get it for me. 

Q. Yon asked the Democratic supervisor to get it!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Does the law make the affidavits of the United States supervisor 
evidence before the board ?—A. I don’t know that it does. 

Q. You are a lawyer ?—A. Well, although I am a lawyer I am not * 
preiiared to give my opinion upon the statutes at all times. 

Q. Well, it is an eleotion law.—A. I readmit over at the time I was 
doing this work, but I didn’t make a study of it particularly. 

Q. Do you generally make a study of what you read ?—A. I read it 
over, and did what I thought was legal. 

Q. Did you not find any provision in your statute directing you in the 
event that the statement of the managers was lost to take ex-parte affi¬ 
davits of the supervisor or the managers, or anybody else ?—A. I don’t 
think there was any snch a law. 

Q. Then there was no law for taking the affidavit of the snx)ervisor— 
no more law for taking his than any other man’s ?—A. Eo, sir. 

Q. Is there any law for it ?—A. 1 so construed it; and I thought that 
upon the affidavit submitted to me the vote could be decided. 

Q. Where did you get authority ?—A. We decided on the return of 
their statement. 

Q. Bnt they did not make a statement?—A. They did; they made a 
statement from their tally-list. This return they had fixed up for me 
was not written up at all until they were first copied, and that was 
handed to me sworn to by the managers; sworn to as correct by the 
United States supervisor and by parties who witnessed the true count 
out of the box; and upon tiiat I received the box. 

Q. Does not the law require that the managers shall send a statement 
to you with the box, and inclosed in the box ?—A. L don’t think the law 
says that the statement shall be inclosed. 

Q. Well, does it not require that it shall be sent to you with the box? 
—A. The original statement was not sent to me, but only these dupli¬ 
cate statements. 

Q. When did you get those statements ?—A. I got them along with 
the managers’. One of the managers came and made this statement, 
and swore to it before Captain Henderson. They were filed with me 
then. 

Q. When did you receive the box?—A. I think two days after the 
election. 

Q. Did you receive that statement at the same time you received the 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. P. HOWELL. 


675 


box? A. sir; yes^ I received the statement of the mana^'ers at the 
same time. 

Q. Did all the managers unite in the statement?—A. They did snhse- 
qnently. 

Q. Did they at the time you received the box?—A. No, sir. At the 
time they brought the box one of the managers had a written statement, 
Ac., and I refused to take it then; they all three swore to it that it was 
correct. 

Q. But at the time of the taking of the box there was no statement 
except an unsworn statement ?—A. That was all. 

Q. Did you receive the box at that time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But refused to receive the statement at that time ?—A. No, sir; 
to my best recollection I refused to take the box. I am satisfied now 
that I did refuse when it was first presented, and I think the box was 
locked up; I didn’t receipt for the box. 

Q. Did you receive it ?—A. When I say I received it, I mean I was 
not held responsible for it until I had given my receipt. 

Q. Does the law provide for that until you receipt for it ?—A. I don’t 
know that it does; 1 suppose that would "be a reasonable view of it. 

Q. Did you receive it or not ?—A. I did not. 

Q. Did you take it in your possession ?—A. I did not. 

Q. What was done with it ?—A. It was placed by the managers in the 
clerk’s office and kept there until he got me the names of the other par¬ 
ties to the affidavit, and then I receipted for the box. 

Q. Did you advise the manager to get those statements, or to get some 
statements ?—A. I told him I could not receive the box unless there Avas 
some statement with it, and he told me then what could be done, and I 
thought that Avas proper. 

Q. Now, when did you receiA^e the big box, or cracker-box?—A. I 
think the third day after the election. 

Q. By whom was that carried to you ?—A. One of the managers, to 
my best recollection, carried it. 

"Q. Why did you not tell him that you could not receive it in that 
condition ?—A. Because I kneAV from what he said that he received the 
box in the condition in which it was as I judged from the receipt. 

Q. Then in the one case you refused the box unless what you consid¬ 
ered a sufficient statement Avas made with it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And in the other case you received it without any statement?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. There was no statement at all?—A. They said there was a state¬ 
ment inside of the box, and told me Avhat had occurred there, &c., and I 
told them I Avould receive the box conditionally. 

Q. Now, AA hat conditions did you impose upon them?—A. I think I re¬ 
ceived it ^ind the vote Avas said not to have been canvassed by the man¬ 


agers. 


Q. What conditions?—A. Well, I take that ^^conditions’’ back. I 
receiA^ed it upon that representation. ^ 

Q. You received it absolutely, then, not upon condition?—A. les, sir. 
Q. And at the time you understood the Amtes were not canA^assed?— 

A. Yes, sir. . . . ^ 

Q. You understood, then, you were not receiAung it legally?—A. No, 

sir; I think not. ^ i ® a m 

Q. IIoAV AAms it, then; there was no statement in this box/—A. They 

said there Avas one. « * -c- • i 

Q. Well, AAdien you opened it did you find one?— A. les. sir; and 




676 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


that statement wa<s of such an unsatisfactory character that we didn’t 
count it. 

Q. Did you make any effort to get a correct statement as to that poll— 
the Ravenelle i)oir?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you understand that the majority of the votes there at that 
poll were Democratic or Republican?—A. Well, I suppose from what I 
learned there Avas a Republican majority. 

Q. What did you learn the Republican majority was?—A. I don’t re¬ 
member. 

Q. And you learned that the other box had a Democratic majority ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You would not receive the Democratic box until there was a suffi¬ 
cient statement made, and you received the other and made no effort to 
have the statement corrected ?—A. No, sir; I know there was no means 
to have it canvassed. 

(^. The votes Avere there, were they not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The managers of Ravenelle poll were appointed by your board?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They were all Democrats ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the board appoint any one but Democratic managers ?—A. 
No, sir. 

Q. How many Republican tickets were thrown out for the excess at 
the poll where you Amted?—A. Taa^o hundred and thirty, to my best 
recollection; it might have been a little more or a little less. I think 
the first statement as made by the clerk in concluding the counting of 
the vote was 250, and afterward it was ascertained to be 230. 

Q. How many Re|Aublican Amtes Avere drawn out ?—A. I don’t know; 
I AAmuld not SAvear positively as to the number of either, but I know there 
was a great many of both. 

Q. How many tissue ballots were found in the box?—A. I don’t recol¬ 
lect ; there were a great many; I don’t knoAV the number. 

Q. When did you first see any of these tissue tickets ?—A. I saw them 
a feAV days pre\uous to the election. 

Q. Where?—A. At the court-house, in the possession of the clerk of 
the court, Mr. Fishman, the first time. 

Q. Did you learn where they Avere from ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you inquire?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you not ascertain ?—A. No, sir; I liaA^e inquired and tried to 
find out Avhere they AA^ere printed, but I could not find out. 

Q. Whom did you inquire of ?—A. Democratic friends in Columbia. 

Q. Did you hot inquire of anybody in Charleston ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you not inquire in whose possession he had first delivered 
them ?—A. I inquired where he got them, and he said- 

Q. Well, what did he say?—A. He said—well, he said nobody would 
know where he got them. 

Q. He declined to tell you ?—A. He did not tell me. 

Q. You were county chairman of the Democratic party in the county ?— 
A. I was. 

Q. Did you not think you had some right to know where they came 
from ?—A. No; not especially. I didn’t hav^e any right to know. 

Q. Was it not a ])art of your business to see Avhere tickets were pro¬ 
cured, and that they were distributed ?—A. No, sir; the tickets were 
sent to me. 

Q. What tickets ? Tissue ballots ?—A. No, sir; not all. 

Q. Did you receive any tissue ballots?—A. Yes, sir; I did receive 
some. 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OF M. P. HOWELL. 


677 


Q. How many ?—A. Five linndred, or near that. 

Q. \Vliere did you receive them A. From tiie post-office. 

Q. YV here from ?—A. I don’t know where they came from. 

Q. Where did you receive the tickets from!—xV. I learned that the 
executive committee of our county had sent them; they were sent in a 
box. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Was there any mark on the envelope or box?—A. There might 
have been. 

Q. But you know many times you can distinguish it. Ho you mean 
that it created no excitement ?—A. I had seen them before. I took 
them openly and laid them on the table, and everybody saw them. 

Q. Then you could not see any good reason why the clerk refused to 
tell you where they were printed?—A. That was his private business. 

Q. Hid you see the tickets before you saw them in the office of the 
clerk ?—A. Well- 

Q. You said you saw them before the election ?—A. I received mine 
after the election, a day or two after he received his. 

Q. You said a day or two before the election ?—xY. It may have been 
several days before; but I saw his before I received mine. 

Q. Hid you inform him then, after you received some ?—A. Yes, sir j 
and gave him some to distribute. 

Q. Hid he inform you what he had done with the tickets that he had 
received ?—A. lie said he had given them out. I gave mine out to 
an.ybody that wanted them. 

Q. I suppose you gave them out to persons whom you thought ought 
to have them ?—A. I gave them to colored people also. I had a colored 
man there distributing them. We had men there that day who went 
out to meet colored men that were coming in to vote with the small 
tickets in the one hand and the others in the other hand. Many pre¬ 
ferred the small tickets, because they wanted to know how their colored 
men voted—those that worked for them—and because these colored men 
did not want others to know they were voting our ticket. 

Q. How do you know that ?—A. Mr. Wakeman said he voted fifty or 
sixty colored men. 

Q. Who else told you so ?—A. I don’t remember, but that was the 
sentiment expressed. 

Q. You said a good many desired that. Kow, give the names of all 
you can; who told you so ?—A. Well, I would not name men whom I 
happen to have conversation with of that character. 

Q. Can you name them ?—A. I have named one, and that Avas the 
general sentiment. 

Q. Can you name any others ?—A. I can’t. 

Q. Were you ever at a poll before when the excess of ballots found in 
the ballot-box was as great as at the last election ?— A. I never was. 

Q. How did the managers account for that excess ?—A. They didn’t 
make any special account for that at all. 

Q. They saw that more ballots had been placed in the ballot-box than 
had voted; did they make any general account for that ?—A. That Avas 
the general account, that men had A^oted these tickets* 

Q. Hid they express surprise at this state of affairs ?—A. There was 
general surprise all round Avhen it was ascertained by eA^erybodj. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Kobody attempted to account for the manner in which they got in 




678 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


there ?—A. Xo, sir; the managers ruled thatwlierever one or more bal¬ 
lots were found together they would act according to law. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Have yon ever affiliated with the Eepnblican party ?—A. I haven’t. 

Q. Have yon ever sought office under the party ?—^A. I held an office 
under the Eepnblican party as a Democrat. 

Q. What office did yon hold ?—A. Office of the trial-justice in 1874, 
just previous to the election of Governor Chamberlain, under Moses. 

Q. When Chamberlain Avas elected he remoA^ed yon ?—A. Yes, sir; 
but my popularity in Colleton County was so great among the colored 
people that they preferred me to the Eepnblican. Myers was the man 
that had me placed back, and I Avas reappointed by GoA^ernor Chamber- 
lain, at the instigation of Myers, as a Democrat. I ncA^er affiliated with 
the Eepnblican party at all, and I never voted the Eepnblican ticket. 

Q. Which ticket did yon Amte in 1874 ?—A. I voted what was knoAAUi 
as the Green ticket. 

Q. Did yon A’^ote the entire ticket ?—A. I A^oted the entire ticket, with 
one exception; I a oted for Myers. 

(^. Myers had not become unpopular at that time?—A. Yes, sir; 
but he Avas the best we could do. 

Q. Myers run for office AAlth yon ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. He AAms elected ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Has he run for office in the county since that time?—A. NTo, sir; 
he Avas elected in 1874, and I think he has been senator eA^er since, until 
last election. I Amted for Myers on personal matters. There was no 
Democratic candidate in the field; if there had been I would not haA^e 
A'oted for Myers. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. WhoeA^er the Democrat might liaA^e been, yon would not haA’'e 
A'oted for Myers ?—A. Nlo, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Who did the board appoint as manager at Linder’s Cross-Eoads?— 
A. I think one Avas Barnadoor, and one AA^as Carter; I haA^e forgotten 
the other man’s name. 

Q. Can yon give their first names?—A. I can’t; I think it is S. J. 
Barnadoor. 

(i^. Did yon CA^er see either of them before they AAxre appointed ?—A. 

I saw Barnadoor and Carter. 

Q. HaA’^e yon seen them since?—A. I haA^e seen Barnadoor since. 

Q. Who returned that box to yon ?—A. Barnadoor. 

Q. When ?—A. On the folloAving day after the election. 

(^. M as that a Eepnblican or Democratic box ?—A. After it AA^as 
counted it AAms found to be Democratic by a handsome majority. 

Q. There Avas a number of Amtes in that box?—A. About 40b or over. 

Q. Hoav many Democratic, and how many Eepnblican ?—A. I recol¬ 
lect there Avas seven Eepublicans and the balance Avere Democratic. 

Q. This Avas the poll said to be substituted in the place of Snider’s?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What other polls were in the Aucinity of Linder’s Cross-Eoads?— 
A. There Avas a poll above that, but the exact distance I don’t know. 
It I could tell yon exactly aa here Linder’s poll was I could tell yon the 
fb)pose it is eight or ten miles. It is called “Preacher’s 
Mill,” in the extreme portion of the county. Then there is one eight or 
nine miles beloAA, called Bell’s Cross-Eoads, and Smoker’s Cross-Eoads. 


Co-anty.] 


TESTIMONY OP M. P. HOWELL. 679 

Q. How far is Preacher’s Mill from Bell’s Cross-Eoads ?—A. I think 
it IS about ten miles. 

tliis Linder’s Cross-Eoads between tbe two?—A. No, sir: I 
tnink it IS below in a different belt of country. 

Q. Did these managers tell yon that they held the poll at Linder’s 
Cross-Eoads?—A. Yes, sir; that is their statement. 

Q. hat was that?—A. That a vote was cast at Linder’s Cross-Eoads, 

and there was SAVorn statements regularly as the laAv directed. 

Q. How many men liaA^e j’^on found in the ooniity who AA^ere able to 
inform yon where Linder’s Cross-Eoads Avas?—A. 1 made A^ery little 
inqnirj' at all, only when the managers were appointed I made inquiry 
then, and I was informed in what section of the country it was. 

Q. Wlio informed yon?—A. One of onr managers himself. 

^ Q. Which one?—A. Mr. Padgett, one of the commissioners of elec¬ 
tion. He said there was such a place some distance aboA^e there, and 
the swamp aboA^e there called Ocathell. We apjioirited three commis¬ 
sioners for Linder’s Cross-Eoads, and had nothing more to do AAdth it. 

Q. Do yon knoAA^ whetlier those managers qualified and took the oath 
of office ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Are they not required to furnish CAidence that they qualified?—A. 
I don’t think the law requires them to furnish ns that eAudence; I think 
the law requires them to furnish eAudence for the clerk’s office. 

Q. HaA^e yon ncA^er examined to see if they did that or not?—A. No, 
sir; I ncA^er examined. 

Q. The board appointed managers at Green Pond?—A. Yes, sir. 

Do yon knoAA" if the poll was opened there?—A. No, sir. 

Q. HaA^e yon CA^er made inquiry of the managers appointed by the 
board as to why it was not opened ?—A. One of the managers, Avhose 
name I am not acquainted with, I spoke to, and asked him Avliy it Avas 
not opened; I belicA^e it AA^as a Mr. Henderson, and he said he had gone 
to the polls as directed, and that he was there aaTUi the box, and none 
of the managers came. I saAA" Mr. Patterson, the other man, and he said 
he was unwell and AA^as indisposed to iierform the duties of commissioner. 

Q. And the other man ?—A. I haA^e never seen the other man; I hav^e 
heard that he was sick. 

Q. Was not Patterson at Walterborongh on that day, and did yon not 
see him?—A. Yes, sir; I don’t knoAA" AvEether I did or not. I saA\’^ Hen¬ 
derson. 

Q. Did yon think yon did or did not?—A. I might and I might not. 
Q. Noav, I want to knoAv whether yon did or did not; what is your 
best recollection about it ?—A. My best recollection is that I didn’t see 
him. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Did he not go to your poll ?—A. I don’t know. 

By Mr. Caaieron : 

Q. Did Henderson ?—A. I think he did. 

Q. When did yon inquire if he was aAA^ay?—A. At once. 

Q. It is optional with yon to compel a man to perform his duty ?—A. 

I don’t think it is. They AA^ere appointed and Ave received no informa- 
tion from those men that they Avonld not serve; if we had Ave would 
have made other ajipointments. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. I AAvant to ask yon about these tissue ballots. Yon say many men 
Avho had colored labor preferred to haA^e these tickets, so that men Avho 


680 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


employed them would know whether they voted them or not ?—A. Yes, 

Q. How could thev better determine when they voted these tickets 
than any otlier ticket ?—A. They could see them put them in. 

Q. The Democratic and Eepublican tickets were the same when folded, 
but your theory was that that ticket would enable you to tell whether a 
colored man kept his promise to you or not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether that was the theory of the men who got 
them up A. I don’t know; I have heard often whether they could be 
voted more than one at a time. 

Q. Did you ever hear any other theory besides the two that you have 
mentioned ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. You have heard it suggested that two could be doubled?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Did you hear any other suggestion that they might be used in a 
wrong manner ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. What class of men voted these tickets, whites or blacks?—A. I 
can’t tell you that. 

Q. Were you around the polls that day?—A. I was around a good 
deal. 

Q. How many colored men did you see voting those tickets ?—A. I 
didn’t say I saw more than one or two with the tickets. I saw one man 
vote the ticket openly. 

Q. How many white men did you see vote it ?—A. I saw a good many. 

Q. Why did they adopt them in preference to the other ticket ?—A. 
I don’t know as it was a special adoption; there were large and small 
tickets on the table. 

» Q. Wliat name were they known by ?—xl. They were known by no 
name whatever, except Democratic tickets, until after the election, and 
then some people would call them kiss-jokes.” 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. WJiat became of the poll-list sent up to the board at Linder’s 
Cross-Eoads ; did you send it to the office of the secretary of state ?— 
A. Yes, sir. I would like to state in reference to the return as well as 
the books that they have been handed to me since election, and are 
in the same condition they were that night. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. When you opened Linder’s ballot box, did you find any tissue bal¬ 
lots in it ?—A. I think there was none. 

Q. You got these tissue ballots by mail ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you get any letter explaining about them ?—xV. Yo, sir. 

Q. How did the others come to you ?—A. They came directed to the 
county chairman of Colleton County. 

Q. They came how ?—A. By express. 

Q The tissue ballots came directed to you ?—A. To me. 

Q. And you could not say where from ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Was there any letter with the regular tickets?—A. Yo, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. The regular tickets were too bulky to send by mail ?—A. Yes, sir; 
they were in a 'box, some ten thousand of them. 

By Mr. Kirkavood ; 

Q. They might have come in the box with the others ?—A. I don’t 
know that they came from the same place. 


, County.] 


681 


TESTIMONY OF RICHARD JOHNSON. 


By Mr. McDonald ; 

Q. This Linder’s Cross-Eoads, the place you understood it to he, you 
say was beyond Snider’s Cross-Eoads ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Idiat had been the previous polling place"?-—A. Yes, sir. 

• the neighborhood around Snider’s Cross-Eoads, and up 

m that part of the country—Eepublican or Democratic ?—A. They are 
Democrats; they never polled any Eepublican votes in that section of 
the country. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Do \ou not know that Snider’s Cross-Eoads is within two or three 
miles of the Barnwell County linef—A. Yo, sirj I don’t know: it is 
not; it is in a lower portion of our county. 

Q. How far is Snider’s Cross-Eoads from the Barnwell County line!— 
A. I expect thirty miles. 

Q. How far from the Beaufort County line !—A. I supx^ose fifteen or 
twenty miles. 

Q. You said, if I understood you rightly, that you had seen two of 
the men who were apj^ointed commissioners before you appointed them 
at that place !—A. I had seen them passing. 


EICHAED JOHNSOE.. 

Charleston, S. C., January 27, 1879. 

Eichard Johnson (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. In the town of Somer¬ 
ville, Colleton County. 

Q. Were you in that county during the last political campaign !—A. 
I was, sir. 

Q. Did you take any i)art in it!—A. Being marshal of the town, I had 
to take part in it. 

Q. How long have you held the position of marshal in the town!—A. 
For the past two years. 

Q. Were you out in that county any during the time the canvass was 
in progress !—A. Not outside of the town. 

Q. Where were you on the day of the election !—A. In the village of 
Somerville. 

Q. Were you near the polls the most of the day!—A. Yes, sir; there 
and out in the streets. 

Q. Did there a great many persons vote there that day!—A. There 
was a large body of ])eople there, sir. 

Q. State how the election was conducted as to its being ])eaceable or 
otherwise; and if there was any disturbance, state what occurred.—A. 
All that I saw, or the most that I saw, was that there were some who 
were not old enough to vote; at least the managers of the polls said so, 
and refused to let them vote. 

Q. Some parties were rejected because they were not old enough to 
vote!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When a man was challenged because he Avas not old enough to 
vote, Avliat did the managers do!—A. I did not see what they did. The 
parties themselves came out and said they could not vete because the 





682 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton 


managers said they Tvere not old enough. I didn’t think they were old 
enough, either, from their appearance. They were young chaps, sir. 

Q. Did yon see anybody rejected that from their appearances seemed 
old enough to vote f—A. I didn’t. 

Q. Did you see any tickets of the kind that have been called tissue 
tickets there that day ?—A. I saw some. 

Q. Where Avere they?—A. Lying there on the table like those papers. 

Q. AYere they used like other tickets ?—A. AVho used them I can’t 
tell. 

Q. Did you see persons taking them and circulating them?—A. I saw 
them doAvn in the yard outside; people had them looking at them. I 
don’t know anything more than that, sir. 

Q. AYhat people had them looking at them?—A. Colored people, sir. 

Q. Did you vote there that day ?—A. I did. 

Q. AYhat ticket ?—A. The straight-out Democratic ticket. 

Q. How long have you been connected Avith the Democratic party ?— 
A. For eight years; that is, I don’t say I am a Democrat exactly. I 
AA'ould like to say that AAdieii things got to going AATong I thought I AAmuld 
like to see the State come under a little better order than it was; and 
AA'hen I saw Avhat certain men AA^ere doing I thought I would stand by 
the Democratic party, so I have Amted Avith it mostly of late years. 

Q. Y^ou are pretty well acquainted Avith the colored i^eople about 
SomerAulle, are you not ?—A. I am, sir. 

Q. Did you see a good many of* them there that day supporting the 
Democratic ticket ?—A, AA^ell, I iieA^er i)aid no attention to people Acting 
the Demoeratic ticket. I always try to understand my OAvn business 
and to attend to it. I was an officer of the toAAm, and officer of the peace, 
and I attended pretty close to that business. I didn’t pay much atten¬ 
tion to anything else. 

Q. Did you hear a good many persons si3eak in favor of the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket?—A. A Yell, they had these tickets. The Democrats said 
they Avould Amte theirs, and the EeiAublicans said they AAmdd A^ote theirs. 
They handed them out, both parties did, and if anybody refused it they 
could refuse. They would take tickets and look at them, and vote wliat 
they Avanted to. Often one would say, when a ticket was handed him, 

I AAmn’t vote that ticket; I will Amte the other.” AAffiy, it was all right; 
there was no trouble made about it. 

Q. Was any effort made to preA-ent colored Eepublicans from A^oting 
there that day?—A. I didn’t see anything of the sort, sir. 

Q. AYas the election quiet and i)eaceable-?—A. Yes, sir; all except 
one thing : when the bar aa^us against the door, and the colored and the 
white people AA^ere all trying to get in to put their tickets in the box, 
suddenly the bar gaA'e way and throAved doAAui about tliree dozen, I 
think, doAAui the steps, and all the colored people said “ The AAdiite men 
did that”; and some of them got a little cross, a little vexed, as you 
might say. I said, “ There is no sense in making any fuss about such a 
thing as that; the white men fell as well as you.” Colonel Tupper came 
out at the same time and said,‘AYe don’t AAmnt any fuss here”; and 
after that the people AA^ere all quiet. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. AAAs there any further trouble ?—A. There was no further trouble, 
sir. 

Q. Where were the polls held; where was the box?—A. OA^er the 
yon side; tlie east side of the court-house. 

Q. AYhat did you call the place ?—A. AYe called it the YTllage Hall. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF EICHAED JOHNSON. 


683 


rtH ■ *“ *'*® Village Hall ?—A. A very 

little liile 5 I would go and see liow tlie election was going on, and then 
would walk down-stairs again. 

Q. Wlieudidyou first see any tissue ballots that day?—A. About 
twelve or one o’clock. 

Q. Who called your attention to them!—A. Kobody called my atten¬ 
tion to them. I just saw them. I saw the men taking them up along 
through the forenoon, as they would other tickets. 

Q. Where did you say you saw them first, at twelve or one o’clock ?— 
I I saw theai at twelve o’clock; but I saw them before that too. 

Q. Yon saw them in the hands of the colored people ?—A. Yes, sir; 
they had them looking at them. 

Q. Were those who had them all Democrats?—A. I couldn’t say: 
they were talking among themselves j I paid no attention. 

Q. Yon don’t know whether they voted them or not!—A. I don’t 
know anything about it one way or the other j I saw them in their 
hands—that was all. 

Q. Were yon in the room in the town-hall Avhen anybody was ejected 
or turned out ?—A. I was not there. I heard a man was turned out. 
They would not let him vote because he was too young. 

Q. Yon did not see anybody turned out ?—A. Yo, sir j I saw the men 
about him talking when he came out. 

Q. Y hen did yon become a Democrat'?—A. AVhen I first voted the 
Democratic ticket, sir ? 

Q. When did you commence voting the Democratic ticket ^ —A. Seven 
years ago. 

Q. Did they not promise to make you town marshal if yon would act 
with the Democratic i)arty ?—A. No^ sir j I was town marshal ten years 
ago. 

Q. Were yon a Kepublican then?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How long have you been marshal f—A. Seven or eight years j be¬ 
tween times there have been years when I was not marshal. 

Q. When were you last appointed ?—A. Last season. 

Q. What was the bargain, Dick ? out with it now.—A. It was just 
this way: I had worked with the Eepublicans five years as marshal. 
Then, when the Democrats got into power. Colonel Tapper run as mayor 
of the town. Tapper is a Democrat, bat the Eepublicans voted for him, 
and he stood it out for two years. 

Q. What other business have you besides being marshal ?—A. Cart¬ 
ing—running a public cart, sir. 

Q. Who are your customers mostly, Eepublicans or Democrats ?—A. 
Eepublicans do precious little for me, sir. 

Q. Then you get the most of your custom from Democrats ?—A. That 
is it exactly. 

Q. How long have jmu run a cart ?—A. Twelve years. 

Q. You do the carting from the depot to the stores ?—xi. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say when the Democrats elected their officers they appointed 
you ?—A. They had to have two marshals, both colored. They arranged 
it that one of them should be a Eepiddican and one of them a Democrat. 
The other man was a Eepublican, and so I had to be a Democrat. 

Q. Was that the arrangement when yon were appointed—that you 
must be a Democrat ?—A. 1 put my application in a letter and I was 
appointed. 

Q. If the other man had been a Democrat you would have had to be a 
Eepublican ?—xV. Yes, sir. 


684 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Colleton County, i 


Q. Bid you vote the Democratic ticket before you were marshal?—A. 
For seven years. 

Q. I asked you did you vote the Democratic ticlvet before the Demo¬ 
crats appointed you as marshal?—A. Certainly, sir. 

Q. How many times did you vote it?—A. Seven years. 

Q. And you have been marshal under the Democrats for how long ?— 
A. For two vears ; I was marshal under the Eepublicans before. 

Q. Was it'not for becoming a Democrat that they appointed you mar¬ 
shal?—A. No, sir; but I found that the Eepublicans had gone down 
against me verv destructively. 

Q. For whaU—A. Because they said I had voted the Democratic 
ticket. I had been doing it a long time, but they didn’t know of it be¬ 
fore. 

Q. A^ou had been voting the Democratic ticket on the sly ?—A. Yes, 
sir; but they said I was to be killed. 

Q. They never did kill you, though, did they ?—A. No, sir; but I 
don’t know what they would do if they had found the chance. 

Q. How many colored Democrats do you know?—A. There is Philip, 
and I, and others I can’t make any mention of. 

Q. Those are all you know of?—A. A"es, sir. 

Q. A^ou must be a little lonesome down there ?—A. Yes, sir; a little. 

By Mr. Kiukwood : 

Q. The Eepublicans appointed you marshal a good while ?—A. Yes, 
sir; five or seven years. 

Q. They appointed you, and you were voting the Democratic ticket 
at the same time ?—A. No, sir. I was a Eepublican then, through and 
through. 

Q. How long ago were you appointed marshal by the Democrats ?— 
A. Two years ago. 

Q. And you have been marshal seven years ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Before the Democrats made you marshal who had made you mar¬ 
shal?—A. The Eepublicans; they took me, they said, because"I was a 
straight man. They didn’t take me all the time; there was times be¬ 
tween when I was not straight. 

Q. Then there must have been a time when you were voting the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket while holding office under the Eepublicans ?—A. No; I 
didn’t neither. 

Q. I thought you said you voted the Democratic ticket seven years 
ago ?—A. I was not marshal them years. When Green was running 
some years ago I voted that way; but they didn’t make me marshal that 
year. When the Eepublican mayor came in they turned me out. 

Q. Do you mean whichever party puts you in as marshal you vote 
for that party?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How long have you been voting the Democratic ticket?—A. Be¬ 
tween five, and six, and seven years. 

Q. How long have you been marshal?—A. About twelve years; but 
not every year. 

Q. How many years in all?—A. About ten years; there was two 
years between times they throwed me out; then new men came in, and 
they took me up and made me marshal again. Lyman House, when he 
came in he made me marshal again. 

Q. Yhat was he politically?—A. I think he was a Eepublican or 
something or other. I don’t know. 


HAMPTON COUNTY. 


FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


ELECTION- OE 1878. 
















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HAMPTON COUNTY. 


GEOEGE BALLI]S"GEE. 


Charleston, S. C., January 28,1879. 
GeorGtE Ballinger (colored) sworn and examined. 


By Mr. Eandolph : 


Question. Wliere do you reside?—Answer. I reside in Hampton 
County, near Bronson’s Station. 

Q. Were you liresent at a meeting at Bronson Station?—A. At wLat 
meeting? 

Q. At a meeting at wliicli Mr. Ayiiii)i:)er spoke?—A. He spoke tliere 
at so many meetings that I don’t know Avliicli meeting you mean. 

Q. Mr. Whii^i^er says he has spoken only twice in Hampton County, 
so that he could not have spoken at Bronson many times. Were you 
present at any meeting at Bronson when Mr. Whipper made a speech in 
the last campaign?—^A. I was. 

Q. Eelate to this committee, as briefly as you can, what occurred at 
that time.—A. I was there at one meeting when he and Mr. Smalls and 
some other gentlemen were there. During the time he was speaking 
Mr. L. W. Youmans wanted to ask him some questions. He went to 
answer the questions, and made a speech. I thought then he used up 
Mr. Youmans i)retty bad; chawed him all ui). 

Q. Were there very many colored Democrats present at that meet¬ 
ing?—A. Yes, sir, there were; that is, colored men who professed to be 
going to vote the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How did the meeting go oft*?—A. Peaceable and quiet. 

Q. Was there any special trouble during the day?—A. Yo, sir, not 
until Whipper was about got through, a man named John Hensley, a 


white man- 

Q. Wlio was he, and where was he from ?—A. The Lord knows, and 
he ha’n’t told me who he was or where lie was from. He raised a little 
trouble, but a wliite man stopped him as he rushed up. 

Q. That trouble, then, w^as soon over?—A. Yes, sir; that trouble was 
stopped immediately. 

Q. That was the only trouble that day?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know Mr. Eiley, of Barnwell County?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know him right well?—A. Yes, sir; I have known him as 
long as I can remember. He used to be a ^‘driver” there. 

Q. What is his general character ?—A. First, I would like to know 
wdiether I am here to state the general character of a man, or things 
connected with other things? I would not like to state his general 
character till I know whether- . , . 

Q. If you say his character is good or his character is bad, you will 
be given an opportunity to exxilain.—A. I don’t know—I didn’t think— 
I don’t want- 

Q. You know your estimate of the character of Mr. Eiley ?—A. \\ ell, 
sir, in my estimation he has been once an old driver there in slaterj 
times. 





688 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[Hampton 


Q. By driver’^ you mean a slave-driver?—A. Yes, sir, and a very 
cruel one; nobody would like him; and then just after that—he had a 
good deal of sense—he got possession of some orphan children; their 
mother had died and left six children. 

Mr. Kirkavood. And that is his general character, is it? 

Mr. Kandolph. The witness will probably come to the point iii a 
moment. What care did he take of these children ?—A. Bad care. 

Q. AYas he ever charged with any crime in connection Avith those 
children?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. AAliat crime ?—A. The crime of committing a rape upon one of the 
girls, named Patience. She was 16 years old. She died shortly after 
the crime Avas committed. It was generally understood to be in conse¬ 
quence of the injury she receWed. 

Q. You say it AAms belicA^ed that he raped her?—A. That Av^as the gen¬ 
eral impression. You can send and get the other children, who will tes¬ 
tify to something- 

Q. And the feeling against him was largely on account of his haAung 
raped this colored girl?—A. Yes, sir; in tAAO or three weeks afterwards 
she died. One of the children came to me. I AA^as d,eputy sherilf. I 
have been deputy sheriff, off* and on, for seA^en years. The children 
came to me and asked me to protect them. I sent them back. I could 
not do anything about the matter. Other people got up a committee. 
I AA^as one of a committee of 24 who Avent and took the children away. 
The other children liad been outrageously used. A boy named Tom had 
been AA-hipi^ed A^ery badly. He Avas gashed and cut as if Avith a hickory 
stick, from back to front, leaving scars that will last him to his graAX. 
Biley submitted that Ave should take the children and examine them. 
There was not one of them that had a second suit of clothes. He had 
not taken any care of them at all. I AA’Ould like better to speak of this 
matter if AVilliam Kiley was here, because I AA’ould sooner say such 
things before a man’s face than behind his back; but he Avon’t deny it. 

Q. And there Avas considerable feeling amoug the colored people 
against him because of the general belief that he had raAished this 
colored girl, and had badly treated these orphan children?—A. Yes, sir; 
and there is until to-day. 

Q. Mr. Eiley testified that he had been whipped on the Saturday night 
before the election. Is it your belief he Avas AAEipped because he was a 
Eepublican leader? 

The Chairman. I think it is not his business to state his belief. He 
should knoAA^ 

Mr. Eandolph. Do I understand that from this time forward the 
opinion of AAdtnesses is not to be asked? 

The Chairman. The opinion of AAitnesses on matters of this charac¬ 
ter is not to be asked. 

Mr. Eandolph. Mr. Eiley has testified that he was Avhipped on ac¬ 
count of his political opinions, and that was merely the opinion of Mr. 
Eiley. 

The Chairman. Ho, it was not merely his opinion; he said that the 
men avIio whipped him said that he was a leader of the Eepublican club, 
and that that Avas the reason they whipped him. 

Mr. Eandolph. We propose to shoAA^ that Mr. Eiley’s word is thor¬ 
oughly unreliable. 

The Chairman. That you can do by getting at his character. 

Mr. Eandolph. Then AA^e are to understand that Av^e are not to haA^e 
any person’s opinion as to his character ? 



County.] 


TESTIMONY OP GEORGE BALLINGER. 


689 


No, sir; I intend nothing of the sort. It is true no 
teCneial rule can be laid down in regard to those things. Go ahead. 

By Mr. Eandolph : 

n you live from Mr. Riley About five miles. 

livoq^^A y ill the community iu which he 

r‘il rAiYiiyni* ^ not like to answer, because the gen- 

ral reputation is that he is a very bad man. 

man?—A. Yes, sir; not only to one class, but to every 
class. He has been trying to preach there for 25 years. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. And that is a bad sign ?*—A. Ko, sir 5 but he could not have got a 
license 5 that is a pretty bad sign. 

By Mr. Randolph : 


Q. Then these colored people in the community in which lie lived did 
not want him as a preacher?—A. No, sir; they did not want him as 
anything. 

Q. Where did you vote on the day of election ?—A. At Bronson's Sta¬ 
tion, Hampton County. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. How far is that from the poll that William Riley lives nearest?— 
A. About one mile. 

Q. Do you know who held tlie election at Riley's poll—at Barker’s 
Mill?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Do jmu know who the managers of election were at that poll ?— 
A. jSTo, sir. 

Q. Were you at Barker’s Mill that day at any time?—A. Ko, sir; I 
remained at Bronson’s Station. 

Q. How far does Mr. Riley live from Barker’s Mill poll ?—A. I can’t 
exactly state; it is between 3 and 4 miles; that is, if it is at the old 
Barker’s Mill. I would not like to say positively the exact distance. 

Q. Did you attend any political meetings that season in the neighbor¬ 
hood of Barker’s Mill ?— A. Ko, sir. 

Q. How near to that precinct was your nearest meeting?—A. The 
nearest meeting that was held to that precinct was at Bronson’s Station. 
I went to Allandale once- 

Q. What are the politics of the colored men in that neighborhood; 
which party did they act with during the last canvass and election, so 
far as your observation went ?—A. The most of tlie people—of the Re¬ 
publicans that I talked with—said they were going to vote the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket. I was only at one poll. 

Q. You canvassed there generally, did you not; you were around mak¬ 
ing speeches and talking on politics ?—A. Yes, sir; I was around a great 
deal, and talked considerable. 

Q. What proportion of the colored voters at the poll where you were 
voted the Democratic ticket?—A. I think at the poll where I was the 
portion that proposed to vote the Democratic ticket, the most of them 
voted the Democratic ticket. They said they wanted a change, and I 
think most of them voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. You think at Bronson most of the colored men voted the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket ?—A. I think so, sir. I myself did not vote the full Demo¬ 
cratic ticket; some of the candidates I would not vote for, and some I 
did. I voted a confusion ticket myself, fLaughter.] 

Q. You mean you voted a mixed ticket ?—A. Yes, sir; I mean I voted 


44 s C 




690 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


[Hampton 


a mixed ticket j I scratched some names that I did not propose to vote 
for. 

Q. Did you hear anythin^ about the whipping of William Eiley the 
night before election —A. Yes, sir; I did ; but I did not believe it. 

Q. What did you hear; what was the stated cause of his whipi)ing ?— 
A. Let me state what I heard,‘and i)erhaps you can get at it better. I 
heard this: On the Monday night before election Bill Eiley was taken 
out and whipped so that he could not travel. On the day after that— 
the day of election—I was asking some men about it. They said that 
Bill Eiley was at Barker’s Mill on election day, with seventy-five or eighty 
men, leading his club. Then,” said I, ^Dliat whi2)])ing story can’t be 
so,” About a week after, somebody said Bill Eiley had been whii^ped, 
but that he had been whii)i)ed on account of those orphan children. I 
can’t tell who told me; that was just a general rumor. I left and went 
on. I never thought then that I would be called up before this court. 
I took no pains to investigate the matter. There was a general laugh 
around there about the whole thing; and to-day I don’t really know 
whetlier Bill Eiley Avas whipj^ed or not. He says he was; but Bill Eiley 
is not to be depended upon as to what he says; besides, he has been too 
good a man among the Avhite people for any white people to Avhip him. 
Bill Eiley ,has went back and disregarded his OAAm color, and been a man 
that the AAdiite people thought first-class of—a great deal more than I 
ever thought of him. Well, it may be that Bill Eiley was whipped; but 
I don’t know that he was, any more than by general rumor, as I haAX 
told you. 

Q. The people of his own race disliked him A^ery much ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They say he has done a great deal of harm in the country?— 
A. Yes, sir; I was one of a committee Avho took the children aAvay from 
him. 

Q. What proportion of the colored people in your county, from your 
own observation, acted aa ith the Democratic partv at the last election, 
or voted a part of tlie Democratic ticket, as you did ?—A. Eow, sir, I 
canvassed that county; I went over the aa hole county; there Avas two 
fractions of the Democratic party; I Avas working on one fraction until 
that fraction got beat; then 1 went about to the other fraction and 
worked for that. 

Q. You joined the majority ?—A. Yes, sir. There was two fractions. 
[Laughter.] Yoaa", you just listen to Avhat I say. There Avas tAvo frac¬ 
tions ; there was one part of the Democratic party, and there was 
another part of the Democratic party; I went with the part of the party 
Avhich I thought 1 liked best; that proved to be the minority; it was 
defeated, and I went with the majority. 

Q. You believe in majority rule?—A. Yes, sir; I belieA^e in majority 
rule. When I got AAdth the majority I stuck there, except that’there 
were a few men that I could not vote for, and I didn’t; them men I 
scratched. 

Q. What proportion of the colored men in your county went with you 
in the election?—A. Well, sir, I canvassed the county, and from what 
I believe, and from what they told me—whether they Avent back on me 
AAdien election came, or not, I don’t know—but from what they told me 
I know I must have had two-thirds of the colored people with me in 
that county. 


By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. If they did not go back on you?—A. Yes, sir; if they did not go 
back on me ; and I don’t believe they did. 


County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE BALLINGER. 


691 


By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. At your own poll you tliiiik tliey did not go back on you ?— 
A. I could not say at my own poll; you know the rule is, “ Trustno 
living thing.” 

Q. You thought a verj^ large majority of the colored people voted the 
Democratic ticket, or a part of it as you did f—A. Yes, sir; I think a 
large majority of them did. 

Q. How do jmu think the colored people voted, taking the whole 
county through?—A. I can’t say; I would not like to say what I don’t 
know ; I can only say that at my poll I felt much confidence that the 
majority voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. How did the county turn out ? How many voted as Republicans ; 
how many as Democrats ?—A. I can’t tell; I was not a manager. 

Q. You heard the general result, did you not. Which side had the 
majority ?—A. O, the Democrats had the majority, and had it from a 
fair count, too, I think. Many colored men talked with me, and I said, 
‘‘You go and vote as you please; don’t ask me.” “ Well,” they would 
say, “ I am going to vote the Democratic ticket this time.” I think a 
great many of them voted as they pleased. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. You say you were at a meeting which Mr. Whipper attended ami 
addressed ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there any disturbance of any kind?—A. There was a little 
matter between Mr. Whipper and Mr. Youmans that raised some dis- 
pute. 

Q. Was it about something Whipper had said?—A. No, sir; some¬ 
thing that Youmans charged Whipper with ; how he got $50 a day on 
some land commission ; AYhipper said they had promised him $50 a day, 
but he had never got it. 

Q. What was Whipper struck for ?—A. He never was struck a stroke. 
I will tell you how 1 heard it was. John Hensly drew his knife and 
started for "Whipper, but a white man stopped him. 

Q. You say that William Riley was a “ nigger-driver.” AYhat do you 
mean by that—an overseer?—A. Yes sir; an overseer and a driver, too. 
He worked the colored people there, and gave them rations and all that. 

Q. For whom did he do this ?—A. For Tom Willingham, his master. 
He was a driver for Tom Willingham. 

Q. When was this trouble about the orphans ? AYhen did he take 

them ?—A. In 1867. , t i i t i i 

Q. When was this crime committed ?—A. Sometime, I think—I could 

not sav positively, but I think about 1875. 

Q. Three years ago?—A. Yes, sir; about that. 

Q. Has he ever been prosecuted for it ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Has he ever been indicted?—A. No, sir. . 

Q. Has he ever been arrested ?—A. No, sir; it was agreed with the 
committee that if he would let the children go he would not be prose- 


cuted. 

Q. So there never was a prosecution ?—A. -No, sir. 

Q. That was at least three years ago ?—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. It may have been longer ?—A. 1 don’t think it Avas much longer 

^Q. You say he has been popular with the Avhite people ?—A. Yes, sir; 

^^ty^Why^as he^)een so popular with the white people ?—A. Because 
at one time he bought a place at Gillisonville. 



6132 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878 


[ Hampton 


Q. Wliy should that make him popular?—A. Then he professed to 
he a Democrat. 

Q. When was that ?—A. About 1807. It was the time when- 

Q. Kever mind about the time. Has he always been popular with the 
white people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You said you did not believe he had been whipped because of Ins 
politics?—A. I said I did not believe that he was whipped by the white 
people. In fact, I don’t believe that he was wliipi)ed at all. 

You don’t believe he was whipped at all ?—A. Nlo, sir. 

Q. Did you hear him swear here ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear him say he would show the scars that resulted from 
that whipping?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t know that he proposed to exhibit hiuiself if we desired 
him to do so ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. If you had heard that would you have changed your opinion about 
his not being Avhipped ?—^A. No, sir. 

Q. If you had seen those scars Avould jmu not have believed liim ?—A. 
No, sir. His master, Tom Willingham, used to Avhip him eight or ten 
years ago, and I have no doubt he has plenty of scars. 

Q. Could you not tell Avhether those scars were the result of his being 
whipped many years ago, or last fall ?—A. I don’t know; I might. 

Q. You and Mr. Eiley are not very good friends, are you ?—A. I don’t 
know. 

Q. Is he a friend of yours ?—A. I hain’t anything against him. 

Q. You are a Democrat, are you not ?—A. Well, no, sirj not particu¬ 
larly. 

Q. When did you first vote the Democratic ticket ?—A. When Cham¬ 
berlain and Green first ran; I voted for Green in preference to Cham¬ 
berlain. I never voted for Chamberlain. I did Amte for Smalls. 

Q. You think two-thirds of all the colored people in your county voted 
the Democratic ticket?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many do you knoAV voted the Democratic ticket ?—A. Well, 
sir, really, I can’t say. 

Q. You can say whether you think there were 50, or 100, or 1,000 ?— 
A. We have a club-list that numbers 138. The president of the club has 
got the list. 

Q. That is at Bronson’s ?—A. Yes, sir. I don’t knoAv from any posi¬ 
tive assertion how they voted, but I know that there are that many in the 
club. 

Q. How many of them did you say voted the Democratic ticket on 
election-day ?—A. When they Avent to vote they never showed me their 
tickets. I could not say hoAv they voted, but, from Avhat they told me, 
I believe they voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. They do sometimes deceive about that matter, don’t thev?—A. Y^es, 
sir, they do. 

Q. Do they not do so quite frequently ?—A. I don’t knoAv AA hether 
frequently or not. All I can say is from Avhat they told me. They told 
me they voted the Democratic ticket. 

Q. Hoav many told you that they voted the Democratic ticket at Brun¬ 
son at that election ? Name thein.—A. I can’t name them. 

Q. Can you not name any ?—A. I can name some. 

. Q. Well, name them.—A. I could name them all if I had the poll-list 

Q. How many can you hoav call up that told you so?—A. There was 
1 eter Harley, and Jack Ellis, and John Elvers, and Elijah Daniels, and 
Ciesar Macaire, and Jake Miller. If I had the time to think I could tell 
you more. 






County.I TESTIMONY OF GEORGE BALLINGER. 693 

Q. That is all you think of now ?—A. O, I can think of more than 
that. 

Q. Well, think of them.—A. Ed. Cohn, Ciesar Ford, and several others; 
if 1 had some time to think- 

Q: Have these men told yon since election that they voted the Dem¬ 
ocratic tickets—A. Yes, sir. 

Q, Do yon know whether they really did?—A. I am sure they did. 

Q. Do yon know anythin^ 2 ,’ about liiiey’s clnb ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do yon know lie was prevsident of the clnb?—A. No, sir; I don’t 
think he Avas president of tiie clnb. 

Q* Why don’t yon think he was president of the clnb ?—A. I don’t 
think the colored people Avonld place that much confidence in him to 
elect him x)resident of the (dnb. 

Q. Yon were brought here principally for the purpose of SAvearing 
against Mr. Eiley, Avere yon not ?—A. No, sir; I Avas not. I didn’t knoAV 
that Mr. Eiley A\^as here until I came here. 

Q. Y^on liaA^e not sworn to much except about Mr. Eiley ?—A. That 
is not my fault. I liaA^e testified as to Avhat yon have asked me. 

Q. Was a man killed at your polls on election day ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Was not a man shot there ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. lie is still Ihing, is he ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon see him shot ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything about it ?—A. I saAv him after he A\^as shot. 
I AA^ent AAdiere they had laid him down. 

Q. Do yon knoAV anything about the shooting ?—A. No, sir; nothing. 

Q. How did you know he aa'Us shot?—A. I heard the iiistol. 

Q. Who shot him ?—A. I iieA^er heard. 

Q. Was it in the daytime?—A. Yes, sir; on the day of election. 

Q. Were there not plenty of ]ieople A\"ho kneAA^ who shot him ?—A. If 
they did, that did not make" any difference to me so long as I don’t know. 

Q. State AAdiat yon do knoAv or a\ hat yon heard about it.—A. I was 
at B. F. Brown’s store; Mr. Webb is the manager of it. When the 
shooting took place, I heard the firing and came out. There AA^ere 25 or 
30 peo])le started to bolt in, and Webb told me to close the door. 

Q. Yon heard the shooting ?—A. Y"es, sir. 

Q. But you iieA^er heard Avdio shot the man ?—A. No, sir; I neA^er 
heard aa ho shot him. 

Q. Yon SAA^ear to that?—A. I swear to that. 

Q. Was it not discussed about toAvn?—x\. No, sir; Tasked a bar¬ 
ber AA'ho shot him; he said he thought he had an idea, but he AA^oidd not 
saA'. 

Q. How many shots did yon hear fired ?—A. I suppose I heard about 
a half a dozen shots. 

Q. Where was he hit ?—A. He was struck iii the back, and the ball 
came around here in front. 

Q. He was shot in the back as he Avas running, was he not ?—A. I 
didn’t hear about that. 

Q. Do yon know anything more about it ?—A. I went from the store 
to the place where he Avas, and I found it was a man whom I kneAV, by the 
name of John Eivers. I saAV him after Dr. Wyman had got him into the 
house. Dr. Wyman Avas attending him. 

Q. Did EiA'ers tell you Avho shot him ?—A. He said he didn’t know. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Is Eivers a Eepublican ?—A. I don’t know Avhathe is. 

Q. Was Smalls i)resent at the meeting at Brunson of Avliich you have 
spoken, and at aa hich Whipper Avas present ?—A. Y"es, sir. 




694 


SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1878. 


(Hampton 


Q. Yon tliink tliat if Eiley was wliipped at all it was done by colored 
peoide, on account of his conduct towards those orphan childrenA. 

1 think if he was whipped, he was Avhipped for that. 

Q. And the trouble concerning those ori)han children occurred about 
three years ago f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you explain why the colored people waited for three years, 
and then concluded to give him a whipping just the night before elec¬ 
tion A. I calf t explain that; 1 don’t think he was whipped j he would 
have to bring iiroof to make me believe he was. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You say that Biley was very unpopular with the colored people ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did I not understand it as a fact that on the day of election you i 
saw him riding to the polls at the head of 75 colored men ?—A. Ko, sir; [ 
I never said that j I said I was told that. i 

Q. Have you any reason to doubt it ?—^A. I don’t know that I have j 
any reason to doubt it, but if he was whipped as bad as I was told the !■ 
night before that, he could not have rode there the next day. 

Q. I am talking about the body of colored men with him. If he was ? 
so very unpopular with the colored people, how came he to have so many , 
followers f—A. That was only a report tliat I heard. I don’t know ’ 
w hether he was there with them or not. 

Q. You w^ere about to say something in reference to your meeting ; 
Eiley at some time someAvhere, and yon w ere stopped.—A. I met Eiley 
at Brunson's the same day that Whipper and Smalls were there. Eiley |i 
and I had a conversation. Eiley asked Whipper some questions him- ii 
self. 

Q. He wms not much in favor of Whipper, wms he?—A. I don’t know", f 
sir, w"ho he was in tavor of j it is pretty hard to tell w^ho Bill Eiley is in ii 
favor of, except himself ! 1 

Q. You say that, at the meeting wdiere the difficulty occurred between [\ 
Youmans and Wliip^ier, Youmans charged Whipper with being bribed.— 1^ 
A. Yes, sir; I think he charged that he had received $50 a day for tak- , 
ing testimony on the land commission; Whiiqier said he was offered ji 
that, but he had not got the money yet. 

Q. You say Whqiper w"as not struck that day ?—A. Ko, sir; Whipper i 
and I w"ere together all that day till the train came that night; I wms : 
standing on the railroad with him; w"e stood there till the train came in, ^ 
and he got on the train and w"ent home. 

Q. You w^ere present at the controversy ?—A. Yes, sir. - 

Q. You say that w"hen this man wms shot on election day at your poll 1 
you heard the shot fired, w ent out, and found the man w"Ounded ?—A. ^ 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Had that difficulty ahytliing to do with politics?—A. Ko, sir; this i; 
man w-as charged four years ago with stealing a bale of cotton, and some 
one outside said to him, “ Have you got the money for this man’s cot- 1 
ton?” i 

Q. The fight originated about a charge of stealing cotton, did it ?—A. i 
Yes, sir. j 

Q. And had nothing to do w"ith the election ?—A. Ko, sir. 

By the Chairman: i 

Q. Did not you know^ that when I was examining you?—A. Y^ou 
didn’t ask me. 

The Chairman. I asked what you had heard, and you said yoil had 
heard nothing. 





County.] 


TESTIMONY OF GEORGE BALLINGER. 


G95 


By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Wlio liad this (luarrel with the man that was shot ?—A. Some one 
inside; I didn’t hear who. 

Q. Yon didn’t inquire —A. Yo, sir. 

Q. And never heard ?—A. NTo, sir. 

Q. Who told you that that was the origan of the difficulty ?—A. Why, 
sir, there is confusion, and you meet everybody, and everybody will tell 
you something or other, and you don’t recognize who told you so that 
you can answer questions about it so long after it as this comes to. 

Q. You cannot recollect, then ?—A. Yo, sir. 

By Mr. McDonald : 

Q. When you were summoned to come here as a witness, did you 
know that Riley was to be a witness ?—A. I never knew that he was 
here until I was here and went out and met Mr. Riley on the platform. 
That is the first I knew of Riley’s being here. 

Q. Did you hear what he testified to when he was on the stand as a 
witness?—A. Ro, sir. 

Q. Do you now know to what he testified ?—A. No, sir. 





MISSISSIPPI. 


THIHD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 


EILECTIO]^^ OF 1878. 












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MISSISSIPPI. 


EEUBEN DAVIS. 

Washington, I). C., February 12,1879. 

Eeuben Davis (white) sworn and examined. 

By the Chaikman : 

Question. Where do yon reside ?—Answer. Aberdeen, Monroe County, 
State of Mississippi. 

Q. How long have you resided there'?—A. I think I went to Monroe 
County in 1826. Aberdeen has grown up along since then, and 1 am 
probably the oldest citizen there, though not the oldest man. 

Q. With what political party do you affiliate?—A. At this time? 

Q. Well, heretofore?—A. I have been a Democrat; so they called me. 
I am rather a Greenbacker now. I think there ought to be a little more 
money in the country than we have. 

Q. Have you ever held any official position; if so, state what?—A. I 
have been district attorney in the State of Mississippi twice, when I was 
young, and 1 resigned both times. I was for a short time judge of the 
supreme court of Mississippi. I have been in the legislature of Missis¬ 
sippi. I was colonel of the Second Mississippi Kegiment that went to 
Mexico. I was twice elected to the Federal Congress and once to the 
Confederate Congress. I was made by the governor of Mississippi major- 
general of the State at the breaking out of tlie late civil war. 

Q. Have you been a member of Congress since the war?—A. i7o, sir; 
not since the war. 

Q. Were you a candidate during the last year for any office; if so, 
state what?—A. I was a candidate for Congress from the first district of 
Mississippi. 

Q. On what ticket?—A. Well, in answering that I Avould like to make 
an explanation. I didn’t want an office. People calling tliemselves 
^^Greenbackers” met up at Tupelo. I was tliere, and they asked we to 
become their candidate. Being myself of opinion that we ought to have, 
more greenbacks, I made them a speech, and then stated to them pos¬ 
itively that I could not and Avould not be a candidate. After this speech 
was finished several approached me on the subject, and I apprehended 
that when they met again an effort would be made to nominate me, any¬ 
how. I wrote a letter to Captain Yassar, and requested him if there 
was anytliing said about my nomination to read it to the meeting, be¬ 
cause I said I could not and would not run. They nominated me, however, 
and a committee waited upon me and informed me of tlie nomination, 
and said, “It makes no difference whether you accept or not, we are 
determined to use your name in this contest. We think that without 
your going into the canvass at all we can elect you, and you can’t and 
must not refuse to serve. Seeing tliat it was impossible to escape the 
demand made upon me by the people, I finally said, “ AVell, while I will 
not engage in the canvass, you can regard me as a candidate, and vote 
for me, as you see proper.” 

The yellow fever developed itself very soon afterward, and the courts 



700 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


were disappointed by tlie circuit judges. I bad some leisure and I went 
into tlie canvass for a little while. 

Q. Yon may give ns a history of yonr canvass.—A. Well, sir, the dis¬ 
trict has in it* what we call the six white counties. 

Q. Please name them.—A. They are Tishomingo, Alcorn, Prentiss, 
Pontotoc, Lee, and Itawamba. Tliose are called the six white counties. 
Then there are Chickasaw, Clay, Oktibbeha, Lowndes, and Monroe. 
Those are called the black counties—tliose five. I commenced the can¬ 
vass in Seiitember. My list of appointments was through what were 
called the black counties. I had small audiences—very. I was treated 
with cordiality and kindness wherever I went in the black counties. I 
went then into the white counties, after finishing these. In most of my 
speeches in those counties Colonel Muldrow Avas with me. 

Q. State who he aa as.—A. H. L. MuldroAv, Democratic candidate for 
Congress. Till I met Colonel MuldroAv I had small audiences, but still 
I AAms treated with kindness and politeness. After we met we had six 
speeches together, and eA^erything passed off pleasantly. The canvass 
was drawing someAvhat to a close then. Tlie first indication of any 
unkindness towards me, or Avant of courtesy, was at Toccopola. The 
audience had assembled to the amount of 1,000 or 1,200 people. 
Half of the audience A^as colored people—the first audience Ave had that 
Avas of colored people. Colonel Muldrow opened the argument, and I 
had the closing. They reduced the time from two hours, which was the 
general time, to an hour and a half. Very soon after I began speaking, 
a gentleman sprang uj), and I sui^pose forty others around him raised 
also near there, and commenced a terrific yelling, as if to applaud Colo¬ 
nel MuldroAV. Of course they detained me ten minutes; really I didn’t 
get through my speech. I Avas not allowed to proceed over ten minutes 
at a time Avithout being interrupted by proceedings like that. After a 
little while the colored people joined in, and they seemed to be shouting 
at each other; and it was deafening and terrific. The result was that it 
was only an effort at making a speech, because I was so confused by it 
that I Avas unable to proceed. At that point Colonel MuldroAV and my¬ 
self separated, and I came back into the white counties and made three 
or four speeches, and I Avas A^ery Avell treated. In returning home, a few 
days after, I Avent AA^est to one of the colored counties, and Avent to make 
a speech. I was allowed to get through with my speech. The audience 
was about half black and half Avhite. Captain Yassar was called first to 
make a speech. Yery soon 8 or 10 gentlemen came in and one of them ad¬ 
dressed me A'ery rudely, and it got up some little excitement at that time, 
and I tliought it Avould be a personal difficulty; but it blew over, and AA^e 
went to the hotel. I had engaged to speak at night at Mayhew. I stepped 
over to the liA'ery stable to get a buggy, and as I Avent from the liA^ery 
stable to the hotel I met a colored man, and he told me that they Avere mak¬ 
ing preparations to come down and kill Captain Yassar, and, perhaps, in- 
fiict some punishment upon me. I told him I thought not. We had our 
dinner. The hack came, and we got into it and started for Mayhew. 
There was a colored man Avho went along Avith the driver, saying he had 
been requested to go and tell the driver the way, and AA'as coming back 
again. Soon after Ave got started I saAv tAvo men coming behind rapidly 
with double-barreled guns, and the man said, ^‘Tliey are coming.” Of 
course, I didn’t understand what he meant by that. It turned out they 
Avere merely huntsmen, and they Avent on. He then exj)lained that 
threats had been made to intercept us in the river bottoms; but, of 
course, I knew nothing more than he told me. 

Ye got to Mayhew just at night, supper being about ready when we 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF REUBEN DAVIS. 


701 


got there. A gentleman came in and said, ‘AYe have agreed that yon 
Avill speak to-night at the school-house.” He left immediately in a man¬ 
ner I was not pleased with. He simply said that, and left immediately. 
Hirectly another gentleman came with a lamp, and said he would light 
us the Avay to the school-house. It had heeii suggested that they had 
better send up some candles, and they said it would be attended to. An 
old gentleman named O’Oonnell came in and sat with us awhile. He 
was a man I had known in my boy days. After we got to the school- 
house I noticed something peculiar in the audience, and it occurred to 
me that there would be trouble. I asked them to take their seats, and 
if they would I would commence my remarks. Yery few sat down, 
however; they were whispering and talking about. I commenced my 
remarks, and after I had spoken about thirty or forty minutes they com¬ 
menced firing and shouting and making a great noise within about seventy 
yards of the school-house. The noise was veiy great, though I had been 
disturbed in the school-house by some gentlemen before that—they had 
put improper questions to me, and I replied I would answer tliem if they 
would tell me their names, and that I would not answer them if they did 
not. They gave me their names, and I submitted to the interruption. 
When the shouting commenced it became very confused, and I became 
a little excited myself about it, and I denounced them very much. I 
said, “ Y^ou all knew this, and you should not have done it.” We broke 
up, and I Avent down to my room. 

The next morning a gentleman came in. I had determined to have 
no intervieAA^s with any one that lived in that i)lace. A gentleman came’ 
in and pushed open my door, coming in without knocking, and said he 
desired to make an explanation to me. 1 said, ‘‘ I can speak to no one. 
I desire you to leave my room immediately.” He said he would not do 
so; that he was my friend and came there to disapprove of the proceed¬ 
ings as far as he Avas concerned; that he had nothing to do with them. 
He then told me that the Democratic club at that i)lace had met that 
morning and had determined not to allow me to speak at all; that they 
had, hoAvever, telegraphed to Columbus after the chairman of the Demo¬ 
cratic club of the county, and that he had replied to them to recei\^e me 
coolly and formally; that the older men afterwards insisted upon this 
being done, but the young men refused to receive these suggestions from 
Columbus, and hence the result. I Avent to another town the next day. 
It rained all day, and I went to Columbus that evening. That night I 
spoke and had a pretty good audience. I don’t knoAv how many, but I 
suppose one-fourth of the population of the town of Columbus. That 
audience behaved a^ well. AYhile I was speaking there was some 
little personal matter in a public reply, and that was all. 

I went the second day afterwards home again, and on Saturday night 
came back to West Point to make another speech, AAdiere I had been the 
Monday before. I liad made fiA^e or six speeches during the Aveek in 
which I had been assailed, and they told me to come back and make an 
ex])lanation. There AA^ere two speeches made by i^Ir. Sykes after I had 
been there, which I didn’t hear. That evening a colored man said to 
me, “Do you knoAV that you Avill not be allowed to speak to-nightP’ I 
told him I had heard nothing of it; that I knew of no reason why I 
Avonld not be allowed to speak, and I supposed I Avon Id be allowed. I 
Avent to Captain Bell, a lawyer living there in West Point, Avith Avlioin 
I had been on intimate relations, and I said, “Lell, I have been in¬ 
formed that I am not to be permitted to speak to-night; that a conspir- 
acv has been formed here this morning for the purpose of piwenting 
my speaking. I desire to know if you have any information on the sub- 



702 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Tliird Cong 


ject.” lie said he was sorry to tell me, but that it was so. I then said, 
^‘Bell, you ought to have told me of this. Our personal relations have 
been such for a long time that you should not liave allowed me to go 
into a place where there would at least be great excitement, and in which 
I might perhaps be killed.” Chancellor Bpin came in a moment after¬ 
wards, and I made the same remarks to him, and said, ‘‘You know we 
have been intimately related here before, and you know I am to be in¬ 
terrupted to-night, and I think our relations have been such that you 
should inform me.” He said he had endeavored to prevent it, but could 
not control it. Supper came on. I started over towards the court-house, 
but stopped on the way at Bell’s office. Just at this point I overtook 
John Tupperville. He had been born and raised in our town, and we 
had always been friendly. I spoke to Tupperville about the matter, 
and said,"^ “Tupperville, I hope that it is not possible that you and 
the young men of this town will undertake to ofter me personal 
violence, when you know as well as I do that in all my speeches in this 
country, at least in all the speeches you have heard me make (he had 
heard me on two occasions), I have endeavored to be respectful and po¬ 
lite to everybody.” “Well,” he said, “the idea here is that you are try¬ 
ing to reorganize the negro.” I said to him, which I now say, that in 
all my speeches from the commencement to the conclusion of the can¬ 
vass—as I said before—the negro audiences were A ery small. I never, 
or seldom ever used the word “colored man” or “colored” voter or 
“negro” or “white” voter or “white” man. I drcAV no distinction. I 
endeavored to address my remarks to their common sense, to every¬ 
body jAresent. I said, “If you concur with me in opinion, Amte tor 
me. If you think, hoAvever, that I am Avrong, you ought to vote against 
me. I don’t want the office. I didn’t desire it, but I Inwe been forced 
to run by the people who entertain the same views ui>on the subject that I 
do.” This was the tenor of my remarks upon this point. I went to 
Columbus. Of course I didn’t speak at West Point. A large number 
of persons were before the court-house. I got up and started to the 
court-house, and Chancellor Brain met me. He was in a crowd talking 
to them, and met me on the steps. After a little coiiAxrsation he asked 
me, or I asked him, to go to the room. I Avent to the room, and A^ery 
soon afterAvards a singing and noise and demonstrations of a riot 
commenced and were heard in front, and Brain seemed a little startled, 
saying, “ Ho you hear that! ” “ Yes,” I said j “ I hear it.” “What do 
you think it is ?” said he. I said, “ I sui)pose it is some one aaJio has 
some thought of assassinating me. I am not afraid of them. If they 
kill me it Avould only deprive me of tAA^o or three years of my life, and 
it is a small matter so far as eternity is concerned. But I don’t appre¬ 
hend they Avill offer me violence. If they do, I will defend myself to 
the best of my ability.” He went to the window and looked out for a lit¬ 
tle time, and came back and asked me if I Avould permit him to advise 
me. I told him I would not, but he would not listen to me. He said 
he Avould advise me to go and address these gentlemen and tell them I 
was going to the court-house to make a speech, in Avhich I would de¬ 
nounce Harrington. I said, “Mr. Brain, I can’t do that. I think Har¬ 
rington is a better man than any of these AAffio are pursuing me to-night, 
and I can’t be induced under any circumstances to vield to'any demand 
they Avill make upon me.” He then left, and I went to bed. 

I went to Columbus and got there on Sunday. The election came off on 
Tuesday. I Avent there because I had a criminal case set for Wednesday, 
and I Avanted to look into it a little before tlie case Avas called up. On 
Monday I received a dispatch from Captain Yasser telling me to come 


District. ] 


TKSTIMONY OF REUBEN DAVIS. 


703 


to Aberdeen.^ I bad telegraplied to liim asking what was the matter. 
He said, ‘AYe want your presence here immediately.” I tlien, about 
three o’clock, got a buggy and drove to Aberdeen that night, and remained 
until two o’clock the next day and saw the election, which was exceed- 
ingly quiet, and went off smoothly. I then went back to Columbus that 
evening and staid till the next day. I have heard it said, but didn’t see 
it myself, that something occurred. 

Q. To what do you allude?—A. Well, I heard that they hung me that 
night and burned me about daylight that morning, by way of impress¬ 
ing me that the conduct I had been guilty of was not to be tolerated in 
a free country. 

Q. At what place was that?—A. It was at Mississippi. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Was that the night of the election?—A. Yes, sirj it was Wednes¬ 
day morning, I heard. 

By the Chairman: 

Q. You may go on and state what was the result of this election, and 
the method in which it was accomplished.—A. The canvass was a warm 
one, so far as the contest was concerned. I thought we got on pretty 
well together. Mr. Muldrow gave me some sharp licks in his speeches 
in a pleasant manner, and I returned them in the same spirit. I re¬ 
garded it as altogether satisfactory. 

The colonel got 3,000 votes. If the information I have is correct, I 
think I beat him about 3,000, but of course he has the figures upon me. 
My knowledge is simply conjecture, i)redicated upon the information of 
others. I remained at home about two weeks after the election was 
over. At one poll in our county, back where Colonel JVIuldrow says flie 
best people of Monroe liv^e, I am informed, and I saw the return of the 
^ sheriff of the county, that the box was taken from the judge’s; was got¬ 
ten from him by the deputy sheriff, and brought to Aberdeen, and taken 
about the streets and taken to the sheriff', wlio handed it to the regis¬ 
trars, and they rejected the vote. It has not been counted to this day. 
The report of the return of the sheriff at Jackson shoAvs that that box 
is not included. The sheriff' stated that it AA’as ruled out because in the 
count there Avere 50 votes more than there were Amters. That box has 
not been counted to this daj^ 1 understand that irregularities occurred 
at Centre Grove. 

Q. Did you understand Avdiat the vote Av as at the other place between 
you and Muldrow ?—A. I don’t knoAv, because it has not been counted. 
1 can only state by what the judges say, that MuldroAv got 15 or 20 
and I got something over 200. I saAv that it is stated that there Avere 
242 votes given at the box altogether. That is a pretty large colored 
box, and it was believed that the colored people aa ere generally inclined 
to vote for me, although I was not nominated by the Kepublican party 
and did not ruii as a Repid)lican candidate. 

Q. You spoke of Centre GroAm; you may tell us about that.—A. Cap¬ 
tain Vasser will explain that to you more fully, because he has the tes¬ 
timony that was Avritten dowm before the grand jury. My own informa¬ 
tion merely, and I can’t say much about it of owm knowledge. In Lowndes 
County there Avere very tew^ over 1,000 votes one way or the other. I 
think the largest vote of that county is betw^een 5,000 and 6,000. 

Q. Columb\is is in that county ?—A. Yes, sir. The county has three 
rei)resentatiA^es and a senator apportioned to it. 

(^. Can you giAm the number of colored and w^hite A^oters ?—A. I can 
only estimate it. I think there is not exceeding 1,800 or 2,000 Avhite 


704 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1S78 


[Third CoDg^. 


voters in tlie county, if that many. I think, as I have understood, tliat 
there are 3,500 or 4,000 colored voters, hut I don’t pretend to he able to 
give the exact number. As I passed through that county I saw some 
colored people who were in Columbus. I asked them if they were going 
to vote, and they said they w^ould if they were allowed to do so, and that 
they had not voted since the election of 1875, and that they were afraid 
to go to the ballot-boxes, and didn’t knoAV wdiether they would turn out 
or not. I understood that the night before the election a number of 
gentlemen—that number Avas neA^er fnriiislied me—had pursued me to 
Caledonia, supposing I AA^as going to make a speech, and after riding for 
me all niglit, they got back about daylight, and commenced tiring cannon 
about sunrise on the morning of election, and tired it at inteiwals every 
half hour of the day. In the barber-shop in Columbus seA^eral colored 
people told me that they had intended to A^ote that morning, and had 
come to the barber-shop early to go to the polls as early as possible, but 
Avhen the cannon commenced firing, they understood that as meaning 
they Av^ould be shot as they AA^ent home. I don’t say that aa as the mean¬ 
ing of the gun, but that is Avhat they said it meant. 

Q. What Avas your vote in that county f—A. I got about 97, I think, 
and Colonel Muldrow got 900, or a little under, I think. 

Q. Was there any Kepublican candidate for Congress in your dis¬ 
trict !— A. There aauxs not, but there was a ticket for Mr. Frazee. The 
ticket was printed by the Democrats and sent to all the boxes in the dis¬ 
trict. I Avas told afterAA^ards that it AA^as reported that I had withdraAAui 
and Frazee AA^as the candidate. He got but three Azotes in the district. ' 
Indeed, it AA^as said that the morning of election the wires between Aber¬ 
deen and that place had been cut, and it wms supposed that the Demo¬ 
crats had cut them because they had some trick to i)lay in the election; 
and wiieii the fact aatis dcA^eloped that Frazee’s ticket w^as eA^erywhere 
in the district, and it Avas generally reported that I had withdraAvn, ^ 
the inference w^as that the Axires Avere cut to piwent any communication 
between there and my place from inquiring friends who might Avant to 
knoAA" if I had AAithdrawn. 

Q. Was Frazee a candidate ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. His name Avas simply used A. Yes, sir ; just in that way. 

Q. You may state AAiiy you think you had more votes than AA^ere re¬ 
turned for you.—A. I got back to Columbus betAveen sundown and dark. 

I met Judge Hoar wiien I got back. He asked me Iioaa^ the Amte was at 
Monroe. I said the vote Avas not counted quite Axt, but I thought 
from appearances it would be about 2,000 for" me. About mid¬ 
night some person told me that 1 Avas elected by 1,050 Amtes. On 
seA’eral occasions I Avas told that it AA^as a doubtful result: that 
perhaps 50 votes Avould coA^er us. The next day it wns said that it w\as 
a mistake; that MiddroAv Avas elected by about 3,000. The box in Sykes 
Cha])el, wdiich aa'us reported before as going solid for me, had gone solid 
for Muldrow. They telegraphed that the next day, and it w\as said to 
be a mistake j that the report ot the day before had been a mistake that 
tne operator had made—a mistake in telegraphing to me; and that in¬ 
stead of my getting the box solid it had gone solid for Muldrow. That 
was Ins own county. I w^as told that the box at Sykes Chapel Avas taken 
trom the chapel to West Point to be counted. This Avas the Sykes box 
that Avas telegraphed about. A number of persons have stated since 
that the box did go solid for me; tliat the colored voters voted for me 
solid; and that tlie Avhite votes Avere diAUded—some in fa\mr of MuldroAV 
ami some for myself. Tlie report of the election of Clay Comity shows 
that Colonel MuldroAV got 900 and Reuben Davis 70 or 80. The boxes. 


District. ] 


TESTIMONY OF REUBEN DAVIS. 


705 


as required by law., were not reported, but tlie certificate simply shows 
the general result. I saw tlie secretary of state and said to him, ^^This 
is not a legal return”—looking over one. He said he knew it, and I 
asked him if he counted it. And he said ‘^Yes,” and I said ^‘How did 
it happen?” and he said, We are not a canvassing board.” I said, ‘Ht 
is not a question of canvassing, but the question is. But is it a return?” 
He said, ‘AVell, Ave did not see the paper; Ave counted it any Avay.” So 
according to the returns there is nothing to sIioaa" hoAv the A^ote Aims at 
the boxes in Clay County. In the contest to show Avhether MuldroAV 
carried the county it Avould be necessary to ha\"e CA^ery voter at CA^ery 
box and have him SAA^ear how lieA^oted; and that is the only AA’ay AA^e 
could estimate it. 

Q. Are you contesting your case ?—A. My forty days is out, and I 
liaA^e taken no testimony for a contest, althougli I gaA^e notice for the 
reason set forth in that paper [shoAving]. 

Q. You may give the reason.—A. The reason was that we could get 
no person to take the testimony. We had difficulty in getting anybody 
to consent to act in taking the testimony. All had some excuse. A 
justice of the peace Avho had A^oted for me said he would take it. He 
commenced taking testimony, and by about night it became so disagree¬ 
able he had to stop. He said he would do no more. 

Q. Why did he refuse ?—A. Well, that letter Avill tell you. I returned 
home after that, and I thought I Avould make an effort myself. I ad¬ 
dressed Judge Arnold to knoAv if he would take it, and he declined. I ad¬ 
dressed a letter to Mr. Brain to the same effect, and he declined. I ad¬ 
dressed a letter to Mr. Horton, and he agreed to take it. I served Mr. Sykes 
with a notice that aa e Avould commence on a certain day taking testi¬ 
mony, and he said he was no longer the attorney of Colonel Muldrow to 
receiA^e notice, and he could not accept the notice, and that I must send 
it here to-day 5 that I would have but two days left in Avhich to take 
testimony. 

Q. So that really you have no contest going on now?—A. No, sir; I 
haA^e not been able to take any testimonj^ I Avant to say, further, that 
I hav^e been about as seA^erely abused as any candidate eA^er Avas. In 
the language of Mr. Gordon, “It is a little odious.” 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. What was* the name of the gentleman that spoke in the manner 
you mentioned to Captain Vassar at West Point AAdien he si)oke there.— 
A. Mr. Burt. 

Q. Do you recollect what Mr. Burt said to Captain Yasser at that 
time?— A. I think I can repeat it in about his OAvn AA^ords. He came in 
with about eighty men. The otlier men filed off to the right, and he 
went doAAUi the aisle to Captain Yasser, and said, “Sir, AAffiatis that 
document a^ou are reading from?” Captain Yasser made no reply. He 
repeated the question again. “ I demand to knoAV Avhat you are reading 
from.” Captain Yasser then said he sui)posed it didn’t concern him, and 
all that. He put his hand in his pants pocket. I Avas standing behind 
Captain Yassar. I AA^alked up to the railing in front of him. The sher¬ 
iff saAA^ niA’ position and went to Mr. Burt and said something to liim; 
I don’t knoAv AAdiat it Avas. He then stepped off and I remained a little 
while where I Avas, and the coiiA^ersation stopped. That is all I heard 
until I Avas going to the hotel, Avhen I heard that AA'e AA^ere going to be 
attacked. I don’t knoAV aiiAffhing about tlie truth of that, but I tell it 
as it came to me. I heard from the ]iotel-kee])er afterwards that after 
we had left (Captain Yasser and myself) Mr. Burt and tAventy-five gen- 

45 s C 


706 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


tlemen came to the hotel and demanded Captain Yasser. The proprie¬ 
tor told him that Yasser and I had gone, hut they refused to accept the 
explanation, and went in and forced the doors open and examined the 
rooms, frightening the ladies of the house and the people, the proprie¬ 
tor all the time urging that Yasser had gone. 

Q. You don’t recollect anything he said to Yasser at that time?—A. 
No, sir; I don’t. After Yasser was done speaking he went up to Burt 
and said something, hut I didn’t hear what. I was all the time talking 
with the sheriff, Mr. Cromwell, and my hack was towards them, and 
whatever occurred between them I don’t know. 

Q. AYas Yasser a candidate for any office?—A. None at all. 

Q. He was a supporter of yours ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was he canvassing with you?—A. No, sir; not generally; on one 
or two occasions he was with me. 

Q. YTiat was the name of the gentleman that came to your room to 
make an explanation at Mayhew ?—A. He requested me not to tell his 
name, and 1 promised not to do so. But as the question is asked here, 
I will answer that it was Dr. McCann. 

Q. What were his politics ?—^A. I don’t know. I never saw him be¬ 
fore to know him. 

Q. During that canvass I saw something in the papers in reference to 
charges against you in reference to speeches you made a long time ago 
in Congress about hanging Northern men. AYhen and where were 
those speeches made ?—A. I can tell you about it. I believe it is a rule 
of law that if you ask a man about a written document you are re¬ 
quired to furnish the whole document. 

Q. I am speaking about some charges that were made against you in 
reference to a speech?—A. On the 10th of December, 1850, a contested- 
election case was then pending. I was on the floor of the House, and 
members came to me and said we must have a speech to-day to prevent 
a vote. You are the only man who seems to be able to speak without 
preparation, and you must make a speech on the subject. 1 spoke 2^ to 
4 hoars in that speech. I arraigned the Eepublican i^arty as being rebels. 
They called me a rebel and I called them rebels, and I said if Seward 
should come down South and utter such sentiments as he entertained, I 
thought they would hang him before he got back. 

By Mr. Camekon : 

Q. You are yet of that opinion ?—A. Yes, sir; and stated that before 
the Boutwell committee. I stated to you that if I had the $10,000 or 
$12,000 which the government owes me for taking away my cotton, I 
would go North and canvass the country, and I think I could induce the 
people up there to hang some of you at present as rebels. I want it un¬ 
derstood that I am no radical. I am not here by my own consent, and 
I want it understood. I have been brought here without my consent, 
and further, I want it understood that while I am here I shall state 
whatever I am asked. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. By saying you are not a radical, you mean you are not a radical Ee¬ 
publican ?—A. No, sir; I am not a Eepublican. I am a native-born, nat¬ 
ural Democrat. I hold to the doctrine of the greatest good to the great¬ 
est number, and wherever that leads me I go. I was kicked out of the 
Democratic party in 1837, when I was a boy, when I had, perhaps, a 
cliance if I had been an ambitious man, upon this question of currency. 
I have been kicked out of the Democratic party again on this question 
of currency, and I am out of it at iiresent by force. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF REUBEN DAVIS. 


707 


Q. Yon allntled just now to your testimony given before tlieBontwell 
committee in Mississippi A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That testimony Avas printed in book-form A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you seen it since A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Are your impressions the same"?—A. Well, I see what you are 
after, and I anticix)ate your question. I indorse this morning eA^erything 
I uttered before that committee. I add this: Before that committee, I 
said the Radicals Avere bulldozing the negroes to preA^ent their Amting, 
and that they operated upon their shperstition, threatening to ostracize 
them, socially and CA^ery A\my, and threatened to put lizards and snakes 
into them if they Amted AAutli the Democratic party; and that the Dem¬ 
ocrats said that the colored man ought to haA^e a right to A"ote as he 
ideased; that they ought to have fair elections. I add to that now that 
since the Democratic party have got into the majority, and have control, 
they are more obnoxious than the Radical party were at that time; that 
he cannot A^ote as he pleases, and that he cannot do what he could be¬ 
fore Avithout being ostracized as far as they dare do it. In Mississippi, 
CA^en at the present time, I do not dread the ostracizing; I dread much 
more the assassin’s knife. The canAmss against me Avas made upon that 
book and that testimony. I indorse it all to-day. I said that the white 
man was higher in the scale of life than the colored man, intellectually, 
I)hysically, and morally, and I say it to-day. 

By Mr. C aimeron : 

Q. So that it seems you giA^e that your pretty general consent? —A. 
Yes, sir; and indorse it. They said then that it did me more good than 
all the acts of my life, yet the A^ery men that said that and indorsed my 
testimony, afterAvard went before the colored men and endeaAmred to set 
the colored men against me by using my oaau testimony against me, 
Avhich they themselves had approA^ed. 

Q. What did Captain Sykes say in reference to your testimony be¬ 
fore that committee?—A. I went iiome from that time to some conven¬ 
tion that occurred not long afterward, and he said he had been ruined 
before that committee, and that ^Dhe young men in the State did not 
nominate DaAus because he is ruined there in his testimony before that 
committee.” The testimony came out, and I met Mr. Smalls, and he 
said, “ I have just read your testimonj" and mine. Your testimony is 
the smartest act of your life, and I indorse it, too, and I have discoA"- 
ered that I haA^e played it on myself.” I said, ‘AVell, I haAX discoA"- 
ered that others have played the same thing.” I said, “ You indorse 
it all now?” and he said, Yes’!; and yet he and Mr. Allen, and others, 
were out two or three saddle-bags carrying Boutwell’s report around 
and riding along behind Colonel Muldrow to incite the colored people 
against me, and yet neither Colonel Muldrow nor I have ever alluded to 
that report. They would folloAv along and take the report before that 
committee and use it before the colored men. They had sense enough 
to see that it Avas against them; but they said, “We haA^e known Mr. 
Davis a long time, and we think we can trust him, and we propose to 
Ante for him”; and they Avould haAn done it before that time if they 
had had a fair chance. 

Q. Hoav did you get the information that these Frasee tickets were 
printed by the Democratic party?—A. AVell, sir, I heard them say 
tliemsehns, “ We liaAn got the best trick on you felloAvs that we eAnr 
had.” They said it would be developed the day after the election. I 
asked one of tliem myself how much he paid for the tickets, and he 


708 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[ Third Cong. 


said he liad paid liis part; not a great deal wlieii they came to divide 
the amount among them j hut still he had paid his part. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Their object in trying to defeat Davis was trying to put the Demo¬ 
cratic party on its legs?—A. Ko, sir; their object was to take the col¬ 
ored vote from me and thereby give it to Muldrow. 

Q. They wanted to give vitality to the party?—A. t^o, sir; they did 
not want that; they used it as a means of defeating me. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The Democrats of Mississippi have not fallen in love with the Ee- 
publican party since 1875 ?—A. No, sir; I have taken the colored people 
away from the Eepublican party; they are Greenbackers, now. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Give the names of some Democrats that you say got up these 
printed tickets.—A. I asked Mr. Schell about it and he said he had i^aid 
his part. 

Q. Who is he?—A. He is a druggist in Aberdeen. Well, no Demo¬ 
crat will deny it; they will not swear that they did not put it up. 

Q. Schell, then, is the only one you can think of?—A. Well, I do not 
think much about it, I have not spoken to a great many men since the 
election; my relations are not as good with a good many politicians in 
Aberdeen as they were before I became a candidate ; they said things 
in reference to myself that I do not think was honorable or i)roper, and 
I have not recognized them since. 

Q. Where were you when this hanging and burning of yourself was 
going on?—A. I was in the town of Columbus. 

Q. When was it ?—A. I think it was Wednesday morning after the ■ 
election I was told about it. | 

Q. Did the town take any notice of that occurrence ?—A. I never ' 
heard that they did. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did they not look on and approve it ?—A. I cannot say it is a mat- • 
ter that has been kept very profoundly from me. Cai^tain Love told me 
about. I must be allowed to say that a very large number of gentlemeu 
in Columbus, I do not think ever gave any countenance to it or in¬ 
dorsed it in any way; and further that there is a large number of people 
who if it did occur regretted it profoundly. I must be allowed to say 
further that so tar as the great body of x>eople in my Congressional dis: - 
trict is concerned, I believe they are as loyal as any people on the face 
of the globe. I believe there is as deadly hostility to bulldozing and f 
ballot-box stuffing among them as any people on the face of the globe; 
but there is a class of ambitious aspiring men who undertake Avhat the 
word now is to render him odious ” unless he adopts their views. As 
General Sharpe, of Columbus, says iu a recent jiaper, Any man can be 
j^ermitted within the limits of the Democratic, to express his op in ion 
but he shan’t do it outside of the party, only at his peril.” 

Q. Who uttered that?—A. General Sharpe in the Columbus Inde¬ 
pendent. I read an article also in the Charleston paper in which he 
saj s, The bullets can be heard to whistle, and they are now.” I do not 
know whether they wanted to shoot any one, but still we timid men 
stand away from the polls when there is such talk. 

Q. Eow, in regard to the disturbances and confusion that vou have 
spoken of in different places, have you not seen the like before in a political 




District.] 


TESTIMONY OP REUBEN DAVIS. 709 


cam-ass in Mississippi !-A. Well, I tlid not see any disturbance diirini? 

tllG clSS* ® 

Q. Well, on the day of election ?—A. At these different places the Ee- 
pnbhcan part;v have always deported themselves in a kind and friendly 
spirit, and there was no effort to degrade one another by falsehood, and 
iow, dirty, blackguard abuse; men had more sense of honor and magna- 
nimitjy and they understood that a man could oppose them in politics 
and at the same time be an honorable man. But now, yon know, Sena- 
tor, it IS not so. ’ ’ 

Q. In the exciting campaign between Davis and Governor Foote for 
governor, did yon not witness such occurrences ?--A. Not a bit of it. 
Cottman had a little fight and nobody interfered, and he took the track 
and went over the State, and it was developed that he beat Pitkin very 
badly, and he and Davis never met in the field again. Kind, gentle¬ 
manly, everybody was before the war, but yon all know, gentlemen, how 
it was then; it is different now. 

Q. Yon had no fight in this canvass?—A. Ko, sir; I am too old for it, 
and the colonel is too magnaninioiis too fight an old man. 

Q. Who do yon think would assassinate you in that parish ?—A. I 
doift know who would, but I have received letters from several men 
warning me to be on my guard. But I do not fear them; if they want to 
assassinate me they will only have the gratification of shoifening my 
life a. couple of years. I expect to die by'that time, and if they want to 
deprive me of life they are at liberty to do it. 

Q. Beyond the conversation you had Avith these people at the barbePs 
shop in regard to the firing of cannon and what it was for, you do not 
know any more about it?—A. Ko, sir; I did not go out where the can¬ 
non was firing. A good many white people afterwards said, “Davis, I 
was going to vote for you, but I saw it was to be A^ery hard times, and 
I did not go.” . 

Q. What AAms the vote there?—A. There is usually near 2,000 
Azotes recorded at tlie Columbus box. They only voted 360 or 370 at 
that box out of 2,000 registered votes. 

By Mr. Bailey: 

Q. What is the population there ?—A. Five or six thousand. 

Q. Your estimate of the number there is large.—xi. Well, a good 
many from the country came in. 


By Mr. Garland ; 

Q. I did not hear you distinctly gh^e the reasons that were assigned 
for throAving out this box in Monroe County.—A. I understood that the 
box Avas taken from the judge by the deputy sheriff*, who made him 
belicA^e that the others had recpiested it. The judge happened to know 
the man, and the deputy sheriff thought he was entitled to it by right. 
He and others took the box -aAA ay, and afterAA ards brought it back and 
said to the judges, “ Count them,” and they refused to do it. This dep¬ 
uty sheriff then took it to Aberdeen, and I understood that the box Avas 
thrown about in the streets and kicked, and was taken up by a gentle¬ 
man by the name of French, a banker in xVberdeen, and carried to Mr. 
IIoAAmrd, the sheriff, and that Howard handed the box OA^er to the reg¬ 
isters, with a report of the circumstances under AA^hich lie had receiA^ed 
it, and they ruled it out and refused to count it. 

Q. You were at home on the day of election ?—A. Yes, sir, until 2 
o’clock. 

Q. Was the election quiet and orderly?—A. Yes, sir. I understood 
a little excitement occurred betAA^een the parties the night before, but 


MISSISSIPPI IN J878. 


[Third Coug. 


710 


tlie Greeubackers perbaps a little more iminerons in Aberdeen than 
the others, and it was not thought advisable among the Democrats to 

make an attack. i i ® 

Q. What is the distance between Aberdeen and Columbus 

A. Twenty-eight miles, I think, by land. 

Q. What county is Mayhem inf—A. Lowndes County. I will say 
that this doctor told me that the most people who voted was from Oktib¬ 
beha County. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . ■ 

Q. How far is that from Columbus?—A. It must be 12 or 14 miles, 
from my knowledge of the country. 

Q. What county did you carry in your election ?—A. I carried Mon¬ 
roe. I would have carried it by about 1,800—that is the county in which 
I live. I say I know I carried that county, because they so reported. 

Q. What did the county give ?—A. I voted 3,100 in that election. It 
is able to vote 4,800, but a large number of voters did not go out be¬ 
cause they said, “If you leave the farms and go to the election, you need 
not come back again.” 

Q. It was reported to you that they said that?—A. It was stated to 
me liy some colored men on the hirms. 

Q. There are eleven counties in the district?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They are white or colored according to the order you give them?— 
A. Six are called white and five colored counties. 

Q. With the exception you stated you made a thorough canvass of 
the district?—A. Yes, sirj I stated that. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. Did they concede that you carried more than one county ?—A. I 
only claim that, according to count, I only carried one county. I think 
if there had been a fair count, I would, I think, in my opinion, have 
beaten Colonel Muldrow 10,000 votes. I think I can beat him to-morrow. 

Q. You mean if the darkies were all Greenbackers ?—A. Yes, sir; they 
have sense enough to know that they must have money to pay them for 
their products. 1 don’t think they will go back to the Kepublicans un¬ 
less I am retired in some way. 

By the Chaieman : 

Q. Did you have any considerable white supiiort during the canvass ? 
—A. Yes, sir; I came from the east side of the county. I came ahead 
of Colonel Muldrow; I beat him in all the white boxes in Monroe County. 
I got a fair vote in Stawamba. According to Colonel Muldrow’s state¬ 
ment, which I have liere, my vote was chiefly white votes. According 
to his words here, I must have got nothing but white votes and he got 
nothing but colored votes. I will read it: 

I -will show that you are not the noiniuee of the Republican party, and that yonr 
speeclies against the negro race have been more violent and abusive than any Demo¬ 
crat in yonr district. 

I do not doubt that he thinks that, but I do not think he has a right 
to say that, for I never abused the negro much. In my testimonj- be¬ 
fore the Boutwell committee, I said that I was in favor of the colored 
man having a right to vote, because I believed that* by addressing his 
common sense we could satisfy him of liis interest, and" upon satisfying 
him of his interest we could control his vote through his interest. I was 
through several campaigns, and in all my efforts I addressed myself to 
his common sense, believing I could influence his vote througli his com- 
]non sense. I never abused him much. I did say once that Livingston 
said that everything he met in Africa ran from his white face except 


TESTIMONY OF REUBEN DAVIS. 711 

tlie gorilla; tliat the negro ran, and everything ran, except the gorilla, 
and that therefore the gorilla had more man in him than the negro. 

They told the negroes that my testimony said they were ring-tailed 
monkeys, gorillas, &c., and a gentleman said he had it right from my 
testimony that I said that there was no State in the Union where there 
was as fair a State to hold an election as in Mississippi. I never said 
that. I will now go on: “I will say that the attention of colored people 
was called to the fact that you had, before the Congressional committee, 
under the solemn obligations of an oath, thus spoken of the colored race: 
‘I think by nature the negro is dishonest.^” I say it still. think 
the negro destitute, by nature, of all ideas of virtue.”^ I say it still. 
“^And I think the negro is capable of being induced to commit any 
crime’”—I stated it then, I say it now—^‘diowever violent, especially if 
he was encouraged by bad white men.’” That is what I said. I say it 
still. 

Kow, I predicated my ideas upon the fact that the colored man had 
been upon the farm, and his morals had never been cultivated nor his 
intellect trained; that they had no idea of virtue, for the reason that 
they put five or six women and men together in the same room; that 
they didn’t recognize any such thing as marriage; that a man took up 
with a woman for a week, and he was then perhaps taken off by his 
master and she took up with some other man. As I said, this gave them 
no conception of virtue, because their minds were never impressed with 
the necessity of virtue. 

He says further: will show that when these facts were disclosed to 

the negroes, it did not require any bulldozing to keep a large number 
of them from voting for you.” 

He got the colored vote then, according to this, and I got the white 
vote. * 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. You say that the institution of marriage was unknown to the col¬ 
ored race when they were slaves?—A. i^ot as it was known to us; and 
they never married by license. If I bought the man and took him off, 
the woman was left; they were not divorced. 

Q. Was not marriage a custom among negroes?—A. AVell, it was a 
thing allowable, and not always allowable, because if the wife was too 
far away the master said, You must not go that far off; you must get a 
woman nearer home than that.” 

By Mr. Cameron : 

I Q. By whom are inspectors of election appointed in Mississippi ?—A. 
i They are appointed by the registrars. 

Q. Were the inspectors of your Congressional district Republicans, 
or Greenbackers, or Democrats ?—A. Well, sir, I cannot say about that; 
in many instances they are all Democrats. They held, as the registrars 
did, that the Greenback party was not a party, and that we had no 
right to ask any division of officers. 

Q. By wliom are the registrars appointed ?—A. By the governor, 
and I believ e the president of the senate, and secretary of state. 

Q. How many are appointed for each county?—A. Three, I think. 

Q. Were they Republicans, Democrats, or Greenbackers in your 
county and Congressional district, so far as you know?—A. Y ell, sir, 
in my county there was no Republican on the ticket, but two Democrats. 
As to the other counties I do not know. ^ • • • 

Q. To what political party does the present governor of Mississippi 
belong ?—A. The Democratic party. 



712 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


Q. Xow in Cliickasaw there T\^as a man hy the name of White who 
was removed and a man appointed in his place I— A. He is a kind ot 

O. Can the governor and president of the senate and secretarj^ of 
state remove them arbitrarily —A. Yes, sir j arbitrarily, it they choose 

to exercise that privilege. . ^ a at.. . 

Q. What was the reason assigned for removing him!—A. No leason, 
the presumption was he was removed because he was opposed to them 
politically. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. When was your testimony given before the Boutwell committee !— 
A. In 1876. 

Q. In that short extract that you rendered a while ago, you gave your 
views of the negro at that time !—A. Yes, sir. 

Kow, I desire to say a word more if the committee will allow me. 
You have brought me here to testify before your committee. You haA^e, 
in the last fcAv years, in the election contests in the difterent States, 
dcA-eloped the fact that you have the weakest government on the face 
of the earth. You can legislate, and yet you have no power to jirotect 
anybody. I say you have brought me here, and if I should return home 
to-morrow and be assassinated you could not protect me, nor would you 
give my Avife a xiension. The people in effect say, “ Your laws we defy,^^ 
and the laws are consequently nullified. And yet you proceed to force 
men to make statements Avhich iuAmHe them in their personal relations 
at home, and exiiose them to iiersonal indignities if not to personal 
Auolence. ^ 

Q. You do not apprehend anything of that kind yourself!—A. O, no, 
sir; I am too old for the magnanimous young men of the South to 
assassinate me. 


W. II. YASSEE. 

Washington, February 12,1879. 

W. H. Yasser sworn and examined. 

By the Chairman : 

Question. Where do you reside!—Answer. In Aberdeen, Monroe 
County, Miss. 

Q. How long have you resided there !—A. I haA^e been in the county 
of Monroe CA^er since the year 1811. 

Q. Are you a native of Mississippi!—A. No, sir; I am a natHe of 
Yirginia. 

Q. Wliat political party haA^e you hitherto been affiliated AAdtli! —A. I 
was baptized into the old Whig party, and I don’t know as I liaA^e got out 
of it yet entirely. I Avas a AYhig until since the last war. Since the war 
I was elected on the Alcorn ticket for State treasurer by the Eepubli- 
cans of the State. All my predilections were for Alcorn, and I had 
nothing but contempt for Grant’s cariiet-bag exiierimenter for the office 
of goAxrnor down there. 

Q. Did you take any part in the late campaign!—A. Not a great 
deal; I made some little talks—about here and there—one or two in my 
own county, and one or two out of the county. 

Q. What party did you support ? —A. Y"hat they called the Green¬ 
back party. 



District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER. 


713 


Q. Go on and give a history of the campaign as briefly as yon can.— 
A. 1 heard the two candidates for Congress speak on two occasions. I 
heard them in Chickasaw County in the opening speech of the cam¬ 
paign, and I afterward heard the tAvo at Okolona some two or three Aveeks 
prcAdons to the election. I mean H. L. MuldroAC and Eeuben Davis. 
They Avere speaking together. The meeting at Okolona aa as a very 
boisterous one; I might say tAA o-thirds of the crowd seemed to me to be 
drunk. I do not think that men in their sober senses CA^er behaA^ed so 
bad as many of them did that day. Mr. MuldroAV Avas listened to with 
some respect, if not attention, during his first speech, but Avhen Mr. 
DaAus began to speak there Avas so much confusion that I quit the house, 
Duaus’s friends hallooing for Davis and Muldrow’s friends hallooing for 
MuldroAv. 

Q. This was wlien Mr. Davis Avas trying to make his speech ?—^A. 
Yes, sir; I couldn’t hear anything he said, hardly. During fifteen or 
tAventy minutes of the opening speech you could hear Avhat Avas said; 
after that I could hear only at intervals. Mr. DaAus seemed laboring 
A'ery hard to make himself lieard, but I don’t think anybody could haA’e 
been heard in that audience—in an audience conducting themselves as 
they did. I left before the speal^ing Avas concluded. 

Q. Were there any other disturbances that you know of, within the 
range of your own obseiwation, during the cami)aign!—A. I Avas in the 
town of West Point on the Monday Aveek preceding the election, if my 
recollection serves me right. I mean eight days prior to the election. 
I was called upon there to make a little talk; and unlike General DaAus 
I did talk to the colored people. It had been charged that he was mak¬ 
ing fearfully Radical speeches to the colored people. I had but one 
speech to make; and that I might not be misrepresented I put that into 
lArint. I spoke from manuscrq)!. I was reading AAdien a crowd came in, 
and one of their leaders spoke iij) and demanded to know what I was 
reading. His manner was very insulting. I responded that I was not 
reading for his benefit. One or tAvo AAmrds passed between us. I felt, 
satisfied that it Avas what Ave call a bulldozing crowd. I went through 
with my speech. After that the man who liad interrupted me with his 
question, to knoAv AAdiat I was reading about, passed by me as I was 
inside the bar of the court-house. I Avent up to him and said, “ I am 
now through with my speech, and if you want anything of me I am at 
your service, sir.” I AA^ent out of the court-house and went to the hotel. 
Mr. Davis had stopped on the Avayside to see something about getting 
up a coiiA-ention. When I came in DaAis said to me, Are you armed?” 
I told him no, I had no weapons. He said, “You better get some. 
That fellow is coming here after you.” I said, “ilo; I guess not.” 
Davis said he understood that he was gathering up a croAvd that 
were coining with him. We got dinner, and after dinner we left. 
We AA’^ent to MayheAV, the county below Olay. We got doAvn to May- 
hew Station, Avhere he attempted to make a speech, but the speaking 
was broken up. The conduct tliere was very reprehensible; in fact, 
reprehensible is not the word. It Avas boisterous, even riotous. There 
Avas the firing of pistols, shouting and singing, and hallooing. The noise 
was so great that the general aa^s compelled to suspend speaking, and 
we Avent back to the hotel. I went with him to Artesia, A\here he an as 
to speak, but there was nobody there, at least no crowd sufficient to 
make it Avorth Avhile to speak, and we Avent home. When Ave got back 
to West Point I was told that this felloAV had come in search of Mr. 
Davis and myself, particularly of myself. The landlord had told him 
that Ave Avere gone, but they Avould not take his Avord for my absence. 


714 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


They went into the house and disturbed the family to see wliether we 
were there. I suppose the lady of the house satisfied them that I was 
gone, and so the matter ended. I will say I do not think he got much 
the better of me in the court-house. I was nowhere interrupted in the 
talks that I made. I made speeches generally at night. That is the 
way that politicians talk to the colored people, for they do not go out 
much in the day-time. They have to work mostly in the day-time. But 
I will say that I spoke nowhere except white people were present to hear 
AYhat I had to say. 

Q. Were there many white people supporting your candidate for Con¬ 
gress'?—A. Yes, sir; a good many. 

Q. What class of peoi)le?—A. Generally farmers. The merchants 
and town people generally went with the Democratic party. In that 
country they have Greenback clubs. I was speaking in behalf of the 
Greenback ticket, but I did not belong to any of the clubs. There were 
quite a number of the clubs in Monroe, quite a number in Clay and other 
counties up the railroad. I was in correspondence with some liepub- 
lican men of the Greenback organization, and I knew there were a great 
many whites in it. 

Q. What complaints were made against' your speech!—A. They said 
it Avas incendiary; that I advised the negroes to come to the polls with 
their needle-guns and stand up for their rights, and so on. 

Q. What did you say !—A. I cannot repeat now what I said. I have 
a copy of the speech. 

By Mr. Kikkwood : 

Q. With you!—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. Perhaps you can let us read it. 

The AVitness. Certainly, if you desire. I would not have.made the 
suggestion myself. I hope you will excuse anything that might look 
like vanity if I give it to you at your request. I got it printed for my 
own coiiA^enience in the campaign. 

Mr. Cameron. I would like to read it. I would, like to kuoAv what is 
called an incendiary speech. 

The AYitness. AYell, sir, any Eadical speech is called an incendiary 
speech. If you were to go down there and make a speech, I think it 
Avould be called an incendiary speech. 

The Chairman, to AvEom the witness had handed a copy of his speech, 
read: ^ 


Democrats should attend the meetings of the Radicals, when organizing the colored 
people, just as they did in 1875, and see that no misrepresentations are made to them. 

Q. That purports to be an extract from the Chickasaw Messenger!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The Chickasaw Messenger is a Democratic paper!—A. Y^es, sir. 
The Chairman. Here is another extract Avhich I will also read: 


Since the extinction of the color-line, in this State, peace and qniet between the 
races have reigned supreme, and everybody’s rights have been respected. Do the 
coloi^d people desire a change for the worse ? Do they desire a renewal of race hostil¬ 
ities ? If they d^o, they only have to follow the advice of Vasser & Co., and band 
themselves together as of old. The conflict will come, and 1875 will have been simply 


Q. That also purports to be from the same paper, the Chickasaw Mes¬ 
senger!—A. Yes, sir. ’ 

Q. And Avhat folloAvs in your speech, based upon those extracts !_ 

A. Based in part upon those extracts. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER. 


715 



The speech was pat in evidence, as follows: 

What are the colored man’s rights ? He is clothed with every legal attrihnte of cit¬ 
izenship that is required, hy the Constitution of the United States and the State of 
Mississippi, to make a citizen. He is also fully covered with every right, under the 
sacred^instrnments above cited, that gives and guarantees freedom of thought, free- 

.. " ’ . .. ... - other man can claim 

)untry, ho must either 
_ of the laud, contrihute 

his mite in choosing the lawgivers, and in all other respects perform his duty in car- 
rying on the goveniment, or permit the fiat to go forth nncontr.adicted that he is 
unworthy the ])recious boon of liberty that has been conferred upon him; that he is 
a^nuisance to the wheels of progress, and a curse to the section apportioned to his lot. 
No man is free who is thus unceremoniously debarred his rights, with or without the 
forms of -law. No man is a citizen who is entitled to the })rotection of chartered priv¬ 
ileges which are virtually denied him through threats of violence and intimidation. 
No man thus situated will oljserve good faith toward his neighbor, or fidelity to any 
other sacred trust. His lot is that of the Ishmaelite—his hand is against every man 
and every man’s hand against him. He is dead to every noble impulse that stimu¬ 
lates the patriot’s bosom, and a castaway to his over-licentiousness of passion. He 
has, in name simply, that which makes him the most abandoned, Avorfhless of human 
beings—a man chattel in the hands of political craftsmen; an idler and vagal)ond on 
the highways of crime; a stumbling-block in the path of private and public morals, 
and a pestilence to society at large. 

How is he to bo relieved from an estate so unenviable and deploralde, and yet so 
ominous of future demoralization and i)robablo slavery to others ? To deny his rights 
certainly gains none of his confidence or good will. To hold out the Avord of promise 
Avith one hand while li,is rights are denied him Avitli the other encourages no lodgment 
of security for the Avhite man or ho])e for him. What, then, I again ask, do you pro- 
]>ose as the status of his future reliance for protection ? This question may affect you 
as seriously as it does him. I knoAv AA'hat you mean in i)olicy ; come out like a man 
and say Avdiat you mean in principle. Your jxdicy speaks from e\'ery hillto]) through¬ 
out our borders that he is uiiAvorthy the title of citizen ; that because of his recent eman¬ 
cipation he is too illerate, too improvident, too immoral, too degra<led, and so deAU)id 
of eA^ery attribute of usefulness in politics and religion, as to make his fitness and enjoy¬ 
ment of his high estate a monstrosity. This A-erdict renders a sad estimate upon the poor 
and uneducated of a boasted ciAulizatiou. Poor, heli)less darlcy! Better, far better 
for him, that he had not been stolen from the jungles of brutal Africa, but left alone 
to AA'ork out the problem of his ultimate destiny—a stanger to Ids God and the Auctim 
of his own heathen despotism, than to haA*e been released from his recent state of chari- 
tal)le slavery, and aAvarded the rights, in name alone, of being the creature of a free 
goA'ernment, in Avhich he is to play, in all coming time, the part of hewer of Avood and 
(IraAVer of Avater. 

White men of the South ! Is this the deified Democracy to AAddch you inAute a solid 
front ? Is this the republican standard Avhich immortalized Thomas Jelferson and 
endeared the name of AndroAv Jackson to the hearts of his devoted admirers ? Is this 
the lamp you liaA^e trimmed to pilot a free people through the Avilderness of present dis¬ 
tress and gloom impending ami threatening your dearest rights? Is this the umpire 
before which the sup})le knee of Shylock bends Avith dcA'otion, Avhile your destiny is 
being shaped by yielding and still not consenting to Shylock’s demands? Is this the 
old tree that Cf)lonel MuIdroAv so feelingly and beseeclringly implores you to touch not 
a single bough ? Is this the adorable feast for Avhich your noble ancestors for seven 
long and i)enitential years breasted a storm of English buliets ? Is this to be the sad 
req^iieni sung at the funeral of American indei>endence? If so, your destiny is al¬ 
ready sealed, *and the hand of resurrection is poAverless to rescue you from the yaAvn- 
in<»’ abyss of a mongrel despotism, more to be feared than the dreaded fires of his 
Satanic majesty’s kingdom. Yes, my countryman; if the present intolerance of pefiiti- 
cal domination is to bo fostered at all hazards and in the face of such deserved and 



Avell ; and your future 
vou (lo, or not at all. 
W' 



AvidoAVs amt 


step in the directi(- - . - , , 

the heads of vour posterity. Renounce your allegmuc(3 to passion, projudice, and party 
mastery ; examine the legislation of your country AV'hich has impeiiltMl joui ^libeitics^, 
hankriipted your estates; paralyzed your industries; beggarvd your 
or] 

upon 
ari 

ereignty. 



716 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


Woodman! lay the ax at the root of Muhlrow’s tree. Its honghs are shattered hy 
the storm of leaden fury inangnrated hy secession; its trunk is lifeless from root to 
hongh from the canker injected hy the work of reconstruction; it stands a leafless, 
inanimate emhleni of the mournful past, dead to song and offensive to memorj'. Fell 
it to the ground, ere its decayed, tottering form hy its own weight falls upon and 
crushes the edifice of liberty, t)urying heneath its rotten heap the long-cherished hopes 
of sire and son to preserve and peri)etuate free institutions to one and all alike. In its 
stead plant the olive hranch of perpetual union ; water its tender roots with the gentle 
tears of national gratitude; train its evergreen houghs with hands of loyal devotion, 
until they reach from the East to the far West, and from the frigid North to the halmy 
South, forming an unhroken shade that will invite all conditions of our people to re- 
l^ose on the terms of constitutional equality, and provide for those from far-off lands 
who may wish to partake of our blessings the right hand of cordial fellowship. Then, 
and not until then, will our great country blossom as the rose, and our cherished in¬ 
stitutions flourish as the lily of the valley. 

Neither wealth or power necessarily bring happiness with their possession. But 
freedom, when experimentally compared to slavery, whether of prejudice, person, or 
estate; whether clothed in rags or tine linen; whether fed on bread and water or the 
sumptuous fare of the millionaire, encourages ho[)e, stimulates pride of worth, consoles 
in disappointments, and soothes the pathway of life, whether traveling up or down 
hill. Precious boon 1 Its cost is too dear to be lightly handled; too sacred to be trifled 
with, and too deeply enshrined in the hearts of forty-six millions of brave peox^le to 
be trampled in the dust, or absorbed by the avarice of the unrelenting shylock, who 
now seeks to convert its safety and keeping into his wreaking hands of si^oliation, 
amounting to billions of untaxed value, at the cost of the people’s sweat and honest 
toil. 

Strike for your rights, my countrymen, while there is hope that you may be able to 
save them. Assert your manhood ere the manacles of the money rings have so hedged 
you in and about as to cause resistance to bo powerless of good results. Unloose and 
burst asunder the bonds which bind your liberties to the mercy of party and the ca¬ 
price of party leaders. Turn your attention more to your country’s good and individ¬ 
ual prosi>erity. Educate the poor and improvident that they may the better con- 
trilmte to your civilization. Extend to the colored man the advantages of a higher 
and more enviable scale of usefulness. Curl) his tendency to moral decay by gentle 
advice and wholesome laws. Teach him, by the force of good example and moral 
suasion, to realize the responsibilities of his new estate. Lift him, if you can, from 
the slough of demoralization which threatens his future with consequences the most 
direful. Leave nothing undone on your part that will better his moral and intel¬ 
lectual condition. And, when you have thus nobly performed your task, shoiild he 
fail to resiiond to your generous efforts in his behalf, provide for him a home and 
country of his own, where he will be allowed, iindisturbed by the presence of the white 
man, to solve the problem of his fltness for self-government. 

W. H. VASSER. 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 


Q. Was that speech considered incendiary down there ?—A. It was 
talked about there. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. You read these extracts to the people ?—A. Yes, sir; and the bal¬ 
ance of my speech. 

Q. How frequently were those complaints made ? On what grounds 
was that speech claimed to be incendiary ?—A. It was used in this way 
by the speakers throughout the whole district, I was informed. I met 
a personal friend, General Tuclver, of Okolona, on the train.” He said to 
me, I understand you made a violent, vindictive, Badical speech at the 
precinct of Lovers scliool-house.’^ I said, ‘‘I am glad you mentioned it; 
don’t you know that it was false?” He said, I didn’t think you did.” 

Then why did you not contradict it”! (I had heard that he liad been 
saying substantially the same in regard to my speech.) I told him the 
character of the speech I made. He said he understood that I had stated 
to the colored people at Love’s school-house that they were getting 
nottiing for their crops; that the planters were in debt; that tlie best 
thing the colored peoide could do was to quit their crops, go to election¬ 
eering, and come to the polls with their needle-guns. This came from 
Geneial Y. F. Tucker, an aspirant for political honors. I have been 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF \V. H. VASSEE. 


717 


told the same thing by men in my own town. I liave felt to some ex- 
tent social ostracism. I wouldn’t say to tlie colored people on any occa- 
where^^ ^ would not say on the house-top to anybody auy- 

Q. AYhat effect does it have socially when a man makes a Kadical 
speech down there ?—A. Down there everything is called ‘‘Radical” that 
IS not Democratic. A man that makes that sort of speech is considered 
more or less of a pest to tlie community in which he lives. If he is a 
man of any ability or influence, lie is considered a dangerous pest. 

Q. Does a reputation of that kind affect him in his social relations ?— 
A. I won’t say how it is with everybody. I Avill not make any sweeping 
assertions. Some people are more magnanimous tlian others: but with 
professed iioliticians, the feeling, and their expressions, too, are very 
bitter. It certainly has a strong effect upon one’s social relations with 
men of this class; and such is more or less the case with all. 

Q. Y hat do yon mean by “Radical” ?—A. I thought I exiilained that 
when I said that everything is Radical that is not Democratic. Down 
there a Republican Senator, however conservative, would be esteemed 
a Radical. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. IsaGreenbacker considered a Radical, too?—A. Yes, sir; anybody 
opposing the Democratic party. Yon cannot put a more despicable 
epithet upon a man than “Radical.” 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Y^oii say that everybody who is not a Democrat is a Radical?—A. 
Y^es, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Have yon any knowledge of the affairs that took place on election- 
day ?—A. I voted in the town where I live. I was at the precinct 10 
miles from toAvn, and got in in time to vote. The only thing I noticed 
at Love’s school-house was the distribution of what was called the Frazee 
ticket. Frazee is a Republican. He is in the revenue department, under 
Powers, in the State. He lives in the town of Okolona. 

Q. Is he a native of the State ?—A. I think not, sir. He has been 
there a good many years, though. 

Q. Do yon know anything about the election at Center Grove?—A. I 
know nothing about that of my own knowledge. I was not there on the 
day of election. I could say in a capacity as a juryman of the court at 
Oxford that I do know, but having learned what I know in that way, I 
do not feel at liberty to state it here or elsewhere. Yon gentlemen are 
all lawyers, I presume, and know that a grand juror is under oath to 
reveal nothing for a certain length of time. I might, I presume, safely 
go thus far without violating my oath. And, by the way, I did not take 
the iron-clad oath at Oxford, as charged in the paper. Ko such oath 
was administered at Oxford. I will say that parties Avere indicted there 
for irregularities, ballot-box stuffing, &c. 

Q. For committing these crimes at Center GroA e ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. HaA^e yon any knoAvledge of the Faust Shop box?—A. I had some 
knowledge regarding that box before I A\^as summoned to Oxford. Of 
course I am free to tell the parties avIio were engaged in the irregularities, 
ballot-box stuffing, &c., at that box, and AvhoAA^ere arrested and brought 
before the court at Oxford. Three of them plead guilty; one was tried 
by the jury and couAucted. 


718 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


Q. In what conrt!—A. In the United States district court, before 
Judge Hill, at Oxford, Mississippi. 

Q. One was convicted on trial!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything of the petit jury that tried him?—A. I do 
not know them personally. 

Q. Do you know anything about their political affiliations ? 

]\rr. Kirkwood. I have something on that point that I am just now 
reading. I see by this that you were foreman of the grand jury at Ox¬ 
ford? 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman [to Mr. Kirkwood]. If you have that before you. Sen¬ 
ator, please proceed with the examination upon that point. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. I have here a paper called the North Mississippian, purporting to 
be published at Corinth, Miss. It contains an article copied from the 
Avalanche, a.newspaper purporting to be published at Memphis, Tenn. 
That contains an extract from the Brandon Bepublican. Is there such 
a paper ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Kirkwood. The extract from the Brandon Eepublican reads: 

Nortli Mississippi exchanges are showing rascality practiced hy the Federal officials 
in selecting grand and petit jnrors for the jn’esent term of the conrt at Oxford. Both 
juries are composed of white and black Radicals of the most malignant type, and se¬ 
lected expressly to lind hills against and convict Democrats, whether guilty or not. 
Green Chandler is the district attorney, and Yasser, of Aberdeen, the foreman of the 
grand jury. Judge Hill is also a Republican, but we look upou him as an honest man, 
and he will see that honest men are protected in their rights. 

Q. Is there such a paper as the Okoloua Messenger ?—A. There is 
such a paper as the Chickasaw Messenger, xmblished at the town of 
Okolona. 

Q. The Avalanche goes oii to say that— 

The Okolona Messenger outstrips its Brandon contemporary by mildly and gently 
alluding to the jurors as ‘‘Radicals, soreheads, ballot-box stntlers,"murderers, and vin¬ 
dictive rascals, whose chief desii’e seems to be to avenge themselves upon their per¬ 
sonal and political enemies.” 

And the Avalanche adds: 

If those charges be true, the journals alluded to have done a public service by ex¬ 
posing the vindictive rascals. But the Oxford Eagle, whose Bourbon Democracy can¬ 
not be cpiestioned- 

Do you know the Oxford Eagle ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can its Democracy be questioned ?—A. I do not know, except from 
reputation ; I understand it to be a Democratic paper. 

Mr. Kirkwood. This paper goes on to say: 

The Oxford Eagle, whose Bourbon Democracy cannot be questioned, shoAvs quite 
clearly that the allegations are not founded on any facts known to the acquaintances 
of the gentlemen selected as jurors. 

The Eagle says, replying to the Brandon Eepublican: 

We do not doubt the honesty and sincerity of our old friend, Colonel Frantz, in the 
utterance of the above. He is full ot enthusiasm and overflowing with love and de¬ 
votion to the Democratic organization, and strikes Avith all his might at anythim>- and 
CA erything that smacks of Radicalism. But, in this instance, he is totally ignorant 
of the facts, and does not only officials of the Federal court, but members of'the juries, 
gross injustice. We do not knoAv personally but feAv of the grand jurors, but'assure 
our esteemed cotemporary that some of its members are gentlemen of honor and iiitc'i^- 
iity, and Democrats Avhose loyalty to the party has noA'cr been questioned. T 

Q. Are they parties whose loyalty to the Democratic j)arty has never 
been questioned ?—A. I have never heard it questioned. I would say. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. II. VASSEE. 719 


however, that I had very little acquaintance with any of them until 
n mto company witli tliem on the grand jury. 

you know whether any of the grand jury were Democrats, and 
thcefore gentlemen A. I was associated with them for two or three 
veeks. 1 would say the grand jury at Oxford would be considered an 
average body ot men. 

Q. Do you know how many of them were Democrats !—A. I under- 
deiit^ seventeen out of .the twenty-three voted for Tilden for Presi- 

Q. I see that this same Oxford Eagle, whose Bourbon Democracv can¬ 
not be questioned, has something to say regarding the petit jury also, 
j-t says I 

As to bie petit jiuy, it is only necessary to say that such men as H. P.. Bnrnev, son 
ot ixev. G. Enrney, one ot the pillars of the Cuinhcrland Preshyterian clinrch-^ 

Do you know anything of him A. I do not. 

Q. I will read on: 

J. S.‘Boone, a prominent citizen, and all his life a Democrat; J. T. Short, an 
esteemed citizen of this comity, and a Democrat- 

Do you know either of these gentlemen ?—A. I do not. 

Q. I Avill read further: 


S. T. King, one of the oldest, purest, and liest citizens of Oxford; Richard Sivaini, a 
citizen ot Lafayette, against whose character there has never been a whisper; J. F. 
Bro\yi, another citizen of onr county, whoso loyalty to his party and love for the white 
people ot his section has never been (jnestioneil; T. A. Hutchinson, a merchant of Ox¬ 
ford, and a man of nniinpeachable character; A. P. Webster, of Toccapola, recently 
elected mayor ot that place by white votes, and a man of standing in the commnnity 
in which he lives ; C. . Harris, a citizen of Oxford, and a man respected and esteemed 
by onr cominnnity, and other gentlemen of equal character and standing are members 
of this jury. If this jury is packed, it is evident it is packed Avith true, uncompro¬ 
mising Democrats. This much Ave are constrained to say in behalf of our much- 
abused, misrepresented, and slandered felloAA^-citizens. 

Do you know any of tliese gentlemen ?—A. :N'o, sir ,• I only met with 
two members that I had known personally before on the petit jury at 
Oxford. One, I know, has been a lifetime Democrat. 

To show the condition of affairs and the state of feeling in Mississippi, 
the remainder of the article from the AAmlanche was put in evidence, as 
follows: 


^ The AAvalanche giA^es this matter prominence to illustrate the animus of mere par¬ 
tisan journalism. During the late political cain^ass in North Mississippi indiAiduals 
committed outrages on the rights and ])rivileges of American citizens. The laws were 
grossly Auolated. Even so Avild and bitter a partisan as the editor of the Okolona 
States says: ^‘The States is not going to commit itself by saying that no frauds AA^cre 
committed in the late Congressional election in this district. Chalk that down.” The 
facts, whether they be proved or not in the courts, are of public notoriety; and as in¬ 
vestigation may noAV be mode, xiartisanship steps in and says, “Hands off!” The 
Avord is giA'eu all along the line, and it is sought to defeat the ends of justice by most 
bitter, reckless, and incendiary denunciation and slander of the jurors. The facts are 
ignored. The good standing and integrity of the individual jurors are not considered. 
They must be covered Avith abuse and made infamous in public estimation, because in 
the discharge of their solemn duties they may be required to investigate the cases of 
certain persons charged with committing crimes before or during the late election. 
This is partisan journalism, of which Mississippi has more to the square mile than any 
other State in the Union. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Does it not amount to this: that any man who is not a Democrat 
is there considered as a—what are these pet names—radical, Aundictive 
rascal, infamous scoundrell—A. I would not say that this is the general 


720 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


opinion of tlie i)eople; but with a good many—with the i)oliticiaus it is 
the ease. 

Q. Is there not an organized system of slandering?—A. I don’t reckon 
there is any better organized system of slandering in the wide world 
than they have there. 

By Mr. Bailey: 

Q. Excuse me, have yon read the Xew York Tribune?—A. I have 
sometimes seen a copy or two. 

Q. Is not tlie system of slandering to which you have referred bor¬ 
rowed in a great measure from that paper ?—A. It may be. I have not 
seen much of that paper, but I know that the organized system of slan¬ 
dering which is put in operation down there is most virulent and abom¬ 
inable, and is a source of great annoyance to me, as it must be to any 
man of the least sensitiveness of feeling. 

Q. When I say the Yew A^ork Tribune, I do not mean that paper 
alone, or particularly, but papers of the class of which that is a type 
and representative.—A. Well, I will say this: so far as I know anything 
about the Tribune, the Tribune deals out its slanders genteelly, while 
our i)eople deal them out coarsely and vulgarly. 

By Mr. Kiekwood : 

Q. You say that a man interrupted you at West Point, and that after¬ 
ward you quietly intimated to him that you were through with your 
speech, and that if he had any business with you, you were ready to 
attend to it ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. ATou went on to say that Mr. Davis, as you were coming aAvay, 
asked you if you Avere armed, and said that the man Avas coming to see 
you, and you said that he Avouldn’t come alone. What did you mean by 
that ?—A. I had looked him in the face, and I thought I kneAV that he 
Avould not come for me by himself. 

Q. Is it a habit with these bulldozers to go in crowds—half a dozen 
or a dozen to go for one man ?—A. I have been A^ery little in politics. I 
haA^e seen very few public meetings until this last cammss, and not a 
great many then. AYest Point aa^us a disorderly place, and these bull¬ 
dozers came there in a croAvd. At Okolona it was worse yet 5 there was 
a general outburst of confusion. 

Q. But about this thing of bulldozing: is it not true that Avhen they 
propose to assail a man they generally go in croAwIs ?—A. Yes, sir; they 
seem to be careful to haA^e the stronger force on their side. That seemed 
to be the Axay at AYest Point. At Okolona the whites Avere very equally 
divided. The negroes Avere pretty much on the Greenback side, conse¬ 
quently the crowd Avas very strongly Greenback. At this other place, 
MaylieAv, there was a crowd; I did not see the croAAvl, for it Avas in the 
night; but by the number of A^oices'there must liaA^e been tAvehx or 
fifteen people. This man at the court-house at AVest Puint came in with 
eight or ten. AAlien I made the canvass Avith Alcorn, in 18 G 9 , bulldozing 
AA'as more fashionable, and the bulldozers newer Avent out alone. We 
had some rencounters during that campaign, and since then I haA^e not 
mixed much Avith politics. 

Q. I ask these questions simply because I wish to learn the customs 
of the country down there.—A. You AviU find men in Mississippi, sir, 
particularly men of middle age and men of more adAmnced age, aaTio are 
moderate, respectful, and gentlemanly under all circumstances, liOAA^eA’er 
widely they may difter from you in sentiment. This boisterous conduct 
is confined almost entirely to the younger men, and I am sorry to be 


TESTIMONY OF W. H VASSER. 721 

coiui>elled to add that the i^olitics of Mississippi is mainly being* con- 
dneted by this class of younger men. 

Q. They are somewhat violent in their demonstrations^ then !—A. 1 
have seen some violence; Yes, sir. 

Q. And these younger men principally give tone to your politics ?—A. 
Too much so. In all communities you will find a class of timid men—I 
do not mean to use the word as applicable to physical courage entirely, 
but timid in their convictions; and a spirit of that kind has a tendency 
to drive away this class of men, some of Avhom maybe very good men, 
and driving them aAvay intlicts a loss ux)on community. 

Q. Is it considered incendiary down there to advise a colored man to 
stand ui) for his rights, and, if need be, tight for them ?—A. You better 
not talk too loud about that. 

Q. How?—A. I said, when it comes to that you better talk inetty 
low. I will give you my candid opinion in a few words. I don’t think 
the Republican x>arty could be reorganized in Mississippi. 

Q. \Yould it be considered incendiary for white men to advise a col¬ 
ored man to stand ux) for his rights, and, if necessary, to light for them ? 
Let me change the question. Woidd it be considered incendiary to 
advise a white Democrat, if he considered himself wronged, to make every 
effort to secure his rights, and, if necessary, to lighl for those rights ?— 
A. O, no, sir; that is said now on eveiy stumx). 

Q. But it would be considered incendiary to give the same advice to 
a black man or to a white Republican ?—A. It would certainly be con¬ 
sidered decidedly imx^olitic to do so, and a man Avould risk his rex^utation 
socially and otherwise to do it. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. AYliy did you say the Republican party cannot be reorganized in 
Mississippi ?—A. Because the Rex)ublican party in the State of Missis¬ 
sippi is virtually dead. The Republican party in the State of Missis- 
sixifh has had no Autality since 1875 or 187G. The leaders of the Rexnib- 
caii j)arty there Avere mostly R^orthern men, and Avhen the State xiassed 
into the hands of the Democratic party, the ^lorthern men went back 
home to their own States,’and the colored people were left pretty much 
without leaders. The result is, there is hardly a Republican organiza¬ 
tion in the State. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. You say when the State passed into the hands of the Democratic 
Xiarty the Rexmblican leaders left?—A. Yes, sir; the great majority ot 

them h‘ft. ^ 

Q. When they ceased to fill the offices?—A. Yes, sir; the negro was 
left x^retty much alone, and he has not the ability, and I might xirobably 
say the xhiysical courage, to come up and organize and keep his x>eople 
together without some outside assistance. * mi ^ i, 

Q. Do you mean there would be danger to the negro ?—A. That would 
be an oxiinion. 1 am satisfied, however, that the x^^2bl® of Mississix)x^i 
would never give their consent to haA^e the State of Mississix^X^^ X^^^^ into 
the hands of the Republican party. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

(). You mean the Avhite x)eople AA'ould not?—A. Yes, sir; the Avhite 
people. The Republican party in Mississippi is chiefly composed ot col¬ 
ored xieox)le. 

46 s C 



722 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


By Mr. Cameron : 

(}. Is it your oi)iiiioii that the white people of Mississippi have deter¬ 
mined that tliat State shall not pass under what they call negro con¬ 
trol ?_A. Yes, sir; I think yon would lind nineteen-twentieths ot the 

citizens of Mississippi ready to say that. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. The white citizens, you mean !—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Is it also your opinion that the people of Mississippi think they 
are justitied in resorting to such measures as may be necessary, what¬ 
ever they may be, to prevent that result!—A. I think they would resort 
to almost any means to prevent such a state of things as you are inquir¬ 
ing about. Our people have a great horror of being ruled by colored 
people. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Su])pose the colored peoide were in the majority!—A. I think very 
likely they are in a majority, sir. 

Q. Would not the white people submit if the majority decided to go 
one way !—A. Well, sir, the State of Mississippi did submit for a few 
years. 

Q. How is it now!—A. I think that every power conceivable, short 
of absolute antagonism of arms with the United States Government, 
would be resorted to by the whites to prevent the negroes from ruling 
over them again. 

Q. Y^ou think they would antagonize the colored people with arms !— 
A. I do not say ‘‘ with arms ”; that might bring down the United States 
Government upon the people; and our peoxile do not want to be in war 
with the United States Government. 

Q. You think that the fear of the general government would restrain 
them if anything- would !—A. I say the white people ot Mississipin 
would not tamely yield or submit to the character of government pre¬ 
ceding that of the iiresent Democratic administration of affairs in our 
State. 

(^. Is there not as much hostility to Northern x)eoi)le coming there and 
meddling with i)olitics as to the negro meddling with xmlitics!—A. The 
Xortherii politicians are mostly gone. A few Northern x)eoi)le have come 
there and settled, and they are generally on very good terms with their 
neighbors, so far as I know; but they are not taking much stock in 
politics generally. 

Q. There is an objection, is there not, to Northern people coming and 
meddling in politics !—A. Yes, sir; our x)eople feel that they are capable 
of taking care of themselves pretty well, and regard it as an intrusion. 

Q. Suppose that a few white men in Mississippi should conclude to 
reorganize the Kepublican party in that State, and in case they could 
(jarry the State should hold the offices themselves—not give them to the 
negroes, but hold them themselves—how would it be then !—A. I do not 
think you could get men there*with nerve enough to make any attempt 
()f that sort. It would result, I think, in social ostracism, which is keenly 
. felt by any man of cultivation and refinement, particularly if he is the 
. head ot a tamily; and I think that would be apx^lied to any man who 
would attemxit anything of that sort. I do not say tliat actual violence 
would be used, but worse than violence would be apxdied; that is, they 
would do everything xiossible to rob him of his good name and charac¬ 
ter, as is obvious from the course taken by the Democratic papers of 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER. 


723 


tliat district. I do not say that I liave felt it, bat you will find it in 
every ])ai)er you read througliout the State. I charge them with being 
cowardly attacks of every kind conceivable calculated to defame, and, if 
l)ossible, injure me, destroy my reputation, and blacken my name. 

By Mr. Kirkavooi:) : 

Q. You think that is worse than violence?—A. Yes, sir. , 

Q. Especially if violence comes in the form of one man at a time ?— 
A. Y"es, sir; 1 feel able to combat any one man at a time if necessary; 
but when it comes to the press and tlie ruling elements of community 
falsifying and blackening a man, then he feels it. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of the Sykes Chapel atfair?—A. I have 
not except from informal ion. I have knowledge regarding it, in another 
Avay, so that 1 do not feel at liberty to s])eak of it. 

Q. llo you know anything about the registration and illegal acts 
connected therewith—destroying the ballot-box, &c.f—xV. 1 have had 
occasion to examine seven out of eleven counties of the district in regard 
to the registration of x>oll-boxes. 


By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How examine themf—xV. In the capacity of foreman of the grand 
jury. 

Mr. Garland. Then if you say anything about that, state all that 
occurred before the grand jury. 

The Witness. I was going to make that (pialification—to say that as 
I learned it through being a member of the grand jury, and that 1 do 
not feel at liberty to state what I so learned. 

The Chairman. Of course, I do not intend to jmess that (piestion, 
but I do not judge that the examinatiou of records falls Avithiu the rule ; 
however, if the witness thinks so, I will yield the point. 

The Witness. I do not want to do anything that Avould in the slight¬ 
est degree reflect upon my conscientious obligation. 

Q. xYs I understand it, all your knowledge on that subject is not 
derived from that source?—xY.’ Xo, sir; my knowledge regarding some 
of the eA^ents ocimrring in my own county connected Avith that subject 
‘ is not deriAmd from that source. I examined the books in my own 
county before 1 Avent to Oxford. The books in my county were defect¬ 
ive—Adtally so, in some instances. Y ou x)robal)ly hav'e some idea how 
the books are arranged. There are proAuded four columus for tour 
years’ A^oting. The laAv recpiires that the registration shall (*ertity to 
the numl)er of votes of each ])recinct. The names are i)ut down al])ha- 
beti(;ally. Tlie law also ])rovides that they shall certify on the poll- 
books as to the correctness of the number of registered voters; also that 
all officers of election shall be (pialified by oath. Iheoath aduiinisteied 
in my county for three Amars past has been the re]>ealed oath i)ut into 
the code in* 1871. In *1878, the day before the election, 1 siu'ceeded, 
through the aid of one or two friends, in getting tlie proper oath on the 
])oll-book for five or six precincts. That ay e call the (*onstitutional oath. 
The rest of the books haA^e not the (!onstitutional oath. The i)oll-books 
are not certified to as the hiAV recpures. The certific^ate is re(piired to 
be put immediatelA^ under the last line, to prevent anybody from putting 
on any additiona’l names. That is com])lied Avith in the registration 
book, 'but there is no certification whatever on tlie ])oll-books 

Q. Do 1 understand that that is recpiired by law on the poll-book ?— 

Q. Wliat do you mean by the repealed oath ?—A. The code luoAides 
an oath of this sort: that the ])arties shall take an oath that they are 





724 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


in no Aviso interested in the election ; that they ^to not candidates, nor 
do they expect to he candidates, ♦Sre. The oath that is taken now is tlie 
oath taken by the courts of the (*onntry—the constitutional oath that 
yon will faithtidly discharge the duties of the position Avhich yon take 
upon yourself to hll, 

Q. They insisted on administering’ the repealed oath ?—A. Yes, sir; 
and they had sent out the books in my county with the repealed oath 
not Avritten on the book, but on a slip of paper and put into the poll- 
book, which is also not according to law. In some places no oath Avas 
administered to the inspectors of election at all. 

Q. Where was that f—A. I am not prepared to say where; I will 
merely say that I Avas not present, and leaA^e the rest to inference. 

Q. Are you aequainted in Lowndes County ?—A. Yes, sir. 

^Q. Is LoAvndes a Avhite or a black county'?—A. It is Aery largely a 
colored county ; the largest in the district. 

Q. Do you know anything about thcAmteat the last election there?— 
A. Only as I saw it in the papers. 

Q. Do you recollect aa hat it was ? — A. Something over a thousand, I 
think. 

Q. Do you know anything about Avhether the colored people in that 
county A’oted or not?—A. Only from what others told me; I have no 
personal knoAAdedge of the matter. I luiA^e been told by others, though 
I did not take any interest in the election. 

Q. Do you knoAv Avhy the colored ])eople there did not exercise their 
rights ?—A. The parties who do not vote say the reason that they do not 
is—some of them, at least, say—that they are afraid to Amte; others say 
they liaA^e not voted since 1875, and trace the failure to A"ote to the burn¬ 
ing and killing in Columbus, saying the negroes have shoAAm A^ery little 
interest in elections in Columbus since the burning and killing there in 
1875. 

Q. What should be the vote of that county in a fair turnout of 
voters ?—A. It should approximate betAveen five and six thousand. I 
think LoAAuides County has four represeutatAes to the State legislature. 
It may be three, but I think four. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Tlie iiapers show that at the election there aawc a thousand Azotes 
in Lowndes County?—-A. Yes, sir; aboA^e that. The largest Amte Avas 
that for Bell for sheriff. He had 1,300 vmtes. I think the Avhite Amte 
of Lowndes County was between 1,000 and 1,700 Amtes. 

Q. Do you know, from obserAmtion or otherAvise, that the colored peo¬ 
ple haA^e almost entirely ceased to vote since 1875 ?—A. There has been 
A'cry little A'oting done by the colored people in Lowndes County since 
1815. I am told that the colored people participate in municipal elec¬ 
tions there sometimes -, but fcAv of them, howcA^er. 

Q. You say you were a member of the grand jury ?—xV. 1 was. 

Q. Hoav long was that grand jury in session ?—A. It was in session 
three Aveeks and tAvo days. 

Q. I see by one of the papers here that the session of the grand jury 
there was brought to a very sudden conclusion. Can you state Avhy 
that Avas ?—A. The grand jury AA^as adjourned for two weeks, I believe 
It was—from a day or two IxYore Cliristmas to probably the 13th of Jan- 
uaiy is m^ recollection. This Avas done for the reason that some AA'it- 
nesses had not been obtained and the Christmas holidays Avere comino- 
on. When the grand jury met again the understanding’was that there 
was no money with which to run the grand jury, and so, of course, it ad¬ 
journed. ^ ’ 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER. 


725 


Q. For want of funds ?—A. That was the reason assigned to me hy 
the marshal and district attorney. 

Q. Yon spoke of one conviction ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was that a trial hy a jury A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have yon a knowledge of the character—the political character— 
of that jury—A. Only from this newspaper; and I was told hy parties 
there that the jury was so and so. I cannot speak from any personal 
knowledge of my own. 

Q. From this statement in the Democratic newsx>aper how do yon nn- 
derstand the jury to stand xxditically f—A. I understand that a vote 
was taken. I came very near not signing that x>ax)er when the marshal 
came around asking ns for our votes. But the marshal seemed to he 
very much interested, for he said he had heen censured for getting a 
Kadical jury; and finally I signed it at his request, stating how I had 
voted at the last Congressional election and at the x)receding Presiden¬ 
tial election. I had voted for Tilden as President; four years hefore 
that I had voted for Mr. Greeley. 

Q. Do yon know, either from the newspax^ers or otherwise, how that 
jury stood x>olitically f—A. I understood that there were ten Democrats, 
and two colored men whose x^olitics were not known; and I know some 
lawyers said that the jury was more than an average bright jury. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yon said it had heen charged upon you that you had taken the 
iron-clad oath when you went nx)on the grand jury, and you stated that 
it was not true?—A. Ko, sir; it was not true. 

Q. Was it charged ux)on you as injuriously affecting yon in any way ? 
—A. The idea was, I snx)X>ose, that if the jury consisted of a lot of men 
caxiahle of taking the iron-clad oath they must he Radicals, and so on. 

Q. It would he, then, according to that idea, something of a refledion 
nx)on a man if he had not heen in the Confederate service during the 
war f—A. Well, sir, Ave Inwe had men in that office who Avere not in the 
Confederate serAuce; hut they Avere Avarm Confederates in heart and 
feeling, just the same. 

Q. It is looked ux)Ou, is it not, as reflecting uxion a man somewhat if 
he has not heen on the Confederate side in ciAul or military life in some 
way “I —A. I think in my section of country a man who AAms considered 
so loyal to the Government of the United States during the war as to 
he capable of taking the iron-clad oath would be considered a sort of 
mossy-hacked man. 

Q. Could yon have taken the iron-clad oath yourself ?—A. O, no, not 
hy any means. 

Q. Were yon in the Confederate serAuce?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In Avhat ca])acity ?—A. I Avas captain commissary. I think I can 
assure you, gentlemen, that I did not kill any body, nor hurt any body, 
that I know of. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Yon say there AA^ere ten Democrats, and two colored men whose 
X)olitics Avere not knoAvn, that tried that case ?—A. That is AA^hat the 
Oxford pax)er says. 

Q. Do you knoAV hoAV those ten Democrats Amted at the Congres¬ 
sional election ?—A. Ko, sir; I don’t know x^ersoiially. 

Q. When yon were investigating Davis’s district did yon investigate 
other districts ?—A. Very little; AA^e had some witnesses summoned for 
them, but the money gave out and Ave had to haul off*. 


7.6 


MISSISSIPPI IN 187S 


[Thirl Cong. 


Q. Do you know where tliose ten Democrats voted ?—A. Ko, sir, ex¬ 
cept as tlie paper says; 1 don’t know ])ersonally where they Avere from. 

Q. Yon spoke of the complexion of the grand jury; did yon state how 
they voted t—A. 1 understood they voted seventeen for Tildeii out ot 
tAventv-tliree, and three for Hayes. 

Q. Hoav did tliey vote in the Congressional election?—A. As given 
hy that statement, seAvm for DaAus, tiA'e for Mnldrow, six tor Arnica, 
and one for IVlanning. I Avon’t he sure ahont Arnica, but 1 am (piite cer¬ 
tain tliere AA^ere seA^eii foiv Davis and tiAX for Mnldrow. Several did not 
vote at all. 

Q. To go back to the beginning: Do yon recollect the name of the 
gentleman aa ho asked yon Avhat document yon aa ere reading ?—A. YYs, 
sir; his name Avas Burch. 

Q. lloAv old a man Avas he ?— A. He Avas tAventy-eight or thirty years 
old. 1 found out afterAvard that he aa as a Maine man, and had a cork leg 
on. 

Q. State all that Avas said betAA^een yon and him ? —A. He came in 
Avhile I Avas reading, and Aany boisterously si)oke up and asked me. 

What are yon reading?” I was indignant at the manner in which he 
spoke, and retorted in no A^ery pleasant tone, “ I am not reading for 
your editication ”; for his manner was A^ery insulting. He put his hand 
to his pocket as if to draAV a pistol, but others gathered around him, 
and soon the sheriff Avent up to him and said something. 1 spoke 
shar])ly np to him, as sharply as he did to me. 

Q. Did yon curse one another ?— A. I rather think we did; I believ^e 
Ave passed the damns around a little; not while I AAais speaking, I don’t 
mean, but directly afterwards. I think it proper to say that I Avas the 
aggressor, for after I Avas through speaking I came doAvn from the plat¬ 
form, and Avent np near to him and said, Yoav that I am done speak¬ 
ing, if yon Avant anything of me yon can get it.” 

(^. Yon said yon had seen the like of that before, and so AAwe not 
terriffed any ?—A. I was not terrified any. 

Q. Blit yon said yon had seen the like of that before; A\"hat did you 
mean by that ?—A. Yes, sir; in the Alcorn campaign 1 had seen a good 
deal of that. 

Q, In the Alcorn campaign; that Avas a contest against carpet-bag¬ 
gers ?—A. Dent Avas a carxiet-bagger, and tAvo or three on his ticket 
were carpet-baggers; on the Alcorn ticket, he and myself Avere the only 
southern men on the ticket. 

Q. Yon s])oke of the people of Mississippi ghTiig their consent to go 
back to the rule they had previous to this iiresent gOAxrnment; Avonld 
yon give your consent to go back to that rule ?—A. 1 confess very freely 
1 Avonld not give my consent Avillingly. I Avonld resist by every legiti¬ 
mate means in my ])ower. 1 Avonld exercise every honorable effort to 
aAvnt any such state ot things. I aa as elected by Bepnblicans, it is true; 
l)nt in 1875 1 Amted AAitli the Democrats. If yon gentlemen desire to 
know the reason Avhy 1 did so, I Avill giA^e it to yon. The State at that 
time Avas run niider the control and management of illiterate colored 
people; the taxes AA’^ere heaA^y and increasing; onr State government 
was threatening to devour and destroy onr prospects in eveiy way; and 
I Anted Avith the Avliite peoi)le. It AA'as not called a Democratic party. 
It Avas called ^Hhe Avhite man’s party.” I don’t knoAV that I made any 
talks at all hardly that year; but I Anted Avith the Avhite people of my 
State. I Anted for Mr. Greeley for President, and at the last Presidential 
election I voted for Mr. Tilden for President. I voted for Mr. Mnldrow 
when he Avas first nominated for Congress. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER 


727 


Q. How many white voters are there in Lowndes County !—A. I su])- 
pose at the last election none of the colored people voted in that county, 
and some six or seven hundred of the white people did not vote. 

Q. You have accounted in some measure for the colored pt^ople not 
voting-; now, can you account for these six or seven hundred white ])eo- 
ple not voting !—A. I think I may say, that with some there was an 
inditterence; some were Greenbackers; it was very questionable wliicli 
of the two was the best Greenbacker, Muldrow or i)avis. I think many 
drew out of the election on the ground that they did not care to have 
anything to do with it one way or the other. 

Q. In that canvass it was questional)le whether Muldrow or Davis 
was the better Greenbacker!—A. Muldrow made very considerable 
strikes at the Greenback side of the question. 

Q. And you thiidv i)ossibly that six or seven liuiidred voters in Lowndes . 
County were indifferent upon that issue!—A. If you want my opinion 
upon the subject, though 1 do not like to give opinions for testimony, 

I think there were quite a number of people in Lovuides County would 
have voted for General Davis; but Lowndes County is peculiarly sit¬ 
uated; I think it is the only county in the district where the nep-o is 
afraid to vote in elections. That opinion is based upon conversations 1 
have had with both colored and white men. 

Q. Did you ever run for mayor of Aberdeen!—A. I did; at the last 
State election. 

Q. Were you defeated!—A. Very badly, sir; I was defeated by the 
.colored vote, sir; my opponent—at least the successful one, for I had sev¬ 
eral opponentwS—got two hundred colored votes. 

Q. What was the issue in that election!—A. None that I am aware of. 

Q. Who was your o]>ponent!—A. As 1 said, there were several of 
them: Capt. Thomas Sikes, a man named Elkin, and another nauied 
Bradford, and another named Jordan. 

Q. What was Sikes’s politics!—A. He is a Democrat. 

Q. Did he get the colored votes !—A. He did. 

Q. How many colored votes did he get !—A. About two hundred. 

Q. How many votes are there in the Aberdeen precinct!—A. We have 
two precincts in our town; I don’t think there are more than tour hun¬ 
dred voters in the city. 

Q. Was it a peaceable and quiet election!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was anybody intimidated, that you know of!—A. I don’t know 
that there Avas; 1 remember no charges of the kind; I think a good many 
more registered that were not entitled to register. 

(^. Where were you on the day of the Congressional election!—A. 1 
was at Lowndes precinct, nine or ten miles northwest of the town of 
.A-berdeen. 

Q. How did the election pass off there!—A. Quietly, sir; the only 
thing I saw there was this bogus ticket that was being circulated about. 
That was the lirst time I had ever seen it. I got hold of it, and told the 
colored people what it was. 1 first saw it in the hands of a Democratic 
justice of the peace. He had a number of Erazee tickets, and he gave 

q! Do you believe that the majority of the people of Mississippi would 
esteem and consider the speech from the paper that has been put in 
evidence here as incendiary !—A. I say the Democratic speakers c/n(r/;er7 
it as being- incendiary. I will say this: with but one exception, the le- 
marks made regarding- my speech were made by men av h<) had never 
heard it; they Avould pick up Avhat had been said about it Iia otheis, 
and Avould comment about it. The same speech was made in Aberdeen 



728 


MISSI.'SIPPI IN 1878 


[Third Cong. 


that you will see there in that paper, if you have curiosity enoiigii to 
read it. 

Then they were complaining, not of what yon had said, but of 
what they had heard you had said'?—A. It they had made that qualifi¬ 
cation I wonld have been satistied. 

Q. But it turned out that that was the case?—A. In my county there 
were six or eight or ten speakers in the (canvass, not over three or four 
of AYhoni ever heard the speech; but they, after they heard it, still called 
it a radical speech. 

Q. IIo you give it as your opinion that if Senator Cameron or any 
other Kepnblican wonld go down there and make a speech on the issues 
of the day, the people would call it incendiary?—A. If they would call 
mine an incendiary speech, they wonld call his so. If he were to go and 
make a Kepnblican speech, the politicians and newspapers of the State 
wonld call it incendiary. 

Q. Yon limit it to the politicians and the newspapers ?—A. Yes, sir; 
the politicians, great and small—not many great, but a great many 
small. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. These young men Avho go around- 

The Witness. Bulldozing—call it by the right name. [Laughter, 
which resulted in the question being left unfinished.] 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How many yonng men did you see going around in that way?—• 
A. I will mention all I saw. I was at Okolona and at Pontotoc; I was 
in Clay County and in Lowndes County. 

Q. With the exceptions you have stated, you did not see nor hear of any 
‘H)ulldozing”?—A. Yes, sir, I heard of it, but not in a manner such that 
I want to speak about it; I do not feel at liberty to communicate what 
came to me as a member of the grand jury. 

Q. In the part you took in the last election did you regard your per¬ 
son in danger?—A. Ko, sir, I did not; I would have left there if I had 
thought I was in danger. 

Q. You commenced living there in 1844?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yon voted for Mr. Mnldrow when he ran the first time ?—A. I did. 

Q. Are yon and he on good terms now?—A. So far as I know; I have 
nothing against the colonel myself. I threw some little missives at him 
during the compaign, throngh the press and otherwise, which I thought 
was legitimate; but if there is any hostility between us personally, I am 
sure I have no knowledge of it. 

Q. At tliese political meetings, were not a great many things said and 
done that yon did not consider as expressing the deliberate sentiments 
of the people ?—A. I am sorry to say that I consider them the senti¬ 
ments of the younger people. The older people in our State are retiring 
from the political arena, and these yonng men have become now the con¬ 
trolling and ruling spirits over the State. 

Q. Have you ever read the testimony of General Davis, given before 
the Bontwell committee ?—A. Ko, sir, only a small portion of it, just 
after it was published ; never since. 

Q. So tar as you recollect, did you approve of it at the time ?—A. Ko, 
sir, I had objections to it. 

Q. Can yon remember what yonr objections were ?—A. General Davis 
went fartlier on the colored question than I wonld have gone. I think 
that some colored people are good neighbors and good citizens; the 
great majority, however, are illiterate, improvident, dishonest, drunken. 



District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. H. VASSER 


729 


and wortliless. There are some colored men who have been benefited 
by this change, in point of intelligence and property and morals; but 1 
doift think the majority have been benelited in point of morals or any¬ 
thing else. Bnt 1 would not have made the statement quite so swee])- 
ing as the general made it. 

Ry Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yon have some bad white men among yon, have yon not ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. A good many of them, have yon not!—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Have they improved much, since the war ?—A. Ko, sir; they have 
deteriorated, I am sorry to say. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. That has not resulted from bondage!—A. I think a great many 
were demoralized during the war and have not recovered. 

Q. Yon spoke, a little while ago, about the people not being willing to 
see the Republican party reorganized; wonld it not be more proper to say 
“ resurrected ” ! I understand from yonr testimony that the Re])nblican 
party is really dead in yonr State ?—A. I said it was virtnally dead. 

Q. Has there been any Repnblican contest since 1875 ?—A. Rot since 
187(); I think that was the time Colonel Middrow ran first; he had an 
opponent at that time who was a Repnblican. 

Q. That was the last Repnblican organization yon have had !—A. 
Yes, sir; there have been independent organizations in some comities 
that were called Repnblican or Radical. 

(>>. There was a Repnblican electoral ticket in this State in 187C !—A. 
Yes, sir. 

By Mr Garland : 

Q. When yon voted against Mnldrow in 1870, was it because of any 
opposition to him or his policy, or that yon iireferred Davis !—A. I be¬ 
lieved that Davis was representing aprincijde or a policy that might re- 
snlt in something; I thought Colonel Mnldrow was simply representing 
a policy' for the time heing^ that wonld qnd when he got to Congress. 
The one was pursuing a line of fixed principles, and the other was throw¬ 
ing out greenback principles as a bait to catch votes. 

Q. So yon had a preference for the Davis policy !—A. Yes, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Yon spoke of the condition of the State government, previous to 
1875, as to taxes; how have the taxes been since then f—A. They are 
still oppressive, sir. 

Q. Has the Democratic party diminished the taxes in Mississippi !— 
A. I think they have some, sir; not so much as the Democratic papers 
wonld have yon believe, though. 

Q. Yon liave not derived all the advantage that yon had expected, 
then, from tlie change?—A. We have derived some advantage; in some 
respects—in manv respects—we have a better go^einmeiit, foi really at 
one time we had a very bad government. _ 

Q. Under Avhom?— A. Ihirticnlarly, I Avonld say, under the adminis¬ 
tration of Ames. , . . . » i t i i i • 

Q. Hoav Avas it under the Alcorn administration ?—A. 1 liad oInjec¬ 
tions to his goA'criiment, although I AA'as an officer under him. ihe jndi- 
ciaiy is an important thing, 1 consider, in any State, and oiii jndiciaiy 


730 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878 


[Third Cong. 


under Alcorn’s administration was not adciinate to tlie time and the 
emeri*enc.y. 

Q. Do yon consider that yon have a very good jndiciaiy now !—A. 
Xot an able judiciary, sir. 

Q. Could yon state to what extent taxes have been reduced in Missis- 
si])pi!—A. Xot by items. The Democrats have made this change: un¬ 
der Kepnblicaii rule in this State the judiciary exi)enses were paid out 
of a common fund at the State capitol; now these expenses are brought 
home to the counties; consecineiitly the State taxes show considerable 
reduction; but when yon bring the aggregate taxes of the State and 
county together, the redindion is not so great. 

Q. Are the rights of the ])eople cared for now better than they were un¬ 
der Alcorn!—A. Under Alcorn, white people considered they had no 
rights—in which I thought they were mistaken. We had an organiza¬ 
tion in Mississippi known as the Kn-Klnx organization. I know noth¬ 
ing of them ])ersonally. I don’t know one of them living. I know that 
men were arrested and brought to the courts charged Avith belonging to 
that organization and (mnvicted. I found out in that way Avhat the 
Kn-Kliix were. There were complaints made, I know, in my own coun¬ 
ty—a large colored county, and the business of the courts is large there 
—we were threatened at one time Avith a colored man for the office of 
c.hancery clerk. We had a colored sheriff, and a large defalcation en¬ 
sued from that sort of thing. As for the rights of the people under Al¬ 
corn I will say this, I do belieA'e he did everything in his power to pro¬ 
tect the people. 

Q. How has it been since GoA^ernor Stone has been in power !—A. I 
have no doubt he has tried to do the same. 

Q. Have there not been some disturbances since he has been in i)OAver ? 
—A. There have been some outbreaks. 

Q. Some among Avhite men as AA^ell as colored men !—A. Yes, sir. 

(^. Has anybody been punished for them !—A. I do not knoAv. 

Q. Was not Judge Chisholm killed, and his daughter and his son!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How far did that occur from Avhere yon reside!—A. Fifty miles, 
l)robably ; I think someAvhat more than that. 

Q. Was there anybody convicted for those murders!—A. I am not 
prepared to say. 

Q. Yon say you don’t know AAffiether there was any con Auction or not!— 
A. I don’t knoAv\ 

Q. Have yon heard that there has been no coiiAuction !—A. I have 
never heard that there has been; since then I have heard in the sonth- 
ern counties, I think, that some judge had resigned, not being able to 
enfoi ce the law, or something of that sort. I don’t knoAV the particulars 
of it. 

Q. Was that last year !—A. I think it Avas. 

Q. Was there not a good deal of complaint in that section, by promi¬ 
nent Democrats, on account of those murders!—A. 1 judged so from 
what I saw in the papei\s, sir. It was some distance from me, and I 
know nobody Aviio.liA^es in that section; but from the manner in Avhich 
the papers spoke of it, I think it Avas considered a bad affair. 

Q. Do yon remember seeing a letter from tlie mayor of the town in 
reference to tliat affair ?—-A. I don’t think I did. 

Q. A ho Avas the judge that yon spoke of who resigned—do you remem- 
bei ? A. I knovA^ him personally, if 1 can think of his name—O, it was 
fJndge femileiv, I think; he vv^as an old man. I would say this* Jud^^'e 
Smiley is a man of ability, but he is given to bad habits, and is now 


District.] 


Th:hTIMONY OP W H. YASSER 


731 


\ pitting old and iulirin. I understood that our governor intimated that 
► he was inadequate to the duties of his position, and he resigned. 

I By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Captain, wais there any Bepublican candidate for mayor of Aber¬ 
deen at the election last spring ?—A. No, sir; the candidate there who 
had been identiticM w ith the independent movement the summer before, 
they called a radical candidate; but he w'as chief cannoneer, I believe, 
in celebrating the Democratic campaign of 1875. 

( Q. It was then a contest among Democrats; at least not between 
, Democrats and Bepiiblicans ?—A. No, sir. 

; Q. Now, captain, suppose that (lovernor Kirkwmod, wdio is a very con¬ 
servative gentleman, w’ere to come to your towm during the ])olitical 
' camjiaign, and notice were to be given tiiat he would address the Beimb- 
licans at a (pertain time, wdiat would be said of ids speech if he wwe to 
say to the colored men wdio were present that if tlieir personal riglits 
1 were interfered wdth in the matter of voting they should resist inter- 
I ference, ev’en so far as to mse tlieir needle-guiis, as some one has spoken 
,< of to-day t—A. 1 think he would be thundered at pretty heavily through 
the press. I think, liow'ever, if lie wmre to go to my town and make a 
1 conservative Republican speech, that he would be listened to resjiect- 
7 , fully and attentively by the majority of our people, and 1 don’t think 
> that any manner of insult would be offered him; but if he were living 
in our midst, and wms attempting by speeches, even moderate sjieeches, 
to reorganize the Republican partry, he would meet with a very stern 
: and stubborn resistance. 

’ Q. Do you understand that it is the determination of the wiiite people 
of the State not to allow’ the Republican party to*be reorganized f—A. I 
; think it is the determination of the wdiite peojile of Mississippi that the 
Avhite i)eople of that State shall rule that State. I think it is their fixed 
7 determination; and I don’t think that a man of Mr. Davis’s known Dem- 
, ocratic proclivities, and his knowm fairness and good character, could go 
out and make a speech, ev^en on the greenback side of the question, 
without meeting, if not with violence, at least with contumely and insult 
and condemnation throughout the State from the iioliticians and the press. 
This system of wnirfare, wiiich they seem to have ado)>ted, has very gen- 
, erally proven very successful. 

• By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Then the colored vote must be suppressed, or sought for by the 
' Democrats only?—A. I will say this much: I never saw^ a Deinocratic 
candidate refuse a. colored vote, if he could get it. 

Q. Then your objection is not to the colored man voting, but to his 
voting anything excei)t the Democratic ticket ?—A. Thev don’t w’ant 
the colored nian to vote for any organization that w ill interfere with the 
Democratic party. 

By Mr. Bailey ; 

Q. The i)eople of Mississippi still have a very vivid recollection of 
their sulfering while the State w^as under Republican ascendency, have 
they not ?—A. I will say that the people there are very sore over that 
matter, and are determiiied that the Republicans shall never again hold 
the offices of the State. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. The average Mississippi -Democrat is very anxious to hold office 
himself, is he not?—A. 1 think the average man all the country over is 




732 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878 


[Third Cong. 


anxious to hold office. I will say this: They do not think that the col¬ 
ored men there as a class have the ability to fill the offices properly, or 
that they have a right to make laws for the white men of the country. 

By Mr. KiBinvoOD: 

Q. Does not that opinion arise mainly from the fact that the colored 
men were on what they consider to have been the wrong side during the 
^ar ?—A. I will say that the prejudices engendered between the North 
and the South have not by any means entirely subsided with all our 
peoi)le. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Those i)rejudices were not all engendered by the war; there were 
strong prejudices existing before the war, were there not?—A. They 
originated prior to the Avar, and by the Avar became fixed and per¬ 
manent. 

Q. Could a Eepublican liaA^e gone into Misssissippi prior to the AA^ar 
and made a Kepublican speech?—A. I will say lie would ha\"e met Avith 
a cold receiition. 

Q. Would it not be more proper to say Avith a Avarin reception?—A. 
It might have been a cold reception—in a lAond of Avater. Tliere AA'as 
great liostility to the Northern Kepublicans—abolitionists, you Avill remem¬ 
ber. There Avas intense excitement on that subject doAvn South, and the 
Democratic party were x)ro-slavery and considered the special guardians 
of the institution of slavery, and I cU) not think that a man could liaA'e 
traveled through my section of the South and made AAffiat were termed 
abolition s])eeches. They might haA^e said, ^^Get out; get away; you 
must not make such speeches.” I don’t mean to say, gentlemen, that 
they Avould have murdered him. 

Q. What woidd liaA^e been the result if he had persisted in making 
su(*Ii speeches ?—A. I Avould not like to be responsible for his personal 
safety. 

By Mr. Bailey : 

Q. When persons perpetrate offenses against the law, can they not 
be tried and convicted unMer the hiAvs in your State?—A. We liaA^e 
courts in Mississii)i)i. These frauds of which we have been talking ha.A^e 
been brought before some of them, but 1 have not heard of a case of 
ballot-box stuffing being tried. 

By Mr. Kibkavooi): 

Q. Our Democratic friends propose to repeal the Federal law on that 
subject.— A. The Federal Iuaa^s, I am free to saj", do no good; it may be 
that our x)eople Avill by and by take this thing into their own hands. 
The vyhites there are not the solid front that they are represented to be 
here in the Capitol. They are dhuded on the financial question, and 
some of them love office, as intimated. 1 knoAv there is a class of Avhite 
people that are going to vote the negroes, if they can vote them by fair, 
honest argument. 1 know I Avill take a colored man’s Amte, and use my 
influence fairly and legitimately to get him to vote my Avay. I think 
very likely that this fall Ave may have trouble about it; I don’t knoAv; I 
hope not. 

By Mr. Cameron: 

Q. HaA^e you eA^er known an offense of the kind which is denominated 

a political offense to be punished in any of your State courts ?_ 

M ell, sir, I cannot say as to that; it is a difficult matter to get men to 
go before grand juries and give their evidence. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. II. FIELD. 


733 


By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Yon say that a iiuniher of gentlemen in Mississippi, yourself 
^ among the rest, are eiuleavoring to procure colored men to vote for yon 
npon these financial questions in opposition to the Democratic organiza¬ 
tion ? Are there enough of yon to protect them in case they shonhl do 
so ? —A. Their only protection is the protection given by the white 
men who go with them. 

Q. Are there enough of yon to do that ?—A. In my comity there are, 
and in other counties in my district also, I think. 

Q. It would not he fair to ask them to vote with yon, if by so doing 
they would be subjected to trouble and danger?—A. Ko, sir; certainly 
it would not. It would not be fair to lead a man into doing what would 
starve him to death or cost him his life. I mean to induce them to vote 
onr way by fair argument, by anything legitimate, candid, and honest. 

Q. If yon should succeed in getting his vote yon wonld endeavor to 
protect him ?—A. Yes, sir; as far as I conld. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. From yonr remarks I infer tliat yon still anticipate taking a part 
in politics ?—A. I do not know that I shall. I shall certainly vote and 
very likely take an interest otherwise. 

Q. Do yon expect to be a candidate at the next election ?—A. I do 
not think that I shall; but we sliall certainly have a ticket in the field 
for comity officers. 

Q. Yon do not know whether yon will be a candidate yourself or 
not ?—A. I do not, sir. 

Q. Do yon think that, by persuasion and argninent, colored men can 
be got to vote any ticket besides the Kepnblican ?—A. My opinion is 
that the colored men will vote for any man or any ticket in opposition 
to the Democratic party if he thinks that he will be protected at the 
liolls in so doing. 

Q. The Greenback party was a party in opposition to the Democratic 
party, was it not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. It has been claimed that the colored vote of the South, to a large 
extent, has been converted in some way to the Democracy; that they 
really desire to vote the Democratic ticket; how is that, according to 
the best of yonr observation ?—A. My observation on the subject does 
not lead me to that conclusion. 


J. H. FIELD. 

WASHiNaTON, D. C., February 13, 1879. 


J. H. Field (white) sworn and examined: 



By Mr. Garland : 

Question. M here do yon live ?—A. Colnmbns, Miss. 

bvod there?—A. I am a iiati 



MISSISSIPPI IN 187S. 


[Third Cong. 


731 


Q. As cliairiuan of tliat committee, did you have good opportunities 
of knowing how the campaign was conducted and tlie occurrences Avliich 
liappened during the canvass in tlie district'?—A. I think perliaps 1 liad. 

Q. Now, witlmut putting the question to you in detail, I will ask you 
to state how the campaign was conducted, so far as ])eace and order 
were concerned, as to permitting persons to vote, and all in relation to 
it, that came under your observation, either personally, by corres])ond- 
ence, or otherwise.—A. I tliink until General Davis became a candidate 
op})osed to Colonel Muldrow that the people v^ere so confident, and I 
Avais well assured of the election of Colonel Muldrow, that it was not 
(jontemplated having an active canvass. 1 think it was the view of the 
executive committee of the district not to organize any active canvass. 
However, after General Davis became a candidate, it was determined 
by conterence with the various members of the Democratic executive 
(jommittee of that district that we would organize the cam])aign in such 
a way as to make it agreeable and pleasant for both parties—Colonel 
Muldrow and General Davis. AVith that object in view, the executive 
committee of the district issued a notification of appointments—the 
a])])ointments made by order of the executiv^e committee, naming the 
places and times where Colonel Muldrow would speak. Soon after this 
publication General Davis issued a jiublicatiou saying that he would 
speak at certain places and at certain times; whereupon I, as chairman of 
the exemitive committee, called upon General Davns in person. 1 first, 
howev'er, wrote to him, or to Major Yasser, I forget whi(?h, asking for some 
mutual plan to be arranged by which Muldrow and Davis could canviiss the 
district together. The answer was unsatisfactory. 1 called upon Gemn-al 
Davis in person, and had an interview with him and Major A^asser, whom 
1 supposed to be the managing man of the canvass for General Davis. 
In that interview 1 made a proposition to General Davis to make joint 
appointments. I first invited him to accept the appointments we had 
made and accompany Colonel Muldrow through the district. He de¬ 
clined to do so. 1 then told him that ('olonel Muldrow, by order of the 
executiv'e committee, vvmuld withdraw his apiiointments, or the appoint¬ 
ments that had been made for him, and we would adopt mutual appoint¬ 
ments, he naming one place and I naming another, alternately selecting 
the places. General Davis declined, saying he had made his own ap¬ 
pointments, and they suited him, and he intended to keep them. I tlieii 
proposed taking the a])pointments he had made as a basis, provided he 
vvmuld make mutual appointments after that. To that he declined. It 
was then determined that Colonel Muldrow should make a canvass 
according to the suggestion of the executive committee, meeting Davis, 
however, at such times and ])la(*es as we could fit our appointments with 
his. That vvms accomiilished. They met in several places, and, as Gen¬ 
eral Davis related himself, the speaking was pleasant and nothing dis- 
agreeaVde occurred. I believ'e West Point was a place named by Mr. 
Davis in his testimony and Columbus; 1 will not speak as to that As 
to West Point, I can oidy speak of that by hearsay, not being there. 
I have heard, howevmr, from gentlemen who vv^ere there that the speak¬ 
ing ])assed off ])leasantly, with the exception of the one disturbain.'e 
mentioned in Davis’s and Yasser’s testimony. I further heard stated 
that the party who had interrupteil Major Yasser in his siieech was (tar¬ 
ried away by a friend, that friend stating he had been insulted by Yas¬ 
ser; but, in the interest' of ])eace and not to have any disturbance, he 
had better go home. As I have been informed there wms no general dis¬ 
turbance. 

As to the unpleasantness at Mayhew, I havx information of thecountv' 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. H. FIELD. 


735 


executive committee ol* Lowndes County. As soon as it was ascertained 
that Davis was to speak at Mayliew, a member of the executive com¬ 
mittee of that county wrote or telegraphed to the chairman of the club 
of that county inquiring’ what kind of reception should be given to Gen¬ 
eral Davis; whether they should attend his speaking or not; to which 
the chairman of the executive committee replied, ‘Dfivehim a respectful 
hearing,” indicating thereby that he would like to have the citizens turn 
out and hear Davis speak. 

Q. The general si)oke about an apprehension of being pursued at Cal¬ 
edonia. Do you know anything about that ?—A. Yes, sir. lhave posi¬ 
tive knowledge of that. Tlie chairman of the executive committee of 
Lowndes County received a letter from Alayhew County advising him 
that General Davis, Major Yasser, and Mr. Troop, of Mayhew County, 
would speak in the northern part of Lowndes County on the evening 
previous to the election; whereupon the chairman of that committee in¬ 
vited Captain Ambrose and myself to go out and reipiest a division of 
time of the speakers, and thus speak to the same audien(*e. Ambrose 
and myself asked two or three friends to accompany us, as is usual in 
going out in country places, and on reaching the ground a crowd of ne¬ 
groes and whites numbering 40 assembled. We waited some time. The 
expected speakers did not arrive, and we concluded to leave and go 
back home. On the street we were in\ ited to address those present—a 
joint invitation from the whites and negroes present. We both declined. 
The request or invitation was insisted upon, and we decdined again. The 
invitation then came solely tTom the negroes to address them, and I did 
so. After the address they expressed their great satisfaction with that 
that I had spoken to them, and the meeting was in every way pleasant 
and agreeable. M>' language was as conciliatory and was as agreeable 
as speakers in that county themseh^es generally endeavor to address to 
the negro population. 

Q. At what x)oint was it you spoke ?—A. I think the place was called 
Davis Chapel. I am not cevtaiu, however; it is in the neighborhood of 
Caledonia. I will state further that General Davis was in Columbus 
the evening previous to the election, and hired a buggy and started to 
Aberdeen, "or in that direction; and I supposed he was going to meet 
this appointment, and we left expecting to meet hiin there. Tliat was 
the pursuit, perhaps, he meant in his testimony. We left i)erhai)s two 
hours after he left, and intended when we reached tiie point, or, rather, 
destination, that we would see General Davis and Yasser ami Troo]), 
and request a division of time for Ca])tain Ambrose and myself; but if 
that request was refused, we intended to return home. 

Q. So that was what he meant by the pursuit he mentioned ?—A. 

Yes, sir. . ^ ^ i 

Q. How many appointments did Davis have in the ciounty of Lowndes 
during that c^anvass ?—A. He had, as 1 reeMlect, live appointments. 

Q. How many of those did you attend ?—A. I attended three. He 
had two appointments in Columbus, Miss. His tirst aiipointment there 
when he Avent had no crowd; nobody went out Io hear him. SeA'eral 
of us asked him to return at another time, and we tried to make him iq) 
an audience as a matter of respect to him. He did so, and on this next 
return he had quite a respectable audience. He made a greenback 
speech to which all of his audience listened Avith marked attention and 
respect, and I thiidv it was a source of great gratificiatiou to him. 

Q How did matters pass otf at the other appointments that you at- 
temied Avhere he spoke ?—A. That covercM two a])pointments. One 
more 1 attended was at Itural Hill, a point in the east:eru portion ol the 


736 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


county—nearly all whites. There are very few iiegToes in that portion 
of the comity; the whites predominate. The western portion ot the 
county is mainly a negro portion. At that appointment he had no 
attendance whatever. Xobody came to hear him speak. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. [Neither white nor black ?—A. [No, sir. 

By Mr. Uarland : 

Q. How long have you known General Davis ?—A. I met him for the , 
first time during the war. 

Q. You lived in adjoining counties ?—A. Yes, sir. I 

Q. You liave met him often since that time?—A. Yes, sir. j 

Q. Is he easily frightened or intimidated ?—A. He is not. He lias 
not that character in our district. On the contrary, lie is regarded as a 
man of very fine personal courage and an aggressive man. 

(^, How about Captain Yasser; is he a timid, weak man ?—A. INo, 
sir; not at all. 

Q. Did you take him to be a man who could easily be intimidated ?— 

A. Since the killing of a man by him in his county I think* he has been 
regarded as a somewhat violent man. I would not take him to be a 
timid man. 

Q. Were you in Columbus at the time of this sham hanging and 
burning of Davis?—A. I never heard that anything of the kind would 
take place, and heard only casually of it the next day. I heard nothing 
of it, in fact, except in a casual way, and I never inquired into it. 

Q. It did not create any great feeling or excitement in Columbus ?— 

A. [No, sir; not at all. Anyhow, no jiolitical excitement. I have under¬ 
stood that it had another bearing entirely, and was caused by other than 
political influences. 

Q. What was reported about that ?—A. It was owing, perhaps, to the 
prosecution of a case he then had in court, or rather, I think, the de¬ 
fense ol a case in court. 

Q. Was it the case he has spoken of ?—A. Y^es, sir. [Not being famil¬ 
iar with court procedure and processes in that case, I would not testify 
about it. 

Q. Still, General Davis practices at that court pretty regularly, does 
he not?—A. He practices there frequently; I can’t say he practices 
there regularly. . ; 

Q. Outside of this occurrence, did the jieople act any differently from 
what they had ^cted before. During his stay at that court, about two 
weeks, was the treatment of the people any different toward him?—A. 

I heard a prominent gentleman say that he took esi)ecial care and pains 
to make General Davis feel at home Avdiile he was there, and iindted him 
to his office, and tried to make his stay pleasant. If there was any dis¬ 
courtesy I am not aware of it. 

Q. You corroborate the statement of General Davis as to the charac¬ 
ter of the vote of Lowndes County ?—A. [No, sir; I don’t. His state¬ 
ment Avas, I think, that the vote Avas 6,000. My memory is that the vote 
Avas between 4,000 and 5,000 ; say 5,000. 

Q. What Avas it at the last Congressional election ?—A. It was about 
020 for Muldrow, and about 95 for Davis; 10 for Frazee. 

Q. How do you account for the falling off of the A’^ote in LoAviides from 
about 4,000 down to something over a thousand ?—A. I think it Avas for 
seAwal causes, the most important of which Avas the contidence of the 
people in the election of Colonel Muldrow. He was regarded as a man 



Distiict.J 


TFSTIMONY OF J. H. FIELD. 


737 


representing onr people, and was very popular in the adjoining county 
especially. Our people felt well assured of his election, and I think for 
that reason did not turn out as well as they generally do. At that time, 
too, there was yellow-fever excitement, and our district didn’t care much 
about engaging in politics. 

Q. Was any one prohibited or intimidated from voting; did you hear 
or see anything of tlie sort ?—A. I don’t know a single instance of my 
own knowledge. I can’t recall any case I ever heard of. 

Q. Were any complaints of that character made to you as chairman 
of the district ?—A. Xone whatever. I would say in that connection, as 
a matter of justice to the committee, that, iii all our correspondence and 
plan of the campaign, it was agreed that it should be conducted upon 
the most conciliatory and pleasant plan; that, while the campaign should 
be active and energetic, it should be conducted upon principles of right 
and justice, and upon a policy of courtesy and conciliation. 

Q. Mr. Davis said something about cannon being fired on the day of 
election. What was the purpose of the firing, or of having the cannon 
there, if you know'?—A. I know the cannon fired several times from 
having heard it. I don’t knoAV why it Avas fired. 

Q. Have you any reason to believe that it Avas for the purpose of 
frightening or intimidating any one ?—A. I think not. 

Q. You heard the testimony of Mr. Davis yesterday in reference to 
his testimony given on the previous occasion before the Boutwell com¬ 
mittee in Mississippi. Do you concur Avith him in his estimate of the 
colored people ?—A. I don’t. I don’t Avant to indorse his language; nor 
do I agree Avith him in his AueAV of those people. 

Q. State AA^herein you difter from him as a citizen there, having oppor¬ 
tunities of knoAAung the colored people.—A. I think the negro is not 
inherently and essentially bad, as Mr. DaAus represents. I think he is 
susceptible of improvement, under right influences. I think he has 
secured considerable benefit from the present political methods. I be- 
lieA^e him to be, in the majority, ignorant and illiterate, and, I may say,, 
not a competent factor in our political element and in society. But 
there are exceptional cases, of course, Avhere the negro has proved him¬ 
self Avorthy, and in such instances he has the general respect and regarvl 
of our ])eople. 

Q. Well, take the people in the district that you represent, as an 
example. Ave they disposed to accord to the colored man alt the rights 
that he is entitled to under the law and the Constitution A. I think 
they are, Avith this modification: that the Avliite people generally would 
dissuade the negro, by kind and conciliatory means, from having any¬ 
thing to do Avith politics. I think Avhile they Avould not Avrest from him 
any political prmleges, at the same time they would dissuade him from 
any active participation in politics until he is prepared lor such a par¬ 
ticipation. To illustrate more amply, I think the position of our people 
is against any limitation of the suffrage or having the suffrage taken 
from the negro. That question A\ms raised in the nation recently, and 
there is a conimon expression against it in our section. 

Q. What do you understand to be meant in that country by the word 
^Ymdical” ? Something has been said about it seAmral times.— A. I dis- 
ao’ree Avith the vieAv taken of it yesterday. I think that “ radical” means 
extremist not only a Kepublican extremist but a Democratic extremist; 
and AAm have found it practically illustrated in our section that extremes 
meet. We have found that our extreme Itepublicans and our extreme 
Democrats meet upon coinmrging lines. We liaAm extremists m both 
parties that are ignored by the better class of our citizens, and I think 

47 s c 


738 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


the word radical” is generally understood to mean a man who would 
disrupt the pleasant relations of society and inject into i)olitics especially 
that ^^'hich is calculated to breed disturbances. 

Q. Now, if Senator Kirkwood, or Senator Cameron, or Senator Teller, 
or any of the Republican members of this committee slionld goto Colnm- 
biis or Aberdeen to make a Republican speech, how would they be re¬ 
ceived and treated there by the people whom yon re]mesent in your 
capacity as chairman f —A. I think the people would hail it with warm 
welcome as a sign of a purpose and honest intent upon the part of the 
Republicans to investigate properly. And what suggests the answer to 
me is that onr people have endeavored to get the best class of Republi¬ 
cans to visit our country. For a time we encouraged the incoming of 
all people, but finding that there was a low, degraded, and untrust¬ 
worthy class taking possession, we regarded them as the scum of society, 
and a more active effort was made to induce not only visitors, but as 
])ermanent settlers, men of a better class. I can name instances. Mr. 
Squires, of Ohio, I think, who came rei)resenting ])roperty, and bought 
a plantation in our midst. He was visited, I think, without exception, 
by all the best people of not only that county but adjoining counties, 
and many letters were written trying to establish colonies of that char¬ 
acter among our people. 

I think any Republican speaker such as yon name would be received 
in a cordial way, and all that he might say would be respectfully listened 
to. We liaA^e had sj^eeches from the most embittered and most vituper¬ 
ative and abusive orators—Greenbackers—which have been listened to 
without resentment. Of course we could afford to receive gentlemen 
most cordially. 

Q. Whom did Mr. Squires sn])port for President last time ?—A. I 
don’t know. As a further illustration I Avoidd name General Dent. The 
])eople of onr State were very anxious to satisfy the northern ]mople 
upon that question, that we were not trying to repel a proper invasion 
of our (country, and for that reason would not like to take a gentleman 
from onr midst. The Dent movement was a movement in the interest 
of onr State, and was meant as an argument with the northern people 
that we desired the quiet kind of men, not regarding their political 
status at that time. 

Q. Something was said yesterday about in(;endiary speeches. What 
do yon regard down there as an incendiary speech'in a political cam¬ 
paign ?—A. We regard that as incendiary which is calculated so to dis¬ 
turb and unbalance the pro])er relations of societv that our property 
interests become endangered. AVe very much object to mob violence. 
M e very much object to strikes; and the negro population is tlie mnsc.le 
force of our country. It represents the working ability of our j)eo})le, 
and to disturb that by arraying it with embittered feelings against the 
whites we regard as a direct attack' upon property interests; and we are 
anxious to conserve the peace by keeping all the relations of societv in 
proper adjustment. An incendiary speech, I think, is one calculated to 
make direct thrusts upon the progressive interests of our section. 

Q. Did yon hear any si)eeches by Captain Vasser f~A. I did not. 

Q. Did you read the speech or treatise he produced yesterday ?—A. 
I never read it; I don’t think it has been generally read. I Inive scarcely 
heard it mentioned. 

Q. Who were the most active supporters of General Davis in that 
campaign?—A. Do you mean the managers ? 

Q. Yes, sir. A. Captain Vassar and Mr. Frazee, as I am informed. 


District.] TESTIMONY OF J. H. FIELD. 739 


Q. This gentleman who received ten votes in the county at large!— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it the Mr. Frazee to whom General Davis refers in his testimony 
before the Bontwell committee f—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon recollect when Mr. Mnhlrow was nominated? He was 
nominated first!—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who were his opponents in the convention !—A. Yon mean four 
years ago! 

Q. Yes, sir; in 1870.—A. As I remember, his opi^onents Avere General 
Sharp, and General Davis and others—Democratic opponents. 

Q. Wlio were his opponents when he was nominated last, in 1878!— 
A. He had no opponents, unless it was General Davis. I was in that 
convention and I liave been told, and Avill give my authority if the com¬ 
mittee desire it, a prominent gentleman; he said to me that Davis and 
his friend Yassar, had written letters to various counties of the district, 
trying to see if General Davis could be properly and successfully brought 
before the convention. Not finding that he met with the success neces¬ 
sary, his name was Avithdrawn, or at least did not appear before the con- 
A'ention. Bnt the impression was left upon me that General DaAus had 
sought to mold the delegations to that convention in his interest in 
order that he might receiA^e the nomination. Failing to do so, he did 
not come before the coiwention. 

Q. Will you state, if you please, how the State of Mississippi com¬ 
pares now for i)eace, order and enforcement of laAv AAuth AA’hat it was in 
the year 1875.—A. I think more favorably. 

Q. Who was the governor in tliat State in 1875!—A. GoAwnor Paine. 

Q. How is the labor of your State now compared Avith Avhat it was !— 
A. Much more effectual. 

Q. Are you financially improAung or retrogading in your State !—A. 
Tlie nation is under a depression and incubus at this time, and qf course 
we suffer. 

Q. How are your material resources ! Are you getting along better 
in respect to tliem !—A. Yes, sir; a great deal better. Our taxation 
(if you mean to cover ex-erything), our State taxation, is much less than 
previous to the year 1875, and our county taxation is much less. I Avill 
state, however, that our State did not have a good credit, from known 
causes, and its paper was not A^ery negotiable, but our debt Avms not 
very large. But under tlie Kepublican regime^ not being able to fix the 
taxes upon the State, they would fix them upon the counties; and A\hile 
you woidd not see a vast reduction in the State debt, you would see it 
in the counties. In Mississii)pi, in regard to the reduction in the State 
debt the proper AAmy is not to consider Avhat the reduction of the State 
debt has been for seA^eral years past, but it is to the counties instead 
that yon must look, for there is a vast reduction of the county indebted¬ 
ness; I Avill say in some counties as great as two-third^ , , 

O Can von give us your opinion why the majority ot Colonel MuldroAV 
was’so large ! I believe it is about 3,000 !—A. Yes, sir; about 3,000. I 
think the popnlarity of the gentleman best ansAvers that question. 

Q. You base your opinion, then, as to his majority upon his popular¬ 
ity'^_^ Upon the desire of the people of his district to elect him. 

Q. He represented you once here, too!—A. Once here and once in 


O You belieA^e, then, that the district had full confidence and faith 
in his capacity to represent them !—A. Yes, sir, I do; and they regarded 

him as a conservative man. . , . . . ^ J. . i 4 . 

O. Do you concur Avith Mr. Davis 111 his statement ol yesterday, that 


740 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


if every tiling’ bad gone fairly he v-onld have beat Mnldrow by 10,000 
votes '?—A. "l don’t believe one word of his utterances to that effect. 

Q. Are the yonng men of yonr State principally in control of the politi¬ 
cal affairs of the State ?—a! Not unless yon consider men of thirty-five 
and uiiward young men. I think nine-tenths of the official management 
of the State is in the hands of men from thirty-five years of age up. 

Q. So that you don’t think that, strictly speaking, one-tenth would 
come under the head of young men ?—A. I do not, unless you call those 
of thirty-five years of age young. 

Q. There was something said about troubles at Sykes Chapel. Do 
you know anything about that ?—A. I don’t. On the day of election, 
or previous to the election, do you mean? 

Q. I think he said on the day of election ?—A. I don’t. I have heard 
a gentleman who lives in that county say that Vasser had made a speech 
advising the negroes to leave their work and to take an active interest 
in politics, trying to get out a solid vote for Davis; and that up to that 
time the people were not interested much in the election. But from 
that time on the white people turned out solidly, and did on election- 
day vote. It aroused the white peo])le to a sense of the position that 
was made, and they generally turned out and beat on election-day. 

Q. You have been taking an interest in politics before this canvass, 
of course ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was this election comparatively as orderly and peaceable as ordi¬ 
narily ?—A. I think it was as peaceable as any election I ever witnessed 
in the State. 

Q. Were there any complaints made afterwards to you of any ballot- 
box stuffing?—A. None at all; none, I believe, made to me. 

Q. Did you know of any, or did you have any opportunity of witness¬ 
ing any ballot-box stuffing ?—A. None at all. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Will you give me the counties that composed this district ?—A. 
The first, Tishomingo, Alcorn, Itawamba, Prentiss, Chickasaw, Monroe, 
Clay, Oktibbeha, Lowndes, Lee, and Pontotoc. 

Q. Are you able to give the proportion of colored votes in each county ?— 
A. I am not. 

Q. Can you give the colored vote of 1875, 1870, and 1878 ?—A. I don’t 
recollect it. 

Q. Let me ask you, is Alcorn a Eepublican or a Democratic county 
heretofore—up to 1875 ?—A. I think it is Eepublican; I don’t know. I 
will state that up to 1875 I was not a resident of that district, and took 
no part in politics up to that time, hence I don’t know the political 
status of some of the counties in the district up to that time. 

Q. Is it a white county or black ?—A. It is regarded as a black county. 

Q. Is Chickasaw Avhite or black ?—A. Black. 

Q. What would you call that before 1875—Eepublican or Demo¬ 
cratic?—A. I would say Eepublican. 

Q. Take Clay ?—A. 1 would say Eepublican. 

Q. Take Itawamba ?—A. I would say Democratic. 

Q. Take Lee ?—A. Democratic. 

Q. Take Lowndes ?—A. Eepublican. 

Monroe?—A. Eepublican. 

Q. Oktibbeha ?—A. Eepublican. 

Q. Largely so, was it not ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. I'ontotoc; ^vhite, is it not ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Prentiss ?—A. White, I think. 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. H. FIELD. 


741 


Q. Tislioraiiigo ?—A. Democratic; it is wliite. 

Q. You say that up to the time that Davis came iu the field you liad 
uot anticipated having any real canvass ?—A. Yo, sir; we didn’t know 
of any opposition to Colonel Muldrow. If we had, we would have 
decided to unite on him. 

Q. Of what do you speak?—xV. Of the white people. However, I 
knew of no objection on the part of the colored people, nor any favoritism. 

Q. Have the colored people i)aid any attention to politics since 1876 ?— 
A. Locally, they have; generally, they have not. 

Q. After Davis was a candidate, then you concluded that you Avould 
inaugurate a campaign ?—A. We concluded we would try and elect our 
man. 

Q. Davis running as an independent candidate—a G-reenbacker ?—A. 
He was running as a Greenbacker. He styled himself one. 

Q. Did he not claim to be a Democrat too ?—xV. I could not say whether 
he claimed to be, or not. I think he did. 

Q. Where did you commence your campaign I —A. It was begun, as I 
recollect it, in tlie western part of Chickasaw County. 

Q. That was before the joint discussion ?—A. Yes, sir. I think, how¬ 
ever, I labor under a misapprehension. I believe that Colonel Muldrow 
gave up one or two appointments to meet General Davis in his appoint¬ 
ment ; and in the western part of Chickasaw County they met first, Col¬ 
onel Muldrow going to General Davis’s appoinlment and requesting a 
division of time. I recollect it now for the reason that it had been 
reported to me by one of the district members of tlie executive commit¬ 
tee that it was rumored that Muldrow feared to meet Davis. Davis’s 
friends so represented it—that Davis had to that extent intimidated 
Colonel Muldrow, and that he feared to meet Da^'is; that such was the 
impression, and that it was a groAving one. Whereupon Colonel Mul¬ 
drow was advised to go and meet Davis, and give up his appointments, 
to correct any imi)ression of fear on his i)art. 

Q. Now, after commencing your campaign, Avhat kind of people did 
you have at your meetings ? Were they white people or black before 
you came in contact with Da^ds and his party ?—A. I think the at¬ 
tendance Avas generally AAdiite. 

Q. After you came in contact AAuth Davis, was there any increase in 
the number of colored people that attended tliese meetings ?—A. I Avas 
not present. 

Q. Well, do you know from general report ?—A. I made no inquiry 
as to tliat. 

Q. You said in answer to an inquiry i)ropounded by Senator Garland 

that your people- A. I can surmise the question. I think there was 

an increase of negroes. 

Q. You think your people were not opposed to the colored people Act¬ 
ing, but still would dissuade them from the exercise of that right until 
they are better qualified ?—A. Yes, sir; I said words to that effect. 

Q. By that do you mean to be understood that you and your people 
think they are not entitled (1 do not hoaa^ speak of the hiAv) to Amte?—A. 
I don’t mean to say that they are not entitled to Amte. We think that 
they are entitled to enjoy the prerogatiA^e of suffrage, as it lias been 
given them, but we think Ave can . better guide and direct them than 
they can direct themselves; hence AA^e try to make them subject to our 

^^^Q^^Tlien Avhat you mean to say is that you want the colored people 
to haA^e the right to vote, l>ut you AA^ant tliem to Amfce as you and your 
friends desire ?—A. We Avould prefer to have them think so. 



742 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


Q. You are opposed, I iinderstancl you, to taldng away tlie right of 
suhrage from tlie colored people ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yet I understand you to say that they are incapable of intelligently 
exercising that right ?—A. 1 said so—to some extent. I said there were 
exceptional cases. 

Q. Please state why you are opposed to taking away from them the 
right of suffrage, if they are incapable of exercising it for the public 
good.—A. For the reason, I think and do believe, that the negroes will 
co-oi)erate with the whites in the future, and we will act together. I 
think the negro is becoming more reconciled to the whites of our section, 
and they will understand each other politically better at some future 
day. 

Q. Then you mean to say that you are anxious they shall keep the 
right of suffrage because you think in that way to increase the power of 
the white men in that section !—A. Yes, sir; but not the power of the 
white man as against the black. 

Q. Yo, I didn’t put it that way. If you have the power to direct the 
negro the way to vote, there is no objection to his voting'?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Su]>posing the negro becomes contumacious and will not allow you 
to direct his vote; how then ?—A. I don’t understand you. 

Q. Suppose he denies this right of yours, and votes as he desires; how 
would your people receive that !—A. I can probably answer the question 
by going to the past. 

Q. i^'o; I think the question is capable of answer: whether your peo¬ 
ple would be satisfied to allow him to vote if he votes contrary to your 
judgment?—A. I would like to recur to the past. 

Q. No, you can answer it now. I think the countiy has had a pretty 
general knowledge of the past affau's of Mississippi; I want you to 
answer that question with reference to the present time. Supposing the 
negro in Mississippi where you live refuses to be guided in what you say 
is the proper way to guide him, and votes contrary to the judgment of 
your friends and yourself, Avhat would j our people then think of it I— 
A. They would think as they think now. They allow negroes now who 
Avish to Amte the Eepublican ticket to a ote it. I ha\'e knoAAUi negroes to 
go to the polls frequently since 1875 and Amte the Eepublican ticket; I 
suppose they would act under similar circumstances in a similar way. 

Q. Now, can you account for the fact that in LoAAUides County in 1876— 
you liA’ed there then?—A. Yes, sir; in 1876. 

Q. There Avere only two Eepublican votes in the county ?—A. Yes, 
sir; I think 1 can. 

Q. Then let us hear it.—A. In 1875, the Avhite people were A^ery much 
oppressed by the enormous taxation. 

Q. I don’t care about your going back now to the history of this country. 
You can give us the reason?—A. I can’t giA^e the reason AAithout going 
into preliminaries. 

Q. You liaA^e gone oaw taxation.—A. I am not going to refer to that. 
The onerous taxation under which we suffered at that time the people 
intended to try to get some relief from. The tax i)ayers of this State 
called a tax convention to meet a day or two previous to the assembling 
of tbe legislature- 

Q. Now, it is not necessary to go OA^er that. I Avant to know why the 
negro did not vote in 1876, in LoAvndes County, if you can tell.—A. I 
think, then, to answer you as directly as I can, that it was OAAung to a 
thorough knowledge on their part of what their sufferings had been and 
at the same time a knowledge that the white people had resolved to try 
and throw off’ Eepublican oppression at the ballot-box. 



District.] 


743 


TESTIMONY OP J. H. FIELD. 


Q. Be frank and say whether it was not the knowledge on their part 
that thej would not be allowed to vote the Eepnblican ticket in Lowndes 
ouii . A. I cannot say that; they have voted the Eepnblican ticket 
since, and they had voted it overwhelmingly before. I am willing to 
concede as far as I can anything that is possible in reference to yonr in- 
qniT;y, but I would not like to concede more than I know. 

Q. In 1873 and 1875, they votedA. Yes, sir. 

Q. The record sliows they voted more than 2,000 votes in 1867 ?_A 

les, sir. 

Q. That was the time yonr people were getting rid of this burdensome 
taxation ?—A. Yes, sir; I think it was. 

Q. Was it not the 1875 election in which the State passed into the 
control of the Democracy A. I think so. 

Q. Yow, in 1876, was it not a fact that yon had the entire State gov¬ 
ernment in yonr own hands '?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yet yon are aware of the fact that in that county there were only 
tw o votes cast for the Eepnblican ticket ?—A. I don’t remember it. I 
suppose it is true. < 

Q. That is shown by the statistics of the State here. You say thev 
have voted since. Have they had a Eepnblican ticket in Lowndes 
County since ?—A. I think not. 


Q. Has any Eeimblican been a candidate in that county since, unless 
you could call Mr. Frazee a Eepnblican'?—A. We have two negroes now 
in the town of Columbus elected by the whites and blacks. 

Q. On the Eepnblican ticket ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. They were voted for on the Democratic ticket, were they not ?—A. 
I don’t knoAv what you would call it, whether a Democratic or Eepubli- 
can ticket. It was a mixed ticket of Eepublicans and Democrats. 

Q. Do you call them Eepublicans ?—A. They are known to be such. 

Q. Are all the blacks known to be such ?—A. I mean these two Ee¬ 
publicans who were elected. 

Q. You are not aware that there has been a Eepnblican ticket in 
Lowndes County since 1876 ?—A. Not exclusively and entirely a Eepub- 
lican ticket. 


Q. Are you acquainted with Clay County ?—A. Yes, sir; somewhat. 

(^. Do you know whether there has been any Eepnblican ticket run 
in that county since 1876 ?—A. I don’t know. I think not, however,- 
unless local. 

Q. Do you know^ of any local ticket being run there “?—A. I don’t; 
but I think there was. In the town of West Point I think there was a 
Eepnblican ticket. 

Q. You don’t know whether it was so, or not ?—A. No, sir ; I don’t. 

Q. Any Eepublican ticket in Monroe County since 1876 1—A. None 
but local. 

Q. Was there a local ticket ?—A. There was in Aberdeen, I have been 
told. 

Q. What kind of ticket ?—A. A Eepublican ticket for town officers. 

Q. Was it elected ?—A. I heard Mr. Yasser say yesterday it was de¬ 
feated. 

Q. Do you claim a Eepublican has run on that ticket ; did he not say 
yesterday he was not a Eepublican ?—A. I did not so understand him. 
Yasser said he had been elected by Eepublicans. 

Q. When ? Has he ever run on the Democratic ticket ?—A. Not that 
I know of. 

Q. Did he not run in 1873 for State treasurer?—A. I can’t say. 


744 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Con". 


Q. He is so put clown liere in tliis book as imnning for it.—A I tbink 
lie is classed as a Eepublican. 

Q. That is, tile ticket was not a Eepublican ticket. Then you don t 
mean to say there was a Eepublican ticket at Aberdeen?—A. Well, there 
was a town ticket; that is the only instance in which there was any. 

Q. Well, take Oktibbeha, where in 1875 the Democrats seem to have 
44 votes against 1,243 Eepublican. Have 5 011 ever known any Eeiiub- 
licaii to run in that county since 1870?—A. I have not. 

Q. Did the Eepublicans have any candidate on the State ticket in the j 
last election?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Did they run any candidates for Congress in any of the districts?— 

A. I don’t know, unless General Davis, and probably in the lower por¬ 
tion of the State. i 

Q. Who was that?—A. I don’t remember iiositively about that. 

Q. Who was the man?—A. At this instant I do not recall’his name. 

Q. Of what district do you speak?—A. I don’t know whether the Ee- i 
luiblicans style themselves Eepublicjans or not. The opposition was 
the Gr(*enback ticket in the various districts of the State. 1 don’t know 
whether the Greenbackers were Democrats or Eepublicans, Hence I 
can’t ansAver your question. 

Q. So far as you know, you are not aware of any out and out pro¬ 
nounced Eeiiublicans running for office in the State?—A. Not at that 
time. 

Q. You say you are against the limitation of the suffrage, and that 
that subject had been recently agitated. Do you mean in Mississippi?— 

A. I don’t knoAA^ that I used the Avord ‘^agitate.” I think I said there 
had been general expressions of o])inion. 

Q. Where do you mean ; in Mississippi ?—A. Yes, sir; in the State 
of Mississippi. 

Q. What occasioned that exxiression of opinion ?—A. It AA^as a reso¬ 
lution introduced in Congress. 

Q. Did you understand the resolution under AAdiich this committee 
was apxiointed to indicate that there was any class of men here Avho 
desired to abridge the right to A^ote ?—A. That was the imxiression of 
the people. 

Q. You say you are o^iposed to that in Mississiiijii ?—A. I think so ; 
that is the general ex^iression as heard by me. 

Q. Noav, you have explained in iiart AAdiat you consider a radical 
speech. You said that the radical method of treating xiolitical affairs 
bred disturbance. Noav, exiilain further what you mean. — A. I said 
that AAns the meaning of an incendiary sjieech. 

Q. Well, incendiary speech bred disturbances. Now tell us what you 
consider an incendiary speech.—A. As I said, I regard an incendiary 
speech as one aimed directly at the perA^ersion of the proxierty interests 
of the State, an attack 11 x 1011 them. 

Q. That is so indefinite; xfiease give us a sxiecimen of them. You 
have heard some of them this year, give us a specimen.—A. I AA^oiild 
say that a speech of that character is one going outside of x^olitical sub¬ 
jects into others, trying to Avork u]) distrust between the negro x^oxnila- 
tion and the white, arraying one class as against the other, either upon 
the x>urt of an extreme Democrat or uxion the x>art of an extreme Ee- 
Xiubhcan. 

Q. You say that a Eepublican speaker coming dowm there and making 
speeches Avould be acceptable to the people ?—A. I don’t say that ex¬ 
actly. I said that Mr. Cameron, for instance, or such a gentleman, a 
Eepublican speaker, Avoiild be welcome in our section. 




District.] 


TESTIMONY OF J H. FIELD. 


745 


Q. suppose a Eepublican speaker like Mr. Cameron should come 

into Mississippi and should address tlie colored people and should 
charge the Democratic party that, in all its history, it had been against 
the poor man and for the rich; that, during its active life, it defended 
and sought to extend a system of slavery; that it admitted the right of 
capital to own labor; and then, should call attention to the fact that 
the men who were before him were indebted to the Eepublican party 
for the changed condition of affairs, and should say that it was their 
duty to go with and vote for that party that had shown sympathy for 
them and interest in them and a (letermination to right their wrongs; 
how would that suit your people ?—A. I think they have heard so much 
of that, they would not pay much attention to it. 

Q. Do you call that incendiary I —A. I^fo, sir j I don’t think that the 
people regard that as incendiary. 

Q. Suppose, then, he should say further that the present owners of 
land were improving their opportunities as owners of the land to repress 
the negroes, and should say that the colored people ought to leave it 
and go upon government lands and make themselves homes; how would 
they like that I—A. I thiidi some would favor their going and some be 
against it. 

Q. I mean not out of their State.—A. I think they would regard it as 
mistreatment, and object to it. 

Q. Now, would they not object to anything that was calculated to 
make the colored man independent and the white man labor'?—A. No, 
sir 5 I think on the contrary every capitalist (if you understand me to 
mean by capitalist, a man who owns land); on tlie contrary, I say, every 
capitalist is struggling to make labor independent. 

Q. Now, please tell me what you said a moment ago—why you ol\ject 
to these, appeals made to the colored people and call them incendiary 
speeches, when the colored people own most of the land.—A. I didn’t 
say that; I didn’t mean to say that we objected to it. 

Q. “Incendiary speeches because they were calculated to disturb the 
relation of capital and labor, inasmuch as the colored people were the 
laboring people of the South.” Was not that the substance of it '?—A. 
We don’t regard it as a disturbance; if a legitimate effort is made to 
improve their condition, we don’t regard that as incendiary; on the con¬ 
trary, we encouraged it. 

Q. Well, what is the objection to an incendiary speech?—A. I see 
we don’t understand each other as to what an incendiary speech is. 

Q. I have been trying to find out, and I have not been able to from 
you. You don’t seem to be willing to let me know what it is. You say 
an incendiary speech is objectionable and there you stop.—A. No, sir; 
I say a speech is incendiary that is aimed direcdly at a revolution of our 
present business and social affairs; that would array the negro as a 
laborer against the employer, that would make an attack upon the capi¬ 
tal interests by so unfitting the labor of the country that we should 
have no control of it; bv so disrupting the peaceable and harmonious 
relations between the white and black, and the good understandings that 
should exist between them as to make them inimical to one another. 

Q. Has that harmonious relation existed for se\^eral years in Missis¬ 
sippi ?_A. I think it has in a business way. i 

Q. How was it in a political way in 1875 and 18<G ?—A. I don t think 

there has been political disagreement. ^ . x ^ 

Q Did Mr. Yasser make any attack upon the property interests of 
the State ?—A. If he is quoted correctly I think he would not be regarded 
as in entire accord with the interests of the people. 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


7 IB 


Q. In what particular ?—xV. In advising the negroes to leave the fields 
of cotton and not to i)ick them. 

Q. Did yon understand he made such a speech f— A. I did 5 I heard 
so. 

Q. Yon said that the people understood he advised them to come out 
on election day. Did he advise them to come out at any other time?— 
A. YYs, sir ; 1 think he advised them to leave their work and abandon 
the i)lantations. 

Q. How did these colored i)eople work, by shares or by the day ?—A. 
They work indiscriminately, by the day and on shares, and work for 
monthly wages. 

Q. That would be poor advice to give a man who was working on 
shares ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Still, a large i)art work on sliares ?—A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. That was i)oor advice ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They are as much interested as the man that works the land ?—A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. Do yon think the negroes would be apt to take that advice and 
leave the crop they had an interest in ?—xV. Sometimes they have and 
sometimes they liave not. 

Q. You say that the people there are entirely willing to receive 
northern emigrants. Do yon think that is the general feeling ?—A. Of 
the right character; yes. 

Q. What do yon mean by the “right character”?—A. Men Avho assist 
in i^romoting general interests, Avho would look to the honest i)rogress of 
the country. 

Q. Mr. Squires that came there—what are his politics ?—A. I don’t 
know. If I did I have forgotten. 

Q. Kow, if he had been a pronounced Eepublican, would you have 
heard it ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. You think, however, it would have made no difference in his treat¬ 
ment?—A. I don’t think it would, he being the man he was. 

Q. You say the country is much better oft than in 1875?—A. I 
think so. 

Q. You think human life is much safer in Mississippi than in 1875?— 
A. I would say that there is much difterence in that regard, though 
1 egard that it has always been safe there. 

Q. Did you hear in 1875 of any killing of people growing out of 
political excitement ?—A. I have heard more or less of such excitement 
all through the nation. 

Q. I am only asking now about Mississippi ?—A. I have heard about 
it; yes, sir. 

Q. The taxation has been largely reduced in Mississippi ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How much was it in 1875, when the Democrats took possession of 
the government; wliat was the State taxation then—the percentage?— 
A. I don’t remember. 

(^. Y hat is it iioav ?—xV. I even forget now, but I know from the tax 
receipts that there is a great difference. 

Q. Some State tax has been by legislation put upon the counties ?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Such as the judiciary and school tax ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. YTiich was proAided for by State tax up to 1875, Avas it not. Xoav, 
hoAv is it collected?—A. AYell, I don’t think the school tax AA^as. I 
think you are mistaken about that. 

Q. YTien you say the material resources are better than 1875, do you 



District.] 


TESTIMONY OF J. H. FIELD. 


747 


refer to anything- besides taxation ?—A. Yes, sir. I think tlie State is 
generall^^ niaterially in a better condition. 

Q. What ^N’^as the debt in 1875?—A. I think it Avas about $1,200,000. 

Q. What is it now ?—A. I think about $400,000. It was $1,200,000 
when Stone made his first re 2 )ort. 

Q. Did he not report that there was $500,000 to be credited on that, 
reducing it to $700,000 ?—A. I doift know about that. 

Q. It was then made about $700,000 ?—A. I don’t know. 

Q. Now you say tliat tlie county taxation was burdensome. In Avhat 
counties Avas it burdensome ?—A. It AA^as A-ery burdensome in counties 
that I had some information about. 

Q. Name them.—A. BoliA^ar for one, and Panola for another. lu 
Lowndes, my county, taxes are much less than in 1875. 

Q. What AA'as the debt of Bolivar ?—A. I don’t recollect. I think the 
taxation was fully 3 per cent. 

Q. W hat is it now ?—A. It is at least one-half less, so I haA^e been 

told. 

Q. You don’t knoAv positiA^ely.—xl. Only from tax receipts. 

Q. What AA^as the debt of Panola ?—A. I don’t remember the tax, but 
I remember the tax receipts shoAv a reducing of it of (piite tAvo-thirds 
of the then indebtedness. 

Q. Do you knoAv how that is done? Is it because they have paid off 
the debt, or that the expenses are less ?—A. It is because the expenses 
are less. 

Q. Those are the only counties you know of ?—A. That is all. 

Q. What Avas the debt of LoAvndes County ?—A. I don’t knoAv ; but 
the taxes have steadily decreased. 

Q. What is the debt now of that county ?—A. I don’t knoAA". 

Q. Any debt at all ?—A. Yes, sir; I think AA^e haA^e a small debt 
remaining for an iron bridge across the riA^er. 

Q. Is it not a fact that in all the counties after the Avar they Avere 
greatly impoA’erished, and the taxes Avere not collected for a long time; 
that it Avas a necessity that the county got into debt; that the blacks 
had nothing to pay for anything, and the AAdiites as well had to go in 
debt ?—A. That is not my experience. I think the taxes Avere genei ally 
collected on the im]>rove(l lands. I think there Avas a steady increase of 
taxation up to 1875.. 

Q. You think there is a decrease since then ?—A. I think so. 

Q. Still, you are not able to say ?—A. Not as to the specific taxes. I 
only knoAV that taxes have been reduced in the county two-thirds. 

Q. That is the county you mentioned—Panola ?—A. Yes, sir; and the 
tax receipts are evidence of that fact. 

Q. You think that General DaA-is did not receive a majority of the 
votes of that county ?—A. I don’t. 

Q. From Avhat source did the General get his Amtes; AALite or black ?— 
A. Some AAiiites and some blacks; mainly black. 

Q. Hoav AAms it in Monroe County; how did the vote stand there? 
That is Avhere he resides?—A. Yes, sir; I think he had probably 500 
majority there; though I don’t state that as a fact, but only from mem¬ 
ory. 

Q. Do you. kuoAv what the total vote Avas in that county ?—A. Prob¬ 
ably 2,000. 

Q. What is the white vote of that county ? HaA^e you any idea ?—xV. 
I don’t knoAV the Avhite vote. 

Q. In LoAvndes County, how many did he haA'e ?—x^. Ninety-six, I 
think, or ninety-three. 


748 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


Q. How many liad Frazee ?—A. Ten, I think. 

Q. Colonel Mnldrow had how many ?—A. Xine hundred and twenty, 
I think. 

Q. Yon think the total voting population of that county is fully ui) to 
5,000 ?—A. Between 4,000 and 5,000; say, about 5,000. 

Q. Has your attention been called to the votes cast heretofore in that 
county ?—A. Yes, sir; we have had a larger vote. 

Q. bo you remember the vote in 1875 !—A. I do not now recall it. 

The Chairman. The Mississippi reports here show the vote to be 
4,158 in 1875. Do you remember what it was in 1876 ? 

The Witness. I do not. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Were there any Eepublican tickets circulated in Lowndes County 
in 187G that you know of ?—A. There may have been, but I don’t recol¬ 
lect it. 

Q. Did not the Eepublican party meet in State convention there in 
1876, and, by resolutiDii, disband ?—A. I had forgotten, but your inquiry 
suggests to me something of that kind, but not delinitely enough to 
answer you positiv^ely. A little reflection might, perhaps, bring it en¬ 
tirely to mind; but at present I don’t recall much about it. 

Q. The papers spoke of it at the time. Whether it Avas regularly dis¬ 
banded or whether they were trying to put a ticket in the field you don’t 
recollect?—A. No, sir. 

Q. You don’t recollect the precise occurrences in the coiiA^ention ?—A. 
No, sir; but I think it was a formal disbandment. 

Q. Is it your recollection that a county ticket w as put out by the Ee- 
l^ublicans at that election ?—A. No, sir. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Was there a State election in 1876 in Mississippi ?—A. I think 
not. 

Q. Don’t you know there w^as not ?—A. It was in the fall of 1875, I 
think. 

Q. Don’t j'ou know that in 1876 the Eepublicans ran an electoral 
ticket ?—A. They may have done so. 

Q. Don’t you kiioAv they also ran members of Congress in 1876 ?—A. 
Yes, sir; but there was no State ticket. 

The Chairman. Yes; but the fact AA^as there were no State officers to 
be elected that year, so you may be right in saying they had no State 
ticket. 


W. W. HUMPHEIES. 

Washington, D. C., February 13, 1879. 
W. W. Humphries saa^oim and examined. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Question. Where do you live ?—Answer. In Columbus, Lowndes 
County, Mississippi. 

Q. How long baA^e you resided there?—A. Ever since my birth. 

Q. What is your occupatiou in life ?—A. Practicing law.' 

you take any direct interest in the last political campaign in 
Mississippi—the Congressional campaign there ?—A. Well, I cannot say 



District.] TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES 749 

that I took a great deal, sir j I felt the ordinary interest of a citizen in 
that campaign. 

Q. Did yon make any speeches during that campaign ?—A. I believe 
I made one speech; possibly two. 

Q. ithont detaining yon for any lengtli of time bj" asking you ques¬ 
tions, as yon heard the examination of Mr. Field, I will ask you what 
aye your views upon the subjects referred to by him as to the condi¬ 
tion of affairs through that campaign ?—A. I agree in the main with 
the views expressed by Captain Field; in some respects I am com- 
jielled to say that I differ Avith him. So far as matters of fact are con¬ 
cerned, of course there can be no difterence; so far as regards some 
opinions Avhich he has expressed, I do differ Avith him to some extent; 
and therefore I ]irefer that you Avould ask me such (piestions as you desire 
me to answer. 

Q. AVell, first, please state AAdiether that campaign AAms peaceful or 
otherAAuse.— A. The campaign was very peaceful and quiet; more so 
than is usual. 

Q. Where Avere you on the day of election '?—A. I was in Columbus. 

Q. Hoav did the election pass off in that place f—A. Very quietly and 
peacefully. 

Q. Did you hear of anything being done to prevent anyone from vot¬ 
ing 1 —A. I did not. 

Q. HaA^e you a pretty general acquaintance OAmr that Congressional 
district outside of your oavii county ? —A. N^ot a general individual ac¬ 
quaintance throughout the district; I knoAv tlie majority of the promi¬ 
nent men, the leading men, in that district. 

Q. From your information and acquaintance there, what do you think 
would be the result of an election between Colonel MuldroAv and General 
Dawis ?—A. I think, to refer back to one of your preAdous questions, 
that we had as quiet an election as Avas had in any of your States. I do 
not pretend to say that the election Avas absolutely fair. Our people, 
perhaps, are no better than yours. You talk about ballot-box stuffing- 
in your States, and the same thing may occur in any State, and may 
haA^e oc(mrred here and there among us. If you will go home AAuth me 
you Avill find that in matters of election our peox)le there are very simi¬ 
lar to your people in point of intelligence, of morality, of integrity, in 
fact, eA'erything. There is no such difference betAA^een the people of dif¬ 
ferent States as some people AA Ould assume. Ours are, I think, as good 
as yours, and I am AAdlling to acknoAvledge that ours are as bad as yours. 

Q. Do you concur in the opinion of General Davis, that Avith a fair 
expression of your people he AA Ould have beaten Mr. MuldroAV for Con¬ 
gress by ten thousand votes !—A. ISTo, sir; on the contrary, I do not 
believe he aa ould have beaten him at all. The only thing that surprised, 
in connection Avith the election, Avas that Mr. MuldroAV defeated him 
by so small a majority. The last time before when General DaAis run 
he Avas defeated by sixty thousand majority. I must say that I do not 
regard General Davis as a man of great popularity there, as evinced by 
the result of various elections Avhen he has been a candidate. 

Q. Do you concur in the opinion of Mr. Field as to his estimate of Mr. 
Yasser and Mr. Davis ?— A. In some respects, I do; I think not alto¬ 
gether. 

Q. Wherein do you differ from him as to the character of Mr. Yas¬ 
ser f—A. Well, sir^ to speak of General Davis first, I think he is a kind- 
hearted man, a Avell-meaning man; but I think he is badly regulated. 
I think he is rather a violent man. I think, to speak it plainly, that he 
is a dangerous man, and yet I think he is a generous man. I think he 


750 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


lias a lieart like a woman. He can cry like a cliild; lie is a sympatlietic 
man; lie is a man that could not be intimidated; he is more of an in¬ 
timidating man. I think General Davis is now a Republican. I doift 
think his candidacy was made entirely as a Democrat; I think it Avas 
made in the cajiacity of a Republican rather than in the capacity of a 
Democjrat. I don’t make this statement as an avowal coming from him, 
but 1 think that that Avas the impression that jirevailed there at the time. 

Q. Well, noAv about Captaiu Yasser: You heard the estimate placed 
upon him by Mr. Field?—A. I regard Captain Yasser as being a more 
marked and distinct Republican cA^eu than General Davis; decidedly 
more marked and more distinct. I regard him as a man of courage; I 
don’t think he is a a ery good subject for intimidation. 

Q. Do you knoAv anytliing of those disturbances that General DaAUS 
and Mr. Yasser alluded to at West Point and MayheAv?—A. I suppose 
I knoAA^ something about that. 

Q. AYere you present at AYest Point?—A. R'o, sir; I heard the testi¬ 
mony of Air. A^asser regarding them; I did not attach any importance to 
that affair. Mr. Burch, the gentleman referred to as haAing this diffi¬ 
culty with the general, is a little felloAv, weighing some eighty or ninety 
liounds, and has only one leg. He hobbles about on a sort of a peg-leg. 
About the history of that matter aatis, as Mr. Burch Avent into the court¬ 
house, Avhere Air. Ahisser aatis reading his speech, he asked him AA^hat he 
AATis reading; Yasser’s rejily AA^as, ‘^Go to hell, damn you.” About that 
time others came betAA^eeu them, and the sheriff'interfered, and told them 
it Avas not a i)roper place to indulge in such profanity. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Told Avhom ? —A. Both of them ; so I AAms told. I aa as not pres¬ 
ent, and ordy tell the tale as it Avas told to me. 

By Air. Garland : 

Q. AA)ur recollection, from Avhat you heard, is that Air. A^asser offered 
tlie first harsh language?—A. I heard so; but it AAms a matter of no 
imi)ortance; nobody paid any attention to it. 

Q. It did not seem to excite the country much ?—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. AA'hat about the disturbance at AIayhe\A"’s ?—A. I know nothing 
al)out that of my own knowledge. I heard that General Da\ds was there 
sjmaking. On his arrival there ’S piire Connell, an old and respected 
citizen of high staudiug, socially and morally, iuAuted him to his house, 
and Avhen the time for speaking came, (luite a party went out to hear 
him. After the general had been speaking thirty or forty minutes or an 
hour or an hour and a half, I heard that some parties came by singing 
and beating some tin pans. I heard General Davis say this himself. 
He considered this a murk of disrespect to himself, amf he told them 
that they AA^re a set of damned scoundrels, and he could whip the men 
that did it. Some people said that this aatis not intended as a mark of 
disrespect to the general at all; that the young men had been out sere¬ 
nading, and that they came by there with their music; that it A\ns not 
tin pans at all that they had, but music. I do not know. It would not 
surprise me at all if those boys really intended to quiz the general; but, 
as I said before, I AAns not there. 

Q. Do you know anything about this alleged pursuit of the general 
out at Caledonia ?—A. I think you misunderstood General DaAUs; he is not 
a man to be pursued. He referred in that portion of his testimony to 
Ca}dain Field and myself. The A\mrd ‘^juirsued” certainly AAns not in¬ 
tended to be understood in its usual meaning. The ffict of the case Avas 
simply this: the chairman of our executiA^e county committee AA^as in- 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES. 


751 


fi,rmed tlirougli a note, and, by the by, I wrote that note, that General 
Davis and Colonel Troop would address the people in the Caledonia 
neighbor!lood; I believe at the Nelson school-honse. Upon receiving 
that note lie said he wonld be glad to have us go up and divide time. 
In accordance with that request, in company with Captain Field and 
several friends, we repaired to the point; but these gentlemen did not 
come. The result was that there was no speaking, except a few remarks 
made by Captain Field to the negro portion of the audience that had 
assembled at their request. He spoke fifteen or twenty minutes, and 
then we returned to our homes. I differ with the captain iji this respect; 
if I had found that these gentlemen were going to speak there I would 
have invited them to divide time; if they declined I should not have 
gone home, but would have said to my Democratic friends and the friends 
of General Davis, “ We came here to reply to General Davis, and now 
that they are through, we would be glad to have you listen to us.” It 
occurs to me now that that would be a iiroper course to imrsue. If the 
audience would have listened I think they would have heard good 
speeches. We did not ask them to stay, however; we returned home. 
That is all there is about that. 

Q. Did you hear General Davis deliver his speech at Columbus ?—A. 
No, sir ; the fact is, Senator, I had heard the general so often that I did 
not feel interested enough to go out to hear him again. 

Q. Was there any disturbance there that you heard of?—A. No, sir; 
there was no disturbance. I think Colonel IMeek replied to General 
Davis. I think they indulged in some comidimentary epithets towards 
each other. I think the general Avas a little severe on Colonel Meek, 
and in return that Colonel Meek was pretty severe on him. I think so 
from what I heard. I heard that Colonel Meek attacked the inconsis¬ 
tency of the generaTs record as having been a Whig, a Democrat, an 
Independent, and now a Greenbacker; first upon one side and then 
upon the other. I think General Davis replied that the charges Avere 
false, and Colonel Meek replied to that Avith some severity. I recollect 
it AAms a subject of some comment in some of the papers. The pai)ers 
said that the people who Avent out to listen had been treated to a dish 
of billingsgate from the tAvo gentlemen from Avhoiii something better 
might have been expected. 

Q. How long haA^e you been practicing hiAv?— A. I began immediately 
after the Avar between the States. 

Q. Have you met General Davis freipiently ?—A. Quite frequently. 

Q. In reference to this crowd that came on after the recent election, 
was he treated differently from AAdiat he Avas before ?—A. I observed no 
difference. General Davis has a number of personal friends in the town 
of Columbia, and also, like any other man of decided character, some 


enemies. ^ ^< 

Q. Did you Avitness the hanging and burning that he spoke ot ? — A. 

I did not Wiiess it. I heard of it. 

Q What Avas the impression that eA^nt made at the time . A. It 
made no special impression. I think that A^ery few people there kneAA^ 
anvthing about it. I don’t think, hoAvever, that the general attributed 
it altoo'ether to the proper motive. My understanding in regard to that 
matter’ gained from some parties AAiio participated in it, Avas tiiis: a man 
bv the name of Cameron, Avho liA-ed in some of your States up here, pos- 
siblv vour oavii, sir, went doAAii to our country some years ago, and mar¬ 
ried there—married one of our girls, and succeeded in accumulating con¬ 
siderable money and made himself very popular. He was highly 
esteemed among us, but he became involved in a difficulty Avith tv o men 


752 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878 


[Third Cong. 


named Cavaiiaugli, and in that difficulty lie was killed. They were 
arraigned and carried before a justice of the peace, avIio bound them over 
to answer to the circuit court. They applied for bail, which the justice 
refused. General Davis was employed by them, and appeared for them. 
After they were refused bail and placed in the dungeon of the county 
jail, he made application for a writ of habeas corpus before Judge Arnold, 
who resides in tliat district. The application was refused; they were not 
admitted to bail. At the circuit court the trial of these men was in pro¬ 
gress. Mr. Cameron had a number of strong influential friends. Gen¬ 
eral Davis was defending these men who were accused of killing Cam¬ 
eron. During* the progress of the trial, the general, as he always did, 
was making a very able defense; but in the course of that defense he 
was, as many of them thought, and as 1 thought, unnecessarily bitter 
and vindictive in some of his remarks. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. On Cameron"?—A. Yes, sir; and also on the counsel for the State. 
The result was that the general challenged Colonel Meek during the 
])rogress of the trial. The matter created considerable feeling among the 
friends of Cameron. The election was just about to take place, and I 
think some friends of Muldrow, together with some of the friends of 
Cameron, got together and hung the general in effigy. An old suit of 
clothes was stuffed with cotton; a rope was tied around them, and they 
were suspended to a tree, or something of that kind, about town. It 
was done in the night, and the effigy was taken down in the morning. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. Was Colonel Meek prosecutor?—A. Colonel Meek was represent¬ 
ing the State. But I would like to have it understood, gentlemen, that 
nobody indorsed any disrespect of that sort to General Davis; that is, 
the sensible part of the community did not. He had done nothing to 
deserve any such coarse and harsh treatment as that. I talked with him 
about his matter Avith Colonel Meek, next day; in fact it was through 
my instrumentality and agency that the affair of honor was settled; I 
carried the notes between them. 

Q. Do you concur with Mr. Field in his statement as to what you all 
understand as the true meaning of the word radical ?—A. I concur with 
Captain Field in saying we have had in the past radical Democrats and 
raclical Republicans. My idea of a radical Republican is a fellow who 
comes up and eulogizes John BroAvn; who thinks that the raid upon 
Harper’s Ferry was altogether justifiable; wlio only regrets that Brown 
did not make a more successful raid; that he did "not capture and kill 
those people. Mr. Flourney, of Pontotoc, is such a man; I call him not 
only a radical, but I call a speech of that character incendiary. A man 
Avho comes to our midst and wants office; who makes an appeal to the 
negroes advocating their rights, and their equality, and all that sort of 
humbug and tomfoolery, insisting that they have as much right to be 
governor, and lieutenant-governor, and to fill the senate and lower house, 
and, in a word, all the offices of the State; a man who insists, in short, 
that the bottom rail should be on toxi; a man who advocates the rule of 
vice and ignorance, and attempts to array the Avorst classes of society 
against the best; a man Avho does that I regard as a radical. The man 
who adA'Ocates Rejuiblican xirincixiles I should not regard as making an 
incendiary s^ieech. I would say, just here, that I do not think AA'^e ever 
had a Republican xiarty in Mississipxn; it is a Radical xiarty Ave have 
had there. No man of your tjqie has been in our State, except a very 
few. I Av ould not care if we had a Republican party there. I believe 


District. J 


TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES. 


753 


the Eepnblican party of the country, apart from its sectional tendency, 
IS interested in the material welfare and prosperity of the government; 
I have not a doubt about it. I think yon will find as many good and 
great men in that party as in the Democratic party, and I think yon 
will find as many bad ones. 

Q. Give yonr opinion as to how Senators Teller, or Cameron, or Kirk¬ 
wood would be received by an audience in Mississippi, if they were to 
go there to address the citizens on the political questions of the day.— 
A. I think onr people nnderstand the proprieties of life just as well as 
the constituency of these gentlemen. If they were to go there, I believe 
onr people woiild recognize not only their official bnt their intellectual 
and social position. If tliey were to offer to speak, onr people would go 
ont to hear them, expecting to hear a speech from American Senators, 
and to be edified by what they would hear from gentlemen possessing 
learning and dignity of character. This would be especially so if the 
speaker were a man of well-known reputation. There are some Senators 
who might be announced to speak in the town of Colnmbns and possi¬ 
bly a very large audience might not come ont to hear them, because they 
were not of sufficient character and reputation to attract a large audience ; 
bnt if Senator Blaine or Senator Conkling, men of national reputation 
and character, should come down there, and the announcement were 
made that they were to speak, they wonld certainly have a large audi¬ 
ence and a respectful hearing. Yon have asked me, if leading Eepnbli- 
cans from the Kortli should go down there and advocate a certain set of 
principles and ideas which yon have expressed in some detail, what 
wonld be the result. That is simi)ly supposing an impossible case. A 
man of intelligence, a man of dignity of character, a man capable of 
rising to high official position, it is impossible to suppose that such a 
man wonld go down and attempt to array one part of the people against 
another. If it were a snpposable case, onr people wonld hold them in 
about the same esteem, I presume, that yonr people wonld were others 
to come among them'and i^nrsne a similar course under similar circum¬ 
stances. 

Q. Did yon read the speech of Mr. Blaine, made in the Senate, in in¬ 
troducing * the resolution under which this committee are making this 
investigation?—A. I did. 

Q. Suppose that Mr. Blaine had made that speech in yonr town, 
would there have been any danger to him for having made it there?— 
A. Kot the slightest, sir; on the contrary, onr people have sense enough 
to nnderstand and appreciate his right to make such a speech. I do not 
know why any sensible man should object to it. 

Q. Do yon think there is any disposition among the people whom yon 
consider the representatives of public sentiment in yonr State to deprive 
the colored man of any of the rights given him by the laws of the coun¬ 
try now?—A. Kot at all, sir; on the contrary, their disposition is 1o pro¬ 
tect him in his rights. There may be some extreme men that would not 
assent to that, bnt they are not onr representative men. 

Q. Do yon consider these extreme men in the minority ?—A. Largely, 
sir; very largely. 

Q. Do yon recollect when the Eepnblican party, some years ago, de¬ 
clined to put a ticket in the field in yonr State?—A. Perfectly well. 

Q. When Avas that ?—A. First understand me as reiterating my state¬ 
ment that I deny the proposition that there was any Eepnblican party 
in Mississippi; there Avas a Eadical party—no Eepnblican party. 

Q. Well, the party that was called Eepnblican or Eadical; do yon 
recollect such a coiiA^ention as that ?—A. In 18 <5 the party in onr State 
48 S C 


754 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878 


[Third Cong. 


Avas overwhelmingly defeated—horse, foot, and dragoons. The Demo¬ 
crats secured possession of the State. The result of that election thor¬ 
oughly demoralized the Eepublican party. Many of the Republican 
leaders, almost all of them, left the State, and since then there has been 
no Radical party that I know of. In cities and towns the party some¬ 
times puts out tickets, but there has been no organization since then in 
the State. . 

Q. After the State was transferred politically in 1875, did not the 
Radicals hold a convention in 1876 in which they took some such action 
as to abandon the field % 

The Chairman. There were no State officers elected in 1875, conse¬ 
quently there was no occasion for any such action. 

The Witness. My recollection is that there was a com^ention held in 
which the Radical party disbanded j they were to have an electoral 
ticket in the field. 

The Chairman. Since the iiresent administration there has been a 
disbanding through the central committee—not through any convention. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. You heard repeated here yesterday, to some extent, the testimony 
of General Davis, given before the Boutwell committee several years ago, 
in reference to the colored people; do you indorse that; and, if not, 
how far do you indorse it?—A. I think his statement should be very 
greatly qualified. I know a number of intelligent, sensible, and thrifty 
colored men. They are not a race of liars and thieves, as he proclaimed 
them 5 they are necessarily ignorant, for they have just come out of 
bondage; they have not had time yet to be educated. I believe these 
people are growing and being elevated in the school of liberty. The 
great trouble with them is their ignorance ; they hai^e not yet learned 
the necessity and importance of being educated. I think they are some¬ 
what like the Indians—i^ery fond of Avhisky, and a great many of them 
are thriftless. 

Q. I asked Mr. Field if he knew why the i^ote of Muldrow was so 
much larger than that of Davis. I ask you the same question.—A. Can 
you furnish me Avith the Post of this morning ? If I understand your 
question, it was why had Colonel Muldrow a larger A^ote than General 
Daids? I can gWe you no better answer than to read the following 
from the Washington Post of this morning: 

General Davis lias been a standing candidate in Mississippi for forty years past. 
In fact, the persistency with which he has run for office has been eipialed only by the 
regularity with which he was beaten. From youth to old age he has been in the 
held, and now, when his hair has grown white in his own 8er\dce, he is making a fuss 
because his opponent got more votes than he did. There was always one peculiarity 
about “Reub” and his canvasses ; ho could count up more votes before an election and 
fewer after it was over than any man who ever figured in American politics. He al¬ 
ways accounted for the difference by claiming that he had been defrauded, but in 
Mississippi, where he is so well known, nobody paid any attention to his cry, but 
after all his years of disappointment he found a sympathizing friend in Teller, who 
swore througli his nose that he would see ‘^Reub’s’’ wrongs redressed or avenge them 
if it took a thousand dollars of the people’s money to do it. General Davis’s testimony 
simply amounted to the opinion—expressed by himself—that he ought to have beaten 
Muldrow for Congress, and therefore he must have done so. 

As Stated liere, the general had been before the public for a long time; 
he has been very often a candidate for office. Colonel MuldroAV charged 
it upon him, the press charged it upon him, and the people charged it upon 
him that he had been a very inconsistent politician. I beheve that as 
far back—well, before I was born; as far back, I have heard, as 1830, 
he made his appearance as a ^Yhig candidate for Congress against Gov- 
43rnor Brown, and subsequently to that he was a Democratic candidate 


Disirict.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES. 


755 


against IMr. Barksdale, or an independent candidate; tliat, by the way, 
was a rather fainons and exciting candidacy. Then, again, "he was an 
independent candidate after failing to receive the noinination at Lewis¬ 
ton. He was a candidate before the Okolona convention as against 
Colonel jMnldrow, and sought to be noniinated at the Tnrpelo conven¬ 
tion. I am not familiar, however, with the facts in that case. In addi¬ 
tion to this. Colonel Muldrow was a more effective speaker than General 
Davis. He was a younger man, and had more vigor both physically and 
intellectually. Then he was just from Washington; he was fresh from 
legislation; he had been associated with jiublic men every day; he was 
rather bright from a political standpoint. General Davis had been a 
long time out of public life; he did not evince nearly as much familiarity 
with national topics as Colonel Muldrow. Colonel Muldrow was the best 
and most popular speaker. Then the general would state that he had 
a large and lucrative practice that he was about to abandon for the sake 
of his dear constituents; that he was forced to run. Colonel Muldrow 
told a number of anecdotes, and I might almost say that he laughed 
him to death politically—ridiculed him. Colonel Muldrow had made a 
good Kepresentative; he had attended to the wants of the peoi:>le; had 
attended to his correspondence with them; had furnished them docu¬ 
ments. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. In other words, he was the most popular man I —A. Yes, sir. If 
you will answer why it was that you beat your competitor, you Avill have 
iny answer as to why it was that Colonel Muldrow beat Davis. 

The Chairman. He got the most votes.—xV. That is it exactly. 

By Mr. Garland. In the paper I see there is something said as to 
the generaPs violence of temper. Had that aiij^dhing to do with it ?—A. 
I think it had this to do with it: General Davis, at the beginning of the 
war, was a member of Congress, and when the war broke out the gen¬ 
eral did not drink all the blood that was spilled before breakfast. 


By the Chairman : 

Q. Had he promised to do that A. The colonel charged it on him, 
sir. Pardon me, I do not mean to say that the general promised that; 
but I will say this : the generaPs war record was not considered very 
brilliant. Colonel Muldrow charged that he had not stood by them, but 
had retreated. 

Q. After getting them into it?—A. Yes, sir; after getting theni into 
it. I was a young man then; too young to have anything to do with it. 

Q. You say you think General Davis is a Bepublican, and made his last 
campaign as a Republican; did he ever announce that he was a Repub¬ 
lican?—A. Allow me to say. Senator, that your style of examination is 
affirmative; I cannot accept your statement of what I said. I said 
he was a quasi Republican; in other words, his friends were throw- 
in o* out a sort of drag-net to catch as many Radical votes, as many Dem¬ 
ocratic votes, as many Greenback votes as possible. He was running as 
a Republican, as a Democrat, as a Greenbacker. 

Q. Did you hear his speeches ?—A. I did not, sir. 

Q. How, then, do you know anything about the character ot his 
speeches?—A. I have heard that his speeches vere puiel 3 ( in the inter¬ 
est of an immense issue of greenbacks—to fill the people’s pockets 
money. I think he and Colonel Muldrow devoted most of their talk to 

ISSITO# • 

'o. lie wanted more money than Muldrow, you think?—A. How it was 



75G 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Cong. 


iiiiglity bard to say wbo wanted it most, Muldrow, or Davis, or the peo¬ 
ple they were talking to. 

Q. Was it not complained against the general, as mncb as anytliing, 
that be was trying to get tbe negro vote!—A. I tbink I bavx stated tbe 
true objection to bim. 

Q. When you say be was seeking Eepnblican votes, you mean negro 
votes?—A. 1 make a distinction, you will remember, betAveen Eadicals 
and Eepublicans. I tbink there are many Eepublicans there noAV; a 
good many negroes are Eei)ublicans ; some of tbe white people are Ee¬ 
publicans. Tbe Eadical party is dead. 

Q. Was General Davis trying to get Eepnblican votes or Eadical 
votes!—A. He was trying to get everybody’s that be could possibly iu- 
bueiice. 

Q. Do you not know that be all tbe time claimed to be as much a Dem¬ 
ocrat as eA^er!—A. I know that be claimed to have been kicked out of 
tbe Democratic party. 

Q. Did be not claim to baA^e been kicked out on tbe currency ques¬ 
tion!—A. Yes, sir—far longer ago than that; be claimed to have been 
kicked out of the Democratic imrty as far back as 1839. 

Q. You tbink if a man should say that John Brown was a good man, 
and bis moA^ements at Harper’s Ferry commendable, that would be an 
incendiary speech!—A. I did ]iot say so. 

Q. What do you say !—A. I say if a man should go into my country 
and eulogize John Brown as a good man and a t)atriot, and regret that 
be did not kill tbe women and children, and carry out tbe good work 
which be bad begun, but which Avas not finished, and say that our negro 
population ought to take up the work Avbere be left it off, burn our 
bouses, and destroy our property, and kill our wAes and children, I 
should say that was an incendiary speech. 

Q. Have you ever beard any such sort of a speech !—A. I beard Sen¬ 
ator Lamar say this morniug that be did. 

Q. YeA^er mind Senator Lamar; did you CAxr bear a speecli of tliat 
sort!—A. I beard Barry, a member of Congress (be represented my dis¬ 
trict in Congress, and Avas succeeded here by Mr. Money)- 

Q. Did be make a si)eecb of that kind!—It AA^as about as incen¬ 
diary. 

Q. Did be speak about killing women and children !—A. No, sir. 

Q. You tbiw that in by Avay of aggravation!—A. No, sir; by Avay 
of explanation of Avbat I considered an incendiary speech. 

Q. Did you CAxr bear from any source, or read in any history, that 
John BroAAn intended to kill Avomen and children!—A. *No, sir; and I 
ncA’er beard from any source or read in any history that be did not in¬ 
tend to kill women and children. 

Q. I asked jon if you ever beard or read that be did.—A. I neA*er 
read that be did or that be did not. History is silent uiion that point; 
AYbat be did intend may be inferred from bis acts. 

Q. And you infer that be did!—A. 1 infer that be Avent on a mission 
of murder; there is no doubt about that. Tbe committee sent out by 
the Senate of tbe United States to investigate tbe matter reported to 
that effect. 

Q. So, if a man should say that John BroAvn acted justifiably, you 
would infer that be Avas advocating tbe killing of Avomen and children!— 
A. I would inter that be Avas a simpleton—a man AA'itbout sense. 

Q. Have I not understood you to say as much as that there are some 
good people in Mississippi avIio are Eepublicans!—xV. Yes, sir: there 
are. ^ 


District.] 


TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES. 757 

Q. Have you no bad people in IMississippi wlio are not Eepnblicans?— 
A. Yes, sir; we have thieves, murderers, and bad men a’enerallv, Avho 
are not Eepnblicans. " ’ 

Q. Yon thiiik that any man of a national reputation, who was a Re- 
pnbhcan, could go down there, and they would listen to his speecli ?— 
ty* sir; and even if hp was not a man of national reputation; but 
it he V ere a man of national reputation he would have a larger crowd 
come out to hear him, of course. 

Q. Still yon would claim the right to criticise his speech ?—A. Cer¬ 
tainly. 

Q. ^Yonld yon claim any right to curtail- 

The Witness. What do yon mean by curtail? 

Q. To prevent him from making such a speech.—A. Yo, sir. 

Q. Do not some people in your State make such a claim ?—A. I thinlv 
the people of onr State recognize freedom of speech. 

Q. Do yon think that all over the State of Mississippi a man can make 
any sort ot speech he cliooses ?—A. I think so. Of course there, as else¬ 
where, a man can go so far, can speak so bitterly and nnjnstifiably, that 
it is not difficult to create a brawl, to arouse hostility towards him. 

Q* ^ Yon think they have no desire to abridge the riglit of colored men to 
vote?—A. None whatever; on the contrary they desire to see him vote, 
and I will tell yon, further, in my judgment the reason why: it increases 
their representation in Coiigress. I believe that is the principal reason 
at this time. They think under the amendment of the Constitution it is 
a right which has been conferred upon them, and they mean to have the 
benefit of it. 

Q. Suppose it was possible to prevent the negro from voting, and at 
the same time not lose that increase of representation, what then?—A. 
Yon are supposing an impossibility. 

Q. Certainly I ask a hypothetical question.—A. I hope yon will not 
assume an impossibility; tiiongh repeat your question and I will answer it. 

Q. I say, suppose it was possible for the people of Mississippi to retain 
their j^resent representation, and at the same time that the State might 
prevent the negro from voting, what would be their sentiment on that 
question?—A. I believe the majority of our people would concur in it. 
I do not know that I quite nnderstaud that question; but I would be, 
and I think onr people would be, opposed to taking the right of snftrage 
from the negro. 

Q. Irrespective of the question of representation?—A. I think so, sir; 
and I believe your own intelligence will suggest the reason why. 

Q. Will yon state the reason ?—A. I think it necessary to protect them 
in their rights; take from them that righli, and yon virtually enslave 
them. We have made them free, and I believe it is right to protect 
them; I believe there is an identity of interest between the white men 
and the black men of Mississippi. I think it necessary to every good 
government that there should be two parties in the State; I believe 
there will be two parties in Mississippi, but I do not believe that you 
can determine a man’s politics by the color of 'his skin. 

Q. You believe it is better for an ignorant man to vote, even if he 
votes wrong occasionally, than not to vote at all ?— A. I believe it is 
easier to educate the people politically than in any other AYay. Take 
the State of Tennessee, for instance; I believe that ante helium the Ten¬ 
nesseeans Avere the best educated people, politically, in tlie AAiiole 
country. There Avere many men in that State who could neither read 
nor Avrite AAffio could enter "into a sensible discussion Avitli you in regard 
to almost any political measure. This was because such men as pell 



758 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


I Third Cong. 


and Brown, and otliors like tliein, whose names are familiar to you, 
stumped the State every camimign, educating the people. I believe 
that in the course of a few years we will be able to educate the black 
people of our State politically. Under the Badical regime they were in¬ 
structed not to come out to Itemocratic meetings. They organized their 
campaigns in secrecy. It was no part of the policy of the Badical leaders 
to give them a political education. The negroes being free, and there 
being no fear of their freedom being taken from them, I think they are 
beginning to recognize the white people of the South as their friends, 
and we believe that we can utilize them. 

Q. Can you explain why with so large a number of colored men in 
your State so few of theni vote ?—A. It is the easiest question in the 
world. First, why do you assume that so few of them do vote'? A thou¬ 
sand votes were cast in our country. I do not hold that they were all 
cast by whites j I hold that a large portion of them were cast by colored 
men. 

Q. Wliat proportion?—A. I cannot tell j I did not go to the different 
boxes of the county and watch. 

Q. Would you say that half of the vote cast in your county was cast 
by colored men ?—A. I cannot tell; I think it likely that two-thirds, 
possibly three-fourths of the ballots cast in our county were cast by 
white men. I cannot be more definite than that. 

Q. Do you know what the colored vote of the county is ?—A. I can 
only approximate it; I think about 3,500. 

Q. Then, if three-fourths of the votes cast in your county were white, 
you only had about 250 colored men out of the whole ?—A. I have stated 
about the proportion that I thought voted at the last election. I have 
further stated that in the county there are about 3,500 negro voters. I 
think I can exi)lain to you why the vote was so small. I don’t know that 
I can give you an absolutely correct solution, but I will give you my 
belief. To begin with, in the last election we had been scourged with 
yellow fever, and the people were in a state of excitement. At that 
time, again, they were laboring under great financial depression. These 
things prevented their feeling as lively and active an interest in politics 
as they otherwise would have felt. In addition to that fact, this was 
what might properly be termed an off election.” There were but two 
candidates before the people. To illustrate: Let, in our county, two 
men be running for sheriff, each of wUom has his brothers and cousins, 
and other relatives, and many friends; two others are running for rep¬ 
resentatives, still others for justice of the peace, and others for other 
offices. All these candidates, with all their relatives and friends, ear¬ 
nestly engaged in the campaign, would excite an interest which ramifies 
and circulates through the entire county; the competition results in a 
large vote. But when there are but two candidates before the people no 
such widespread interest is felt. At the last election a large number of 
people failed even to register, not only a large number of wdiites, but a 
large number of blacks ] and in our State registering is a prerequisite to 
voting. 

Q. Do you know what the registry was?—A. I think it was not quite 
one-half. 

Q. How many colored people voted in your county in the fall of 
1870?—A. I don’t think any human being could tell you how many col¬ 
ored people voted in my county in 1870; I know I could not, unless I 
had an agent at each one of the polls to count them as they came up 
and voted. 

Q. What is the total voting i^oimlation ?—A. It apx)roximates five 


District.] TESTIMONY OF W. W. HUMPHRIES. 759 

thousand] possibly a few over or under. I think General Davis’s esti¬ 
mate was something larger than it should be. 

Q. Then, in 1870, there were certainly three thousand voters inyour 
county who did not vote ?—A. I have stated the facts, and youhave 
stated facts, the deduction of which cannot be mistaken. 

Q. Can you give any reason why the colored people did not vote in 
1870 ?—A. I think so. As I said, the Eadical party, in 1875, had been 
defeated, horse, foot, and dragoons; the scallawags and carpet-baggers 
had been reduced to the ranks; many of them had left the State j they 
had no organization, no leadership. In 1870 the colored population 
which you are inquiring about were realizing the fact that the Demo¬ 
cratic party did not propose to treat them with any injustice; they were 
beginning to recognize that fact—to feel and appreciate that our people 
did not wish to rob them of any of their rights ] in other words, that the 
Democratic party were conferring a great many benefits upon them. 

Q. In short, you mean that they voluntarily staid at home?—^A. I do. 

Q. And fear had nothing to do with it?—A. We had no excitement 
in 1876—no killing, no fighting, no great deal of speaking. But I be¬ 
lieve the colored population is growing into accord with the white popu¬ 
lation. 

Q. You had some trouble in 1875?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you not think that had something to do with it ?—A. Ko, sir. 

Q. Nor in 1878 ?—A. I might say yes, and I might say no; there was, 
undoubtedly, a moral effect in the town where I live. Previous to the 
election of 1875 I think that a few negroes were killed and several were 
wounded. What moral effects a given state of facts will produce on the 
colored population you can judge and answer just as well as I can. 

Q. Do you remember what the colored population of Lowndes County 
is ?—A. No, sir; I don’t remember the population j but I think I could 
approximate it; the vote is about 3,500. 

Q. In 1876 the population is set down as follows: Blacks, 2,332; whites, 
7,480. Do you supx)ose that to be about the population now?—A. I 
reckon there maybe some increase; I don’t know; I have given no atten¬ 
tion to statistics of that character. 

Q. You said you thought there might have been some irregularities 
in the election ?—A. I think it possible. 

Q. Of your own knowledge, do you know of any?—A. I have no 
knowledge; I simpl^^ say I do not think it improbable in any State in 
the country. 

Q. I did not know but you referred to some particular thing that you 
knew about?—A. O, no; I stated that generally where men are inter¬ 
ested in elections these irregularities are liable to occur. 

Q. Were there not some prosecutions thereon that account?—A. I 
have heard that in the Federal court there were two prosecutions; I 

have heard of only two. , n « a 

Q. Those prosecutions were for some irregularity at the polls . A. 
Yes, sir; for some irregularities connected with the ballot-box, with the 
particulars of which I am not familiar. There is one question you asked 
which, with your permission, I would like to answer. The question was 
asked Captain Field about the taxation of the State—whether it had 
been greatly reduced. I think I can state to you 

The Chairman. I do not think this committee have anything to do 
with that. I questioned it only as a matter of cross-examination, and I 
do not care to bring out anything further. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. In reference to the smallness of the vote in Lowndes County; was 



760 


MISSISSIPPI IN 1878. 


[Third Coug. District.] 


there a Greenback ticket there at all in that county ?—A. It is the 
worst Greenback county in the country; they were all Greenback men. 
Miihlrow and Davis were Greenbackers. I think both said to the peo¬ 
ple they wanted Congress to issue more greenbacks, and give the peo¬ 
ple more money; they sympathized with their impoverished condition, 
and thought that greenbacks would relieve their necessities and wants. 
There was no party of that character in our county. 

Q. There was no organized Greenback x)arty in your county?—A. Ho, 
sir; not that I ever heard of. 

Q. You know that there was an organized Democratic party?—^A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. And Colonel Muldrow was the nominee of that party ?—^A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Explain what you mean by the ^^off election.”—A. The election 
year when there is no State election. 

Q. You said that at the State election, when there were candidates 
for the offices of justice of the peace, sheriff, representatives, &c., the 
largest number of people came out to vote?—A. Yes, sir. Perhaps I 
should explain to you that immediately before this Congressional election 
there was an election when there was a full vote in our State; that was 
at the State election. In our State the State election is not at the same 
time as the Congressional election. 


LOUISIANA. 


SUPPLEMENTARY EVIDENCE. 


TAKE^^ AT WASHINGTON. 











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LOUISIANA. 


ALFEED FAIEFAX. 

Washington, D. C., Fehnicmj 18,1879. 

Alfred Fairfax (colored) sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Question. Wliat is your age ?—Answer. Thirty-seyen years. 

Q. Where is your residence ?—A. In Tensas Parisli. 

Q. How long have you resided in that parish"^—A. About eighteen 
years. 

Q. What is your business or profession ?—A. I am a minister of the 
gospel. 

Q. Of what denomination A. The Baptist denomination. 

Q. How long have you been a minister of that denomination?—A. 
Since 1866. 

Q. Were you in charge of a church ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. To w^hich political party did you belong ?—A. To the Eepublican 
party. 

Q. How long had you acted with the Eepublican party?—A. Ever 
since 1868. 

Q. A difficulty occurred at your house last October. Xow, you can 
state to the committee what occurred there at that time from the begin¬ 
ning of the troubles.—A. The first thing I noticed of any disposition 
upon the part of the Democratic party to create any trouble there was 
on Saturday, October 5, tlie day wliich had been set aside for the Eepub¬ 
lican convention to meet at Saint Joseph. I live at Waterproof, about 
15 miles from Saint Joseph, and on that morning I went up to Saint 
Joseph with the rest of the delegation from that end of the iiarish. We 
arrived there between ten and eleven o’clock. On getting there we found 
quite an excitement among the delegations that had reached there be¬ 
fore we got there. Most of the delegations that had come there came 
to me and said there was quite an excitement in town; that the Democrats 
had been threatening them all the morning that if they nominated a ticket 
they should not elect it. I said I thought there would be no trouble of that 
kind. They (the Democrats) said we should not put Stewart and Jackson 
upon the ticket, and I said to the Democrats, You need not trouble your¬ 
selves about that; we came here to nominate a ticket, and we will nominate 
one; and more than that, we will nominate one that is acceptable to alli)ar- 
ties.” Mr. Bryant was chairman of the executive committee, but he could 
not be found. I told them after a while that I would look for him, and if he 
was in town I would find him. So I went up town and hunted and 
inquired around, and finally I ascertained that he was at the house of 
Mr. Oordill, the parish judge. I went there and went in. Mr. Bryant, 
Mr. Cordill, and Mr. Saxe were there. I went in, and after speaking to 
them all around I remarked to Mr. Bryant that I thought he had treated 
me nice in not answering a letter that I had written him in regard to 
the convention. But as I went in I heard Mr. Cordill say, I do not 



764 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Supplementary 


intend to accept any place on yonr ticket.’’ I turned tlien to IVIr. Cor* 
dill and I said, ‘^Do I nnderstand yon to say that yon will not accept 
anyplace on the Kepnblican ticket?” and lie said, ^^Yes, Fairfax j I 
said so.” I asked hiniAvhy; what was the matter. Well,” says he, 
“ Fairfax, all that I have got is here in this parish, and I wpit to live 
here, and I know if I Avas to run on that ticket I would be killed, and I 
don’t propose to set myself up as a target to be shot at and kaA^e my 
body tilled with bullets. I don’t think that Bryant treated me right in 
the beginning, and of course I Avill not liaA^e anything more to do with 
the party.” I did not say anything more to Cordill at that time. Mr. 
Saxe turned to me and said, There is no use of your trying to nominate 
any ticket here, because you cannot elect it.” I said, “ Why ? ” Well,” 
said he, we don’t propose to be misrepresented any longer; we don’t 
intend to be imposed on by ignorant men that can’t represent us in the 
legislature.” 1 said, Mr. Saxe, we do not intend to nominate or elect 
any man on our ticket Avho is incompetent or ignorant; we propose to 
get on good men, and men Avho liaA^e an interest in the parish. We shall 
not put any strangers on, or ignorant men.” “ M ell,” says he, “ we 
Avant such men as Cordill and other such men that I can name.” I said, 
“ Well, we proposed to put Cordill on, but he does not want to run.” 1 
said, You know we are in the majority, and if AA^e nominate a ticket we 
can elect it. Noav,” says I, if Ave take such men as Cordill, and men 
like him that are acceptable to all parties, then can’t AA^eA^ote together?” 
“ Yo,” says he; that Avould be dictating to us, and we don’t propose to 
allow you to dictate to us.” I said, “ You don’t propose to allow us to 
go to the polls; is that what you mean?” Says he, “I don’t mean ex¬ 
actly that; but we don’t propose to let you elect anybody.” Yow,” says 
I, propose to put on Cordill and some other man that will be accept¬ 
able to both parties, and yet you say you will not acce{)t the ticket. 
Yoav,” says I, I understand that opposition is against Eepublicanism, 
and not as you say, against incompetency.” Says he, “Anything that 
has the name of Eepublicanism attached to it as become contaminated.” 
Says I, “If that is Avhat you are going to force on us it is about time for 
the colored people to quit this country,” and I said it was not worth 
while to stay here any longer, so I got up, and myself and Mr. Bryant 
and Mr. Ladd went down to the court-house. Mr. Bryant said to me, 
“ Fairfax, I don’t know what to do about this thing.” I asked him why. 
“Well,” says he, “things look bad, and I don’t Avant anything to do 
AAdth it.” “Pshaw,” says, I, “I think they are only going to try and 
bluff us.” Says I, “We can call the coiiA'ention together.” He told me 
that EeeA^es and Saxe were talking to him about it this morning, and 
Eeeves said to him that as president of the conA^ention he would be re¬ 
garded as a leader, and if he went to work and put up a ticket against 
theirs that he Avould be the tirst man to be killed, and that his body 
Avould be a target for one hundred bullets to go through. “Well,” says 
I, after he told me this, “we must nominate a good ticket, and I don’t 
think anything^ of the kind will happen.” We Avent to the court-house 
and called the'convention to order, but there was not a AA^hite man to be 
seen about the court-house. As we went to the court-house Ave met 
some officers of the court-house coming out. Every white man had 
locked up his room and gone off*. I did not know what to make of that. 
The delegation assembled, and after the coiia' entioii Avas called it was seen 
that there were no Avhite men round, and none that would accept a posi¬ 
tion on the ticket. It then popped into my mind that this is just an effort 
to make us nominate a colored ticket. Saxe had charged on us before that 
we Avere draAviug the color line, Avhich I denied, and I thought this Avas an 


Evidence.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 


765 


attempt to make us do it. I sat down tlieii and wrote a resolution (T believe 
you gentlemen know wbat tlie resolution is; it lias been introduced in evi¬ 
dence), and I offered it to the convention. It was to the effect that a 
committee of five should be appointed to confer with a similar committee 
of the Democrats to see if we could make a ticket that would be accept¬ 
able to all parties. The convention then adjourned until Monday, the 
following week, which would be the fourteenth. After that I went to 
the ofiice of Colonel Keeves and informed him that we had appointed a 
committee to confer with a like committee on the part of the Democrats, 
to see if we could make a ticket that would be acceptable to all parties, 
so that no trouble would be had. I asked him if the committee would 
be acceptable to the Democrats, and if he thought the Democrats would 
meet us. He said he thought they would; and appointed Monday, the 
7th of October, as the day on which they woidd meet. Myself and the 
rest of the delegates returned home that Saturday evening, and on 
Monday I went back to Saint Joseph again, and the rest of the com¬ 
mittee that had been appointed, with the exception of Mr. 'Walker. I 
saw Cordill again that day before the committee met. He told some 
one to tell me that he wanted to see me. I met him at a boarding-house 
(Mr. Buckiughaiffs), and I said, ‘‘ Is it a fact that you have concluded 
not to have anything to do with the party “No,” he said, “ I cannot 
go any farther with it, for I am satisfied that what they have done in 
other parishes they will do in this parish.” I said, “ What is that'?” 
‘AVell,” says he, “you know very well how they have been bull-doz¬ 
ing in other parishes,” and, he says, “ I would advise you as a friend 
not to have anything more to do with the convention.” He says, “ If 
I was you I would go away and not have anything to do with it.” I 
said I would not do anjffhing of the kind; I said I had been nominated 
on the Eepublican ticket for Congress, and I thought I ought to make 
the canvass if possible, and not back down unless those threats Avere put 
into execution. “ W^ell,” he says, “ that is all I have got to say.” I left 
him and went down to Masonic Hall, where the Democratic executive 
committee met. W^hen the meeting Avas called to order, Mr. EeeA^es said 
to them that a committee of five, on the part of the liepublicans, had 
been appointed to confer Avith a like committee on the part of the Dem¬ 
ocrats. Mr. Saxe, secretary of the Democratic committee, moved that 
the chairman. Colonel Keeves, be instructed to inform the Kepublicans 
that they (the Democrats) did not Avaiit any conference. I Avas present 
and heard the report, but at the same time Mr. Keeves came to me and 
told us Avhat he had been instructed to do. I did not make any res])onse 
at all. He Avent back to the chair, and they proceeded Avith their nomi¬ 
nations. A committee had been appointed to recommend the names of 
men for the different nominations. That report was submitted, and it 
Avas an out and out Avhite ticket Avhich they nominated. They called on 
the chairman to address the coiwention after the ticket was nominated. 
He said they had nominated a good ticket, and the ticket must be ac¬ 
ceptable to all parties. “We liaA^e got on the ticket,” he says,/Dnen 
that Amu” (referring to us Kepublicans) “ haAm had Avith you, and if they 
were acceptable to you then, they must be acceptable to you iioav.” He 
says, “ We haAm made a good ticket.” ^ 

Q. He referred to Oordill andKegister?—A. Yes, sir. He says, “The 
ticket must, shall, and Avill be elected, cost AVhat it aa ill ] aa e aa ill elect 
it though Ave haAm to wade through fire to do it; and AAdiere is the man 
that Avould dare oppose the election of the ticket we have just nomi¬ 
nated^ I Avould like to see him.” In making that remark, “I AAmnld 
like to see him,” he left the chair, stepped out from behind the desk, and 



766 


LOUISIANA IN J878. 


I Supplementary 


says, “Where is he? I would like to see him.” And then, glancing 
around the room, he saw me, and pointing to me with his finger, said, 
“There is the great Ajax of his race, and I know he will not do it; he 
is too sensible. 1 make no declaration of war,” says he; “we will not 
hurt anyone, unless there is opposition to the ticket we have just nomi¬ 
nated; but if there is opposition in the way, we will quietly remove it.” 
After he had got through with his remarks they moved to go into ex¬ 
ecutive session, and everybody was removed except those who had a 
right there. In that executive session they appointed a committee to 
see the colored men, to see if any efforts would be made on our part to 
get up a ticket in opposition to theirs, and if so it would be a declaration 
of war. After that myself and Bland and Levy were standing there, 
and Mr. Levy Avas called out; he said he did not think they were get¬ 
ting fair play, but that he would get up a ticket. We remained in Saint 
Joseph until late in the afternoon, and there was nothing said to me of 
that kind. After Ave got through there Ave returned back home. 

I heard nothing more until Thursday of that AA^eek ; then a friend told 
me that Dr. Andrews said to him that Fairfax was making himself so 
energetic in this campaign that he woidd be missed some night, and no¬ 
body Avould knoAv where he was. On Saturday, the 12th, I met Dr. 
AndreAvs at the post-office, and I said, “Doctor, I heard that you made 
a singular remark in regard to my being missed from here.” “ Yes,” he 
said he had; but he said, “I did not make this remark as being ex¬ 
pressive of my own sentiments, because I don’t favor anything of the 
kind. I am opposed to bulldozing, and always Avas. But,” he said, “ I 
made the remark from Avhat I have actually learned.” Said I, “ Did 
you make that remark from AALat you have actually heard ?” “ Yes,” he 

said, “from Avhat I ha\"e actually heard.” That Avas on Saturday morn¬ 
ing, the 12th. I noticed nothing more until late Saturday evening, when 
an old lady, liAung back on Tensas lliver (she is living there now, and, 
therefore, I Avould not like to give her name), said to me that some men 
AA'ere coming out there some night, and Avere intending to take me away. 
My brother-in-law, Daniel Kennedy, Avho got shot in my house, passed 
about sundown. I called him in and told him what I had heard. I 
said, “Dan, I think I had better get some one to stay Avith me at night 
until after the troubles are over, and,” says I, “I Avould like to have 
you stay at night.” He said he aa ould, but he AAmuld have to go home 
first. His house was about seA^en or eight hundred yards from mine. 
He Avent home, and came back again just a little after darlv. I had told 
him AA hat I had heard before I had made the arrangement for him to 
stay. He came back and said, “ Fairfax, those men are coming up here 
to-night.” Says he, “ I just met Doc. Bethel out on the levee, and he is 
just from Waterproof, aud he says early this evening they commenced 
quarantine, and everybody outside of the quarantine will be kept out. 
He said he had dodged around until dark, and after dark he and Young 
AA^ere standing there, and Mr. Davidson came by the quarantine guards 
and said to them, ‘ There Avill be some men along here after a Avhile, and 
they will be dressed so that you will not knoAV them; but vou 
need not ask them any questions nor stop them, but just let them 
pass.’” Dan then told me, “I think they are the men aaLo are going to 
CO lie to your house to get you.” I said, “ Dan, I expettt it is, and I will 
not stay here.” I Avent across to Mr. LeAAus’s house, and William Single¬ 
ton came OA'er. My brother and Fleming Branch staid there at my 
house. While we AA^ere sitting doAAui in the house talking the matter 
over, I said to my wife and Mrs. Ladd, “ I guess you ladies had better 
go aAvaj someAvhere else, for those men might come here to-night, and ! 


Evidence.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 


767 


if they do, it would be better for you ladies not to be here.” My wife 
then said, “Mrs. Ladd, you had better go.” My wife said she had been 
feeling bad all day, and she would stay, and Mrs. Ladd said she would 
not go. Well, we were sitting down in the house talking what we had 
better do, and, if the men came there, how we liad better be located in 
the hoiise, and we planned it all out—how I should go out the back door 
if they came, &c. My wife said she would go to bed. The house had 
an L to it, and she went down in the L. She stopped there a few min¬ 
utes, and then she came and said, “ There is a squad of men coming 
with guns! ” Mrs. Ladd ran to the front door, and I ran into the hall. 
She said, “Wdiois that !” and nobody answered, and then she said again, 
“ Who is that ? What do you want” Finally, some one said, “ We want 
Fairfax,” and then they ran up on the gallery. My gun was in the hall, 
and as I passed into the kitchen a man pushed the door open and rushed 
in by Mrs. Ladd, and as I got into the kitchen door he fired at me. The 
party commenced outside shooting through the windows and sides of 
the house, and as I was standing in the kitchen-door, a woman 
got me and pulled me out that way, and then I went on out 
the back door. Our house was about two hundred yards from the 
river, and there was a road that led back from the river, and I went 
tlirough that lane and up to a neighbor’s house, and Mrs. Ladd, my wife, 
and little girl had passed into another room. We all went to the same 
house that night. In going up to that house I met there three or foim other 
colored men. I told them I wanted to go back to my liouse; that I had 
heard some hollering as 1 left, and 1 called to my brother and some 
others to go back with me, but they would not; and when I got to the 
house I told them I wanted to go home, for I had heard some hollering. 
They said that if I was bound to go back they would go with me. There 
were about a half a dozen of us by this time, and we went back, but 
found no one there. We saw blood on the floor, and windows all shot 
with bullets, and one side of the house. Before I had left the house 
there was at least fifty men around there. I went from there to another 
brother’s-in-law of mine by the name of Campbells, and staid there all 
night. I went back again on Sunday morning, and went by Mr. Lewis’s, 
where this man Singleton was lying shot. Dr. Andrews and Dr. Wails 
were there. AVhile we were there a buggy passed down the road with 
Air. Cordill and Air. Saxe in it. They went to AAaterproof, and I went 
on home. 

Q. What time was that ?—A. That was about sunrise Sunday morn- 
ing. 

Q. Go on with your story.—A. After they had gone on dovm past my 
house to Waterproof it was said they liad guns in their buggy. Several 
men there at the house of Airs. Ladd began to ask questions what tliey 
were going to do with those guns. I wanted to keep down any excite¬ 
ment so I said, probably they were looking for the men who had attacked 
my house. Then some one said he had heard these men say that they 
would kill every negTO they could find until they got Pairfax. I said 
that it was not'worth while to talk that way, that they were not inteud- 



souiebody said to me, “Fairfax, you had better get out of the way.” 
They said they had seen five or six men coming with guns, and that 1 
had better get out of the way. I said, “ I will tliiuk the matter over, 
and if I conclude it is better for me to go I will go.” Afterwanls I said, 
“I will go to church and I said to the girl, “Go to work and clean up 





768 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Supplementary 


the house and get breakfast.” They had been so badly scared that they 
had not done up any of the ivork about the house. I told them there 
would be no more trouble^ they had better get breakfast. I kept think¬ 
ing the matter over, and after a little I thought it might be better for 
me to get out of the way. I went down to the house where Kennedy 
was, the man who had been shot the night before. From there I could 
see persons passing backwards and forwards. While I was at Kennedy's 
a man came from church and said a lot of men had come and were riding 
around town with guns. I said to him, “ Go and see, and if any more of 
them come, let me know.” About eleven o’clock, or between ten and 
eleven, this man came to me again and said, “ These men came to church, 
and inquired after you, and you had better get away.” On that I left Ken¬ 
nedy’s, and went to the back side of Bass’s place, to Kennedy’s father’s 
house; there I got a mule and went to the house of a friend named Oliver 
Dudley, who lives on the back side of Goldman’s place. I remained there 
the rest of the day Sunday and Sunday night. Monday morning I came 
back near the river again. I met quite a number of men belonging to dif¬ 
ferent clubs—colored men—who had collected together to go out with the 
delegates to the Eepublican convention that was to meet on Monday, 
the 14th. They wanted to know if I would go out to the convention. I 
said, I don’t know.” They said, We will go and get enough to go 
with you to see that you are not hurt.” I said, “ Yes ;"we must hold the 
convention; for if we don’t make a ticket to-day we won’t at all,” for we 
had adjourned before without making a ticket. All the clubs got to¬ 
gether, and we went twelve or thirteen miles from Saint Joseph, to a 
place called Miller’s place, and held our convention on that place. 

Q. How many of the clubs were present, the number of men I mean ?— 
A. I presume there were five or six hundred; I never knew exactly how 
many. 

By Mr. Kiekwood : 

Q. Arrangements had been made before for this meeting on Monday, 
I understand f—A. Yes, sir. We proceeded on and went to the conven¬ 
tion. Just before leaving the river to go out to the place where the con¬ 
vention was to be held, I met Dr. Andrews, who had come up to the 
Bass place in his buggy to see the man Kennedy. I saw Dr. Andrews 
start as if to go through the field, and then turn back as if alarmed, be¬ 
cause aways ahead of them were those colored men, and some of them 
had guns. Andrews said to me, “ Fairfax, I want to go and see Kennedy, 
and i don’t know whether to go through these men or not. There seems 
to be a great deal of excitement; the women are alarmed nearly to 
death.” I said, Dr. Andrews, you can go anywhere you please; these 
men are going to the convention, and they have got guns because of 
the time there was Saturday night and yesterday. They understand 
that a lot of men from Franklin are going to prevent them from 
holding any convention, and they take their guns only to protect them¬ 
selves if they should be assailed; but so far as their'hurting anybody, 
they don’t intend anything of the sort. You are just as safe as' if you 
were behind breastworks.” The Doctor said, Fairfax, I know that if 
you are with them they won’t do anything.” I said, I am going with 
them myself, and I am coming back Avith them, and I will assure you that 
nobody will get hurt, an d nobody’s property will be inj ured. We are only 
going to hold a convention. There Avill be no trouble unless somebody 
meets us on the road and attempts to preA-ent our holding a convention!” 
So the doctor went on, andAveAAxnt on. About three miles from Water¬ 
proof we Avere met by a committee of two AAkite men, named Connor and 


Evidence.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 


769 


Martin, together Avitli three colored men, who were on the way to their con¬ 
vention ; they had adociiment signed by the citizensof Waterproof. They 
had with them, also, a paper that had a resolution in it that I suppose 
has already been left with this committee. They handed the paper to 
me, and Martin made a little speech denouncing the act of Saturday. 
He told us to go on and hold our convention ; that they had no objection, 
they only wanted to know if they had anything to fear from the colored 
men under arms. I said, I am going with them; nobody will be hurt. 
Tell the citizens of Waterproof they need not apprehend any danger 
from these men ; they are only going to defend themselves in case they 
are attacked.” Then the committee returned to Waterproof, and we 
proceeded to the i)lace appointed for holding the convention. We held 
the convention, and nominated a ticket. After the convention was 
through, I said, “AVe have held our convention and have nominated a 
ticket. We must now return back home, and lay down our guns, and 
quietly go to work.” We got back to AVaterproof about nine o’clock 
that night. AA^e passed through town as quietly as if we were following a 
funeral. The next morning everything was perfectly quiet, and the men 
went to work as usual. There was no sign of any trouble until about 
eleven o’clock that day—tliat was Tuesday, October 15th. About eleven 
o’clock rarish Judge Cordill and Air. Eegister came down from Saint 
Joseph Avith a posse of 65 men j the appearance of these created another 
little excitement. Just before that the gin-house on Moss, AVise & Go’s, 
place had been burned. I Avas informed that they arrested Dick Aliller 
on Tuesday and kept him until AA^ednesday. Dick Aliller was accused 
of burning that gin-house. They remained at AA^aterproof Tuesday 
night all night. Next day a company of men came from Natchez on the 
steamer Alinnie, in charge of Captain Baker. These men from Natchez, 
on arriAung at AVaterproof and finding eA^erything quiet, said that they 
had been deceived; that they had been told there was trouble doAvm 
there, and had been sent for to come doAvn and quiet it. They marched 
back aboard the boat and returned to Natchez. Cordill and Eegister, 
I believe I have already stated, returned Avith Miller. The next that 
anybody knew of Aliller he Avas found hung. His mother said she found 
him hanging and cut him doAvn. These men from the parish back of 
Tensas remained in the neigliborhood ot Waterproof, and Thursday they 
commenced riding around the country. On Tuesday 1 AAms at the house 
of Alartha Barnes, about a mile beloAv AA'aterproof. AATiile I was there 
(this was just before the posse arriA^ed in town, and before the (jom- 
pany came from Natchez), two colored men came there and said 
they had been sent there by the white people of AVaterproof to 
urge the colored people to come up to town and protect the town; 
that a lot of men from Franklin had tlireatened to burn the town 
because the citizens had iiwited Colonel Peck there and got him 
killed. While I was in Airs. Barnes’s house I considered myself con¬ 
cealed. I sent out a man to tell the colored people not to go to Water¬ 
proof Mrs. Ladd also went out and tried to persuade them ; but the 
men would not hear her. She told me that they Avere detenuined to go 
to AVaterproof to protect the citizens. I very niucli disliked to come 
out from my concealment myself, but when I found that they would not 
listen to anybody else I went out. I said to the men. Where are you 
going? AVhat are you going to do? Don’t go near toAVii; it will not do 
tuY ^ood. The white men are coming from Saint eloseph If you go to 

Waterproof with those guns, and those men from Saint Joseph see you, 
the Tone of you will |et idled.” They said, - AA^e are going to pro¬ 
tect tiie town.” I told them not to go; that the town did not need any 

40 S C 




770 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Supplementary 


protecting; that it was all a pretense. Some of them said, We have 
got to go on business.’^ ^^Well,” I said, “then put your guns down; 
doift take them with you.” They did so; some of them went up, leav¬ 
ing their guns behind. After a little they came back, rushing down 
the road, and said there were a whole lot of armed men in the town. 
On hearing that I left Mrs. Barnes’s and went down into the country. 

I followed a man who had gone with a messenger to get guns, and put 
another man on a horse; I said, “Tell all the colored men, ‘Don’t one 
of you go near Waterproof.’ ” He said, “We heard that the white peo¬ 
ple are coming to kill us.” I said, “If they don’t see you with guns 
they won’t harm you; if they see you with guns they will.” So I suc¬ 
ceeded at last in preventing them from going with guns tliat day. Cor- 
dill and Eegister in their buggy passed near the house where I was; 
then I went down and hid in the woods. They talked with Elijah Lucas 
and Samuel Small, on the Marshall place, telling them that they were 
the ofiScers of the parish; that they had come to tell the colored people 
to go on with their work and not be alarmed. When these gentlemen 
left Waterproof Tuesday night they knew that everything was x)erfectly 
quiet. 

After Cordill and Eegister had gone to Saint Joseph, these armed 
men that were riding around there commenced killing. I first heard 
of it while I was hiding down on the lower side of the Covington 
place. I would hear each night what was done during the day. I 
went from the Marshall place to the lower part of the Covington 
place, and stopped there with Solomon Butler. Wednesday niglit 1 ! 
got Butler to put me across Bayou Le Jean in a skiff. I staid that 1 
night with a man on the Penny place named George Gray. I sent ] 
Gray to see if he coidd see anything of any armed men about there. 

If he could, he was to come back and tell me. He came back and 
told me he could see a large number of armed men coming from 
toward Waterproof. I told him to stay out’ in the yard, where he 
could see about a mile and a half to where there was a gate came into 
a field. After a little he came and told me there were some men coming 
through the gate. Then I went down to the back side of the field. I 
saw the men pass his house. I staid secreted, keeping a good watch, 
and about dark they passed his house again with two colored men; 
Eobin Buckner was one of them. I was then intending to go to Yidalia 
and Concordia Parish. 1 had the ticket which had been nominated at 
our convention, and I could not see any chance to get it printed but to 
rough my way to Vidalia. 1 left Gray’s house on the Penny place and 
went to Harvey Brown’s back place, on the lake Saint John.^ I told to 
the man who accompanied me to go and tell Alfred Hardman (he lived 
on Harvey Brown’s place) that I wanted to see him. When Hardman i 
came and I told him how things were, he Avas scared almost to 
death. He said, “Those men have just let me loose, and they took 
Commodore Small and Wash. Ellis down to the camp.” I could then 
see where they were camped there near Brown’s house. The women 
about there were all scared by this time. They were getting so that 
wherever I would go they were afraid these armed men would find 
me and injure them. One man said, “It will never do for Fairfax to 
be found here, or we shall be punished for it.” I said to Hardman 
“Are there any thickets about here, that I could dodge around in 
and keep out of the way?” He said, “Yes; come and go Avith me to 
my mother’s house.” I said, “I believe I will go back to Gray’s” I 
thought if I got surrounded there in that country, that I did not know 
very well, I would be more apt to be caught than if I were in some place 




Evidence.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX 


771 


where I was better acquainted with the country. I was tlien on the 
other side of Bayou Le Jean. Bayou Le Jean divides two parishes. I 
had either to go around the head of Bayou Le Jean, which was a great 
distance, or else cross a certain bridge called the Izauaga bridge. I was 
afraid to cross the bridge lest they had left guards there on purpose to 
catch me. I said to Hardman, “Can you direct me to any log by which 
I can cross Bayou Le Jean?’^ He said yes, he could, and he went with 
me to the place; but when we got there we found that the log had sunk 
down in the middle of the bayou so that I could not cross. I said, We 
have got to go and cross at the bridge. We will go through the fields 
till we come to where the bridge is.” He objected to my going to the 
bridge, saying that T would surely be caught, for they had certainly left 
guards there to watch for me. I said, ‘‘Can we get back to Hray’s 
house ? ” He said yes j so we went back through the woods and finally 
got to Gray’s house. We called up Gray—it was about ten o’clock at 
night; we roused Gray up, and I asked him, Gray, have you got a 
lantern here ? ” He was scared almost to death. He said afterwards 
he thought it was Steve Biggins. I said to him, have got to cross 
that bayou”; and then he found out who it was. He said he had not 
any lantern. I said, “Have you a lamp?” Then he said yes. I said, 
“Have you got a long pole?” He said yes. I said, “Give me the lamp 
and pole, for I have got to cross the bayou.” Then Mrs. Gray came out. 
She is a member of my church. She came out crying, and said, “ Don’t try 
that; you will surely get drowned.” There was a man lived with Gray 
named Isaac Franklin; I said to him, “ Franklin, you come with me, with 
the lamp, till we get to the edge of the water, and then you hold the light 
and I will see if I can get across.” Gray said, “If you take the light 
up there they Avill surely see you.” I said, “ If they do see the light 
they won’t know it’s me ; you are too scary; you must not be so scary.” 
I went back to where the log was across the bayou. I felt with the pole 
to find out where the log was ; the water was about this deep (illustrat¬ 
ing—nearly three feet); I put my foot on the log and let the pole extend 
to the bottom of the bayou ; a tree had fallen from the other side of the 
bayou into it, so that the two logs came pretty near together where the 
top of the other tree was ; with the aid of the pole I could reach the 
lapse of the other tree ; then I reached the other log, and got on it, and 
crawled out, and went to Butler’s house, where I first came on Wednes¬ 
day evening. Butler said to me, “ Two or three hundred men passed 
here to-day, and asked if I knew where you were.” They said they 
were confident that I was down there somewhere, if I staid on earth ; 
that the only way I could ever get out of there without their finding me 
was by flying; and that if I was on the ground they were bound to have 
me. They had shot Louis Postlethwaite that evening; I had heaid 
guns, but I did not knoAV they had killed anybody. They had shot 
Robert Buckner too. Buckner was one of the deacons in my church. I 
was then within two hundred yards of Butler’s. My clothes were wet 
with wading through the bayou. I said to Butler, “ Give me a suit ot 
clothes to put on till mine are dry.” He did so. I went out and staid 
in his hay-house that night. Ilext morning, about ten o’clock, he came 
and said, “ There they go again.” They were going back to the Mar- 
sliall place. Tliis was Friday. It was Thursday night when I went 
there. Commodore Small, whom they had taken from Brown’s place, on 
Thursday, liad told tliem that if they would not kill him he would 
find me; so they spared Small till Friday, and took him back 
to the Alarshall place, and searched every corn-crib and hay-house, 
and everything of tlie kind, but could not find me. That was 


772 


LOUISIANA IN 1878 


[Supplemental y 


the day they hung William Henry. I remained at Butler’s in the 
bushes untii dark Friday evening. By that time I had become 
very much discouraged and perplexed. 1 had two objects in going to 
Concordia Parish: first, to have the tickets printed; second, to take 
the mail-boat out on Saturday night. I was afraid I could not possibly 
get on the boat in time. Now, it was Friday night, and I was not far 
enough down to take the Eobert Lee when it came down on Saturday 
night. After dark on Friday night I said to Butler, have got to go 
on the ^Lee’ to-morrow; I must get out of this; Butler, I am going to 
play the fox on them; I am going clean back home.” I left Butler’s 
house Friday night, and went back to Bass’s place. 1 got there between 
one and two o’clock in the night. I went to old man Town’s house, on 
the back of Bass’s place; but I could not stay there. Bass had left and 
gone to Saint Joseph. It was rumored that they were going to search 
all his place for Bianch and Kenneday (Kenneday was one of them that 
was wounded in my house); so I only staid there until I had warmed 
myself, and the rest of that night I staid in a hay-cock; and all night 
long I was wondering and idanning how to get on the boat the next day. 
In the morning I told Town to go out on the river and find out whether 
there was any cotton at Bass’s landing or not. Bass’s landing is about 
half a mile from Waterproof landing. It is a i)lace where Bass and 
some of the other planters about there shij) cotton. Town did not go 
himself, but his wife went out, and came back and told me there was to 
be some cotton shipped from the landing; and also that there were three 
or four women going to get on. Of course the idea popped into my 
head that quick, “I will be a woman, and go onto that boat ^vith 
the other women.” I told her husband to come and shave me. He 
sent back word not to try anjThing of the sort; that it was too 
■ dangerous. I said, Tell him I must go on; that it is more dan¬ 
gerous to stay than to go.” Town came himself, then, and said that 
such a thing would never do in the Avorld. I said, They can’t 
tell who I am,” and insisted that he should shave me; so he shaved me. 
Then I dressed myself in woman’s clothes; I told the women at Town’s 
what I was up to ; I said to Town, ‘‘You go and stay about two hun¬ 
dred yards ahead of me, and if you see any of these men riding up and 
down the road wave your handkerchief and I Avill get out of the way.” 
I told his wife to go and get three or four other women so that a crowd 
of us might get on board the boat together, and we would not be looked 
at so closely. The other women came and walked along with me right 
up onto the boat. One of these armed men was standing riglit there at 
the landing with his gun looking for me; of course he did not know me; 
my wife and Mrs. Ladd had got on the boat before I got there. I went 
right into my wife’s room the first thing; nobody knew me except Doug¬ 
lass, who attended to the colored cabin, and that was the way I got out 
of there; that is about the end of the story. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Were you the owner of any property in Tensas Parish*?—A. Yes 
sir; I own a part of the house that I lived in; the church owns the’ 
other half. It is a parsonage, and I built an “L” onto it for myself. 
Besides that, I o^vn ninety-three acres of land, four cows with young 
calves, four yearlings, three horses, one mule, a two-horse wagon, and a 
buggy, three or four plows, &c., &c. 

Q. Did you farm your own land?—A. No, sir; I rented the land I 
cultivated; the land I owned was not under cultivation. 


Evidence.] TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 773 

Q. Did you learn at any time that a warrant had been issued for your 
arrest ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When ?—A. On Monday, while on my way to the convention, some 
one had said to me, “ Fairfax, I was told to-day that Register had a war- 
I’ant for your arrest.” Said I, “ What f ’ Said he, I am told that Register 
has a warrant for your arrest.” Said I, What for “?” Said he, They 
say you killed Peck.” Said I, “If they have a warrant for my arrest I 
know what that means; it is the John Gair affair right over again.” 
They arrested John Gair with the intention, they said, of taking him to 
jail, and killed him before he ever got there. I said, “ They will never 
arrest me, because I am as certain to be killed as I go to jail; I am going to 
keep out of the way.” I heard it said that they had a warrant for me; 
D. C. Smith was constable. He came where I was on Wednesday, and 
said, “ I saw Cordill on Tuesday, and he told me they had a warrant for 
your arrest; and Cordill said you had better keep out of the way or you 
would be taken out of jail by an armed mob and hanged.” 

Q. It was said that the object of Peck and those men with him in 
going to your house was to remonstrate with you against an attempt 
which they lieard you and your friends were going to make to break the 
quarantine lines. Were you intending to make any such attempt ?—A. 
I never heard anything of that until after the trouble. It was on Fri¬ 
day after the Monday that the Democrats had their nomination that I 
first heard that Saint Joe was quarantined. I heard that the police 
jury had been called together on Monday to prohibit all public meetings 
of any nature, religious and all, during the epidemic. I understood that 
failed at that time; but I was confident they were going to quarantine 
Saint Joseph against us. On Friday A. P. Martin came to me and said 
they had quarantined Saint Joseph. I said, “ I expected they were going 
to do that.” He said, “ What are you going to do f ” I said, “ We must 
hold our convention somewhere else. I am writing notices now to send 
around so as to make arrangements to hold the convention in some other 
place.” I think one of the notices that I then wrote was exhibited in 
Orleans to your committee by Mr. Ooolidge. I have a note written back 
to me by Duncan Smith, whom I sent to carry these notices. He wrote 
stating Avhere we were to hold a convention—the only place that could 
be found. 

Q. What was the substance of that note A. We first thought we 
could hold the convention on the Delta place; but he says in that note 
that the only place to be found is the Miller place, which is in charge of 
a colored man named Ross. Ross said we could hold the convention 
there. He said the Democrats were talking the saine hard talk and 
making the same threats there as they were on the river; but, he says, 
“ Maddox tried that on me, but it didn’t work.” I can assure you that 
there was no such idea entertained on our part as attempting to go 
through the quarantine. We knew very well that if we violated the 
law they would have the advantage of us. 

Q. How many of those men who made the attack on your house did 
you see?—A. I saw, when they were running across from the levee to 
my house, about a dozen. When my wife first said that some men were 
(•.oining, I ran to the window and got a glimpse of the crowd, about a 
dozen, I should say; how many more were behind them I never knew. 
I never saw any more after that except the one that shot me. I went 

away from the window to get my gun. , , . . ^ . tt 

Q. What was the appearance of the man who shot at you A. He 
was a spare-made man, with small whiskers; he wore a cork hat and a 
light-colored overcoat. 



774 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Supplementary 


Q. Did lie say anything when he fired at yon?—^A. As I was going 
from him I heard him say, “ There goes the damned rascal.” 

Q. And thereupon he fired at you?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I think yon have before stated that you had a gun?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of a gun?—A. Shot-gun. 

Q. Was it loaded?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you take it in your hands when the attack was made?— 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you fire it?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Why not?—^A. Well, gentlemen, the real reason was this: When 
this man Peck rushed in the door and fired at me he rushed right by 
Mrs. Ladd. He was standing as close to Mrs. Ladd as you two gentle¬ 
men are to each other, and I could not shoot him without running the 
risk of shooting her. My gun was loaded with shot. Before she got 
out of the way the shot were entering through the windows, and I 
expected the house to be surrounded, and I retreated out of the back 
door. 

Q. How long have you been acquainted with Mr. Cordill?—A. Since 
ISfil. 

Q. With what political x>arty has he acted up to the last fall cam¬ 
paign?—A. With the Eepublican jiarty. 

Q. To what office, if any, had he been elected by the Eepublican 
party?—A. Parish judge. First he acted with the Democratic party, 
until four years ago; since then with the Eepublican party. He has 
lield the iiosition of parish judge for two terms at the hands of the Ee- 
publicans. 

Q. Did you say that Duncan Smith informed you that Cordill had said 
to him that you had better keei) out of the way ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That was after the warrant had been issued for your arrest?—A. 
Yes, sir; that was on Tuesday, the day that the posse came down from 
Saint Joseph to Waterproof. 

Q. What information have you in regard to the shooting at Bass’s 
lane? It has been said by some that a large number of colored jieoi^le 
were assembled there, five or six hundred; others said there were 
very few; what information have you in regard to the number 
of colored persons who assembled there?—A. The first I knew that 
stories were afloat of a large iimnber of colored x)eox)le being in 
Bass’s lane was when I read that dispatch of Judge Cordill’s. I 
rode right home to see if it was true, because I knew that 
the men had dispersed Monday night and gone to their work. 
I got answer that tliere were not over half a dozen men in Bass’s lane 
at that time. I have since seen i3arties—Isaac Johnson, Ash wood 
Haney, and Steve Ireland—who said they were on the levee there when 
the sheriff* and his posse came down. Johnson and Haney worked on 
Goldman’s place; Steve Ireland was on Bass’s place. They said they 
saw some men in the lane, but there were not more than half a dozen. 
A crowd of half-grown boys were standing on the levee about that time, 
or a little after the sheriff and his posse had gone by. One of the boys 
had a pistol, with which he shot at a dog. Haney says when they got 
to Goldman’s house they stopped; and, he says, he heard some of them 
say, There is a lot of men down there with guns.” Goldman said. 

There are no men down there, and if there are they are not disturbing 
anybody.” One of the men said that they had heard somebody shoot¬ 
ing and regarded that as a banter, and they were not going to take any 
banter. Then they went down the lane looking for somebody. The 


Evidence.! TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 775 

first men they saw were running* away from them, but they shot at them. 

Q. Did you see Colonel Goldman Saturday ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where ?—A. I first saw him Saturday forenoon, when I was going 
to Waterproof. I saw him again on Saturday when I was up to Mr. 
Bass’s. I saw Goldman, and Wade K. Young, and Mr. Shields j they 
were going from the boat-landing up toward Goldman’s house. 

Q. Who is Shields ; you have not spoken of him before, I think ?—A. 
He is a gentleman who lives in Concordia Parish. Shields and Young 
seem to have been taking quite an active part in the interest of Colonel 
King ; I met them both the Saturday prior to that at a mass-meeting in 
Concordia Parish. 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. Your family are in Kew Orleans, you say?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What has became of your house and land?—A. My land is there, 
my house, I am told, is standing open. 

Q. What has become of your personal property—cows, calves, horses; 
Ac.?—A. Two of the yearlings, I ain informed, have died during the 
cold spell, having nobody to look after them. The horses I i)ut in 
charge of a friend, and asked him to dispose of them as best he could ; 
I saw him before I left Kew Orleans, and he told me that he hadn’t sold 
tliem. The cotton crox) was entirely destroyc'd. For three weeks my 
hands were kei)t out of my field on account of fear; they were afraid to 
go and i)ick cotton, just in the height of the cotton-pi(*king season. The 
gates were left open by the men riding back and forward through them. 
I did not get cotton enough on my ])lace to pay the exi)enses. The 
house, that same week, was broken o])en and a good deal of damage 
done to the windows and some of the furniture. Some of the furniture 
was taken out and saved by friends. They smashed up two bureaus 
and a sewing-machine. 

Q. So you are left naked in the world, substantially ?—A. Yes, sir. 
My wife, after she had been in Kew Orleans a week, was taken down 
with yellow fever, so there was a heavy expense to me, and no money 
to meet it. 

Q. You were hiding yourself in New Orleans ?—A. Yes, sir. 

By Ml*. Garland : 

Q. Do you know who shot at you?—A. No, sir. 

Q. How man,y shots do you recollect hearing fired during the meloe ?— 
A. I could not tell; after the first shot the firing went on miscellaneously 
from several directions at the same time. 1 was told by A. P. Martin, 
the next morning, that he counted twenty-two or twenty-three shots. 

Q. How long did they remain in your house?—A. I don’t reckon 
more than two minutes all together. 

(^. How many men in all came to your house ?—A. I don’t know how 
many there were in all. They were estimated by others at about a hun¬ 
dred. After 1 went away and came bac^k again one of the men who 
worked forme, named John Henry, said there were about a hundred, lie 
thought. I said How do you know ?” He said “ When I left the house 
I went to the mouth of the lane and saw them as they went away.” He 
said “ There were about a hundred, I think,” and that there were four 
men toting one, and the one was dead. He said he got right into the 
midst of them almost before he knew it. 

Q. Did you recognize any of the men that came there that evening ?— 
A. No, sir; I only got to see this man that shot at me. ^ 

Q. At what time Saturday evening did you see Wade B. Young, 
Goldman, and Shields come up from the lauding ?—A. Between three 
and five o’cock. 


776 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Supplementary 


Q. Did they go down to Waterjiroof that morning?—A. Yes, sir 5 but 
then I was at the gin. 

Q. You do not know as a matter of fact that Goldman was one of the 
crowd that came to your house that evening?—A. No, sirj not to my 
personal knowledge. 

Q. Were you acquainted with Peck personally?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Had you ever had any trouble with him ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. He was not from your parish, but from an adjoining parish—Cat¬ 
ahoula, I believe ?—^A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Tensas Eiver divides Tensas Parish from Catahoula ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. How far is it from ButlePs house to yours ?—A. Between three 
and four miles; but by the way I had to come that night it was six or 
seven miles; I had to wander around and keep out of the limits of the 
town of Waterjiroof. I went from Butler’s to Gray’s, from Gray’s to the 
Brown jdace, and then back to Gray’s, and then over to Butler’s 
again. 

Q. You did not stay all night at Mrs. Barnes’s then ?—A. I staid at 
Mrs. Barnes’s all night Monday night. 

Q. That is, the Monday after the trouble at your house ?—A. Yes, sir; 
the Monday that we held the convention. 

Q. When this message was sent you by Cordill, that you had better 
get out of the way, did you receive it as a message of kindness or that 
he intended to do you damage ?—A. I received it as a message of kind¬ 
ness on his part. 

Q. Had you and he been friends before that ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Personally and politically ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You had voted for him before ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And also for Eegister ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the ticket that you went down to Yidalia to have printed have 
any Democrats on it ?—A. Yes, sir; they were all Democrats except the 
Congressmen and justices of the peace and constables. 

Q. You were the candidate for Congress yourself, were you not, for 
the short term ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In opposition to Young?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. John Young, not Wade E. Young?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were you on election day ?—A. In New Orleans. 

Q. How long did you remain in New Orleans after you went there ?— 
A. I left Waterproof on Saturday, the 19th, and remained in New Orleans 
until last Thursday. 

Q. Where were you during the month of this last January ?—A. I was 
in New Orleans. 

Q. Did you come directly from New Orleans here?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you have not been back to Tensas Parish since Saturdav, the 
19th of October ?—A. No, sir. ’ 

Q. Is it your purpose to go back to Tensas ?—A. No, sir. 

Q. Is your wife in New Orleans now, did you say ?—A. Yes, sir. I 
may go back to Tensas after a while if Warmoth dies and things get 
quiet. I may go back in order to look after my property. I never ex¬ 
pect to live there again. 

Q. Were you a witness in the IJnited States court in New Orleans?— 
A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any considerable talk there—considerable of a scare- 
in your neighborhood about yellow fever?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It was a matter, then, to be apprehended as a danger—the spread 
of yellow fever ?—A. There was no yellow fever there; but they seemed 
to apprehend some danger of its being brought from some other place. 


Evidence.] 


TESTIMONY OF ALFRED FAIRFAX. 


777 


L p to the time when we coimueiiced the campaign there had not been 
apprehended from bringing it in from any part of the country. 

Q. The resolution to whicli you refer is to be foulid in Eoss Stewart’s 
testimony, I believe; if it is not I should like to see it if you have a copy 
or it with you.—A. That is not the resolution to which he referred. The 
one to which I refer is the resolution to ajipoint a committee of confer¬ 
ence with reference to getting up a mixed ticket satisfactory to both 
parties, so far as local offices were concerned. I drew it up myself. 

Q. Can you state to the committee the substance of it*?—A. I think I 
can state the exact words; they are as follows: ‘AVhereas there is a 
disposition manifested on the part of the white people of Tensas Parish 
not to accept any place offered them on the Republican ticket; and 
whereas it is the Avish of the Republicans to nominate a ticket that will 
be satisfactory to all parties; and Avhereas this cannot be done without 
the co-operation of the white people of the parish: Therefore, resolved, 
that a committee of five.be appointed on conference to confer Avitli the 
Democrats with a view of making a ticket that will be satisfactory to 
all parties.” 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. This was before the Bland-Douglass ticket was formed ?—A. Yes, 
sir; that Avas submitted on the 5th of October, when we found that the 
Avhite men had all deserted ns. 

Q. And before the formation of the Donglass-Bland ticket ?—A. Yes, 
sir. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. How far is it from Miner’s, where you lield your convention, to 
your house ?—A. Between twch^e and fifteen miles, 1 think. 

Q. West of you?—A. Korthwest. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. How far from your place did Peck reside ?—A. Between eighteen 
and twenty miles, I think. 

Q. What information have you got as to the reasons that brought 
Peck there, and at whose suggestion or by Avhose reipiest did he come ?— 
A. I have no positive information in regard to that subject. All the 
information I have is whai 1 have heard Mr. SteAvart and others say. 
jMr. SteAvart told me that Paris Burkey, Avho lives in Saint Joseph, and 
A\ ho was acting deputy sheriff' under Register, told him that Register 
Avent out after Peck, and that Peck was to be in there during that Aveek 
for the puri)ose of regulating the parish; that is all the information I 
luiA^e upon the subject. 

By Mr. Kirkavood : 

Q. Have you any information tending to show Avhether or not he was 
ex])ected on the particular evening that he came—was there not a quar¬ 
antine at that time ?—A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon hear anything as to whether the quarantine authorities 
Avere expecting anybody to come in ?—A. I had information that they 
expected somebody to pass the guards that night Avho AA^ould probably 
l)e unknoAA n to the guards. I have other information that I Avould not 
like to give, because it Avould expose the name of a man that lives there, 
Avliose life Avould certainly be in danger if they ever heard he had given 
the least information. 

By Mr. Cameron : 

Q. Did Peck and his men come sloAvly and quietly from the levee to 
your house, or did they rush upon you ?—A. They came just as men 


LOUISIANA IN 1878. 


[Supplementary Evidence.] 


would charge a battery. My house stands about twenty-five or thirty 
yards from the levee. " Where the levee has been run from my house to 
the river there is a plank walkway, and they ruslied across that walk¬ 
way as hard as they could run, leaving their horses on the other side. 

Q. Could you see whether they were armed ?—A. Yes, sir; when my 
\vife said they were coming I run to the window, and I saAV each man 
holding his gun in this position (representing the gun as held when 
charging). 

By Mr. Kirkwood : 

Q. You are satisfied they didn’t come for religious purposes ?—A. I 
am satisfied of that. 

Q. Had you had any difficulty in the parish before that time ?—A. Ko, 
sir; I never had had any. I had had threats made to me of a political 
nature of that kind before, and at one time before that an attempt was 
made one night to kill me, I think, just as tliere was this last time; the 
house I was in was surrounded, and an attempt was made to break into 
the house. On account of threats that had been made, I had been stay¬ 
ing with my neighbors—first at one house and then at another. At this 
time I was staying at the house of Kancy Woodard j I had been there 
a little too long so that they discovered where I was. Before that 1 had 
received a letter stating that the only objection to me was my i)olitics— 
that I was a Eepublican, and that I had better quit politics and go some¬ 
where else where I was not known, and if I could not do that the next 
best thing was to become a Democrat; that would save me from the 
fate that was awaiting me. Parties were watching me, and being sat¬ 
isfied I was in earnest about it, I had to stgy at different places. I was 
staging this time at Kancy Woodard’s. The liouse had been removed, 
and the chimney had not been built, and the plank was attempted to be 
torn off. She was cunning, and when the men tried to get in she said 
to me, Now, don’t you or your wife say a word.’’ Then she commenced 
hollering, and said, “ Fairfax and his vfife and the rest have run away 
and left us to help ourselves, and let you nasty, stinking fellows come 
here to kill us.” They stopped then and went oft*. She said that two 
or three times. Outside of that I have not liad any trouble and have 
always regarded the men living around there as friendly to me, and 
they have always treated me with the highest regard and respect. 

Q. You have never been accused of any crime!—A. Never in my life. 
I have never had a suit of any kind in court during my life. 

Q. What information have you as to what Peck and his men intended 
to do with you if they had succeeded in capturing you ?—A. I have no 
information as to their intention outside of wliat I have got from the 
postmaster there, W. H. Griffith, and he said that was communicated to 
him by Governor Nicholls. He said that while he and Mr. Pinchback 
and Mr. Newman went in to see the governor to talk over afiairs, the 
governor told him that Avhile he was visiting Waterproof himself, he 
was informed while there that it was the intention to take all the leading 
colored men out of the parish and keep them there until after the elec¬ 
tion. 

Q. Would you have considered your life safe if they had taken you a 
captive to Franklin Parish A. No, sir; I would not have considered 
myself safe an hour after I left the house. 

By Mr. Garland : 

Q. When was this little matter you spoke of at Harvey Woodard’s ?_ 

A. Along in 1870. There have been no threats made, to speak of, until 
this last campaign. 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


THE STATE AT LARGE. 

WEST, .JOHN L.: 

Revsidence, &c. 3 

Offers in evidence State law requiring tliat both political parties shall he 

represented in county boards of commissioners of election. 3 

as secretary of Republican State executive committee in the last cam- 

^Paign. . 3 

Or(wernor Hampton refused to appoint Republicans recommended by the 

Republican committee. 3 5 q 

He had left the matter with the chairman of the Democratic State com¬ 
mittee . 3 

The Democrats select the men to act for the Repu’biicans Ii 3 

I remonstrated against those appointments. 3 

Republicans, when in power, had allowed the Democrats a representation. 4 

Of the 36 Republicans recommended but 6 were a^ipointed. 4 

Republican protests against the appointments. 4 

Cross-examination: Was appointed secretary of the committee in May 

last. 4 

Does not know that Governors Chamberlain and Moses refused to appoint 

commissioners recommended by Democrats. 5 

Recommendations came from the Rej^ublican county committees. 6-7 

Recommendations from Charleston County did not come from Mr. Mackey, 7 

CHARLESTON COUNTY. 

CAMPBELL, JAMES B.: 

Residence, nativity, and profession. Always a Democrat. 11 

Elected in 1877 to till an unexpired term in State senate. 11 

Was Independent-Democratic candidate for State senate in last election. 11,1.5 
Democrats refuse to join Rexmblicaus in running a citizens’ ticket in 1877. 11,12 

Not less than 5,000 Republican majority in Charleston County. 12 

How the Democrats changed the election-precincts in 1877 so as to ob¬ 
struct Republican voters. 12-13 

This law most affected what is called the lower country. 13 

Democrats said that if they passed the bill they could carry Charleston 

County. 13 

Number of Republican votes cast in the election of 1876 in Charleston 

County.. 13,14 

Witness’s letter in defense and explanation of his attitude as a candidate 

for re-election to the State senate. 15-19 

Was at the Hope Engine-House poll, election day. 19 

Nearly one thousand fraudulent votes cast at that iioll. 19 

A ballot-box at one Republican precinct destroyed. 19 

Thinks one Democrat was honestly elected. 20 

Thinks rest of Republican ticket elected by 2,000 to 2,500 majority. 20 

IMy majority was very much larger, from getting Democratic vote. 20 

Never saw any of the tissue ballots until after election. 20 

Cross-examination: Only knows by hearsay that Democrats voted for 

him. 20,21 

C. C. Bowen’s letter to the Charleston Democratic committee. 21,23 

WALLACE, R. M.: 

Residence, nativity, &c. Was a Confederate soldier..’... 23 

Is United States marshal for the district of South Carolina. 23 

Had men arrested in various counties for breaking up Republican meet¬ 
ings . 23,24 

Dej»uty marshals and suiiervisors of elections appointed. 24 





































780 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[ Cliailestcn 


Page, 

WALLACE, R. M.—Continued. 

Some of witness’ correspondence abstracted from tlie mails. 24 

All deputies and supervisors that reported at all, reported more or less 

violation of law and fraud. 24 

Managers of election were all Democrats... 24 

How United States officers were x>revented from performing tbeir duties, 24, 25 
Could not learn that tissue ballots were being used during election day.. 25 

Democrats regard the use of tissue ballots as a Imge joke. 25,2() 

A Democrat rex)orted to witness: They are stuffing the ballot-boxes all 

over town,” &o. 26 

How the ballot-boxes were stuffed and poll-lists made to corresi>ond. 26 

Why the box at Washington Engine House was destroyed. 26 ,27 

Election at the Palmetto Engine House ; Reiiublican officers beaten and 

poll-list destroyed. 27,28 

Democrats voted without trouble; Rej^ublican voters obstructed. 28-:30 

ReiJublicans never more united and anxious to vote than at the last elec¬ 
tion . 30 

Why the Reiniblicans only carried Beaufort County. 30,31 

Cross-examination: has held some Federal office ever since reconstruc¬ 
tion . 31,32 

Witness declines to give name of Democrat who warned him of ballot- 

box stuffing. 32 

The box at Palmetto Engine House stuffed so full it was running over... 33, 34 

The story that Dejiuty Marshal Green was drunk is utterly false. 34 

Of forty-six dei)uty marshals in Charleston County, eighteen were Demo¬ 
crats . 35 

EHETT, AI.FRED: 

Residence, &c. Was chief of police in Charleston at last election. 36 

General orders issued to police force on election day. . 37 

Showed them to United States Marshal Wallace; he said he had no 
amendments to offer. 37 

MACKEY, E. W. M.: 

Residence, nativity, &c. 38 

Was Rei^ublicau candidate for Congress at the last election. :18 

Generally talked by the Democrats that they had the election machinery 

and would count out Republicans. 38 

General policy of Republicans. Why no State ticket was nominated_ 38-39 

In nearly every county all three election commissioners were Demo¬ 
crats . 39,40 

Does not think there was a Rejiiiblican manager at the i)olls in the 

State. 40 

Republicans when in j)ower always allowed Democrats representation at 

the polls.". 40 

Reiniblicans never more united than in 1878; 6,000 majority in Charles¬ 
ton in 1876. 40-41 

Democrats threatened to demand division of time; they did not do so ... 41 

General nature of the Republican and Deiuocratic caucuses in Charleston 

County. 42-43 

Republicans more united and sanguine than ever before. 43 

Only ninety-nine colored men marched in the Hampton procession; the 

list by wards.. 43 44 

Laws regarding the designation of polling-places. 44 ’ 45 

Changes made by the Democratic legislature; effect of the changes on 

the Republican vote. 4 . 5-47 

Owing to change of polling-places, voters come to Charleston to vote_ 47-48 

Democratic managers refuse to let 1,200 of these men vote. 48 

Warned that tissue ballots are to bo used by Democrats... 48-49 

Puts up a poster warning Republicans how they were to be used ; the 

^ poster. 49_50 

Posters immediately torn down by Democrats. 50 

The various styles of Republican ballots; why they were used... 50-52 

A Republican tissue ticket; why it was not used. 52-53 

Charleston election-returns and poll-lists; evidences of fraud.*.*.*'!!! 54-56 

Frauds in the precincts outside of Charleston City .. 57-58 

It was a common thing tor Democrats to say they would count us out 
any way. 59 

White troops are now called “ State Militia”; colored troops «ai'e"‘*Na- 
tional Guards ”. 59 







































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


781 


MACKEY, E. W. M.—Continnod. 

M itness received the liearty support of tlie Repnhlicaii leaders. 60-0i 

Thinks the tissue tickets evidence of fraud, but thinks contrivances to 

counteract them are not evidences of fraud., 63 

Has no personal kuowledj^e of the number of colored men in the Hamp¬ 
ton i)rocession. 63 

Democratic reasons for reducin_<jf the number of pollinjj-places not true .. 64-6.5 

Democrats charged that the reduction was made to prevent colored men 

from voting ...*. 6.5 

State authorities prevent prosecutions for violations of the election law.. 65 


JONES, T. BARKER: 

Residence, business, nativity, &c.; is a Democrat. 65-66 

Was commissioner of election ; also a member of the Democratic execu¬ 
tive committee . 66 

The managers of elections in Charleston County were Democrats. 66 

])emocratic commissioners refused to appoint Republican managers. 66-67 

Saw the tissue ballots about ten days before election, in possession of 

the executive committee., 67, 74 

Found about 100 Republican tissue ballots in the boxes. 68 

Found fully 5,000 or 6,000 Democratic tissue ballots. 68, 81 

The tissue tickets used for the benetit of Democratic negroes.68-69-75 


Saw nor heard of any tissue tickets being used election-day. 69 

Knows nothing about who printed or distributed or used the tissue 

ballots. 69-71 

Democratic committee had United States supervisors’ blanks printed like 

those furnished from AVashington. 71-72 

Rejmblicans intimidate colored Democrats. 74 

It was a rennirkably peaceful and (piiet election. 75 

The Republican commissioner saw everything was fairly conducted. 75 

Democrats had State, judicial, and municipal control of the election. 76 

Republican commissioner on elections “ ac<piiesced” in the appointment 

of Democratic managers. 77 

No reason given for ap])ointing none but Democratic managers. 77-78 

Thinks there are 5,900 colored Democratic voters in the county of 

Charleston. 79 


BRYAN, G. D.: 

Re.sidence, nativity, profession, &:c.; a Democrat all his life. 

Was president of the Democratic organization in ward 1, Charleston- 

Saw only two or three tissue tickets election-day.. . 

■ Use of tissue tickets was not discussed at our club meetings. 

One colored man brings in 85 colored Democratic voters. 

Colored men afraid of church interference if they voted the Democratic 

ticket.. . 

Did not talk with General Seigling at any time about tissue ballots. 

Iteceived tissue tickets from Democratic executive committee the day be¬ 
fore election ; destroyed them.i..... 

May have talked to General Seigling about tissue ballots; will not swear 

that I did not... 

Don’t know that he said that tissue tickets were ‘G>adges of fraud” -- 

One hundre<l and titty white majority in the ward; Mackey, Republican, 

had 76 majority ; explains how it happened . 

White men have been killed while protecting colored Democrats ; no 

negroes ever killed for voting Republican ticket... -; - - -. 

If let alone one-half of the negroes would vote Democratic ticket. 

AVitness’s general recollections of South Carolina politics. 


83, 86 
83 

84.85 
85,81 

85.86 

85, 88 
87 

87 

87 

88 

88 , 89 

90-92 

93 

94-96 


AVHITE, T. C. (colored); 

AA^as commissioner of elections in Charleston County during the late elec¬ 
tion .. ... - — ..-.. •...••• 96 

How ballot-boxes and l)lanks are issued to managers of (dections. 96, 97,98,104,105 
The box at AA’^ashington Engine-House captured. “There was hell in the 

church”..:.*.*• 

No Republican managers appointed; how commissioners receive and verify 

returns...98,99 

Democratic committee designated managers; we refused to appoint Re¬ 
publican managers... 

' AA’c proposed to have the managers Democratic . 100 





































SYKOPTICAL IKDEX. 


[Chaiieston 


782 


Page. 

WHITE, T. C.—Continued. 

There was a joint meeting of the Democratic committee and the election 

managers before election. 101 

Why none but Democratic managers were appointed. 101,102 

Has heard that Montgomery (Re])ublican commissioner) was appointed 

on recommendation of Democratic committe.e. lOG 

Describes the blanks used by the managers of elections. 106,107 

DESVERNEY, R. R. (colored): 

Is member of a band of musicians; band lost an engagement because some 

members were Republicans. 108 

Belongs to two charitable societies; is captain of a military company ; no 
distinction on account of politics. 109,110 

DAGGETT, WILLIAM L.: 

Is a printer; printed tissue tickets; perhaps 6,000 or 8,000; possibly 10,000. 110-111 

Thinks they were distributed in two or tliree counties. 110 

Mr. Gonzales and others came for them at difterent times. 111-112 

Is the inventor of the tissue ballot; various kinds of Democratic ballots. 112 

PERRY, EDWARD: 

Residence, &c.; is a printer and stationer. 113 

Printed the Republican tickets; among them a tissue ticket. 113 

Specimens of Republican tickets, including tissue ticket. 113-115 

Recalled; exhibits book showing dates when tickets were delivered to 
Mackey. 117 

ALEXANDER, R. M.: 

Was appointed by the mayor to take a census of the city of Charleston.. 117 

Employed 25 or 30 persons to <lo the work. 117 

It was a census of males and females over twenty-one years of age. 118 

Don’t remember the number of persons; the mayor saM, “ Let the matter 
rest.”. 118 


BROWN, Mr.: 

Was State superintendent of education in 1875. 118 

Prepared a list of registered voters in the State for that year. 118 

SC.4LES, W. W. (mayor of Charleston): 

Was regularly subpamaed to appear before the committee; he refused to 
appear. 1 ^^ 


SMITH, C. S.: 

Residence,-nativity, &c... 119 

Was supervisor of election in ward 1, Charleston. 119 

964 names entered on managers’poll-list. 119 

Of these 456 whites and 323 colored appeared on city Directory. 119 

185 names could not be found on the Directory... 119 

Less than 75 colored men from the^ county voted at this i)oll.. 120-121 


JOHNSTONE, F. M.: 

Was United States supervisor in Avard 2, Charleston, at the last election . 121 

“I don’t think there was much election”; about 100 colored men were 

not alloAA^ed to vote. 12 I 

CrOvSS-examination: No white man hindered from voting on any "^rounds 
whatever.).. 222 

FREEMAN, JOHN M., Jr.: 

Residence, age, &c. 222 

Was United States supervisor at Palmetto Eugiiie-House precinct,*waVd' 3* 

Charleston. .. ’ 222 

M itness’s clerk was arrested and not allowed to serve.. . 122—123 

Managers said-they were running the election ; over iVollVp’ubiicaiirnot 

allowed to Amte. 223 

Repeating all on the Democratic side; Avitness assaulted';' liis poll-list 

stolen. ^ 223 

stuffs the box Avith kiss-joke tickets; the manager liushes them 

down Avith a pencil. _ _ 123-124 128 

Managers refuse to alloAv the poll-list to be examined. ^__ ’124 

Up to .3^ p. m. 915 Amtes had been polled; 3,108 votes AA'ere counted out.. 124 

Witness s knowledge ot the vote counted is from the published returus... 125 



































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


783 


FREEMAN, JOHN M., Jk.—C ontiuued. 

How RepnUicaiis were cliallenj^ed in this x)reciiict. 125 

Cross-examination: How witness came to note the time.. .. 127 

AVas a member of the legislature; no charges were ever made against him. 129 

Refused to sign the leport of the managers ; never said the election was 

a fair one.. 120-131 

Why witness left the polls before the count was completed. 130 

Made and tiled his report without consulting any Republicans. 130-131 

There was plenty of room for the clerk ; the Republican party was never 

more solid... 132-133 

About intimidation, &c.: ‘‘If you want a drayman, hire a Democrat,’’&c. 133-134 
GREEN, H. AV.: 


Residence, &c. 

Was de])uty marshal at the Palmetto Egine-Houso jxdling-place. 

AA"as not allowed inside the polling-place. Assaulted while making an 

ariest. 

Men not allowed to vote; tissue ballots turn up when the count com¬ 
mences . 

How the count was made. Is sure the ballots overrun the poll-list. 

Heard Freeman holler out: “ There, that won’t do ; that is too plain,” &o.. 
“ Good God! are you going to stuff the ballot-box right here before us 

Did not see the box ; was outside ; .saw no one vote a tissue ballot. 

Cross-examination; Saw Daggett standing near the box when Freeman 

hollered out. 

Saw the regular Democratic tickets, and inside them the little tissue 

tickets. 

The manager shook the little ballots out of the large ones . 

The managers’ clerk added nanuis to the poll-list after the count com¬ 
menced . 

AVitness offered to work for O’Connor (Democratic candidate) during the 

campaign.. . 

Saw no tissue tickets on the table for distribution; saw a Democratic ticket 

with the Republican heading. 

Saw no tissue tickets until the box was opened. AAhis not drunk during 

the day... 

How the managers counted Republican tickets as Democratic. 

Is collector of State arms under the present State government. 


134 

134 

134 

134-135 

135 
135 
135 
135 

137 

138 
138 

138,139 

139- 140 

140- 141 

141 

141 

141 


HAYNES, C. C.: 

Residence, &.c.._.;*■' i. 

AA as appointed on the special police by the mayor for election day. 

AA’as at Palmetto Engine-House when Supervisor Freeman was assaulted. 

“ Freeman was beaten and cuffed all over the street”. 

Saw Da<^gettstuff’ the ballot-box; heard Freeman’s exclamation. 

“ It was^literally crammed with those little kiss-joke tickets ”. 

How the Democrats obstructed voting; “ Club hell out of him”-... . 

A number of men ])rotected Freeman. The Democrat’s little story; ‘ A\ e 

are going to beat you in the middle ”.... 

‘‘ AA^e always got a majority when we had fair play ”. 


142 

142 

142 

142 

142 

143 
143 

144-145 

145 


EATON, FRANK H.: 

Residence, &c.; "g' ’A’ i —A’ * VT ’' • —A*. ^ 

Has examined the returns and poll-hst of the Palmetto Engine-House pre¬ 
cinct in the secretary of state’s office.-..- - ----: 

There were 3,569 names on 80i sheets (pages) of paper in twenty different 

kinds of handwriting. .. 146 

Half a dozen sheets were in a lady’s handwriting. 146 - 14 / 

PI:RVIS, HENRY, AV.: 

AAhis ^United States officer of election at the Hope Engine-House poll... 147 

Poll had been opened 20 minutes when he arrived. 147 

Kept a ])oll-list. Democratic manager had 468 more names on their list.. 147 

• Democratic managers .said tliat they were polled before I came.. l47-lol 

Mv poll-list corresponded withthat of the other United States 147 

There were 323 tissue tickets in the box; how the count was made ...147,148,149 
\Vitne.ss shows that the returns of the managers could not be correct. 149, loO, lol 


GREGG, JOHN M.: 

Was United States supervisor at Eagle Engine House precinct, Charleston , 


151 

151 








































784 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX 


[Charleston 


Pa^e. 

GREGG, JOHN M.—Continued. 

Was at the polls when they opened; his clerk was compelled to cease work. 151,15‘2 
How the election was conducted; Republicans not allowed to vote... 152,153,154 

Kept a poll-list; it agreed with the managers’ list. 153 

An excess of 158 tickets in the box; tissue tickets appear.—.. 153 

How Reimblican tickets were drawn out by the blindfolded man. 153,154 

Saw no tissue tickets until the box Avas opened; each man deiiosits his 


Cross examination; there was plenty of room for the clerk. 156 

How the l)allots were drawn; how Amters Avere challenged, &c. 158,161 

SaAv no tissue ballot that was not Democratic. 152 

ELFE, WALTER; 

Residence, &c. 162 

Was United States snpeiwisor at Washington Engine House poll, Avard 6. 163- 

The managers were all Democrats; Avitness’s clerk Avas not allowed to act. 163 

81 colored Amters AA'ere not alloAved to A'ote; kept a list. 163 

The count commenced; the lights put out; witness left.-.... 164 

Don’t know AAdiat became of the ballot-box; no returns Avere made from 

that poll . 164 

Thinks that there were fiAm Repn])]ican Azotes to one Democratic polled.. 164 

Cross examination by Senator McDonald.165,166,167 

Redirect: the ballot-box at the poll Avhere the AAdiites voted Avas not de¬ 
stroyed .-. 168 

DANTZMANN, G. H.: 

W as United States supervisor at the Marion Engine House poll, Avard 6.. 168 

Managers refused to let his clerk remain; kept no poll-list.168,169 

Republicans challenged on pretexts and 150 not allowed to Amte. 169 

The count; there Avere 240 tissue ballots .. 169 

Names on the list, “John Bull,” “Jacob Bull,” “Tom Bull,” “Peter Bul- 

AAdnkle,” &.c. 169,170 

Cross-examination by Senator McDonald; gives names of Republicans 
not alloAved to A ote.... 172 


BROWN, R. C.: 

Residence, &c. 173 

Was United States superAusor at Mount Pleasant poll, six miles out from 

the city. 173 

Was not alloAved to examine the ballot-box before Amting commenced ... 174 

How Avitness was ejected from the poll; kept ta(lly-list outside. 174,175 

Hoav voters Avere obstructed; 150 to 200 go to another poll. 175 

The connt; managers’ clerk and AAdtiiess had 620 names on their poll-lists. 176 

1,163 votes in the box; 372 Republican ballots drawn out. 176 

Eight and ten tissue ballots Avould come out together; all AA'ere counted. 176 
There Avere 519 Republican ballots in the box ; they were voted by col¬ 
ored men. 177 

Cross-examination; Avitness describes the connt; how they halAmd the 


Democrats Avanted him to destroy his statement of the count. 181,182 

Saw no Republican tissue tickets. ’ ij <4 

HUTCHINSON, M. E.: 


Residence, iiatiAuty, &c. ; was a Confederate soldier. 

Was United States supervisor at the Copper Store precinct, 30 miles from 

Charleston. 

At the poll 287 persons voted; 163 colored, 124 Avhites; inauagers’ and 

Avitness’ poll-lists agreed. 

These 422 ballots in the box, of which the excess, 135,* A\*ere *“* kiss-joke ” 

tickets. 

The managers drew out 88 Republican and* 47 Democratic ballots'!]'*.* '* 

On the count they gave O’Connor 216 and Mackey 71..'!_*.*** 

SaAv no tissue tickets until the box Avas opened.* 

Witness identihes the tissue ticket; it is placed in evidence*.'i!.'.*!”! 
Managers Avere all Democrats; kept separate connt of “'kiss-Voke’’ 

tickets . 

SaAv two colored men vote the Democratic ticket. 

YOUNG, JAMES J.: 

Residence, &c. 

Was United States supervisor at Thirty-f Avo’-Mile* House in’e'cincL in Saint 
James, Santee.. . _ ’ 


184,185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

185 

186 

1^^7 

187 


188 

188 








































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


785 


YOUNG, JAMES J.—ContiniiBd. 

The iiiauageis "were Democrats | tlie couut 5 the kiss-ioke’’ tickets come 
out.. 

There were 549 names ou the list, and 890 tickets in the box..... 188 

How the managers drew out the excess of ballots..*.*".*.*.' 188 

The count; 164 Republican, 47 Democratic, and 388 “kiss-jokes”....*'!* 188 

There were 336 Republican tickets drawn out and destroyed. 189 

Saw only two of the “ kiss-joke” tickets before the count!. 189 

Knew the manager could see the tickets he was drawing. 190 

GRAHAM, G. H. F.: 

Residence, &c. 191 

AVas United States supervisor of election at Edisto Island. 191 

Great numbers had assembled to vote; the Democratic managers do not 

open the polls. 191 

From 600 to 700 voters remained until 6 o’clock.. 191 

“I heard one say how nice it was done, and every time they saw me they 

busted out in a laugh”.!. 191 

There must have been 1,000 or 1,100 colored people there. 192 

All of them were Republicans. 192 

BUIST, GEORGE L.: 

Residence, &.c.; belongs to the straight-out Democratic party. 192 

Was chairman of the Democratic county executive committee. 192 

Saw tissue tickets four or five days before election; tickets were printed 

under control of the State committee. 193 

The tissue tickets were distributed with the other tickets; they were to 


Universal intimidation among colored Republicans; repeating them by 

hundreds. 194 

Past State politics ; the only way to carry a State election. 194 

More about i)olitics ; no effort made to conceal the tissue tickets. 195-197 

Republicans “taught me repeating”; Democrats stopped Republican re¬ 
peating. 196 

Governor Ham])ton appointed commissioners on recommendation of Dem¬ 
ocratic committee. 196 

I understood that there were to be no Republican managers in the State. 197 

Hundreds of white people marched up and voted tissue tickets. 199 

Republicans repeated in 1876. There Avere colored Democratic clubs_ 201 

No colored men ever applied for the tissue ballots. 201-202 

More State and county politics. Don’t know that Republicans ever used 
tissue tickets. 203-204 


SMITH, R. M. (colored): 

Residence, &c. Has been a Democrat since 1872. 204 

Was a member of the police. Was at Eagle station-house poll, ward 5, 

all day. 204 

AVas president of a colored political club. Character of the club. 204,205 

AVitness’ view of the situation in Charleston. Guesses that 3,500 colored 

mert voted the Democratic ticket. 205-207 

Saw hundreds of colored men vote Democratic ticket. Don’t know how 

many hundreds. 208 

AATtness’ estimates of the proportion of voters. 208, 209 


MITCHELL, JOHN A. (colored): 

Residence, &c. Acted with Democratic party last election. 211 

Had a club meeting Saturday night. Another meeting Tuesday night 

that lasted all night. 211,212 

AA^^ent to the i)oll 8 and voted Democratic ticket. 212 

“There was a tremendous vote that day.” Has suffered abuse. 212 

Is city policeman. AA^as sent to prison for assault. Has been a gambler. 212,213 

Describes his club meeting and those who “dissipated” in it.213,214,215 

Used to play the “strap game.” AAhas indicted for it.214,215,216 

Can’t say liow many times he has been indicted. Don’t knoAV that his 
likeness is in the rogues’ gallery. 215,216 


SIMMONS, CHARLES S. : 

Residence, &c . .^ ‘ ... 

A^oted with the Democrats last election. AAhis at ward 6 until evening ... 
AA'as doing police duty. A great many colored people voted at that ward. 
It was a quiet election. 

50 S C 


216 

216 

216,217 











































786 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


f Charleston 


Page. 

HAYNES, STEPHEN (colored): 

Re.sidence, tfec. Is |)resideiit of the Haynes colored Democratic club. 217 

Witness and members of the club voted Democratic ticket. 217 

Threatened by Republicans. Thinks 200 colored men voted at the polls 

where he was. 218 

Thinks that 2,000 colored men voted Democratic ticket in the city....218, 219,220 
They all voted the check-back ticket. Why witness thinks 2,000 colored 
men voted Democratic ticket. 220,221 

MATTHEWS, SAMUEL: 

Residence, &-c. Is a Democrat. 224 

Was manager of the polls in ward 2. Everything passed olf quietly. 224 

There was no interruption or delay. There were 784 names on poll-list 

when polls closed. 224 

Great number of colored men voted Democratic ticket. Tickets and poll- 

list agreed. 224 

Message that 250 repeaters were coming to vote at that poll. 225 

Message came from a Avell known Republican. 225 

Mr. Mackey had 130 majority. Ward has always been Republican. 22.5 

Does not know who brought -the message about repeaters. 225 

CATHCART, CAPT. ROBERT S. : 

Residence, &c. 22G 

Passed most of election day at the polls in ward 3. 226 

Witness gives history of the events of the day; the row at the polls. 227,228 

Supervisor Freeman blubbered like a baby; Deputy IMarshal Green drunk. 228,229 
Green said he voted Democratic ticket; colored men asked for the tissue 

tickets. 229 

Whites are in a majority in this ward. 229 

Green was not noisy or turbulent; witness voted 31 colored men. 230 

Does not know how many worked at the ])oll-list besides the clerk. 230,231 

A challenged voter was re([uired to bring evidence that he had not voted. 232, 237 


Never saw tissue tickets before ; gave Green a hat the next day. 237,238 

Persons at the jiolls were all Democrats. 238 

LUCAS, R. D. (colored): 

Residence, &c.; voted for candidates of both parties. 239 

AVas clerk for the sujiervisor at Hope Engine House, in ward 4. 239 

Kept account; 110 men voted before Mr. Purvis came. 240 

AVhen count began thinks there were a few names more than tickets. 240 

AVitness’s list and managers’ list came out alike. 240 

There Avere 320 tissue tickets ; they Avere counted separate. 240,241 

Cross-exaiuination : Thinks that there were more tickets thaii names_ 240 

Is not sure Avhether there Avere more tickets than names or names than 
tickets. 24 X 

FOSBURY, THOAIAS: 

Residence, *fcc.; Avas deputy United States marshal at Hope Engine House, 

. 242 

The box Avas opened so everybody could see into it before voting com¬ 
menced . 242 

Knows Henry AV. Purvis; there had been Amting OA'^er an hour Avhen ho 

came to the polls. 242 

SaAv the count; all dtuiblo tickets were destroyed. 243 

Don’t knoAA" how many names Avere on the poll-list; the tissue tickets were 

counted. 243 

Air. Purvis Avas alxsent during the greater part of the day. 243 

SaAv tissue tickets in the hands of colored Repuldicans. 243 

Saw 70 Republican tickets that had other tickets inside of them.!! 244 

Saw no Democratic tickets with others inside of them. 244 

Thinks 200 to 300 had Amted before Air. Puiwis arriA*ed. 244 

Witness’s confused statements about number of Democratic tickets po'Ue'd! 245 

The number of double tickets altogether Avas only 70. 246 

A\U\LKER, GEORGE R.: 

Residence, &c.1. 246 

A\as at Alount Pleasant poll election day; the poll was opened at 6 a. m.. 247 

1 he ballot-box AA'as opened and sIioaa’ii to all present before A^otino' com¬ 
menced . ® 247 








































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


787 


Page. 

WALKER, GEORGE R.—Contiuued. ' 

Tlie supervisor (Brov ii) \vas not put out of the polliug-room by anybody, 

Ac.248 

Tliroughout the day the supervisor was treated with most scrupulous court¬ 
esy . 248, 249 

The l)ox was not out of siglit during the day ; only 8 men rejected. 249 

Treated white and colored voters alike; the case of the blind man. 249,250 

The count; managers went too far ; too many ballots destroyed. 250 

The ballots in excess were drawn out strictly according to law.«_ 250,251 

General contradiction of United States Supervisor Brown. 251,252 

C'ross-examination by the chairman: Was candidate for the legislature.. 252 
The supervisor came after the box was shown ; I objected to Brown 

staying in the room. 252 

All the constables pre.sent were Democrats. Voted tissue ticket. Dis¬ 
tributed about 1,000 . 254 

Witness’s tissue ticket was the only one he saw voted. Over 500 excess 

of tickets in the box. . 255 

Could not tell how many tissue tickets were withdrawn. 2.55 

I did not like the clerk because he was so honest ” . 255 

There were about 500 and odd tickets in excess. Thinks Republicans 

voted Democratic tissue tickets in bunches.256,257,258 

Has had Brown arrested for perjury. Declines to say whether he was ar¬ 
rested for abstracting the returns of his precinct from the public ar¬ 
chives at Columbia. 260,261 

HAGOOD, J. E. (re-examined): 

History of George R. Walker’s presentation of R. C. Brown for perjury.. 261,262 

^‘I don’t think the testimony sufficient to bind him over,” Ac. 262 

Walker takes the testimony away and does not return it. 262 

CHARLESTON COUNTY BALLOT-BOXES: 

Their condition when presented before the committee. 262,263 

Three boxes contained nothing, 29 contained tickets and papers. Many 

of the tickets were tissue tickets. 263 

Condition of the contents of the boxes—with opinions of the minority of 

the committee. 

A committee appointed to examine the boxes. 263,264 

Instructions of the Senate committee in regard to the proposed examina¬ 
tion of the boxes. 

Condition of the Strawberry Plain box at the conclusion of William 

Singletin’s testimony. It was an old box.. ....-. 264 

Renort iinon the ballot-boxes: 3,89.1 Democratic tissue ticketsj 256 Re¬ 
publican tissue tickets, Ac. 264,26.'>, 266,267 

HUGUENIN, T. J.: 

Residence, Ac...fr"‘'i' Vi* ‘^ ' ' ’ • *'' 

Is chairman of the board of county commissioners. Has held office since 

■ December 3, 1878.- -.M* ’ U " 'A--1 i ^ ^ 

Has not had charge of the ballot-boxes, dhe vaulti.\herethej v eiestoied 

Avas insecure. Is not responsible lor them, Ac.-- .. — -. .... 20 

Cross-examination : I only permitted the boxes to come into our posses- 

Can’t explain how the tickets came to be taken from some of the boxes.. 269 

The boxes Avere put in one of the A'aults of the building, Ac. 209 

SOITEE COUNTY. 


WITHERSPOON, JAMES B.: 

Residence, profession, Ac. Is a Democrat... 

Democrats threatened to carry the election at all Hazards .. 

WithdrcAV from a Democratic club because of its Auolence, Ac.... 

Democratic infantrv, cavalry, cannon, and Hags at a Republican meeling. ^^.1, 

The speaker assaulted. Another Republican meeting broken up. 2/3, 

The violence of the Democrats unites the Ih'pnblicans...... 

The Democratic ticket Avas ele(;ted. “ It Avas not a good count ... 

Cross-examination bv Senator MeDonahl. Describes the caiiiion-hring .. 2/5- 

The Republican speaker Avas not alloAved to explain .-.. 

The Sumter vote Avas larger than usual. It Avas not counted. 


273 

273 

273 

274 

274 
27.5 

275 
■277 
277 
277 





































788 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[Sumter 


Page. 

LEE, SAMUEL: 

Residence, nativity, &c. Is a Repiildican .. 277,278 

Was elected prol)ate judge of Snniter County in 1876.... 278 

A Democrat Avants the Republican party in the county crushed out. 278 

A Repuhlicaii’s house to be burned if he called meeting.. 278 

Witness calls the m.eeting’. His life threatened. Ordered to leave in ten 

minutes, &c. 278,279 

Democratic county chairman states that the Republicans Avill not l)e 

allowed to organize... 280 

How a Republican county convention became a mass-meeting. 280, 281 

Pistols drawn. The tight became general, and they cleared out the Ijuild- 

ing”. 281 

GoA'ernor Hampton denounced the action of the Democrats as an out¬ 
rage, &c. 281,282 

The Republican meeting at Raftin Creek broken up. Violence and threats 

of Democrats. . 282,283 

Witness knocked down and choked. Made a prisoner by armed men, & c. 283 
Marched back to Sumter. More threats. Witness attempts to escape... 283,284 

Is reca])tnred. The tight. Taken to the court-house and instructed. 284 

Republican meeting called for September 7. Cav alry from four or five 

counties. 284 

The meeting postponed. Rei>nblicans assaulted by the disappointed 

Democrats. 284,285 

General Hampton to address the Democrats and denounce outrages. 285 

He did not mention the subject. Witness assaulted in the presence of 

the governor, &c. . 285 

How Democrats, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, attended the Re^^nblicau 

meeting of October 12 .285, 286, 287 

Democrats threaten to shoot the Republican speaker. A man badly beaten. 287 

The election. Witness was United States snpeiwisor. Republicans not 

allowed to Amte. 287,288 

The count. Frandnlent names added to the poll-list. The box stuffed 

Avith tissue tickets, & c. 288, 289 

Democrats denied under oath haAnng Amted tissue l)allots. 290 

Saw but one tissue ballot during the day. Proportion of the Axde. 290, 291 

Cross-examination: Regarding Avitness’s political record .. 291,292 

Made no demonstration against Dargau at Raftin Creek. 292 

Intended that his tone should be resi)ectfnl to GoA^ernor Hampton. 293 


A Avritteu proposal for a joint meeting Avas not submitted to witness by 

the Democratic county chairman.299-300 

Democrats called ni)on to send in all the military companies they could 

find, &c..‘. .301 

The regular tickets. 302, 303 

COGHLAN, T. J.: 

Residence, &.c. ' 303 

History of the meeting at Raftin Creek and the assault on Judge Lee. 

Witness escapes. 303-305 

4,000 armed Democrats in Sumter October 12. Hoav the joint meetino- 

was proposed. .® 305,306 

What the Avitness did say about GoA ernor Hampton. 306 310 

Why Avitness Avas arrested for assault Avith intent to kill. Witness’s a^e 

'70 ...... .^ 7 .^ .... 


The elections. The box stuffed with the tissue ballots. 309, 310 

DOUGLAS, igDGAR J.: 

Residence, &c . 3^2 

AVas the United States snpeiwisor at Statesbnrg precinct.312 

Democrats gather in croAvds the night l)efore election. Firing all ni«ht!. 312 

Republicans not alloAved to vote. Tavo colored men stabbed"!.312-314 

Reached the polls at 10 minutes after six; Avas told that 300 men* li'ad 

^"oted. 3^2 

There Avere 300 or more tissue ballots found in the box. Did not see a 

single one A'oted... 3^2 313 

About 480 colored men voted; 270 Republican Aotes counted* !.*.'.'!.'.'.' .'.*!. ’314 

Hoav the Republicans AA'cre counted out..!]',*.!!'.! !!!! 315 










































SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 789 

SPEARS, BUTLER: 

Residence, nativity, Ac. 316 

How armed Democrats broke up the October 12 meeting^ * The cannon- 

firing.. m . 316,317 

Ihe election. A colored Democrat showed him how they used the tissue 

ballots. 317 313 

Cross-examination: Was in the legislature. Money was sent him after 
he voted for the printing bill. 318,319 

STEWART, J. H.: 

Residence, &c. Was clerk of the United States supervisor at the election 319 
Raftin Creek. How the armed Democrats assembled. Judge Lee as¬ 
saulted. 319,320 

Ihe meeting at Sumter October 12. Democrats get their arms and go to 

the court-house. 320, 321 

The election. Witness kept the poll-list. 606 colored and 44 white men 

voted ...♦. . 322,323 

The count. 214 tissue ballots in the box. Supervisor Lee objected to 

Counting them. 323 

The managers were all Democrats. They counted the tissue ballots_ 323 

Cross-examination w ith regard to meetings at Raftin Creek and Sumter .. 323-326 
Colored man knocked dow n for attempting to pass through a Democratic 
line. Heard no shots fixed .. 327 

MOISE, CHARLES: 

Residence, &c. Is county auditor and a Hampton Democrat. 327,328 

The canvass w as entirely peaceful until Samuel Lee appeared before the 

public. 328 

The October 12 meeting. Colonel Dargan’s sj^eech was kind and concil¬ 
iatory . 328,329 

Saw- Lee after he was brought in from Raftin Creek, &c. 329 

“ I was very indignant. I didn’t approve of that sort of thing”. 329 

Was at the meeting in Sumter where Governor Hampton was ])resent ... 329 

Lee said, ‘‘ Governor, I would like to ask you a question.” Violent assault 

on Lee. 329 

The meeting of October 12. The little iron cannon. Salutes fired. 33(5 

A disturbance. “This Republican procession passing herewith music 

and banners is going to excite our young men”. 331, 332 

The assault on Coghlan ; his courage ; “No, sir,” said he, “I never run”. 332 

“ I thought it wms a shame to insult him and threaten him ”. 332 

Why the Democrats came to the meeting armed. Lee caused all the 

trouble.'. . 332,333 

Witness’s opinion of Republican candidates. 334 

Cross-examination by the chairman: The United States flag “is an un¬ 
popular emblem there ”.-.-.. 335, 340 

Saw colored wmmen and children; thought they were getting out of town. 335 
Saw no arms among the negroes. The object was to make them go to the 

Democratic meeting... 335,336 

Two thousand white men in tow n. The flag (United.States) was pulled 

down. 336 

The flag was unpopular to the extent that Republicans always displayed 

and Democrats never did. 336 

.Two cannon brought from Columbia ; one was loaded with nails. .336, 337,340, 341 

Their arms were stored ; not to be taken until the bell was rung. 338 

AV^itness’s opinion about dividing time at Republican meetings. 338, 339 

The Democratic meeting w as called October 12 because the Republican 

meeting had been called.-. 339 

The puri) 08 e was to exhibit great power....-. 340 

Every Democrat had armsj the apprehension was that the w'hites w’ould 

attack the blacks. . 340,341 

Saw^ no tissue ballots during the day. Lee’s poll-list w^as numbered con¬ 
secutively ; the managers’ list was not.-. 341,342 

The law^ requires the managers’ list to be put in the box with the tickets. 342 
The managers’ list was lost; the tissue ballots “ could not have been put 

in there lawfully,” &c .. 342 

MOISE, MARION: 

Residence, &c.; acted as challenger at Statesburg election day. 343 

Knows Daniels (Douglass, United States supervisor). He came to the 
polls about half past six. 343 



































790 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[Sumter 


Page. 

MOISE, MARION—Continued. 

Saw tlie box opened and shown ; it was empty. ^ 343 

Saw voters vote the tissue ballot; the row at the polls.. 343, 344 

Has heard since that one or two were slightly cut or ‘‘stuck”. 344 

No ill feeling toward colored men in Sumter except four of the leaders... 344, 345 

Witness did not expect to challenge white men.. . .. 345 

Witness gives his opinion of Republicans and county politics .. .. 345, 349 

HAGOOD, JOHNSON: 

Is comptroller-general of the State ; residence, &c. 349 

AVas requested by Governor Hampton to go to Sumter October 12 and use 

his personal influence to preserve peace. 350 

Engaged two pieces of cannon to go to Sumter to fire salutes. 350 

AVas told that the colored people expected Grant and Sherman to attend 

their meeting, &-c. 350, 351 

Democrats to come armed; the red-shirts; many Iflack men among them. 350, 351 

AVitness states that he was in command; the peaceful Democrats; the 

troublesome Rei)ublican 8 .. 351-355 

Cannot tell whether the armed men iiresent were clubs or militia com¬ 
panies . 356, 3.57 

Tlie cannon loaded with nails was undoubtedly there. 357 

Saw no guns among the negroes ; only pistols. 358 

General cross-examination about carrying arms, &c., &c. 358-361 

ROSS, ROBERT: 

Residence, &c. Is a Reimblican, but has voted with the Democrats since 

1876 . 361,362 

Colored Democratic clubs; thinks there Avere 700 or 800 members. 362 

The meeting of October 12; one-third to one-half of all the colored men 

in the county wore red shirts. 363, 364 

AA'ituess gives the name of one colored man Avho voted the Democratic 

ticket. 364,365 

Can name but five colored men belonging to Democratic clubs. 366, 367 

General ignorance and self-contradiction of the Avitness. 367-371 

EDAAWRDS, JULIUS (colored): 

Residence, &c. Has acted with the Democratic party since 1876. 371 

Is a member of a Democratic club of 200 colored men. 371 

Thinks there were 1,500 members of colored Democratic clubs in the 

county . 371 

The election. Has been abused for being a Democrat, &c. 372-373 

The club has a United States flag in its room.. 373 

Cross-examination: Can name only five men who attended the colored 

Democratic club. 373 

The meeting of October 12; there Avere 1,400 or 1,500 colored men in the 

Democratic procession. 374 

AVitness on intimidation. Some colored women are Democrats. 374, 375, 376, 377, 378 

BROOKS, MATTHEAV: 

Residence, &c. Has been a Democrat since 1874 . 379 

Belongs to a Democratic club. It has a United States flag over its meet¬ 
ing . 379 

A good many belong to the club; other clubs in the county. 379 

Saw the meeting of October 12; there Avere a good many colored Demo¬ 
crats there. ^ ... 33 O 

Lee’s sister and another girl tore his red shirt “span off”. 380, 381 

Does not know that the flag used by his club is the United States flag... ’ 382 

SOUDER, A. AV.: 

Residence, &c. Is mayor of Sumter and a Democrat. 383 

The Sumter Democratic club flies the United States flag over its head¬ 
quarters . 333 

AVas sick Octol)er 12 ; the Democratic procession was peaceable and quiet 383 

The Democratic club uniformed itself in red shirts. 384 

Lee’s character: “If he undertakes to do anything he carries it out at 

all hazards ”. 334 335 

Cross-examination: He is obnoxious, from general repute. ’ 385 

AVitness asked Lee to run for Congress ; voted for Lee if he Amted at 'ali*. 385 

He does not alloAv any one to frighten him or elboAA' him off’. 385 

AA^. E. Johnson was Republican leader; the Democrats hated him. 386 







































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


791 

Page. 


SOUDER, A. W.—Continued. 


Lee ■was a bolter when witness supported him ...;. 

d he animus against Lee is because he makes violent speeches on the stump. 

J he Democrats called the Republicans thieves a good deal. 

Rediiect. Democrats brought forward robbery at the State legislature, &e. 
Ne\ er heaid at Republican speaker say that if the Democrats won they 
would put the negroes back into slavery, &c. 


SINGLETON, WILLIAM M.: 

Residence, &c.; was United States supervisor at Swimming Pens precinct. 

I he election; was not allowed to perform his duties ...._.......... 

I he count; whole blocks of tissue tickets turned up______ 

More Republican than Democratic tickets drawn from the box; witness 

refused to sign the returns. 

The meeting at Sumter, October 12; saw the cannon ])araded through the 

town; the alarm-bell rung. 

Heard the shots that were fired at Spears. 

Cross-examination: How the box was stuifed and the count made. 

The cannon was not the little iron cannon that belonged in Sumter. 


386 

387 
387 

387.388 

388.389 


390 

390 

390 

390,391 

391 

392 
392-394 

394 


STAGERS, J. A.: 


Was United States supervisor at Gourdirn’s precinct; the election. 395 


WILLIAIVISBUEG COUNTY. 

PINCKNEY, E. M.: 

Residence, &c.; is a Repul)lican and a Methodist minister. 399 

“ Red Shirt” com])anies organized ; their uniform and arms ... 399 

The Republican meeting at White Oak; armed Democrats demand “time ”. 400 

Mr. Swails captured by armed Democrats; his rescue; Boston Hanna shot. 400 

Swails ordered to leave the county; he left. 400, 401 

The election; United States Supervisor Hanna refused admission to the 

polls. 401-407 

The armed crowd from Graham’s Cross-Roads; the supervisor assaulted 

and the box stuffed. 402-407 

Armed men hunt for the witness; his grave dug; the mock funeral. 402,403 

Arrested in Charleston for perjury in Swails’ case and carried back to 

Williamsburg.. 403, 404-408 

Committed to jail without examination; how he was released. 404, 405 

Witness assaulted and beaten for puldishing an article regarding these 

outrages in the papers. 405-410 

No justice in Democratic State courts for Republicans. 405 

Life was threatened while at court in Columbia. 406 

Status of the armed Democratic clubs ... 406 

Republicans were not allowed to "s ote. 408 

HANNA, S. S.: 

Residence, &c.; is a Republican; Avas United States supervisor at Kings- 

tree precinct. 411 

Arrived at the poll at 5 a. m.; was told that it had been open for an hour. 411, 413 
Was not allowed to enter the polling-room; could not perform his duties. 412 

Driven from the polls by armed men; they vote. .. 412 

“They said they intended to carry that precinct no matter how f(dks 

voted”. * . 412 

The count. The Democrats had 26 majority. Usually gives 300 to 400 413 

Republican. 413 

More Republicans during the campaign than ever before... 413 

Republican meeting at White Oaks prevented. Swails arrested by the 

rifle-club. 413,414 

Swails carried to Kiugstree. Escaped into the court-house. Hanna shot 414 

Witness was arrested after election for perjury in making aftida vits regard- 


Witness’s father (Hanna) was shot l)y Dr. Byrd and Mr. Davis. 416 

PENDEGRAST, JOHN H.: 

Was deputy United States marshal at Kiugstree election day. 416,417 

Larger Republican \mte at Kingstree than ever before. 417 

Republicans told that they Avould “ catch it ” before sundown. 417 

Rifle-club comes in on tlie railAvay train about sundown. 417, 418 




































792 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[Williamsburg 


PENDEGEAST, JOHN H.—Continued. 

Witness and United States Supervisor Hanna beaten and driven from tlie 

X)Oll8..*. 

The rifle-club votes. “We put Graham’s Cross-Roads through, and now 

we will put Kingstree through ”.-. 

Sent a letter to Swails at Washington. Arrested for libel. 

Witness threatened. Colored i)eople had no arms election day. 

All the firing was done “by that Byrd crowd”. 

Cross-examination regarding the challenging of voters.-. 


Page. 


418 

418 

419 

419 

420 
421,422 


WILSON, H. W. G.: 


Residence, &c. Was chairman of a Republican club. . 422 

Was United States sujiervisor of election at Indian Town yirecinct. 422 

Was not allowed to enter the room where the box was during the voting 423,425 
How the votes were counted. 423 


MAURICE, S. W.: 

Residence, &c. Is Democratic State senator...' 426 

Does not remember a disturbance of any kind during the campaign. 426 

Large numbers of colored Democrats in the county... 426, 427 

Knows one man who was turned ont of church for voting Democratic ticket 427 

Republicans always elected county ticket uii to last election. 427 

Swails’ character was bad. Bad character of Republican officials ... 427, 428, 429 

No o]ii)osition to division of time until 1876 .. 428 

Does not know, only heard, that 150 to 200 colored men belonged to Dem¬ 
ocratic clubs. 429, 430, 431 

The man was not turned out of church for voting Democratic ticket, but 

for not voting at all. 430, 432 

Democrats scale the county debt. The taxes, &c. 432, 433, 434 

Does not know that a dollar of the school-fund was ever misai^propriated 434 

Why Swails was uni^opular. Why he resigned from the State senate 435, 436,437, 438 
The Democratic meeting that sent the committee to order Swails to leave 

the county. 438, 439, 440 

Witness thinks there are 1,700 Democrats to 2,400 Republican votes in the 

county. 440, 441 

Swails brought into town by red-shirts. He escax^es into the court-house. 

A colored man shot. 442, 443 

The immunity granted to Swails by Governor Hampton. 445 

Has heard that Governor Hamj)ton has been accused of fraud. 445,446 


ARMS, G. W.: 

Residence, &c. Was deputy sherilf and manager of elections. 448 

Arrested Pinckney in Charleston. Why he was brought back by the way 

of Columbia. 448,449 

Was manager at King’s Tree x)oll. The United States sux)ervisor did not 

come until polls had been open two hours. 449 

The election “ was fair.” Tickets and poll-list corres[)ondcd exactly_ 449 

Was also deputy ehief constable. Why Pinckney was arrested. 450 

The managers were all Democrats. The Democratic majority... 450, 451 

HIRSCH, M. J.: 

Residence, &c. Is solicitor, or xu'osecuting officer, for the third district of 

the State. 452 

Was a Rexmblican until a month or two after the campaign of 1876. 452 

Rexmblican majority was 600 to 700. Evidence of a change in 1878. 452, 453 

Corrux)t character of Swails and other Republican officials. 454 

The cainpaign was orderly and the election peaceable. 454 

Colored Democrats intimidated. A minister ejected from the church be¬ 
cause he would not sup])ort the Rexmblican ticket. 454 

Criminal calendar smaller under Democratic rule. 454 

Swails was not arrested by the Red Shirts. He agreed to go with them. 


Swails was only advised to leave. 455 

Was associate editor of Swails’s pai)er 7 or 8 years. Was his law xmrtner 

2 or 3 years.. 456 

Their business connection ceased in 1877 . 456 

Democratic majority in ’78 was 700 or 800. The Republican majority in 

’76 was 600 to 700... 459 

Witness’s oiunion of party differences. Swails and bribery.459, 460-462, 463 

More about Swails and his escort. No investigation into the shooting 
ciise. 460, 461 









































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


793 


HEYWERD, JOHN S. : ‘ 

Residence, &c. 46J 

Is editor of a Democratic paper. Swails’s threats against the Democrats. 464 

A\as at the White Oak meeting. Rex)uhlicans refused to divide time_ 464 

Tenor of Swails’s .8j)eech. It was not violent, hut calculated to do a great 

deal of harm... 464, 465 

Cross-examination. The witness don’t know.465, 466, 467 

EPPS, JACK (colored): 

Residence, &c. Is a Free-Will Baptist j)reacher. 467 

Is a Republican. Why he did not vote.. 468 

How the congregation treated him because he did not vote. 468 

Was assistant ))astor to his uncle, the regular jmeacher. 469 

They have hurt only his feelings, &c. Talks immersion. 470, 471 

Only three families in his congregation. He don’t ask any j)ay. 471 

CHANDLER, J. B.: 

Residence, &c. Worked for the Democrats at Cedar Swaniji precinct_ 472 

Colored Reijublicans try to prevent Democrats from voting. 472 

Witness put the count through by eight o’clock... 472, 473 

Negroes bring their muskets from the swamps. Their attemjit to capture 

the box. About a dozen Avhite there... 473 

Cross-examination. There was an excess of 50 votes found in the box- 473 

Rex)ublicans had on count 219; the Democrats had 247. 474 

Never before had a total vote much in excess of 300; Reiiublican majority 

usually from 100 to 200 . 474 

How the excess of the votes in the box occurred. 474 

Probably 100 white men voted; knows 12 or 15 colored Democrats that 

voted. 475 

Hoav the white military comx^any happened to be jiresent Avhen the 

negroes came out of the swamx).-. 476 

Witness’s account of his jioll-list and count...476,477,478 


MONTGOMERY, A. J.: 

Residence, &c.; was United States supervisor at Green’s xwecinct. 

Arrived at the polls a little late; was refused a list of the men who had 

already voted.-.-.-.- - • - 

I want you to understand that there is no kindness shown in jiolitics 

here ”. 

Was not allowed inside the inclosure; w.as not allowed to see the count. 

Was told that the Democrats had 155 and the Rexmblicans 132 votes. 

About 50 men came from Graham’s Cross-Road; “ Could not tell what was 

going on more than a man in Europe ”. 

How the White Oak and other Republican meetings were disturbed. 

How Swails was' arrested and Hanna shot. 

Cross-examination by Senator McDonald. 


479 

479 

479 

479 

480 

480 

480, 481 

481 

481, 482 


GEOEGETOWX COUXTY. 


HERRIOTT, GEORGE: 

Residence, *fec.; Avas United States supervisor at Chawpee precinct. 

Election quiet; 197 votes cast. Democrats, 15; Reiuiblicans 182 .. .... 

Before the polls opened the managers said they were qualihed; alter they 

closed they said they Avere not. 

Box throAA n out; managers all Democrats--.r" “ 

Three other boxes giAung large Reiiublican majorities also thrown out — 

Hoav the county Avas made to gWe a Democratic majority. 

Republicans more solid than ever before. 


487 

487 

487 

487 

487 

488 
488- 


COLLINS, J. E.: 

Residence, &c. 

The votes of five precincts throAvn out 


the managers were not qualified 


488> 
488,489' 


' OEAYGEBUEG COUNTY. 


493 


BROWN, WILLIAM R.: 

Residence, &c. Was United States supervisor at Orangeburg........... 

The count; 324 votes in excess; tissue tickets in the box. Sample placed 

in evidence. Democratic majority.......A*;; V’’ ’nit 

Majority of tickets draAvn were Reiiublican; no tissue tickets diaAAU.... 4J4i 





































794 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[Orangeburg 


Page. 


WEBSTER, Mr.: 

Residence, &.c. Was Republican candidate for coinity conimissioner 
Governor Hampton promised to appoint a Republican commissioner. He 

did not do it... 

Tone of the Uemocratic ])ress. AVitness and Senator Duncan arrested... 
How bail bonds were refused and the inisoners sent to jail. Released at 

last."V “at- 

The United States marshal arrested under a decision of Judge Mackey. 

The decision. ‘‘The rights of the State,” &c.-. 

The Republicans demoralized. The tissue ticket. How it was done.... 
The United States marshal demanded to see the count. Arrested and ta¬ 
ken to iail, &c.. 

How Republicans were indicted and arrested for conspiracy after the elec¬ 
tion ... 

Republicans never more united and determined than at last election- 

The i)arty vote of the county. Managers all Democrats.. 

In former elections Republicans always appointed Democratic managers 
Declines to give name of Democrat who warned him about the tissue bal¬ 
lots . 

Is under indictment in the State court, &c. 


495 


495 
494, 495 

496, 497 

497 

497.498 

498 

498.499 

499 
499, 500 

500 


501 
501, .502 


KITT, SAMUEL: 

Residence, Ac. Was Deputy United States marshal at Orangeburg. 

Witness and two others arrested. Released on promise not to interfere at 


the polls.... ..-. 502,50.3 

Return to the jiolls. Republicans not allowed to vote. Was assaulted.. 503 
Demanded to see the count. Assaulted, beaten, and carried away to the 

courtr-house. Is under indictment for conspiracy... 503, 504 

Assaulted after the election. Dare not return to Orangeburg. 504 

Men turned out of work because they are Republicans.. 504,505 

AVas never charged with or arrested for murder... 505, 506 


MAYS, J. J.; 

Residence, tA:c. AA"as United States supervisor at Ellsncr precinct. 506, 507 

There were 77 more votes in the box than names on the poll-list. 506 

Republicau ballots drawn and destroyed. Could draw a Republican ticket 

every time by the feeling... 506,507 

Saw tickets after they were drawn and torn up. Knew they were Repub¬ 
lican.-. 507,.508 

AVhy witness signed the returns. 508 


AAHLLIAAIS, JOHN L. : 

Residence, &-c. AVas L^nited States supervisor. 508 

The election. An excess of 287 tickets in the box.•. 503 

More Republican than Democratic tickets drawn. 509 

Of 824 voters, 680 were Republican. 509 

They said O’Connor had 392 and Mackey 432 ; Republicans more united 

than ever. 509 

Knows more white Republicans than colored Democrats. 510 

BYAS, BENJAMIN: 

Residence, profession, &c. AYas a Republican. 510 

Has heard threats. If a negro voted the Democratic ticket, “ He ought to 

be dead ”. 510 

Politics with him has been “what we may call anomalous”. 511 

Charles Sassporter whipped by colored men for giving out red shirts. 511 

Does not know of a single colored man in Orangeburg being hurt on ac¬ 
count of politics. 512 

Cross-examination: AA^as Republican member of the legislature. Gives his 


History of his attempt to cowhide a newspaper reporter. Runs. Is shot 

“behind”. 513,514 

Ceased to be a Republican in 1873. AA"as Independent candidate for State 

senate in ’73, and beaten.515, 516 

CANNON, JAMES J. : 

Residence, &c. Is town marshal at Orangeburg. 517 

Gave tissue tickets to colored people election day. Saw them vote them. 517,519 
There are several colored Democratic clubs in that vicinity. 517,518 






































County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


795 


, HIGHLAND COUNTY. 


THOMPSON, PRESTON M. E : 

Uiiited States deputy marshal, ward 1 , Columbia.. 523 

SaA\ theiii fix the tissue ])allots. Arrested by Democrats. 523, 524 525 

Gave bail, and returned to the polls. Saw voters “pulled and hauled^524 

mail vote one of those little tickets at all .*._ 524 

J he count. “ I was sick when I saw those tissue ballots”. 504 

I hey called the tickets “Little Hamptons”.] 525 

AYILSON, RICHARD : 

Residence &c. Was United States supervisor at Camp Ground precinct. 526 

1 lie ballot-box in a pen. The count... 526 

340 name^ on the poll-list; 750 tickets in the box. About 200 lYttie bliie 

tissue tickets. 525 5 . 2 ^ 

drawn out but 8 . Less than 80 Democrats* voted.* 526,’527 

1 he Republicans were the strono-est I ever saw them ”. 527 

Cioss-examination by Senator McDonald: Climbed over to <>’et into the 

.-....7.. 527,528 

Redirect: Supervisor’s and managers’ poll-lists agreed. *528 


SHELDON, NICHOLAS A.: 


Residence, &c. AVas United States supervisor at ward 1 , Columbia. 529 

The election; the United States deputy marshal arrested and taken off.. 529 
The count. Supervisor’s poll-list showed 540 voters; managers’, 610; 

245 more tickets in box than managers’ list called for.. 530 

How Re])ublican ballots were dra wn out of the box.* 530 

Democrats had 70 maiority; managers all Democrats.’ 530 

Cross-examination : Saw every vote go into the box. Kept a correct list 
of voters. 531,532 


EDWARDS, BENSON; 


Residence, &.c. Was United States supervisor at ward 3 , CVdumbla. 532 

The election. The count; 799 names on Democratic poll-list; 875 ballots 

in the box..... 533 , 534 

How 70 Rejmblican and 6 Democratic tickets were drawn. 534 

The Republicans had 212 votes on count and the Democrats 582. 534 

The suiiervisor’s list had only about 525 names on it. 534 


CURTIS, A. W.: 

Residence, &c. AVas Rej)ublican candidate for re-election to the legis¬ 


lature . 535 

The election. The managers at ward 2 stirred up the box with a wire... 535 

AA'hen he saw the tissue tickets he gave up the matter. 535, 536 

Democratic majority in the county was returned at 2,812. 536 

They had more majority than they really had voters. 536-539 

The Democrats ju.stified their frauds . 537 

There was no iuterference with voters; the managers were all Democrats 538 
Republicans always allowed Democrats a manager. 538 


Cross-examination by Senator McDonald.538, 539,540 


AAALLACE, DICK (colored): 

Residence, &c. Is a Democrat. 540 

Belonged to a Democratic club, &c. Between 300 and 400 colored men 


The election was quiet. Saw no tissue ballots. 541 

How he was threatened by Republicans, and how he “qualified” their 

minds, &c.. 541 

Cross-examination by Senator Cameron.541,542, 543 

BATIE, COLEMAN (colored): 

Residence, &.c. AAbis president of a Democratic club. 543 

Had 40 men enrolled. A colored clfib in each ward. 543 

Republican threats; “the Democratic niggers ought to be hung and 

burned to death ”.. 544 

It is common for Democratic processions to display the United States 

flag.-.... 544 

Cross-examination: How the red shirts and hall was furnished. 545 

AVitness’s club is the only Democratic club in the city that he knows of.. 545 

• A man working at the Sta te-house refused to wear a red shirt; he was dis¬ 
charged next day.-. 545 





































796 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[ Ilicliland 


Page. 


LUDWIG, PAUL: 

Residence, &c.; is a Democrat.-. 

Was clialleuger at ward one; arrested the United States deputy mar¬ 
shal .-. 

The election was quiet j went to Sumter with the two cannon..... 

Was Ordnance-sergeant of the company; loaded the gun with nails. 

Loaded the gun after it was brought to the court-house. 

The whites had forty arms there; it was reported that colored men were 

coming to take them. 

Tissue ballots were exposed oi)enly all day. 


547 

547 
547,548 

548 

549 

549 
550,551 


LEE, JOHN (colored): 

Residence, nativity, &c. ; always been a Democrat. 551 

Stumped for Hampton; organized Democratic clubs. 551 

Is threatened by Republicans; some said he ought to be hung.. 551 

Three or four hundred colored men in the county belong to Democratic 

clubs.-. 552 

Was at Sumter October 12; Coghlau’s threats and insulting remarks, &c. 552 

The election ; handed out tickets at ward one all day. 552, 553 

A great many colored men voted Democratic ticket. 553 

Belonged to colored club with Coleman, Beattie and others; it had three 

hundred to four hundred members. 553 

Saw colored men vote the tissue tickets. 554 

Went to Sumter to organize a club ; did not; ‘‘colored men were all Radi¬ 
cals there”.-. 554 

His life was threatened in Sumter; was there two weeks; Democrats 


Cannot name colored Democrats.. 555 

Is janitor at the State-house ; the blacks began the trouble at Sumter... 555,556 
Their whooping and yelling; no one followed them; did not see any can¬ 
non ... 556 

Saw white men have guns and rifles; saw three or four colored men with 

shot-guns... 556, 557 

Saw a cannon in front of the court-house door. 557 

Swears that Coghlan called Hampton a' dog and his surrounders a tail, 

&c. 559, 560 


TAYLOR, JAMES (colored): 

Residence, &c. ; joined the Democrats in 1876. 560 

Belonged to Beattie’s club ; voted at ward four poll. 560 

Looked as though as many colored men voted the Democratic ticket as 

the Republican. 561 

Was assaulted by Republicans; life threatened; beaten; red shirt torn 

off and gun taken. 561 

' Cyrus Johnson assaulted him ; drew a knife on him, &c. 561 

Did not see any tissue ballots to know them. 562 

Don’t know how many men belonged to Beattie’s clul). 562 

MINOR, JAMES (colored): 

Residence, &c. Is a Democrat. 562 

All the colored Democrats in Richland County joined in with the white 

^ men. 562 

Formed a colored club in Greenville. It had 150 members. 552, 563 

Not so many colored Democrats as in 1876. 563 

.Vbout 250 colored Democrats in Greenville County this year (1878). ,563 

Not more than 25 of the Greenville club voted Democratic. 563, .564 

“Me and General Wade Hampton commenced in 1876”. 564 

Is one of the attachees of the State senate; “I clean up”. 565 

Considers himself “a flrst-class, high-toned colored gentleman, sir”. 565 

Was shot because he was a colored Democrat. 565 

JOHNSON, ANDREW (colored): 

Residence, &c. Voted Democratic tieket. 565,566 

Life threatened by colored men and Avomen. They fight his children_ 566, 567 

Is protected by the police. “She struck me; she looked as if she Avould 
take my life”. 567,568 

LOGAN, H. H.: 

Residence, &c. Was United States supervisor at Hopkins precinct. 569 

The election. Supervisor’s and managers’ lists tallied exactly. 569,570 












































\ County.] 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


797 

Page. 


LOGAN, II. H.—Continued. 

There ^ye^e 436 names on the lists and 655 ballots in the box.. 

In drawing' 219, at least 175 Republican ballots were taken out.. 

Demociats counted 34 majority. Not more than 55 or 60 white men in 
that precinct. 

Not more than 36 colored Democrats voted that day.! 

Only one kind of Republican ticket used. 

On opening a large ticket the small tissue tickets wonld fail Vut 
SIMMS, L. H.: 

Residence, &c. M as United States supervisor at Gadsden precinct ___ 

j.Ianageis would not allow him to examine the box at the oiienino'of the 
poll. _ ® 

The election was quiet. The lists tallied’at '684* iiai nes 

Found 1,026 ballots in the box; hnndreds of tissue ballots. 

‘‘After the drawing they gave the Republicans ‘245 votes”. 

The Republicans voted not less than 520 votes. 

Sometimes you would tiiid 10 little blue tissue tickets folded iii ou'e’bio- 
one. ® 

By the tissue ticket a Rejmblican majority of 350 was changed to a Dem¬ 
ocratic majority of 194. 

A\ hites did not cast more than 100 votes. Colored men generally voted 

Republican. 

The marshal charged the manager with stuffing the box.I!. 

The manager refused to open the box for the mai-shal. 


570 

570 

570, .571 

571 

571 

572 


572 


572 

572 

572 

572 

572-574 


573 


573 


573 

574 


574,575 


HAMPTON, R. P.: 

Residence, &c. Was United States supervisor at Acton precinct. 575 

The election passed off quietly. Saw two blue tissue tickets voted. 575,576 

How the counting was done. 156 ballots in excess. 576, 577,578 

147 Rejniblican and 9 Democratic ballots drawn. 577 

Rt'pnblicans had 280, and the Democrats 230. 577 

Not more than 100 Democratic votes were i)olled. 577 

Cross-examination by Senator Randolph.. . 578,579 


KERSHAW COUKTY. 

BLAIR, R. E.: 

Residence, &c. ; was United States supervisor at Market Hall precinct.. 583 

AVas not allowed to keep a poll-list. Republicans Avere not allowed to 

roach the polls. 583,584, 585,588 

The count. Democratic 732, Republican 59 . 584 

Republicans were allowed 120 votes Avherethey had 2,000 the election be¬ 
fore . 585 


Democrats formed around the polls. When the Republicans went away 

they broke iq).. 588 

Recalled: Saw no tissue tickets until after the box Avas opened; there 

Avere about 200. 589 

JOHNSON, J. H.: 

Residence, &c. AYas United States superAusor at Court-house precinct .. 589 

AVas not alloAA-ed to keep a poll-list. How the Democrats obstructed the 

l»oll8 . 589,590 

Nearly every Republican had left by 2 p. ni... 590 

The count: About 100 or more tissue tickets in the box. 590, .591 

There Avere 880 A'otes counted ; the Republicans Avere alloAved 63 . 590 

SaAA' CA^ery ticket; no tissue ballots were A'oted. 592 

TRAUTHAM, AY. D.: 

Residence, profession, &c.-. 592 

Is chairman of the Democratic county committee. 592 

Had about a hundred Democrats take possession of each poll. AYhy he 

did it.-. 592,593 

Hundreds of negroes armed Avith bludgeons, &c., come and try to croAvd 

the Democrats. 593 

Had the polls cleared at 8.30 a. m.; no trouble about voting after that .. 593, 594 

IMauy Republicans Avould not vote when they could. 594 

One leader said he Avould not A'ote for .$1,000. .594 

d’lie vote of the county. ReceiA'cd and distributed tissue ballots openly. 594,595 











































798 


SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 


[Barnwell 


Page. 

CANTEY, J. M.: 

Residence, &c. Was United States (Democratic) supervisor at the Court¬ 
house precinct. 

General Kennedy explained to Supervisor .Jolinson that he was not to 

keep a list, &c. 596 

The ])oll8 crowd<‘d with Democrats until about 9 a. m., &c.. 596,597 

The Republicans called off. No crowding or pushing from 9 a. m. 597 

Witness counted the votes fairly. 597 

SHANNON, WILLIAM 11.: 

Residence, &c.; was United States sni»ervisor (Democratic) at Market- 

street precinct. 597 

There Avas rush after the polls opened for two hours. 598 

‘UVfter ten o’clock the polls Avere not obstructed in any Avay ”. 598 

There was as much crowding by one party as by another. 598 

“ EA’crybody seemed to be in ])erfectly good humor”.. 598 

The count “ Avas conducted in perfect fairness, sir”. 598 

BAEXAVELL COUNTA^ 

NIX, FRED.: 

Residence, Ac.; Avas chairman Republican county execii’^ive committee. 601 

Could not send letters through the post-oftic(*; had to send couriers. 601 

Democratic military company broke up Re])ublican meetings at Red Oak. 601 

No Ri'imblican uu'ctiugs alloAA'ed in the county, exce]»t at lilackville. 

lloAV the h’ei)ublicau meeting of October 11 was broken u]). 602 

Two hundred armed and mounted Red-Shirts assault the speakers, tire. 

pistols, A:(*. 602,603 

IloAA’ General Smalls Avas preA’cnted from leaving ou the train ... 603 

The election : Iioav 3(i() Re])ublicans Avere prcA'cnted from Aoting. 604 

The colored men Avould luiA e voted the R<‘]>ublican ticket. 60.5 

Republicans arrested for jieijury for giving testimony before the United 

State's commissioner. 6t 5 

RILEY, WILLIAM: 

Itesidi'uce, Ac. : is a Re]>ublican. 605 

Was luesident of a club ; taken out the* night before eh'ction by armed 

Democrats. 60,5 

Stri])[)ed, tied u]) to a tree, and Avhi]>ped. 606, 607 

Went to the ])olis Avith the club; not alloAvcd to vote. 606,607,608 

Was iK'A’er charged Avith any crime. 608,609 

Witness offers to shoAV the committee the scars caused by the Avhi[)ping.. 6(9 

STEDMAN, J.: , - 

Residence, &c. 610 

The mia'ting of Getober 12. Time Avas dividi'd. 610 

No trouble exce])t young men Avould question the speaker. 610,611 

Tlie election. No colored men turned aAA ayfrom the polls. Only tAvo 

men not alloAved to voti*. 611 612 

Cross-examination. The Repnl>licans had called the meeting. The Dem¬ 
ocrats did not call one. 612,613 

MOSES, TnO:\IAS IT.: 

Residence, &c. 614 

KnoAvs the colored and aa bite A’oters of tlie comity iiretty avcU . 614 


Never attended a Republican meeting. Thinks the peiqde A'oted as they 

Avished to. 

Was a school-teacher and ncA cr talked ])olitics. 616 

.Many colored men said they Avould vote the Di'inocratic ticket, but vote 

for Smalls. 

:Might have told Nix that he never saAv more than 15 or 20 at the colori'd 

Democratic club. 

Why tAvo Republican leaders left the county. 617 

GLASS, M. T.: 

Residmice, Ac. Was intemlant (mayor) of Blaekville. 617 

Was '‘off' and on ” at the meeting Okober 11. 4'here Avas'mVdiVt'uVbam'e 

AvhateA'cr. 







































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